Community Garden Workday for November

We were an army of three. 

No, not this trio.

Three of us braved the cold to tend the Community Garden on Saturday.

It turned out to be a productive and gorgeous morning,

with temperatures hovering around 50 and the sun draping us in warm light. 
With each month's visit, changes are discernible.

One of my first missions was to find out how the garlic was doing.

We planted this last month,

and as you can see, it's coming along quite nicely!

The goal of this garden is to provide food for the community 

through a local food bank.

No doubt they will be thrilled to have plenty of garlic.

In other beds, a few stalwart crops remain,

such as this row of carrots,

and hearty edibles ready for harvesting.

This monstrous mound of greens is not the least bit fazed by the cold.

While a bed of irises is sure to please its tender

with gorgeous blooms come early spring.

What a difference a month has made to the loofah!

This heat lover did not fare well with the freeze that came through last week.

Some of the gourds remain to be picked.

Further evidence of the harsher temperatures is evident.
Today's goal was to tidy up the beds and walkways.

We didn't get to the grapevine this go around,

but future visits may allow us to give it some attention.

It's a wild and tangled mess!

The remaining blooms were snuffed out for another season,

unable to withstand the cold and frost.

This tree had been covered in bagworms.

It has been mostly defoliated and is scheduled to be cut down.

We hope to do that before the spring thaw.

Here's the same variety of tree, on the other side of the entrance, unaffected by pests.

Striking, isn't it?

What a pleasure to share the love of gardening
with folks who have such generous spirits.

"In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out.
It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being.
We should all be thankful for those people
who rekindle the inner spirit."
~Albert Schweitzer