Well, it is definitely spring in Lone Oak now. The night time temperatures seem to be staying above frosty and the day time temperatures are flirting with, if not hitting, eighty degrees. At least I don’t think we’ve gotten that warm yet. Probably depends on if you are doing any work outside or not.
I’ve bought some seeds down at the Farmers Co-Op in Greenville. Three for a dollar! Who could pass that up? I’ve even started working on that little raised bed out in front of my house, as well as a few other spots around the yard. The potato’s I just stuck in the ground with out any real hope of seeing any thing green from them have actually poked some leaves up out of the ground. Here’s the wildest thing though. A cabbage plant and two Brussels Sprout plants that I gave up on last spring, plants that just sat there and grew a little all summer, plants that just endured all the frosts, the snow, and spikes in temperatures this past winter? The cabbage is finely making a head and the sprouts are at least trying to make their “little cabbages.” Some of those leaves tasted fine in some Ramen Noodle soup. I bought three more cabbage, Brussels Sprouts, and some broccoli plants. They will be going in the ground soon.
I’m trying something new this year. I’ve got it so I’m using it. I’ll be finding out how good a fertilizer goat poo is. At least it already comes in a “pellet” form.
I was rummaging around in one of my barns yesterday and found a fifty-five gallon drum I’d forgotten I had. The plan right now is to clean that sucker out and figure a way to put a small hole in the side as close to the bottom of it as I can get. Then add on a faucet. After that I’ll just need about four or more cinder blocks so I can set it up a decent height above my garden bed out front. Then I can siphon the rain water in the barrel next to my house into the new barrel and use it to water my garden this summer.
I’ve also been over to the Community Seeds gardens. They seem to be coming along fine. I just have to keep reminding Coop that “you don’t mow a garden!” He’s playing the part of the regular guy, I think. “If it’s green and growing, it’s my job to fire up the mower or weed whacker and cut it down!” I keep telling him he can’t DO THAT! I think he’s kidding. I’m sure he knows better. I think. I have known fellows who volunteered to mow my yard for me who gleefully mowed down flowers, veggies and anything else that didn’t have a fence, or a line of bricks around them. Then when I said something they looked all confused and said, “It was green. I mowed it.”
The one thing that community garden really does need is a water source. As far as I can tell there is only one water faucet out there and it is broken I think. I’ve been talking to Coop about setting up a rain harvesting system there. With all the down spouts around the old school it’s already half set up. Seems to me all we really need now is some racks to set some drums or other water holding device on where they can be attached to the downspouts or a way to pipe all the water from the downspouts into one really huge container where we could store most of the rain water. Sort of a large scale version of what I want to do at my own place. Coop loves the idea and is trying to get a grant or some such for it. I hope that comes through before the rain stops for the summer.
There’s lots of other stuff going on over at Community Seeds besides the Garden. There are classes for the GED test, among others and of course the clothes and accessories you can buy for what most folks can actually afford. Check them out. They might can help you, or maybe you can help them. Nice folks there anyway.
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