Powdered Gold

Day 18

Things are looking up. We are getting bark spread tomorrow and The Healing Ground's introduction to the veteran community is scheduled for Friday. I want the garden to look it's very best so today I spent most of the afternoon tidying up and collecting the trash that had been sitting around the shed for the past few weeks. The worst part was seeing all the spiders run away as I uprooted their homes and then I kept getting the tingly feeling across my legs like something was crawling up them. I kept looking around only to see my bare skin staring back at me. But, now everything is cleared out and I have spread the mound of dirt that was sitting there before. I moved the wood pallets to the dirt so they are ready to be converted to the compost bin. 

In the garden the zucchini continues to blossom and produce like crazy! Tomatoes are as bushy as ever and the peppers are looking good. The corn is starting to tassel (where the little hairs stick up out of the ears) and since there are only two rows we have to hand pollinate. Without a feather duster or paint brush this is much harder than it sounds. When you tap on the tip of a cornstalk where the pollen is you can see a small yellow cloud rise and ride away on the breeze. You have to somehow train that pollen to go to the little tassels below. The first try I used other stalks and bent them over to reach the hairs. That worked alright but I was worried about snapping the stalks and some of them weren't close enough. Next, I tried snapping off some of the pollen holders and using them as little pollen wands to dust around the tassels. This was some what effective but a lot of the pollen was lost in the snapping off process and then I wasn't sure if it was bad for the plant to have its pollen holders snapped off. The last method (and probably least effective) was I wiped my finger in the pollen that had collected on the leaves then wiped my finer in the tassel. I considered using my hair as a brush but decided against it. I kept wishing I could just collect the dust in my hand and sprinkle it on each tassel like a light garnish but had no idea how to do it. 

A new volunteer has joined the force! I think I now have two regulars. The Farmer is a knowledgeable and talkative guy. He grew up around farming and gardening and enjoyed telling me all about the little tricks his family used. The sign for The Healing Ground was posted today and it all seems to be coming together bit by bit.

I had a conference call with the other Summer VISTAs today and it was really nice to hear what people were doing and that some of them were struggling to find the volunteer support just like me. Some good ideas were tossed around and I regained a little of the fervor that has been taken out of me. I am thinking of getting in with the local VFW and having a little garden party or class there in hopes of reaching out to the larger veteran community in Walla Walla for support.  I sent my supervisor at the VA a letter that will hopefully go in the local paper. It's basically a plea for volunteers. But, in a less desperate sounding way. It would just hurt to see the program die when I leave. Or, even once the summer crop is harvested.