Principal Chief Michell Hicks (right) gives a Chief’s Family Garden Project kit to EBCI tribal member Felisa George at the Yellowhill Outdoor Gym in a previous year’s event. (SCOTT MCKIE B.P./One Feather photos)
By SARAH MCCLELLAN-WELCH
EBCI AGRICULTURE EXTENSION AGENT
Principal Chief Michell Hicks will be distributing the Chief’s Cherokee Family Garden Kits on Thursday, March 12 at 11:30am at Tsali Manor in the Pavilion for senior citizens with the main event being later that night at 5pm at the Yellowhill Outdoor Gym. The event at Yellowhill is a centralized location for all Cherokee communities.
The Costa Rica Eco Study Tour student travelers will be holding a fundraiser next to the gym with Costa Rican coffee and fry bread dinners for sale.
This year the kits contain: Garden seed – sweet corn, sugar snap peas, cucumbers, beets, green beans, yellow squash, turnips, mix of red and green leaved lettuce, and creasy greens; Flower seed – 1 pack; Plants – 6pk cabbage and strawberry plants. Darnell Farms donated the cabbage and strawberry plants.
The kits will be in an insulated cooler that can be used to carry healthy, fresh foods for pot-lucks, lunches, groceries and picnics.
The theme this year is “Love is Here” (phonetics = Ha-ni A-da-ge-yu-di). These Garden Kits provide seeds that you can grow to provide healthy, fresh food for your family. Your garden is an opportunity to share family memories, traditions, and agricultural knowledge. Caring for the garden demonstrates skill and caring. Preserving and preparing the foods you grow is a time to teach family recipes. All of this adds up to sharing positive experiences and healthy feelings that mean “love”!
