Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Culling....

Whoooo-ey! Love a sunny, misty morning knowing the day will be a warm day. You know when you have an edge on things once you get the weeds under control by making the condition undesirable for them to live among the green grasses. A little squirt of the weed killer stuff here and there will surely and gradually ensure more room for other grasses to come in and grow behind them. I had to yank and pull a few stubborn weeds, too. And that means more people will be able to appreciate a greener lawn. Less competition for grass and allow it to grow healthy and green. I tell ya, yellow dandelions aren't that pretty but some people think so.

Gnarly weeds, not good.

A green grassy and luscious lawn, very cool and inviting.

Kind of how I feel now seeing less weeds out there meaning more for me to enjoy and many others to come in and discuss what's on our mind when it comes to blogging. Less weeds mean less competition and chance to grow and thrive. And more things to share online, too.  One squirt or one weed pull at a time, and before you know it those pesky weeds are gone. You know, adios! Vaya con dios! Goodbye weeds. And all that stuff. That's what many deaf students had to learn when it came to gardening inside a greenhouse at Oregon School for the Deaf.
The six-week program will end Friday, but the work won’t end there. Students started fall crops in seed blocks, two-inch-square soil pats filled with nutrient-rich compost, soil and cocoa. The seedlings will be kept safe in a donated greenhouse that the students put together late last week. The larger garden will be blanketed by a cover-crop come fall.
Master Gardeners volunteer at the garden and guide students in everything they need to know about gardening.
“Everybody supports,” Blake said. Donations have ranged from money to supplies to time helping weed or plant.
The harvest is handed over to Food Share, where it is distributed to hungry families and food banks in Marion and Polk counties.
Food Share is associated with 20 gardens in the Salem-Keizer area. These gardens produce over 20 acres of fruits and vegetables.
And the students get paid while learning the arts of gardening. Pretty cool. Speaking of gardening. I just got back from The Dalles, Oregon from my aunt's massive cherry farm that grow the delicious Rainier and Black cherries. My daughters and I managed to pick two buckets full of cherries. I estimate we gathered about 35 lbs worth of cherries in about 30 to 40 minutes. Checking at my nearby grocery store they were selling Rainier cherries at $5 bucks a pound and the black cherries at $2 a pound. I have about an equal amount of both kinds of cherries which turned out to be an equivalent $120 dollars worth of cherries. All bagged (12 large ziplock bags) and refrigerated right now. Will give some of the bags away to friends and relatives. Cold and delicious! And, my aunt also gave me a nice tour of her large and spacious greenhouse showing me her vegetables she's growing.

3 comments:

Candy said...

Weeds. The bad kind that overtakes the lawn or garden has always been a challenge I could not walk away from. I used to weed in my dad's garden when I was a kid. One day a deaf guy, my age, whom was a friend of the family stopped by (he tend to hang out at my place a lot) and instead of making me sit in front of the TV watching CUBS play, that day he decided to jump in and help me. We both got the garden all free of weed. It was a BIG garden. Even now, I can be found pulling weeds after a rain in my garden. It's easier to pull 'em out that way. The satisfaction I get from seeing a weed-free garden is something that is hard to explain. Maybe it is the accomplishment of making a difference. It also means better garden crops.

The story about the greenhouse at a deaf school in Oregon is neat.

And, cherries, yum yum. Do you make pies?

Gardening is therapeutic as well.

Anonymous said...

salivating at the thought of Ranier cherries!!!! a whole pound can go like that (snap).

Growing a garden is a great learning experience that synthesizes many areas of academic knowledge, like the sciences and math. I had the benefit of growing up in the country where my parents had not one, but TWO big gardens and assorted farm animals. So happy the Oregon SD students can have this opportunity too.

Ann said...

I've said it before...

Once the choking weeds are gone, the colors and variety of the garden really stand out and are wonderful to behold and enjoy.

But weeding is a never-ending job, lol.

Ann_C