First the old, as in old friends. I recently got back in touch with an old college room mate who as fate might have it, has also taken up organic gardening. Coincidence? Something in the wind? I'm glad he's into it, but I can't count him as one of my five, so the score is still at 3/5.
Now the new. The first of the tomatoes are almost ripe. Brandywines. No sign of ripening from the Cherokees or Amish paste, though there are several nice plump specimens of each. I hope they ripen soon, I've spotted early blight...not good. Not good at all. This pattern of horrifically damp summers is not just depressing, it could be a definite problem if it continues long term.
Showing posts with label find 5. Show all posts
Showing posts with label find 5. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
coming up for air
I've been lax in my posting, especially when you consider all that has happened. The situation may continue until the 27th when my work gets the equivalent of a new president. Lets just say I am going to be beyond busy for the next week and leave it at that.
I do feel the need to say a couple things though. This past sunday (17th) we had a baptism and party for our children. I am, to my core, normally averse to large social gatherings. This was incredible though. So many people came, including my best friend of25 years. (thats 1st grade for those doing the math)...all the way from North Carolina. I have to be honest, I worked my butt off getting everything outside tidy and presentable in the garden for the sole purpose of impressing people, not because of any vanity thing, but because I am so desperate to spread the word as it were. Nate and I wandered outside and walked around, I gave him a quick tour, he nodded a lot and said. "You know, I really want to start a garden back home."
I'm counting that as three!
I also found out his father in law has similar proclivities for diggin in the dirt. Its amazing who you'll connect to sometimes.
I also discovered that another longtime friend also recently adopted. I don't know if my example planted that seed or simply gave it a little fertilizer, but I'd like to think that in some way I was at least a snowflake in the avalanch of the decision.
Melinda at Simple, Green, Frugal Co-op penned this fantastic piece. Its amazing sometimes how things seem to be "in the air." I'd like to think that my own transformation has allowed me, in at least some regard to similarly manifest my true self. It did remind me how far I need to go. During one of our late night chats with friends who were visiting this weekend, I found that I was the sole person in the room who, if given the chance, would not return to school to persue a more advanced degree in my field. I do what I do because it pays the bills, is pleasant, allows me to work for an organization that I can "look at myself in the mirror each day" and barring major events like the one currently going on...lets me go home at 4:30 and leave work at work.
There are drawbacks to this though. There are times when I feel like I am cheating, I find the work easy most of the time. I spend 40 hours a week doing something which I have no passion for, I simply derive enjoyment from interactions with my coworkers, and the sense of "helping out" that I get from fixing their technical difficulties. I have wrestled with ennui for most of my life, which I'm sure is equal parts genetic, chemical, and cognative. My demons flog me with alterating blows of doubt, anxiety and angst and how far from my goals I am. But there are moments, like this weekend, when I my joy can barely contain itself. I don't think I could proclaim that I too am living absolutely true to my inner ethos, but I think each baby step I take brings me that much closer, and sometimes (like this weekend) its nice to stop and realize how far we have come.
that being said I have tons of other things that I will try to get posted, but bear with me. Oh, and I spotted potato plants poking through!
I do feel the need to say a couple things though. This past sunday (17th) we had a baptism and party for our children. I am, to my core, normally averse to large social gatherings. This was incredible though. So many people came, including my best friend of25 years. (thats 1st grade for those doing the math)...all the way from North Carolina. I have to be honest, I worked my butt off getting everything outside tidy and presentable in the garden for the sole purpose of impressing people, not because of any vanity thing, but because I am so desperate to spread the word as it were. Nate and I wandered outside and walked around, I gave him a quick tour, he nodded a lot and said. "You know, I really want to start a garden back home."
I'm counting that as three!
I also found out his father in law has similar proclivities for diggin in the dirt. Its amazing who you'll connect to sometimes.
I also discovered that another longtime friend also recently adopted. I don't know if my example planted that seed or simply gave it a little fertilizer, but I'd like to think that in some way I was at least a snowflake in the avalanch of the decision.
Melinda at Simple, Green, Frugal Co-op penned this fantastic piece. Its amazing sometimes how things seem to be "in the air." I'd like to think that my own transformation has allowed me, in at least some regard to similarly manifest my true self. It did remind me how far I need to go. During one of our late night chats with friends who were visiting this weekend, I found that I was the sole person in the room who, if given the chance, would not return to school to persue a more advanced degree in my field. I do what I do because it pays the bills, is pleasant, allows me to work for an organization that I can "look at myself in the mirror each day" and barring major events like the one currently going on...lets me go home at 4:30 and leave work at work.
There are drawbacks to this though. There are times when I feel like I am cheating, I find the work easy most of the time. I spend 40 hours a week doing something which I have no passion for, I simply derive enjoyment from interactions with my coworkers, and the sense of "helping out" that I get from fixing their technical difficulties. I have wrestled with ennui for most of my life, which I'm sure is equal parts genetic, chemical, and cognative. My demons flog me with alterating blows of doubt, anxiety and angst and how far from my goals I am. But there are moments, like this weekend, when I my joy can barely contain itself. I don't think I could proclaim that I too am living absolutely true to my inner ethos, but I think each baby step I take brings me that much closer, and sometimes (like this weekend) its nice to stop and realize how far we have come.
that being said I have tons of other things that I will try to get posted, but bear with me. Oh, and I spotted potato plants poking through!
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Whoo hoo!
The gardening class went great! My original draft was an 1.5 hours, I did another test run with my wife which went 1:15. I paired down a few more slides and got it at 50 minutes flat despite the occasional digression. There were 9 people (not including me) who all said that they learned a lot. One who had never done any gardening...so I'm counting her as convert #2 for the year. I sent them home with some charts about companion planting, a few home remedies (like milk spray for powdery mildew, and garlic spray for Japanese beetles) and some packets of seed for my favorite perennials. (Fennel, lemon balm, bee balm, chives, hyssop, borage and swiss chard) ok the last two aren't perennials but the result vs. effort margin is very high and I had a ton of seed for them.
I already have requests to do a follow up class later in the year.
I'm reminded that it is one thing to know how to do something, but entirely another to teach it.
I already have requests to do a follow up class later in the year.
I'm reminded that it is one thing to know how to do something, but entirely another to teach it.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
The second rule of fight club....
is kind of superfluous. But if everyone followed the rules, fight club wouldn't have grown. Anyway enough about fight club.
The hardest part of "the change" (not that change, the green one) has been the social aspect. I know I need to get out and talk to people, like minded and not. But to be honest, to an introvert you might as well ask me to perform neurosurgery. I'm as likely to do one as the other. I used to wonder why it was that in spite of my near palpitation inducing aversion to the social arts, I always ended up with plenty of friends.
Simple. I, for paradoxical reasons gravitate towards outgoing charismatic people. I realized that I could spot the potential cult leader in any crowd, because I was usually the one next to them. Heh. Okay, maybe not cult leaders but you get the point. More to the crux of the matter, I don't know a lot of people, but the people I know do. (If that makes any sense.)
So here goes, I mentioned my fit of inspiration to recruit 5 friends into the world of gardening. (with the sub rosa hopes that once they start to care about one "crunchy, self relianty, sustainability, homesteadyish "thing, they too will feel compelled to care about more things.)
So then I said to myself: "Self, you and I may be onto something. Everybody knows at least a few people. And wouldn't it be nice to share the joy of gardening without the discomfort of making new friends?"
Am I simply reinforcing a bad habit of isolation or am I adapting in place rather than seeking greener social pastures? Delusion or inspiration...who cares. The point is by the end of the summer, there will be at least 5 more people on the planet who have learned to grow their own.
And I invite you to do the same. I realize that there are plenty of challenges out there. Most of them are great, and I wish I had the time and space to partake in or write about them all. At the risk of throwing yet another pebble on the mountain.... wooosh.
Find 5 people, convince them to grow something edible. It can be vegetables, a fruit tree, herbs, you get the gist. Use whatever means at your disposal, bribery of seedlings, seeds, help digging, a container or two, an offer to share some of your own produce, just get them on board. Better yet get a quote so when you report in, its not just a list of names, but personalities. This is likely going to be the easiest challenge ever. Seed sales are waaay up this year, its not even swimming upstream anymore. Lets turn a 33% increase into a growth on a geometric scale. And your target audience could not be more familiar, if anyone knows how to convince us to do something (even the crazy stuff) its our friends.
Here's how it works. At this point if you really want to do it, comment here. I'd appreciate a link from your own page or blog. I even made a nice icon for your (and my) sidebar. Not necessary, but appreciated. Then about once a month I'll put up an open call to see how people are doing. I'm particularly interested in what tactics or incentives people offer to get their friends started and keep them going.
Have fun with it.
Behold the mighty Icon of homescale horticultural evangelism.
please rightclick and save as rather than linking to the picture itself, the bloghost will probably scream bloody murder if it has to host the image on a bunch of different blogs and use the below for the link part.
http://worryfarm.blogspot.com/2009/04/second-rule-of-fight-club.html
The hardest part of "the change" (not that change, the green one) has been the social aspect. I know I need to get out and talk to people, like minded and not. But to be honest, to an introvert you might as well ask me to perform neurosurgery. I'm as likely to do one as the other. I used to wonder why it was that in spite of my near palpitation inducing aversion to the social arts, I always ended up with plenty of friends.
Simple. I, for paradoxical reasons gravitate towards outgoing charismatic people. I realized that I could spot the potential cult leader in any crowd, because I was usually the one next to them. Heh. Okay, maybe not cult leaders but you get the point. More to the crux of the matter, I don't know a lot of people, but the people I know do. (If that makes any sense.)
So here goes, I mentioned my fit of inspiration to recruit 5 friends into the world of gardening. (with the sub rosa hopes that once they start to care about one "crunchy, self relianty, sustainability, homesteadyish "thing, they too will feel compelled to care about more things.)
So then I said to myself: "Self, you and I may be onto something. Everybody knows at least a few people. And wouldn't it be nice to share the joy of gardening without the discomfort of making new friends?"
Am I simply reinforcing a bad habit of isolation or am I adapting in place rather than seeking greener social pastures? Delusion or inspiration...who cares. The point is by the end of the summer, there will be at least 5 more people on the planet who have learned to grow their own.
And I invite you to do the same. I realize that there are plenty of challenges out there. Most of them are great, and I wish I had the time and space to partake in or write about them all. At the risk of throwing yet another pebble on the mountain.... wooosh.
Find 5 people, convince them to grow something edible. It can be vegetables, a fruit tree, herbs, you get the gist. Use whatever means at your disposal, bribery of seedlings, seeds, help digging, a container or two, an offer to share some of your own produce, just get them on board. Better yet get a quote so when you report in, its not just a list of names, but personalities. This is likely going to be the easiest challenge ever. Seed sales are waaay up this year, its not even swimming upstream anymore. Lets turn a 33% increase into a growth on a geometric scale. And your target audience could not be more familiar, if anyone knows how to convince us to do something (even the crazy stuff) its our friends.
Here's how it works. At this point if you really want to do it, comment here. I'd appreciate a link from your own page or blog. I even made a nice icon for your (and my) sidebar. Not necessary, but appreciated. Then about once a month I'll put up an open call to see how people are doing. I'm particularly interested in what tactics or incentives people offer to get their friends started and keep them going.
Have fun with it.
Behold the mighty Icon of homescale horticultural evangelism.
please rightclick and save as rather than linking to the picture itself, the bloghost will probably scream bloody murder if it has to host the image on a bunch of different blogs and use the below for the link part.
http://worryfarm.blogspot.com/2009/04/second-rule-of-fight-club.html
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