Tuesday, July 29, 2014

IT'S ABOUT TIME TO POST SOMETHING!

Summer got away without keeping the blog updated. Here's a quick synopsis:
corn sprouts, corn thieves, empty holes, painted tires, more spray paint, purple tree, "this is me!", my boundaries, blooms, thistles, cool summer, replanting, no hail!, conflict resolution, blooms, bees & butterflies, shifting gears, fairy garden, laughter, water, snacks, discussions, toad in a bucket...

















Wednesday, June 4, 2014

It's Begun!

This morning we started our summer of Hands for Growing. This was a day of introduction - meeting each other and "meeting" the garden.

We started with a weather forecast hanging over our heads that included hail and high winds.We decided to plant seeds, put the tomato buckets together and save the bedding plants for next week. (The forecast changed later in the morning, no hail. Whew!)













Corn got planted and watered...














We put together buckets for the tomatoes. The theory is that the towel strips that extend through the soil, through a hole into the bottom bucket will wick up the water from bottom bucket, thereby keeping the tomatoes watered for a couple of days on their own.
Time will tell.....



Here are the completed buckets, with hail screens. 


 We added fresh soil to last year's lasagna garden, and found a couple of green onions that over-wintered.

Now the bed contains seeds for peppers, beans, chives and cucumbers. Mmmmmmmm!

The last piece on our introduction day was to complete an instrument that identifies character traits. By knowing more about ourselves and about each other we can understand some behaviors we do and see.  The more we know and understand about ourselves and others, the easier it is to build healthy relationships!

So, a good morning! Next week: paint and plant tire planter and plant the rest of the bedding plants. We'll look at what makes a good foundation for the garden  and for relationships.

For those who registered but weren't able to be there, we look forward to seeing you next week!

Monday, June 2, 2014

Here we go! The garden is ready and waiting for us. 
Tomorrow we meet at 9. We'll begin getting to know each other, and to know the garden. 





Here are some of the plants waiting to meet the garden, also.












There are seeds, too. Lots of them. AND, mesh to protect the seedlings from rabbits...who are already there, just like they're waiting for us to get some food for them.

Lark Bunting Columbine
                                    The garden 
Iris
has set out the welcome mat for us with blooms on some of the perennials. Can't wait to get going! Growing our beautiful garden and growing healthy relationships!
Catmint


Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Summer 2014

Next Tuesday, June 3, we start our summer program! If you go out to the garden now, you'll see quite a disaster area. The weeds are especially happy for the time being. We cleaned it out a few weeks ago, of course the weeds rushed back, so yesterday we cleaned some more, and put in some compost.

There's still a lot to be done before Tuesday, but we're hopeful!

There's a large tree branch laying in the garden - not refuse - but a part of one of our projects for the summer. Next Tuesday you'll see orange buckets...another project. If you're joining us this summer, bring your ideas and Pinterest picks! 

If you're going into 7th-9th grade come and join us! We also love having adults work with us. (We do require a background check and basic safe environment training for adults.)

Come for experimenting, the joy of seeing things grow, learning, playing, snacking and just plain having fun.

It's time to get busy growing a healthy garden and healthy relationships!

Questions? Call Pat at 254-2828.

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

The Perennial Question

The official Hands for Growing summer program is complete for the year, today is the first day of school - and the garden is looking better than ever! 

This is the perennial question - what do we do with the fact that the garden continues to grow and produce after the program is done?

Participants and families are invited to continue going out to the garden to care for it, and to pick anything and everything that's ready. But, when school starts, life changes. There is a new focus and it takes a lot of energy and time.

Relationships, too, change and grow. Sometimes life causes peoples' focus and energy to change, and the question becomes, what happens to the relationship? Of course, there is no one right answer, and often, no easy answer.

In the meantime, here are pictures from the garden this morning. Enjoy!
Potato plants are bloomin


The corn is soooo close to being ready!

Do you see the pumpkin nestled in there?

Beans going up the pole



You have to see the sunflowers in person to
 appreciatate how tall they are!
Lots of tomatoes coming on

Bee balm and Zebra grass


Our funny spiderwort that is blooming
at an unusual time.

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Celebrate!
Aug. 8

Explaining the lasagna garden
After painting in the morning and watching the rain pour down in the afternoon, we met at 6 in the evening for an ice cream social with families.

It was windy at first, and the sky looked ominous for a bit, but the weather calmed down and it was a beautiful evening.








It's fun to show off the garden to family members.
We had family members from Texas!



Looking at the plants with animal names
The Lamb's Ear is so soft!


 
































And then....there was ice cream!

Papa knows how to have ice cream and all the fixin's
This "special" combines the best of the
bowl and the cone.




















We have one more Wednesday morning to meet before school starts. It's been a great summer of fun and learning. And even though we will be done with our Wednesday mornings, the garden will continue to produce so families are encouraged to come out and reap the benefits!
Choices
Aug. 7

Today we played in the paint! We painted the box for the lasagna garden, and the choice for color was....a mix!                                                       The preferred choice for painting...spray paint.                                                                                                                                                                                            We were a small crew, but the painting got done quickly...and with no paint on each other!
                                                                                                       The hardest part was working in the sunflowers to get the north side of the box painted.                                                                                                                                                                                                 When it was done, it was fun to see how much it brightened up that part of the garden
Since the box got done so quickly we had a chance to finally paint some tire planters that didn't get done last year.


In the afternoon we had some hard rain, but it didn't affect the paint, so we were ready to go for the ice cream social in the evening.

After the painting we played a game called "Would You Rather". The game consists of statements in which each person has a choice to make. Some are easy, some difficult, some serious and some funny. A couple of examples are:

"Would you rather be invisible or be able to fly?"
"Would you rather dress like your parents or act like your parents?"

Most of the statements lead to explanations, discussion and many times, laughter.
After "Would You Rather" we talked about choices we make in relationships. We talked about the value of making some basic choices, or setting your boundaries, before a situation comes up in a relationship. It's easier to make some of those choices when you have time to think it through, and maybe talk about it with someone else. Then, in the pressure of the moment you don't have to be struggling to weigh pros and cons. 

We talked about anger and the fact that it is an emotion that is part of being human. Every one gets angry sometimes, what makes a difference is the choice you make in how you act as a result. It's been said that anger is an emotion, violence is a choice. If someone makes the choice to be violent it is their responsibility, not the responsibility of the person they act violently toward. 

When a person you are in a relationship becomes violent, you have choices to make, too, to keep yourself safe. 

Here's a great, easy to read list of choices a person can make about how to handle anger:

 http://www.phoenix-society.org/downloads/resources/uses_for_anger_20130520_125233_22.pdf