Hi All,
In the garden last week;
Kaiser was back out and helping in the garden. We are now heading in to bed prepping season and this crew jumped right in! They got to work gleaning, weeding, forking, fertilizing, composting, shake & baking and then planting both beds! A14 got 62 Cascade collards & 30 Winwin greens and bed N08 got 65 Tats greens & 48 Michili cabbage planted in them. Thank you so much Kaiser Crew for helping us get 2 beds prepped!
Leif’s Crew was out and pulling up Crab grass as well as sheet mulching the path in front of bed AB10. Laura’s Crew was out and continued helping to sheet mulch the same area. They also took the dirty gloves back to school to clean and pair up. Kaleidoscope continued the sheet mulching and also gleaned & weeded bed M11 so the next crew could come in and prep it. Thank you all for coming to help in the garden!
Another 3 beds were prepped, that is including bed M11, and 2 of them were planted. Bed A06 was planted with radish & carrot seeds and bed ARB1 was planted with more Winwin greens. Bed P14 was replanted since the mustard plants that were planted there a few weeks ago did not make it through whatever pest decided they weren’t too spicy for them to eat!
In the P beds leaks were fixed, garden wide tomato cages were uprighted, in the expansion trees were inventoried and the Orchard was sprayed for spider mites. Gopher traps were set throughout the garden, sheet mulching continued up front by the Office, Irrometer work continued and D01 had its trellis removed for future bed prep!
It was a light harvest last week due to the gala but you all still got over 170# of produce to send in to our neighbors!
Thank you all for helping us!
Getting ready for the gala;
Friday afternoon shift saw us harvesting veggies for the gala table baskets. PL came out to help both Friday afternoon and Saturday morning! Saturday morning we had everyone harvesting tomatoes for the tomato tasting that night. Nice fresh picked tomatoes for our celebrants to taste and bring home with them! NCL was out Saturday afternoon to help us finish getting ready for the gala and help us bring everything to the winery. They got right to work separating the seeds from the plants in order to package them up for the tables, our Milkweed and Dill! The next part of the crew came in and got the veggies sorted for the baskets, over 250# to share at the gala. They did a great job sorting things out and using our best looking veg for the tables! There were some squash “boats” that they got to take home with them for making bread! Tod came out and loaded everything up in our van, everyone took off for the winery and then helped us unpack and get everything placed out for the gala! Thank you NCL for always having our back each year! We always enjoy your company and getting to work with you all!
The gala was a success! I had brought along with me the cage that had the new Queen for our North hive to share with one of our wonderful donors, JK, but ended up sharing it with the whole table I was at thanks to the gentleman sitting next to me! He was curious about the cage and had a feeling it was about the bees AND ha so many great questions!!! Thanks to those questions the entire table leaned in to listen so everyone got to hear about it, made for a nice time at the table!
Lance did an amazing job leading the Tomato Tasting tables! He shows up every year to keep the taste buds of everyone there tantalized all night long with the different varieties! Over 300# was on offer for neighbors to taste and bring home with them! Aditi came out to offer her help at the table, Enrique Garcia was there to help him as well as DP & CB! DP had flyers out for her online preserving class she is teaching. I’ll see if I can get the links to offer up to you all!
We also had CB, ER, KB and VW volunteering at the event! They all helped with set up, auction items and answering any questions guests may have had. Amy and VW manned the bed sponsorship table and also sold over half of the honey we had jarred up this year! Oh, and the Bee Experience at the auction went to our Tuesday volunteer, KB, and her Hubby! It seemed only fitting since they were part of my inspiration for offering it up!
Brenda did a great job filling everyone in on the ground squirrel antics happening in the garden, which most people were able to relate to since it was happening everywhere this year! Jeff Kasky as always did a fine job of MCing the auction items! Set up and the evening all ran smoothly thanks to all our coordinators and volunteers working in the background!!! McGrail Vineyards was as beautiful as ever and offered up a spectacular sunset as everyone enjoyed their dinner!
A quote from one of our “Rain or Shine” volunteers;
“Brenda and Lori, I thought your talk last evening was really really special. It was good for everyone to hear the story of this year’s struggles and accomplishments , and to hear stories of all the different community groups that are growing the spirit of FGW. I felt really proud to have any small part of this big ol’ experiment of teaching, growing , and learning. The circle of love felt wider because of the two of you. I really appreciate y’all” MB
There is probably so much more to say and people to acknowledge! Please do know we appreciate the effort of everyone leading up to, during and after the gala! Yes, after, because as soon as it ends the crew starts planning for next year!
Thank you to all who helped in any way, shape or form to make this event a success!
Take care
Lori