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.

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The RCS Giving Garden

The RCS Giving Garden

8/7/18


7/31/18

Even the Bunnies and the Snakes…

This photo taken in a garden center in Florida caught my attention yesterday.  The RCS Giving Garden certainly does have a healthy ecosystem of which to be proud.  Despite my frustrations with the rabbit population continually decimating the bean crop and the surprise (or in my case, FRIGHTEN ME SO BADLY THAT I JUMP OUT OF MY SKIN) garter snakes that seem to appear more than any other year, our garden is WONDERFUL!  We already have picked 420 pounds of fresh produce for our volunteers and Valley Outreach.  We have been visited by over 400 children filled with energy and curiosity about a garden, and it’s not even August yet!



Here’s what’s been happening in the garden this past month!

July 30--Vegetable giants!
Stillwater Spin kids taking home some ‘loot!”
Imagination time!  What vegetable would you create based on favorite characteristics?
RasCorn? Cabamato? Corncchini? Rastatoe?

July 26th--Hidden Pines Ranch kids picking broccoli and kohlrabi
Borage flower eyeballs on our fresh-picked snack!

July 25--Woodbury Christ Episcopal Church Summer Stretch kids with slithering friends!
Great volunteers each and every year!
The Grove UMC Summer Stretch kids and some of the harvest. Also great volunteers each and every year!

July 24--Time For Me Learning kids enjoying the harvest!

The first of the season Sun Gold cherry tomatoes and magic purple beans!  Too bad the bunnies ate the “Jack’s Magic Beans” corner these kids planted early in the season!


A day with kids in the garden is a perfect day for a monarch to enclose/hatch!  This one is a male monarch identified by the two black spots in the lower wing areas.

July 23--Stillwater Spin kids harvest 90 pounds! Fresh herbs and squash blossoms make a good addition to our snack!

July 16--Stillwater Spin kids helped harvest and paint our new compost bin panels.
A few kids in the group think we are growing Green Bay Packer squash!

4-H Day Camp--July 12
65 kids in the garden...a record!
We are happy to have a new partnership with our local 4-H kids in Washington County!  A group of Washington County Master Gardeners guided the kids through garden discovery, taught them about Monarch Butterfly Migration and the dangers monarchs face, and investigated the difference in taste between store-bought veggies and fresh-picked veggies.  Let’s just say we know which was the winner!
Thanks to all of our July volunteers!