Blue Shed 2025 Update
With the fires in CA, the hottest decade recorded in our history and a presidential inauguration around the corner, it is easy to go down the rabbit hole and stay there. It is tough somedays to resist the urge, but I also believe there is a need now, perhaps more than ever, to keep communing, talking to each other and finding common ground.
It is also in times like these, that nature becomes my respite, the place in which I can breathe, be quiet and gain perspective. I find solace and comfort in the cycle of things and hope you might too. Books also provide an escape and after reading excerpts from it in “Wintering” by Katherine May, “The Wisdom Insecurity” by Alan Watts is next on my nightstand.
The garden is calling and with one exception, the compost is still sitting in bags in each of my 8 beds. Upon spreading in one garden bed in December, Phoebe, promptly hopped the short fencing, had a good roll, and then had to be bathed. I decided to wait until there was a day that she was playing elsewhere, to spread the rest, so I may then promptly cover it with a protection of leaves (that of course still need to be mulched!). That day has not yet presented itself due to hosting the holidays and a 2-week respiratory virus, so the bags are now frozen. Perhaps later this week when the weather warms for a few days.
And on the topic of finding the time and energy, I have spent the first few weeks of the new year, mulling over a revamping of Blue Shed. Simply stated, BSUG was created in 2020 as a way to get people excited about growing and sharing food, while raising awareness around food insecurity/inequity and food waste.
If Blue Shed was a tree, those tenets would be the trunk. Over the last 4 years the branches now include:
seed sharing events
weekly seed-starting days from March to mid-May
nurturing 2000-3000 seedlings in my home to share with each other, sell, and donate.
an annual plant sale
managing the garden space at South HS with Grow Local Colorado and a community of students throughout the spring, summer and fall.
seed-saving throughout the season
a food hub on my porch that garnered over 4,000 lbs. of produce (from you all!) this season, that was distributed amongst a dozen hunger-relief organizations.
creating relationships with the folks operating food distributions in their communities so that I might better understand their needs
educating myself and others on culturally-relevant food and why it’s so important when distributing produce to organizations serving various communities
garden-centered art workshops (thank you Gerald Abner!)
Growing Food in the City events
gleaning fruit trees in the neighborhood and collaborating with other organizations who are doing this work.
preserving fruit from our gardens and gleans (with all the requirements of the Cottage Foods Act) so that they can be offered at holiday markets or donated safely to pantries throughout the year.
The BSUG ‘tree’ now has a beautiful canopy and though it makes my heart sing, I am finding that it is also taking precious time and energy away from my relationships with family, friends and my own self-care. As I celebrate yet ANOTHER birthday this month, I have spent a good amount of time reflecting on this and how I might do some things differently this year. Though there will be some changes, I am confident, with your input, that I can find ways to prune some of these branches, while staying true to our mission.
If you are inclined to provide feedback about what you’ve enjoyed about this community so far and things you’d like to see more from us in 2025, please feel free to email me directly at steffgrogs@gmail.com.
Thanks so much and I look forward to another bountiful year of growing and sharing!
Steff