Street Farmer

Hey, check out this cool article my friend Greta sent me. This guy's got the compost!

NY Times Magazine
Street Farmer
By ELIZABETH ROYTE
Published: July 5, 2009
Can Will Allen make the inner city the next front in the good-food movement?

Turn It Up! Bring the Noise!

So, here is a picture of the "Coastline Large" mentioned in a previous post and sure to be mentioned again. As you can see, it came with its name:

We rescued it from a dumpster in the swanky Rittenhouse Square neighblrhood in Center City. Actually Sarah's Former boss David pointed it out. We've used it to transport art, as well as booty as seen in the pictures below. This is the wood I harvested on trash day last week. We use the Coastline Large most regularly for our runs up to the Produce Junction up at the K & A.

Above, the wood is piled in our backyard, as gleaned from the curb; below, it is sorted in our kitchen, awaiting a ride to the basement. It is a bunch of old junky fence that has been cut down to twelve ot eighteen inch sections just waiting to be used. It is beautifully weathered to a nice silvery-grey color. If I were high-brow, I'd call it "barnwood." I just might anyway.

Stay tuned for later posts. I will share with you what uses I find for it. Be well, and keep your eyes open.

One Day the Real Rain Will Come

Check it out, our latest addition to the garden. It is a rain barrel that I received free (with help from my friend Art) from the City of Philadelphia. Art also attends Circle of Hope (Circle). I emailed the "Dialog" (Circle's email server) asking if anyone had a line on a 55 gallon container to build a rain barrel, and he emailed back offering me one from the city if I attended the rain barrel workshop with him. He made three of them for his community garden and has helped a couple of other people make their own rain barrels. What a guy! Thanks Art!

I wanted to link you to the City of Philadelphia's website to check out Philadelphia Water Department's Rain Barrel Initiative, but the page is not coming up. I will keep an eye on the page and if it becomes functional, I will add the link.

In the meanwhile, here is a link to a page that will show you how to make one. The one I have is a Spruce Creek Rain Saver. You can check out all of its high-speed features and three lovely colors. If you cannot get one free from the city, try making one.

I have not watered the garden yet, as it has been raining a lot. Although, I did do two loads of laundry last night with rainwater! What's next?

Peace