Community Garden

My wife is part of a community garden group called the Greenbriar Collective.  The community garden is one of their many projects.  They rotate work weekends with the various community gardens with which they are involved.  Our gardens were the weekend of the February 17th and 18th. It was a blast!  As I am not readily involved with out-door projects (I am a geek, after all -- manual labor to me is moving computers around), I was a little hesitant about what I could do to help.  But, as they were going to be at my house and working in my gardens, the least I could do was help in some way.  And I did.  And it was great!  There is such a feeling of satisfaction when people from all walks of life come together and accomplish something.  Now, granted, I was more of a support person, but I think we all were that to some extent.  We had a lot to do and I wondered if we would be able to get it accomplished.  I would say we got about 95% of it done.  Here are some pics of the stuff that was done:

These are raised beds from last year, filled up with fresh dirt and compost.  These beds will grow squash, onions, garlic, and various herbs.

 

 

 

This was one of the new beds we created.  This is made of 2 x 6s and 4 x 4s.  We cut the 4x4 into 18" posts and then sunk them roughly 6".  We then cut the 2x6s into 4' and 8' sections.  Next we fastened them to the posts, one on top of the other, so that the depth is roughly 12".  Then we layered the bottom with recycled cardboard, compost, dirt, and topped it off with a layer of leaves.  In this bed we will grow tomatoes

 

 

 

These are some great compost bins built by our friend Mike.  As you can see, these are just discarded pallets.  I use bungee cords to secure the fronts.

 

 

This is a new raised bed in the front yard.  It is similar in construction to the previous bed except it is only 6" deep.  Actually, we built this one first.  It will be used to grow beans and peas.

 

 

 

As can be seen by the picture, this bed is next to the street.  This bed was just measured and then the top soil removed.  We 'fluffed up' the soil, removed the Bermuda grass from the top soil, created a border with timber from some trees we had cut and made a walkway out of straw down the middle.  On the left there (north side), you can see a lighter colored area.  These are some pavers we put down for access to the water meter.  In this bed, we will grow potatoes.

 

 

 

Here is one that I am most proud of.  It is a water catchment system.  I modified the front gutter so that the rain water would funnel into the barrel.  This is a 50 gallon pickle/pepper barrel we purchased from Atwoods.  It came equipped with the front spigot.  The plan is to connect a water hose to the spigot and attach a splitter on the other end of the hose.  The splitter will have two soaker hoses that will be for the front beds.

It's so exciting when you see a project like this come together.  It gives one a real sense of community when a group of people get together to help each other.  It reminds me of well, of the first Christians.  Of how 'the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer' (Acts 2.42).  I pray that this will continue to grow, mostly in me.

Almighty God, we thank you for making the earth fruitful, so that it might produce what is needed for life: Bless those who work in the fields; give us seasonable weather; and grant that we may all share the fruits of the earth, rejoicing in your goodness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

May mercy, peace, and love be yours in abundance.

+ OD