Sunday Style!

Spotted while walking Frodo in Bear Creek Park a few days ago. I'm not sure how I feel about the current ultra baggy pants/jeans trend. I remember wearing a similar style in the early 1980s but they weren't this huge. What do you think of this fashion moment? Yea or nay?

A Day on the Slopes

Sledding, that is. It was a cold day but not too cold to get out there and have some winter fun sliding down the fluffy white stuff on a sled! This was at Bear Creek Park yesterday afternoon.

The Garden of Eatin'

The Charmaine Nymann Community Garden in Bear Creek Park is overflowing with goodness right now! Just look at all the beautiful vegetables, greens and flowers! I don't know how many plots there are in this garden, but all of them are bursting with deliciousness!

I'm so curious -- I can't think of a reason why anyone would need this much dill! I currently have three dill plants in my garden and they aren't nearly this huge (we planted about 3-4 weeks late this year). Maybe this gardener is planning on making a LOT of pickles.

This person is growing a salad! I want to know what variety of lettuce this is. Mine always bolts in this heat.

Garden Love

Pat and I were in the neighborhood of Bear Creek Regional Park this evening, so we stopped by the the Charmaine Nymann Community Garden to see how it was coming along this summer. This is a place where you can pay a small fee for a plot and grow veggies and flowers to your heart's content, and as you can see, many gardeners do just that! It was getting dark out but there were still a few gardeners about, tending to their crops big and small. These are people who probably work all day, then go home and cook dinner, then come to the park to get in their "me time" among the plants (can you see the woman watering her tomatoes in the distance?). Aaaaah! As a gardener, I can relate! It's not a chore, it's relaxing and rewarding.

I took a few more pictures and I'll share them tomorrow. Cheers!

Late summer

It's late summer, time to harvest your vegetables! I cannot claim to be the farmer of this magnificent potager. In fact, it's not just one garden but many. This is the BCGA Charmaine Nymann Community Garden in Bear Creek Regional Park, below the equestrian center. BGCA stands for Bear Creek Garden Association, and you too can have a plot here for a very reasonable fee. There are 104 full size plots, and you can grow any kind of vegetable you want, as long as you do it organically. Learn more abut this wonderful nonprofit HERE.

Random cowboy

This life-sized cowboy statue stands in front of the Norris-Penrose Event Center, near Bear Creek Park. Norris-Penrose hosts large outdoor events like rodeos and monster truck rallies. I went there for Oktoberfest one year. That was fun (what I can remember of it, ha). It's also known as an equestrian center. While we were there taking these pictures, a rider was working her horse over some jumps in the ring west of the main building.

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More goats at Bear Creek Park (see yesterday's post for more information). This goat stopped grazing for a split second, just long enough for me to make this picture. Then she went right back to her snack.

Goats v. Weeds at Bear Creek Park

The summer flew by so quickly that Pat and I had no chance to visit one of our favorite spots, Bear Creek Park. Today he suggested we stop by there to see if the community garden there was still in play. Alas, it being November, the garden had long been harvested and tilled over -- nothing but dirt to see there! On the other hand, the herd of goats used to keep the weeds at bay in the rest of the park was hard at work. There were hundreds of them, munching away happily in the late afternoon sunlight, and plenty of parents with small children there to watch the funny sight.

I tell you, goats will eat anything. We watched one gobble down a piece of paper without pausing. They inhale anything in their path! What an effective (and kinda cute) way to fight weeds.

Bear Creek

Presumably this is Bear Creek -- it runs through Bear Creek Regional Park, so it must be, right? I've never put any thought into it! Not the greatest picture; I don't recommend attempting to do any kind of landscape photography at high noon, you're going to end up with the worst lighting! I'll go back in summertime and get a really good shot for ya.

Come join us in the garden

I know it doesn't look like much right now, but just wait a few weeks! This is the community garden at Bear Creek Regional Park on 21st Street. It will be a few weeks before it's planted, but by the end of summer it will be a bounty of organic goodness. I love Bear Creek Park -- Pat and I enjoy walking there, and in the summertime they use a herd of goats to keep the weeds at bay, which is cute. (I think goats are adorable!)

You can rent garden space in the Bear Creek Community Garden for a nominal fee. Call (719) 473-5827 for more information. As for me, I promise to visit the park again during the summer so I can get a shot of the garden in full bloom -- and also the goats!