Chive Jive!

All work and no play? No way!

Here Ann, Sarah D, and Noah
with chive blossoms from the garden
after more weeding, hand tilling, and planting.

One Man's Trash... God Provides

Some of the plants Valeria donated to us are patio tomatoes. Since the Voices for Youth House didn't have any large flower pots, I added that item to the shopping list. But before getting to the store, I took some cardboard to a recyclable drop-off and, right next to that bin of cardboard were... several large flower pots! One man's trash is another man's treasure -- God provides uh-gain! Thank you!

Heather and Gisele washed them with diluted bleach and planted tomatoes and herbs in the pots.

Rrrrrripple

Kyle has blogged a little bit and coached me on how to start a blog. That's how you have this to read! Thank a bunch, Kyle! You saved me a lot of time.

Jenna participated in a LSS (Lutheran Social Services) conference. She told about our garden and another VFY house told about their garden. This inspired the VFY in Manistique to start a garden.

I love a positive ripple effect!

Rained Out

What to do when you show up to garden and get rained out? Play a rousing game of Spinning Uno! Great way to get to know team members better and to meet others who are hanging out at the house!

Philosophy and Phun!

Fumee Falls

While weeding, removing rocks, and planting, conversations have been invigorating.

One day out of the blue: "If you could speak every language fluently or play every instrument really well, which would you choose?"

"Remember Fragglerock and the whole civilization that lived underground?"

Victory over gnarly grass roots brought up the theme song from "Rocky".

The Norway Spring

Travel to pick up manure included stopping at the Norway Spring, as well as a checking out Fumee Falls.

Generous Spirit!

While waiting for the alpaca farm to open (see previous post), we explored the incredible variety of plants at The Garden Place's greenhouse in Norway, MI. They had 50 varieties of tomatoes alone! When Valeria Zanoni (that's her with Noah in the photo above) heard about our project, she generously donated several very healthy plants -- a variety of tomatoes, Brussels sprouts, Swiss chard, peppers, cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, cucumbers, and squashes. Plus, she provided botanical handouts. Thank you, Valeria! So many good people out there!

Shop U.P.! http://www.thegardenplacemi.com/

Huggable Fertilizer Plant?!

June 8 a couple of us traveled to Norway, Michigan to get alpaca manure at Rainbow's End Alpaca Farm. What cuties! Each alpaca had a name and a distinct personality. Most were very affectionate as you can see in the photo above! We loaded prebagged "paca poo", aka "alpaca beans" into the car and headed back to Marquette, picking up some tomato cages on the way. Paca poo factoids:

• Stinks less than any animal manure I've been around
• Doesn't needed composting prior to garden application, i.e. won't burn plants (low nitrogen)
• Is deer resistant
• Does not promote weeds

Thanks so much, co-owner Mary Lynn Verley, for the tour, education, and discount. Great gift shop, too! See Mary Lynn in the lower left pic holding the newest addition who is less than 24 hours old!

Buy U.P. ! http://www.exploringthenorth.com/rainbow/alpacas.html

Meet Kramer!