Big House run

I've always wanted to do the Big House/Big Heart 5K run in early October (OK, not always, since the thing has only been around for three years ... I should say I've wanted to do it the last two times, and couldn't for whatever reason.)

This year, I might make time to get out there and run. I was just perusing through the site and guess what? Project Grow is one of the charities that will benefit from the run!

See the list of charities receiving donations here.

All the more reason to find time ...

My idea!

OMG -- this was my idea, and someone is actually doing it! Good going, guys!

State Seeds fresh delivery in Detroit

Truck farming

I've had this idea bouncing around in my head about what to do about the fact that many poorer people in urban areas like Detroit don't have access to fresh fruits and vegetables. Detroit's not a city like New York, where there are gorgeous bodegas on every corner with flowers and fruit stacked up outside luring customers in.

So I was thinking, what if you could do something like a lunch truck that drove around to different neighborhoods, bringing these things to people? So instead of frying up an unhealthy lunch, you could serve up street food with a healthy twist, and sell whole veggies/fruits on the side. Also would be great if the place was set up to take food stamps ...

Anyway, the idea is still just an idea, but there's some folks out in Brooklyn who are also onto the idea of the mobile veggies. They filled up an old Dodge (sorry, Ford truck fans) and loaded it up with waterproofing material, lightweight synthetic soil, and real soil. Check out this cool video here: (You can also see their website here. Apologies in advance for the bad folksy music.)

What to do with your stuff

The Ann Arbor Project Grow site has a nice article, with links, about what you can do with your harvest (besides donating it, of course.)

Check it out here.

What I have learned ...

So, my garden is quickly coming to an end. It hasn't been a great year for this garden, but I learned a few key lessons. All of them learned the hard way.

1. Cilantro self-seeds. If you don't want the garden to be infested with cilantro next summer, make sure you pick it all before it goes to see and takes over your soil. But they sure do smell good when you're pulling them out.

2. There is a reason why you should thin the carrot seedlings. Once they start growing, they get big. And envelope each other. And come out in all sorts of funky shapes and sizes.

3. Watering regularly keeps everything from dying. I know, this one is a no brainer. But I forgot. For a while. And my lovely peapods, which were doing quite well, all died.

4. If you can't remember to water things, container gardening is not for you. Everything will die and shrivel up.

5. Pea plants are big, and will overshadow anything growing behind them. There is not enough room in my garden for pea plants and tomatoes.

6. It is more satisfying to pull a vegetable out of the dirt than to pick it off a stem. Not sure why this is, but clearly the kids and I both enjoyed pulling up radishes and carrots more than anything else.

7. I really miss having a good crop of cherry tomatoes. They will be a priority next year.

8. Zucchini and cucumbers take up too much room for my tiny garden.

9. When you tell the kids they can help pull out weeds, you need to watch them closely, or else they will joyfully pull out every living plant in the garden.

10. Those of us with blackish thumbs should probably simplify. Already planning next year's garden: Carrots, cherry tomatoes, and sugar snap peas. And that's it. Plus, I will set up electronic reminders to water the garden ...

Collection update:

We are up to almost 130 pounds of produce collected and dropped off to Food Gatherers! Such great news! And we're always looking for more ...

Zingerman's farming efforts

There's a nice article on annarborchronicle.com about Alex Young, manager of Zingerman's Roadhouse, and his efforts at farming. My lovely husband pointed it out to me yesterday morning, noting that I should go volunteer for him and learn something about gardening.

His point is well taken. I love the idea of gardening, and I love planting, but I lose my will somewhere in the early summer when the plants are still just little plants and there's nothing to harvest. I forget about it, and forget to water, and then the garden becomes a mess. That's the state my tiny garden is in right now: A complete mess. The green beans were doing well, but then they dried out and died before I harvested even one. My tomato plants were crowded out by the larger bean plants, and are now struggling to hang on. The only thing doing well right now is the carrots. We will probably harvest them next week.

We brought another 40 pounds of veggies to Food Gatherers today. Whoot! My 6 year old son, James, likes to come along for the ride. He loves the big stone carrots outside of the Food Gatherers building, and I love the company. Most times he's very quiet in the car, although I try getting him to talk. But he's with me, so that's gotta be something.

Mark your calendar ...

On Sunday, Sept. 20th, Growing Hope will hold its annual fundraiser: A 3-hour dinner by local chefs at the site of the future Growing Hope Center in Ypsilanti. Tickets are $75 for one person, $100 for two, or $10 off if you book by Sept. 4.

I am hoping to attend, although funds are tight. I may volunteer my time instead, setting up the day before. Hope to see some of you there!

Hiatus over!

I'm not even going to count up the months it's been since my last post (you can do the math if you so wish ...) I could say I got busy, or got kidnapped by aliens, or involved in a national tabloid magazine scandal of some sort, but the truth is, I got a little busy and lost a lot of initiative for this project.

But I got a swift kick in the behind a few weeks ago from a dear friend, and now I am proud to say that we have already collected 51 pounds of food and delivered it to Food Gatherers! Amazing! That's the draw in just two weeks, with contributions from St. Joseph Church in Dexter and some neighbors in Huron Farms.

We need/want more! Food Gatherers has seen a 50% increase in demand for its services, so anything we can get there will be helpful. I can make daily runs to the dropoff point, and am willing to take whatever we can get. Food Gatherers has taken zucchini without any complaints, so if that's what you've got, please pass it along.

Next Saturday!

We're having a growing season kick-off event next Saturday, May 16th, at Foggy Bottom coffeehouse from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. Swing by to sign a pledge form (it's free, no money expected), grab a Plant-A-Row-For-The-Hungry garden marker, or pick up a packet of seeds. 

I'll be on hand to talk about how you can get this started with your own community group, or to talk about any gardening issues you might have. Or just to say hi! 

More posts coming this week, including one on what to grow if you've got a deer issue and another on the upsides of growing in a planter. 

Today is Mother's Day -- my kiddos got me a lovely Thai Basil plant and a purple pepper plant. Just need to find a spot to put them. My planter in the back yard is full of carrots, cilantro, lettuce, snow peas, tomatoes and cucumber plants. I put a tomato plant in a pot out front, as well as some more cilantro and cherry tomatoes. Think I'll need two more pots for the Thai Basil and the purple pepper ... 

Have a lovely day, and hope you're enjoying this lovely Michigan weather! 

Good news!

Foggy Bottom coffee house in the Country Market shopping plaza 

(photo credit:  treetowntalk.com)

Foggy Bottom has agreed to be a drop-off point for the Plant A Row for the Hungry efforts. Yay! Thanks to owner Doug Marrin for agreeing so quickly. It'll be a great place for dropoffs because it's air conditioned (better than having the dropoff spot be my front porch or yard) and lots of people go there or by there during the week anyway. And Doug is always friendly and up for a chat (he's got great taste in books, too.) 

More information to come. 

Gardening is cool

The Huffington Post has a quick article with reader photos of their gardens. Although they say they got lots of cool photos, they picked the ones that showed a variety of ways you could do the whole gardening thing. 

My garden looks most like picture No. 7. But I'm also planning to do some container planting on the deck, because I have lots of containers I don't use. 

Also check out the links below the story; the Huffington Post seems to be covering the national gardening trend pretty closely. Off to read Michael Pollan's story myself ... 

Minor garden dillema

So, the garden is coming along much better than I expected at this point. Today there are some snow peas sprouting -- whoot! I love snow peas. And the carrots are getting all bunchy and looking good, too. 

I was just out doing a little bit of weeding -- the lettuce is now mature enough that I can tell the difference between it and the weeds -- and was pulling up the hundreds of little sprouts that have taken over the lettuce square of the garden. I pulled up about two dozen before I starting smelling something yummy. Very yummy. And I realized I must be pulling up something edible. 

I tasted the sprouts, and yep, it's cilantro. That part of the garden was overwhelmed with cilantro last year. I bought a plant that was already too mature, and it went to seed right away. So I kind of let it wither there. 

Apparently it dropped seed all summer, and now it's starting to take hold again. I stopped pulling the sprouts because of the rain, but I'm not sure what to do now. Should I keep pulling them? Any chance they'll grow happily next to the lettuce? Should I take them out and give away the seedlings? 

Oye. I have such a black thumb.