Attendees painted gardening pots, toured the park’s garden while learning about permaculture, and ended the night by planting seeds provided by our seed library in their personalized pots. 

The Park describes permaculture as “a holistic design philosophy that mimics relationships found in nature and has been used for thousands of years to create living, sustainable, regenerative systems.” The park coordinators taught us all about plants that grow better together or apart, how to prevent deer and other animals from eating plants, what materials are best for compost, how to best make use of a small space, and more! 

The South Side Permaculture Park “strives to restore soil, create healthy root systems, and ultimately grow more nutritious food in urban areas for the people who need it most.” One of their upcoming projects is to build a tool shed out of the most natural, sustainable materials. 

You can learn more about the park, including how to harvest your own produce from their garden, here.

The Bethlehem Area Public Library South Side Branch’s adult summer reading program began on June 11th and ends on August 13th. Adults that attend any virtual or in-person programs held by the South Side Branch during this time will be entered into a raffle to win a gift card from South Side businesses.

We also have plenty of take-home activities that you can pick up at the South Side Branch or download on our website. Submitting these completed activities will enter you in the raffle as well. Check out our upcoming programs here!

Parents as Teachers builds strong communities, thriving families and children who are healthy, safe and ready to learn by matching parents and caregivers with trained professionals who make regular personal home visits during a child’s earliest years in life, from prenatal through kindergarten. For more information, visit Parents as Teachers. 

Acclaimed children’s book author/illustrator Zachariah Ohara has been hired to create original art for the exterior of the vehicle. It’s going to look so great!! We expect  this new service to be available by the end of this year, exact date to be determined.

In February, participants were delighted with the story of artist Katya Arnold and her real life work of teaching elephants to paint through her elephant conservation project.  After hearing the book Elephants Can Paint Too!, participants were invited to create their own floral paintings – just like the elephants did!