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?

Table Mate

Remember this pile of wood I found laying out on trash day last May? I got it home on the Coastline Large-two trips.

I've used a little of it here and there, but today I got out front and made an end table out of some of the wood, check it out.

I was going to make a table to go out back to get some of the plants off the ground, make some more room, but I thought how can I make more room back here? I have to get rid of some of these plants, where will they go? I made this end table to put plants on. I guess I will call it a planter.

My neighbor Tom thought it was neat, says "People pay a hundred bucks at the flea market for something like that." I laughed and said "Ya, it's real barn wood!" He replied, "You laugh, people's crazy." I laughed, people are crazy, I'm people. I put some garden next to my stoop.

Wow! They Have Nick Cave Dolls Now...

I reconnected with a friend of mine named Greta via email today. It made me really happy to hear from her. She is a farmer in Fargo, North Dakota. We shared a work-shack for a bit back in Montana, pressing cookies for the kiddies to dunk in their milk while missing they mommas.

Thunderations!

Anyway, she was hootin' about my garden, so I got busy, harvested some food and took some pictures. Somehow it is all connected.

It is a little tight back here, I will admit.

The "polycultural" gardening hasn't really impressed me much.

It was kind of fun to watch, but it's such a mess and I feel like I am missing out on something. I must be.

I scooped Swiss Chard today. It's so savory I love it. I'm always out there chewing on my cud.

Here is some Lemon Thyme that Dan gave me from the garden on Frankford Avenue. I hope it takes root, the rosemary didn't. That's real ice tea ya'll, how it glows.

Seven stars basil equals seven stars pesto. This is the first real pull from the basil this year. What have I become, we usually roll in the stuff. Look at my tea!

This is our third yellow squash. It looks like a rocket!


I need to take better notes all in all. The polycultural thing is bust, I hacked off some beet greens thinking they were Swiss Chard. Fail to plan, plan to fail. I'm pushing the limits. I gotta have a code.

Set Your Mind

Hey, I want to introduce you to another sister of mine; her name is Stephanie. She is a really dynamite individual, and has touched a lot of people's lives, mine included. She is a very loving person, despite all of the tumult and strife she endured for a large portion of her life. Her faith in God has been at the center of her life for as long as I can remember. She does well living out the "fruit of the Spirit." She is also very funny and witty.

Stephanie is asleep right now, in a diprovan-induced sleep, and is being made to breathe with a ventilator. She is a very sick girl, but she looks very peaceful and restful. Her skin is as beautiful as ever, smooth, radiant and milky. She has been asleep June 9th. I was able to spend five days with her before the doctors decided to induce sleep. She was in a great deal of pain and discomfort all of those days, barely slept, and when she did, it was restless.

I hope and pray for her to recover from her maladies, but it is thought to be a long, long road. Please keep Stephanie in your thoughts and prayers, or when you are looking up, smelling flowers or whatever you do to generate positivity.

This bracelet belongs to Stephanie. She doesn't know I have it. I put it on the day she had her last surgery (when they decided to put her under). I was going to wear it until I see her healthy, or she asks me to return it.

Here is a picture of some of the things she is growing. While I was visiting, I was able to use some of her fresh basil in some beet salad and some parsley in a Lima bean salad I made.

Stephanie's mind is often set on "things above." Her mind is also often on the needs, desires and feelings of others. Even while she lay in a hospital bed, grimacing in pain, she managed to remain polite and thoughtful.

Keep It Continue, The Same Thing

Succession planting has been on my mind lately; luckily earlier than last year. The idea is to keep the garden going; to not have any or many bald spots through the season. As crops stop producing, you replace them with other crops. It is good to have seeds already started so you can just pop plants in when it is time.

Crops can be divided into four broad growing categories: 1. perennial crops like asparagus, rhubarb and chives, which come back in subsequent years; 2. crops that thrive in the early part of the season like lettuce, mustard, radishes and peas; 3. crops that stay in the ground during most of the season like tomatoes, beans, eggplant, cucumber, okra and peppers; 4. crops that thrive in the later part of the season into the fall like kale, beets, Chinese cabbage, lettuce spinach, collards and broccoli.

They thrive at different times of the season for varying reasons, but a popular one is sensitivity to hot summer temperatures; lettuce goes bitter, radishes get spongy and crops bolt and go to flower too quickly. While kale and broccoli are said to taste best after a light frost or two.

The "polycultural" bed pictured above is an attempt at succession gardening. It is going alright so far. I had to really thin out the lettuce in order to give some sun and space to the Swiss Chard. I also put in some pepper plants and Brussels sprout plants that we were given. I am going to start some seeds outside of the garden to pop in as we start to have plants fall out.

Last year we did not buy greens from about May until October-late October even. Sarah is quick to remind me of our CSA, but we had buckets of greens from the garden all season long. We did well with greens last year, but I am looking to get a little more serious about it. I am still in the planning stages, I will let you know what happens.

I am also going to learn when to capitalize plant names, it is bugging me. I have learned to spell lettuce, so proud.

CSA # 3 5/28/2009

Wow, the CSA haul was very substantial this week. I think we have a green for every day of the week, if you count radish and beet greens, and of course you do. I tested the strawberries and all the greens, including the two leaves coming off the broccoli. They were all ding dang delicious. The greens taste so robust and savory. I can't get over it.

Here are Mariko and Owen. We walk together to pick up our csa's each week. Owen is a really interesting guy.

Here is the haul.

You will find the following items in your share: 1 head broccoli – certified organic – Farmdale Organics 1 bunch baby beets – certified organic – Pleasant Valley Farm 1 bunch purple radishes – certified organic – Country Boy Farm 1 bunch Lacinato (or dinosaur) Kale– certified organic – Goshen View Organics 1 bunch tatsoi – certified organic – Hillside Organics 1 bag wildfire lettuce mix – certified organic – Farmdale Organics – 1 lb 1 bag young rainbow chard – certified organic – Elm Tree Organics – ¼ lb 1 head red leaf lettuce – certified organic – Farmdale Organics 1 box Chandler strawberries – certified organic – Goshen View Organics

Those are purple radishes in the middle of this picture; dinosaur kale to the left, rainbow chard to the right.

Pretty.

Here are the baby beets. Notice those spots of red on the table; that is some beet juice that emerged when I pinched of a leaf of the greens, mmmmmm, succulent.

Swimming Pools, Movie Stars

What is the bid deal? I think these are really pretty. They just haven't seen in the proper context yet. Have a look.

The plants appear so comfortable and healthy.

We could go rustic. Look at the lovely patina the weather has given the bowl.

So versatile, the one above looks like a djembe!

Or we could go with a durable design that we could grow old with!

Because You're Mine, I Draw the Line

How big is your garden? I am often asked that question and I find it odd. It is a perfectly normal question, I guess I just don't know how to answer it. Who knows?

I live in Philadelphia, and have a tiny yard. I call it my garden, or my farm if I'm feeling wacky. It is a concrete pad, so I garden (or farm) in a variety of containers, like pots, plastic and clay, tires, a claw-footed tub, a couple of twelve-quart buckets, a couple of metal tubs, Scoops Away buckets, homemade flower boxes, a couple of store-bought flower boxes, a couple of store-bought flower boxes I found on the curb on trash day and a couple of sizable wooden beds I made and a big plastic planter-that looks like fake terra cotta- that David from the George B. gave to us. I guess you'd call me a container gardener, a container farmer, sometimes a woe farmer. I lament.

I'd love to have a toilet in the garden to go with the tub. It would be so fun to grow in-two compartments-business in the front, party in the back. Sarah told me "No, I draw the line at toilets baby." I still throw my worn out boxers in the compost though.

Here is a schematic of the garden. Ignore the shapes, those are from last year when I was suffering from a need to appear to have a plan. The dimensions are still the same though, I checked-27 times.

I Just Can't Live Without My Radio!

Man, is that cool or what. I just have a radio or some headphones on when I work in the garden. These guys actually get drummers and dancers that accompany them to the fields to work! Here is an audio sample courtesy of DrumSkull Drums in Santa Cruz, CA.
This is the front of the album cover. The back of the album is farther down.

The Malinke people who inhabit the savannah woodlands of upper Guinea are intimately connected to the land on which they live. They live as subsistence farmers in a harsh environment, where mere survival requires great strength and hard work. At the heart of their culture is an ancient music that accompanies almost every significant event of village life. This music is a vehicle for joy and sorrow, which is expressed through song and dance. When they head out to the fields, farmers are often accompanied by the village musicians, whose music helps set a tempo for the work. Imagine groups of farmers singing and moving to the rhythm of the music while they work - it is a beautiful sight. In this recording Mansa Camio and his group Sofoli play traditional Malinke music that would normally accompany farmers as they work in the fields.*

*From the cd description at DrumSkull Drums.

Forget Me Nots

It was a big weekend in the Garden. I am pooped out. I usually overdo it on the tree day weekends, too much. Lucius oversaw the progress.



I harvested a whole lot of greens this weekend; thanks be! It was time to replenish our stash, but I was trying to make some room for some pepper plants and brussels sprout plants that were given to us this weekend.

Remember those tiny bean sprouts from a couple of weekends ago? Here they are pictured above. I also finally finished the big (30x96 inches) bed. It is pictured in the background. Sarah and I bought basil, strawberries, cauliflower, and another eggplant to put in. I filled the bed out with onion sets and beets.

The garden is starting to round out nicely. Above is a large portion of it.

Above is a picture of the side of the house, well, the plants that live there. There is ivy, anis, Kentucky Blue pole beans (about three plants) a big pot of carrots that have not started to rise yet, a potted eggplant, a cantaloupe plant, and some rosemary starts I am trying. That is just collected rain water, full of pollen, not a honey bucket.

Here is a better shot of the cantaloupe plant and the rosemary. I got some clippings from Dan at the circle garden and I am trying to make them sprout roots. One glass is full of compost juice, the other full of honey water (a poor man's "root hormone").

CSA in the House! 5/21/09

I picked up the CSA yesterday! The weather was great, as were the Snooks. Mariko, Owen and I went down to pick up our loot together-always fun. I will get a picture of them next week. Below is a picture of our bounty this week. The strawberries are delicious! The scallions and the yellow radishes pass as well. The highlighted de-light of the week though is the Flashy Trout romaine pictured below. Check it out.

This is the pre-packing list of produce ordered for your share: 1 head flashy trout back Romaine Lettuce – certified organic – Riverview Organics 2 bunches scallions – certified organic/transitional – Country Boy and Taste of Nature Farm 1 bunch radishes – certified organic – Goshen View or Hillside Organics 1/2 lb baby greens – certified organic – Elm Tree Organics 2 mixed baby head lettuces – transitional – Taste of Nature Farm 1 8oz package cremini mushrooms – certified organic – Mother Earth Organics 1 pint strawberries – certified organic – Green Valley Organics

Here is the Flashy Trout romaine. That's not rot you see; the lettuce is mottled with a beautiful red color. I ate about four big leaves of this stuff last night. I would describe the taste as savory, and the texture as buttery. It felt kind of silky in my mouth. Can't wait! Well, I didn't, I guess.

And lastly, before it goes into the ice box, we lay it before Lucius for his inspection. He agrees, delicious again Peter.

Grow well, pick well, eat well.

The Future is Now

Can you dig it? My sister Stanette took these pictures of me in the garden, probably on the 25th of April.

This is me, pondering the significance.

This picture was taken on May 15th! Is that crazy or what? That is the bathtub pictured above. In the above pictures, there are only tiny little sprouts.


This is a picture of some Chinese mustard and ruby chard that is growing in the grey square planter pictured above. This photo, and the one below, were taken about three and a half weeks after the pictures Stanette took.


























That is mint (three varieties-one came back as a volunteer from last year) growing in the upper left of this photo. It is the same bed that I am kneeling next to, pondering the significance. Wowee Zowee!

If you are not growing some of your own food, start today. It is fun, exciting and pretty easy! Start small, ask questions and expand every season. Hurry! Well, don't hurry, relax.

French Fry Mountain

Here are some seed potatoes that I am planting in the backyard. They look like freaky space alien babies or something. I can't wait to make my nationally famous potato salad; sorry, no mayonnaise.

Here is where the freaky space alien babies are going to live until they are harvested. There is soil in them there tires, in which the seed potatoes are planted. As the plants grows, I will continue to add soil and tires until it is about four tires high. Then two or three weeks after the plant is finished flowering, BAM, potato salad. I still need to paint the tires white though, as they will get too hot and cook my babies if left black.

The Corn of Wheat

I did a lot of thinning yesterday in the garden. We have a bunch of greens growing together-along with radishes and Chinese kale, which I guess is a green, but I think it may really be Chinese broccoli. I may have encountered a translation controversy. Who knows?
Anyway, lots of greens-a variety of lettuce, some Chinese mustard, spinach and tucked way down there, some ruby Swiss chard (at the center of the above photo) that I am trying
to unveil.

As you can see (to the left), it is being dominated by the Chinese mustard. It was time to bring in the mustard and give the chard a little room to grow. Besides, if you look closely, you can see some spots where an interloper was snacking on our mustard greens.

Wake up! Time to die!




I thinned pretty aggressively. Isn't that ruby chard beautiful. It is also tasty, nutritious and fun to say. Ruby Swiss chard, almost as fun as bacon drippings-but just doesn't get around as much.
Stop draggin' and plant some today, before it gets too hot, or wait until late summer. It is pretty hardy and will carry you well into the fall.
I am going to take a wild guess and estimate that we have harvested about two pounds of greens from our garden. I am sure a correction is coming if merited.






















Here is the first of about eight radishes I pulled yesterday from the bed mentioned above. This is our first radish of 2009, quite handsome and worth documentation, but I wanted to show the thinning that happened.

In the background, to the left of the radish, you can see some of those baby chard plants. I didn't stop there though. I harvested a lot of the spinach seen growing at the bottom of this photo, and a bunch of the radishes seen growing to the right in this photo.*




*I am sure that is all real clear, or else I wouldn't have posted it.

Ten Thousand Things

"Ten Thousand Things" is a Buddhist expression representing the dynamic interconnection and simultaneous unity and diversity of everything in the universe.*


Here is a photograph of a claw-footed tub we have in the backyard. We have planted food in it since we moved to Firth Street in 2005. This year I tried something a little different in the tub. Debuting in the tub this season is something I read about called "polycultural" gardening. Sarah and I broadcasted several different kinds of seeds and covered them with soil. As you can see, it is doing rather well. The idea is to allow the plants to create "natural" relationships with each other. The thick planting also acts as mulch, helping the soil retain water, as well as keep weeds at bay. There are carrots, radishes, lettuce, spinach, Chinese mustard and some other stuff I probably cannot recall.

This method is a bit different from the order and structure that I usually try to appear to maintain. So far, I like it.

* From Kyoto Journal

Radish Shots

Just some pretty radish pictures to get you going. These came in the CSA last week. They were quite mild. I had one of the new ones last night; it was far more rowdy. You can see the bean tee pee out the door. Be well.