Saturday, March 3, 2012

Around and About Where We Live

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It just hit me that I've neglected to post about our little neck of the woods. Here's a picture of the small community garden that lies within our 4 acre cohousing development. Many families here also have growing beds in front or behind their homes and there are lots of fruit trees and bushes planted throughout the common grounds. My friend and neighbor Dorothy gave me a little tour of her garden today, which includes a rather marvelous looking peach tree that has produced well during the past couple of years. She also gave me a baggy of frozen gooseberries that she grew last summer, which I plan on turning into a dessert for one of our common meals next month.

On that front, I cooked my second common meal for about 40 people yesterday night and I'm happy to say that it went really well. 'Common meals' are held on even numbered days except weekends and allows everyone who signs up a chance to break bread and catch up with their neighbors. I made three different stir-fries and there was not a single spoonful of anything left over by the end of dinner. Preparing a meal for that many people can be quite challenging but I had two wonderful helpers and since I love to cook and feed people, it ends up being quite fun for me. For dessert this time around, I made some Meyer lemon marmalade thumbprint cookies from my homegrown stash and everyone got a kick out of eating some locally grown citrus.

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Anyway, directly behind our development is Burlington's Centennial Woods, which is a 68 acre nature preserve. The paths are quite hilly but it makes for great exercise. And it's nice to have a bit of wilderness close to home and within city limits.

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Even at this time of the year, the woods are quite beautiful. I can't wait to see it in summer and fall. (Spring I am told is a rather muddy affair here in Vermont).

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And of course you cannot hope to get around without a pair of these. They might as well call Vermont the 'Icy State' because I don't think I've ever lived in an area that gets as much ice as we do. Within the first two weeks of our arrival, I slipped and fell hard twice. These Micro Spikes make all the difference. I can literally run on a sloping sheet of ice with these on. In any case, I'm hopefully that the season for them will be over soon!

Finally, I had handed in my application for a plot at one of the city's community garden sites in early February. The Parks an Recreation worker told me that the site down the street from us was full but there were spaces available at the Tommy Thompson community garden, which is Burlington's largest site located at the Intervale and about a 5 minute drive from us. I don't know exactly what the rules are but apparently most of the sites are open to the gardeners sometime in April and close in late October. The land is tilled at the start of each growing year, though returning gardeners can ask for a no-till plot, which would allow them to extend their growing season beyond October. Thank goodness we have the raised beds behind our townhouse to plant a true fall garden. Hopefully I'll get my plot assignment soon.

14 comments:

  1. That looks like a really beautiful place you live in!!

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  2. Very nice Thomas. It sounds like you and your family are getting settled in.

    You may spoil your neighbors with your wonderful cooking! You can't cook too often or they will want your cooking for every common meal!

    I looked at the community garden link and it sounds like the plots are a good size. I would opt for a no til plot for many reasons.

    Talk to you soon!

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  3. It sounds like you are settling in quite nicely in VT. How fun it must be to cook for a crowd and see every last bite gone.

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  4. I use Yaktracks here when it gets icy. They probably don't grip quite as well, but they also don't mess up the floors when you walk on them. Not that I've used them once this year. It has been so warm. Last year they got used a lot. Our little road ices over quite easily. I don't think they salt it like the main roads.

    When we were thinking of moving we looked at all the cohousing in the area and we loved the idea. Living in a community must be wonderful when you move to a new city too since you get to know people so quickly.

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  5. I hope the community garden plot ends up being successful for you, I can only imagine all the wonderful friends you will make if working for magic in a group setting.

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  6. Sooooo jealous! It was close to 90 degrees here yesterday. I would love to live somewhere where I needed "snowshoes".

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  7. I would love to live near a little piece of forest. We don't even have trees in this part of New Mexico!

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  8. That all sounds really great, Thomas. Looks like a perfect spot for a home. :-)

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  9. I hope you get a great plot!

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  10. How exciting!! Common meal sounds like an wonderful idea. How fun to get together with neighbors like that. We're too often all strangers with people living right next door. Sounds like you found a great spot. And it's certainly BEAUTIFUL! Wow.

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  11. love the woods. you picked a perfect place. keep planting and growing and cooking and smiling.

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  12. How great to have such a lovely wooded area in your backyard, and what a wonderful way to get to know your neighbours through common meals.

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  13. What a cool garden space! The common meals sounds like a great way to get to know your neighbors

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