Coginchaug group working on giving garden, other projects

MIDDLEFIELD — The Coginchaug Area Transition group is hoping to encourage more community visitors and volunteers to the DurhamMiddlefield Giving Garden, which is bursting with produce and pollinatorfriendly flowers during the summer months.

Working hours at the garden are Wednesdays and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon and the group welcomes volunteers to spend as little or as much time as they can give, according to a press release.

The group is hosting speakers at the garden the first four Saturdays of August at noon. Working group members will supply drinks, and everyone is welcome to bring lunch and listen to local speakers. These programs are free, open to all, and should last about an hour. They will be held rain or shine in the garden if it’s not raining, and in the adjacent Middlefield Community Center if it is, according to the release.

⏩ Aug. 3, chef and culinary teacher Jamie Roraback will talk about cooking from the garden with a demonstration, maybe some tasting and some recipes to take home. He will work with produce from the garden.

⏩ Aug. 10, massage therapist and movement teacher Katy Forline will talk about healthy moving in the garden. This will include strategies for performing garden chores with the least strain for more ease and enjoyment.

⏩ Aug. 17, naturalist and “ungardener” Aubree Keurajian will talk about native plants and why they are so important to health and wellbeing, and the health and wellbeing of one’s home.

⏩ Aug. 24 speaker to be determined

Call Sue VanDerzee at 8603490777 for information.

The Coginchaug Area Transition working group also invites people to every other month open meetings, which are used to chart the way forward into more programs, leading to sustainability in area communities.

The next gathering will be Aug. 6 at the Middlefield Community Center from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Participants are asked to bring light food to share as well as a reusable place setting. CAT founders will supply a beverage.

Members expect to discuss a waste reduction/ composting initiative, a possible treeplanting project, and progress on Sustainable CT, but other topics are invited.

For information, contact Carol Bufithis at 8602098497, Joanne Nytch at 8606825375 or Nancy Winship Poole at 8605391466.

Hearst Connecticut Media file photo Blackeyed Susans bloom in a raised butterfly and pollinator garden near vegetables, a hen house and greenhouse.