Busy April

It certainly has been a busy April.

A storage shed has been purchased from the Bartlett HS Material Science program. The cost was very reasonable and the shed has been placed at the garden site. I wish to give a special thank you to Richard, Luke, and Rod for their help in positioning the shed after it’s delivery.

 We now have a place to store your tool donations to the garden. Tools that are donated do not have to be new. They can be used tools that your no longer need but are serviceable. Even if they need a little work like sharpening that can be handled easily.

Compost bins have been built and one of them is in the process of making compost as we speak. The construction was straight forward but it took time. The second one went much faster than the first. There are still a few finishing touches to be done on the second one contracted and then it too will be making compost.

 On the 16th of April I attended the Master Gardener Conference at UAA. The conference was very informative and enjoyable. I made a connection at the local Cooperative Extension Service that should be invaluable in making the garden the best it can possibly be. I look forward to working with Julie Riley to make this garden a going concern.

 Will be applying for a hydrant use permit this week so we can use water from the hydrant behind the church for garden and lawn maintenance. This will have the church some money since we won’t have to pay sewer charges for the water we use from the hydrant. I’m not sure how all of this will sort out but will know much more next week.

Seeds have been planted as well for cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, brussel sprouts, squash and a couple of experimental pepper varieties. Hopefully these things will be healthy enough to use in the garden in the middle of May. Sure hope the weather stays as nice as it has been so we can plant before Memorial Day. That will give things a major head start. A special thank you to everyone that has taken seed starts home to nurture along. Will ask for them back sometime during the middle of May so they can be planted in the garden.

Members of the Bartlett HS football team are scheduled to come over on the 7th of May to help with the heavy work in the garden. This is also the cleanup day for the church. So if you are interested there is plenty of work to be done either for the church or for the garden.

During the next two weeks we will be constructing 2x12 beds for some of the crops that will be planted. Most will go directly into the ground including potatoes, Kale, and most of the starts that have bend tended by various members of the congregation. We will also plant in the beds that were built last year. These have been reconstructed so the bottoms won’t come out of them this year. New soil will be put in the beds as well or we will highly amend the soil that was in them last year.

I also attended the Alaska Synod of the ELCA assembly on the 22nd and 23rd of April. There I set up a “booth” about he garden and sold bowls made from the trees that we harvested last summer and fall. I took over 100 bowls to the assembly and they were all gone before noon of the second day. That was a whooping $950 + for the garden which will help tremendously with the expenditures ahead.

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Another special thank you to Mary for her generous contribution to the purchase of compost and top soil for the garden. You are an angel.

See you in the garden.

Bleak Midwinter in the Garden

February, the midst of a miserable winter. There has been little snow and less sun. Lots of clouds and rainy weather. We have also suffered the injury of a vandalized building. The garden looks like it may never produce. But looks can be very deceiving.

February has been a banner month for our fledgling garden. On the 17th of February we received word from the ELCA we have been awarded a grant for 2016 in the amount of $3000. Along with the $3500 that had been pledged by the congregation we are well on our way to seeing growth (yes, pun intended) in our Memorial Garden in 2016.

On February 24 I received word from the Alaska Synod that I will be able to sell bowls at Synod Assembly made from the trees that were taken down on the plot. I will be very busy finishing bowls during the next couple of months so I will have wares to sell. My goal is to sell $500 worth of bowls. They will be priced from $10 to maybe as high as $50 depending on size. It’s difficult to say right now as I don’t have any of the finished product yet. The bowls will also be available at the Lutheran Church of Hope if the church council will permit me to display and sell them there as well.

I will need some assistance at assembly so if anyone has some free time April 22-24 please let me know. Assembly will be at St. Mark Lutheran Church on Lake Otis Blvd. You can call the church office or send an email to leave a message for me. The church phone number and email  can be found at HopeAK.org on the web. There is also a link to this blog there as well. I will get some pictures posted of the bowl turning process as soon as I get started on them.

Be sure to check out the wish list that is on right side this page. The wish list does change so be sure to check back often. There are many things that can be ordered from Amazon, Inc. If you have Amazon Prime there is often no shipping charged even to Alaska.

If you have any pictures available of people we can put on our picture gallery of those memorialized in the garden please send them to me or the church office so I can incorporate them into the blog’s picture gallery. Digital pictures are the best but I can scan photos as well.

Thanks for reading and there will be another post soon so keep coming back.

Peace be with you all.
 

Does Santa Come to the Garden?

December is a busy time for us all. As the holidays approach there is much to do to prepare for the festivities of the end of the year. Moving closer to solstice means the days will soon be getting longer and the sun will once again warm our days and the nights will be shorter. It's the time of year when all gardeners begin to get itchy for the new season to start. The new season for our garden will really be the first. 2015 was the trial run and much more will happen in 2016. There is still no word on the grant application from the ELCA Hunger Team but that will come in due time.

If you are traveling this winter and can bring some items back to Alaska on your journeys for the garden, please let me know. I can order supplies and have them sent to you in the lower 48 and you could bring them back as baggage or in your baggage. Shipping cost for most items to Alaska are prohibitive as you know and any little assistance can help a lot. Please call me directly (my number is in the church directory) or call the church office and they will relay a message to me.

As you can see at the right of this publication I have put together a wish list for the garden. This will change from time-to-time as items are received. As you look down the list you will see items that are priced as little as $5. There are items on the list to fit all budgets. If you have a question about an item please contact me.

Mark you calendars for December 21. We will be having a recreational fire and a pot luck at Lutheran Church of Hope at 6 PM to celebrate the solstice. We will try to remove some of the stump material stacked up over the summer that will need to be hauled away if we can't burn it. We will also be having some seed tape making parties at the end of February and into March. Be sure to watch this space for more information.

May the love of God be with you all during this joyous season.