GAV news, first week June: Bamboo! amidst garden abundance

By AnnJune 7, 20172 commentsAssociation, Uncategorized, Urban Farm, Village

June begins and we’re already way too stocked with garden goodness.

Meanwhile, we’ve been wanting to construct a bamboo latticework fence for the front yard of the second DeKist house, to discourage deer from the pepper plants. (Deer once ate 1000 pepper plants at Rebecca’s farm overnight!). Meanwhile, have ordered some remay to cover the peppers until we can get that fence built.

So, the first step was one week ago, for our weekly work party. We were able to get bamboo from the house across the street on Overhill. Not only that, but the little boy who lives there with his sister and parents wanted to help us. Here goes, a photo shoot of that evening. Dan chose and cut the stalks,

then gave them to Nolan.

who carried them down the street,

and onto the pile with the others.

Meanwhile, here are the posts we put up to hold the stalks running horizontally and slanted up and down.

But we now realize that the posts are too far apart, and so are now looking for another source of bamboo that has huge thick strong stalks to be stood upright half way between the posts. I think I’ve found a source, and am awaiting the address.

Meanwhile, here are the stalks, piled up with their branches stripped. Nice and straight, but not enough of them yet.

Then, Saturday, neighbor Jelene and I participated in the annual Blooming Neighborhoods event, along with 27 other neighborhoods, tabling in the courtyard of City Hall next to the Farmer’s market.

Kat, who led the Green Acres Sign Saga, stopped by;

as did neighbor Mariella.

We gave away kale, cabbage and tomato starts to all who wanted them.

Work Party #2, plus new sculpture garden and new vegie garden beds

By AnnMay 25, 2017Urban Farm, Village

We’re rolling along this spring, with projects galore.

Green Acres Village, late May: New garden beds, sculpture garden, work party #2

Mid-May, and huge activity — new compost roof structure, new gardens, seedlings and peas for sale, flowers galore, plus first garden dinner of new season!

By AnnMay 17, 20171 commentUrban Farm, Village

It’s become clear to me that if I continue to document at this rate the profusion already present here this spring, I would get exhausted and not get anything else done. So don’t expect me to continue!

Meanwhile, tonight is our first one-hour work party (to replace Community Dinners until August), when we will prepare a garden for tomatoes in the back of the Overhill house. Will require uprooting trees and tearing up an old roof structure . . .

And meanwhile, here are some photos of various projects, etc. Including:

COMPOST ROOF completion.

Dan and Evan topped the roof structure entirely from old materials lying around here.

FOR SALE

Lots for sale already, both seedlings, and peas! Our first sale to Uptown Restaurant downtown was 4.5 pounds of snow peas picked by Rebecca, Dan and Evan. Exciting. They told us just to let them know what’s available one week in advance. Okay! This will replace the CSA, which we decided not to do after Briana had to move. She had been the main driver for that way of selling garden produce.

Here’s the list of seedlings for sale that I asked Grant, our intern, to itemize:

Meanwhile lots of new forms popping up, both constructed and natural.

NEW GARDENS

This is a new herb/rock garden in front of our new house, what we now call “DeKist 2.”

Next to the new greenhouse, bordered with rock.

Even a new bench appeared next to our patio the other day.

Unless otherwise noted, most of these constructions are made by either Rebecca or Shy, our builder. In this case, Shy, we presume. And Rebecca thinks he unearthed the limestone slab from the grounds of DeKist 2.

FLOWERS, symbols of beauty and evanescence . . .

IMPERMANENCE

Meanwhile, yesterday Rebecca and intern Grant were busy preparing to plant beets and beans in the backyard of the house across the street, which, we just found out, is for sale!

We sure hope the new owner will like to continue their partnership with us. Even more, we hope the new owner wants to join with us in this ongoing evolution of the Green Acres Neighborhood into Green Acres Village.

So, on that note of impermanence (house for sale, and who knows what’s next!), I conclude with a photo of the veggies I stir-fried last night from this little raised garden bed, in front of DeKist 2.

YUM!

Village Life, mid-May 2017: bottling mead, seedlings for sale and for planting, compost roof structure

By AnnMay 15, 20173 commentsUncategorized, Urban Farm, Village

Like everyone in the northern hemisphere who is at least vaguely aware of the larger earth environment — I exempt, for example, those who go from air-conditioned house and back to air-conditioned car in garage every day except weekends when they spend all day inside on their screens — it’s spring! — the greening time, when Earth’s inner mysterious primal power begins to arouse and open seeds, push roots down and plants up into myriad glorious forms, all the while birds start to call and respond, frogs spawn and jump about, insects proliferate. Hopefully. Hopefully all these phenomena are still occurring. Sometimes, given all the dire news we hear about, we’re actually astonished to feel the eternally cycling signs of spring yet again, not only via Earth and her air and fire and soil, but inside our own bodies which thrum to the same quickening.

Here in Green Acres Village, of course work ramps up; and so does the fun. As podmate Dan said to me the other day, after an entire day spent on outside projects — “I feel so good. Spending my entire day outside makes me feel WILD.” Yes yes! Our natural wild aliveness springs up in concert with nature’s glorious blooming.

Here’s Dan, our fermenter, on his one recent inside job, bottling from one jug of mead that he started back in February. After one week, the mead found the yeast and started bubbling. Check it out!

That was three months ago. Two days ago, Dan filled and capped 25 bottles; and with the other jug, will get 25 more.

With all the ferments that Dan produces — lots of krauts of various kinds and kim chi, can’t remember what else, but it’s all extraordinary, the best I’ve ever tasted — I keep pushing for him to sell some of it.

One thing holding us back so far, is that we haven’t decided on a logo for Green Acres Alchemy, the name we’ll give to our various land and food based businesses. I mentioned this to my friend Julia who used to live a few doors down, on the phone awhile ago, and she said “the name gives me chills.” Then, instantly, she continued, “Here’s the logo, an actual alchemical symbol,” and sent it to me on the phone. “It could be green,” she said, and as Evan — who does calligraphy! — noted later, “the name could go above (Green Acres) and below (Alchemy), creating the circle with the letters. Ah yes! And Oh wow, I just noticed. The logo is also the letter “A,” (for Alchemy), and it has three prongs, symbolizing the three houses with three occupants each in our village pod! So that’s in the works. Evan: “Shoot me the logo and I’ll see what I can do about it.”

Meanwhile, Rebecca has all the plants outside the new greenhouse now, with some of the seedlings for sale —

— and the rest going into our various gardens. Here’s Grant, an Indiana University intern who is with us for two full weeks, and who Rebecca says, is unusually aware and observant.

(Unusual because it’s true, she and I and other elders both notice that many “millennials” seem to be preoccupied, even when they think they want to learn how to garden. Too much screen time too early in life?)

Okay, back to “Dan the man,” who, with Evan, is here outside, constructing the frame for what will become the roof of the compost area. Compost is another form of alchemy . . .