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.

A Bountiful Year

How did our garden grow in 2015?

We picked zucchini and yellow crook neck till we ran out of recipes. Likewise, we could hardly keep up with the pole beans, in spite of the usual cast of insect predators. We boiled, pickled, roasted, and froze beets, then planted a second crop.

Never tasted cucumbers as good as those we grew this year - thin skinned, sweet, and crunchy. Yum! The bell peppers seemed to have come to us with an ingrown disease, but with the able care of the Harris family, we were able to harvest some. The jalapeño and banana peppers took in the sun and produced the heat.

The okra also did well and we learned how to make spicy fried okra poppers. Double yum!

We're still waiting with fingers crossed for the sweet potato harvest (late September, early October, just before first frost). Hoping the deer, rabbits, moles and all other varmints stay the heck away from our tasty tubers.

And did I mention flowers? Flowers graced our sign (thanks to Su Snyder). But the ones that attracted most attention were those in the gardens closest to the road (Su's and Ashley's) as well as Catherine's sunflowers in a spritely line at the back of the garden.

Last but certainly not least, tomatoes! Having decided not to risk the variables of weather to grow tomatoes as a community crop, each of our gardeners individually couldn't resist the urge. We wound up with tomatoes here, there, and everywhere. A carload and a half - what a year for 'maters!!!

Once again the High Vista Community Garden fed 22 families and donated about 200 pounds of produce to local food banks. Except for the sweet potato harvest, we're pretty much down to dreaming of next year - except for a gleaning and cleaning.

2015 - A bountiful year leaves us filled with gratitude.

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.

The Garden is Open

On Saturday, April 28, Susan Marlan officiated at our opening ceremonies, held in the High Vista Community Park (by the tennis courts). A joyous crowd gathered under the sun and trees and were treated to a meaningful and optimistic invocation, accompanied by birdsongs. Thank you so much, Susan.

For professional services, contact Susan at yourwed@interfaithceremonies.com

After Q& A and announcements, many of us carpooled down to the garden, found our allotted spots and planted our identifying flags. Such creativity in our group.

Very creative Georgia!

The Lewis family made the most of the day

and added a lot to our overall experience (no pun intended)

Anyone up for spearheading a children's garden area? 

Thanks to Mike for organizing our garden space this year

We planted signs and the Denisons even planted broccoli - Way to go! The first new starts for this season.

And now for some worthwhile information:

Our manual pump - protected from the elements.
Be sure to add to the water barrel when you take from it.

The pump is securely installed, filled watering cans are available. Thanks Al and Peter for your efforts on this.


Pete will be offering an organic pest control workshop, 10 - 11 a.m. next Saturday, May 5, at the garden. Jerry Jordan has volunteered to videotape it, and Sharon will post it to YouTube, but there is nothing that compares with being there in person and having your questions answered in the moment.


Sharon is creating a "vacation schedule" to circulate, so we know when to look out for one another's gardens. If you want your garden added to the "watch list", send an e-mail with your vacation dates in the subject line to highvistagardeners@gmail.com. There is likely to be extra space in the garden; if you need any, let Sharon know.


Please take a look at the watch list when it is circulated and let a fellow gardener know that you are going to be able to tend their crop one or more days while they are away. 


Since we're using a buddy system also for everyday tasks, as Mike Pace requested, it is worthwhile to remember that Lexi Kiefer will be gardening on Tuesday and Thursday mornings with her garden partner, Don Kirkwood, who is an experienced organic gardener willing to share his knowledge.


Winter squash and sweet potatoes will not be a community crop. Sharon and Susan Marlan have decided to plant some. Al Cutter has asked to help and share the harvest of sweet potatoes and Irma Allison has asked to share in the winter squash. If you have not yet spoken up to share this space, now is the time, not later.


Be prepared to watch as a "three sisters experimental garden" goes in and goes up near the corn crop.


Sharon has some grape tomato seedlings, up for grabs. They were grown in a greenhouse by a friend in New York and lovingly transported and tended in her sunroom since Easter. You can find them in the garden Tuesday, May 8 (primary election day), probably placed by the pump. First come, first served. 


Here are some tips for planting tomatoes, shared by Janet Gardner, coordinator of the Bountiful Harvest Community Garden in Hendersonville. According to the weather forecast, the nighttime temps won't be below 50 degrees for the next ten days, so she's determined it's safe to plant. 

Garden tips:  Planting tomatoes - Transplants of all sizes and varieties are available now in nurseries and big box stores everywhere.  It is tempting to spend the extra money for larger plants, many already with small fruit.  However, these hothouse beauties when planted out in your garden often go into plant shock which causes arrested growth and abortion of fruit.  Better to go with smaller, stockier plants no taller than 6".  Plant these deeply, up to the first set of leaves, about 16" apart.   Keep well watered for the first week or so, then hold back the water a bit.  The idea is to make the plant roots grow down for moisture.  In times of heat and drought later, your plant will be better suited for survival with a strong, deep root system.  When planting try not to disturb the roots if possible.  For transplants in plastic pots, place your hand over the top of the pot with the tomato stem between your fingers.  Gently tap the plant loose and plant in the ground immediately.  For the tomatoes in either peat or plantable pots (including my paper pots) put the whole thing in the ground as is.  Just be sure all of the pot is below the surface to avoid the pot wicking moisture out.

Garden wisdom:  There can be no other occupation like gardening in which, if you were to creep up behind someone at their work, you would find them smiling.  ~Mirabel Osler

Our collective sentiments

Calendar of Upcoming Transition Hendersonville Events

Monday, April 30, 10am-11am. NEW GARDEN GROUP FORMING ~ Henderson County Cooperative Extension.  

We are forming an informal group of local gardeners - both experienced and inexperienced, even gardener wannabes – who will meet once a month to share gardening experiences, tips, seeds and local challenges and quirks about growing, preserving and selling food in the Hendersonville area.  We invite you to join us and your neighbors whether you have several acres, a suburban plot or just one tomato plant in a patio container, growing even a part of your own food is fun, rewarding and so empowering.

Please call or email with questions. Janet Gardner luvs2garden@att.net (828) 974-1782



Saturday, May 5^th, 2012 5-7 pm, May Tree Dance, Full Moon Sacred Circle Dance the merry merry month of May in the springtime of the year with flowers & ribbons in our hair in doors and out!  at Dancing Feete  dance studio, Singleton Centre across from the post office, 2682 B Greenville Hwy, Flat Rock, NC., $10 per person, RSVP TarletonBrooks@yahoo.com only if you are coming www.thedancingcircle.info 828 – 699 – 0240


Saturday, May 12, Sustainable Living Workshop:  Compost!
9:30AM-12:30PM,  Coop. Extension, Jackson Park
Learn the basics of composting and go home with a worm bin including ½ pound of red wigglers.  Composting lecture 9:30 to 11:00 and Worm Bin workshop at 11.  Lecture $10 or lecture and w-shop $25. (Sharon Willen is attending both. Contact her if you want to go together.)


Saturday, May 19, Sustainable Living Workshop: Water Rams.  10:00 a.m. – Noon. ECO Conference Room Learn how these simple hydraulic pumps that have been used for over 100 years in WNC work and buy one for your household.  Program fee $15.

Sunday, May 20, all are invited to join in a Slow Food Foothills aka “Slow Polks,” fundraiser at Overmountain Vineyards & Winery from 4-8 pm. Come for an evening to enjoy local wine, seasonal food & Americana music. Tickets for the event are available on Brown Paper Tickets. Cost for the event is $25 for adults, $10 for children ages 3-13.


Overmountain Vineyards & Winery is nestled at the gateway of the Blue Ridge Parkway on 75 beautiful acres. Originally a tobacco and cotton farm in the 1920′s and 30′s, the land was purchased in the early 1990′s, and has now returned to its roots.  Overmountain Vineyards was established in 2002 as a commercial vineyard in the Tryon Foothills of North Carolina. They are recognized as one of North Carolina’s signature vineyards and wineries.


Stone Soup Restaurant is also located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains and owned by Suzanne Strickland. Suzanne named the restaurant after the fairy tale which is a story of a community coming together. She thought it was a perfect name for a restaurant that she hoped would become a gathering place for the community and it has! Stone Soup will be catering the May fundraiser with a seasonal, casual buffet highlighting local food.


Entertainment will be provided by Gigi Dover and her band, The Big Love. The Big Love is primarily the creative partnership of singer/songwriter and guitarist Dover and multi- instrumentalist / magician Eric Lovell, whose bag of tricks includes vocals, guitar, pedal steel, sitar, tambura, melodica, ukulele, mandolin, even a glockenspiel. Together they weave a dreamy, quirky path that trips through styles, sounds and genres. It’s a little bit country, a little bit rock and roll and a whole lotta groovy, soulful, and funky fun. Their new CD is expected to be released on April 20. The media sponsor is WNCW our local public radio station. 


In addition, a silent auction will be on site. For more information about Slow Food Foothills, contact Carol Lynn or Mindy Wiener.

 

Happiness is a Bountiful Garden

Where It All Began

I've never been a fan of pre-packaged meals. Seems so simple to buy select ingredients, mix 'em together according to instincts developed at my mother's apron, and presto, dinner! But I must admit, I have rarely prepared my own sauces or jams or chutneys from scratch as I've done this summer. Now, halfway through harvest time, I have a new respect for farmers and a new appreciation of the convenience of convenience food - even just a jar of bottled sauce - tomato or apple.

Planning, measuring, hoeing (didn't do the tilling ourselves), marking, planting, weeding, watering, staking & tieing, smacking pesky bugs with one's fingers, creatively discouraging four-legged pests, more weeding, picking, washing, peeling, coring, slicing, chopping, sauteing, blanching, steaming, shelling, baking, grilling, pureeing, wrapping, freezing, canning, labeling - whoa!

Canned peach jam, basil tomato sauce, carrot-pineapple-orange marmalade

Happiness is working with neighbors, learning new self-sufficiency skills, having the health, the resources, and freedom to do it all. Happiness a bountiful garden, a stocked pantry, and a full freezer - to say nothing of having a ready and willing (Willen?) husband/garden partner/sous chef/clean-up-guy with whom to share the whole experience. I am content.

Cherry Tomatoes & Garlic ala FoodFix.com

Gratitude is My Attitude

As I sit here so proud of our garden team, what we've done this season so far and how it was accomplished, I am struck by the difference between our cooperative local efforts and the discord simultaneously occurring in Washington, D.C. 

Yesterday, a small group of gardeners arrived in the fields early in the morning to "Pick for Manna Foodbank." This was a vision set in motion by Joyce Davis and Al Cutter, which they materialized along with Ross Aiken, Nancy Dhom, Jeanne Grasperge, Judy Price, Zeke Mitchell, Laurel & Bob Schmidt, and Mike Willen. In two and half hours a carload (over 100 pounds) of fresh produce were selected, brushed off, and placed in containers to be transported by Al and Joyce to the foodbank in downtown Asheville.

All summer long, each of our gardeners have managed to go about their own business - getting children off to college, spending time with grandchildren, taking out of town vacations, working full and part time jobs, taking care of loved ones and households near and far - and yet they also were able to give their best effort to growing major crops together. Today the harvest that was donated came from our individual parcels as well as the community crops - without a thought to the politics, religions, values or demographics of those who would eat what we produced. 

The land we've worked all summer was generously loaned to us by a nearby "homesteader", who said he would enjoy our company as he tended his own garden along side the creek that runs by his home. Nature provided us with a headstart and some challenges - bugs, blight, pesky critters and the ever-uncontrollable weather variations, but no one seemed to get discouraged. No one took sides on "how to proceed." No one needed credit for work done or the achievements that came along. Now why can't Congress behave a bit more like our group?

Who knows what changes will "trickle down" on us from the decisions being made in Washington this week. Most likely the future will demand something more from us than we've had to give or do (or do without) in the recent past. In Transition Hendersonville and Transition Asheville, we have a slogan about meeting disruptive changes in the environment or economy, "If you wait for the government, it will be too late; if you do it yourself, it may be too little; if we work on it together, we're sure to thrive."

The High Vista Community Garden team has proven without a doubt that we are and have neighbors with a community with a can do, will do attitude. Together we will thrive.

Follow this link to a "Pick for Manna Foodbank" photo album. And please heed the note from Mike Pace that we found on the bulletin board this morning: DO NOT THROW DISCARDED PLANT MATTER IN THE SPACE BETWEEN OUR FARM AND THE CREEK - IT IS UNSIGHTLY, SMELLY, ATTRACTS PESTS. BURY IT OR TOSS IT ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE CREEK. I will call Mike to apologize for our transgressions. I'm glad he has communicated with us on this.