Prayer Flags

I had been wanting to hang up prayer flags - like the ones in Nepal - but couldn't find any and didn't want to just buy some random ones online. so I just cut some fabric with pinking shears, had series of garden volunteers/visitors write their prayers on the fabric with fabric markers and sewed them onto some bias tape. turned out pretty cool! seeing a broad range of people's hopes for the garden, the neighborhood, the world, every time we walk into the garden is pretty fantastic and very hope-giving. AND a special thanks to Frances Carr for the very cool Alley Garden sign. Love it!

RAIN BARRELS!!

a HUGE thanks to Mike Musser of The Village Green, Fritz Schroeder of LIVE Green and Drew Mitstifer and Doug Smith of Eastern Market for their dedicated help in repairing some roofing, installing new gutter and downspout and connecting the two rain barrels courtesy of LIVE Green. How cool is this??

Harvest

Some crazy carrots and an amazing mystery melon (look at doug's expression as he discovers the color) - among lots of other good stuff coming from the garden.

Visitors

Over the past few weeks we've had several groups visit the garden. Esme and I were on the deck after church one Sunday and a group of kids about her age came walking down the alley wearing crowns - and walked into the garden. Turns out it was a Sunday School class from In the Light up the street. 4 & 5 year olds who were learning about King Solomon's garden and came to check out ours.

And this week my friend Nate brought his summer class of middle school students from the Boys & Girls Club over for a tour. They harvested the carrots, planted some seeds and made prayer flags (more on that later.

Work Day

We had a great weekend at the garden. A workday with some youth from the CMCL youth group and all of the neighbor kids that have been working with us just about doubled the size of the garden. We built about 6 more raised beds with space for about 3 more before we're maxed out. Staked the tomatoes (A TON OF THEM!) pulled weeds and more.

We postponed the mural work for an evening sometime when it isn't so hot. We were in full sun on a 95 degree day. Not so pleasant most of the time.

On a different note, I realized that we never posted our goals/objectives here. This was from the grant application to CMCL and it always helps me to have clarity about what we're working toward:
# Transformation of an unused property into a vibrant, productive green space
# Engagement and basic education with neighborhood youth around the environment, nutrition, local economies, community development and public art
# An exploration of social enterprise as a means to support the garden going forward through produce sales and value-added food products

With the new space we have room for more gardeners, specifically people that live in the neighborhood.

long overdue

so lots has happened in the past month. one of the first harvests a while ago - mint & arugula. yummmm.


tomatoes are way tall with lots of little green tomatoes.

flowers

squash & peppers

beets!

more seeds

I stopped at the new Lowe's on Pitney Road today and told the manager, Jamie Wendorf, what we were up to over here with the alley garden and he gave us the over $50 in seeds and such that I had tallied up for $15! Nice. Thanks Jamie and Lowes! And I talked with another friend this week who had a ton of ideas about other places to find support for the garden.

Even though we're just getting started, it has been a really cool experience so far. In particular, I now feel like I know three boys from a few doors up - every time I leave the house out the front or the back they are around and wondering if I'm going to work in the garden and if they can help. Chad and I have both had surprisingly good/candid/vulnerable interactions with neighborhood adults as well. It's like this fledgling garden has opened a door to a different level of relationships.

And if we get some food out of it that will be an added bonus!

The First Raised Beds!

As of yesterday, we have our first two raised beds and one flower bed! The raised beds are absolutely beautiful 4' x 8' frames made from sustainably and locally harvested osage orange lumber. Thanks to Chad for lending us a hand with the power tools. The flower bed is about 4' x 9,' but I'm hoping to expand soon. On the agenda for this week: build another raised bed, begin planting vegetables in the raised beds, and begin planting flowers in the flower beds.

Progress

Things are finally moving along, and fast! Last Monday we borrowed a neighbor's rototiller and raked the plot to even it out. We also cleared some of the rubble. Thanks to Jessica for lending her truck and to Doug and Rob for picking up our first load of compost. Stay tuned for another post with pictures of the first two raised beds!

Welcome!

This is the future home of the Alley Garden. Located in the southeast of Lancaster City, the space is approximately 25ft by 60ft. The owner of this land has generously offered it to be put to use as a community garden. The site will need some clean up, and the soil is currently being tested to determine its potential for use. Check back for details on an upcoming community workday.