The heat has finally broken, and the garden is perking up – just in time for things to come out to make room for fall crops. We have warmer conditions right here in the middle of the city, so mid-September works for fall crops. And people are relaxing a bit, after the brutality of the summer heat.
Here’s a grab bag of images from the garden.
The plaques…: Our angels’ plaque project moves toward completion – Dennis hung them yesterday, Monday, Sept 17, on the train station wall, now we are just waiting for the liquid nails to dry…
The view from the compost bin, now decorated in morning glories.
“WHAT’S THAT?” Reflections on sustainability and bird feeders.: A visitor to the garden gasped the other day and demanded, “What’s that???”, pointing at this big brown stalk. Answer: We leave sunflowers in the garden as natural bird feeders. Is it really less attractive than some box you buy, covered in lead paint, made in a sweatshop somewhere far away, out of sight? To really get a handle on sustainability, we are going to have to grapple with aesthetics – the beauty of things. What’s ugly? A pristine lawn that’s totally chemically dependent, with no place for any lifeforms at all? Or a wealthy culture that tolerates no health care for poor children? And which is truly sustainable?
Part of the circle: We also accept insects as part of natural systems. Of course, we discourage ones that do a lot of damage, but we also live happily with ones that don’t. Like this Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes) caterpillar, munching on the dill. Do we really want a world without butterflies (or only plastic ones?). How we treat our brother and sister animals speaks volumes about how we treat one another.
Heroes: I just like this pic of folks at the Center, after a session of working in the garden. It is taken against the old retaining wall, still left from the old days when we didn’t have the fancy new building and were all squished into the train station, counseling, soup kitchen, artists painting, even the nurse…Roland Washington, a leader with Homeless Helping Homeless is the guy in the tie, Pete Foster, super gardener, is on the right.
Changes in the station: Speaking of the station, we are now working on changing it in some basic ways. The “SABER” program is taking over the top floor, and CommunityWorks is moving downstairs. As part of the cleanup, some old couches are being trashed. Here, Ray and Gino send an old couch to the dumpster. It fought back – one neighbor was heard to say “They don’t build them like that anymore.” But this is Charlotte. Even here at the Ministry, our first impulse is to smash the old and buy a new one. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to it, but that’s Charlotte.
Amazing squash: I have to double check the name of this excellent, productive squash that has been producing and producing since June. It works both as a summer (picked small) and winter (allowed to mature) squash, and it is very pretty. I think it is from Johnny’s Selected Seed – a great outfit. Watch this blog… My garden journal is downstairs in the basement, next to the seed stash. Still can’t quite bring myself to keep my journal on the computer. What, me? A Luddite???
Is there such a thing as an eluddite? Virtual Luddite?
Hanging out behind the station: Folks like to hang out in the shade and shelter at the end of the old train station, right next to where I’ve got an improvised garden center for tools and donated plants. It is an uneasy partnership, though better now that we all know each other. At first, Gino played very loud rhythm and blues music with some jazz. Mile’s version of Monk’s Round Midnight came on, and I stopped pricking out little tomatoes and took a minute to groove along listening – I’m a musician, probably closer to a neo-beatnik than anything. Gino stared at me, then said “Sheeyit, man, what the hell do you know about this music?” I started laughing, so hard I almost dropped the tomato flat. We’ve since made friends. Right now, I have the problem of figuring out what to do with this space as part of the renovations – keep it garden room? Make all or part a chapel for quiet gathering. I don’t mind the music, but I do mind folks peeing on the area, which they do. Plus, some guys smoke, snort, drink and deal – not always, and usually not our ‘regulars’, but it happens – and all of us get tired of having to order people off the property when that happens. So, gardeners solve problems through design – hopefully, we’ll all think of something. Notice, btw, folks sitting on plastic tubs – right beside where we busted up the couch…we don’t want to encourage hanging out, is the mantra.
Sweet potatoes, sunflowers and banks: The Urban Ministry Garden view of the universe. The sweet potatoes (foreground) look very good so far. We are hoping to have them ready so Sandra can bake sweet potato pies for Thanksgiving.
Castor bean: Check out this wildly red castor bean (Ricinus communis var. rubra), growing beside the garden steps! True, these are the source of the deadly poison ricin, and need to be kept away from playgrounds, etc. But they are amazing looking, and tough.
Cool, Don! Love your sunflower and comments, and all the work being done at the garden.
nice black swallowtail photo especially!