More About Fall

This November has really been warm: it was up in the 60's and sunny again last Saturday. At 3:00 I decided to take a bike ride: down Outer Drive, thru Rouge Park (to check on the new statue) to Dearborn via a bit of Hines Drive and the new bike path. I stopped off at Starbucks at about 4:10. Some things don't change in Fall even if it is in the 60's. It gets dark and early. I got home around 5:20. It wasn't twilight, it was way darker than that. I should have started at 2:00. Thank goodness the traffic was light (no pun intended).

My garden is down to some scraggly Swiss chard and one collard plant with leaves as large as a tennis racket. But this Tuesday was the Garden Resource Program's Fall Potluck and Planning meeting. It was a gathering of gardeners from all over the city at the 4H Center. ( I still can't believe that there's a 4H Center on the near eastside, south of Gratiot at 5710 McClellan Street. Look it up on Google Maps.) Even though winter is ahead of us, it was a large, diverse, enthusiastic group fresh from a great summer of gardens. This season the Garden Resource Program distributed 48,000 packets of seeds and over 200,000 plants to over 850 community, school, and family gardens within Detroit. There were over 3500 adults and 7400 kids involved and they produced and sold over 11 tons of fresh vegetables, all within Detroit. There were 40 workshops ranging from gardening (pest control, composting, seed starting) to cooking (bread making, west African cooking, making garden fresh pizzas) to vegetable preservation (pickling, canning, freezing and dehydrating). The potluck was a mixture of everything in the city: neighborhoods, ages, nationalities. We reviewed what we did the last year to see what we did well and what we could do better. The program grew by 40% this year. Their big question was how they could make it even bigger next year.

The PALM meeting was on Sunday. The sites are coming along well: some of the sites even know what their meals will be. This year most of the sites have pools we can access. The total mileage of the route will be 253 miles (spread over 6 days). We'll be going by lots of lakes (with swimming) and we'll have shade. A tentative route has been laid out and Andy will be getting it out on MapMyRide soon. I'll be getting with the printer about the 2010 application in the next couple of weeks. Summer is here before winter has even started.

November

So far November has been much better than October. We and a group of friends do a Tuesday night bike ride around downtown Detroit (roughly New Center, Mexican Town, Ren Cen, Belle Isle, Eastern Market, and Wayne State). On last Saturday we had a party to celebrate this year's biking season. We invite everybody who has done the ride at least once and give out "awards". Even though the bike season was over with the miserable weather in October (and the shorter days), it was good to see everybody and talk about the summer. This year we took the suggestions of some new riders and made a few alterations to our route: we started taking East Grand Boulevard after Belle Isle past the old Packard plant all the way to the Poletown plant instead of going through Eastern Market and Wayne State. The road was wider, traffic was lighter, and we got to see more of how Detroit looked back in the day. We also rode the River Walk on the way to Belle Isle instead of taking Larnard. This took us right along the river, hard to beat that. Next year the I-75 construction by the Ambassador Bridge should be done and we'll be able to use the pedestrian bridge to include more of Mexicantown in our ride like we used to do. The Greenways Initiative offers some interesting possibilities next year, besides the Dequindre Cut.

So far the weather in November has been what the weather in October should have been. I was able to ride my bike for the first time in a month. We rode Hines Drive last Sunday. It was a beautiful sunny late fall day. As a bonus, Hines Drive was close to motor traffic so that they could put up the holiday lights so we didn't have to worry about cars. On our way there we went through Rouge Park and went by where they fly remote controlled model airplanes. We also met an artist there who was installing one of his scupltures in the park. And today I was able to squeeze in one more bike ride. Would you believe it, it was in the 60's and sunny two weekends in a row. Fall light and fall colors, what could be better? It's all the sweeter because October's weather has already shown us that we are stealing these days.

The next PALM meeting is November 22. After that I have to get to work: I have to put together the 2010 PALM application and get it to the printer. Remember that we mail out these applications by 1st class mail at the end of January. If you are interested in getting on PALM, the best thing you can do is to get on our mailing list by emailing us your mailing address, ie where you will be in January. You cannot register online (we're too cheap for that) and we don't put the application online for about 10 days. People who get the application mailed to them have the first crack at getting on PALM.

Bikes and Halloween

Happy Halloween! I helped giving out candy at our Community House. We had a Haunted House and had almost 1,000 kids swarm there for candy and scares. The scariest thing I saw as a man walking his cat on a leash. I stayed far away.

I got a postcard from Adventure Cycling about a meeting to be held at Second Baptist Church downtown that mentioned the Underground Railway Bike Route . It was about bikes, it was at night, it was in town, and I hadn't ridden all month so I went. The meeting was far ranging and I learned a lot. It ends up that Detroit was an important stop on the Underground Railroad and that the Second Baptist Church and the First Congregational Church were major centers here. I found out that Adventure Cycling is adding a spur off their original Mobile, Alabama to Owen Sound, Ontario Underground Railway Bike Route route that will go thru Detroit. There was a presentation on the Greenways Initative for bike routes within Detroit and the metro area, complete with maps of planned and existing routes. I now have places to explore on my Tuesday night bike rides in the city. I got to take a tour of the church and hear about the interactive exhibit on the Underground Railway that will be at the African American Museum here in 2010. Not bad for a cold October night that looked like rain.

While the only thing growing in my garden is the compost heap, the greens are holding their own. It takes a deep snow to kill off kale, Swiss chard, and collards. As long as they hang on it's not winter yet. I'm harvesting them bit by bit and waiting for the green tomatoes to ripen. In the fall, I collect leaves that my neighbors rake up to add to the grass clippings next summer in the compost heap. I'm learning a little bit each year. Now if I can just control the insects and mildew.

October PALM Meeting

This month's PALM meeting is when we pick tshirt colors and next year's patch. We did pick out a patch (there were several good entries this year) but we put off picking the tshirt color until next meeting when we can see some samples. It looks like it will be another bright color. We got a treasurer's report: we didn't lose money this year, in fact we are a little ahead. This means that the registration, meal, and bus fees will stay the same. Registration will be $110 for riders 18 and over, $65 for riders 11 thru 17, $55 for riders 10 and under, and $75 for nonriders. Meals will be $5 for breakfast and $9 for dinner. (You pick the meals you want, if any.) A bus ride to the start will be $45.

I was late for the meeting: who knew that I-96 was going to be closed at I-275? I ended up going along 8 Mile until Milford Road and I-96. Then Mt Hope Road was closed when I got to Lansing. I was an hour late and missed all the good stuff. If it wasn't for the meeting minutes I would not have known anything. I did get there in time for a (long) discussion of campers on PALM. More on this later.

Lately I've been cold all the time. I thought that I was getting weak, but it ends up that October for the last two weeks or so has been 10 to 15 degrees below the seasonal average. I was worried that I could no longer appreciate Indian Summer. But no, it was nature's way of telling me that Eskimos are also Indians. At least the greens (kale, collards and swiss chard) in my garden are holding up. Everything else is dead and on the compost heap: tomatoes, marigolds, basil. I left the cone flowers standing: the finches eat the thistles from their flowers. It drives my cats crazy but it keeps another species going and reminds me of summer when the flowers were in bloom.

Frost and the PALM Meeting

I mentioned that my garden was looking a little ragged because of the lack of sunlight in the fall. On Saturday we had a hard frost. It killed my basil dead. It went from a sickly yellow green to brown overnight. My tomatoes are also goners. I have lots of green tomatoes. Does anybody know of a fried green tomato recipe for Italian (ie pear shaped) tomatoes? I have dozens of them, all very green. I'm beginning to put the garden to bed. I've pulled up all the tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants and put them in the compost heap. (The green beans, squash, and lettuce are already there.) My greens are still hanging in there. It takes an ice storm to kill them. If it seems like it's getting dark awfully early now, remember that daylight savings time is still in effect and it really should getting darker even sooner.

Our second PALM meeting is this Sunday. The last I heard, the schools we wanted gave us a tentative OK. This meeting our route guy will tell us if he was able to find us a suitable route between the schools, a route with low traffic, a decent paved surface, and at least a hint of a shoulder, one that is not not too long. Any long day (ie over 60 miles) needs to have short days (ie 35 miles) around it. We are still at the mercy of construction, especially road construction though. You really don't know if you have a route until a couple of weeks before the ride. Road construction: it wouldn't be summer without it.

This meeting we'll pick the patch for next year and (maybe) the color for the tshirt. You wouldn't think it, but we've had some long discussions about tshirt colors. I can't figure it out. If you look at what bikers wear when they ride, it's obvious that they have no color sense. Having bikers pick out a color is like having Detroiters pick out a City Council. (Remember, I live in Detroit. I can say that.) The last couple of years we've had neon colors. At least you could see our riders when they rode their bikes. But the PALM parade at the end of the ride, 700 bikers all wearing the same neon shirt, good God! It was blinding and I wear progressive glasses. Wish us luck.

Fall in Michigan

It was a cool summer this year in Michigan, but it has been long. It's been in the 70's and sometimes the 80's all the way through September. You just didn't think about summer ever ending. The days did get shorter and now that it's officially Fall (and the nights are longer than the days) I can't really do my Tuesday night bike ride in the city any more. It just gets too dark especially if it is cloudy at all. My garden and trees look ragged like there is some kind of insect or disease working on them. But it's just a case of lack of sun. Thursday it got down to the 30's and I had to scrape my windows before I could drive to work. (The plants all survived.)

We have a tentative route for PALM 2010: South Haven, Otswego, Hastings, Eton Rapids, Grass Lake, Milan, and Erie Metro Park (actually the school across the street from Erie Metro Park). Beth Best, our new vice chair in charge of sites, has contacted all the schools and they seem receptive. There could still be site changes: we've had years where we've had to change 4 of the sites for various reasons. So don't make those reservations at the Ritz Carlton's along our route just yet.

Fall is the best season in Michigan. It's more consistently warm than the spring but not too hot to enjoy being outside. You are prepared for any outside activity because you've had the whole summer to get in shape. You have the last burst of color from every plant and tree and the golden fall light to see them in. Winter is still far enough away not to dread it. Things are settling down into a routine but fall allows you to appreciate every good day instead of taking it for granted. You can still do everything you want to do, like take a long bike ride, even though you may have to do it on a weekend. Enjoy the fall: can those tomatoes, make that pesto. And remember that the 2010 PALM application will be there in January to rescue you from winter.

PALM 2010 Begins

I know what you're thinking. It's still 2009, in fact it is still summer (at least for another few days). But along with the new school year, the planning for PALM 2010 starts now. The first PALM meeting is the Sunday after Labor Day (this year September 13). It will be a potluck picnic held at 2:00 in Granger Park in Dewitt Township outside of Lansing. Basically we use the meeting to discuss last year's ride, select people for next year's staff positions and site coordinators, and to select a route for next year. Typically there is not much of a battle for staff positions. In general we find out where we are short. But the route...

This year we will be doing a more southern route. (We alternate northern and southern routes.) People come up with proposed routes. We discuss them. (How are the roads, the traffic, the schools? Any long days?). We vote twice, once to narrow the choice down to two routes, and once to pick the candidate route. Now the work begins. Before the next meeting, the schools we hope to stay at are contacted and a route is mapped out. Sometimes we can't get the schools. Sometimes there is no good way to get from one school to another. Generally we have to change one or two schools but we've had years where we had to change 4 schools. So even when a route is picked, it's not over.

This summer I noticed more finches than usual. They seem to like a particular blue flowered weed that is growing in vacant lots along my running route. I've planted some cone flowers and Black Eyed Susans in front of my house. They are also supposed to produce seeds that finches like, but no finches yet. Another case of weeds overpowering the flowers.

I've expanded my vegetable garden this year. I was able to get some green peppers and some eggplant. Not a lot, just some, but better than last year when I got none. My turnips grew like weeds, but my beets didn't do so well. And, of course, I like beets more than turnips. This year I'm having success with zucchini: I have one plant that produces all that we need. My tomatoes are doing well, especially the Amish Paste tomatoes, a pear shaped variety. I put a raised bed behind my garage where there used to be an alley. I planted some carrots and parsnips there. Amazingly the carrots are doing well, but the jury is out on the parsnips. And I have enough basil for pesto! However my broccoli failed miserably. I planted butternut squash which wandered everywhere, produced big leaves, flowers, and one squash which the dog ate. At least I got some of the cucumbers.