Garden Bandits!

Terrible! Degenerate! Dumpster diving! Gardeners?

Oh yes. How else is one supposed to go about collecting free cardboard to start a no-till garden bed??? Jeeze..

Serious recycling.

Got one!

Score!

OK, I think we're done here.

Heaven Headquarters:

mandala garden

A little news about our mandala garden; we did get the shape sorted out but it seems as if our efforts to block the weeds with only hay/straw went unnoticed by Mother Nature and we had to resort to, yep, good old-fashioned cardboard. This trusty plan worked in the past with urban gardening and we shouldn't have deviated from what worked before! A little composted manure and things will be right as rain for summer crops of corn and pumpkin we reckon. Since the old fall "Pumpkin Patch" farm round these parts was sold a few years back we think that it is high time someone started a new one!

Pictorial Update

Wow! It's really SPRING out there! We've got a ton of fresh goodies coming in from the garden beds already and really really happy that there has not been one single day this year that something wasn't ready to be picked and eaten. Green onions, leeks, greens, carrots, beets, broccoli, cauliflower, peas, lettuce, and lots of herbs are some of the yummy things that can be grown during late winter and early spring in Norther California. By setting up some hoop-houses over a few rows, we are able to get an even earlier start. My dream is to have a real live greenhouse ASAP! I'd love to set my little tomato seedlings free to grow in a big space in the middle of winter...

Before, I start day dreaming of big greenhouses just yet though, here are a couple photos of what is actually going down in our urban food forrest.

Beets, white carrots, parsnips, rutabaga...

all came out of this little 3x4 patch!

spying tender dandelions..

Fennel

ready to go!

onion patch

"no more excuses" it's time to smother weeds!

Hunny soakin' up the sun!

Going to be our best tomato year yet!

transplanting time!

Sweet potato "slips"

Leeks!

Mom's excited about potato/leek soup!

Who doesn't love em?

there IS a castle buried under there...

Still working away on some projects like this container garden area that Justin is busy hacking away at. I swear, he just doesn't give up and before I could look twice, these were the massive rocks he pried out of the dirt! We are contemplating building a cute little rock wall to outline the garden like you'd see in the country. Any ideas on what to do with rocks?

Vineyard Work: Day Four (we think)

Gosh it is so nice to be outside these days!!! We're basically done with the pruning with a little left we need to hurry and finish. The vines are budding! Here's a couple of photos of Mom and I in action and looking darn fancy with our sun hats to boot!

This is basically the end of pruning for the year. Can you see the joy on our faces? Next we will be pulling off the unwanted sucker tendrils that sprout from the stalk of the vines and tucking them back into the trellis once they've grown out. Some friends of mine have promised to teach me how to make a Jordanian version of stuffed grape leaves! I've tried them both with and without meat and they are absolutely AMAZING! And soon we will have plenty of leaves... I can't wait!

Staying Conscious

Patience is a major asset to people who live with plants. We get one chance every year to make the most of our garden, and no do-overs. Luckily, there's always next year. That's part of the beauty of gardening! The best farmers I have known are those with experience and that's not something you can learn at any fancy school.

We know we learn from doing and making mistakes. The more the merrier. It's very acceptable to fail but I don't think too many people realize this fact. Really, the more you suck at doing things, the better a chance that you'll be amazing at some point. Those who can't, probably gave up the first try I'd imagine. Consequently, the best year life will probably be our last. Now we think it's a lot nicer knowing that instead of having a "shelf-life", we just get better with age. Kind of like a fine wine ;)

Here are a few tips we think are useful when trying to make the most out of our time in the garden:

MULCH- There's nothing better than using old newspapers and cardboard (which we find for free) to do the work of keeping weeds out of the garden. Just lay down a layer to kill off the grass/weeds and top that with hay or a similar substance. Winning the war against weeds or your lawn is a HUGE time-saver. In addition, keeping the area above ground thickly mulched with straw does wonders keeping the soil moist in the summer. This is very important for areas like ours in northern California where the summers are long and dry. It also adds nutrients to the soil as it breaks down.

WATERING- I really enjoy watering my plants but when you're "maxing out" your garden space and trying to produce enough food to feed a family year-round it becomes almost impossible to do it by hand. Drip irrigation, soaker hoses, and Ollas (available at http://www.peddlerswagon.com/ ) are wonderful sustainable ways to irrigate garden plants without spending hours a day it saves a ton of water at the same time.

COMPOSTING- recycling garden and kitchen waste by creating a compost pile can save time AND money. We compost anything we can get our hands on and are finding that now that we have a sufficient amount growing in our backyard we are cutting down on outside sources dramatically. Just layer your dry and green waste and keep it moist and covered and you'll have fresh organic fertilizer for your garden in no time. There's also ways to compost directly in your garden beds by layering the compost ingredients and letting it sit for a while before planting directly into it. Also called sheet mulching, no till gardening, and layer gardening depending on who you ask. Lasagna Gardening by: Patricia Lanza was a great book I read about the subject and got us on the right track. We need hardly any extra soil to fill our raised beds this year since using the no-till method. And be sure to make friends with people that own livestock! Chances are, they have a ton of "fertilizer" they will be glad to let you take off their hands for free!

START SMALL- It's hard not to get really excited about growing your own food but keeping it simple when starting out means the first few mistakes are easy to recover from. Big gardens require much more planning, upkeep and time. It's a bit like working out, no one can run a marathon their very first day training. Ending up with something that seems more like a chore or having a yard full of dead plants you worked so hard to plant is very discouraging. Gardening should be fun and relaxing!

STAY ORGANIZED- We always try to own brightly colored tools and keep them in a designated area so we don't loose them. I cannot tell you how many times I've wanted to do this or that and just could not find that darn spade!!!

KEEP IT CLOSE BY- Keeping the garden close to where we live makes it that much more likely we'll notice when something needs to be done. When living in the city or suburbs it's not that hard to walk through the veggies and see how things are growing at least once a day.

LIVE CONSCIOUSLY- Yep. There are still ways to stay awake these days without slipping into dreamland where the mass media birdies tell you to buy buy buy neatly prepackaged ideas in electric colors. Here's a few things that we have found useful in our everyday lives....

-Growing what we can ourselves and totally supporting local organic farmers. Either way it's delicious! The slow-food movement in which eating local, in season foods is becoming the conscious way to eat!

-Shopping second-hand. Thrift shopping has become very hip these days and it's much cheaper. As a total thrift store junky, I cannot recommend this enough.

-Make do with what we have or go without. Who needs an extra trip to tahiti when you've created your own paradise right in your backyard?

-Eating only locally, sustainably, ethically raised and grass fed meat. Or go veg! The corporate meat industry is absolutely gross and inhumane.

- Keeping a sense of balance and not taking everything too seriously. Life is about having fun and working towards our goals one step at a time. No one is perfect and we know that all too well. We eat out just like everyone else and realize there's no sane way we can control 100% of our food. We do what we can and make improvements when we are able.

Anyone have some tips they'd like to share?

The great outdoors

Lately, I have not seen much of the outdoors due to trés schoolwork but I do pop out every now and then for "study breaks" to help out in the garden whenever possible. Now that it's spring break maybe I can catch up with some reading.. there's a pile of books 2 feet high next to my bed! Even took a few pictures yesterday of various bits and pieces I thought were looking lovely in the evening air.

Thankfully the others have been luckier in being able to welcome spring to our doorstep. We have a massive list of projects underway from harvesting and planting, tending the vineyard and our other family businesses, staying on track with environmentally friendly home improvements and our "green" retrofitting of the urban homestead, while staying sane and taking time out for ourselves on a regular basis. (Though time for ourselves easily turns into more projects during this time of year!)

a homegrown power snack!

we often wonder why there are so many rocks to dig up...

and figure there must be a castle buried under here somewhere!

our pear tree

new (and totally fashionable) garden boots.

odds and ends

soon...

sweetpea!

spring beauty

adorable baby collards!

lunar white carrots.

wine grapes

purple potatoes

more

and more

can you tell I am excited about potatoes?

asparagus time! (in about 2 years)

the troops are assembled...

UP NEXT! Stay tuned for ways we have found to save time while still getting things done and staying conscious...

Spring Equinox!!

Just wanted to wish everyone a very happy Spring!!! After a couple days of gardening, drafting crop rotations and planting schedules, and attending a lovely equinox party at a friend's house I feel very grateful for spring. Our second window is installed, new projects are underway and life couldn't be more magical. After the winter months it is a huge relief just to feel sun on skin again.

Seems like the shock of the new season has put lots of people in the "nesting" mood. The hardware store down the street from us was awash in folks with projects! The garden center is fully loaded and a reminder that there will be lot's of deals on pallets of soil that has broken open and a great way to save money on getting a new garden started. Last year we were like vultures over the free used coffee grounds from coffee shops to fuel our compost pile and layered beds!

Thankfully, mulching and composting has reformed our dead soil into a living, breathing entity all on it's own and we need far less organic matter to get us primed for the year. I am so proud of our worms! Composting is downright religious around here and something I get pretty evangelical over. Really, how could anyone throw away an orange rind or vegetable scrap knowing that there's amazing plant food in there??? Ridiculous!

Energy Star!

The 1948 cinder block house that sits in the middle of the garden can be quite a challenge to live in sometimes. We have been slowly fixing up this place for almost ten years now and there's still plenty of room left for home improvement. For instance, the windows are the same windows that have always been here as far as I can tell (except for one) so there isn't much in the way of insulation. The bathroom windows (weird old ones casement windows with broken cranks) don't even close all the way so we have to shut the bathroom door to keep the draft out. 

This week we got a brand new window! 

Our friend Jake helping with the installation

Checking to see if everything works..

Voila!

We're putting in the other bathroom window in a couple of days too. Exciting!

Secret Spy

There's always a mysterious pair of eyes lurking around the garden. Her name is Jilly, our roof-top tabby cat! Can you spy her in any of these photos?

another alien rock formation...

organization is key

three musketeers!

goodness, what else is hidden!

growing...

sweet peas!

mini rows

one potato..

two potato...

..madly.

Cabbage Patch (since it's St Patty's day n all!)

vision and re-vision

new life

Word of the day:

Momo means peach in Japanese

 

It's been BUSY around here lately (can you tell?). March is just a crazy gardening month and with the Vernal Equinox in TWO DAYS it's going to be in an uproar. So stay tuned as we get back to our regularly scheduled program!