Hi All,
Aditi’s last working shift was this past Saturday. On her first day of work she had me take a picture of her next to the Fertile Groundworks sign out front. Little did I know it would end up on the cover of her yearbook she created! Always an intentional being she brought that with her every day in the garden. From day one she was present in everything she did; from learning how to complete the chores the way we need them done in the garden to teaching the volunteers exactly what she learned. So much life was brought in with Aditi’s presence; we all celebrated her success in getting in to Stanford and most mornings I would catch her coming in to the garden to work directly from a short run she took beforehand which I always found inspirational! Never one to back down from any challenge, when Brenda asked her if she wanted to learn how to drive the tractor she jumped at the chance and her final work day in the garden she spent on the tractor hauling wood chip in to help cover the tomato cage area and half way around the Big Hoop House. Aditi’s mighty presence in the garden is going to be missed but we know she is meant for much bigger things to come in her life! I speak for us all Aditi when I say, we send you away with much love and all of our best wishes to carry you along your path! We do look forward to seeing you back in the garden when you get a chance, especially to catch us up on what you will have been up to!!!
Ok, before I start crying…last week in the garden;
Blue Oaks Church was back out! An amazing crew! There was a small cadre of ladies who helped me out front with cleaning labels for our future seed plantings! They worked the magic erasers we had into little itty bits you could no longer work with! The rest of the crew worked diligently with Aditi, Enrique & Karina in clearing out the Tomato Cage area, setting cardboard down in the same area, along the Western side of the Big Hoop House and then covering all that with wood chip! It is always our pleasure to have Blue Oaks Church help us with all they do!!!!
ELM was out last week helping Kelly in the garden. The day before they were out a crew of volunteers had started weeding out the Produce Washing Area and ELM came in to finish it off! They also helped Kelly to rake even the area that way when we place the cardboard down we don’t have these huge air pockets that become trip hazards because you think you are walking on a flat surface!
The Orchard work has been pretty quiet these past few weeks. There was a leak found by a Blue Oaks Church volunteers. They helped Brenda and Aditi to fix that and I got to learn that each emitter gives out 1 gallon of water per hour while observing them! The Berry Patch is in need of help so DB has been over there wrapping the berry branches around the wire that holds them off the ground. The Worm Bin right next door to the patch was fed again and given more water due to the heat we are expecting! The Compost Area also got some attention when the Little Hoop House was cleared out of any old pots that were leftover with soil in them-went right in to Compost Bin #3. As long as we keep feeding these bins they will produce compost for us in the end!
The 3 Sisters beds were planted with the squash & beans and two other beds were direct sown with either a beet/carrot combo or a radish/carrot combo. There are quite a few more beds we are hoping to get finished off tomorrow with these combos. The carrots are planted with the beets & radishes to remind us where we planted them…the carrots sprout first and are easily distinguishable! With Friday being so hot out the seeds that did start sprouting got some extra watering from our die hard volunteers!
The Potting Shed was finished being organized! PB was the catalyst for helping us start and finish that project up. Please help us help her to keep it organized!
Weeding and weeding, never ending out in the garden! JA took it upon himself to weed out the East side of the Big Hoop House of all the weeds that stood stood taller than most of us! Lance learned how to spray the bindweed with the vinegar sprayer and was back at it the other day!
Squash plants, tomatoes and cucumbers continue being tied back to keep them off the ground. Kelly walked through the large AB beds and pulled the squash plants out of the paths so they do not get walked on. If ever you find a squash bed growing in to the paths please take them off the path and place in to the beds. If you are unable to do so please let us know so we can get someone on it!
TE made 85 poles for bed/tree signs! He also created the signs that will be going on them…thank you TE!!!
You all also made sure that 246# of produce Madde it in to our local food pantries!
Thank you everyone for what you take care of in the garden!
Take care
Lori