inching closer and closer...

Well... we pushed our goal "Find Land" back from January 15th to January 31st, but things are still moving along. We have a few more plots to look into before making our final decisions. I think we all have good feelings about things coming together. It would be nice to have more time, but doesn't it always feel that way before the growing season starts? It seems like you're ordering your seeds, starting your seeds, and mapping our your garden with plenty of time before the last frost hits and everything shifts into full speed ahead. Then it feels like you're in a marathon race all summer long. But perhaps that's why so many of us love growing food... it keeps the blood pumping. :)

In other news...

• The collective decided to make our plot on 35th and Cass (at the Gifford Park Community Garden) a "pizza garden." We'll grow tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, onions, oregano, and basil with the help of youth from the Gifford Park neighborhood who are interested in learning more about gardening.

• Almost all our seeds are ordered! We even struck while the iron was hot and got a little discount from Baker's Creek. Woo woo!

• We got some great seeds from the "Seed Swap" at City Sprouts last Saturday. A special thanks to Betsy for organizing and City Sprouts for hosting. I also caught a glimpse of the book, Seed to Seed: Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for Vegetable Gardeners, which I've been told is a "seed saving bible" of sorts. I think seed saving would be a great workshop to host toward the end of the season. It is a skill I personally need a lot more practice with. 

• Matt and Brent and working on a composting service that will collect from a few restaurants in Dundee. This is a great way to help local restaurants use their scraps (rather than throwing them in the trash), which we'll stir into our compost, and with some time voila! soil is built. 

• We're getting closer to opening registration for our 20 share CSA. Can't wait to find and meet our members...

• Ali is getting excited about add-ons, a few ideas at the top of our list are -- making our own herb vinegars, definitely jams and jellies, and dried herbal tea mixes.

• A few of us attended a CSA training at Tomato Tomato yesterday. It sounds like they are going to offer 500 shares with their CSA this season (wow!), which they source from many local farms. Our friends from No More Empty Pots will also offer the Market Basket program again this year, which allows folks to purchase a CSA using SNAP (Food Stamps). So Sweet.

xoxo,

Caitie

Big Muddy Urban Farm