Blog Revival!

Amazing- how has a whole month passed since our last post? Over the past few weeks, we have finally been reveling in the true bounty of the farm, our early spring fears of aphid plagues and a sunless summer assuaged. We have so far harvested two full weeks of CSA shares, begun dropping off loads of chard and carrots to the food pantry, and are continually feasting on greens, roots and berries. Allow me to share a few photos: 

   

Food Pitchez

We make kombucha! This is after we harvested it.

Kombucha, kimchee crock, fresh strawberries, lovely flowers, and our specialty chickweed/sorrrel/lamb's quarters/purslane/chive flowers weedsalad. A bounteous table indeed.

Banana bread Mark Bittman style.

Izaac crafting a fresh loaf of bread from our stock of dumpstered flours.

Chive flower chapatis.

More chive flower chapatis.

Blog as garden resource

I have been grappling with the temporary nature of the community garden facilitator position. There's an annual turnover for this role every year, which means that the continuity of knowledge breaks every year. Figuring out Willliam Street and TSquare things pretty much on my own is super valuable, but I figure, Hey! Why not make my knowledge available to other people who might benefit from it in futuretimes? And make the gardens even awesomer in the future? More potential for creativity? So! for now this blog will serve in part to let people know what's been happening at the garden in a useful way. Maybe this is silly for a lot of people, but for an inexperienced gardener like me, maybe this will come in handy eventually, or put a mind somewhere out there at ease. More to come!

-Rosa

William Street ponderings

During this first month of summer, I've been getting acquainted with the rhythms of facilitating a garden. Feeling out different relationships with the folks who are cultivating plots, learning not only how I can help the gardeners best, but also how I can healthily and self-reflexively slip into the role of facilitator. Speaking with gardeners about why they garden, the pleasures they derive from it, and the experiences which surround it, I have come to think that the most important aspect of this garden is its potential for autonomous expression. So, what the heck am I doing getting paid to facilitate such a situation?

In these respects, the less-than-ideal history of town/gown interactions between Wesleyan and Middletown has proven a healthy challenge to overcome. Facilitating the William Street Garden is teaching me a lot about ways to enter into a community on a semipermanent level. How best can I support the garden's awesome potentials? How do I reconcile my identity as a Wesleyan student, and as someone who cares about Middletown communities? In what ways can I harness the resources made available to me through the university for the benefit of gardeners? How can I act on these questions without damaging the strengths which already exist independently of me and the university?

Ah! These are questions that feel somehow too big to raise in a medium like a blog. However they are on my mind every time I work in the garden, so maybe they're worth voicing yet again.

-Rosa

Hello all you LLF supporters out there! 

It's been a few weeks since Eliza's initial posts, and a lot has happened out at the farm! This being my first blog post (ever!), I will keep it brief, and just share with you a few photos: 

...Strawberries have come in abundance, and blueberries are on their way... 

...the bees are hard at work, and glad that the sun has finally come out again after a week of rain...

...the chard, having survived a vicious aphid attack, is almost ready to be eaten, and is looking quite stunning in our newly mulched rows. Also, Sarah and Julius who worked at LLF last summer came by to visit and set up this pea and cucumber (will they climb?!) trellis...

...the flowers planted in the original mandala bed are just coming up, thanks to our love and care and a healthy dose of fish emulsion...

...and today, the farm was visited by several friends...

(Here is Abe sitting on the bench we have set up in the strawberry/herb/flower area) 

(And here is one of several turkeys we found wandering through our remaining uncleared beds, nibbling away at our flowering weeds)

Also, the fight continues against our resident woodchuck. Here is what the American Humane Society says about these pesky creatures: 

When I see woodchucks basking in the sun, foraging contentedly for wildflowers or surveying the landscapes over which they preside, sometimes I think they possess a certain wisdom about how to enjoy life. Indeed, if happiness is measured in terms of flourishing, then woodchucks—you may know them as groundhogs or whistle-pigs—are the envy of the animal kingdom.

At their urging, we have been attempting some methods of "humane harassment," and hope that our lettuce, beans, and peas will soon be out of harm's way. 

Thanks so much for checking in on us! 

 

-Kelly