The rain, rain, rain came down, down, down - September 26, 2009

Torrential downpours with a side of thunder kept us from working at the Dunbar Garden today - but mere puddles and flash flood watches could not keep us apart! Jaz and James helped Jesse's dad set up the Mindtriggerz Training Lab then came by the house where soon to follow came Tyler, then Christopher and then finally, Sarah who entertained us with her dancing feet and tales of stalkers and everything in between from her Ball State experience.

Tyler had his own tales of lulz about some not-so-bright student on the EKU campus who tried to tak
e a cell phone pic of a skunk but who found out that was NOT the smartest thing to attempt and Chris provided a cd of pics taken recently at the garden and so since we missed our "Gracie's" presence today, well, this photo seems appropriate to include in our post :P

She had a lot of fun playing in the water but rest assured, she did manage to do more than dance in droplets last Saturday - she washed down all the picnic tables and besides looking beautiful and perfect and young and happy, she added her own touch to making the garden a beautiful place to be. <3

While we got nothing "done" at Liverpool today the house was filled with the sounds of laughter - and we convened on the lab to help Jerome break down in record time. Then he bought us all lunch! W00t. It was and always is good to be surrounded by our particularly wonderful collective, even though it's always better AT THE GARDEN. Oh well, we'll try again next weekend.

Jerome and Jaz delivered a couple of computers to a couple of families that prior to today didn't have one so "work" did get done. It always does, even when we are not paying attention (or seemingly just having fun).

<3
Jesse's Mom

Baba Ganoush to you too - September 19, 2009

Updating the blog was put on hold (or rather, I got caught up in a game of "FarmVille" as well as cleaning computer components for Mindtriggerz) but we'll back space and get caught up!

Last Saturday we convened on Ms. Eller's art room to help bring to fruition a project her art club began but was unable to complete. One of the original "Horsemania" horses had been donated to the school and students collaborated on a design and decided to use broken tiles to
decorate it. With assistance from SEVERAL Beta Club students along with their wondermous sponsor teacher Ms. Davis as well as our regular "crew", we pretty much saddled that pony (sorry, couldn't resist). Having completely forgotten my camera, Rachel thankfully shared a few of hers. It was a great day of great collaboration among caulk guns filled with glue, hammer meisters who broke the tiles, and some of us (ME) as an observer. We pounded and adhered away and left with dusty fingers and a horse making great strides to finding a spot in the garden soon! We'll continue working over the winter on this project - a million thanks to Ms. Eller and all our "artistes" (even the ones who didn't pose for the camera!).

So this week we moved back out into fresh air and sunshine to prune and sweep (thank you, Serena!) and throw bamboo stake javelins (Chris and James, thank you very much). We had a small crowd including the aforementioned as well as Katelyn's younger sister Lindsay who brought another future Dunbar student, her Beaumont Middle classmate, Kirby. They are now officially known as "the pruner twins" - they did a remarkable job on some sunflowers, beardtongue and random stray dead branches. After Gracie's major/minor issue was resolved with a little help from her friends, Chris fetched some extra pruners from his house and we all set out dead heading - this time being careful to collect the seed heads from the oxeye sunflower so they potentially won't sprout all over the garden next spring. Oh, and Gracie cleaned all the picnic tables and did a little romping in the water while she was at it. :)

On several fronts today I was reminded how very important our connecshuns are - not only in this space but in each others' lives. I am thankful to these young people who are my family. I would do anything for each one of them.

A special shout-out to Serena's mom who showed up at the end of the day with some homemade hummus and Baba Ganoush for yours truly. I appreciate every chance I get to nurture and feed these young ones, what an incredible bonus to have that returned!

Chris promises a few pics from today to add later - Jesse's dad has my camera tonight since while he and Jaz delivered THREE MINDTRIGGERZ COMPUTERS this afternoon, they forgot to bring it back. Rather, Jerome did. Boo!

Peace and love and flowers. <3
Jesse's Mom




September 5, 2009 - The Burley Tobacco Growers Meeting

Every Saturday someone at the garden finds money and we joke about the coins being payment for all our hard labor. Today I found a shiny penny, which might well be a good reflection of the volume of work I got done. Ha!

While I knew that Sarah would be in from Ball State to join us, it was GREAT to have Tyler back in from EKU. w00t! Katelyn brought along her younger sister Lindsay who will attend
Dunbar NEXT YEAR and a mixed bag of our usual suspects came to work as well: Serena, Gracie, James and Christopher. Miranda showed up a little late but that was due to her baking a delicious zucchini bread (with chocolate chips) as a belated birthday treat for Serena (who just turned 13 - NOT).

It was hot and sunny at the garden and as Sarah pointed out, while attempting to dig
up a weed, very dry! Even with the heat, weeds got pulled, plants got pruned, pathways got swept, the butterfly puddling area received some special love - oh and yeah, Chris's VW bug got rocked (don't ask, I don't know why).

While I was a total DOINK about using the camera today, Grace had her own and we're hopeful she'll share her pics with us! The garden is so well-established now and relatively weed-free which makes it is so very nice to be there and enjoy all our work without feeling compelled to hustle the way we did this spring and earlier in the summ
er.

While the weeds were sparse, the litter was not. Blargh. Mostly cigarette butts
thus the title of this weeks' post. I can say that while I didn't perform any major hard-labor, I did fill a plastic bag full of butts. So, while the crew disbanded to go about their lively weekends, I spent some time tonight making signs that say "Our Plants Don't Smoke" and am hoping to have a few extra "butt cans" in the garden before the students return after the long weekend. I did get a photo of the bag o' butts but Blogger is being a butthead so will have to return at a later date to post the pic.

Miranda sat with me after everyone else had left and we shared stories and aspirations for gardens all over the campuses of Fayette County Schools. She is an incredibly vibrant and intelligent young woman with so many forward-thinking ideas. I am very much looking forward to working with and helping her this fall and winter and she will appease some of the withdrawal that has arisen with so many of our "garden volunteers" who have left for colleges far away.

Natalia headed back to Michigan this morning with her rattlesnake master in tow and was sorely missed today. As was Grace who already posted that she misses the heat now that she's in Massachusetts. Love to them and all who spent so many Saturdays making this sacred space even more special. WE MISS YOU!

Next weekend we'll be spending time in the art room with the wonderful Art Teacher Ms. Eller. I have every intention of doing a better job with the camera duties - and every intention of doing whatever we can this fall and winter to keep the spirit of the garden and all it means upfront and center.

Love, love and moar love.
<3>

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