Dear farm friends,

Spring is in full swing on the farm! Flowers are blooming, perennial crops are greening, the greenhouse is full, and we are planting our earliest annual crops in the fields. We have many events and volunteer opportunities this month, and we hope you'll join us for some of them.

If you want to volunteer on the farm this season PLEASE SIGN UP HERE!
We need so many different kinds of help at so many different times - tell us your preference on the volunteer form. Our harvest mornings will begin in May, and workshare trainings will be from 8-10 AM on May 5,8,12 and/or 15. Full workshare shifts start on May 19 & 22, 7-10am. more info at Workshares | Mustard Seed Community Farm

Volunteer in the Greenhouse
We are looking for volunteers who would like to do greenhouse work for the next 6 weeks. The greenhouse is comfortable, cozy, and you can sit down while you work. Alice will train you on the various tasks, like watering, seeding, and transplanting seedlings. If you are interested - fill out the above survey, and text Alice at 978-471-8414

Upcoming Events
View more details about our upcoming events on our EVENTS CALENDAR For any RSVP's, please text 978-471-8414.

• April 13, 5-7pm : This evening!! Monday 4/13 - planting RSVP NEEDED.
• April 14, Tuesday 9am-noon - planting and greenhouse work. RSVP NEEDED.
• April 14, 6-7:30 PM: Community Song Circle at UU Church (second Tuesday of every month)
• April 18, 10-2 PM: Spring Repair Cafe and Seed Library Seed & Plant Sharing Event at the Ames Public Library.
• April 18, 10-noon, 1-4 PM: Farm Work Day If you are staying over the lunch break, please bring your own sack lunch. RSVP helpful.
• April 18, 11am-2pm - Community Potluck at Roosevelt park
• April 20, 7:30-8:30 PM: Iowa Field Guides Reading & Celebration
• April 25: Community Garage Sale Fundraiser from 9 AM - 3 PM (more details below).
• April 25, 3-5 PM: Stories of the Seasons workshop at the Ames Public Library
• May 1-3: Eco Theatre Lab Festival
• May 16 from 10-12 PM: Annual Seed and Plant Share at the Romero House
• May 9, 23, and 30th: We will have prairie plants, vegetable starts, and crafts for sale a the Farmers Market

Fundraising for Our Schoolhouse Addition & Community Kitchen Space
We are very excited to announce that we have big plans for the Schoolhouse this year! The Schoolhouse is the 2-story red building on the farm, which is currently used as a craft studio and a hospitality space. We have received grant funding from Choose Iowa and the Franciscan Sisters of Dubuque and have set a $50,000 fundraising goal so we can build an addition on the Schoolhouse. The addition will have a bathroom, laundry, and a processing kitchen. These improvements will stay in line with our commitment to ecological living, while providing every visitor with the basics of modern living–clean, hot and cold running water. In addition, the kitchen will enable us to preserve and share a greater percentage of our crops, extend our distribution season, and provide educational programming about food preservation for the community. We will be sharing more updates about this project in upcoming newsletters, so stay tuned!

GoFundMe
You can make an online donation to our fundraiser with GoFundMe. We invite you to share this fundraiser with others who might like to support our project! https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-our-mustard-seed-grow

Garage Sale: 821 Clark Ave. April 25th, 9 AM - 3 PM
There's still time to donate items to the sale. Items should be pre-priced and dropped off at 821 Clark Ave from April 22-24 on before 9 AM on April 25. Please put your donations in the back of the truck that will be parked in the driveway. Call/text Emma F. if you need to make a different arrangement. Unsold items may be picked up by noon on April 26, otherwise they will be donated. Come and shop the sale on April 25 and invite your friends!

Fundraising Celebration this Fall
We are planning to throw a party in September or October to thank everyone who contributes to our fundraising campaign.

EcoTheatreLab Festival
The EcoTheatre Lab has commissioned eight local playwrights and two local musicians to develop new work responding to Iowa environmental issues and the Ames Climate Action Plan. In Our Backyard: A New Eco-Play Festival will include three days of programming, featuring readings of the new plays (3 full-lengths and 5 ten-minutes), new music, and neighborhood resiliency/climate action conversations, facilitated by members of the Ames Climate Action Team and local environmental organizations. The festival will take place May 1st-3rd at Labyrinth Coffee and Ames Public Library and is free and open to the public. The project is supported through grants from the City of Ames Climate Action Grant Program, the Iowa Arts Council, and Discover Ames. More info here.

We hope to see you soon!

Take care,

Alice, Amie, and
the Mustard Seed Farm team