June 28, 2021
Today was a refreshing day in the garden. For the first time in over a year and a half, Raincatcher’s hosted a special garden tour. Our guests for the event were members of the Senior Adult Ministry at Park Cities Baptist Church. They came prepared for a warm sunny morning in the garden followed by a boxed lunch under the shade pavilion.
Jon Maxwell, Co-Leader of the garden, welcomed the group with comments about the Master Gardener program, our work at Raincatcher’s and the variety of gardening venues our volunteers manage on over an acre of land.
Next came a very educational and informative visit to the vegetable garden. Beverly Allen and Ruth Klein from our vegetable team highlighted the seasonal crops and different styles of vegetable gardening. The group was especially impressed with the “lasagna method” of preparing garden beds. A quick visit to the blackberry patch gave our guests a chance to pick and taste juicy, fresh blackberries.
Our featured snack during the vegetable garden visit was Tarragon Tomatoes made from freshly harvested Cherokee Carbon tomatoes and French tarragon from the edible landscape.
Next stop was with Abbe Bolich, Dallas County Master Gardener Association President. She inspired the group with suggestions for adding pollinator friendly plants to their home gardens. In celebration of National Pollinator Week (June 21 – 27), a snack of dried apricots topped with goat cheese and drizzled with local honey was happily shared. Fresh spearmint from the garden topped the treat.
The final stop on the tour was to the edible landscape garden with its cool, shady environment. Our guests were amazed to learn about the countless numbers of edible herbs and flowers growing in some of the themed garden beds; the Hügelkultur, Cottage Garden and Mediterranean beds. Freshly baked Lemon Verbena Bread made from our perennial lemon verbena plant left the group smiling and happy.
If you or your group are interested in visiting the garden or would like to schedule a tour, please reply in the comments section of our blog. We are thrilled to be “open” and ready to welcome guests to Raincatcher’s Garden of Midway Hills.
Linda Alexander, Dallas County Master Gardener Class of 2008
DALLAS GARDEN BUZZ 
How lovely a day for all involved. I was not aware that there was going to be this event. Is there sometime in the fall that you have another open house? Thank you.
Patty Wolfe
This was a church group who came, but you can be sure we will be posting upcoming events. A fall open house is a lovely idea!
Ann Lamb
It’s so good to see visitors back in the garden, learning about what we do and how to make their home landscapes welcoming to pollinators. The garden-grown treats always taste so much better when they are freshly harvested!