Grounds and Grinds

I went to a meeting earlier this week, held at the Beardsley Elementary School. The school district closed the school a few years ago and it was bought by a local farmer/entrepreneur. He's hoping to use the school for local functions, events, etc. He has already leased the school grounds to a gardener. After the meeting we got a tour of the school and the gardens. See what you can do when you don't have to deal with an established weed-base? Grrr.


Lots of sweet corn, potatoes, onions and squash. He's got a few other gardens scattered around the county and sells by word-of-mouth to local folks. It's all organically grown. I'm thinking of placing an order for sweet corn.


The owner of the school also owns the Beardsley High School, built in 1908. This school was closed back in the 1990's. We got a tour of this building, too -- very cool stairway, doors, woodwork. The huge old coal furnace is still in the basement. I thought it would make a great kiln. Someone else suggested a crematorium. (He was joking.)


After about eighteen hours of dehydrator drying, all of my garlic was dry enough to grind. Next time I'll slice it up thinner. A few minutes of very loud whirring in the food processor and I had a bowl of very powdery garlic powder. It's ground much finer than store-bought powder, but it smells wonderful. I filled up three spice containers. Doesn't everyone keep their old spice containers to store home-grown herbs?

Since I had the processor out, I also ground up my dried basil, dill, oregano, mint and parsley. I think I'll grow more herbs next year. Goodness, it's barely August and here I am already thinking about next year's garden.

August! This summer is flying by so quickly.