Oh my aching back. My husband tells me I'm an unpaid migrant farm worker. But I know the truth. I only picked lettuce stooped over for three hours and not all day.
Today was the first day that the Boston Area Gleaners (BAG) harvested this year. It was at Waltham Fields Community Farm. Matt, the BAG coordinator, and three of us volunteers spent the morning in one of their greenhouses picking baby lettuce. We probably picked around 100lbs. Matt drops gleaned food off at a lot of places that need fresh produce, but this time it was given to Food For Free, which itself distributes the food to many different places that that help those in need. I started volunteering last year and it is fun as we get to visit a lot of different farms through the growing season. City Growers was by far the most interesting as they use vacant lots in Dorchester and Roxbury to grow food.
They are expanding to the North Shore this year. So if you are interested or know anyone that lives on the North Shore that would be interested let them know about it. They have a lot of farms that want to join in, but they need people in the area to pick the produce.
As to my own garden I went out and spent money yesterday. I got two bags of composted manure for the last bed that still needed compost. I almost made enough compost for the garden last year, but not quite. I also picked up some salt marsh hay for my strawberries. I like to keep them thickly mulched to keep the cats out. Sadly it encourages the slugs, cut you can't have everything. I also bought flowers. Yes I plant flowers too, but I don't talk about it as much. This time I got flowers for my front planter. Last year it was pinks. This year I went with salmon colors. Now if I can just keep it watered and alive all summer long. I do so much better with plants in the ground as I can't kill them as easily.
I wish the BAG method was more widespread. There is a lot of vacant land that could be put to use for this purpose. Growing veg would have no long-term effect on the land, so it makes sense to use it even if it is vacant because plans are still being made for its longer-term use.
ReplyDeleteI know exactly what you mean about it being easier to keep plants in the ground alive. I have the worst luck with indoor plants. I got a hydrangea over Easter & it has already wilted at least 5 times - I give it some water and it comes back to life, only a little worse for wear. Hopefully, I can get it in the ground this week.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like so much fun. I've read about the gleaners and watched a french documentary about it once. I definitely need to reignite the tradition in this country...starting with our grocery store dumpsters!
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