Slow, Hot, Day

Today was hot and humid!  A few volunteers canceled on me today due to the heat, and one went home early because it was just too hot to work outside for long.  I don't blame any of them as it was close to 90 outside, and very humid with no wind!  But, I did accomplish quite a bit of weeding in the pumpkins today. I have no photo to share.  Sorry.  I blame the heat for my forgetting to snap a quick photo.

My only volunteer of the evening helped pull all the weeds out of the end of the cabbage row. We have landscape fabric in the first half of this row, so the end of the row is more of a challenge to weed.  But it looks beautiful now.

The First Delivery to the Community

All the produce grown in the Victory Garden goes into Gleaners Community Food Bank, and from there out into the community.  We stock the shelves at the Shared Harvest Pantry, and we share with other food pantries in the community as well.  Some food pantries have a garden growing for them, but not all, so we like to ensure all pantries have some produce.  We also share with our partner agencies, take produce to special events, and then we deliver produce to some targeted areas where we know our low income residents are living or going to for services etc.

Today I took a small delivery to a local mobile home park.  While I was dropping of the produce a young boy asked if he could have some strawberries.  (He did not want the sugar snap peas)  His mother was very happy to have freshly harvested strawberries, and she even took a small container of peas home to try.  I call that a successful delivery!

2\42 Community Church & June Servefest

Today the garden hosted a group from 2\42 Community Church. This is usually an awesome bunch of volunteers, and we accomplish a great deal while having some fun at the same time.  The early birds were lucky and managed to help harvest strawberries and peas.  This is a job that most kids love, and luckily my first few cars to arrive were families with all too willing kids.

Next we set about tackling the weeds amongst the winter squash.  These rows have not been touch yet this season, and the weeds were large and thick.  Groups set up in the rows and began to liberate the weeds between my irrigation drip-tape.

I then had another eager volunteer run the rototiller and till up the weeds in the pathways.  (You can see him in red in the top right-hand side of this photo.)  You can also see, in the left foreground, where, last week, I used the hoe and cleared out some weeds.  However it started raining before I got too far on this row, and I was forced to stop.

By the end of our session the winter squash looked pretty good.  The volunteers had weeded around and between the squash plants, and the rototilling had taken care of most of the weeds in the walkways.

There was just one row that was not weeded completely, but we did manage to remove the weeds around the squash plants so that they could get a bit more sun. I'll have to have volunteers get to that row later.

While some were working on the squash, others were removing weeds in the tomato row. 

 

There were a few working on each side of the row and before long the entire row was free from weeds.

And just because it was (finally) a beautiful day, I thought I'd share some photos of the flowers maintained by the Brighton Garden Club.  They look so pretty right now, as they welcome everyone into the garden.

And Daisies - my favorite flower of all.  I'm glad these are here because they make me smile every time I pass them.

Finally, our new sign is up, and visible from US23!

Thank You Lake Trust Credit Union!

Lake Trust Credit Union contacted me a few weeks ago inquiring about making a donation to the Victory Garden.  Last May they had a group come out and help with early planting and garden set up.  In the course of the day the group learned about hunger in Livingston County, and how the Hunger Council and the Garden Network have worked to eliminate hunger and improve access to nutritious food throughout our county.  Lake Trust Credit Union believes in the mission of the Victory Garden, and their foundation presented Gleaners Community Food Bank with a check for $2,500 dollars for the Victory Garden!

We are so thankful for their support!  This donation will help the Victory Garden reach our goal of harvesting 12,000 pounds of produce this year. 

Pictured here, from right to left:  Keith Koppmeier, Director, Corporate Responsibility and Government Relations Lake Trust Credit Union; Bridget Green, Gleaners Community Food Bank; David Snodgrass, President & CEO Lake Trust Credit Union; Omari Taylor, Gleaners Community Food Bank; Rachelle Bonelli, Gleaners Community Food Bank; Kay Simmons, Gleaners Community Food Bank; Tracey Cholish, Gleaners Community Food Bank.

Rototilling Cucumbers and Melons

I do not usually work on Fridays, but today I went in for a few hours and rototilled in the Cucumber, Cantaloupe, and Watermelon rows.  They were a weedy mess, but today they are much better!  The volunteers were able to weed quite a few of the rows yesterday, and now the walkways are not so bad.

The Sun Came Out Today!

Today was a beautiful day in the garden, and we had a good turn out of volunteers to help us.  The 5th grade Girls Scout troop had about 6 girls come out and help today.  They harvested a bunch of strawberries and then helped us weed a bit.

Another family came out and help me finish the trellis for the pole beans.  It is finished just in time too, because those beans are really growing with the rain and sunshine!  We had to encourage a few plants to grab on to the trellis, but most sensed that support and began climbing with little encouragement from us!

The group from Excel came out today and continued working on their row.  We put us some stakes to support their pole beans, and added some stakes for their tomato and pepper plants too.  Their day was finished off by weeding. 

And finally, some hard core volunteers and I began weeding the cucumbers and cantaloupe plants.  I'm going to run the rototiller in the walkway tomorrow. 

Peppers and Eggplant Row

I had a volunteer come out this evening and help me with the peppers and eggplant row.  We're making some progress! And let me tell you it was wet!

Wash Day!

I feel like reciting the Nursery Rhyme Three Little Kittens!

I have a small number of tools and gloves to share with volunteers at the garden.  However, with all the rain we have had lately the gloves get very dirty, and basically gross.  So every few weeks I bring home the dirty, used gloves and wash them.  Today was that day.  I washed a few dozen pairs of gloves, and then hung them up to dry.

"Oh mother dear, we sadly fear, our mittens we have lost!"

"What! Lost your mittens!  Now you shall have no pie!"  (or purple beans!)

Rainy Tuesday

Look, that yellow amongst the green are flowers on this zucchini plant!  I guess that means we might have a zucchini soon!  That is the good news to report.

The bad news is that it has been raining so much that not many volunteers are coming out to play in the mud and rain!  (don't really blame them!)  The weeds are very happy and the few brave souls that are coming out are fighting off the weeds, but ...

If you look around there are an awful lot of weeds still growing.

Working on the pumpkins.  They are still weedy in some rows, but we're getting there.

But we got the trellis almost all the way up today, so our pole beans will have something to climb up now.

And our beans are looking really good - it helps when the row is adopted, because this means teams come out twice a week to work on the row.

This row of beans is adopted too, but no one has come out yet, so my regular volunteers are keeping on top of the weeds here.

And the eggplant and peppers are slowly becoming weed free.

Also, I received some flower pots the other day.  Now I have a little bit of decoration around the new shed!  I love it!

Waiting Out the Rain

It has been raining a lot lately.  Today I have been periodically seeking shelter under my new shed's roof as I wait for these short rain bursts to end.

Have I mentioned that I'm very thankful for this shed?  And yes, this is only one small reason why I'm thankful.

The New Shed is Finished!

Last summer I met Reid Shinabarker, a Boy Scout looking for an Eagle Scout project.  He was very interested in building a shed for the Victory Garden. It was a very big project, but the Livingston Sunrise Rotary in Howell was going to help and we all felt that together it could be done.

Reid broke ground late last summer, and he worked all fall into rain and snow.  This spring he returned and Continued work.  And today it was officially  finished, complete with the eagle weather vane placed atop the roof.  I cannot tell you how hard this young man worked last fall and this spring to finish this major project.

I also cannot tell you how wonderful this shed is, and how helpful to our program it has been to have a large, well constructed, well placed shed where volunteers can gather and supplies can be easily stored.

Thank you Reid, and everyone else that contributed to this wonderful project!

Girl Scouts, Excel, and more volunteers!

We had a lot of volunteers in the garden today!  (Which is good because the weeds are growing with all the rain we've  had!)  The 5th grade Girl Scout troop from Brighton came in a harvested strawberries and then helped me weed a row of beans.  They are such a great group of girls (and one brother) that happily help out where ever I need it. 

The Girl Scouts have even taken on a couple of side jobs, and are helping to collect produce containers and make sit-a-pons for use in the garden.  These cute little items will help keep volunteers dry and clean when they sit down to weed, or harvest.  And the handle is oh so handy too!  I'm rather excited to have these for the volunteers to use!

I had another volunteer put in stakes for the peppers and eggplants, finally.  You can see in this photo how bad our weed problem is this year.  This rain is killing me!!  This row is adopted, but every day the group is scheduled to come in it has been raining.  We're weeding it for them now!

Today we got a good jump on the beans, weeding the fist 50' of both rows.  Both these rows are adopted, but the rain has prevented folks from coming out.  Yes, its been wet this past week!

I also helped the Excel group plant up the row they are growing.  They have tomatoes, peppers, cabbage, sunflowers, cucumbers, purple pole beans, radishes, and beets.  And they are very excited to watch everything grow!

The peas have started to flower, and I should be able to harvest some next week. 

Another volunteer and I put up the stakes for the pole beans.  This row is adopted by the Sunrise Rotary.  We started making the trellis today, but ran out of time before we could finish the job.

Here is the pumpkin rows I worked on earlier in the week.  I need to pull the weeds in two more rows, but the walkways are all tilled up.

Finally, some of the flower seeds we planted last week have started to come up.  You can see a few of them below the sign - those leggy looking things will soon be colorful flowers.  More flowers for the bees to enjoy and for the volunteers to enjoy as well.

New Partnership: Excel Employment Options

Last week I received a phone call asking about gardening and volunteer opportunities for a local non-profit organization, Excel Employment Options.  This non-profit organization provides employment, vocational education, and social activities for adults with disabilities.  When I met with a representative we quickly realized this was an opportunity for a fantastic partnership.

We now have two groups coming out weekly to the Victory Garden to learn gardening skills, and to help out their community.  One group  has adopted a row of eggplant and peppers. Each week they will help weed and maintain this row, and eventually harvest the produce and transport it into Gleaners Community Food Bank in Howell.

The second group is renting a row to grow their own produce.  They will come out each week and learn how to nurture these plants and eventually harvest them.  The harvests from this row will be used in their cooking classes ... and then eaten.  What better way to enjoy the fruits of your labor than to share with others while learning new skills.

Today we planted tomatoes, peppers, cabbage, purple pole beans, zucchini, cucumbers, and beets.  We had a nice lesson in different seeds and how to plant all these different plants.  And we enjoyed a laugh or two along the way.

90 Degrees, and Rototilling

 

It has been hot and humid the past two days, but today it was over 90 outside. My volunteers thought it was too hot as well, as they either rescheduled due to the heat, or left quickly because it was too much for them. 

I figured the heat and sun were a good thing for rototilling; the weeds would die quickly in the heat. So I tilled up all 6 pumpkin rows.

And then hand pulled the grass around the pumpkin hills and between the irrigation lines.

It looks so much better now!  I still have some more to do, but this is manageable.

And I'll leave you with a peak of my cantaloupe plants.  They are growing fast too!  Keep cool everyone!

We've Had Rain Followed By Sun

It rained last week, and this weekend.  And in between the sun came came out and shined brightly.  (They were some beautiful days!)  But the weeds in the garden grew about two inches since last I was in the garden.  I'm not kidding either.  Especially in the pumpkin rows; those rows are all new this year so there are more seeds in the ground and the grass is going crazy.  I knew this would be an issue this year, and part of the reason I chose to grow pumpkins there rather than beans or tomatoes where I would have to be walking the rows daily.  So today I spent a good deal of time hoeing the weeds and keeping things in control.  I may need to break out the tiller tomorrow however, because that grass is thick in spots.

Another volunteer has adopted two of the butternut squash rows, and she did a really  nice job hoeing the weeds out of those two rows.  It looks so nice!  This was the last row in the garden last year (Row 24) and the grass is not so bad here.

Upon looking around I noticed that the zucchini has sprouted.  This row is adopted by a mother and daughter.  They should be a big help keeping up with the zucchini harvests in July and August.

The Sunrise Rotary has adopted this short row of pole beans; they are purple too!  I need to get the stakes put in here so the plants can start climbing.  I imagine it will only be another week before they start climbing away.

This is another row of bean adopted by a small group from 2\42 Community Church, I call them Team R&R.  I sent three sisters out to weed the Rotary's row so I could put the stakes in there, and they chose to weed this row instead because it needed it more.  No problem; I'm sure Team R&R appreciates the help!

We also harvested 26 pounds of strawberries today.  That is a lot of strawberries.  I have no photo, unfortunately.  But trust me, that is a lot.  And we are in need of more produce containers, so if you happen to eat strawberries or other produce that comes in a plastic container, please do not throw it away or put in your recycle bin.  Bring them the Victory Garden and let us put them to very good re-use!!