Week 26: The End of a Season

Before we begin reminiscing, let us first talk about this week. All of the stalks and vines of the now dead plants in our garden had to be uprooted, chopped up, and deposited into our compost. As you can see in the pictures they are over flowing now. Luckily they have six months to be broken down into quality nutrients that we will add back to the soil. After our last farm stand this week we finished up with inventory for the year. We also dumped the water in our rain barrels so that they would not freeze and crack. One of the barrels had a little surprise for us. I do not know how long this squirrel had been in there but it smelled terrible.

Most importantly we had our exit interviews with each of our interns. Kayla and I asked them questions to feel out how the year had gone and get input on how to improve. Even when the critiques are hard to hear, I still enjoy this time because it allows us to grow as managers and to build the internship program into something that IWU is known for, not just as a pet project.

Well folks this is it. This was the last week of our gardens here at Indiana Wesleyan. In the past 6 months we have prepped the earth, sowed seed, weeded, mulched, harvested, and wintered our two gardens. We raised a total of seven chickens and only one died ( on purpose because, you know, we learned how to do that). We grew 40 plus different species of fruits, vegetables, and herbs many of which were for the first time. We canned pickles, salsa, and apple butter and processed apple cider. We started a seed bank and a Facebook page. We hauled supplies in our new truck, stored produce in our new refrigerator, and sprayed organic pest spray with our new sprayer. We donated hundreds of pounds of food to the Marion Community Garden farmer's market and St. Martins and we raised close to $1000 from students and staff at our mall way stand. We even broke 50 views of one of our blog pages!!!

Thank you all for following us this year. This blog will continue next year however, I will not be writing it. My wife Kate and I will be moving to Cincinnati where I will be doing garden and sports Ministry for Prasco (their foundation gives the grant to fund the Alliance Garden). I hope you all tune in next year to whoever is writing the blog. I also hope that this can grow and be a tool that can bring God glory. Best wishes, Zach Arington