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2022 FLOWERS & FOOD TRUCKS KICKS OFF Farmers Market Season

Flowers & Food Trucks, which promises a variety of fun activities for all ages, will commence the city’s 2022 Farmers Market season on Sunday, May 22, from 8 a.m.-2 p.m. The open-air market is held at Blossom Heath Park on Jefferson, just south of 10 Mile Road.

This event will include extra lower vendors, as well as more than 60 vendors selling items such as candles, jellies, soap, jerky, salsa, wreaths, yard and home décor. Residents will also ind fresh locally grown Michigan produce. In addition, the event will feature a variety of food trucks, live entertainment and kids’ entertainment. Details about entertainment and food trucks will be inalized closer to the event date and will be added to the St. Clair Shores Parks & Recreation Facebook page.

Additional activities will include a petting zoo and a ReJoyceful Animal Rescue Adoption Event (featuring cats and dogs looking for loving homes). A free outdoor yoga class, open to all ages, will also be held at the event.

The St. Clair Shores Farmers Market is held on the fourth Sunday, 8 a.m.-2 p.m., and the second Thursday of the month, 5-9 p.m., from May through October, always at Blossom Heath. Additional food truck rallies will be held on July 24 and October 2.

“It’s great to see so many families enjoying our parks and events in St. Clair Shores,” says Donna Hill, market coordinator/event staff for St. Clair Shores Parks and Recreation. “We take pride in our events and farmers markets, providing a safe, fun- illed atmosphere for the whole community.”

Bottom: Island Noodles Food Truck Photos courtesy of SCS Parks & Recreation Dept.

COMMUNITY GARDEN COMMUNITY GARDEN COMMUNITY GARDEN

Cultivating More Than Plants

BY ANNA SWARTZ

Tucked behind St. Clair Shores Civic Arena, a transformed space has literally bloomed into a unique place for gardeners and gatherings. In its fourth year, the St. Clair Shores Community Garden offers engagement for residents with not just communal gardening, but also social events throughout the season.

“The garden has evolved since it was irst conceived,” said Paul Bjorngaard, St. Clair Shores Community Garden Committee co-chair. “It started mostly as a place to just grow things and evolved into a place that allows for even more community engagement than we originally imagined.”

The garden was the brainchild of Bjorngaard and a friend who were both serving on the St. Clair Shores Cool City Committee at the time. The garden has since been spun off into its own separate committee.

The garden sits on a roughly halfacre plot of land and boasts a total of 54 raised beds (2,250 square feet of gardening space). Twenty of these beds are rented to residents, and the rest are community beds.

The garden also includes three large lower beds and will soon have ADAcompliant beds that are wheelchair accessible, Bjorngaard says.

Volunteers are always welcome in the garden to help with weeding, watering, harvesting and general maintenance. A “harvest payment” will be given to volunteers, says Bjorngaard. To inquire about volunteering, send an email to scscommunitygarden@gmail.com. Plans for 2022 events include yoga in the garden, arts and crafts, planta-seed for kids, as well as story time events with community leaders and irst responders. The Fall into Fun Festival, which was a hit last year, will be back again with pumpkin painting, story time, costumes, cider and donuts. In addition, local beekeeper Mike Lawler from Unbeelievable Honey, who will be installing two hives in the garden to increase pollination, will be doing a presentation on the basics of beekeeping. To stay up to date on upcoming events, follow the garden online at www.facebook.com/ SCSCommunityGarden