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Greetings, fellow gardeners of all levels!!  I thought you'd enjoy hearing about a project that launched last Summer and is currently in it's second  year....The QGarden! (A partnership which launched last May of 2013 between QVC, The Chester County Food Bank and the Triskeles' Food for All program.)  The QGarden consists of 24 raised beds at Studio Park and 5 raised beds at our neighboring facility, Founder's Park, both in West Chester, PA.

The QGarden beds are all built and maintained entirely by QVC employee volunteers....folks from many different QVC departments, and with many different gardening skill levels! Folks who love to garden or who want to learn to garden, just like you and me.

The QGarden is 100% organic and  grows many kinds of produce.  Last year, QVC volunteers grew, maintained and harvested almost 1600 pounds of produce from 12 raised beds, between June and October!!   60% of the produce was then donated to local food pantries, all part of the Chester County Food Bank, to help feed those in need. The rest was given to the volunteers to take home with them. This means that even those volunteeers who love to garden, but don't have the space to have their own vegetable garden at home, can still grow their own produce to enjoy.

THIS year, we're very excited that we got an early start, so that we could add some Spring crops to the mix!! It's a lot of fun too, with the gardening "Experts" (like the wonderful Sebastian Kretschmer, who is a Master Gardener, pictured here in a couple of photos) sharing their knowledge and skills with those who have never gardened before.

The QGarden employee volunteers are responsible for everything from building the beds, hauling in many wheelbarrows full of garden soil, planting the seeds, fertilizing, watering, weeding and finally harvesting the fruits (and veggies) of their labor!

The QGardeners are divided into teams, and each team is responsible for about 3 raised beds. Each team is provided with all of the tools, resources and guidance that they need and each  person agrees to work about an hour a week in the QGarden, but can always spend as much time as they like! This year, teams with fun names like "Working Over Thyme", "The Roots", "Hearts and Spades", "Le Jardin Enchante", "Lettuce Grow", "Inner Bed", "Outer Bed", "Wyld Scallyns", "Give Peas a Chance", "Turnip the Beet", "Perfect 10", "Digg'n It", and of course MY team, "Denim and Grow".....will be growing lots of yummy spinach, loose leaf lettuce, radishes, peas, cabbage, beets, turnips, head lettuce, carrots and herbs!! AND having lots of fun and learning lots of new gardening success tips along the way!

THEN, after the produce is harvested, another team of employee volunteers know as the "Transporters," will deliver most of  it to local food pantries associated with The Chester County Food Bank!

Many of the volunteers with gardens at home,  also plan to "grow a row" of their own garden to  donate to their local food bank, church or other community organization.  In fact, if you'd like to "grow a row" of  YOUR own garden along with us, you can help some folks out in your own community as well! And be sure and share your photos on my Facebook page...Carolyn Gracie QVC....and let us know what you're growing!

Stay tuned on QVC.com and on my Facebook page for updates on the QGarden throughout the next few months!! We're just getting started!!  Hope you can garden along with us, at YOUR home too!  

Here are some resources you can click on for Gardening Info or Items:

Carolyn's Garden Party

QVC Garden Information

QVC Garden Center

I gotta get weeding! And I think Peter Rabbit is back in my cabbage patch!

XO,
Carolyn