Category Archives: Carrots

November 25, 2019 · 6:33 pm

THANKS FOR GIVING

Gardeners are known

To be generous people.

We like to share plants

And seeds

And plans

And tomatoes.

It’s just in our nature

To spread our joy around.

I have to admit though

That I do covet

My time in my garden

Time is something

We just can’t grow

No matter what zone we live in.

That’s why I’m so grateful

For the generous gardeners

Who help at Faith Farm.

Every Monday and Wednesday

Throughout the growing season

This crew shows up

And works hard.

We start in February

Planting onions

And carrot seeds

And ended just a week ago

Prepping the the beds

For their winter’s nap.

They have planted

Harvested

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Washed

And loaded

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Thousands of pounds

Of fresh organic vegetables

That we grow

For our hungry neighbors

Who come to Loaves & Fishes

For help in feeding their families.

All of them are either Master Gardeners

Or related to a Master Gardener.

They come on the crisp mornings of spring

The glorious days of fall

And all that heat and humidity

In between.

We’ve had a great season

Getting to know each other better

As we’ve spent hours

Picking and weeding

And trying to figure out

Why all that spring rain

Made the cucumbers

So unhappy.

We learn a little

Share a little

And give a lot.

Thank you Martha, Dennis, Kay, Janelle,

Clayton, Diane, Jenny, Linda & Michael.

You have made a difference

To so many.

Gail

P.S. This is where I planned to place a great picture I took of all the crew. Unfortunately, I can’t find it AYWHERE. So just imagine these generous souls, or better still imagine yourself in this group or others around the country…gardening and giving.

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Filed under Carrots, Community Garden, End of Season Rituals, Gardening, Gardening Friends, Hunger, late summer garden, Master Gardeners, Onion, Uncategorized, Vegetables

June 4, 2017 · 3:00 pm

FAITH FARM UPDATE

I’m not a vegetable gardener.

Sure I’ve dropped a few in the middle of my flower beds

But I’ve never committed a block of space

Totally to vegetables.

So a few years ago

When my favorite non-profit Loaves & Fishes

Took over a vegetable garden called Faith Farm

I knew I was in over my head.

This year we were determined to get an early start.

So around the third week of February

We began.

Hundreds of onion starts were planted

Along with carrot seeds.

We’re working with Michael’s new theory

On growing these cool season veggies.

Last year he noticed that when we planted carrots

Along the edges of the beds

They did much better.

So we planted one end and one edge of

Of each raised bed to onions.

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The remaining end and edge was planted to carrots.

Our suspicion is that the soil along the edge

Warms more quickly than the soil in the middle of the bed.

And results in glorious onions and carrots.

Now, after a few months of growing

We are being rewarded.

The onions have started maturing

Last Wednesday we pulled 64 lbs.

Thinking it would last through 2 days of pantry.

But within 2 hours of Wednesday’s pantry

They were gone.

Onions are popular.

Carrots will take a little more time.

But if this year’s crop is anything like last year

We’ll have many happy clients

We call this

Gardening for good.

And it is.

Gail

GARDENING FOR GOOD

This summer I’ve been dividing my gardening days

Between two gardens.

It’s the first summer that Faith Farm

Has been an all volunteer effort.

It was a leap of faith.

What a fun

And rewarding leap.

We started the season with a plan

Put together by my fellow gardeners

Jim & Michael.

It’s an ambitious three season plan

Since we have a 9 month growing season.

We started harvesting lettuce

In March.

And we haven’t stopped.

200 lbs of lettuce

120 lbs of gorgeous carrots

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More basil than all of Italy

and almost 900 lbs of cucumbers.

Wow what a year.

We have literally grown well over a ton of vegetables.

All of this done by a dedicated group

Of volunteers.

Including a few Master Gardeners.

Twice a week they harvest this bounty

And take it to Loaves & Fishes

Where it is then given

To our hungry neighbors.

Several times a year

Jim offers gardening classes

To the L & F clients.

And every so often

We have a Saturday work day

To catch up on the big jobs.

Yesterday was one of those work days.

We had an ambitious list

OK…we had an impossible list.

Thanks to a few new volunteers

We got most of the big jobs done.

Morning glories pulled off the fence

Before they set seed.

Bolted basil pulled, dried and ground into mulch.

Ground pecan hulls put on the paths.

And soil added to beds.

Then there was the shed.

Michael spent the morning organizing it.

Thank goodness.

These are not glamorous gardening jobs

But they are essential.

And feel good to have done.

Along the way we made a few new friends

Loaves & Fishes board member Randi

Brought her family.

Including her son

Who got to meet Charlotte

Our resident Orb Spinner Spider

She’s been “hanging” around

Since July.

He also found caterpillars and praying mantis.

It’s always a good day when you can introduce

A child to the wonders of nature.

And do a little

Gardening for Good.

Gail

4 Comments

Filed under Basil, Bugs, Carrots, Children in the Garden, Community Garden, Compost, Cucumbers, Fall Vegetables, Garden Planning, Gardening Friends, Herbs, late summer garden, Lettuce, Morning Glories, Nature, Orb Spider, Uncategorized, Vegetables

August 25, 2015 · 7:47 pm

LIVING ON THE EDGE

Planting home vegetable gardens

Is experiencing a resurgence in popularity.

I think it’s great.

Especially if home gardeners

Share their abundance with a local food pantry.

But for some reason

I haven’t been able to convert even a section

Of my perennial border

Solely to vegetables.

I convince myself this is OK

Since my abundance of flowers

Supply the nectar

For hundreds of bees.

I’m thinking they are pollinating

Vegetable plants all around town.

I also consider flowers

“Food for the soul.”

But the truth is I’m not that great at growing veggies.

This season alone

I’ve gotten a total of 5 tomatoes from 3 plants

One of which has now been eaten

By a tomato hornworm

May he rest in peace.

And something ate my three brussel sprouts plants

I am good at leafy greens.

Leaf lettuce and arugula are my favorites.

I can also grow radishes galore.

So I’m doing my bit for the local food movement

Planting the edges of my garden.

And a pot here and there.

I have a hard time remembering

When it’s time to plant things.

So last winter I took the local Extension Service calendar

And input it into my personal google calendar.

Which means when it’s time to plant something.

It pops up on my calendar.

Now I remember it’s OK to plant my fall garden

In August.

Last weekend I cleaned out the spaces

Where there were weeds

And sprinkled seeds for

Carrots, radishes, arugula and lettuce.

They I planted peas around the dahlia cages.

It’s not the vegetable garden of my parents

With neat rows and room for towering corn plants.

But it works for me.

Fitting in things along the edges.

Finding the time and place to grow the things

I really want.

And not trying to force myself

To fit it into a standard mold.

Life changes with time

Finding the time and place

For those changes

Can be challenging.

When we figure out how to do it.

It’s wonderful.

Gail

1 Comment

Filed under Arugula, Bees, Brussels Sprouts, Bugs, Carrots, Fall Vegetables, Gardening, Gardening;Perennials, late summer garden, Lettuce, Radishes, Seeds, sugar snap peas, Tomato, Uncategorized, Vegetables

Tagged as Fall Garden, Gardening, Vegetables

September 15, 2014 · 1:58 am

SEPTEMBER’S SONG

I have long loved fall.

You would think as a passionate gardener

That would not be the case

With the season winding down and all.

Certainly I know what is coming

An end will come with its inevitable freeze.

But here in the middle of September

Winter is still a bit out of reach.

And what a September it is.

Endless days of crisp air and sunshine.

This is the time of the year

That the garden slows

And so do I.

My weekend gardening days

Move at a more reasonable pace.

Which gives me time to observe.

Bumble bees in flight.

Baby praying mantis

Blending in with zinnia leaves.

Even a large praying mantis

Outside the kitchen window.

Orb spider spin their amazing webs.

Butterflies bask in the soft fall sun.

And peppers finally have their day.

This is also the time of year

That pots come into their own.

They begin to ooze over the side

With the fullness of the season.

I’m not great with annuals

But September makes me look like I know what I’m doing!

Plants that were cut back in mid summer

Are coming into full bloom again.

Smaller…more contained than their spring version

But just as lovely.

The last few years

I’ve taken a new look at fall

As a time to plant.

As I pull up things that are spent

Cockscomb mostly

I plant seeds in their place.

So mixed leaf lettuce, arugula and carrot seeds

All were planted today.

Not in tidy little rows

Like most vegetable gardens.

But in the empty spaces.

I know I’ve said it many times

But fall seems like the time to repeat

The value of taking time

To observe nature

It’s seasons

It’s changes

It’s lessons.

Enjoy the week,

Gail

2 Comments

Filed under Arugula, Bugs, Bumble Bee, Butterflies, Carrots, cockscomb, container gardening, Fall, Fall Vegetables, Gloriosa Daisy, Orb Spider, Peppers, Seeds, Uncategorized, Vegetables, Zinnia

June 18, 2012 · 1:21 am

Food, Flowers & Basketball!

It has been awhile since Elliott and Kristina came home just for fun.

So a few weeks back they planned a weekend home.

Who doesn’t love it when their children come home!

It turned out that their timing was splendid.

They flew in to OKC on Thursday night.

Now, last Thursday was no regular Thursday night.

It was game 2 of the NBA Finals

And in case you haven’t heard the Oklahoma City Thunder are in the Finals.

This entire state is sleep deprived from watching and attending the playoffs

And now THE FINALS!

Oklahoma is Thunder CRAZY!

I am Thunder CRAZY!

Unbelievably, my friend Virginia had 3 extra tickets

So Elliott & Kristina met Virginia and me in

THUNDER ALLEY just before the game started.

Be patient…I’m getting to the gardening part of the weekend.

The experience of a Thunder game is something else.

It’s the loudest arena in the country – bar none.

To say the fans are loyal doesn’t begin to describe them.

The games are fast and fun.

So fast that almost all my pictures are a blur.

We came up 4 points short.

Tonight will be a different story!

GO THUNDER!

Because there was no schedule for the weekend.

We just played.

Kristina and I baked.

Cherry pie on Friday

And Kristina’s amazing bread on Saturday.

Unlike me she has no fear of anything relating to yeast.

This girl can bake!

We attended an evening with William Faulkner at the Chautauqua.

We arranged flowers for church.

And some for a Father’s Day visit to the cemetery.

Went to the Farmer’s Market.

Dug carrots

I think I need a little help in this department

I have a few questions for Kristina’s mom Mary.

She knows vegetable growing.

Harvested Poppy Seeds.

And herbs for summer grilling.

Even pulled some weeds.

John and Elliott played golf.

Off to the golf course

And watched a little, too.

And we all ate and laughed and laughed.

Nightly Braum’s stop

Watching your child grow into adulthood

And build their life is a curious experience.

It’s full of every known emotion.

For me it’s mostly wonderful.

Kind of like gardening.

Enrich the soil.

So that they can be well rooted.

Water, love and encourage.

God will take care of the rest.

Happy Father’s Day, John.

And thanks for coming Elliott & Kristina.

Gail

4 Comments

Filed under Baking Bread, Bouquets, Carrots, Cherries, Farmer's Market, Flower Arrangements, Gardening, Gardening Friends, Herbs, OKC Thunder Basketball

Category Archives: Carrots

THANKS FOR GIVING

FAITH FARM UPDATE

GARDENING FOR GOOD

LIVING ON THE EDGE

SEPTEMBER’S SONG

Food, Flowers & Basketball!

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