The NEST

The weather is looking to be in our favor tomorrow!

See y’all there☀️

What’s Growing Wednesday? 🌱

The zinnias are putting on quite a show right now, filling the garden at Ingersoll Public Library - Inola with vibrant colors and attracting all kinds of pollinators. If you’re looking for a simple way to brighten your day, take a stroll through the garden and see what’s blooming!

Did you know?

🌼 Zinnias are native to Mexico and thrive in hot summer weather.
🦋 Their bright blooms attract butterflies, bees, and other beneficial pollinators.
🌱 The more you cut zinnia flowers, the more blooms the plant produces—making them one of the best flowers for bouquets.
🎨 Zinnias come in nearly every color of the rainbow, adding beauty and diversity to any garden space.

Come take a walk, enjoy the blooms, and see what nature has been up to.

Additionally, feel free to harvest and encourage your children to help in the process! Harvesting tools are available in the garden and make for good cutting practice for little ones!

We’d love to see you at the garden! 🪺

Fatherhood isn't always easy. It requires strength and gentleness, leadership and humility, discipline and grace. It's one of the greatest responsibilities a man can carry—and one of the greatest blessings.

This Thursday, we want to celebrate the fathers, grandfathers, stepfathers, and father figures who are making a difference in the lives of children throughout our community! There’s no better gift than a memory🫶🏼

📍 Fleming Park, Inola, OK
📅 Thursday, June 11
⏰ 4:00 PM–7:00 PM
✅ No RSVP Required

We can't wait to celebrate with you!

It’s time for another What’s Growing Wednesday! 🌱

Carrots thrive with patience, healthy soil, and consistent care. They also remind us that some of the most valuable growth happens where no one can see it yet. 🥕

While their bright green tops stretch toward the sun, the real magic is happening underground, slowly developing deep roots packed with nutrients and flavor.

From tiny seeds to vibrant harvests, carrots are proof that growth takes time and that what’s happening beneath the surface matters just as much as what everyone else can see.

Swing by the community garden at Ingersoll Public Library - Inola, see how you can help and check out what’s growing and available for harvest! 🌱

Come hang out with us tomorrow 🤗

Catch us next week at the Inola Library!

Monday:

Marshmallow based slime🌌

Rocket launchers 🚀

Galaxy jars 🪐

Wednesday:

Water play with playtex balls and frozen toys🌊

*weather pending*

Come join in on the fun before we take a small step back for summer reading , in July!🤸🏻‍♀️

It’s time for What’s Growing Wednesday! 🌱

Marigolds do far more than add color to a garden. 🌼
Their roots release compounds into the soil that can help deter harmful nematodes, while their strong scent can confuse or repel certain garden pests. They’re often planted alongside vegetables because they help protect and strengthen the environment around them.

Nature is full of examples showing that every living thing serves a different purpose. Some plants produce food, some restore nutrients, and some act as natural protectors. A healthy garden depends on diversity working together instead of every plant trying to do the same job.

People and communities work much the same way. Different personalities, strengths, and perspectives all contribute something valuable. Not everyone is meant to fill the same role and that variety is often what keeps a community resilient, balanced, and growing strong. 🌱

This last Monday, we had the opportunity to learn from Gerard Family Farms about how bees communicate, work together inside the hive, and the important role they play in our gardens and food systems. The kids especially loved learning about the “waggle dance” bees used to communicate with one another.🐝🌼

After our lesson, we got hands-on and built bug hotels to help support pollinators and beneficial insects in our community.

If you’re local and have a skill, trade, hobby, small business, or passion you’d love to share with kids, we would love to connect! 🥳

Get ready for MISSION: SPACE with The NEST 🪺 at Ingersoll Public Library - Inola! Join us for a morning full of galaxy jars, rocket launchers, and taste-safe slime as we blast off into hands-on fun and creativity. 🪐✨

📅 Monday, June 1
⏰ 10:30 AM
📍 Inola Public Library
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 All ages welcome!

No RSVP required & supplies are provided, just bring your imagination! 💫

What's Growing Wednesday? 🌱

Last week, we introduced WGW and started out by sharing our sweet pea progress. This week, we want to talk about sweet peas cousin, Lupines!

The first three images are Lupine babies growing right here at Ingersoll Public Library - Inola - in the community garden! The fourth photo is an example of the fully grown flower, for context. ⬇️

Each flower spike is made up of many small pea-like blooms, which makes sense considering lupines belong to the legume family!

Lupines are nitrogen fixers, which means they actually improve soil health by pulling nitrogen from the air and converting it into nutrients plants can use. Because of this, they're often found growing in poor or sandy soils where other plants struggle.

Lupines are also important for wildlife. They attract bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Additionally, some native butterflies rely on lupines as a host plant for their caterpillars. 🐛

They're widely used in gardens not just for beauty, but also for their ability to improve soil and support pollinators, making them both decorative and ecologically useful!

In ecosystems, diversity helps ensure that if conditions change (drought, pests, temperature shifts) something is more likely to survive and keep the system going. If every plant were identical, one threat could wipe everything out. Diversity spreads out risk and creates stability.

So, just like a healthy meadow isn't made of identical flowers, a strong community isn't built from identical people. It's built from differences that work together, each one contributing something the others don't have. 🤗

🪺