Working at the Shelter

Our Third Thursday (charity) Group furnished food for our local homeless shelter yesterday.  We brought Sloppy Joe's, chips, fruit cocktail, and chocolate chip cookies.  I served the cookies!  It was a very interesting experience.  There were a lot of kids.  I had brought glittery bags with a coloring book, crayons, and a little year calendar.  I brought 3 more bags than requested and could have given away 5 or 6 more.
The range of people that came for supper was kind of surprising.  Of course, there were people there who looked completely defeated.  They looked down, wouldn't talk and just sat, ate and left.  There were also people there who came in great clothes with their phones, Ipods, and expensive shoes.  Many had cigarettes.

There were old people and young people.  Pregnant and single mothers.  So many attitudes, so many different kinds of people.  Many people thanked us.  Many ignored us, taking their food and getting to a table as quickly as possible.  Some wore many layers of clothing, some smelled, some looked so happy and some looked so sad.

It would be easy to judge them, to say, oh, they can afford cigarettes but not food?  But, I wasn't there for that, and it wouldn't have been fair to only see what they presented.

I read an article yesterday on the Internet.  I am currently following a blog about a man who has decided to simplify his life by living in a  small motor home and traveling around the country.  In a side piece was an article about how to live in your car.  It was all about how to survive.  If you are going to loose your home, this gave you tips on what you needed, should keep, get rid of and be safe as you live in your car.  I was surprised at how many of the diners yesterday could have fit that article.

It made me more aware of the importance of community/personal gardens.  Not that I am the greatest gardener, or know everything.  But I have had gardens of all sorts all my life.  Food and gardens brings so many people together.  And it helps.  Why not turn a weedy or grass covered place into a garden?  Gardens help the soul as well as the body.    According to the Bible, we started in a garden.  So they can't be bad, right?

End of Summer!

Well, I went the entire summer without writing a single post.  I should be ashamed!  My  gardens are almost empty, the remaining peppers plants and broccoli plants have survived minor frosts and the threat of frosts and are still bearing fruit!  My greens and cold plants are doing well also.  The onions that did not do well this summer are suddenly sprouting even though I thought I pulled them all.  So in a bit I should have some new onions.

Over all, I consider this a learning summer.  Just like last winter my hydroponics was a learning experience as well.  I still plan on increasing my beds next summer because I am going to make some big changes in how I plant.

For this fall, I plant on filling the beds with leaves and then spreading some horse manure on top and maybe in the very early spring, covering them with black plastic.  I also have bins of garden and kitchen waste sitting out behind my shed in the hopes that when I open them in the spring, they will be compost.

I planted my first bed with peas, lettuce, Swiss chard, kale, cabbage and onions.  My peas were great.  My lettuce, excellent.  I am still picking Swiss chard and kale (and freezing it).  My cabbage did sort of alright.  Some more than others.  I think that there was a lack of sun and maybe some overcrowding.  The onions would have done better and probably the cabbage as well.

I almost forgot, I also planted carrots and beets.  Beets did not do well and the carrots, well a few were very nice but most, not so much.

My two 4 x 12 beds were also kind of interesting.  My green beans did outstanding.  I was picking a lot and eating them every day.  My peppers were quickly overshadowed by the tomatoes and beans.  Egg plant, boo hiss!  My basil did very well.  Tomatoes, who knows?  I completely messed up with them.  Like I said it was a learning experience.

I never did get the tomatoes staked.  I went everywhere and no one had any garden netting in my town.  So by the time I decided I would stake them with cages, it was way too late.  As a result, I lost tons of tomatoes because it was a mess getting in there and they were all being eaten as they sat on the ground.    What I did learn is that next year the tomatoes will be in their own beds and will be staked the day they are planted!

Because I started so many plants the spring in my basement, I was thinking of adding beds.  But I wasn't sure how the beds would do because of the nearby tree.  I had it trimmed last fall and was hoping that it was enough to allow my garden to grow, but until I was sure, I didn't want to over do it in the yard.  So one day I was visiting my sister's restaurant and there on her stage were about 10 5 gallon buckets with lids.  So I brought them home and with the help of my grandson, we drilled holes in the bottoms and filled them with dirt.  I planted some squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, pole beans, cherry tomatoes, and basil.

My daughter liked the idea so much she got a bunch of buckets and planted them with lettuce, broccoli, tomatoes, cucumbers and a green pepper.

Now, I had mixed results with my buckets, too.  The green pole beans went crazy!  My cherry tomatoes went crazy!  My basil loved the buckets.  The 5 cucumbers I got were round!  So were my daughter's.  My squash kept falling off the vines and my tomatoes just turned brown and died.  My daughter's lettuce was great and she got brocoli and beans.  Not much on her pepper and her tomatoes did do better than mine.

In the process of driving one day, I found another city yard full of buckets and beds.  I returned to his yard several times and have decided next spring I will actually park my car and go talk to him.  His tomatoes were all in buckets in cages (self made out of fencing).

I also put a couple of thorn-less blackberries in some buckets.  I am not sure how I feel about them, though.  Garden Girl on You Tube said she had hers in containers, but I am worried about them over the winter.  I will probably move them into the shed for a little bit more protection from our Michigan Winter.  In the spring, not sure if I will keep them in buckets or plant them somewhere in my yard.

I am also considering have the tree cut down.  I do have more trees in my yard, my front yard has 2 large maples and I have a maple next to my house.  My neighbors all have large trees (this is an old neighborhood) so my actual house will still get shade, but removing this monster will open up my back yard enough so that I can actually get enough sun for my gardens.

So, now I will spend the winter thinking about my yard.  Planning what I will put in the beds and where I will put my new beds.

I have plants

My onions have sprouted, my lettuce has sprouted, my cabbages are beginning to sprout, and my little tomato plants are just beginning to peek out of the soil. The sun has been out (okay, lots of sun but FREEZING temperatures). I started shopping for the ingredients for Mel's mix. I found the peat moss, the vermiculite in bulk, but no one had compost. Not Lowes, not any of our local nurseries. So I put it on Facebook and right down the street from me was a tree service and they had compost and they delivered and it was cheap! I ordered two yards and he delivered it and dumped it this morning. I waited until it warmed up (41 degrees) then went out and began to fill my first bed. It took many wheelbarrow loads through my front yard, through my walk through garage, through my bad yard and then into the bed. Before I put the compost in, I laid down a layer of newspapers, then garden fabric. Then I emptied the bags of leaves into the bottom of the bed. I dumped compost on top of this, then the peat moss, then the vermiculite, Then a couple of bags of manure (sheep and cow). I mixed it all up. I need to put a little bit of compost on top of it and mix again. Then I need to do the other box. So far, I have 2 12x4 beds, a 3 x 6 bed left over from last year. It was my experiment. There is also a 3 x 4 bed up by my patio. I want to put a fifth box by my shed. I need to put something there because it looks such a mess. It gets some shade during the day and has always been like a cooler spot then the rest of the yard. Maybe because the eaves of the shed hang out over the area. If I leave a space between the bed and the side of the shed, then it might get enough sun to work as a cool veg garden. Like a place for greens. I have almost all of my seeds now. I am missing kidney beans. I started broccoli and hot peppers today oh, and Lime Basil. I need to start rosemary this week and I would really like to get more basil and start that. Maybe some lemon basil and regular basil. I am really wondering if I should plant my peas before I leave for Florida on Friday. It is so cold still and next week it is only going to be in the 40s. But everything I read says to plant. So probably I will plant. The bed up by my patio is crazy. Last year I threw lettuce, spinach and swiss chard seed randomly into it. It was full of vegies all summer. Well, when I raked the old stuff off of it yesterday, I found that the swiss chard was growing back! Several plants. I should be happy, but I don't want them there. That is going to be my kitchen herb garden. If I move them out, will I kill them, or should I just kill them and plant new ones. I hate to kill plants. Not weeds, I really don't' care about them. But this is swiss chard that survived a Michigan winter filled with ice and snow and horrible temperatures. Maybe I will just plant them in a bucket and see what happens. Since I stopped my hydroponics in the basement, I am going to move my garden plants downstairs under the grow lights until I get home. That should keep them happy. I need to get those watering bulbs though so they don't dry out. So much to do! I really hope the by the time I return from Florida that it will be warmer! My tulips and daffodils are growing and my lillies are starting to appear. Iris, also is sending up shoots. I have so much yard work to do, painting my pergola, mulching around my beds, painting the shed, getting my trees trimmed. I will be thinking about all of it as I lay on the beach all next week!

What a day! I am exhausted. Yesterday I went to Lowes and bought 4 16' 2X12s. Then I asked them to cut 4' off of each one. That way I could make 2 4 X 12 raised beds for my gardens this year. This morning, I met Carrie and her clan at the Bone and we had breakfast. Jamie asked to borrow my drill, so I made him a deal. He would screw all my beds together and he could take my drill. So he came over and he, Edward and I built my two raised bed garden boxes. They look great!

Then I had to run errands and finally ended up at Carrie's house. She had been raking leaves and dead grass and had several piles. I bagged up 5 garbage bags of leaves and brought them home. I figure that I can put them into my beds and not have to buy so much fill for my boxes. Plus I have leaves here that I need to rake up. Hopefully tomorrow.

For a split second I debated on whether or not I should put my beginning kitchen veg scraps compost into it as well, but with the critters around here, I don't want anything digging up my garden and I really don't want to upset my neighbors. I can just imagine what they would say if they found all my old banana peels laying in a path through their yard.

So I am looking out at my two new raised garden beds and I just bet my neighbors are looking out at them as well, wondering what I am going to do this time!

Planting

Oh, it got so warm a week ago. Up near 70 degrees. The frogs were croaking like crazy! According to my mother-in-law, they have to croak once, then the cold comes back, then once they croak again, spring is here and warm temperatures are here to stay.

So now we are in an ice storm. My car was totally covered with ice when I got out of work tonight. It is cold.

So today I planted. I planted some tomato seeds and some pepper seeds. I bought those little cube things and planted 12 Roma and 18 Big Boy. Then 6 hot peppers and 12 green peppers. And just to make life a little interesting, I planted some garlic and onions in a window style planter.

I have been watching a new person on Youtube. He is praxxus55712 and has fantastic gardening information. He plants everything in his house and in raised beds. So I have been watching all his videos and getting lots of info. He inspired me to plant my garlic and I thought I would put in those onion sets, too. So we will see what happens.

I am picking my greens from my hydroponics system and when they are done, I think I will store it until next fall. Really, Praxxus seems to grow everything just as easily and cheaper than using hydroponics. So I may or may not use it next year.

Worm Stress!

I was so stressed over those darn worms! First they are crawling around like crazy then they disappear into the dirt and I never see them. Did I kill them? Why aren't they crawling on the sides of my tub attempting to escape? Have they all decided to resign them selves to the tub prison? Did they realize that resistance is futile?

I finally decided I didn't care. I put the tub on my porch and just kept tossing in vegetable and fruit scraps. If nothing else, I got a big start on my compost. This morning, there they were. Not crawling on the sides, but crawling through the food. Okay. I am happy they are not dead.

My sister owns a restaurant and I am starting to get lettuce and other fresh vegetable scraps from her. I figure by the time it is time to fill my raised beds I should have some good compost going. Once my buckets are almost full I am going to put manure in them and when I plant the buckets it should be good to go.

We have had a small taste of spring this week. I walked around my yard for a bit and checked out where I will be putting the raised beds. Because I don't really know what amount of sun will be hitting the different parts of my (small) yard, it is hard to gauge until the leaves show up. meanwhile, now I hear we are under a winter storm watch for Sunday and next Friday, we are supposed to get really hit. Booo. Hopefully, after this spring will start for real!

My hydroponic lettuce/spinach/kale in the basement is just about ready to start harvesting. I also have some microgreens growing in my living room. My friends are starting to call me a hippy. Ah well.

Saga of the Worms

Those darn worms. They continued to escape again and again. So I put them in a bucket that didn't have holes in the bottom. But the bucket wasn't big enough to hold all of them so I finally put them into a big tub. They seemed to like that. They crawled all over the sides of the tub leaving lots and lots of casings. Perfect!

But let me tell you about my house. I keep it cold. I keep the thermometer at 60'. I do have one of those new radient heaters in my living room. But I like the rest of my house cold. So my kitchen is cold. And that is where my worm bin is. And the worms seemed to like the temperature.

However, I had the bin near, very near the heat vent. I happened to get a cold last week and because I needed it, I turned up the temp. And forgot the bin was so close to the vent.

When I tossed in the celery ends, I noticed that there were only 3 worms crawling on the side of the tub. The rest were laying on the bottom, pretty sad looking. At first, I wasn't sure why they looked dead. I was telling my friend about them and suddenly realized that they were by the vent and I was cooking them.

I moved them to my porch for a couple of hours and then back into my kitchen after I turned the furnace back down. Finally, today there were more worms crawling around. Hurrah! I would have felt terrible if I had cooked them all!