Post #9 - That's All for 2014 Folks!

The Last Blog for 2014

A super sunny summer gave us a huge crop of sunflowers, squash and pumpkins in September and October.  On September 15th we harvested all of the green beans, cucumbers and summer squash.  Thirty pounds went to Fishline. The empty beds were covered in black plastic.  We left the pumpkins, winter squash, gourds, potatoes and red runner beans for the October 15th work party.

Judy Morgan led the work party. She tried to sweeten the sadness with goodies as she announced that she was stepping down from the garden Leadership Team.   This year was not an easy one as we went from a Leadership group of 8 to 6 when Linda Wells and Nancy Sirman had to attend to family matters.  Judy picked up a lot of time in the garden.  Now it is her turn to play with her grandkids and learn to make krumkake.  She has promised that she will attend work parties in 2015.  Maybe she will even donate some lemon bars! 

September 20th the was Judy's last leadership meeting.  Jennifer Clement joined Jill Ray, Cheryl Bosley, MJ Tyler, Kim Kouns and me for a quick organizational meeting.  Then we were joined by several intrepid MG volunteers while we cleaned out the old shed so it could be demolished and cleaned up the large shed.  This included taking stock of all the educational materials so Jill and Cheryl knew what they may need to order for next year.

On the 21st, the demolition of the old shed was done.  The gentlemen of Poulsbo Rotary came with a large saw and cut it into pieces.  Jennifer took the pieces off the next weekend to use as materials for her new chicken house.  We recycle!  The Rotary group also built the forms for the cement floor of the new shed.

Judy and Jennifer met Cal-Portland, who donated the cement for the base, on September 25th.  J & J smoothed over the cement themselves!  They also met the truck with the new shed kit when it was delivered the same day at the park.

Over a period of 17-days, a group of tenacious Rotarians and Sam Clement (Yes, Jennifer's husband) built our new storage shed.  It is water tight and primed.  In fact, the new Leadership Team held the last meeting of 2014 in the shed at a picnic table on October 20th.  Our new Leadership Team includes Cheryl Bosley & Jill Ray in charge of educational activities, Kim Kouns as Treasurer, MJ Tyler as Secretary, Betsi Kurzawski & Jennifer Clement in charge of work parties (PARTY PARTY!!), Darlette Knight and Pam Warner as Leadership-at-Large.  We are hoping for one more member in the spring, but we would be pleased to include anyone who is interested in adding their time and talents!

WHOOPS!  I missed October 15th.  This was our final work party of the 2015 year.  It was a combination of an education activity and closing up the garden.  Below is a photo of the 15 fantastic 7th Graders from West Sound Academy who joined us to harvest, clean-up and cover the rest of the planter beds.  Their hard work and energy, along with 8 MGs and 3 WSA teachers, produced 120 pounds of produce (pumpkins, squash, rhubarb, potatoes, etc.) for Fishline.  Our HUGE sunflowers were set aside for the birds and some for next years seeds.  The Red Runner Beans were picked in hopes of generating more seeds for next year's bean tunnel.





So sometime between now and next spring, the leadership team, with some outside help (thank you Mr. Clement and Mr. Bosley), will paint the new shed, have shelves installed, have the picnic table holders re-attached and move back its original contents. 

At our last meeting we also discussed plans to partner with the Poulsbo School District to enrich their science program, building a slate path from the front of the garden to the back so that those in wheel chairs will find it easier to move through the garden, and planting more items that will appeal to the customers at Fishline.

We are looking forward to showing off our dream shed (basic concept shown at right) and meeting you in the Raab Park Children's Garden in the Spring of 2015.  Cheryl will once again be sending out Doodle Calendars so that volunteers can sign up for Work Parties and Children's Programs.  Watch for them in your e-mail!

If you come up with any ideas for the garden, please let us know!!!!

Happy Fall and Winter,

Betsi Kurzawski
betsikurz@yahoo.com