Too Many Chiefs.............

As I type that title I remind myself of the offense I took to it when the gentleman I am supposed to deal with at the church replied that to an email regarding members of the church taking charge and giving orders in MY garden. Too many chiefs........hmmmmmmm. I will get back to why I took offense to that, but let me first give you the short version of the story. My presentation in August seems to be turning into what NOT to do when working in collaboration to eradicate hunger.

I started this project back in January. Laid out all my plans and didn't get the ok to move forward until mid april. Yes, mid april. I should have been tilled, mounded and planted by then. We agreed it was my garden on the condition the harvest went to their food pantry and any overage was my choice where to donate. I was told there were other churches that wanted to be involved and promised all sorts of donations and materials. But most important Tom (name changed) made me promise him to not exclude anyone; go out of my way to include all! Ummmm, excuse me Tom, did you read my mission statement that I gave you three months ago........obviously not.

Me.........I am a single mom going to graduate school that has now taken on an acre and a half garden that is 70 miles round trip..............I have a super strong faith in the Creator. I believe I do his work with my hands in the dirt. I feel a closeness to him when that sun is beating down on me and I am dirty head to toe knowing all my sweat that drips off my brow gives these plants my love to grow strong and feed all His people. I understand how people become so overwhelmed in their faith to speak in tongues.........my faith allows me to speak to His creatures while I work His land. The church I am working in collaboration with is a Mission Christian church...........................outwardly I am known as the weird barefoot hippie that wears rings on her toes, has too many bumper stickers on her car that boogies in the garden with bright pink headphones and has too many tattoos. I really want to hula hoop in my garden, but then they might really think I am certifiable. I try to live the Native way; that is where the offense of too many chiefs comes from. They see me as a pagan that needs to be saved. How do I see (g)od in a tree? .................How do they NOT see (g)od in a tree? But most of all they cannot see we serve the same (g)od and want to feed His people.

So................fast story................To quote Beck "I worked the fields til the sun went down" all by myself some days. I have maybe 80 volunteer hours logged, from 6 different people. I would say 30-40 of those hours have been hours of MASS DESTRUCTION!!!!! I have had people in the garden without contacting me first; making their own decisions. Over half my garden has been destroyed by people tilling thinking the best way to weed is to till (I will post pics of all this). I have had people harvesting the wrong times of day killing entire crops and leaving me feeling a bit like Henni Penni! Worst of all no one is weighing it for me. I have had minimal donations (most of it coming out of my pocket, except for the seeds and hay), still waiting on a water source~ was promised a massive water storage thingy that was to be delivered the end of May.........I water each plant individually with a wagon and a tote filled with water......remember this is an acre and a half............I have yet to have a meet and greet with the church.....maybe because I am a freak (to them).......not one workshop has been scheduled............my transportation to include WIC participants is never available..............I have yet to receive their tax exempt id so I can have fiscal sponsorship while I wait for my status to be approved (this prevents alot of grants)............... I have even had members of the church secretly donate their weekly tithe to the garden (you can declare where in the church your 10% goes)..................i haven't seen a cent.

Then the name of the garden....................remember I was given the speech of it being all inclusive right............I had been told the name had agreed to be Field of Grace ~ perfect...........the name of the church is Grace Brethren and it still leaves it open to all without religious influence. The day the tomatoes were delivered I was informed the name was NOT field of grace but God's Garden.............oh crap.........the dreaded interfaith dialogue I now have to have with a driven Mission Christian..............excuse me please, it would be easier for me to go throw up now. I took a deep breath and remained calm. It had been my covert operation to prove to this church that those who did not believe as they did were still good people and we connected on the simplest levels.............the conversation couldn't have gone worse and I actually contemplated doing something drastic like puking or wetting my pants just to get away from the damnation I was taking at that moment. Grandfather? Why they hell do you call Him grandfather, well that's just absurd. Why can't (g)od be in the name of the garden, it's cuz of him it's all happening.............i try to interject............but we don't all call him (g)od. We speak different languages while we all believe in the same (g)od. What the hell you talkin about..............we had some of them muslims here, but they chose to never come back cuz we made them pray to Jesus with us to get their food..........that's why we are a 501 (c) 4 so we have that right to pray. So we can let all know the way to heaven is through the Lord our Jesus Christ...............my head is screaming isn't that idolatry?!?!??!?! Lord is (g)od. Jesus was His Son. His prophet..........but I stay quiet.............my urge to scream Jesus would have loved me just the way I am, why can't you?...............again I stay quiet and try to gently explain to simply leave language out of it. Welcome all remember.

So I blog not to complain, but to give a story to those who have my same passion to feed the hungry of the world. I am looking for my own land with my own building. I will finish the season because it is not the hungry's fault I am being taken advantage of, but I will not return to that land next year. Hopefully some rich benefactor will see my passion and give me 20 acres with a house and barn to recreate Dohi-Utsi (healthy peaceful mother)...........my half way house for single moms to learn self sufficiency and natural living.............my original idea.

Yes, yes, I know it has been way too long.

Yes, Danielle you have been in the back of my mind everyday and I am finally going to put your voice to rest and blog ; ) It has been insane!!! I am not sure I really sleep when I go to bed. I must sleep walk because I honestly wonder how I get it all done. Don't get me wrong my to-do list is still a mile long and continues to get longer daily!! But I do wonder how I get as much as I do done!

Going to take a mini vacation next weekend so this week is going to be jam packed getting ahead so I can relax next weekend and not worry about all the stuff I have to come home to!!

One of the things I am getting crossed off my list is my etsy account. I finally opened one for the gardens. The Feral Farmer. http://www.etsy.com/people/TheFeralFarmer

100% of all sales will go directly back into the garden and my personal hunger revolution! All my goods will be made with 100% organic yummy goodness that comes from my personal garden! My first listing will be for my Feral Berry Jam! Homemade strawberry goodness from my crazy berries!!!! My prices might be high, but please remember 100% of all sale go directly to fund Wookiye Gardens!!!

The big garden is doing ok. I am having some problems with all the rain and also in dire need of plant food! I have been trying hard to either get a donation of fertilizer or compost or both, but have not had much luck. If enough comes in from the sales of the jam I will just take it and buy some! I am desperate at this point! I am also coming up shorthanded and finding myself out there all by myself on that acre and a half more times than not. I am tired! Gardening on that scale is hard work and sometimes very very discouraging. I have yet to give up, and won't for that matter! Just putting it out there to those of thinking of large scale gardening......it's hard work!

I will post pictures soon. I am waiting for a bit more growth. I was about two weeks behind what I planted in my personal garden. Also would like to get some of those crazy weeds out of there that sprung up every time it rained!!!!! I am breaking down two of my personal strawberry beds this weekend and taking almost 150 plants over to the garden. It will be nice to have that corner back in my personal garden! It really started to take over!

Almost two months.....

I know, I know!! I suck at blogging!!!! Thanks to Danielle from One Green Tomato for inspiring me today. I need to freshen up on my blogging skills and learn to add pictures! Her posts are very neat and tidy and are complete tutorials!! Thanks Danielle!

So the mini plot has turned into an acre plus! That is my excuse for my absence! I have been insanely busy finishing up one quarter and jumping right into the next with barely a spring break!! I am truly excited about this summer! I don't see any sort of failure in my future, even if my crops are small! It is the first year and glorious in it's own right!!!!!! I am so excited to finally be a farmer!!!! I have big plans for Wookiye Gardens and am truly grateful how it has all fallen into place! All the hard work and early morning hours will be worth it!!!!

Piling Up!

Things are definitely piling up around here! The snow really put a dent in my work time! It is a bit hard getting work done with three caged animals going stir crazy! teehee! I am slowly catching up, but would most definitely would love it if I was all caught up ; ) But are we really ever? hmm?

The conference was amazing! Heard from Joel Salatin himself! What a rebel he is! He was the key-note speaker on saturday and didn't even know it until I ran into some long lost friends. Great food! Great information! Awesome child care! I feel so at home at places like that! It is garden geekdom at it's best!

I ended up letting my children talk me into bringing home three chicks. They were irresistible! So I need to get out in the back yard and finish my coop and build a fence my darn dog won't jump! I really didn't think all these pets through! I need a fence! Then I can get my dwarf ewes haha!

On the business front, not much has happened. I am still trying to gather people to build my board and review the business plan. I must admit with the delay of the meeting I found myself procrastinating on the paperwork! I really need to get busy on this! I lose my babysitter in about a month and my time to work on this will be limited to early mornings only, which I would really like to start getting away from!

I have started taking pictures while I do stuff for the garden. One reason is for my presentation for class and the other is for tutorials. I have decided to start posting tutorials on either here or my website. I need to figure out how to do all that. It has been awhile since I have worked with HTML and it was very little that I could do! I go to a power point class today to learn how to jazz up my power point. I have 20 slides so far. So I am on track with that!

Not much else to report. I feel the need to hop over to business work now!

Catching up!

I know I know, more than a week passed this time! I am going to blame it on the OEFFA (Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association) conference this past weekend! Still trying to catch up and manage three kids while being snowed in for the second week!!! It cleared up long enough to go to the conference and then another storm hit!

What an amazing weekend! Daycare was provided so we all went! The daycare was run by a woman who runs The Waldorf Center in Columbus! The girls had an amazing time and actually cried when we left! Kolby had his own conference and activities to participate in! He made a solar oven, his own compost, and even toured the planetarium! Great weekend! As for myself, I could go on and on about the amazing people, incredible food, and fantastic workshops! Joel Salatin himself was the key note speaker on saturday. I didn't even know he was speaking and ironically just this past week watched Food Inc. (that is another post in itself). What an inspiration he is! Wow! Still haven't fully processed everything! I can't wait to get ahold of his books!!

I feel so at home at garden or farming conferences! I feel like everyone speaks my language! I could honestly stay there full time! But I guess that wouldn't leave me much time to play in the dirt and feed people ; ) There was a display for a hatchery there. They had day old ducks and chicks. They were incredibly adorable! The kids were drawn to them like magnets! Every time we walked past the display hall they made a b-line straight to that table. Well, by the end of the weekend they had convinced me........we came home with three chicks. Pancake, Sunflower Seed, and Birdie! They are quite cute! Cheep cheep! I made a brooder for them and they seem to be happy! They are downstairs with all my starts in my grow room! cheep cheep! Guess I have to hurry and finish the coop!

As far as the non-profit goes. Things are still coming along slowly but surely. Still trying to find a day where everyone can meet and we can go over the business plan. Would like to have that in order before I file. More updates to come! Must sign off and work on business ; )

Seeds!!!!

At least a full week hasn't passed since the last post ; ) In the last week I have gotten most of my seeds, with the exception of the ones that are on back order. I ordered from a couple different places this year and am keeping track of every detail. I will be doing starts for both gardens (mine and the church's), so the greenhouse better go up soon. Actually it goes up next weekend! I just couldn't wait though! I did starts two days ago! I got my blueberry bushes in the mail the other day and had to transplant them and it felt so good I couldn't stop! I have five flats of starts now ; ) I spent the entire day playing in the dirt and planting seeds! I cannot wait until spring and I can feel the dirt in my toes! Then I will truly be happy!!!

So I want to talk about the blueberries. I have never seen bare root bushes before. I just recently found out crowns would be a bare root as well. After I placed my order the company called to verify shipping since some came straight from the grower. They were calling about the potato seeds, not the blueberry bushes. I wondered about that! Then tuesday night I am almost in bed and someone knocks on my door......scares the crap out of me!!!! I go to the door and there is my box from Peaceful Valley Farms. I open the box and there is a bag with sticks. These are my blueberry bushes?!?! They are bare roots! I transplanted them in temporary homes in milk jugs and have them in the basement now. I also found out that blueberries need more than one variety so they can cross pollinate! So of course last night I ordered two more bushes (sticks) and while I was on the site ordered some grapes too!

I am going to be so busy with gardens! I cannot wait! The conference is next weekend and I am so excited for that! I can't wait to meet all my fellow garden geeks! I truly feel like a family at these conventions!

I know I know......

I know I am not doing very well on this blogging. Have I happened to mention how busy I am starting a non-profit, going to school, and raising three children! Whew! So I have excellent news!!!!! My plot went from a 30 x 30 to .......drum roll please........ 200 x 500!!!!!! Haha! My first response to that was "wow! that much land can produce a lot of produce!" haha! I almost can't believe it! Does anyone remember that song from the seventies for the tootsie roll commercial? Where the little boy is skipping and he is singing and the words go something like......and everything I turn to see becomes a tootsie roll to me......... i can't find the lyrics, but anyone remember? That is me! Skipping along looking at open space and it morphs into a garden and I am singing some little song about "open fields turning into gardens"......haven't figured out a cute jingle yet! Hey! That is a great idea!! I could have a contest and have the Feral Farmer's fans write my song!!!! I will organize that! First I need to find that commercial!

So other than that, nothing huge and exciting has happened! But that is pretty huge to stand on its own i think! I am going to cut this one short......I have sooooo much to do! I have a deadline set for myself for next friday. I have to get busy to meet it!



...................I found it!!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaXk6PVXqJE