Getting It Done

Another year.  Another beautiful closing day.  Despite 30-mph winds and a chilly morning, our volunteers got a lot done during our closing work day at the Stoddart Avenue Community Garden.  I picked up donuts, apples and apple cider at 9 a.m. and then headed over to the SACG.   When I arrived and began unloading the rakes, pruners and loppers I had picked up on Thursday from the Rebuilding Together Tool Library, the Area Planning Commission was touring the BTBO site next door in connection with a zoning variance application to convert the site from a prison re-entry program to a day care.  I started to clean out the neighbor plot and transplant some kale seedlings in the empty spots. 

Sabrina, Tom and Zephyr arrived with home-made pear muffins and went to work.  Tom raked out all of the garden beds and composted the waste.    He then disconnected the smaller rain cistern from its downspout.  I turned to pruning and cutting back the middle flower bed and southeast flower bed.  Sabrina emptied the shed, cleaned all of the tools, organized the shed contents and re-filled the shed and then pulled all of the tomato stakes and cages and tarps and similarly reorganized and stacked them.  Not finished, she then pulled the bags of mulch and garden soil, and pruned back the invading raspberry bushes.  The shed area has never looked better. 

Mari arrived and finished pruning and cutting back the front flower beds and rose bushes.  She then turned to helping Rayna prune the raspberry bushes on the west side of the Garden.

Do you know what made this?

Rayna arrived with a home-made cake and was put in charge of pruning back the raspberry bushes.  Her time-proven method:  cutting back everything to the fence line and then cutting out any dead branches.  I then turned to bagging the brambles she cut out.  This was easier said than done because it was windy and difficult to get the brambles into the lawn waste bags without getting hurt.  I started to cut them down in manageable-sized pieces.  During this exercise, she came across two cocoons of mysterious origin.  We aren’t sure what bug created them or what to do with them.  Were they created by hungry praying mantises?  Protective garden spiders?  Destructive caterpillars?  Do tell if you know!

Barb then arrived and began pruning the south flower bed.  She and Frank had already removed the Garden sign earlier in the week and will be removing the gates in a few weeks.

I turned to transplanting raspberry seedlings that Rayna and Sabrina had cut out (when they left the fence line).   I filled in all of the empty places on our fence line, but still had many seedlings left over.   I filled a bucket so that any community garden may take some seedlings for their own edible fence.   Many seedlings went to the yard waste bags.   Please contact me asap if you’d like some seedlings.

Tom tried to flip our compost, but the bins were overflowing, so he tuned it a little.  He then poured the rest of the zoo compost around the flower beds.   Sabrina, Tom and Zephyr then headed out to an event at COSI, so the teen volunteers finished stacking the tomato cages and covering that space with tarps (to protect those supplies from the winter weather) and stacking our extra bags of soil and mulch.     Before they left, I gave Sabrina a picture collage of her volunteer efforts throughout the year which made her the SACG Volunteer of the Year.  In addition to our mandatory work days and performing her chores, she also came on many extra days to help me maintain the garden and single-handedly weeded the alley area and west side of the Garden.

Like last year, this is the weekend of the annual youth conference of the Church of God.  Last year, the theme was Collide.  This year, the theme was Impact – as in community impact.  Last year, we had a group of teenagers from Alliance.  Our teen volunteers this year were from Eaton.  (I’ve actually been there – near the Indiana border – because of the Neaton Auto plant).   They arrived after lunch and none too soon.

They also took over bagging Rayna’s raspberry canes and the flowers Barb had pruned while I turned to pruning the flowers that had been growing along the alley.  One of the girls joined me in making our last food pantry harvest for the season (although I might come back to harvest sage and chives since I had run out of bags). The youth adult volunteer supervisor went through the Garden to pull the plants after we finished our final harvest.   He was disappointed that our neighbors did not join us and I had to explain that most of our volunteers had been there earlier and left around lunch time.

Earlier this week, Charlie hand-sanded both of our benches.  Two of the girls then stained/weatherized them.

A larger group of teen volunteers was helping out Urban Connections.  Cathy stopped by to tell me that they completed four hours worth of projects in just two hours.  I suggested that they attack the litter in our alley, but she thought that they were burned out.  Instead, a group of young men came up and carried our 16 bags of yard waste (i.e., brambles) to the alley dumpsters for pick-up on Tuesday.

Everyone took off (pretty tired) at 2:30 (after getting some cake and donuts) and I drove directly to the LSS Food Pantry to get there before it closed.  Then it was home to rake seven more bags of leaves from my own yard before sundown.  And some vacuuming and unpacking.

This is also the time we bestow the travelling gnome trophy for the tidiest plot.  However, Neal did not show up for the work day to receive the trophy.   We put it in his lonely, but very tidy, plot.    The trophy has spent a year in Charlie’s plot and on Frank and Barb’s back porch.    It almost seems to be a curse because the tidiest plot often seems to go to the weediest plot the following year:-)

We started the day in the 30’s and ended it at 60 degrees.   That’s November.

A job well done.

Getting It Done

Another year.  Another beautiful closing day.  Despite 30-mph winds and a chilly morning, our volunteers got a lot done during our closing work day at the Stoddart Avenue Community Garden.  I picked up donuts, apples and apple cider at 9 a.m. and then headed over to the SACG.   When I arrived and began unloading the rakes, pruners and loppers I had picked up on Thursday from the Rebuilding Together Tool Library, the Area Planning Commission was touring the BTBO site next door in connection with a zoning variance application to convert the site from a prison re-entry program to a day care.  I started to clean out the neighbor plot and transplant some kale seedlings in the empty spots. 

Sabrina, Tom and Zephyr arrived with home-made pear muffins and went to work.  Tom raked out all of the garden beds and composted the waste.    He then disconnected the smaller rain cistern from its downspout.  I turned to pruning and cutting back the middle flower bed and southeast flower bed.  Sabrina emptied the shed, cleaned all of the tools, organized the shed contents and re-filled the shed and then pulled all of the tomato stakes and cages and tarps and similarly reorganized and stacked them.  Not finished, she then pulled the bags of mulch and garden soil, and pruned back the invading raspberry bushes.  The shed area has never looked better. 

Mari arrived and finished pruning and cutting back the front flower beds and rose bushes.  She then turned to helping Rayna prune the raspberry bushes on the west side of the Garden.

Do you know what made this?

Rayna arrived with a home-made cake and was put in charge of pruning back the raspberry bushes.  Her time-proven method:  cutting back everything to the fence line and then cutting out any dead branches.  I then turned to bagging the brambles she cut out.  This was easier said than done because it was windy and difficult to get the brambles into the lawn waste bags without getting hurt.  I started to cut them down in manageable-sized pieces.  During this exercise, she came across two cocoons of mysterious origin.  We aren’t sure what bug created them or what to do with them.  Were they created by hungry praying mantises?  Protective garden spiders?  Destructive caterpillars?  Do tell if you know!

Barb then arrived and began pruning the south flower bed.  She and Frank had already removed the Garden sign earlier in the week and will be removing the gates in a few weeks.

I turned to transplanting raspberry seedlings that Rayna and Sabrina had cut out (when they left the fence line).   I filled in all of the empty places on our fence line, but still had many seedlings left over.   I filled a bucket so that any community garden may take some seedlings for their own edible fence.   Many seedlings went to the yard waste bags.   Please contact me asap if you’d like some seedlings.

Tom tried to flip our compost, but the bins were overflowing, so he tuned it a little.  He then poured the rest of the zoo compost around the flower beds.   Sabrina, Tom and Zephyr then headed out to an event at COSI, so the teen volunteers finished stacking the tomato cages and covering that space with tarps (to protect those supplies from the winter weather) and stacking our extra bags of soil and mulch.     Before they left, I gave Sabrina a picture collage of her volunteer efforts throughout the year which made her the SACG Volunteer of the Year.  In addition to our mandatory work days and performing her chores, she also came on many extra days to help me maintain the garden and single-handedly weeded the alley area and west side of the Garden.

Like last year, this is the weekend of the annual youth conference of the Church of God.  Last year, the theme was Collide.  This year, the theme was Impact – as in community impact.  Last year, we had a group of teenagers from Alliance.  Our teen volunteers this year were from Eaton.  (I’ve actually been there – near the Indiana border – because of the Neaton Auto plant).   They arrived after lunch and none too soon.

They also took over bagging Rayna’s raspberry canes and the flowers Barb had pruned while I turned to pruning the flowers that had been growing along the alley.  One of the girls joined me in making our last food pantry harvest for the season (although I might come back to harvest sage and chives since I had run out of bags). The youth adult volunteer supervisor went through the Garden to pull the plants after we finished our final harvest.   He was disappointed that our neighbors did not join us and I had to explain that most of our volunteers had been there earlier and left around lunch time.

Earlier this week, Charlie hand-sanded both of our benches.  Two of the girls then stained/weatherized them.

A larger group of teen volunteers was helping out Urban Connections.  Cathy stopped by to tell me that they completed four hours worth of projects in just two hours.  I suggested that they attack the litter in our alley, but she thought that they were burned out.  Instead, a group of young men came up and carried our 16 bags of yard waste (i.e., brambles) to the alley dumpsters for pick-up on Tuesday.

Everyone took off (pretty tired) at 2:30 (after getting some cake and donuts) and I drove directly to the LSS Food Pantry to get there before it closed.  Then it was home to rake seven more bags of leaves from my own yard before sundown.  And some vacuuming and unpacking.

This is also the time we bestow the travelling gnome trophy for the tidiest plot.  However, Neal did not show up for the work day to receive the trophy.   We put it in his lonely, but very tidy, plot.    The trophy has spent a year in Charlie’s plot and on Frank and Barb’s back porch.    It almost seems to be a curse because the tidiest plot often seems to go to the weediest plot the following year:-)

We started the day in the 30’s and ended it at 60 degrees.   That’s November.

A job well done.

Be There or Be Square for SACG's Closing Day on Saturday

2012 Closing Day

Remember how concerned I was about the weather forecast for our closing day on Saturday?  As always, no worries.  The forecast changed the next day and now we are only looking forward to blue skies and sunshine.  It will also be much warmer than today.  This is also when we give the awards for tidiest plot and volunteer of the year.



Halloween Damage

Last week, I discovered to my horror that Halloween's storm knocked some branches out of the black walnut tree above the rain cistern we have borrowed from the City and those fallen branches broke the spicket on the cistern (emptying it in the process).   When I notified the Tool Library on Monday, they assured me that they had funds in their grant to repair it -- which will be done by Rain Brothers.  Yea!

This Saturday, we have a full agenda for those of you who want to get your last piece of gardening in before it snows next week:



·        Disconnecting the smaller rain cistern from the downspout;

2011 Closing Crew



·        Pruning the black raspberry bushes;

·        Transplanting black raspberry bushes to the empty places along the exterior fence;

·        Pruning our rose bushes;

 ·        Pruning our four flower beds;

·        Mowing the lawn;
 

·        Tidying up the shed and cleaning off the tools;

·        Stacking and covering with a tarp our tomato stakes and cages;

2010 Closing Crew

·        Harvesting Fall produce for the food pantry/Faith Mission;

·        Picking up litter and emptying the trash cans;

·        Turning the compost/garden waste in our compost bins;

• Staining/weatherizing a bench; 

·        Cleaning out the neighbor plots; and

·        Cleaning out the raised garden beds.

 

2009 Closing Day Crew

I picked up lots of tools and trash bags (donated by Home Depot) from the Tool Library. 

 

We need lots of help.  The morning crew will start at 9:30 and hopefully finish by lunch, when we are anticipating a crew of teenagers to help us finish up the rest of the work by 3 p.m.  (by which time I will be ready to collapse).  I'll be bringing  apple cider and donuts.

 

Be there or be square!

Be There or Be Square for SACG's Closing Day on Saturday

2012 Closing Day

Remember how concerned I was about the weather forecast for our closing day on Saturday?  As always, no worries.  The forecast changed the next day and now we are only looking forward to blue skies and sunshine.  It will also be much warmer than today.  This is also when we give the awards for tidiest plot and volunteer of the year.



Halloween Damage

Last week, I discovered to my horror that Halloween's storm knocked some branches out of the black walnut tree above the rain cistern we have borrowed from the City and those fallen branches broke the spicket on the cistern (emptying it in the process).   When I notified the Tool Library on Monday, they assured me that they had funds in their grant to repair it -- which will be done by Rain Brothers.  Yea!

This Saturday, we have a full agenda for those of you who want to get your last piece of gardening in before it snows next week:



·        Disconnecting the smaller rain cistern from the downspout;

2011 Closing Crew



·        Pruning the black raspberry bushes;

·        Transplanting black raspberry bushes to the empty places along the exterior fence;

·        Pruning our rose bushes;

 ·        Pruning our four flower beds;

·        Mowing the lawn;
 

·        Tidying up the shed and cleaning off the tools;

·        Stacking and covering with a tarp our tomato stakes and cages;

2010 Closing Crew

·        Harvesting Fall produce for the food pantry/Faith Mission;

·        Picking up litter and emptying the trash cans;

·        Turning the compost/garden waste in our compost bins;

• Staining/weatherizing a bench; 

·        Cleaning out the neighbor plots; and

·        Cleaning out the raised garden beds.

 

2009 Closing Day Crew

I picked up lots of tools and trash bags (donated by Home Depot) from the Tool Library. 

 

We need lots of help.  The morning crew will start at 9:30 and hopefully finish by lunch, when we are anticipating a crew of teenagers to help us finish up the rest of the work by 3 p.m.  (by which time I will be ready to collapse).  I'll be bringing  apple cider and donuts.

 

Be there or be square!

Countdown to Season’s End

With only 11 days left in the growing season at the Stoddart Avenue Community Garden, more and more plots have been cleaned out for the winter. The kids and I are still trying to grow some Fall crops, but the unusually dry Fall has stunted their growth.   I am pleased to report that our recurring thieves did not make another appearance in the last week, so I didn’t have to spend my limited time at the Garden this weekend on repairing their damage.

I have pulled up the sweet potatoes from my and the food pantry plots.   I also made Tyrese harvest his sweet potatoes, which were enormous.  The other boys asked him to share, but I pointed out that he was the one who raised them.  They put them into Tim’s backpack and ran them around the neighborhood to show the other kids.  I have to wonder how many of them made it back home to his kitchen. 

Tim and Teyvian were the only two kids to show up on Sunday.  They wanted to water their Fall crops.  I should have watered mine as well and will have to return this evening to fix that so that my crops can take full advantage of our Indian Summer.  I gave them branches from my Thai pepper plant.  I warned them about how hot the peppers were, but, of course, they had to test my warning.  They were so excited about the pain caused by eating them, that they stuffed the branches into Tim's backpack and ran around the rest of the afternoon showing them off.  Boys.

I also harvested a bag of chili peppers from the food pantry and my plot for our last pepper donation of the year.  I cleaned out all of the summer crops from my plot.  Nothing is left but perennial herbs, Fall crops and some flowers which are still in bloom.  Sadly, the marigolds have not enjoyed our cold snap and have died back a little early this year.

Our food pantry donations are way up this year, but it still makes me very sad that we could have donated another 75 pounds of kale, greens and peppers if those plants had not been vandalized and stolen over the past two months. We will be making additional food pantry deliveries over the next 2-3 weeks.  The last time I was at the LSS Food Pantry, the Upper Arlington Lutheran Church Community Garden had just delivered approximately 100 pounds of beets.  (They grow a lot of food in the field next to their Church.  I can’t help but envy their large debris-free field where there is virtually no crime and where they have lots of volunteers who are not afraid to visit their Garden).

I was also able to make my final visit to Lynd's Orchard last weekend (because my niece's soccer game in Pataskala) to grab some Melrose apples and a large box of hot banana peppers.  I canned apples last week so that I can bake apple crisps in a snap over the next few months.  My next door neighbor is a big fan of Trader Joe’s spicy red pepper jelly, so I made a version of my own with the red banana peppers, a couple of cayenne peppers, a couple of red jalapeno peppers, one roasted red bell pepper and a half-cup of chopped apples (which I had left over from the night before).  I was extremely pleased with the result. 

I wasn’t able to come to the SACG last Saturday as planned.  My 98-year old grandfather died last week and his funeral was Saturday.  He was a WWII army air corps veteran, life-long farmer and coon hunter.  (Yes, he was still hunting at 94 years of age).  He lived on his own farm and drove his own truck until June.   He could still squeeze the breath out of me at his last birthday in August.  He was much loved and will be very missed.  While I was on my way to his visitation, I drove through the middle of my home town on my way to the funeral home.  I could not believe that near the probation department was a Free Little Library, much like our own.  I jogged back there the next morning to take a couple of pictures.  I then learned that the ladies’ club which built and placed this had all of their substantial book collection burned in fire (set by arson) a few months ago in a warehouse just a few blocks away.  When I returned to the SACG, I inspected our Free Little Library and noticed that it was running low on books (particularly adult DIY and cookbooks, Martha Stewart magazines, and small children’s books).   My brother said he had some extra he could donate, but my father refused to part with a single book from his vast library.  Sigh.

I will return to the SACG on Saturday afternoon to make more headway on cleaning out the food pantry and abandoned plots.  I can always use more help.

On Saturday, November 9, 2013, we will be closing the Garden.  Right now, the extended forecast is showing rain, but I’m hoping that will change since we’ve always had glorious weather for our closing day.  We will need help with the following:

·        Draining the rain cisterns;

·        Disconnecting the smaller rain cistern from the downspout;

·        Pruning the black raspberry bushes;

·        Transplanting black raspberry bushes to the empty places along the exterior fence;

·        Pruning our rose bushes;

·        Pruning our four flower beds;

·        Mowing the lawn;
 

·        Tidying up the shed and cleaning off the tools;

·        Stacking and covering with a tarp our tomato stakes and cages;

·        Harvesting Fall produce for the food pantry/Faith Mission;

·        Picking up litter and emptying the trash cans;

·        Turning the compost/garden waste in our compost bins;

·        Cleaning out the neighbor plots;

·        Cleaning out the raised garden beds;

·        And finishing whatever other projects I’ve forgotten.

Countdown to Season’s End

With only 11 days left in the growing season at the Stoddart Avenue Community Garden, more and more plots have been cleaned out for the winter. The kids and I are still trying to grow some Fall crops, but the unusually dry Fall has stunted their growth.   I am pleased to report that our recurring thieves did not make another appearance in the last week, so I didn’t have to spend my limited time at the Garden this weekend on repairing their damage.

I have pulled up the sweet potatoes from my and the food pantry plots.   I also made Tyrese harvest his sweet potatoes, which were enormous.  The other boys asked him to share, but I pointed out that he was the one who raised them.  They put them into Tim’s backpack and ran them around the neighborhood to show the other kids.  I have to wonder how many of them made it back home to his kitchen. 

Tim and Teyvian were the only two kids to show up on Sunday.  They wanted to water their Fall crops.  I should have watered mine as well and will have to return this evening to fix that so that my crops can take full advantage of our Indian Summer.  I gave them branches from my Thai pepper plant.  I warned them about how hot the peppers were, but, of course, they had to test my warning.  They were so excited about the pain caused by eating them, that they stuffed the branches into Tim's backpack and ran around the rest of the afternoon showing them off.  Boys.

I also harvested a bag of chili peppers from the food pantry and my plot for our last pepper donation of the year.  I cleaned out all of the summer crops from my plot.  Nothing is left but perennial herbs, Fall crops and some flowers which are still in bloom.  Sadly, the marigolds have not enjoyed our cold snap and have died back a little early this year.

Our food pantry donations are way up this year, but it still makes me very sad that we could have donated another 75 pounds of kale, greens and peppers if those plants had not been vandalized and stolen over the past two months. We will be making additional food pantry deliveries over the next 2-3 weeks.  The last time I was at the LSS Food Pantry, the Upper Arlington Lutheran Church Community Garden had just delivered approximately 100 pounds of beets.  (They grow a lot of food in the field next to their Church.  I can’t help but envy their large debris-free field where there is virtually no crime and where they have lots of volunteers who are not afraid to visit their Garden).

I was also able to make my final visit to Lynd's Orchard last weekend (because my niece's soccer game in Pataskala) to grab some Melrose apples and a large box of hot banana peppers.  I canned apples last week so that I can bake apple crisps in a snap over the next few months.  My next door neighbor is a big fan of Trader Joe’s spicy red pepper jelly, so I made a version of my own with the red banana peppers, a couple of cayenne peppers, a couple of red jalapeno peppers, one roasted red bell pepper and a half-cup of chopped apples (which I had left over from the night before).  I was extremely pleased with the result. 

I wasn’t able to come to the SACG last Saturday as planned.  My 98-year old grandfather died last week and his funeral was Saturday.  He was a WWII army air corps veteran, life-long farmer and coon hunter.  (Yes, he was still hunting at 94 years of age).  He lived on his own farm and drove his own truck until June.   He could still squeeze the breath out of me at his last birthday in August.  He was much loved and will be very missed.  While I was on my way to his visitation, I drove through the middle of my home town on my way to the funeral home.  I could not believe that near the probation department was a Free Little Library, much like our own.  I jogged back there the next morning to take a couple of pictures.  I then learned that the ladies’ club which built and placed this had all of their substantial book collection burned in fire (set by arson) a few months ago in a warehouse just a few blocks away.  When I returned to the SACG, I inspected our Free Little Library and noticed that it was running low on books (particularly adult DIY and cookbooks, Martha Stewart magazines, and small children’s books).   My brother said he had some extra he could donate, but my father refused to part with a single book from his vast library.  Sigh.

I will return to the SACG on Saturday afternoon to make more headway on cleaning out the food pantry and abandoned plots.  I can always use more help.

On Saturday, November 9, 2013, we will be closing the Garden.  Right now, the extended forecast is showing rain, but I’m hoping that will change since we’ve always had glorious weather for our closing day.  We will need help with the following:

·        Draining the rain cisterns;

·        Disconnecting the smaller rain cistern from the downspout;

·        Pruning the black raspberry bushes;

·        Transplanting black raspberry bushes to the empty places along the exterior fence;

·        Pruning our rose bushes;

·        Pruning our four flower beds;

·        Mowing the lawn;
 

·        Tidying up the shed and cleaning off the tools;

·        Stacking and covering with a tarp our tomato stakes and cages;

·        Harvesting Fall produce for the food pantry/Faith Mission;

·        Picking up litter and emptying the trash cans;

·        Turning the compost/garden waste in our compost bins;

·        Cleaning out the neighbor plots;

·        Cleaning out the raised garden beds;

·        And finishing whatever other projects I’ve forgotten.

October Flowers and More Desolation

While some gardeners might not appreciate the free-for-all flower beds at the Stoddart Avenue Community Garden, they cannot deny that we have colorful perennial flowers in bloom from March to November.  That is not an accident. While I wish the beautiful cosmos bloomed earlier and were not quite so tall, I look forward to them and their ferny foliage every year.  We have volunteer cosmos in a few plots (like mine and Sabrina’s) and some that Micayla and I planted in the various beds.  I save seeds from them every year to ensure that we will always have cosmos in bloom every year.  Our purple asters are near the end of their blooming time.  My African marigolds are still going strong.  Dozens of bees every year decide to die in their blooms each Fall.  I finally remembered to save lots of seeds from them this year and am amazed that I have a number of volunteer marigolds coming up in my cleared out beds.   I might try to rescue a few and bring them inside for the winter.   Our rose bushes usually stay in bloom until mid-November.  The beds looked a lot better this week because Mari finally weeded them.


I haven’t written in a couple of weeks because I’ve been livid over a recent theft.  Someone broke into the Garden (over the back fence) last Saturday around dawn and robbed us almost blind.  They destroyed a good portion of the pepper beds in the food pantry and my plots.  They cleaned over virtually ever collard green and kale plant in every single plot in the Garden.  They ripped quite a few pepper and kale plants out of the ground – killing them.  They threw pimento, jalapeno, chili and other peppers on the ground.  It was heart-breaking.  They easily stole around 50 pounds of produce (mostly kale, tomatoes and bell peppers).  They destroyed plants that would have given us another 50 pounds of produce by the end of the season.   It’s not as though they couldn’t have signed up for their own plot and done their own work to raise their own food.  I added a third layer of fence and more stakes in that corner to deter additional thefts.  This week, it looks like someone came over the front gate area again (but this time to the south of the gate), so I reinforced it last night.  Sigh.  We've had more significant thefts of produce this year than all prior years combined.    I cannot describe how angry I am that freeloaders are taking our food -- all of which requires cooking (so I know it's not homeless people).   Of course, Neal's car was vandalized and robbed this week in Bexley, so it's not just a Near East side thing.

Like the other SACG gardeners, I’ve spent most of my visits the last two weeks in cleaning out plots.  I pulled all of the tomato plants from the food pantry and my plots last week.  This week, I’ve pulled tomato plants from Cassie’s old plot, from around Rose’s bed and started on Chelsea’s old plot.   (Tamara helped me last night). Last night, Shae pulled the tomato plants from her plot (but them just threw them into the compost bins still attached to their green tomatoes, stake and ties.  Three big no-nos.  I had to fix that this morning. Neal cleaned his tomato plants out (and shoveled up all the dropped ones). 



DeShaun's Plot This Morning

After I told DeShaun last night that he had the worse and most overgrown plot in the Garden, he, Shae, Tim, and three other kids pulled everything out of his bed and then hoed and hacked it with new child-sized gardening tools donated by Doug and Suzy Adams.  DeShaun was soooo excited about how many large sweet potatoes he pulled from his plot.  He could not have been more excited.  I think Neal was mystified by the mess they made and their excitement; they didn’t compost or dispose of any of the tomato plants or weeds they pulled.  (I cleaned up their mess this morning). The kids didn’t have school yesterday and so were desperate for something productive to do . . . . I gave them lollipops before they left.   Barb and Frank cleaned out a row of their tomato plants, too, and Sabrina was there this morning in the rain pulling her tomato plants out (with help from Zephyr).   (They didn’t get candy;-)

We still have some Fall crops coming up, but not as much as we have had in the past.  The boys have been pretty good about watering their crops, but the girls have not.   Last night, the kids – particularly Shae – wanted to plant more crops.  Yes, we could have planted garlic, but I’m in no mood.  (Who knows who will have that plot in the Spring.  They might not want garlic).  The Garden is closing in three weeks and the kids seem oblivious to the fact that winter is coming – even though I told them that it might actually snow next week.

Almost all of the sun flowers have been chopped down and put in lawn bags.  There are still some blooming in the front bed, so I left them another week (for the finches).  I still need to clean out Chelsea’s old plot.

Last week, I also pulled virtually all of the basil out of the Garden to satisfy our barter arrangement with Bexley Pizza Plus (just in time for the Taste of Bexley on Monday).   Our harvest was 9% less than last year -- mostly because I hadn't realized in time the adverse effect the shade from my volunteer sunflowers had on our herb garden).

I’ll probably be back at the Garden early Wednesday evening and again next Saturday morning.  The big food pantry plot could stand to be weeded.  I noticed that we have some lettuce and beets coming up where Sabrina planted them a month ago.  Anyone who wants some free sunflower, cosmos or marigold seeds should stop by to help for a few minutes . . . .

This afternoon, I'll be enjoying the rain by cleaning house, doing laundry, canning tomatoes and making soup . . . . .