Dec 18th, 2012

Solstice and Solace, Winding up the Season

by Jonah Holland
A bit of a deep freeze overnight 12/13/12, but this cabbage can shake off the cold.

A bit of a deep freeze overnight 12/13/12, but this cabbage can shake off the cold.

 Text & photos by Brian Vick, Community Kitchen Garden Coordinator, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden

The Winter solstice, coming up on December 21st, can be associated with darkness and cold, but recognition of the winter solstice traditionally celebrates the return of light, as the amount of sunlight each subsequent day gradually lengthens.
“Solace” means comfort and consolation. In this case solace certainly can come from our reflection on a successful year at the Lewis Ginter Community Kitchen Garden, and the promise of more growth can propel us beyond the occasional gloom of winter.
The Lewis Ginter Community Kitchen Garden is designed to provide fresh vegetables to FeedMore Inc., specifically FeedMore’s Community Kitchen, for the preparation of meals used in the Meals on Wheels and after-school feeding programs.
More than 300 individual volunteers contributed nearly 2,000 hours of labor to drive the garden’s 2012 level of success.

Here are a few additional data points:

12,454 pounds of high quality, mostly organic fresh vegetables. The number of meals is based on a USDA factor (1.3 lbs. of vegetables constitutes a meal equivalent).

12,454 pounds of high quality, mostly organic fresh vegetables. The number of meals is based on a USDA factor (1.3 lbs. of vegetables constitutes a meal equivalent).

Don’t you wish your financial advisor could give you double- and triple-digit growth numbers like these?

Don’t you wish your financial advisor could give you double- and triple-digit growth numbers like these?

Increased plant diversity, from five basic vegetable types to seventeen (not including herbs and herbaceous perennials).

Increased plant diversity, from five basic vegetable types to seventeen (not including herbs and herbaceous perennials).

Our final CKG volunteer group for 2012. From left: Nack Pring, Devan Fishburne, Michael Gunlicks, Felicia Fishburne, John Jamieson, Jean Stephens, Faith Tyler.

Our final CKG volunteer group for 2012. From left: Nack Pring, Devan Fishburne, Michael Gunlicks, Felicia Fishburne, John Jamieson, Jean Stephens, Faith Tyler.

About Jonah Holland

Jonah Holland is Digital Content Manager at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, where she has worked for 14 years overseeing social media, the blog, and the website. She is also a mom, yogi, open water swimmer, gardener, and seeker. She's been known to go for a walk in the Garden and come back with hundreds of plant photos, completely inspired to write her next blog post.

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