Ducks

There is a pair of ducks on my front lawn. You must understand how unusual this is. There is no pond or lake anywhere near my house. Ducks are common in Kansas, but not usually in the middle of suburbia. Very strange.

I tend to attract animals. Lost dogs especially tend to find me.

When I encounter an animal outside of normal or expected context, I look up its symbolism in Native American cultures, on the web. Maybe there is a message for me in the encounter. Ducks (Mallards) represent protection, nurture, introspection. Another site says ducks represent honesty, simplicity, and resourcefulness in Celtic traditions.  I don't know what that means for me.

I told the pair they could stay and they could even nest in our yard if they want. It would be best to stay in the front yard, away from my dogs, though.

Garden Progress

This weekend I was in a picture-taking mood, so here are some photos showing the progress of my humble square foot garden.

The string marks off the square feet. This picture shows a little more than half of the garden. You can see a cucumber sprout in the foreground, then basil to the left. There's Romaine lettuce to the left of that. The next row (right to left) has a Rutgers tomato, then two little soybean sprouts (trying some dwarf soybeans for homegrown edamame). and then a square of carrots. You can plant 16 carrots in one square! The last square in that row is onion, but you can only see the tops.

The following row is a Grape tomato, green leaf lettuce (Jericho), red leaf lettuce (Red Sails), and another square of carrots. The last row is more green leaf lettuce (though you can't really see that square), unplanted, curly parsley, and arugula. I'm planning to put marigolds in the unplanted square. It's nice to have some color in the garden.

So far I've harvested 5 servings of salad greens!

Here's an "art shot" of a cucumber sprout. This was only 1 week after planting the seed in the ground. Then it got cold, and everything kinda stopped.

And here is a closeup of my first few pea pods. I am hoping to harvest a few and eat them before we go away next week. I planted these babies back in March and it took til about 7 days ago to see any flowers. When we get back from vacation, I hope we will have lots of sweet peas to enjoy. 

It takes practice and trial and error to be a good vegetable gardener. I don't know much, but I keep trying things and seeing what works and what doesn't. I think the best decision I made was last year when I decided to dig out all the soil and replace it with the custom mix described in Mel Bartholomew's book Square Foot Gardening. Plants do better in a light friable soil mix. It drains better, and its so much easier to work with.  

Plot Plan

Here's the plan for my community garden plot.

It's 4'x10' and the lines indicate 1 foot or 2 foot intervals.

The garden was approved by the city council on Tuesday this week. The garden manager sent me a soil analysis with recommendations for fertilization - that was awfully nice! I am still planning to work the soil to break it up a bit and work in some organic material to make it more friable. Plants like soil that is easier to push their roots down into.

Small, I know. As Mother Theresa said, "We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love."

Community Garden

Pea Sprout

In my humble blog, I will post a plug for a new community garden.  It may not make any difference, but then again, it might.

Overland Park, KS, where I live, is getting a community garden. For such a progressive community, it is surprising that there isn't one already. However we are a wealthy city, and we tend to think that everyone has a yard and can plant anything they want in their own little slice of heaven. Those that don't have a yard probably don't want to plant a garden - they can just go to our Farmer's Market to buy locally grown produce.

That's a rather shortsighted view, don't you think?

• You mean not everyone's yard is suited to vegetable gardening? 
• You mean some people don't have a yard?
• You mean people in retirement communities or those without enough money to buy a house with a yard all don't want to garden?
• You mean we don't have poverty here? We don't have people who could improve their food security by growing their own?

One of my friends has been working on this project for at least three years. The city council meeting which will approve it will be in about 1 week. They better approve it....

I have rented a space. As my readers (or, should I say, "reader," heh heh) know, I have my own Square Foot Garden in the backyard for my personal use. 

I am renting the community garden plot entirely for charity - my 4'x10' plot will be a project to grow fresh produce for donation. Our local community food bank, Harvesters, participates in the national movement called Plant a Row for the Hungry, and it accepts home grown produce. I am hoping to involve similarly-interested people from my church, but if no one signs up, I'll do it anyway.

I'm not sure what I will grow yet. Harvesters has a web page with suggestions. Because of the timeline of approval and access, it will be a short growing season, so I'm thinking quick growers:

• Green beans
• Peppers
• Zucchini
• Herbs - basil, parsley

The other reason I want to rent a plot is to help the garden succeed. In these initial years, it is important to demonstrate community interest and garden success.

So, here's my shout out to the Overland Park Community Garden. May it become a cornerstone of the community.