We Done Dug It!

Starting closest to the road

We hit pay dirt almost immediately!

Moving right along.

The weather was hot but not broiling, making it a perfect day for a great team to do a tough task. Sue and Bill Kleppinger, Josh Marlan, Pete & Mary Alice Steurer, Randi Goodnight, Dani Waters, Irma Allison and Sharon Willen were a coordinated and effective team. Some identified the row hills, zeroed in on tubers, cut vines and harvested, while others ran the produce back to the sorting area and the trash to the brush and bags for disposal.

Finding

Exposing

Harvesting

Whew!

By the time we got almost to the top of the sweet potato garden, we had smiles on our faces. Nothing left to do but sort and divide a healthy harvest.

Almost Done!

What a Haul!

Select this link to see how

 Dazzling Cooperation Makes Easy Work

We pulled 157 pounds of sweet potatoes. Not up to last year's 250 pounds, but much more than we anticipated. You can re-read the last post on how to cure and store. We're told the vole damaged spots on the potatoes will heal and they can be stored, cooked, and eaten. If you choose, you may cut away some areas close to damaged spots, but only just before using the potatoes. Right now, the less handling, the better.

I believe MaryAlice is delivering a box to Al & Joyce, Irma took Ashley and John's, and the boxes for Terri & Doug, Irv and Su, and JoAnne & Burt are on the Willen's front porch. Enjoy! See you on the 27th at the Jordans' for a 5 PM Harvest Potluck.

Blessings for Our Garden

Every single time it happens, I'm amazed when a seed pushes through the dirt, drinks in drops of water, reaches for the sun, and emerges as a stem, pre-leaves, then leaves, vines, flowers, and glory. I once heard this wise question, "If you came upon a watch laying in the road and it was keeping perfect time, tick tock, tick tock, would you for one second doubt the existence of a watchmaker? Who is the maker behind the bounty of our natural world? Aah, that's the mystery of life, beyond our knowing. But not beyond our appreciation.



Without naming the source of love and wisdom that is providing us the resources and strength and camaraderie to build our garden, we offered our thanks this past Saturday morning. Susan Marlan's inspirational words helped us connect with the spirit of new beginnings as we planted our garden sign and moved forward.

Thanks to Doug Harris for crafting the sign, Su Snyder for painting it, and Jim Goodnight with a little help from Mike Willen for erecting it so people zipping by on Rte. 191 will now know whose little farm is growing. A special thanks to NC Mountain Realty for allowing us to grow in their front yard.

Our Little Acre - well, almost

I don't know anyone that has participated in our High Vista Community Garden to date who isn't having a good time. It is so pleasant to chat while bumping shoulders at ground level. The warm sun, the birds singing. IMHO, the only thing that could be better is if the traffic would halt on Rte. 191 while we're down in the garden, but then all those passers-by wouldn't be benefitting from the lesson of what can be done through a bit of teamwork.

Here are pictures from Sue Kleppinger (of early work on the garden, May 6) and some from Sharon Willen of major planting taking place on May 16. All our community crops are now in the ground except for the sweet potatoes. Karen Donde has agreed to lead that team once we get the call from Jesse Israel Nursery that the slips are in. We hope to bring home 150. Be prepared for another fun day playing in the dirt!

Preparing Sweet Potato Rows

Long shot of the naked garden 

Jerry, Josh, Doug, Mike & Cathy arrive for work

Al points the way

A two-fisted waterer

Bill gets a kick out of being in the dirt

Joyce waters in her garden

Sue and Bill working on community peppers

Mary Alice, Judy, Cathy

Not a shirker in the group

Sue Marlan inspects her work

Peter inspects Mary Alice's work

Terri is queen of the bell (peppers)

May 1, 2015 Update - The Season Begins

Early Harvest-wild onion

New members and "old" members worked together in the garden this morning for about two hours. Using a garden plan Sharon developed based upon the layout team's strategy, the outline of the 2015 High Vista Community Garden has now taken shape.

Al and Joyce, Randi, Catherine & Jerry, Sue K., Mary Alice & Peter, and Mike and Sharon braved a looming storm and high wind to measure, calculate, drive in stakes, string guidelines, and post flags that delineate garden beds and walkways. Once again, the value of many eyes, brains, and hands (plus two 100' measuring tapes, four scissors, and two mallets) got the job done with optimal results two whole weeks before the date of the last threat of frost in Western North Carolina.

Working Together to Conquer Waste

This is a great idea - The Repair Cafe. Take a look at the description as reported in the NY Times and let's consider doing one or more of these at High Vista in the near future. Perhaps we can incorporate it into our winter Community Connections Salon Series. If you're interested, let me know.

Summary: "At Amsterdam’s first Repair Cafe, an event originally held in a theater’s foyer, then in a rented room in a former hotel and now in a community center a couple of times a month, people can bring in whatever they want to have repaired, at no cost, by volunteers who just like to fix things. 

Conceived of as a way to help people reduce waste, the Repair Cafe concept has taken off since its debut two and a half years ago. The Repair Cafe Foundation has raised about $525,000 through a grant from the Dutch government, support from foundations and small donations, all of which pay for staffing, marketing and even a Repair Cafe bus. 

Thirty groups have started Repair Cafes across the Netherlands, where neighbors pool their skills and labor for a few hours a month to mend holey clothing and revivify old coffee makers, broken lamps, vacuum cleaners and toasters, as well as at least one electric organ, a washing machine and an orange juice press."