Vegetables for Families in Need

The company I work for has a volunteering reward. Each year, if you volunteer your time, the company gives you a paid day off. So last week I volunteered with some co-workers to build a vegetable garden for a low income family through the Growing Places Garden Project organization.

We met at the home of the recipient at 10am. Since it was in Westford, I had a nice short commute to work for a change! When I arrived, Nikki from Growing Places was there, unloading tools from the truck. I started helping, and the others started arriving. MB was next, and she started pitching in. Then SL arrived. We were making a raised bed garden, so Nikki directed us to position the three 4 ft. by 8 ft. bed frames, and start laying newspaper on the lawn inside the frames. No digging up the sod for us! BJ arrived and then MR, and they helped finish laying the news paper. And then it was time for the heavy lifting.

A load of compost had been delivered to the front of the house. The garden was in the back, about 100 ft. away. So, with 4 wheel barrows, we started moving the compost to the back. When the first bed was about 1/2 full, Nikki and MB stayed to mix in vermiculite (to help hold water) and chicken manure (to add microbial activity and nutrients). BG showed up and helped us lug more wheel barrow fulls of compost. And more. And more. When the second bed was 3/4 full, I stayed to help mix in the amendments, while SL attached a wire fence trellis to the back of the now full first bed.

And the compost kept coming. I kept mixing and spreading, while the others finished bringing the compost back. Then they filled the wheelbarrows so we could move the remaining compost off the lawn, once we asked the homeowner where she wanted it. At about this time, a man pulled up in a truck. He was the homeowners nephew, and was worried about his aunt, since there were so many cars at her place. We assured him that we were just there to build a garden for her, and he went in to ask about the extra compost.

When all 3 beds were full, I helped SL put a trellis on the back of the second bed. BJ and MB were putting nails int he frames to attach twine to. The twine made up 1 ft by 1 ft squares, to help the homeowner know where to put the plants. And MR, BG, and Nikki started putting up a wire fence around the garden. When the trellis was done, SL and I helped with the fence. B was unrolling, SL and MR attaching it to the posts, and I was pounding them the rest of the way into the ground with a 5 pound beater. Fun! During the fencing stage, another truck pulled in. This time it was Cindy, one of the founders of Growing Places. She'd brought the vegetable seedlings by.

When the fence was up, a group went to move the compost while the rest of us picked up tools. Nikki remarked how we had the fastest garden completion time this year, we were done in an hour and a half! When everything was picked up, we took a group picture, and then my coworkers and I headed off for a celebratory lunch, on the company. Another perk of the volunteer program!

So at this point, you're probably saying, hey, wait a minute, you forgot to plant the vegetables! It turns out that's a separate part of the program, a mentor helps the homeowner plant the vegetables and gives them tips. It usually occurs when the beds are set up, but since the homeowner wasn't feeling well, they'd scheduled to plant on another day.

So, next time you're in the gardening mood, but don't have anything to do in your garden, consider building a vegetable garden for those in need!

Great Blue Herons

The other day I was telling E about the birds I saw while on my way home. He asked if I'd seen the Great Blue Heron in the stream down the road, and I jokingly said, you mean the one standing near the shore on one foot? Then I had to explain to E that they all did that, and no, I hadn't seen the one he mentioned.

But, that lead me to think about how I've been seeing a lot of Great Blue Herons this spring. If I leave the house, I see at least one. I don't recall seeing a Heron a day ever before. Maybe I'm just in their flight path. Maybe there's a great nesting/feeding spot and they've invited friends. Or maybe I wasn't this observant in previous years.

Who knows?

Now, I know you're saying, hey, if you see so many, why isn't there a picture? And the answer is that usually they're flying overhead while I'm driving to or from work. On the highway. At 65 mph. Yeah, I'm really going to whip out the camera then!

Childhood 'Truth' Debunked

Growing up, I thought that lady's slipper orchids were rare. We'd go down into the backwoods to the one spot where the bloomed. And over time, they stopped blooming there, and I though, wow, they must be just about extinct now...

And then I grew up, and moved to Townsend MA.

It's blooming season for the Pink Lady's Slipper orchid. I went for a short walk in the backwoods (here) this weekend. And I found a multitude of Pink Lady's Slipper orchids. In one 10 x 10 area, I counted a colony of 38 orchids! They're everywhere here! I feel like I've found a lost treasure! So I went back to the house and got the camera, so I could share with you.



Since then, I've done some research. The Pink Lady's Slipper orchid is listed in NY, where I grew up, as "Exploitably Vulnerable due to loss of habitat and exploitation". I also have my own theory that the backwoods (back home in NY) was logged enough for firewood that the orchids didn't make it. They seem to be very fragile flowers. They can't even be transplanted because they won't make it without their fungus symbiot. That's some dependent lady! Makes me think they're royalty... Or Goa'uld...

Elsewhere in New England, they're listed as "Secure (common, widespread and abundant)". My research also turned up that they do better in acidic pine forests, which I live amongst here, versus deciduous forests, which were back in NY.

So, one more childhood 'truth' has been debunked. I now no longer think that:

• Pink Lady's Slipper orchids are almost extinct
  
• Red and Gray squirrels don't occupy the same territory because they don't get along
• Snakes eat strawberries
• My mom can change traffic lights to green with her mind
  

Oh, and here's a little Red Eft (so cute!), that I saw on my walk, too. Enjoy!

Summer in April

I keep a garden log. According to the log, last year in late April it got to the 80s for 4 days. But, the saving grace, it was in the 30s at night. And now it's late April again. And yesterday it was 89 degrees F here. 89! Did it cool off last night into the 30s? No such luck, it didn't even get down to 60. Ugh, ugh, UGH!!!

I know, most people love this kind of weather. But really, it's hot, and the pools, which are the only reason to tolerate this kind of weather, aren't open yet. The trees haven't leafed out so there's very little shade. The area swimming holes have 40 degree water. The ice cream trucks aren't even around yet! (Not that they come by here, but I hear them in the development that borders our property.) I don't even have E to distract me because he's gotten his spring cold, (poor guy), and is spending his snuffly weekend watching The Wood Whisperer video podcast (yeah, I know, how can I pass THAT up?) I've finished all of my books, so I'm rereading old material.

OK, so I'll try to see the positive side of this. My close line is up, and I've dried 4 loads of laundry in 4 hours. ... ... That's it, that's all I've got.

There's nothing fun to do in April when it's 89. So I'm hot. And bored. And whining.

Thank you for listening. :)

Five Questions from Shiny Happy Mama

Wow, how time flies! I just saw that my last post was just about a month ago. And here I thought I was getting better...

A couple of quick things, then I'll get to my point.

Yesterday E and I were carpooling to work in the AM and I saw a HUGE (why do I always put a D in huge?) flock of robins in a local fruit orchard. They were probably resting from their flight back north. It's almost spring...

I went for a long walk with my sister, SS, when she was visiting this past weekend. We saw a cute little muskrat (yes, they look like beavers, but with a rat tail) in a swampy area, he was probably getting ready to go find his new home and mate.

OK, now to the point.
1. How did you decide to become a vegetarian? Do you ever miss eating meat?

The short version of the story is that I started realizing exactly where meat came from. I couldn't get it out of my head. I was a bit of a farm girl, so I had an idea. Little by little, I stopped eating certain foods. Like no veal after visiting a friend's veal farm and feeding the baby cows by hand. But it didn't really sink in fully until my aunt and uncle's cow, Salina, was "sent on the truck". The thought that I could have eaten my namesake did it for me, and I haven't had meat since. I was about 12. Funny thing, the last thing I ate was a hamburger...

I don't miss eating meat, although sometime I miss the convenience of eating meat. When I first said no more, I had meat cravings, especially for mashed potatoes and gravy day at school, and pepperoni pizza. But that slowly dissolved. I think the appearance of a lot of vegetarian alternatives helped. I do miss the convenience, having to check and see if restaurants offer vegetarian food can be a bit of a pain. Especially since I'm onion-intolerant. Yeah, I see the irony...

2. What is your dream job?

Managing a horse barn or a park ranger. I miss being outside. I miss the mountains. I'd like to think that someday I'll manage a horse barn in the mountains, and take care of the conservation lands just off the property. Best of both worlds.

Part of me thinks I should use this education though, so another idea is to be an eco advocate of some sort. I'd love to push the world into the life of thinking about how and what they do affects the world around them, kicking and screaming or not. Part of me thinks I should start a "how can my company be more eco friendly (and save money)" business. Maybe someday...

3. I know you prefer rural life to urban life. If you had to live in the city, what would you enjoy about it?

I'd enjoy not having a car. I feel eco-unfriendly because I drive so far to work. Too far, really. I would love being able to walk everywhere; to the grocery store, to the library, to the liquor store. I miss that. I did live in Somerville near the Davis square T stop for a few years, and I really liked leaving my car parked at home when I wasn't going to work. I'm looking forward to our town putting a trail in on the old rail bed, it would give me a non-highway to walk on to the grocery store.

4. Of all the trips/vacations you've taken, which one was your favorite and why?

Ireland is hands down my favorite place. I've vacationed there 4 times, and could live there if I could convince E to be that far from his family. I feel very at home there. The country is so small that they have death announcements for the entire country, yes, the ENTIRE COUNTRY, at noon. And it rarely takes more than a few minutes. I know, it's a bit morbid, but you see my point. It's so green, and full of, well, country. I could see having a little farm 15 minutes outside of one of the cities where E could work. Or living in Killarney and taking tourists on trail rides through the national park. I could live where it doesn't snow, but it also rarely is above 75F. Definitely my kind of weather. I'd be home.

5. Guilty pleasures - food, books, tv.

OK, this one's hard. Not the foods. Man it sucks to be watching what I'm eating...

Food: Gardin of Eatin' blue corn chips, spicy nacho Doritos, feta cheese (Greek) pizza, strawberries, Beaujolais wine (yum, yum, yum, yum, yum! Can I have some?)

Books: Anything and everything sci-fi. But guilty... that would be spending all day ignoring E to read the Harry Potter and Twilight books on the day they come out. Yeah, teeny-bopper, but good!

TV: Hmm, guilty... During our honeymoon, E and I watched a marathon of Project Runway (season 3). Yeah, real romantic. I think this is the only instance of us watching reality TV. But, hey, in Hawaii, it was on for breakfast. OK, so other guilty pleasure shows... umm, does Privileged count? What about Terminator? I used to like Desperate Housewives and Brothers and Sisters, but they don't have the hold over me like they used to.

On a totally un-guilty pleasure, I'm plugging the new Battle Star Galactica series. Four seasons of complete bliss! I would walk over E's dead body to see this one! Well, OK, not really, he gets the shows for me (stupid sci-fi being a paid channel). Thank goodness for the internet! But I've bought all of the seasons, if you want to borrow the DVDs, just let me know... And I'm counting the days until they come out in blue ray!

So, there's the five things. Hope you've enjoyed it!

Noki's New Chair

Our friends K and C were kind enough to give us some nice furniture. I had to work late on Friday, so E went over to pick it up. I got home, and there it was! Noki's new chair!I don't think he's moved since E brought it in, other than to get food, of course! And isn't he sweet, letting Mosa have the ottoman?

A Birdy Week

This week started with the annual Great Backyard Bird Count on Sunday. The Black-capped Chickadees once again were the most prevalent in the half hour that I was watching. But a couple other types of birds made an appearance too, some Tufted Titmice and 2 kinds of Nuthatches, Red-breasted and White-breasted.

Monday morning there were a couple of doves eating under the feeder with the little red squirrel.

Tuesday morning, while letting Mosa decided if she wanted to brave the snow, I spotted a Pileated Woodpecker on a pine tree about 50 feet from the back of the house. You know, the one that Warner Bros. used to designed Woody Woodpecker. It's the white spot in the very center of this picture:If you want to see a better picture, check out Wikipedia's entry.

Then, this morning, a family of 5 Gold Finches came to our backyard feeders. You can (almost?) see 2 here on the green feeder on the left. Everybody else flew away when I got the camera (of course).
I wonder who's going to show up next?