Morning Rounds

Most mornings Fiona and I go outside together and survey the world. These days our first stop after letting the chickens out is in the garden. Every day there is something new -- enough rhubarb for yet another crumble, garlic setting flowers, raspberries filling out, strawberries red enough to eat, tiny carrot sprouts all in a row.

Here Fiona is inspecting the snow pea blossoms. She's just walked through the hoop-and-chicken-wire tunnel and is under the runner-bean frame. The scarlet runner beans are poised to begin their growth spurt. We expect they'll grow at least 3-6" a day over the next two or three weeks.

Things are growing like crazy down at the GRUBS garden too. The club seems to have found its stride. There's excitement and familiarity to the routine of our meeting weekly. We work to develop the site, pull weeds, notice the new growth and explore a new activity or two. Today we moved some of the compost pile, installed a notice board, the kids picked and ate some lettuce and radishes, we collected, identified and sketched some wildflowers, watered and weeded the little plots, and the younger set made summer solstice paper plate suns with pastels and tissue paper. Then we headed up to Mick's organic market garden for a tour where everyone was able to sample some baby carrots and snow peas and help do a bit of weeding in the greenhouse amongst the tomatoes and eggplants. GRUBS comprises a huge range of ages (2 to 12) but it really seems to work.

Tonight we were back down at the GRUBS garden and its adjacent beach taking full advantage of the long day. The kids swam and played on the beach and the lawn; I sank a fencepost and transplanted some feral raspberries into a corner of the site. At 10:10 pm it's now time to complete the day. Fiona and I will go out in the last light of dusk and shut the chickens in.