[Speaker 6] (0:17 - 0:23)
My name is Ingrid Pichler, I'm a member of the committee here at Reach Arts.

[Speaker 7] (0:24 - 0:30)
I'm Melissa Cardoni, this is Lily, and we've created a fairy garden.

[Speaker 8] (0:30 - 0:42)
My name is Nora Walker, this is my garden. I've had it now for about two and a half years. I started just by replacing some of the ferns in the front yard and then it continued onward from there.

[Speaker 7] (0:43 - 0:51)
This is our second year and it's expanded, so we've built some new structures, some more fairies have come to town.

[Speaker 2] (0:51 - 0:59)
This is my wife and my garden. I have beehives and she has awesome vegetables and they seem to work really nice together.

[Speaker 6] (0:59 - 1:09)
I'm really excited that we have 31 garden locations and 18 artists taking part, so we have a really good turnout.

[Speaker 2] (1:09 - 2:00)
So the beekeeping for me was just an opportunity to do something that didn't involve electronics and technology, because that's what my profession is. I'm always looking at screens and I think it's important to have something in your life that is related more to the earth and to the seasons and to the sun, and I didn't know how much bees really were, you know, the whole focus is on the weather and on the temperature and on the humidity, and honeybees are alive hopefully all year through the winter. And so being as connected to that was a really important thing for me to have in my life.

And then the garden walk, it's awesome to bring people into your yards and to show what's possible in a small town like this and to get people excited about it, kids, grown-ups, everybody, it's really fun.

[Speaker 5] (2:01 - 2:47)
What you're looking at is the pollinator garden, complete with native plants, that the Conservancy put in four years ago now and it attracts all kinds of pollinators. Last year I got a picture of a hummingbird, but you can see the butterflies, the bees all buzzing around. The great thing about native plants is they need no maintenance.

This has been in for four years, it needs no maintenance, no watering, no fertilizer, no anything. It just lives, you know, and exists as compared to, you know, your non-native species or your annuals that people put in and take out and buy year after year. So that's the pollinator garden.

[Speaker 4] (2:48 - 3:40)
SPUR connects people with ways to make a positive impact in their community and one of those ways is through the SPUR Community Roots Garden where we grow over 1,000 pounds of fresh produce annually to support clients at local food pantries including the Anchor Food Pantry right down the street on Burrell Street. So, realistically, the reason that we started it is because for many households that rely on food pantries to stay fed and to nourish their families, fresh produce can often be out of reach. It's the most expensive thing on many grocery lists, it's the hardest to store, and it's often just difficult to source.

So for people experiencing food insecurity, this bridges the gap between that nutritious food that they need and what might be available to them.

[Speaker 3] (3:41 - 4:35)
SURE Diversity started five, six years ago where a group of folks interested in addressing issues around diversity here in Suave Scott came together and in subsequent years we held forums, trainings, we had a fair, a diversity fair, and so on. And now we're participating wherever we can doing projects to make people more aware of what diversity is, appreciate their own diversity, and ideally understand and appreciate diversity in other folks. And also just get beyond thinking of diversity only being ethnicity or gender or age, but there are many, many ways in which we are diverse.

[Speaker 1] (4:36 - 5:46)
So this poem is called Welcome to the Garden. I think you might find that it's something like magic. When you set foot in this sanctuary, all the excess stresses of the world just fade into the greenery.

Take a walk along another world into the mysterious and mystical where the unknown is not something to fear, but rather something to explore. Make friends with the wrens who have made here home, or share some words with the uncaged birds. Take a moment to take in natural softness as a break from the sharp edges of exhaust and issues that we are so used to.

Take a moment here, peer around plant entangled pathways, welcome the little wilderness into your world. Allow the happiness shaped honeysuckles into your humble heart, bond with blossoms and budding blooms, introduce yourself to something new. Take a moment here to enjoy another universe that feels it's made just for you, where there is peace among the quiet and friends among the strangers.

Thank you.