Cold, wet, snowy mix - Hot Chili and music

The chili was delicious, the music was great fun, and the turn-out fantastic on Saturday. We had fun talking over cups of chili, cornbread, pies, grits, and breads while it did its wintery mix thing outside. Highlighting The Front Porch Farmers was scaled back a bit to fit inside, but none the less fun.

You never know what fall weather may bring, that's for sure.

Snow?

O.k., the possibility of snow - we will see. E3 Friday students planted pansies on the church property and they look beautiful. The same beds will be getting spring bulbs later next week

Tomorrow is Chili Jamboree and should be a lot of fun. 1st one in the snow, though.

Insects find Front Porch Farmer spinach

It amazes me that insects have found and munched on spinach in Front Porch Farmers containers. I nnow that it really shouldn't surprise me, but it did (does). Simply amazing.

It is either the cabbage white or cabbage looper. Have not found a caterpillar, yet! Little buggers, I don't like them very much!

Radishes and Greens

Just for hoots I started some radishes and greens indoors a few weeks back and moved them outdoors last week. The are doing really well. I wasn't going to transplant the greens, but now I have changed my mind.

The radishes are supposed to do well in containers, so I think I will leave them in their small individual pots just to see what will happen.

You never know what you may get until you try.

I'm going to swing through this week and see how our front porch farmers are making out with their farms. The spinach I've seen looks great. I am curious to see how the new plants are doing.

Picking limes and seeing Mr. Okra

How cool is it to be able to pick a fresh lime from the tree in your backyard!? We were just in New Orleans this past week-end and did just that. The limes were so big and juicy and they smelled fantastic, even before you sliced them.

Biking between Bywater and the French Quarter you pass a few coffee roasters, artist's warehouses, and produce wholesalers. One morning we saw a beautifully painted pick-up being loaded with the day's produce. On each door was painted "Mr. Okra". I thought that was pretty neat especially because we grew okra at GSB for the first time this summer. I didn't get a chance to talk with Mr. Okra this trip, but I will take the time to do so on our next visit.

It was quite the experience to be in a sub-tropical environment. You get an entire new range of flora and fauna which was fun to experience.

Ricky Myer Day of Service

We had a fantastic day of service yesterday at GSB. We had an enthusiastic group from Civic Works lead by Maddy and Anna. This group moved yards of mulch in our play spaces, installed additional barriers to keep wood chips in the P.E. space. They helped us move our canoe garden, and cleared debris from a previous service project.

In the mean time, GSB families weeded our gardens, pulled tomatoes, harvested lots of peppers, eggplants, okra, sunflowers, cucumber, and even a strawberry or two. The families also planted pansies, and prepped the beds for cover crops and cool weather crops.

Thanks again Civic Works and crew and GSB families! Everything looks great.