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Garner Grows Community Garden: Share The Work, Share The Harvest
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After getting rained out all last week, those of us who made it to the Saturday workday were treated to a lovely rainbow, which I of course photographed. As I transferred the file from my phone to my computer, I couldn’t help but be reminded of another rainbow photo that had been featured in a blog article by Sarah almost a year ago, when the lot at Thompson Road Park was still a blank canvas. The rainbow this week just happened to be in almost the same place, and the angle from which I took the photo was also similar, so I had to share them with everyone side by side.

I have to admit, that first rainbow was more impressive, stretching all the way across the sky in an almost complete arc. Last week’s rainbow was just the tail-end peeking out the through the clouds, but while the rainbow was not quite as spectacular in this photo, what IS spectacular is the amount of progress that is evidenced when comparing the two photos!

That neglected lot of patchy grass from a year ago has been completely transformed, replaced with a layer of cardboard and mulch to help keep the weeds at bay. A driveway was installed, and we built a beautiful fence to hide some of our not-so-beautiful supplies and materials. We’ve gotten a start on our orchard with some young trees, started producing our first edible crops in raised beds, and have in-ground rows setup which will soon provide a bounty of both more edible crops as well as a rainbow of flora in our cut-flower garden. We still have plenty of space to work with and plans to use every inch, so I am sure the before and after photos in another year will be just as impressive!

The empty lot at Thompson Road Park with a full rainbow in July 2022
Less Rainbow, but a whole lot more Garden in June 2023!

The last few months have been a flurry of activity as we rushed to have things ready in time for the Grand Opening on June 3rd. I think we were all a bit frazzled by the time the big event finally arrived, and while it may not all have been smooth sailing, I think we can all agree it was a success!

There are tons of photos from the event, way too many to post in this blog entry, so instead I will just link you to the Events Photo Gallery where you can browse through them all.

Sorry to make this such a short blog, but before I go I promised I would share these adorable photos of the baby goats. A few weeks ago someone contacted Layla to ask if they could “rent” the kids for a children’s birthday party. Layla agreed, and gave the goats a bath so they would be clean and fresh for the party. I took a picture of Rutabaga all wet and soapy, thinking that would be my dose of cuteness for the day. Little did we know the kids would be returned to us with an extra serving of cuteness!

For the party, the family had dressed the kids up in special onesie-pajamas, which they then gifted to Layla. The excited little beasties wouldn’t sit still for long, but I managed to snap a few photos to share with everyone.

Upon arriving home, the babies immediately ran to Mama Perilla wanting to be fed. She was a little freaked out by their strange attire, and ran away, leaving the kids looking bewildered as she glanced back at us in dismay. Layla had mercy on her and quickly attempted to disrobe them so that Perilla would allow them to come close enough to feed. As you can see they were not terribly cooperative with the whole process, which makes me wonder how hard it was to get them IN the pajamas to begin with!

This post is part of a series of blogs called:

My name is Jette, and I am the last person you would expect to join a community garden! Not only do I have a ‘black thumb’, but I am physically disabled and I am introvert who suffers from social anxiety. So how did Garner Grows become such a big part of my life? This blog series will follow along on my unlikely journey and show community gardening from my unique (and completely unskilled) perspective.