Things are certainly starting to pick up after the rain has moved out!

This morning, Susan, Jessica, and I cut and washed some kale and spinach for The Welcome Table. I haven't really gotten a chance to work in the garden a whole lot because of the rain, so spending time there in the morning, even if it wasn't for very long, was really wonderful.  After that, Jessica and I helped prepare food for The Welcome Table. We stopped for a break at home and then headed back out to the garden in the afternoon.  Jessica and I did a LOT of weed-eating before the volunteers came tonight--Every Wednesday evening is volunteer night at the garden.  Even though the heavy-duty weed-eater I was using was a bit cumbersome to use, and I'll probably have a few blisters emerging soon, working today reminded me how much I love yard-work.  It's always been really satisfying to me; I love the smell of fresh-cut grass and the feeling I get when I look over a patch that's just been cleared.  I can see exactly what I've accomplished.

Jessica and I had just finished weed-eating when volunteers started to arrive.  We had a band playing tonight, and the most volunteers we've had since the garden has been started. I'm not sure that any of us officially counted, but I think we had close to fifty people working in the garden.  I was put in charge of clearing the rye from one of the beds. Rye is a cover crop we use to get some nutrients back in the soil.  We weren't sure we'd be able to pull the rye because the beds were still pretty we, but Susan felt that it could be pulled if we were gentle with it. With the help of some wonderful volunteers, we just about finished the whole thing. All of the volunteers were so helpful, and we all shared a good meal after we had worked. I feel like today was a good glimpse into the future: hard work, good food, and great company.  I'm excited to experience all of it!


Although this wasn't taken today, this is an example of one of the beds in the garden:

And that's me in there!  The bed closest to the bottom of the picture is growing turnips and snap peas.  The one above that has carrots, and the one above that one has garlic.  I can't wait til we can harvest these things!

I think that's it for today. We have to get up early tomorrow; it seems like it's going to be another busy day!