Dear Friends,
Happy July 4th and warm greetings from Maine. And by “warm” I actually mean “scorching.” The “feels like” temperature is supposed to reach 90 today which is about as hot as it gets in these parts. I hope you’re staying comfortable wherever you are.
This month, we’re reintroducing a monthly e-newsletter. Whether you are growing in your yard, at your school or somewhere else in your community, I think you’ll find something in each issue to inspire you, teach you and connect you to a new part of the garden world, either near or far. We’ll be offering heaping portions of garden how-to mixed in with recipes and upbeat stories of gardeners and garden projects that are making the world a happier, healthier place.
The garden pictured above is one such place. The Park 540 Community Garden in Chicago finally broke ground this spring after two years of planning. The organizers learned a lot along the way and are generous in sharing their challenges and victories in the report they prepared for us here. We were happy to play a small role in their funding success by helping them raise $1350 through our crowdfunding platform and challenge grant.
That successful project was just one of hundreds SeedMoney has been able to help in the past year. You can read about more of them through our latest annual report or via the reports our partner projects have submitted to our website. On that note, we have already opened the doors on our next funding opportunity. You can learn more about the timetable and procedure for that here.
Closer to home, some of my favorite people and plants are growing well too. My youngest son, Sebastian, graduated high school a few weeks ago. He’s following in father’s footsteps by making speeches and semi-viral videos. He’s headed to Colby College in late August. So, as of September, my wife and I will be empty-nesters, as long as you don’t count our 18 month-old, tree-climbing border collie! You can see her and some recent pics of our garden below.
Keep growing!
Roger Doiron
Founding Director
SeedMoney