So I have not written for the last few days as we have been taking out our kitchen floor (tile...oh ug) and putting down a cork floor...or at least that was the plan - we just now got up all the tile and mortar...we found out the floor underneath was hardwood...(tell me why would anyone tile over hardwood?...grrr). Anyway we still have the cork to put down. Blah, Blah...like you want to read my reno news.
I posted the above picture...I am not sure if you can see the fungi just peaking out of the bark mulch - but we have a few growing. I was listening yesterday - hmmm - maybe it was Friday...anyway to CBC - the call in show they have regarding gardening. A woman phoned in and was concerned about the fungi that was growing around a tree trunk. She said they were growing in a circle around the trunk, and she was looking to find out a) why they were growing there and b) how she could get rid of them. The guy...ug a greenhouse guy - he is Lois Hole's son or grandson I can't remember - anyway he said that the reason they were growing was to aid the tree trunk in breaking down. He further said that sometimes we just have to retrain our thinking as to what was beauty or acceptable in a garden. He said she should just try and enjoy them...she said...yeah well I am not enjoying them. It was kinda funny and when I saw these mushrooms poking their heads up in our garden it reminded me of that story, and how wonderful I thought it was to consider retraining ourselves regarding what is 'beautiful' in our garden and open our eyes to alternative beauty. Kinda like real life.
On Thursday night we met Sherrill. She dropped off a wonderful card and took home some herbs and veggies. She had heard about the garden from a friend (who I found out was the 'compost god' mentioned in an earlier post). She said that it was really great for her to be able to have some fresh produce and experience a garden as she lives in an apartment. She also wondered about many elderly people who might enjoy some garden bounty...it got me thinking too...no solutions yet...but...
...and speaking of sharing the garden tonight I was in the tub...trying to get off all the mortar dust (is this too personal?)...anyway when I got out I noticed that Paul was down at the garden taking two women for a tour. He was packing up plums, tomatoes, zucchini, herbs...a bit of everything - anything that was ripe. I took a picture...from the window, which is why it look surveillance'y'.
When he came in he was clearly shaken. He said that the woman who came by was a single Mom...she had been told about the garden by a few people. She said she has children and is having a hard go of it right now...and having the vegetables would enable her to give her children vegetables. Paul told her to come back anytime and as many times as she wanted (she said she had been by before, seen the sign encouraging people to help themselves, but just couldn't believe it was true, so today she rang the bell to make sure it was okay). Paul said he was tempted to ask her if she would like anything else (he said, 'like basically empty out our cupboards'...but just wasn't sure if it was okay...with her I mean...you know when you have those awkward moments when you want to help and you just aren't sure what is 'right'?). Anyway, we are hoping she will come back.
Again her story got me to thinking. Many single parents live in rentals and may not be able to plant their garden, or lets be honest, just not have time to plant and care for a garden. I was thinking that if just a few more people planted some Boulevardens (and many of you have said you are) and shared their bounty with others...well it would (will) really make a difference wouldn't (won't) it? sigh...
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