Beargrass Thunder 2021 Rewind
2021 is finally behind us! So much has happened at Beargrass Thunder; here's some notable achievements and events from the past year:
Beargrass Thunder in 2021
January
01/12 - Louisville Seedbank Project launches pilot program in Smoketown, Shelby Park, & Russell: We were so excited for this new project and to be working with Louisville Grows to help with this new "seedbank" idea. We had no idea how successful it would be!
01/14 - V-Grits: All Vegan Cafe - Beargrass Thunder Food Review: Richard and Nikole sample vegan food from V-Grits Vegan Cafe!
01/14 - Rose-breasted Grosbeak: Birds on the Beargrass: new episode of 'Birds on the Beargrass' was a fan favorite!
February
02/11 - Smoketown Community Garden: new project @ Logan & Kentucky: Beargrass Thunder constructed a new raised bed sponsored by Logan Street Market to be used as a community garden!
02/18 - State of the Alley: Smoketown - making Louisville alleys more accessible amidst ice & snow: BGT walks through the alley on Finzer St. and talk about how alleys could be made more accessible, especially in winter months.
02/25 - State of the Alley: Roland St. Wrap Up: Beargrass Thunder wraps up their work with the Roland Street Alley Project and looks back at the progress and accomplishments that were made.
02/27 - Louisville Seedbank Project's Shelby Park Seed Giveaway event: The Louisville Seedbank hosted their first giveaway even with great success!
March
03/13 - Charles Rudd joined the team as BGT's first ever intern!
03/21 - The Bluegrass Witch: Ethically-sourced, house-made magical crafts & items @ LSM: BGT visits a booth at LSM, takes a tour, and talks about impacts of things like the pandemic and gentrification can have on small business.
03/25 - Idlewild Butterfly Farm 2021: Gardening for People, Pollinators, & Pets: Our friend Rachel from Idlewild Butterfly Farm shows us insects, cocoons, seed pods, and other plants and bugs we can find in our own back yard. We learn about the importance of native species have on our local ecosystems.
03/36 - The first year anniversary of beargrass memes for nature-loving fiends
03/27 - Beargrass Thunder launches online webstore with a limited run of graphic T-shirts: Our online shop officially launches with an initial run of graphic T-shirts
April
04/03 - Beargrass Creek Community Creek-Sweep: Butchertown: Beargrass Thunder fans organized a successful Beargrass Creek cleanup event in Butchertown.
04/07 - Beargrass Thunder becomes an officially licensed local seed and plant nursery in the state of Kentucky
04/11 - Louisville Seedbank plans 3 new giveaway events for Smoketown, Russell, & Shelby Park
04/28 - Gardening tutorials from the Louisville Seedbank: Madison's first appearance!
May
05/05 - Louisville Seedbank has successful final giveaway for 2021
June
06/06 - Madison Portman officially joins the team as Beargrass Thunder's Executive Assistant!
06/19 - easy veggies grown in Smoketown Community Garden raised bed: Check out all the veggies successfully growing at the community garden by BGT and LSM!
July
07/01 - What to do when your native pollinator yarden is DESTROYED: due to a miscommunication between Richard & Nikole's landlord and the maintenance man, our native pollinator yarden along with inventory for our nursery was destroyed.
07/09 - Native flowers & vegetables you can grow in your own yarden: a tour of Jody and Mariah's yarden!
07/25 - where community & nature come first (Beargrass Thunder channel trailer): video produced by our very own Charles Rudd
07/30 - Shelby Park Preston St. Lot Community Garden: new placemaking project!
August
08/25 - SpooKY Season 2021: Beargrass Thunder announces ambitious 2021 'SpooKY season!'
08/26 - Return of the Yarden: update after native garden was weed-whacked down to the soil. This proves how naturally resilient a native pollinator yarden can be!
September
09/13 - Bethlehem Academy: ghostly hauntings at a once-abandoned Kentucky school for girls
09/20 - Prized Possession of Paramount Joe: Have you heard about the haunted Billy Ray Cyrus poster?
09/30 - The Lost Mountain Fire - Kentucky's Underground Hell: This fire has been burning for more than 50 years!
October
10/2 - KSU's world-renowned paw paw orchard: BGT revisits the world's best paw paw orchard in Frankfort, KY!
10/5 - Top 10 Haunted KY Roads: Have you driven any of these haunted roads?
10/7 - Welcome to Pocket Change: Black Business Empowerment Hub by Change Today, Change Tomorrow
10/13 - Dangers of Louisville's deadly Pope Lick Trestle: List of deaths and injuries at the infamous trestle
10/27 - Shelby Park Wildflower Gardener CITED by Louisville Code Enforcement: Our friend Chip is one of many Louisville gardeners battling citations from Louisville Metro Code Enforcement
November
11/10 - BGT releases "Grassholes" song protesting Louisville's Property Maintenance Code: "If Metro Council wants grass, they can kiss my @$$!"
11/12 - How to Harvest and Store Pumpkin Seeds
11/12 - How to Harvest and Store Pawpaw Seeds
11/18 - Louisville Grows' Seed Swap Benefit Night @ Hi-Wire Brewing Co: Successful Seed swap where BGT made many new friends!
11/26 - Beargrass Thunder launches Discord server!
December
12/11 - Tornados wreak havoc on Kentucky
12/29 - BGT wraps up 2021 seed sales
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2021 was A LOT, and the list above isn't even counting all of the behind-the-scenes projects we're juggling. We have BIG PLANS for 2022 including lots of more articles and videos, continuing our work with Louisville Grows on the Louisville Seedbank project, as well as new placemaking projects and even an official study with UofL Enviromental Institute, so stay tuned! If you haven't already, please consider becoming a 'Beargrass Bud'. This is the absolute best way to support Beargrass Thunder in our upcoming endeavors to make Louisville and Kentucky a better place by connecting our neighborhoods and ecosystems with equity-oriented solutions. All it takes is as little as $3 a month and you can help us make the world a better place!