It was an amazing summer in Portland. Warm dry weather brought on all the veggies as well as the tropical foliage. We had more hot days than usual, several 100 degrees for days in a row.
We were busy with classes and volunteering during the summer session. Welding class Monday night (need more practice), yoga Tuesday, Chinese language Wednesday (need lots more practice), and Thursday mornings at the Oregon Food Bank garden. Oh, and helping with the local elementary school garden on Monday morning.
The school garden has several raised beds of veggies, a great variety, and several rows in the ground. A group of kids, 8-12 yrs old, come and help water, weed, spread mulch, and play. OK, the play lasts longer than anything. They work at the garden and then go to the pool to swim and get a free lunch. We work with their teacher Ms. Pearl to plan, do maintenance, spread mulch, and help in her absence. They're planning to expand it for next year with more international produce.
The Oregon Food Bank has an awesome production garden by their warehouse. Probably 5 acres, staff members coordinate volunteers who prepare, plant, water, weed, harvest and generally maintain the garden. The produce goes directly to the warehouse next door for distribution. They've planted fruit trees, just beginning to produce, rows of raspberries and blueberries, and lots of rows of seasonal produce. It's quite productive and sends a lot of fresh veggies to local people. They're very organized and always plenty for us to do. We'll continue untill the garden is put to bed for the winter. This week we pulled the corn and squash plants that were finished, tilled, and sowed a cover crop on the beds.
We did some short bike and kayak trips, then in September had a couple of longer trips. First was a mini-reunion in Lawrence KS with siblings and various cousins. Lots of picture-swapping and lie-telling, a good time had by all.
Next we went to Red Lodge, Montana to visit Les & Janet, who moved there for some inexplicable reason.
OK, It's a beautiful area, by the border with Yellowston N.P.. After a few days at their place, joined by more friends, we drove up over the pass and camped in Yellowstone. Lots of wildlife - bear, moose, elk, bison, eagles - and visited all the geysers. Beautiful weather and great company. A week later, and the road out was closed by fire; oh, and Red Lodge has a foot of snow on the ground.
