Friday, April 24, 2009

Green, Green, Green!

I'm trying to get back in the swing of walking daily with the dog, now that Luna is old enough to handle it. The weather isn't always ideal yet - I could have done without all that Spring wind on Wednesday - but the world is waking up again after a long winter. There are green patches in the yards and fields, and actual flowers!




I think the white things are some sort of wild anemone, and it seems to me that the yellow is some kind of swamp mallow. In any case, they're pretty. (By the way, does anyone know why the earliest flowers seem primarily to be yellow? Daffs, crocus, forsythia . . . what's with that? There must be some science thing contributing to the preference for yellow. Inquiring minds want to know.)

In other exciting dirt-related news, we have just broken ground on a new and expanded Victory Garden at church.



It's now 300% bigger, with suitably bigger plans. With the economy doing what it is, we think we will see an increased need for fresh local produce. And let's face it: we've got the room. We've got plans swirling around about mulch and irrigation and seedlings. We have a newly enlarged and fully enthused team, and the point has been made that future weeding and harvesting will be group projects. We're even talking about a regular "Wine and Weeding" event, perhaps on Wednesday nights.

The garden had a rough start previously, with certain (former) committee members worrying about whether the garden would be attractive and pushing hard to maintain the grass status quo, but I think the garden concept proved itself beautifully last year. Also, we've done a lot of talking lately as a congregation about how we need to stop trying to be "everything for everyone" and start concentrating on what we do best. We do mission projects very well - and we've got more vacant lawn than any other church in the area. Emma suggested three years ago that our garden really ought to be in the front yard instead of the back, and we should be trumpeting this effort. Well, further on down the line, her vision is coming true. Other people are starting to talk independently about further enlargements, and a couple people are advocating that we plow up that front yard and put in potatoes! I do think we need to be careful that our ambition does not outstrip our workforce, but I love the enthusiasm.