It's November. Our first hard freeze was a couple of weeks ago, so this is our garden now. Mostly gone, BUT, look closely at some of the perennial plants...they're still green! Likes friends who stick around through the hard times, eh?

Thanks to the hard work of those who worked in Sept to get the stepping stones in! After our freeze the tiny seeds for thyme were scattered between the stones - the perennial gardener's hope has us looking forward to a beautiful mat of thyme in place of this year's aggresive weeds!

 Wasn't it crazy to see how big the cherry tomato plants were? Those little tomatoes were soooooooo good!

Just before the freeze I picked two of the little watermelon, just to see what they were like inside....

 they were pink and didn't taste very good

I also picked a few little pumpkins and put them in the planter at the front door to the parish center. Someone helped themselves to a couple of them. :)

So, now, as the garden rests through winter we can begin dreaming and planning for next year. We have a large, wooden box that needs a little work to become another raised bed, if any of our "Hands for Growers" are up to it we may be able to work on it some nice day this winter!

If you see ideas you like, post the link here and we'll start compiling our list for our garden for 2013!

Until then, take good care of your relationships - take time in your busy life to nourish them, keep the weeds out, and keep them growing!

Forgiveness

When I got to the garden to water this morning I was greeted with the scent from the petunias. As I looked out over the garden, and how it's come along the thought that came to me was that these plants have been pretty forgiving. 

     They've survived the sustained heat, and periods when they didn't get water as regularly as they needed. They've wilted and struggled, but here they are, growing like crazy! The tomato plants have left the confines of the cages, the watermelon, pumpkins and cucumbers are wandering all over each other's space, the little grasses in the planters are taking off....pretty forgiving plants.

How important is forgiveness when it comes to growing and maintaining healthy relationships?

In our relationships - with friends, families, teachers, coaches - when was the last time I forgave someone? When was I forgiven? Is there forgiveness that needs to take place?



It's been a very hot, very dry summer.

So hot, as one newspaper article said, that the trees are whistling for dogs.

Our garden has struggled and is not what any of us envisioned at this point.

BUT!

Look where it was last March...

 And think of all the tire painting, hauling soil and compost, planting, weeding, watering - all with having fun together!

The idea for a section with "animal" plants - way to go! The research and hunt for plants, and all the work to keep them going through the heat and drought. And the plans to finish that area next year.

Remember the work to get the rest of the new area planted? It had it's struggles, too, but there are plants there now! And hope for next year!

Now that school has started we are coming to the end of getting together. We'll meet tonight and then, who knows? The garden will keep producing until frost, so even if we don't get together as a group, you can check on it and enjoy the good food that grows there.

The garden and our young gardeners have reminded me, that in relationships, even when things are tough there can be laughter.

Their energy and enthusiasm continued even when things didn't go exactly as planned. That's what kept the garden going.That can be what keeps a relationship going when things don't go exactly as planned.

Thanks to our young gardeners, to their parents, to Sybil and Kim from DOVES, and to the folks in our community who supported our Hands for Growing project!

The heat and drought continue. It's taken a toll on some of the plants we've been working to establish. But, most of them are getting settled in!

We had a little tiny bit of rain and that seemed to be enough to magically transform much of our bare space into "goathead city." One of our young gardeners looked at the bountiful crop of sticker weeks with some dismay yesterday and asked, "Where did they all come from?"

The fun stuff is that we started making identification markers for our "animal plants." We have access to a large pile of broken concrete so are re-purposing pieces as markers. As a young gardener remarked, they won't blow away and hail won't hurt them...and if they DID blow away we'd have bigger worries than a garden!!

 The summer is quickly coming to a close and we still have some fun, creative stuff we'd like to get done. There are tires that didn't get painted, we want to finish identifying plants in our animal section and it would be great to get the pavers for our path in place.                                                                                       It's been a year of slow progress and hard work. But, of course, any good relationship takes hard work through the tough times. Our young gardeners know that and have said it's been worth it, and they said they can see the potential for good things to come. What more can you ask? What a great group to work with!                                                                                                                 Sybil and Kim from DOVES, since this is all new to you, many thanks to you, too, for staying with what must look like a crazy project this year!               

Look at the garden grow! Those few days of cooler weather and rain seemed to make a difference. Plants are not only perking up, they're growing and setting on blooms! As you can see in the photo we put a little wood mulch around the tire planters. The picture doesn't really show how beautiful it's getting to be.

Our poor corn. Of all the rows that were planted only four stalks came up. So, we'll baby those and let them grow. The rest of the rows were being over run by weeds so, for the time being, we covered them with weed barrier. (Hopefully they'll just quietly cook away.)

The planters all have compost, grasses and wood chips now. By next year those grasses should really take off and get anywhere from 8-10 feet tall. That will look spectacular!

Relationships, too, hit hard spells. Times when they struggle to survive, much less grow. The trick is to figure out if the relationship is one to hang in there with, or if it's one to let go off.

Thanks to our young participants and their moms for hanging in there and working to keep the garden going! Next week, after a few basic care things, we'll move on to some more fun, creative projects!

YIPPEE!

YIPPEE!!

That's the best way to describe the garden now...through all the heat and wilting plants and extra waterings I'm very happy to say the plants are beginning to perk up and look as though they've settled in.

We still only have 4 stalks of corn, but there's always next year for that! I'm sure there are lessons to be learned there, too, that relate to our relationships. It would be fun to hear what connections our "Hands-for-Growers" can make.

This week coming we'll do the usual watering and basic care and then! we'll start making plant markers using Kelly's idea of writing the plants' name on a rock or piece of concrete. I'll bring permanent markers and a list of the plants with correct spelling. We have that wonderful pile of concrete close to us from which I'm sure each person can find just what is needed to use.

Thanks to all who have helped us through the craziness of the start of this year's garden!

Thanks to the moms who have supported, worked and donated!
Thanks to the city parks crew who roto-tilled, hauled giant rocks and planters and allowed us to use city park space and water!
Thanks to TNT for donating the wood for the base for our tires!
Thanks to Roods Tires for the donation of tires!
Thanks to Sybil and Kim from DOVES for going along on this unusual ride this summer and sharing their work and knowledge!
And of course, thanks to our young Hands for Growing members - without you, of course, none of the rest of this would happen.

I look forward to seeing you on Wednesday morning!

It's been hot enough to wilt lamp posts lately! Our new plants have struggled in the heat so I've been watering them daily. One of these days their roots will be strong and settled and then they'll laugh at the heat!
Tomorrow (June 20) we'll lay down newspaper as weed barrier and future compost. We have some donated grass coming for one of our big containers and I hope to bring some Donkey-tail Spurge to add to our animal section.
I can't say thank you enough to the moms who have been so committed and helpful - you add so much to our garden and program!
Young gardeners, you can be proud of the work you've done so far! We'll just keep caring for it and watch it get better and better!
Sybil and Kim will be there tomorrow and your learning and sharing about relationships will continue, too.
See you tomorrow, wear sunscreen and hats! Sybil and Kim will have drinks and snacks.

Thurs., June 14

Oh my gosh, in my thanking I forgot someone! Geri Rood and Rood's Tires generously donated all the tires we're using for planting! It's been fun to paint them and see how "snazzy" they looked  when they're planted.

We have a little more painting to do on three of them, the lamb (planted with Lamb's Ear), the dragon (planted with snap dragons and Dusty Miller) , and the one with our Tickseed Coreopsis.

Thank you, Barb, for the reminder and many thanks for Geri and Rood's Tires for the retired tires!!

Today we had more planting to do than we had people! But, our little crew was mighty and we got all of the potted plants in the ground as well as some of the seed. Our animal plants are all planted, now we need to come up with a good way of making signs to identify them. We also planted seeds: cucumbers, pumpkins and cantaloupe.

 

The good guys from the parks department moved four giant planters and four great sitting rocks to help form the garden boundary. We're thinking of planting big grasses in the containers.

After the digging, planting, watering (and sweating!) Sybil and Kim shared info on relationship boundaries, which was followed by good discussion. All in all, a very good morning.

We're working an extra day this week - tomorrow morning we hope to get the corn, watermelon and sunflowers planted.

Hands for Growing

Hands for Growing is a collaborative effort between St. Patrick's Youth Ministry and DOVES. We grow and maintain a garden located near the horseshoe pits at Sidney Legion Park. We use the skills learned in growing and maintaining a healthy garden and relate those to skills needed to grow and maintain healthy relationships.
The program is open to young people in our community who are going into 7th-9th grades.

We are grateful to the Sidney Parks Dept for the use of land and water, and for their assistance in so many ways! Their generosity makes our program possible.

TNT Lumber generously donated and cut pieces of wood to create bottoms for our tire planters.

Our garden space has expanded this year as our young people's imaginations have expanded with their dreaming of what is possible. At this point (June 12th) we need to kick it into high gear to get things in the ground!

This space is created to allow us to share our experiences through pics and posts and it's exciting to have it in order to hear the thoughts of the young people and parents who make it possible.

Happy growing -both the garden and relationships in our lives! - this summer!