Oh my. I know. It sounds boring. But actually, it’s therapeutic, and fun. 

In the dead of winter, during last Tuesday’s work party we prepared for for the new gardening season by beginning to clean and organize the greenhouse. First, we took everything in there, out. Luckily, it was a fairly warm, sunny day. 

Then, the goal was to wash all the walls, shelves, and trays. Here we go.

Decided to save this stacked pot behemoth until next week, along with the north wall and shelves. 

And we still have to go through this workshop area. (Notice the tools, already cleaned, sharpened, and oiled . . .)

But otherwise, we did it! Joseph, Marita, Adam, and me!

For Saturday morning’s work party, Marita, her son Nicolas, Joseph, Camden, and I headed back down into the bowels of the basement. Five of us, this time, two in one area, three in another.

As usual, we discovered lots of goodies from residents in years past, many of which just happened to be exactly what one of us needed! It’s like Christmas, every time we clean the basement.  

But what, pray tell, is this? Gigantic. See through (kinda.) Not a blanket for humans. Likely some function in gardening, cover for something, but it seems too thick . . . Hmmm . . . I will email it to Rebecca (who migrated west after ten years, having wisely guided us in our growing efforts), and see if she knows. 

And do we really need these plumbing materials? Where did they come from? Rather than automatically relegating them to the Habitat Restore pile, I decided to ask Colin, he might know of a use for them. (But now, I’m thinking. Hell no, let them go!)

I spent my time deep in the process of organizing stuff for the office section of the basement. Need tape? Scissors? Files? Paper, Stapler? Etc. Etc. Check the basement first. It’s probably there.

The office section is unfinished. As is the section for drying herbs. But . . . we’re getting there! Afterwards, Marita and Joseph met to look at our seed collection and sort them for what gets planted first.

Joseph says we’re going to take a more biodynamic approach this year, which includes planting according to lunar cycles . . . Great!

If you recall, we decided not to have a formal garden manager this year, but to see what we can do by everyone taking their own part in figuring it out. So here we go! I asked Joseph, and he agreed, to do a short presentation on biodynamic gardening at one of our Community Dinners.