Newsletter: October 2021

Come Grow With Us   KCG Quarterly Newsletter: October 2021 We’re overjoyed to share with you the third installment of the Kennett Community Grocer Quarterly Newsletter! Keep an eye out in your inbox for this bushel of features and information in April, July, October, and January. We’ll be featuring some favorite farms, locals, volunteers, Member-Owners, and share exciting news about KCG. Every year in October, we celebrate National Cooperative Month to raise awareness of what we can do together in a Cooperative Membership Community.  If you have not yet joined Kennett Community Grocer, this is the month to do so! According to a study by the University of Wisconsin funded in part by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), cooperatives in America total 350 million members (many people are part of several cooperatives at once). Food Co-ops, in particular, are social and economic engines of a community.  They not only support local producers, but community spaces built into the store provide a welcoming space for educational events, social events and for ad hoc meet-ups for community members.  This year’s Co-op month theme is “By the Community, For the Community”.  Please join us in membership and help all of us fund the building of Kennett Community Grocer.  This photo will help you to envision the reality of this space. Yes, This Could Be Ours! We will promote our multicultural community through dance on November 6 from 7 to 10 PM at the Kennett Senior Center. We will dance Salsa together and contribute to the Kennett Community Grocer Equity Fund.   The name for Salsa Dancing originates from a 1933 song with the title, “Echale Salsita” which translates to “spice it up a little”.  Salsa dancing as a style was developed in the 1940s but today’s style is influenced by multicultural dance communities in New York, Puerto Rico, and Los Angeles.  Salsa is enjoyed worldwide and we hope to continue to promote this as a part of the community of Member-Owners of Kennett Community Grocer.  Come on November 6 to “spice it up a little” and enjoy a dance class by Chepe Espinoza from 7 to 8 PM and then open and fun dancing for all abilities after that until 10 PM.  Beer, hard cider, sodas, water, and snacks will be provided free of charge.  Tickets are $20 per person and can be purchased at the door or online. COMMUNITY GARDEN SPOTLIGHT Therapeutic Herbal Gardens When Kellie settled on her Kennett Square Borough home, she walked through the front door, shimmering with February snow, and turned throughout the living room, taking in the 1⁄2 acre of land on which the cottage sits through the frosted windows. Her dream: expansive gardens to build soil, create ecosystems, and hold space where plants, fungi, bacteria, and all the other layers within the complexity of life (that we do not yet know), can support one another and encourage the healing of land and earth. And from this harmonic, Divinely-created relationship, Kellie hoped to yield food and medicine for herself and her community. Nine months, a half-acre of no-till garden beds, and a summer of sunrises spent knelt between rows of herbs, grains, legumes, and vegetables later, the first growing season begins to wean. In the front gardens, Dogwood, Boneset, and Blue Vervain deepen their hues into a radiant magenta while Hawthorn berries begin to ripen high in the branches. Along the side of the house, the squashes are determined to continue to run, more energetic now that the glare of the sun has simmered. Between them, cover crops carpet the soil - peas, barley, rye, wheat, and buckwheat. Meanwhile, inside, the apothecary is full of dried and tinctured herbs. Kellie, a registered nurse, herbalist, and equine-assisted therapy facilitator, works with the herbs from her garden to formulate teas to support women’s cyclical health. Additionally, within the therapeutic model she’s created, Kellie partners herbalism with the EAGALA (equine-assisted psychotherapy) framework to support her clients’ healing journeys. “As we are a beautiful tapestry of mind, body, and soul, addressing these areas in our lives are all necessary for restoring health. The partnership with horses and herbs opens avenues for clients to gain insight into the subtle shifts within themselves and the tools needed to restore balance.” To keep up to date with classes, retreats, events, and apothecary offerings, follow Kellie @kellbellherbals or visit www.stewardingconnections.org to learn more! WHAT’S POSSIBLE FOR YOU, KCG MEMBER-OWNER: Please continue to show us some co-op love and support! Give us a like, a share, and keep talking about KCG! Every Member-Owner gets us closer to opening the doors to KCG. You are all ambassadors for KCG and the simple act of reading this newsletter is a volunteer activity. The seeds you plant will grow into Member-Owners and together, our community will produce Kennett Community Grocer. If you would like to submit information for publication in the newsletter or have any questions, please email us at info@kennettcommunitygrocer.coop