February 5 - Fruity Nutty contest

Sometimes at KWTS there is work to be done that is not very enjoyable.  Luckily this week that was not the case!  All Peoples Church is sending in an entry to the Victory Garden Initiative's Fruity Nutty contest, where the prize is an orchard!  In our work for food justice, a community orchard would be extremely beneficial.  Part of our contest entry was a creative project that explained why we want an orchard, so this week the KWTS workers got to help.  Some students attempted to write raps, while others used their artistic talents to make signs.  We submitted our entry last week and we'll keep you updated on our status.

January 29 - Hanging Out With Martin Luther

This week was pretty normal with one exception.  We did the regular tasks, like tending the plants in the greenhouse and the grow room, cleaning the sanctuary, and setting up for Wednesday Night Alive.

But this week we had a special project - cleaning out the sacristy!  It's a secret room off of the small prayer chapel that holds most of the supplies for worship.  Over time it's been filled with a lot of random things, like candle holders, choir robes, Bibles, fake flowers, picture frames, drums, and a whole bunch more.  We pulled it all out just to see how much there was.

But the best thing we found?  A bust of Martin Luther!  Who know that was in there?!  We had a good time hanging out with him for a bit while we straightened everything out.

And at the end of the work day everything looked great again.  I'm sure Martin appreciated all of the hard work that was done to tidy up his home.

January 22 - Staying Warm

It might be frigid outside, but we're staying warm and busy inside!  We still have plants going in the greenhouse and in the grow room upstairs.  The collards are bravely battling the cold in the greenhouse, but with the careful attention of our KWTS workers, I think they'll hold on until spring.  The hardy poinsettias are thriving in our growroom - who knows, maybe they'll be around for next Christmas!    

We also sorted some coats and gloves that were generously donated to All Peoples Church.  The coats will be sent to a different organization, but if your child is in need of hats, scarves, or gloves we have plenty to go around!

The rest of the workday was spend organizing cleaning supplies and then using them in the sanctuary and the rest of the church building.  

Finally, we ended the night with worship with families and the community.  The service starts at 6 every Wednesday and we hope you can join us!

  

 

January 15 - We're Back!

Not even the frigid Wisconsin winter could keep us from working and growing!  Though there's not a whole lot to do outside, we are keeping warm by doing projects inside the church.  Every week we need a group to set up for Wednesday Night Alive.  This fun, family-friendly program starts at 6 with worship and ends with a community meal.

We also watered the plants up in the grow room.  We haven't started too many plants, but the room is bright with the poinsettias from Christmas!  We'll try to keep those going until the spring.   

Usually I love all the projects equally, but this week I definitely had a favorite!  My office seemed a little empty without a good place for guests to sit.  So I recruited a KWTS group to make my office more welcoming by borrowing a couch from the office area.  I had to make a bit of a mess to make room for it!

I got a little nervous at this point; would the couch even fit through the door?

Success!  My office was still a mess, but now it's a mess with a couch in the middle!  Now that I've got a place to sit, hopefully I'll get a few more visitors.  

November 6 - Beginning and Ending

We have finally accepted that our outdoor growing season has officially ended, especially with the layer of snow currently covering our garden.  We still have a couple beds we need to put to rest, though.  That work will continue this week.  Raking is also a job that can still be done in the garden.

But, as some things come to an end, others begin!  This week we filled the terrariums in the Grow Room with soil in preparation for the indoor growing season.  We also have a few hardy plants surviving in our greenhouse, even though it does not yet have a door!  It's great to know that growing can continue year-round here at All Peoples.

Other groups busied themselves with the traditional indoor cleaning jobs, and did a great job!  It won't be long before we have to clean out the box corral again.    

And we were able to cook one last recipe with the produce from the garden!  We saved a whole bunch of green tomatoes from the garden just before the first frost.  They were put to good use in a salsa that had quite a kick to it!    

October 30 - Dia de los Muertos

This week was extra crazy as we experimented with stations for the first time!  Rather than having one task for each group, we had 5 tasks for each group and rotated them.  This week we had two special projects and we wanted to make sure everyone got a chance to help out.  The first project was making art for the greenhouse door.  The door is specially designed to be able to display paintings and drawings, and we want to be ready for when it is completed.  Stop by sometime soon to take a look!

The second special project was decorating the sanctuary for Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead.  This holiday, which originated in Mexico, commemorates friends and family members who have passed away.  Relatives gather on this day to honor the deceased by building ofrendas, or private altars, and decorating them with pictures, flowers, candy skulls, and food.  We decorated the church with these things and more. 

The other stations included work like putting stamps and addresses on the soon-to-be-mailed newsletter, recycling our abundance of cardboard, setting up for Wednesday Night Alive, cleaning the nursery, and several other important tasks.  

October 23 - Dirty Jobs

This week, KWTS got down and dirty – in the garden, that is!  We haven’t been taking good care of our compost, so Wednesday was the day to fix it.  That meant raking out a lot of the food scraps, rotting plants, and other decomposing things so we could put them back in the correct ratios.

We also recently heard that catfish guts buried in a garden make a wonderful fertilizer for tomatoes.  Luckily, Ms. Susan found someone willing to give us some catfish, so we decided to try it!  This is probably one of the grossest jobs that KWTS has ever tackled.  You’ll have to look at our garden next summer to see if it was worth it!

Because it was pretty cold outside, we also had a variety of indoor tasks so that no one was outside for more than an hour.  We cleaned up the sanctuary, cleaned and sanitized the nursery, broke down some boxes, and even organized the KWTS supply closet! 

Check back next week to see the kids do some more messy tasks!  (spoiler alert: there’s paint involved)