THE GARDEN STORY
Retail Construction Services, Inc. is dedicated to giving back.
We give back not only to those in need within our community, but also the future generations of this wonderful community. What started out as a great idea has grown exponentially and became an amazing reality. Here at the RCS Giving Garden, school groups, master gardeners, corporate volunteers, and our own employees work together for the common good of teaching children the art of gardening and the importance of healthy eating. Click Here for Full Story.
LOCATION:
Retail Construction Services, Inc.
11343 39th Street N.
Lake Elmo, MN 55042
From HWY 36 - go south on Lake Elmo Ave, turn left onto 39th Street, garden is at corner of 39th and Laverne.
From HWY 5- going west from Stillwater take right onto Laverne (near Fury dealership) garden is on the right at corner of Laverne and 39th street.
See what else RCS and the Giving Garden are up to:
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The RCS Giving Garden
7/30/10
The students collected Japanese Beetles, crickets and other small bugs off of the plants. They then picked, weighed and donated produce from the garden to Valley Outreach food shelf.
We had some Gecko’s visit the company for the day, so all of the students were able to see and enjoy the Gecko’s!
7/26/10
Harvesting Your Own Seeds Day!
We began with the potato, and I don’t mean “French fries”! Potatoes were first cultivated by the Inca Indians in Peru in about 200 B.C. Andean farmers once grew some 4,000 potato varieties, each with its own name, flavor, and use, ranging in size from tiny to gigantic and covering the color spectrum from indigo-purple to red, orange, yellow and white.
People use to eat what they grew locally and what was in season. With the increased appetite for produce that was out of season (eating strawberries in October as an example), and the increased demand to ship produce all over the world, farmers had to start breeding varieties that held up in boxcars, trucks, or ship’s cargo.
Now, even in the regions of Peru least affected by the modern market, only a few dozen potato varieties are widely grown.
Additionally, Seed producing companies and scientists have created genetically engineered seeds that will produce crops only once. After that, people from across the world, and specifically third world nations, have to depend on the seed companies to create more seeds, because the crop seeds will not be of any use.
Did you know?
· We put as much fossil fuels in our refrigerators as we do our cars?
· We consume 400 gallons of oil per year, per person, about 17% of our nation’s energy for agriculture? That includes tractors, tillers, fertilizer, insecticides, drying, packaging, shipping, etc…
· But getting the crop from seed to harvest only takes 1/5 of the total fossil fuel used for food.
· Each food item in a typical US meal has traveled an average of 1,500 miles!
· If every US Citizen ate just one meal a week, any meal, composed of locally and organically grown meat or produce, we would reduce our country’s oil consumption by over 1.1 million barrels every week.
7/23/10
ALC Students Enjoying the Harvest
7/21/10
Andersen Corp. Employee's "Dig In" at the Giving Garden!
7/19/10
Gift from Lake Elmo Adventure Club Kids!
7/16/10
ALC Students Mentoring SPIN Students!
- Picking produce, weighing and donating (another 40+ pounds!)
- Pinching off the suckers on the tomato plants
- Tying up the tomatoes
- Planting replacement crops
- and of course... more weeding!
As you go through the video slide show below, you will see not only the hard work these students are putting into the garden; but something else... The older ALC students tapping into their creativity and expanding their understanding of the gardening they are teaching, the younger students learning not only gardening skills, but lessons by example, and above all, great memories!