Hi All,
Quiet weekend for me. Tod is still on his bird trip with the guys (he gets home tonight
) so I spent Sunday doing absolutely nothing:) OK, that’s not true, I did laundry, cleaned up a bit and then I did absolutely nothing, lol!!! I am learning how to enjoy days like that…it is hard for me to do but the more I practice it the better I am able to enjoy.
Last week it was a Kaleidoscope week! Kelly took half the crew and got the rest of bed L04 planted with the beans Kaleidoscope started 2 weeks ago! Once planted they watered them in as well as got them mulched with straw. The other half of the crew helped to get pots ready for planting, labels created for the pots and almost 200 okra seeds started! Everyone took turns either writing labels or starting seeds. Maybe when they come back out in 2 weeks they can help us plant the okra plants into the beds!
Stanford, Voya and Zeiss crews came out to help in the garden! The crews helped us to glean out 3 beds, helped get 4 prepped-mind you, 2 of them were our BIGGEST beds-N09 (got planted by the Saturday crew) & N13 (was planted today by York)! With their help we were also able to plant dill seeds in N11 & B15 (over 100 seeds), thyme plants in bed L04 (~24) and start over 200 seeds (okra, tomatillos, herbs & tomatoes)! They also helped harvest over 500lbs of produce and washed & packed it up for delivery!
Our Scout who has been working on the Bee Shed was out on Friday and Saturday to start installing the shed for our bee equipment! Friday him and his crew mapped out where the shed was going and Saturday they laid the foundation! His crew also laid cardboard and wood chip down under the shed’s foundation to help keep the weeds from growing up into the shed! He will be out the next few Saturdays to make our dream come true!
The new P beds got some love on Saturday from the afternoon shift we are piloting! Qaadira, Enrique M. & Enrique G. were out with YMSL, NCL & M.L. (one of our Friday regulars) to start weeding the area. Once we are finished weeding it will be time to start getting that area planted with pumpkins and greens! We have a few Jack O’ Lanterns left over from the plant sale we are going to grow and then donate to the schools in the fall:)
RB was back out with the Weed Annihilator and got the weeds packed down on the South and West side of the Orchard. It is a never ending story for RB but he is out there every week, Annihilator in hand, to help us keep those weeds at bay! Thank you RB! He got a little extra help this past Saturday from Kelly and 2 of our regular Saturday volunteers, JB & AW-they took their weed wackers and got the field wacked down! Thank you everyone!
The 50 volunteers not mentioned, you all kicked butt too! Over 300 plants went in to already prepped beds, almost 150 seeds were started and another 6 beds were gleaned, weed & prepped! Y’all also cleaned up beds that needed attention and weeded in areas that got missed. Orchard guys, you pruned up the trees in the front and helped with the gopher traps. Beds got straw mulched…was there more, yup, probably, so please let me know on your way out of the garden what you got done so it can make it in to our weekly Happy Notes:)
All those chores done and you harvested 543lbs of produce to send in to our neighbors! The harvest helps One Nation Dream Makers, Try-Valley Haven, Open Heart Kitchen, St. Bart’s Church and Culinary Angels!
Thank you all for your continued support in the garden:)
Take care
Lori