In case you haven’t been bitten by the urge to garden yet (and with this weather, how can you not?), you might be spurred to action by knowing that April is National Garden Month!

From the National Gardening Association:

Every April communities, organizations, and individuals nationwide celebrate gardening during National Garden Month. Gardeners know, and research confirms, that nurturing plants is good for us: attitudes toward health and nutrition improve, kids perform better at school, and community spirit grows. Join the celebration and help to make America a greener, healthier, more livable place!

If you don’t have a garden of your own but are itching to get some dirt under your fingernails, pencil in April 24. In the morning, join other volunteers for Garden Cleanup Day to help ready Strawbery Banke Museum for its opening a week later. In the afternoon, attend free workshops at the  Heirloom Seed Plant-In, also at Strawbery Banke. Slow Food Seacoast is partnering with Strawbery Banke and the Chefs Collaborative to teach you how to grow and eat unique heirloom produce from your own backyard. See DETAILS and AGENDA for these events. RSVP requested.

As if that weren’t enough to urge you to don your gardening gloves, the Seacoast Community Garden Network (brainchild of Slow Food Seacoast’s own Jenny Isler!) is poised to launch its interactive website in May to inform and connect gardeners, and to connect gardeners and gardens. Stay tuned for the official announcement!

Ready to get your hands into the soil and bring back the green? On Saturday, April 24 (rain date: Sunday, April 25), join an inspired community in helping to bring new life to the historic gardens at Strawbery Banke Museum. The day starts with the Strawbery Banke Earth Day Volunteer Garden Cleanup and continues into the afternoon with a Slow Food Potluck and an Heirloom Seed Plant-In.

Other work opportunities also will be available throughout the site for those not inclined toward gardening, but all work done will help the museum get ready for its May 1 opening.

Morning: Garden Cleanup

Volunteers should arrive at the Strawbery Banke Visitors Center between 8:30 and 9:00 am for work assignments and refreshments. Please feel free to bring your favorite gardening tools, wheelbarrows, rakes, and gloves. All other tools will be provided by the Museum. Park in the lot by the Visitors Center at 14 Hancock Street, Portsmouth.

Midday: Slow Food Potluck Lunch

An optional Slow Food Potluck Lunch will follow at 12:30 pm. Visit the Slow Food Seacoast website and About Our Potlucks to learn more about Slow Food Seacoast and our potluck events.

Afternoon: Heirloom Seed “Plant-In”

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of Earth Day and to further the day’s theme, join us for an Heirloom Seed Plant-In from 1:30 to 4:00 pm!  Slow Food Seacoast is partnering with Strawbery Banke and the Chefs Collaborative to teach how to grow and eat food from your own backyard. Participants will receive free heirloom seeds and plants, and enjoy free workshops and talks. Afternoon sessions will include Renewing America’s Food Traditions (RAFT) information sessions, gardening tips, and heirloom seed planting, plus plenty of opportunities to get dirt under your fingernails.

>>Please RSVP by April 19 to volunteers@strawberybanke.org or 1-603-433-1110; tell us if you plan to bring gardening tools and a potluck dish.<<

Program Schedule and Locations [subject to change]

8:30–9:00 am: Volunteers arrive at Strawbery Banke for work assignments and refreshments (Visitors Center)

12:30 pm: Slow Food Potluck Lunch; visit About Our Potlucks to learn more about Slow Food Seacoast potluck events (Visitors Center)

1:30 pm: RAFT Heirloom Seed Plant-In and plant giveaway (Visitors Center)

1:30–4:00 pm: “Planting for Kids and Families” ongoing in the Children’s Garden with UNH Cooperative Extension Service Master Gardeners (Victorian Children’s Garden)

1:45 pm: David Buchanon of Slow Food Portland—”Slow Food in the Garden” The Ark of Taste and RAFT programs (Visitors Center)

2:00 pm: “Planting and Saving Heirloom Seeds”—Return to the gardens for a hands program planting early crops at the 1695 Sherburne, 1919 Shapiro, and 1944 Victory Gardens (meet in front of the Visitor Center)

2:30 pm: “Community Gardening”—Suzanne MacDonald (Community Gardens)

3:00 pm: “Slow Food—Sustainable Gardens” with John Forti, Slow Food Seacoast (Visitor Center)

You knew were a Seacoast resident, but did you know you are also part of Clambake Nation?

The Slow Food USA initiative called RAFT (Renewing America’s Food Traditions) has organized the United States into regional ‘nations’ based on shared food histories. Within each group, convivia work together with RAFT’s seven supporting organizations to “document, restore, and celebrate” each region’s threatened foods. RAFT also encourages us to identify local foods that should be listed on Slow Food’s Ark of Taste. The Ark list exists to raise awareness of threatened foods, and encourage projects to help preserve them and revive their use. Here’s the list of foods RAFT is specifically working to support in Clambake Nation; as you’ll see, many of our members and associates are actively engaged in growing, cooking, or teaching about many of them, such as American heirloom apples, Native strawberries, and cranberry beans.