The Expanding Universe

It's been a busy few weeks here at CityGarden. The seeds are popping up all over the place and it seems we can't transplant fast enough.

We received our big load of mushroom compost and that was not without controversy. First, some woman on the egroup wanted to argue about the attributes of mushroom compost ( a loosely disguised pissing contest) and then the stupid truck delivering the compost sunk up to it's axles in the yard.

Future Hubby was out last night, well after dark, pounding fencepost in so we could move the fence out another 25 feet. We've had two "Lowe's dates" this weekend.One for the supplies to put up another mini-cold house (high-low tunnel?) and another for fencing supplies. We live such glamorous lives!

Running an organic market garden is proving to be a little costly so we started offering a limited amount of CSAs this week and the response was encouraging. We still have a few openings if you are interested. Email me at citygarden@comcast.net for info.

We had a bamboo round up and made spectacles of ourselves driving down the road with 20 foot pieces of bamboo strapped to the Camry. We'll be using the bamboo for fencing, trellises, and other garden bamboo crafts. Thank you, Christian and Christa, for allowing us to come over and harvest out of your forest!

Last night, dinner was mainly composed of things we had "put up" last summer. Corn with roasted butternut squash and pickled jalapenos. Quinoa (we didn't grow) with more pickled jalapenos. So great to pull something out of the freezer and have summer back in an instant!

Pssst. Wanna buy some sweet,sweet mushroom compost?

We're trying to set up a little amish mushroom compost co-op.The more we buy-the less it cost. So anyone in Richmond that wants to discover the joy that is the mushroom compost, get in touch with us.

Plant starting is well underway. Pilar, our manx, has been evicted from the heating mat.We feel so guilty, she was so happy there, but we need the space.

Seeds are germinating everywhere!

Monday is farm day. The peas and favas are going in and we're going to construct tunnels.

By the way, this pic is of the city greenhouse I designed back in the good(BAD)ol'days.No-we have nothing like that now and won't unless someone wants to give us $120,000.00!!!

The (Lazy) Way to Make A Vacant Lot a Garden

(this pic is of my great-grandparents in rural Nebraska)

Okay, before you get any ideas that there is actually an easy or lazy way to turn a vacant lot into a productive garden, let me clarify:
Last year we knew that once the weather started warming up, the phone would start ringing off the hook and our days of staring out the dining room window and dreaming would be over and we would again be busy with our "day jobs". The first obstacle we faced was the fact the owner of the lot had dumped many tons of rocky fill dirt on the lot. Also, the second you start disturbing the soil, dormant weed seeds were going to start germinating all over creation.. How to rectify these issues?
First, future hubby started taking "rock walks" in the lot, collecting 5 gallon buckets of pretty river stone that we turned into a dry river bed in the back yard. This served a duel purpose. First, to rid the lot of the rocks and second, to keep handy projectiles out of the hands of disgruntled, displaced crack dealers.

We decided that disturbing the soil very little was a good idea. It also fit in with our lack of funds to hire a backhoe and dig down and replace six inches of soil just to get the rocks out. So we built up with the previously mentioned amish mushroom compost, laying it in rows, and built paths with wood chips given to us by a local tree company.We put a least 6 inches of wood chips between the planting rows and for a cheap weed barrier on the planting rows, we rolled out contactor paper, punched holes in it and planted in those holes.This year we will alternate the rows since the wood chips have broken down.

Beats the hell out of dumping herbicide everywhere!

The mushroom compost was magic. Everything grew amazingly and we are addicted. This year we will get 15 more yards but this will be the last time. I believe that even in the city you can have a sustainable garden and shouldn't have to keep trucking amendments in. We already have a substantial compost pile and will start begging people for leaves and grass clippings since we have one tree and no grass.We'll also compost anything useable from the garden and hit up folks for their peelings....

The new growing season

(this pic is from last week doing garden cleanup)

A year ago, we sat and looked out the diningroom window at a vacant lot. Somehow, we got it in our heads that we could turn it into a garden.

For those of you that don't know us, I have a degree in horticulture and my future hubby is a man with boundless energy.

So we approached the owner of the lot and he agreed to let us farm on the land. We pay him in vegetables, though I think he's just happy to have someone take care of the lot.

We set up an elaborate propagation area in a little "sunroom" we have complete with grow lights and a professional heat mat and started growing seedlings like crazy.

The excess plants were sold for a dollar a piece at a plant sale we conducted in our front yard and the proceeds went towards 15 yards of Amish mushroom compost to enrich the soil.

We grew more vegetables than we knew what to do with. I learned to can from a real pro(Thanks, Marianne)and we had to buy a freezer.

Our neighborhood is primarily elderly folks who have been in their houses for at least 50 years and none of them are what you would call rich. They are mostly too old to even attempt their own gardens.So we started giving the surplus vegetable to them. The smiles on their faces when they saw the bounty was so rewarding. It was so great to know that they were getting fresh vegetables.

And another funny thing happened. My neighbors that had never set foot on my property started coming over to inquire about plants they saw in our garden. And people came out of their houses and talked to each other. So, while we didn't create a community garden per se, we had actually created a community that didn't exist before the garden.

So now it is January again and we have another big idea; Continue on what we began last year, expand a little, and take it to the next level.

Wish us luck!