An Exciting Time!

Hello Everyone! As many of you who already garden know, this is an incredibly exciting time of the year! I'm not sure if our previous posts have really conveyed all the things we have goin on in our own little plot here on the west side of Olympia.

I just took a bunch of pictures of some of the exciting growth happening in the "Monster Garden," and I want to share them, so without further ado...




Above is a picture of some Bluebells that just bloomed this past week. They are pretty ubiquitous around this area, but beautiful nonetheless. Below are a few pics of our first Strawberry blooms of the year. These pink flowers are on an "ornamental" strawberry. We were told that it wouldn't produce fruit, but it does anyway. We are also growing some other strawberries in hanging baskets. We got those plants for free from a kind soul in the community, and we're not sure exactly what kind they are, but they have white flowers.





























Next up, we've got pictures of our new babies this year. Here are images of some of our Tomato (a flat and an individual), Eggplant, and Asparagus seedlings respectively. These guys were seeded on April 5.

And next we have some Peas...On the left, there is one of many that were seeded outside on President's Day (February 16). Below, this is a pea patch that Kevin and I planted outside on March 9.
























.......And here are some of the other vibrant plants we already had in the garden (listed in order): Lupines (planted early summer 2008), Spinach (planted November 2008), Rosemary, blooming and attracting fuzzy bees! (planted more than 3 years ago), and Spanish Lavender, on the verge of blooming! (planted more than 2 years ago).

And last, but not least, we have some native and naturalized plants. In the overhead view of the garden, you can see on the left side there is some area not divided up into beds. Last year, that whole area was overtaken by Himalayan Blackberry. After cutting down the blackberry and digging up the roots, we intentionally left the site as undisturbed as possible to allow some of the natives already growing there some peace. So far, we've been greatly rewarded! The green fluffs that you see on the left side in the overhead picture are Comfrey plants. Comfrey (Symphytum officinale) is a very useful plant. It sends its roots deep into the ground, bringing up nutrients from the subsoil and depositing those back onto the topsoil when it sheds its leaves. Comfrey leaves can be harvested 2-3 times per year, and the plant just grows right back like nothing ever happened. The leaves can be used for mulch or in compost, where they provide a big dose of nitrogen, potassium, and other nutrients. Comfrey is also known to be a pretty potent medicinal plant, but I must confess, I have not yet explored any of its medicinal properties. Comfrey is not originally from the Pacific Northwest, but I have seen it growing all over the place in the wild.
Our Native patch also is home to a FOREST of Bracken Ferns, the first of which are just starting to unravel, Trailing Blackberry, a Red Elderberry, and many others. The following pictures are of the Bracken Fern (the second one shows Comfrey in the background), as well as our own li'l Elderberry friend.

What we would like to do...

So, we would like to take this chance to speak about some of our goals.

First of all, we must admit, we are involved for ourselves. Who would not be? I can think of few things better than a hot meal on my plate that was just pulled from the garden.

Other than combating our own hunger, we are seeking out a way to combat the hunger of other people.

We are setting aside roughly 20% of our space to grow food for those who may need some.

During the course of the events to come, our third major goal is education. We are teaching ourselves and each other new things everyday. Each of us has begun to develop new skills, discuss important issues, and find out how the goodness of people really can change the world one home at a time.

We are trying to explore the ideas of permaculture, local food production, community networks, active individual involvement (doing what one can do, when one can do it), becoming more self-sufficient, reducing our impact on the environment, ending hunger (in a more cultural context than a physical one), re-using resources and reducing the volume of our waste stream, and many many more.

Throughout the summer we will be having work parties, dinners, discussions, and events that seek to explore the variety of ways in which a person can be involved in the food production process... whether it is letting someone use an old shovel, growing a few starts for a friend, pitching in five bucks for the cause, making art for your favorite garden, or growing just one plant to grow food for those in need.

Whatever your interests and whoever you are, we believe that if you want to promote food security there are many ways in which you can participate. Let us know what you'd like to do or what you can do, and let's see what we can do together!

Have a glorious day!

Nicholas Wooten
Emily Driskill