Family co-op

     I was just about a sentence into another subject when I got a text.  It was SOOO worth stopping to answer.  Son number two has suggested dividing his property into a family co-op.   I am ecstatic.  I know this son of mine loves sending me text photos of his crop as it is bigger and bolder than mine.  He also knows when he has more than he needs and can share.  He has put in all the gardens he cares to tend to personally but there is sill land left and people who want the joy, the practice and the opportunity to garden 'more/bigger'.  

     As it is October, we can look into more cold hardy crops.  I won't have to fret over the local yard guards from the HOA to bother me or the plants.  One summer a guy actually pulled up an entire mature zucchini, fruits and all!  I was furious.  We have a system of written warnings that he bypassed as I am afraid my zucchini bypassed my table and ended up on his.  

     I have posted a little app on the right of this blog, under the popular post lists.  You can locate your city or one on the same meridian as yours on the list.  You can select a month that the fruit or veg is ripes and count back 90 to 120 days to know when to start the seeds.  I use it often, then cross reference with material I have to select the seeds to set for my region.

     I have already tucked cauliflower seedlings in under the edges of some summer perennials that loose their leaves in November and go dormant until February.  As the leaves fall, the cauliflower will fill in and receive the sun.  It will pass the yard guards' inspection, but the joy of having a garden under the protection of a family member....woohoo!  

    And, since I know who is reading my blog daily, I promise to tend my own weeds.  I will bring my own green tea and well, I look forward to seeing more of y'all!
Thank you!  

     Another thing I like about co-operative gardening is broadening the crops.  My son has a real knack for growing what he grows.  It is always possible to learn from each other.  Not only can we share tips and techniques, we can experiment with a broader range of crops.  I have absolutely no chance of growing corn in my yard.  It just does not get enough nutrition or sun where I am.  I would like to try it again in his soil and his light conditions, even though I know I will have to wait till spring.  I am really jazzed about this and hope to post pictures regularly.  

     I am also going through my past posts and making a list of materials to gather to sprout more seed.  I won't have to sow seeds directly into the ground, if I start them here at home.  Yup!  I am jazzed.  Thanks, D!

     My subject WAS the difference between charity and just old fashioned generosity.  I had recently found I had a second Culinary arts encyclopedia in my home library.  I gave it to my new daughter-in-law.  She has put together her family recipes over the past twentyfive years and has a nice repertoire  but, I thought she would like 2000 facts about food and 1500 recipes with charts and pictures on every page.  

    This is not charity.  The giving of what is extra, to someone you know is gifting.  It is simple generosity, like offering your yard to a friend or family member for gardening.  Charity is giving something you have, to someone who needs it without expecting anything in return.  Post-TSHTF, charity is giving a bag of rice and beans to a stranger and sending him on his way.  But more on that on another night, I am totally jazzed about this garden thing......Be generous.  Yeah, that's the point!

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