Squirrel! August 20, 2021
It was bound to happen! The squirrels have found “our” gardens at Grace Church. OK, they aren’t really our gardens. We tend three garden boxes there and give the produce to the good people at Grace Linwell Retirement Community – which is on the same property as Grace Church.
I say “good people” because once I described the residents as “old people.” Three year old Jasper said, “That’s not very nice.” I said, “So what should we call them?” He thought about it for a minute … “The good people.” Works for me! We’re seniors too.
As you already know, Laur and I had no idea what we were doing when we dug new soil into these three weedy garden boxes. We were given a cash donation by daughter Anna to buy plants, our friend Kathi donated some plants, and Laur and I purchased seedlings too.
Jasper helped to plant, in between playing with his trucks and cars and picking raspberries from an adjacent plot. And we watered and waited. One of the plots is directly under a maple tree, so for part of the Spring I spent a lot of time “harvesting” maple keys. (Pitching them out of the gardening box.)
And then things started to grow. Slowly. Sort of. Well, at least the sunflowers – a story in itself that I’ve already written and sent around. 😊 And then other plants started to emerge. Jasper found this super exciting. Our gardens seem to go from nothing to “popping.” We – all of a sudden – had zucchinis! OK, two of them… And spaghetti squash! OK, one of them.
And then, just like that, our gardens “crashed.” The cauliflowers – all four of them – rotted. The squash plants gave up the ghost. And the squirrels have been making off with the corn and whatever else appeals to them.
Still, a few tomato plants are hanging in there. And the pole beans tease us with a few beans every few days. And the parsley plants are hanging in there. Or will until the bunnies find them. I had two master farmers from our church take a look at our gardens. The big problem – other than us – was the soil. Needs manure and lots of it. A project for next spring.
*****
Not long after this, we were invited to the home of a major fruit farming family in this region. I’ll call them “the Peppers,” though this is not their name. They had a BBQ in their amazing backyard and from there I could see a vegetable garden. I asked Mr. Pepper if Laur and I could have a tour of it. He was happy to do this.
It blew our minds – to use a 60’s phase. Lush, large, green, and choc full of healthy looking veggies. We couldn’t believe it. It made our valiant efforts as Grace Gardens look pretty wimpy. Mr. Pepper showed us a tomato that looked like a work of art to us and pointed to what was wrong with it, and tossed it aside. He explained they often grow more than they need. My jaw was about to drop and then I remembered, “Mr. Pepper is a farmer. If he doesn’t grow more than he needs, he’s in trouble.”
In my follow up thank you email, I mentioned to the Peppers that if ever they had more produce than they needed or could give away, to please let me know. Hubs and I would gladly come out and pick and distribute. Yes, once again, I volunteered my hubs.
The next morning I got a phone call. The Peppers were going away for a few days of holidays. Mr. Pepper had picked a huge amount of ripe tomatoes – regular and cherry. We could pick them up and distribute, and were welcome to pick more ripe ones since they’d be over-ripe by the time the Peppers returned.
With permission, I invited our friends G & E and son Andrew to join us. And what a great time we had! G is fascinated by tractors and all things engines. E’s parents were farmers so it was “old home week” for her. Andrew and Jasper had a marvellous time in the sandbox and racing around the back yard. Laur and I picked our hearts out.
We brought the huge boxes of ripe tomatoes to the good people at Grace Linwell, and two boxes of ripe-enough to the food bank at St. Alfred’s which is right next door to us. We can see folks lining up Monday to Friday in the morning to get food. Apartments, even in our area, are not cheap. You could be working a few part-time jobs and – if you have kids – would still need assistance feeding your family.
Wednesday afternoon after the Monday drop off at Grace Linwell, I was delighted to find that ALL the big tomatoes had been taken and most of the cherry tomatoes. One of the residents wrote a lovely thank you note.
Add to that. When I got home, the August 16th issue of the Canadian Mennonite had arrived. And there was a mini story about our “small things with great love” project at the Grace gardens.
Without the generosity of the Pepper family, and with the ravages of the squirrels, one could get discouraged about one’s rather barren gardening boxes. But it was never just about the veggies. For the amount we and others spent on seedlings and gardening soil, we could have bought a wagon load of veggies at Costco and given them out.
Nope, this was and is – as it says in the article – “Love Notes.”
I say “good people” because once I described the residents as “old people.” Three year old Jasper said, “That’s not very nice.” I said, “So what should we call them?” He thought about it for a minute … “The good people.” Works for me! We’re seniors too.
As you already know, Laur and I had no idea what we were doing when we dug new soil into these three weedy garden boxes. We were given a cash donation by daughter Anna to buy plants, our friend Kathi donated some plants, and Laur and I purchased seedlings too.
Jasper helped to plant, in between playing with his trucks and cars and picking raspberries from an adjacent plot. And we watered and waited. One of the plots is directly under a maple tree, so for part of the Spring I spent a lot of time “harvesting” maple keys. (Pitching them out of the gardening box.)
And then things started to grow. Slowly. Sort of. Well, at least the sunflowers – a story in itself that I’ve already written and sent around. 😊 And then other plants started to emerge. Jasper found this super exciting. Our gardens seem to go from nothing to “popping.” We – all of a sudden – had zucchinis! OK, two of them… And spaghetti squash! OK, one of them.
And then, just like that, our gardens “crashed.” The cauliflowers – all four of them – rotted. The squash plants gave up the ghost. And the squirrels have been making off with the corn and whatever else appeals to them.
Still, a few tomato plants are hanging in there. And the pole beans tease us with a few beans every few days. And the parsley plants are hanging in there. Or will until the bunnies find them. I had two master farmers from our church take a look at our gardens. The big problem – other than us – was the soil. Needs manure and lots of it. A project for next spring.
*****
Not long after this, we were invited to the home of a major fruit farming family in this region. I’ll call them “the Peppers,” though this is not their name. They had a BBQ in their amazing backyard and from there I could see a vegetable garden. I asked Mr. Pepper if Laur and I could have a tour of it. He was happy to do this.
It blew our minds – to use a 60’s phase. Lush, large, green, and choc full of healthy looking veggies. We couldn’t believe it. It made our valiant efforts as Grace Gardens look pretty wimpy. Mr. Pepper showed us a tomato that looked like a work of art to us and pointed to what was wrong with it, and tossed it aside. He explained they often grow more than they need. My jaw was about to drop and then I remembered, “Mr. Pepper is a farmer. If he doesn’t grow more than he needs, he’s in trouble.”
In my follow up thank you email, I mentioned to the Peppers that if ever they had more produce than they needed or could give away, to please let me know. Hubs and I would gladly come out and pick and distribute. Yes, once again, I volunteered my hubs.
The next morning I got a phone call. The Peppers were going away for a few days of holidays. Mr. Pepper had picked a huge amount of ripe tomatoes – regular and cherry. We could pick them up and distribute, and were welcome to pick more ripe ones since they’d be over-ripe by the time the Peppers returned.
With permission, I invited our friends G & E and son Andrew to join us. And what a great time we had! G is fascinated by tractors and all things engines. E’s parents were farmers so it was “old home week” for her. Andrew and Jasper had a marvellous time in the sandbox and racing around the back yard. Laur and I picked our hearts out.
We brought the huge boxes of ripe tomatoes to the good people at Grace Linwell, and two boxes of ripe-enough to the food bank at St. Alfred’s which is right next door to us. We can see folks lining up Monday to Friday in the morning to get food. Apartments, even in our area, are not cheap. You could be working a few part-time jobs and – if you have kids – would still need assistance feeding your family.
Wednesday afternoon after the Monday drop off at Grace Linwell, I was delighted to find that ALL the big tomatoes had been taken and most of the cherry tomatoes. One of the residents wrote a lovely thank you note.
Add to that. When I got home, the August 16th issue of the Canadian Mennonite had arrived. And there was a mini story about our “small things with great love” project at the Grace gardens.
Without the generosity of the Pepper family, and with the ravages of the squirrels, one could get discouraged about one’s rather barren gardening boxes. But it was never just about the veggies. For the amount we and others spent on seedlings and gardening soil, we could have bought a wagon load of veggies at Costco and given them out.
Nope, this was and is – as it says in the article – “Love Notes.”