P-Patch Harvest Banquet

So Saturday was the P Patch Harvest Banquet. I was a little wishy washy on whether or not I wanted to go; it was all the way down in Jefferson Park, I wasn't feeling motiviated, I had homework, blah blah blah.  At the last minute I got a ride, so I whipped up another impromptu salad (where I ponder what I have on hand and then at the last minute thrown a bunch of stuff in a bowl and call it good).  Got a ride with a p-patcher named Jamie, and headed on down.  She was on the setup committee so we went early and I helped set up.

It was fun; I immediately found a lovely little older lady who was having problems cutting out tags, so I took over the scissors, she took over the folding, and we made short work of it.

I then helped to set up the flowers on the tables; filled jars with waters, made little arrangements...

Dahlias!

We had a big ol' banquet dinner, with everyone bringing the fruits of their labor.  Lots of veggie dishes, lots of desserts...

Banquet table...salads galore, potato and pea curry, sweet & sour, potato salad, kale salad, sticky rice, vinegary beets, and so much more than I can remember

Dessert table; while I'm not generally a dessert girl, there was a delicious apple crisp. 

I partook of a LOT of it.  Mmmmm.....

And even though I'm not a big dessert girl, I do like apple crisp and I LOVE whipped cream.  So there is a little piece of apple crisp under this pile of whipped cream.  NOMS!

After dinner there were some videos and speakers, including City Council Member Jean Godden.  :)

All in all it was a pretty good turnout with lots of South Seattle P-Patchers.






I also came home with a butt-ton of seeds!  All kinds of cukes; burpless, english, pickling:  some radishes; watermelon and black:  kitchen herbs, flowers, and who knows what else.  Got some organic fertilizer and leek starts.

It was a nice relaxing/productive day that partly counted toward my volunteer hours for the garden (bonus!), and I got to bring some of the flowers home with me!  :)

























 

Saturday at the P-Patch

I took a break from rates, principles, and interest problems on Saturday to go plant my starts in the p-patch before they died from lack of oxygen and light in my car trunk.  When I got there, I met a woman named Julie.  Julia is a couple of years older than I, has friendly blue eyes and a spark of vitality that I am very drawn to.  She is enthusiastic about the garden and developing the more social/community aspect of the place and I am ALL OVER that kind of stuff.  So we chatted quite awhile, she gave me a jalapeno pepper, and I gave her my card and said if you ever want help, let me know, I'm here and rarin' to go!

Julia was accompanied by very handsome chocolate lab named Johann. And while he is mostly a refined gentleman of about 7 or 8, sometimes his enthusiasm gets the best of him.  And of course, no dog on earth (or at least no lab, chocolate or otherwise) can resist the wiles of my knees, so naturally he made a dash for them and proceeded to lick them, much to my utter dismay and barely suppressed revulsion. I managed to calm myself down, however, and get the upper hand (somewhat), and get the bugger off my knees and to a more manageable area of the body like my extremely outstretched hand.  Once we got to know each other a little more I calmed down, he calmed down, and he charmed me with his love of broccoli. I've never heard of such a thing, although apparently this is not uncommon. 

Anyway, after a little schmooze I went to my own little p-patch to plant my starts:  white russian kale, gourmet lettuces (including one called "freckles," I think), and some chard du suisse.  :) 

My Starts.  Lettuces on the lower right, chard lower left, kale top left, sage top right.
Starts.  Notice I went clockwise; that's because in school I'm working on the unit circle and the circle
goes that way.  Sage in Quadrant I, lettuce in quadrant II, Chard in Quadrant III, Kale in Quadrant IV.  ;O)
 


Everybody's planted  and water, in two straight lines, like Madeline.  








After that, Julia came to look at my garden and say goodbye, and then I went home to do more homework. And that is the story of the P-Patch for Saturday, October 6th.