Back inside, the Chillis worked on harvesting sunflower seeds. After the flowers had faded, while the flower heads were still on the stalks, we put nylon stockings over them to protect them from the birds and catch any seeds that might fall as they dried. Then, we cut the heads. Today, the Chillis rubbed the seeds out of the dried heads. They still need to be winnowed, but we have quite a store for next year’s planting! We enjoyed exploring the textures of the dried sunflower stalks - the sponginess of the de-seeded flower head drew quite a bit of interest.
Saving sunflower seeds. The clouds and sun put on quite a drama this afternoon, and we even had a few particles of snow during a sunny, blustery moment. An invigorating afternoon. When the Green Chillis met, we rolled up the soaker hoses to put away for the winter (more easily said than done), and harvested some of the veggies that have tolerated the recent colder weather – carrots, kohlrabi, cabbage, and a few mustard greens. As usual, the orange, yellow, and purple carrots stole the show; buried treasure of the first rate. Back inside, the Chillis worked on harvesting sunflower seeds. After the flowers had faded, while the flower heads were still on the stalks, we put nylon stockings over them to protect them from the birds and catch any seeds that might fall as they dried. Then, we cut the heads. Today, the Chillis rubbed the seeds out of the dried heads. They still need to be winnowed, but we have quite a store for next year’s planting! We enjoyed exploring the textures of the dried sunflower stalks - the sponginess of the de-seeded flower head drew quite a bit of interest.
0 Comments
Autumn seems like a good time to begin a blog. All right, a good time would have been a year ago when this project started, but I'll do my best to give an idea of why we planted a garden and to summarize what's happened thus far. I hope open spaces appeal to most of us who live in central Illinois -- we're kind of stuck with them. For many, vast expanses of corn, soybeans, or grass sing of freedom and possibility. But too often, monocultures and conventionally grown crops indicate unsustainable techniques and philosophies that can only rob us of our treasured freedom in the long run. At the same time, there is an urgent need in our world for vivid and sustainable biodiversities of food and beauty. In a society plagued by a troubled economy and a plethora of health problems, it only makes sense to grow some food that doesn't carry hidden costs and that's good for us on many levels! Our library's vision is to be an organization that brings together the various communities it serves by enabling people to improve their lives and realize their full potential. Extending this vision to the green spaces of our community just seems to make sense, and we've begun with the transformation of our own landscape. As I was exploring the idea of a library garden, it was exciting and encouraging to find out that many libraries across the country have embarked successfully on similar ventures. Beginnings We had been thinking of trying a garden for some time, but in the autumn of 2010, I got serious about doing some structured planning and began applying to a variety of grants. We settled on a sunny area on the west side of our building for the initial garden site, though there are dreams of one day expanding to incorporate a large part of the library grounds. At this point, the main goals of the garden project were to provide our youth with an introduction to gardening and practical experience in the garden, learning for themselves where food comes from; to provide education in a variety of formats to teach all ages about the environment, sustainable living, and nutrition; and to cultivate a sense of observation and wonder as young people encounter the world of the garden. Though we didn't receive any funds from the grants I applied for in the fall, one doesn’t need a lot of funding to start a simple garden, and we planned to go ahead with growing some things at the library, anyway. Meanwhile, I had requested a Herman’s Garden seed grant (a program through the Seed Savers Exchange that gives surplus seeds to organizations that grow gardens that build community, fight hunger, and demonstrate the importance of heirloom gardening and seed saving). When the box arrived, I was blown away by the quantity and variety of seeds they sent! The support of our community and generosity of many organizations continued to be evident. Picket Fence, a local garden and floral shop, donated a huge amount of seeds. Then we received even more seeds from the America the Beautiful fund, which grants surplus seeds to community planting projects across the country that strive to better our world through gardening (we used the sunflower sees from America the Beautiful to plant our sunflower house). One of the primary goals for our project was the involvement of local youth. The first informational meeting of the Green Chillis (the hottest garden club in Chillicothe) in early March drew two young gardeners. We discussed some of the goals and ideas for the club, and in subsequent meetings, as attendance slowly grew, we talked about plans for the garden and began the process of starting our seedlings. Starting plants from seed is, first of all, cost effective – for the same amount you might pay to buy one or two tomato plants, a pack of seeds can yield as many plants as you can fit in your garden! Another good reason to start from seed is the variety that is available. Most nurseries stock a few standard hybrid varieties, but if you venture into the world of seeds – especially heirlooms – the virtually endless selection is enough to make a gardener giddy. Just to give you an idea, we had eight varieties of tomatoes in all shapes and colors from the Seed Savers Exchange donation alone. Growing, saving, and sharing the seeds of different varieties also helps to preserve them for the future. So we had plenty of seeds, but we were at a loss of what to grow them in until Hoerr Nursery came to the rescue with a donation of seed trays and pots. We filled up several windowsills with lovingly planted seed trays, and waited. By the end of March, we had sprouts! Our baby plants were coming along, and the Green Chillis continued to meet every week to tend them and learn about gardening. However, we didn’t yet have a place to put our plants outside once it was warm enough. The plan was to build raised beds and fill them with a mixture of composted manure (from a local horse farm) and topsoil (donated from Hoerr Nursery). But finding sources that were able to donate materials for constructing the beds was proving to be a challenge, and the spring was advancing apace. Our plants grew tall and gangly, more than ready to get in the ground, and some of them succumbed to the aphid plague that hit as the winter wore on. In early May, however, I was thrilled to learn that my application for the Peoria Garden Club’s 2011 Landscape Improvement Donation had been accepted, and the generous funds we received from them were enough to cover eight beautiful raised bed kits. A short time later, on a hot afternoon in the middle of May, a local family donated their time, energy, and tiller, and broke ground. The raised bed kits arrived that same day, and the Green Chillis helped to assemble them. One of the Chillis’ father volunteered his time and the use of his truck to fetch a big load of composted manure from the Heart of Illinois horse arena, which the Chillis helped to unload and distribute into the beds. About a week after that, Hoerr Nursery delivered the tandem load of topsoil they donated. For those of you who don’t know, a tandem load is… a lot. My calculations had estimated that it would be just about – and maybe not quite – the right amount to fill all our beds. Gail (our youth librarian) and I worked together to distribute some of the soil into the beds. A bit of a chore, using a wheelbarrow with a flat tire! But better than no wheelbarrow at all. Ha. Well, we filled the beds, and later topped them off when they settled, and Dirt Mountain hardly looked dented. We chipped away at it bit by bit during the summer, but November had snuck in before the last of it was relocated. I had spent quite a bit of time planning, trying to figure out logistics such as just how many varieties of tomatoes one can fit into eight beds. On June 2, we finally were able to plant.The Green Chillis helped and were excited to get our long-tended seedlings in the ground. The next week we replanted the few things that went splat in the heat or got blasted too hard or washed away by the rain. This was a good opportunity to discuss the benefits of mulch. Thankfully, before the week was out, Peter’s Landscaping donated a big load of mulch, and a teen volunteer helped me to mulch the garden beds. Later on, the Green Chillis mulched the sunflower house. Besides its many practical benefits, the mulch helped everything look tidy and beautiful. The Green Chillis continued to meet more-or-less weekly throughout the summer. In addition to tending the garden plots, they helped to transplant about 120 tomato and 138 pepper seedlings (no less than six or eight varieties of each), which we put in the library lobby for patrons to adopt. We had far more plants than could fit in our garden, and we were excited to share them in the hope that everyone in our community would dig up their inner gardener and take steps along with us toward creating a beautiful, tasty, and sustainable city. One library patron (in her nineties and still gardening!) delighted us with regular reports throughout the summer on the state of her tomato plants, which happily grew to great heights. I had emailed Marianne Gillespie from the Chillicothe Times Bulletin about our garden, and on June 30, she joined us for the Green Chillis meeting to learn more about the project and take pictures in preparation for writing a story. I think the Chillis were tickled by the prospect of being in the newspaper, and I was pleased with the opportunity to get the word out to a wider audience. We were so excited to see the article (front page, no less!), and I think Ms. Gillespie did a good job communicating the gist of what our project is about. You can read the article and see pictures here. A few members of the Illinois Valley Central High School came now and then during the summer to give a hand with watering, weeding, and other tasks (such as transporting Dirt Mountain). It was great to have their help! Summer Programming To go along with the new library garden, we hosted a series of garden and sustainability-related programs for general audiences. Book discussions were planned for Paul Fleischman’s Seedfolks, Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, and Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma. While no one came to the discussions, we hope that some were inspired to pick up these books and ponder them on their own time. Another aspect of the summer programming was a series of three presentations given by local master gardener Judy Ziemba. Her topics included “10 Steps to a Successful Garden,” “Edible Patio Gardens,” and “Herbs for Fun and Fragrance.” For this last one, Judy brought samples of many kinds of herbs for us to touch and smell, and the presentation was followed by a special tea, complete with a variety of herb-themed goodies and herbal teas. The Green Chillis and I had prepared packs of herb plants as door prizes, and five people went home with the beginnings of their own herb gardens. Several other very interesting and informative programs filled our summer. Keith Crotz’s presentation, “Why Grow Heirloom?” touched on a lot of aspects of the benefits of growing heirloom varieties of fruits and vegetables, and it was delightful to hear the stories that can be passed along with heirloom seeds, as well as to witness the excitement of being involved in the process of observing, selecting, and nurturing the innate variety within a species. Mr. Crotz is a local organic farmer and a board member for the Seed Savers Exchange. Anne and Mike Contratto treated us to a tour of their beautifully-tended organic garden, which contains an incredible amount of diversity and reflects their understanding of nature and concern for doing things in a way that is aesthetically pleasing, beneficial to the environment, and meticulously planned (Mike is an engineer, and has been known to spend the winter working out – to the brick – the materials needed for the garden paths). They are both knowledgeable and personable, and graciously answered questions – even treating us to some tasty samples of their garden’s produce! Both the Contrattos returned with more unique contributions to our programming. Anne hosted a “Garden to Table” workshop, with a delightful array of summery, no-cook recipes, made with local ingredients straight from the garden (or the farmers market)! We enjoyed delicious refrigerator pickles, gazpacho, and bruschetta. Mike gave a rain barrel demo, constructing a rain barrel from scratch right before our eyes! He demonstrated every step and fielded a lot of questions from the audience. He also brought a commercially produced barrel to show us. After the demo, he invited the participants to come to his home to see his own rain barrels in action. Peggy Holmes treated us to her delightful presentation, “Of Tassel and Silk: A Sashay through Corn Country.” Peggy is an engaging speaker and skilled in making her topic interesting and accessible to a varied audience without sacrificing its substance. Visual aids included a live corn plant, towering above the audience, various kinds of corn and corn memorabilia, and a sack full of products that contain corn. Assisting Peggy in the musical portion of the evening were her husband, Jim Hicks, and singers Carmen Klopfenstein and Deborah Barnett. We also had screenings of two independent documentary films. Mad City Chickens – about the growing movement towards greater sustainability, health, and happiness through raising urban chickens – was followed by a Q & A with local chicken owner Anna Repke and her lovely chicken, Millie. We also showed the film DIVE! (Incidentally, ours was only the third public screening in Illinois of this award-winning film that has been shown across the country and on several continents.) The movie was followed with discussion and refreshments (which were in keeping with the theme of the film J). Attendees of all ages were involved in the discussion, and they were so engaged in sharing thoughts that it was hard to wrap it up. Summer sweat and autumn harvest Throughout all this, the Green Chillis kept hard at work, laying soaker hoses, maintaining the garden, and harvesting produce (and eating it, too, of course!). Besides the little radishes we ate early in the spring, our first feast of garden produce consisted of fresh cucumbers and zucchini! Another day we sautéed some freshly-harvested veggies, and everyone tried our concoction of zucchini, kohlrabi and mustard greens, and okra – even though the greens were rather bitter (probably due to the dry weather) and the okra was slimy (there’s just no getting around that). In August we ate our first little watermelon. We weren’t the only ones to enjoy the garden’s bounty this summer. The majority of what we harvested was donated to the local “Love in Action” food pantry that operates out of the Chillicothe Assembly of God Church. No matter the size of a garden or the harvest, there’s something wonderful and humbling about being able to share a little with others. Plenty of people had certainly shared with us. In thanks for the generosity and support expressed by our sponsors, presenters, the library board and staff, and the families of the Green Chillis, we decided to hold a Library Garden Feast near the beginning of September. The Chillis signed the invitations and helped plan the evening. On the night of the feast, they came to the library to help prepare the food, decorate, and set up. I estimate that we had over 30 people attending, including family members of the Green Chillis, sponsors, and a few library board members and Gail, the youth librarian. I think the kids enjoyed the chance to showcase some of the fruits of their labor, and they did me proud with their help and enthusiasm prior to and during the event. I also appreciated the chance to interact with our guests and share some of what we’ve done with the garden and related programming. After the feast, two families graciously stayed to help with clean-up. Part of the Herman’s Garden program (through Seed Savers Exchange) involves saving the seeds of a certain variety and sharing them with others. Along with the seed donation we received, we were asked to save seeds from the Tiger’s Eye Bush Bean – a beautiful, golden brown bean with darker brown swirls. As summer wore on, the dry pods became ready to harvest, and we shelled out the beans and made origami seed packets to distribute them. Hopefully there will be about 40 more families enjoying this bean next year and, if the cycle of saving and sharing continues, exponentially more in years to come. During September and October, the Green Chillis continued to harvest veggies and watermelon, and we even enjoyed a watermelon seed spitting contest! In October, it was time to start planting next year’s crop of garlic. We put in three varieties: Georgian Fire, Persian Star, and an unknown variety from Gail’s CSA. It will be fun to see those handsome green shoots poking up next spring before almost anything else is brave enough.
|
Click here for more information about Green Chillis, our seed library, and other garden-related library programming.
Archives
June 2017
CategoriesMany thanks to our generous sponsors:
|