Community Garden

I have been absent from my blog for a couple of months because I have been super busy with the Community Garden that our church sponsors. Our church is one of a group of churches that come together to help the neighborhoods around us with food insecurities. And this year was a total redo because we moved the garden to make room for a community playground. So 10 raised beds and 8 round container beds had to be refilled before planting…lots of work. Fortunately we have some amazing help in getting the garden started.

Here are a few pictures to show you how well the garden is doing this early in the season. The first picture is an overview of the garden layout.

You can see the edge of the playground on the right side of the picture where the garden used to be. We moved it about 50 feet and rotated it 90 degrees.

This picture is of the lower raised beds on the right-hand side of the garden. These four beds have our 13 tomatoes and onions scatter around them. They make good companion plants.

Two of the raised beds on the left-hand side have potatoes – one bed is red potatoes and one is white potatoes. The two beds further down are the green beans and the petite lima beans. They are not doing great because Robins evidently like beans too. But what has survived is flowering and producing. I planted more beans this morning.

Our cucumbers, squash, and bell pepper are planted in round containers in the center between the high-rise planters. Only one of the high-rise planters is filled and those are our sweet potatoes. We have help coming next week to fill the remaining three high-rise planters and will have to figure out what to plant there.

My fun plantings are also in the center of the garden – sunflowers, watermelons, and pumpkin.

So now we water and wait to see what all we grow. Last year was good and we expect even better this year. I will keep you posted as thins grow – especially the sunflowers.

Enjoy your summer, or if you on the bottom of the world, buckle in for winter. And as always, remember to grow kindness. It the best possible thing you could ever grow.

Healing Peace of Flowers & Greenery

It is a fact that green is a soothing color and gardens bring about peace. Last week I went down to see my brother in Atlanta Ga, and his yard is a garden oasis. I was fortunate to have an experienced guide, Sadie, their dog, who reminded me of its beauty. The walks through his yard helped me relax from the sadness of his illness, knowing there was no cure.

So if you also are facing a hard reality of life, come along with me and Sadie and find a few moments of peace.

This is the backyard standing on the deck looking out. Come follow the stepping stone to quiet greenery.

This bench is very old from the previous owners. It is covered in lichen and adds to the quiet peace – at least in my book. Just past the bench is the gate to the oasis in the back, ending in a screened in tea house or external porch.

Let’s follow Sadie as we head to the back. She has a leash for the purpose of getting her back inside. She doesn’t want to leave it either.

All along the cobblestone paths are benches, chairs, statuary, and an abundance of flowers.

The screened in porch, which I forgot to take a picture of, is surrounded by a miniature gardenia shrub that fills the air with a light delicate scent.

Coming back to the house we see the deck is surrounded by white hydrangeas and caladiums and a cute statue with a tray to feed the birds he stands guard to protect the azaleas, which in the early spring are in full bloom.

Just before going in, you have the bright red bougainvillea and then of course, it’s nap time from a long walk.

I hope you felt the peace of this small oasis and enjoy the walk with Sadie. Remember life is never easy but the beauty God surrounds us with helps us get through it, plus the kindness of family and friends. Always show kindness as it helps you when giving it as much as it helps those needing it.

CMMC, The Oddball Trellis

In accepting the challenge from Cee on CMMC combined with Kammie’s Oddball Challenge, I give you the cucumber trellis. We saw this idea on Facebook and with the help of some local college students who help us get our community garden setup – they made us two.

The theory is that the cucumber growing in the planter tub will climb up the chicken wire of the trellis and the fruit will slide through the holes of the chicken wire and make for easier and cleaner picking.

With the mindset of “build it and they will come” – we built it to see if it really works. It was a fun and interesting project and I will post later in the season as the cucumbers grow. In reality, they would grow a lot better if the squirrels would leave them alone. 🥺

As with any challenge in life, it can be made a little easier if, kindness is the marker used to traverse the chaos.

FOTD, March 6, Unknown

Cee’s fun challenge of Flower of the Day can always prove beautiful and interesting. While in San Francisco, I saw spring flowers already blooming and I took a picture of this one because I had no idea what it was but it was intriguing.

I recognize the holly behind it but don’t really know what this is, but isn’t it cool. The long bamboo like stems look similar to a larger plant I have in my house but mine doesn’t bloom. Then further down the pier, there was an awesome topiary of succulents in the shape of a seal. It was not quite ready for it’s spring bloom but it was still awesome.

The tulips and daffodils in the lower section of the flower bed were just getting started. In another week they will be really full and beautiful.

Reflect on the beauty that surrounds you as spring starts to show it’s warm face and remember to share that warmth with kindness.

CFFC: Reminds You of Natures Beauty

While I do agree with Cee on the beauty of nature, but it can also has a fun whimsical side. My case in point, I give you the story of the potato family members where mother potato refused to let any of her children go out on their own. This family was pulled this morning from the community garden of my church.

The balancing act mom had to do did not bode very well so she used my juice glass from this morning to help stabilize herself. Even her other children stuck close to protect the baby in the center…

All in all, they are a very loving family. They must have been watching how elephants come in close to always protect the younger ones in the herd. And I am sure they will be tasty with my string beans tonight. 😊. Always remember the beauty of nature even when it looks funny.

Thank you for stopping by for a moment of silliness. I hope it made you smile. Remember that smiles are contagious so share them often.

Last on the Card

The last photos on my card or phone…flowers…shocker.

While these are not flowers, they were grown. Red potatoes out of the community garden.

Something that should never be last is kindness.

FOTD, June 2, No Flowers Yet

Cee always gives us such wonderful ways to share the beauty we see. And while this is Flower of The Day, we don’t have flowers yet but the greenery is growing, finally. I give you beginning pics of our community garden sponsored by our church. Its small but enjoyed by those close in our neighborhood.

We have eight raised beds the boy scouts built for us two years ago. The chain link fence is to keep the rodents out…good luck. But we have a variety of bed vegetables growing. Beside the raised beds we have the larger vegetables growing, like corn and potatoes. You cant live in Iowa and not grow corn…just sayin’.

As we enjoy the growing season, let us remember the kindness of us sharing love like we do with our garden.

Must Watch Better

Spring is really a busy time for me, especially since I volunteered to head up the church’s community garden this year. I planned it our carefully, measuring out the rows, deciding on what and how many of each plant to grow…due to the catastrophe of last year’s jungle. I checked with the extension service to make sure I didn’t plant too early and we started indoors with seed for cost savings. We planted in cups at the right time…and then spring would not come…and the plants kept growing. I had a pole bean that went ballistic and climbed up the string for the blinds.

Then it was finally time. The weather was warming up and last weekend we were able to plant. Yay! I had people lined up. We put 87 of 117 plants in the raised beds. The weather was perfect and we celebrated. THEN a freak wind storm came through with cold winds and killed everything we planted.

So now we have no choice but to start over. Next year we will have to watch better like Daisy!!

And our trees are just now starting to bud and bloom. Guess I should have watched those too. They knew.

I realized as I started to post this that is has been nearly a month since I last posted. That’s way too busy for being retired. Once we replant this weekend, I am glad someone else is in charge of the rest.

Well, have a good rest of your week. And remember…Bee Kind!

Profoundly Jealous

While I love seeing everyone’s beautiful spring flowers…I am a bit jealous. Well, maybe more than a bit but please don’t stop sharing. It makes it easier to know it is coming when this morning I again had to scrape the snow off my car before going to my appointment. Seriously!!! UG!!

As the sprouts continue to grow in my office for the community garden, I find hope in their determination. But if it doesn’t warm up soon, they are going to hit the ceiling.

When I got home from shopping I checked out the yard as Daisy did her business. Currently not snowing but you can feel the light mix as it hits your face. ENOUGH ALREADY!

The dianthus around the mailbox is trying and my irises are peeking through, so I know it coming. I’m just being impatient. This is the last day of March, so hopefully this lion takes his winter coat with him as he leaves.

***I think the lion won this one…at least for the midwest.***

Hopefully we can all enjoy the warmth of spring and the beauty of new flowers. And when we do lets us all remember the beauty of kindness.

CFFC: Ground

Cee’s CFFC challenge is ground. Since it is garden time, I give you raised ground – for those of us who don’t bend as well as we use to.

Here we have the garden after the corn started coming up and before the squash took over.

This was taken last week…now it is even higher. I broke rule #1 – don’t plant too much in a small space! Ah well, its been fun.

If you plant a garden, remember to plant kindness. It will grow into a garden of love.