And now...the fun part!

The harvesting has started in earnest!  We have had radishes, cucumbers,  yellow squash, zuchinni and now we are picking green beans, beets, onions and peppers, too!

Check out some of the pictures!

View down the length of the garden

The sweet corn could use some rain, but is doing well!

The zuchinnis are growing.

     

 
The tomatoes are looking great and should be ready soon!




The winter squash and the watermelon plants are doing well, too.

The harvest is beautiful!

We pray God's blessings on all those that are touched by this beautiful mission project!

The hard work is paying off!

We have had many hands hard at work in the garden this summer!  Although we have had more weeds to deal with this year, the crew seems to have them in control!  We are starting to see some of the fruits (or, in this case, vegetables!) of our labor.  :)

The potatoes are up and we are hoping we can keep the rabbits out of them until it's time to dig them!

The peppers are getting bigger!

The tomatoes and onions are looking great!  We could use some prayers for rain though!

And the sweet corn is tassled out!

Doc replanted green beans (since the rabbits ate so many of the first ones we planted) and he's added rhubarb for next year!

It's fun to work with such a great group of people and learn so much about gardening at the same time.  It makes me smile to already hear talk of "what we should do next year".  If you want to be part of something wonderful, and get some dirt under your nails while you're at it, come join the fun!  We will also be looking for people to make deliveries to the food pantry in Monroe.  If you can help out, just let us know!  Thank you and God bless!

"When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world."

- John Muir

Progress!

With the nice weather, we have made consistent progress on the garden in the past couple of weeks....so far we have 3 kinds of potatoes, 4 kinds of onions, radishes, beets, green beans, squash, cucumbers, spinach, tomatoes and peppers planted.  And some great news...

THE SWEET CORN IS IN!!  

Thanks to Jeff and his Dad, Ernie, we will have sweet corn again this year!!

Now to back up a bit, here are some shots from last week...

Doc and Paul working the planter...notice the straight lines.  Good thing they were in charge of that, I'm not so sure I would've been quite so neat...  :)

The view from the parking lot.  Once the sweetcorn comes up, you can't really see the garden.  (I don't think they trusted us to keep it weeded so they put us behind the corn!  :)

Jake even helped for awhile...

The little onions were peeking through the dry, cracked dirt.  Amazing what time and pressure can do...

Some of the bigger onions had shot right up... (I think I planted these...notice the row isn't so straight.)

Even the potatoes were up!

Now back to this weekend...

The radishes are coming up....

  

The potatoes and onions are both looking great!

I think we can officially say summer is here and the garden is well on its way.  With the rain last night, I think we will see a lot of new growth this week.  I am really looking forward to seeing what God will do with this project this year.  We have some great people willing to pitch in and help and it's great that it directly benefits people in our own communities.  The PCM Food Pantry has been a blessing to so many people in need.  We are proud to be able to support their efforts.  Now if the weather cooperates...

Trying to beat the rain!

Well, we've finally had some dry weather, and it's warmed up enough to get outside and do some gardening.  We were discussing when we would be able to get out and get the potatoes and onions planted, then we looked at the forecast and decided we'd better do it now!  Here are a few pictures from the day...

We cut all of the potatoes before youth the other night, so we were ready to go.  We planted Red Norland, Pontiac and Kennebeck potatoes, and small and large red, yellow and white onions today.

After we taught Eric the right, left and tap technique, he and Jenny got into a good rythmn!

Doc decided to resurrect history.....

         

He gave us all lessons on using the plow...

Check out how hard he's making us work!!  What a slave driver!!

Jenny wasn't so sure about it... 

But she got it figured out fairly quickly!!  :)

What a beautiful day!  Sometimes I think we are as blessed just getting to play in the dirt, as those that receive the produce from the garden.  

Planning, planning, planning!

Well, we met tonight to start discussing our plans for this year's garden!  (It was a nice time to think about spring and summer with the impending snow storm!)  We had a lot of fun reliving the fun we had last year and discussing what we want to do this year.  Wow, we have some great ideas!  We were discussing how we could share our excitement with the rest of our church family and  I decided I should probably write the requirements to be involved:

1. Be at least a 3rd generation farmer OR
2. Be a Master Gardener OR
3. Have a garden of your own every year OR
4. Had a garden of your own ever OR
5. Have a neighbor or friend with a garden OR
6. Ever seen a garden OR
7. Ever eaten a vegetable OR
8. Ever seen a vegetable OR
9. Know someone that likes vegetables OR
10. Want to work with a great group of people for a great cause! :)

As you can see, we will be happy to have you on our team!  We will need people to help prep the ground and plant, keep an eye on things as they grow, harvest the produce and of course, weed, weed, weed.  We also need drivers to help deliver the food to the food pantries.

More updates coming soon....

Winding down

With the lazy days of summer past and school back in session, the garden is winding down.  We are still having beans and squash, but most everything else has run its course.  It has been a learning experience, and one that would have failed horribly, if not for the dedication of a handful of members.  I look foward to getting together with them this fall to discuss what we did right, what we did wrong and if we'd like to do this again next year.

Sharon has been picking beans twice every week the entire month of August and into September.  If anyone would like to take over, they are still producing.  Jim picked quite a few acorn squash, a couple butternut squash and dug all of the onions.  When I arrived at church on Sunday, I found that Jeff had decided to dig most of the potatoes and pick a bunch of peppers the day before.  What a blessing their work has been to others!  Today I delivered 55 pounds of fresh produce to the PCM Food Pantry in Monroe and the Jasper County Food Bank in Newton.  Here is a picture of the bounty!

I should probably confess and delete at least a half a pound from that total.  While loading the leftover squash back in my car, the box tore and squash and cucumbers went rolling under my van.  I picked up what I could reach then carefully, or so I thought, pulled the van ahead to check and see if I missed any...

This cucumber was a casualty.  :) 

Thank you again for everyone that supported this ministry.  We really were able to bless so many people with our work.
Sue


2 Corinthians 9:8 (NIV) 

   ⁸ And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

Well, with the recent rains, the garden continues to produce.  We try to keep up on it, but it has been a lot of work!  Without the dedication of some very committed volunteers, it would've gotten away from us!  We are still regularly taking beans, tomatoes, potatoes and onions (even a Muscatine melon or two) to the PCM Food Pantry in Monroe, and what they can't use goes to the Jasper County Food Pantry that is housed in the Salvation Army offices in Newton.  The time I was there, there were people standing in line waiting for it to open.  It felt really good to be able to bless others with our excess produce.  I've been looking for scriptures that pertain to the blessing of others and came across the following:

“And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times you may abound in every good work. As it is written, ‘He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.’ He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.”

II Corinthians 9:8-12 (ESV)

One main reason God blesses us, is so we can be a blessing to others.  This garden has been a blessing to many people, both those receiving the produce to nourish their bodies, and those donating their time and efforts, nourishing their soul.

May God bless each and every one of you.