Hi All,
Oh my gosh this time change…Tod and I started watching Netflix’s Frankenstein on Friday night and I fell asleep about halfway through it, by like 7:40pm! The next night…same thing! We finally got to finish it yesterday afternoon before I got sleepy, lol!!! (for anyone who likes movies like that it was well done, Guillermo del Toro’s movies are always a sight to watch!) Yesterday morning Tod and I kept it low key and got out on another Sycamore outing because we were both feeling pretty wiped out. This time of year is always hard with the time change and the sun setting earlier and earlier each day! Friday was our 1st 2 hour shift due to the sun setting earlier…but we got a lot done!!!
Last week in the garden Sandia and Kaiser were both back in the garden! In a combined effort they helped us to get 3 of the long AB beds out back prepped and one of the M beds done-moving almost 14,000# of compost in getting it all done! During their time out there both crews worked on harvesting teeny tiny little chili peppers from the branches gleaned out of beds AB34 & K05, over 11# of chili peppers went to St. Bart’s and Open Heart Kitchen’s pantries! Sandia also helped us to get 2 beds planted with over 384 plants getting in the ground!
Pleasanton Transition and Kaleidoscope were out helping us to size reduce the tomato branches from the week before, as well as the branches from the Tuesday/Wednesday crews, helping us to save time when gleaning them out to get to prepping the beds right away.. Pleasanton Transition took the dirty gloves that were piling up to clean them all for us! We did end up having to clean a small load ourselves but we will have the clean gloves back today!
Over 9 batches of fertilizer were mixed up this past week! That is because not only did the 4 beds that Sandia and Kaiser got prepped but 2 beds were prepped by the Saturday AM/PM shift, another bed done by the Saturday AM shift, the Friday shift got 2 beds prepped, Wednesday got another bed prepped and Tuesday another bed prepped! A total of 11 beds were prepped for planting our Winter veggies! On top of Sandia & Kaiser’s 14,000# of compost, another over 20,000# of compost was moved to finish the other 7 beds! That is ALOT of wheelbarrows full of compost my friends!!! Now you all understand why we call it a gym workout!
Including the 2 beds Sandia planted we got a total of 9 beds done this week. Cabbages, broccolis, cauliflowers, chard, bok choy, garlic AND ONIONS! Yes, the onions are in, they were delivered on Thursday! Two beds have already been planted; one with over 300 Florence on Friday, the red torpedo onion, and another with over 100 Red Burger on Saturday! We have Merlin, Walla Walla and White as well! If I am remembering correctly, we only have another ~7,600 more onions to go (some will be going in to the school gardens!!!)!
Brenda grabbed a crew on Saturday morning and got the tomato cages sorted. This year we are trying to sort the tomato cages that are staying hooked from the tomato cages that have the tomato clips holding them together. The cages with the clips need the clips taken off and then laid within one another. The cages that are hooked together will be the ones we pile on to one another for the birds to use as protection from the raptors during the Winter months.
Over 760# of produce was sent in to the pantries last week with another almost 200# waiting to head in on Tuesday! An added thank you to DP & CB for harvesting for Culinary Angels on Friday!
Thank you one and all for continuing to help us in the garden!
Take care
Lori