Wow y’all, our volunteer days were amazing. Thank you! We got so much done in a few hours, including sitting down for lunch together in the Warehouse. The coolest part about it is that just from sharing this newsletter with you, people showed up with shovels, snacks, and skills. With your help we laid down 3 new 30-foot garden beds, sawed down so much invasive honeysuckle, prepped our new space for volleyball (do we need to pick a night?) and tucked in the asparagus patch for the coming spring harvest. That was just on one of the days. We had one volunteer who came to help us out on Saturday during which time we got a good piece of the pollinator patch cut back, a garden bed weeded and a little electrical lesson! There is something special about the energy generated when a group of people come together to work. It helps me hang on to some optimism when days start feeling a little uncertain.

Don’t worry if you are too far to come and help us. You can set up a work share in your own community, wherever you live. You can see who in your neighborhood might need an extra hand or coordinate a thing with your besties! It can be a cooking night, paint a room together at someone’s house, or some outside work to suggest a few ways. One thing I know for sure is that when you allow people to help you, it benefits the helpers and the helpee. You already know what I mean. I know you know the feeling of being able to do something nice for someone else. It does not have to be a monumental effort to make a major impact on someone’s life. Sometimes even just being there for moral support or conversational company is so helpful to keep momentum up during a big project.

Speaking of community, if you have not seen, we have a big event on April 19^th we hope you will come enjoy with us to celebrate Earth Day. There will be music to enjoy, trails to meander on, and friends to hang out with. Perriee and I are so excited to be hosting three musical acts for the day. Starting at noon, Violet and the Newsroom are going to kick off the day where, weather permitting, they can play their beautiful music on the deck outside, while people meander the walking trails along the creek. We will keep the momentum going throughout the day with some Hogtown and finish off the evening in the Warehouse with Highly Likely.

We are asking for a $10 donation to help cover the cost of these amazing artists. I will keep you posted on a food vendor we hope to host for the day also. Bring your chairs and love of this beautiful planet we all call home. If you want to make a weekend of it, you can pitch a tent at Turtleback Ridge Brewery via their Hipcamp site or spend a couple of nigts at Blue Licks State Park. Although we love all of the creatures, we request no dogs come as guests out of respect for the resident cats who will already be a little nervous with all of the company! Let us know if you have any questions about other lodging options or about anything really. We love hearing from you all.

Seedling watch/what is blooming?: Seedlings are hanging in there and looking pretty good actually, but it feels like time to transition to let you know what is blooming. The forsythia we cut back and brought inside to bloom is hot hot hot! Hyacinth is popping up everywhere and our first two daffodils are open. The lawn is peppered with cress, purple dead nettle, and some of the most beautiful dandelions I have ever seen.

Seed starting: More basil has been started because we cannot stop! I also need to count all of the crimson clover we seeded in our new beds. Please Mother Nature, may be see some clover? It is so beautiful. We sprouted some dahlia seeds which are planted as well as a few craspedia, African daisies, and a whole tray of spinach. Thank you to everyone who suggested little tips and tricks for seed starting. At your recommendation we have begun adding a touch of compost to our seed starting mix, covered our celosia trays to keep them a little warmer under the lights after they sprouted (we will leave them on the mat longer next time), and added some liquid fish fertilizer to our weekly routine. I do believe it has made a bit of a difference already.

Important Upcoming Dates:

March 22: Find us at Blue Stallion Brewery 12-6 for Blue Stallion & Hollow Haven Bazaar Equinox & Ales! It is shaping up to be a really cool event! We will have lots of cute dried flowers, wreaths, a couple of FRESH flower arrangements and of course, catnip kickers.

April 1: Next drawing for our email subscribers!

April 19: Second annual Earth Day at Loving Farm. We have a lineup of 3 bands: Violet and the Newsroom, Hogtown, and Highly Likely for a day of music, nature and friends.