Will oats, peas, beans and barley grow?

There are two gardens at the community house.  A flower garden in the front and a raised bed vegetable garden on the side.  They'd both been running wild for a bit.  I was eager to dive in and start my contribution to the community house.  My housemates told me to go right ahead and give it shot because they are fabulous people who also happen to not be too big of fans of dirt. Luckily, I have no problem with dirt.

Fiercely not having a problem with dirt in The Gambia.

Proudly not having a problem with dirt in Turkey.

Determinedly not having a problem with dirt at BVS orientation

So I dove right in and started pulling weeds.  Or at least pulling what I could figure were weeds.  I attacked the vegetable garden first and then moved on to the front garden.  I recognized some things as straight up weeds and some as straight up supposed-to-be-there plants.  But there were a lot of in between plants.  Sarah and Sticks had wandered out to keep me company and I would confer together before deciding what needed to be pulled up.  It was rather pleasant.

Either I have just valiantly removed an evil weed or I've just destroyed someone's hard work.  If it's the former, Sticks and Sarah totally told me to do it!

 The most nerve wracking thing I did was to plant seeds in the vegetable garden. That, my friends, is faith. You plant these bitty seeds in the ground and just pray that something sprouts.  it was terrifying. While I was possibly committing plant murder, I was fretting about wasting seeds and failing the house garden.  But luckily, my housemates are marv.  Sticks told me that if one things grows, our garden is a success. And Sarah snapped pictures so I had proof that I tried.  (I'm not sure what Marc thinks. He probably hopes things grow if only so he doesn't have to hear me lament about them not growing).

I'll keep you all updated with our house gardens.  Hopefully something will grow.  Until then, here's proof that I'm working hard:

It's also proof that even elbow deep in dirt, my nails look fabulous!

Cross posted at my personal blog, in a act of shameless self promotion.

Two to Four

When first arriving in Cincinnati in October with Sarah M. it was new and fresh from what I had been use to growing up in Virginia. Coming to the city the first thing I noticed was how much bigger things were and how many more shops within the block. But as time went from fall to winter the house was more of a trap because I went to work in the dark and came home the same way and after awhile of not seeing the sun it got extremely boring really quick. Sarah and I had many Criminal Minds marathons during the holidays and movie nights. And it was an experience going to the Kenwood Mall.

As the New Year came closer I hoped that the house would get a least one person to fulfill the surrounding projects so I could experience the full effect of community living and sure enough my wish came true instead of one person the house got two from Unit #296.

I have learned a lot from my two new house mates since they arrived a month ago.

Sarah Marie

1. She loves show tunes
2. composting /gardening
3. Likes to have a vegetable for dinner
4. Has some really great ideas and is willing to try new things

Marc

1. “Don’t you Know.” One of his favorite phrases
2. Loves “real” bread
3. Has a unique cooking style
4. Is fascinated by the American culture

Going from a two to four person household I have also learned some other thing about the other Sarah.

Sarah

1. She loves cottage cheese
2. Has really strong family ties
3. Willing to expand her educational background
4. Enjoys meeting new people and engaging in conversation

I have learned more about how to interact with people as I have adjusted to the change that Sarah and Marc brought in the last month then when I started in October. We will see what the rest of the year brings as for now I am enjoying every minute, the highs and the lows of community living.

Sticks