In order to clear the decks before my upcoming road trip, I decided to make one looooong GAPV post, that will catch up, believe it or not, only the past five days.
BTW: I realize that it appears that we are either always working or always socializing, but that’s not the half of it. Most of us lead busy lives otherwise as well, whether as students, or solitary blogger (like me), or working part-time as Lyft driver, restaurant chef, librarian, garden work, body work, and then some. But I DO take photos at “events.” Here goes, Just since last Thursday’s Community Dinner, which, despite mosquitos, we were able to hold outside on the patio, thanks to fans and torches.
Thursday: Community Dinner
Friday: CSA Harvest and Distribution
This time, Solan picked squashes, peppers, tomatoes and onions prior to his leaving for the weekend. He also made tinctures, and Rebecca made tea. Rebecca had to work as a Lyft driver, and Dan decided he needed to take a strategic nap. date. Soooo . . . That left me and Alex to clean the veggies, add flowers and get the bags ready. Except for the drat onions that take forever to wash, ’twas no biggie. Done in 45 minutes.
This semester, thanks to Solan’s initiative, we are partnering with Heather Reynolds, Associate Professor in the IU Biology Department, for interns in her course called
We are taking on two groups of four students each, for projects involving 1) Marketing GAPV to IU students (with Gabby in the lead here), and 2) Biodiversity in the GAV gardens (with me, and when I’m gone, Solan in the lead here). The course requires them to do five hours each of service to the GAPV, as well as completing their project for the course.
We’ve had lots of interns through this place, and they’re usually either okay or terrific. The eight we have now are uniformly terrific! Professor Reynolds attracts students who love Nature. YES!
Gabby’s four students came for the first time the Sunday before this last one, two at 11 am and the other two at 1 p.m. Mine didn’t get going until this past Saturday, when Miriam and Hannah arrived. I had decided that we would “weed” the outside corner of DeKist/Overhill. And especially, we needed to finishing paring way back a bush that had gotten entirely out of control. So we did that, and in the process discovered a wonderful surprise. Here goes:
Saturday and Monday mornings, with Interns
Gradually, the bush gets cleared away . . .
. . . until it reveals a hidden Huckleberry sapling. Yes!
Then, on Monday morning, Emily came for her first service-learning hours. (Oops! Where’s Marlee?) This time we worked on the inside of the same outside fence, digging up extremely entrenched poke roots (I had cut a giant poke plant back during our Saturday work party, which had revealed winter squashes we didn’t know were there).
So Emily set to work; and after about 20 minutes of hard continuous digging, came up with her first root (this particular poke plant had many roots, branching down and out from one another, as we discovered).
About then, podmate Justin had arrived, and decided to dig, too. Soon we had three shovels, all focused on that powerful place.
Finally, aha!
But the root was in no way done. Nor was Justin, a determined Taurus. I bet he dug down three and a half feet before the final root yielded to his tenacity.
Then, quick! He had to stop, hope on his bike, and ride to class.
At about the time we were done, another endeavor was just gearing up:
Saturday morning: Step One, The Garage Project
This garage, attached to the second DeKist house, has been the focus of constant visioning (what are we going to do with it! That’s coming clear, but we don’t want to speak of it yet) and, it turns out, filling up. With stuff, lots of stuff. It was time to take it out. Rebecca in the lead.
Oh wow, is it done?
Rebecca: “No, but I can handle the rest of it.”
Which, finally, brings us to the end of this post. Just in time for the next Community Dinner, to be held Thursday, as usual, with Gabby and her housemates in the lead to create our annual Autumn Equinox Ceremony, which honors the balancing acts in all our lives and in the life of our beloved Mother Earth.
The now empty patio awaits.
Meanwhile, don’t bonk your heads on the gigantic hanging squashes on the way in! (Especially that one on the right; only barely visible here, it hangs the lowest . . .)
