Saying 'goodbye' to Dahlia

It is with a somewhat heavy heart that I write this post... This evening, after only 20 hours listed on craigslist, I sold my dear truck. The truck that hauled too much manure, that moved me from NY to NH to VT, the truck that everyone loved, the truck that gave me 'farmer cred'. She is going to live on a goat farm where she can spend her days rusting, sputtering, and leaking gasoline from her front fuel tank... I can't help but sing "Norma Jean" as I write this. We love you, Dahlia.

 

her first outing - canoeing on the Wallkill

first trip to NH - horse manure in Conway

moving (hillbilly style) from NY to NH

Unpacking @ The Community School 'love shack'

conquering the TCS compost pile

helping get rid of a tiller (she was straight NO-TILL for life!)

first pigs! Hamlet, Sassafras, + Kevin Bacon

Rachel driving (BIG LOVE loves Dahlia!)

DIY rust repair: spray foam, trace paper, Bondo

Pallets @ College of Saint Joseph

fencing at CSJ

A toast, "To Dahlia!"

Oct 2 Harvest

Greens abound!
The cool weather of fall is perfect for greens... now that we are on the 'other side' of summer, the garden looks a little like spring - mesclun, spinach, peas, carrots, and radishes. 

 Freshly harvested mesclun loaded up with some radishes in my 'delivery cart' headed across campus to the dining hall!

Under The Rug

This past summer, I was given the opportunity to redesign the dining hall at CSJ. It was a blast to put on my architect hat for a bit. I will have to gather up before + after photos of the space for another post. 

** But for this post, let's go back outside and see how I used the old carpeting from the dining hall in the garden! **

With the help of some Provider Program scholars, I laid out the rolls of old (10 years +) carpeting to cover and kill the grass beneath - the 'no till/reuse/make-do way'! The carpet sat for about 4 weeks, getting rained on, and sunned on, collecting grass clippings, attracting various critters - smelling pretty gross, actually... 
Meanwhile, underneath the carpet, worms and bugs and microbes were doing wonderful things as the grass (starved of sunlight and rain) died. 

When we rolled back the carpet, I was delighted to see bare earth, bugs, and WORM CASTINGS (see tracks?!). 

I quickly mulched the patch with bark mulch from the maintenance crew to keep the fresh earth out of sunlight. The next step is to apply lime (the bark is acidic and so is the soil) then compost, then let it rest all winter for spring planting!