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.