First work day...ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY!

Hi guys!

Sat morning was the first day out at the garden with a crew of about 7:) We cleared a lot of weeds from the beds and were able to harvest a few overgrown things that were still growing. It was a great group and we deliberated what we wanted for the garden and what we realistically could accomplish this fall.

We decided that we should aim to enclose the rest of the raised beds in rail road ties and build a container that we can use for our compost. We also decided that Monday/ Tuesday afternoons are good days to work in the garden. I would like to have small groups going out to the garden frequently through out the season so if you know what day you would like to garden let me know and I can give you some tasks to work on. When you are finished you can post on here what was accomplished. The blog is an awesome place to keep everyone updated and on the same page, as well as to keep a record of the garden.

Our garden is also a year old this year!!

I have to say I am very proud of what we have accomplished and all of the hard work that has gone into this project. It definitely puts a smile on my face when I think back to the days where all we did was dig the clay earth for a solid week. We have come a far way and I look forward to another productive year!
Rock On,
Carrie



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cast iron article

hi gang--welcome back to fall semester--things are extremely busy this first week or two--but the garden group is really well to be commended with what they (or rather i suppose their garden) have/has produced this season. I hope we can document a lot of the individual beds photographically, so that we can see and think about how individual varieties acted and adopted to our own micro-ecosystem here in salem--and also to compare with what we have done in various previous years!

also, now that you are back on board, do remember to check out the Duck Dinner Dash blog, and see how michele is faring--she does keep an eye on us, and it is good to have valued friends.

meanwhile, i am adding the link here to another neat and in fact important blog--this is paul wheaton, who is a somewhat famous (infamous?) permaculturist in Missoula Montana. Paul is a very wise resource, and again, it will be most interesting to contrast and compare our approaches and experiences here with his out there. He is a good resource, no--i correct myself: a great resource.

(If we ask him nicely, he may allow you guys to add some of his links directly to this blog/site. I suggest that a couple of you might want to pursue that)

I am beginning this connection for you with Paul's great essay on using and caring for your cast iron skillet. Most of you who are envi students at the college will know about dr cawley's cast iron obsession--but Paul voices it in words much better than mine. as always, we will discuss our own cast iron experiences in some of the classwork, and also during the harvest dinner.

do check out Pauls stuff--the link is: http://www.richsoil.com/cast-iron.jsp

and i am also adding it to our list of blogs (as soon as i can remember the steps of adding it in the right spot!) if you get a chance, send paul a note, and let him know that we are aboard.

happy gardening!

doc