“Ladybug, ladybug, fly away …”

So goes the children’s nursery rhyme, and so goes the Brownwood Area Community Garden’s Spring Festival Saturday, April 21, as thousands of ladybugs gain their freedom and take up residence in the Garden for a summer job of munching on aphids and helping pollinate vegetable crops bound for area food pantries.

The “Ladybug Flyaway” event is just part of the fun at the 2012 Spring Festival. Other Festival events include an “Anything Carrot Cookoff” contest, and a Rain Barrel Workshop. Tours of the Community Garden will be ongoing.

For the kids, face painting, flower pot and garden hat decorating will be available, and other festival goers – of any age – can enjoy live music, and refreshments including barbecue sandwiches, sausage-on-a-stick, and samples of the “Anything Carrot Cookoff” entries.

The “Anything Carrot Cookoff” is a challenge to area cooks to submit their most creative and innovative recipes featuring the ubiquitous root vegetable, from traditional carrot cake to salads, snacks and stews. The only requirement is that all entries must contain at least one cup of carrot. For more information and entry forms for the “Anything Carrot Cookoff,” call 325-203-8791, or see the Brownwood Area Community Garden Facebook page.

Brown County Master Gardeners will present a program on how to make a Rain Barrel, and Keep Brownwood Beautiful will make sure the Spring Festival stays “green” with recyclables containers and litter control.

“We’re celebrating the start of our third growing season, along with Earth Day on April 22,” said Richard Ashton, president of the Community Garden board of directors. “And April is National Gardening month. We’ve got a lot to celebrate!”

The Spring Festival will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, April 21, at the Community Garden, located at 1514 Dublin St., behind the Central Texas Opportunities offices. Parking is available at the Salvation Army building on Lakeway, between Commerce St. and Belle Plain Ave. Admission is free.

The Community Garden is a non-profit organization whose primary mission is to provide area food pantries with fresh, naturally grown produce year-round. Now entering its third growing season, more than 6,000 pounds of produce has been donated to the Salvation Army soup kitchen and Good Samaritan Ministries. The Garden also leases garden plots to local families and organizations for a nominal fee, creates job opportunities and on-the-job training for area residents in a “green” industry, and offers a variety of educational events throughout the year.

For additional information, call 325.784.8453 or 325.641.9029.

Pictured at top – visitors to the 2011 Brownwood Area Community Garden Spring Festival found lots of opportunities for creative expression while painting flower pots and decorating garden hats. This year’s Spring Festival, Saturday, April 21, promises lots more fun as the Garden celebrates the start of its third growing season.