Garden Time!

Day 2 of Ed Vol Life:

We went through various more training activities, which included games to teach our groups and more discussion prompts on the importance of gardening. At this point, we were all clamoring to have our own. As Ed Vols, we are "in charge" of one of the Global Village site gardens. We all talked about our favorites, and when we got to Appalachia's site, I was like "this shouldn't be here, and where's the corn and okra? What about blackberries? When are you transplanting tomoatoes?" I think that pretty much solidified my vested interest in correctly portraying Southern Appalachian correctly. Needless to say, I've spend the last hour and a half or so trying to come up with a comprehensive list of the things one might grow in a typical Eastern Kentucky or Tennessee garden. I have big plans on expanding and finding crops that are traditional. Here's what I have so far, including what I already have and what I want to add: beets, turnips, carrots, tomatoes, beans, peas, squash, corn, watermelon, tobacco, yucca, huckle or blackberries. I'm drafting pictures of how I want the site garden to look. I'm so excited for a weekend of gardening.

On another note, I found out today that I'll be facilitating a group with Erin on my first day after Orientation. I'm a little nervous, but Erin won't lead me astray. I can't wait to get into it! I had a chance to shadow Glenn tonight as we joined up to facilitate a mini-tour, video, and Q&A session for the local Lions Club. They were cranky and rude at first. They kept telling us that they have been giving to Heifer for years, that they've seen the animals, and that they know the schpiel. Boy, were they wrong. Once we started quizzing them, they quickly found out that they didn't know much of anything. As in, the mission, why it's called "Heifer International", who founded it, what kinds of animals are sent, where they come from, and even what camels are used for. They were ridiculously uninformed, but they were really receptive to learning more about Heifer.

Ahh, it was a lesson in biting my tongue and answering graciously. I'll get it down with more practice. For now, it's off to draw my idyllic garden plot and go to bed. Goodnight!