Sorry so long....lots of good news to share in the upcoming days!!

I am sorry I haven't written in over a month. Apparently adults too can get mono....sleeping all day & just being generally tired doesn't fit into my lifestyle! So, a lot has happened in the past month & I hope to post a lot in the next week to get us back up to date.
Also:
- a man from Longmont who is starting an urban garden contacted me in July....I have lost his number (sorry!!) If you are reading this, please call me again because I really do want to help.

Check back in the next couple days for some great updates & photos!

Everything Grows

The boys and I spent a couple hours at the garden this morning. I have discovered a few things:

1. I really enjoy being at the garden

2. I think about really random things while I am working at the garden

3. We are good at growing vegetables.

4. We are really good at growing weeds:)

Vegetables: The boys and I picked so many zuchinni, summer squash, gourds (didn't even know we planted those!), cucumber, cauliflower, a small number of peas, and beets. Need to still pick more beets, cucumbers, carrots, and basil. Also learned about the growing and harvesting of cauliflower. Unfortunately, all the cauliflower that we have grown have gone bad! Ugh. So, should we plant more and try again??

On to my random thought for the day:

I was thinking that maybe some scientist or engineer or other genious type person would be reading this tonight and get some inspiration. Ha, I know, I also laughed thinking about someone like that reading my blog about a little garden! Anyways, if you are reading this and concerned about fuel sources I have an idea. I think that someone should create a way to turn bind weed into fuels! I have enough bind week to supply a million people so if there was a way we could change it into fuel the world could be saved:) I warned you ahead of time that it was a random thought!!

More Plants...

Just when I thought the garden was 'doing its thing' and we were done planting....

So, last week I had a discussion with some other fellow gardeners about the lettuce, spinich, etc that was already starting to get bitter. We talked about pulling it out & maybe planting another round later in the summer/early fall. I left for a week and on my drive home I received a call from Cimarron Garden Center & Nursery in Firestone offering to donate some more plants. And so, the "old" plants have been removed and the new plants put in (various types of peppers, bunch onions, cabbage, eggplant, and kohlrabi). Lucas and Colter had a great time today. They helped me pick any remainder lettuce, pull the plants, and plant the new ones. Of course they had to stop to find a few ladybugs too!

Share the Wealth...

The garden seems to me to be in "full bloom", but when I consider that we are only harvesting from a few number of the plants I am almost scared of what is yet to come! I think we are in trouble when the tomotos are ready....anyone know a good canner?! Look at what we have accomplished already this summer...
We have two local winners, Libby in Dacono & George in Firestone, who won free vegetables for their families for the summer. Congratulations Libby & George! We had a contest at the local fairs in June & July where they had to guess the number of black-eyed peas in the very large jug. They were the winners from the fairs and have already started to receive their vegetables.

We have also been able to provide the local food bank with the first round of vegetables. A lot of lettuce, arugula, spinich, summer squash, and zuchinni were given out.

We have been able to provide vegetables to many inidivuals/families through the local Senior Center.

We have been able to provide Children's House of Weld with a location to garden, a location to teach the children, and many vegetables for the children to try!

We have been able to eat many vegetables ourselves:)

Life is good at Brigit's Bounty!

What Kind of Impact is this Going to Have?

I wonder, what kind of impact is this garden going to have? When I began planning, dreaming, envisioning this garden I had two fears...

1. $5,000 wasn't going to be enough

2. Nothing or little was going to grow so all the time & energy wouldn't be worth the result

Well, I can now say that both fears have subsided. We have had enough money to build an amazing garden with the many blessings of assistance and donations that we have received. Not only do we have a garden that is approximately 50x80 feet of growing space, we also have a children's play area, children's raised beds, and this week a gazebo & shed are being put up. The second fear was blown away this Sunday when I went to see the garden after being away for three weeks. When I left on June 12th, we had a beautiful field of dirt. It had been plants, but nothing really showed for our efforts. We had to keep after the kids because they couldn't tell where they should be walking because nothing was sprouting to show the paths yet. Well, in three weeks time we have gone from dirt to a full PRODUCING garden! What a sight to see. The lettuce and spinach are almost finished and have been harvested many many times during the past two weeks. The summer squash and zuchinni are producing and have also started to be harvested. Everything is in full growth... including the weeds:) I wonder if St. Brigit had a green thumb? And so now I sit here thinking about all the families, children, community members who are going to know the love that has been put into this garden. I feel truly blessed to be a part of this experience. After spending 3 hours weeding on Sunday, I felt renewed. We are meant to get our hands dirty. We are meant to care for the land. We are meant to eat fresh vegetables...and this year MANY people in the Tri-Town area will do just that!

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And what else does the garden have? Bugs...especially lady bugs. Lucas spent hours finding them in the plants, checking them out, learning about their appearance at different stages of growth. Nothing like a garden to provide hands-on learning fun for the kids!!

Stepping Stone

Sorry for the lag in posts. I took an extended vacation from reality, but am back to the real world now. That means...back to the garden. I only have two more things to share right now and will post again soon about all the exciting changes in the garden over the past three weeks. In May, I spent a morning at the Children's House of Weld County Montessori School making stepping stones with the kids. What an amazing experience! There is nothing like the excitement of little kids:) Each of the children were given the opportunity to make their own stepping stone. Then the stones were taken over to Brigit's Bounty & 'planted' in a path fashion in the children's area. The kids love to be able to see their own stones and have a place that they can run on them!

And...in May we had our first "Bounty"! Yeah, let the yummy veggies begin:)

Let's Plant

Months of planning, moving dirt & cinder blocks has all led to this....Let's Plant! It is very rewarding to watch as the day progresses and the plants are being put into the ground. We were fortunate to get 43 packets of seeds and 49 tomato plants donated by the local nursery store Cimarron (http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ei=WCUtSovtCI_0tAOppJy1Cw&resnum=0&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=cimarron+nursery&near=Colorado+80504&fb=1&split=1&gl=us&view=text&latlng=7012064673175643823)
We also purchased many more plants to add to the donated plants and seeds. The result.... a very full garden that is about 80x70 feet in size. I can't even imagine the bounty that this garden is going to provide for our friends and families in the Tri-Town area.