The first frost marks and ending and a beginning.​

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     The first frost of the season (Oct. 31) brought an end to the summer garden and marks yet another transition- into our fall/winter garden with its less complicated and easier to maintain format, and the begnning of planning for the coming season's garden. The beautiful green bean vines in the photo to the right are dead(well, mostly dead), and it happened literally overnight.

     We harvested twenty pounds of beans just this past week from this trellis and some beans we had planted around the corner at the Unity Park and Community Gardens. It was as if the plants knew that the end was near and desperately tried to insure that they would live on vicariously through their seed (the beans). They will. It does not seem very different  from our human inclination to find a way to live beyond our allotted time either through our children or our deeds. 

     So many people have touched my life and the lives of countless others through their work to both grow food and to help others to grow their own food. I am very grateful for their guidance and freindship. This is a movement that is shaping the future of our community, leading with grace, commitment, and wisdom.

     This project has transformed my life in ways that I could not have imagined eleven months ago when it was conceived. I have discovered the power of service and some of the teachers have been tomatoes, squash and beans. One lesson is to under-promise and over-deliver. It is hard to believe that a couple of handfuls of seed could produce so much! Our garden has produced over 800 pounds of food, and though the summer all-stars are gone it will continue to yield a variety of greens and root vegetables that will feed more people until it gets really cold. 

     So, as the garden grows the project grows with it. We have a new gardener and contributer to the cause, Nancy and I welcome her contribution and input as we move forward. There is much to do in the short winter this wonderful climate offers. We hope to expand our rainwater system with a larger cistern, we would like to be able to offer some of our families a basic drip irrigation system, and we will build a couple more beds in our own garden to expand our production and to demonstrate more alternative gardening techniques. The most important thing is to expand our effort for encouraging families and individuals to start their own gardens. If you have ideas, energy or resources that can further this cause we would love to hear from you!

    

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