Volunteering at The Hazel Dell School and Community Garden

Last summer, while watching Garden Time, a fun local gardening show, I saw the segment on the Hazel Dell School and Community Garden.  And I pointed to the television and said, "I want to do that!"  

I volunteered for two years with the OSU Master Gardeners and I never found my niche, so I quit.  

But, watching this five minute interview inspired me to contact the WSU Master Gardeners and retake the classes and tests. And now, I'm officially a WSU Master Gardener Trainee for the next year. And I've already volunteered three times at the Hazel Dell School and Community Garden.

Hazel Del School and Community Garden Entrance

They installed a large fence to keep out The Neighborhood Miscreants 

that kept cutting up the greenhouse to get inside.

The view from the back corner of the garden.

This past Thursday, I helped out at the Enrichment Fair at Hazel Dell School.  Barbara taught first and second grade students about lettuce.  The students studied the various kinds of lettuce leaves under a lens. Then she guided them through a taste testing where they wrapped a cheese stick in their various lettuce leafs and dipped them in ranch and salsa.  I watched students begin the class looking at the green leaves like they were the nightly enemy on their dinner plate, only to exclaim how much they loved spinach by the end of the class.  Pow! Take that McDonalds!  Each of the three groups chose baby spinach as their favorite green.  A lovely surprise.

After lunch, a group of 20 Clark College students came for a work party.  The students were friendly and worked hard on a gorgeous afternoon.    

A student found a rogue carrot and happily exclaimed, "It's so dirty!"  

And for our last task, after crossing everything else off of the list, we weeded and pruned the herb beds in the school courtyard.  The college students took some of the herb weeds as starts for their garden or window sill.  We laughed and chatted about herbs, recipes, and life.  I had a wonderful day that exceeded my expectations.

Thank you Barbara and Bobbi for building this community garden!  

My New Poetry Post

Ever since I read about Poetry Posts on Danger Garden, I've been dreaming up my very own Poetry Post.  Last week, I discovered a Poetry Post display at Garden Fever with poetry boxes!  

I purchased a poetry box with copper embellishments.  Isn't it pretty?

This morning I noticed that I needed to print off some more Shel Silverstein's Poet's Tree poem to share with the kids and parents that walk past my house to school.  So far, I'm thrilled with our new project.  

POET’S TREE

Underneath the poet tree

Come and rest awhile with me,

And watch the way the word-web weaves

Between the shady story leaves.

The branches of the poet tree

Reach from the mountains to the sea.

So come and dream, or come and climb—

Just don’t get hit by falling rhymes.

                                    -Shel Silverstein

Compost Happens

 My Sunday morning started off with a fine compost delivery! 

 It was a nice hot batch.  Look at the steam rising off of it.

Some of the compost got stuck in the corner, so the delivery driver helped scoop and shovel it out, while My Pirate supervised. 

This is what 7.5 yards of fine compost looks like in my driveway.  I have my work cut out for me this next month.  What on earth am I going to do with all of this, you ask?  I top dress my beds  and Victory Garden with two to three inches of compost every other year, to help my garden thrive. 

As I was taking pictures of the compost heap, a white haired gentleman out walking his aging poodle said with a dry laugh, "I see a whole pile of Aleve (pain reliever) there.  That’s what I see!" 

As he walked off chuckling to himself,  a blue mini van whipped up and a lady exclaimed with a smile, “Oh my!  You have a fun day ahead of you!  We’re doing it too on a smaller scale at our house.  You inspire us.”

Aleve and inspiration, that about sums it up.  Compost makes me and my garden happy.  Plus I get entertained by my neighbors' comments.  My spring training is underway.  If you need to reach me, you can find me out in the garden spreading compost.  And if you need some compost, I'm happy to share.

living poetry

Let yourself become living poetry. ~Rumi 

Sipping Chocolate

Today, my friend Cindy and I wrapped up our morning of plant shopping with a flight of sipping chocolate at Cacao.  The trio of flavors were dark chocolate, cinnamon, and spicy.  We both agreed that the cinnamon was our favorite...but that didn't stop us from enjoying the other two samples.

Then we explored the chocolate shop and I asked the clerk about chocolate.  He took me on a tour of his favorite chocolates.  I sampled a chocolate with bark pulp in it and it was fascinating.  I couldn't put my finger on the flavor until he described the last note of flavor as the astringency of walnuts. An accurate assessment.

 

As we finished sampling chocolate and picked out our purchases, a lovely euphoria washed over me. I splurged on a French chocolate bar and then we headed back home.