Playing Catch up

Wow...were to start, things went well at work.

On the stead, 100% of the potatoes have pushed through, I found the bed much easier to work this year, though not as nice as the one thats 4 years old. I can reach into that with my bare hand and get to my wrist with little effort, and come up with a fistfull of worms and chunks of various bits of stuff alive and dead.

I made my first "50 foot" salad last weekend. Arugula, butterhead, and oakleaf lettuce. Very good, nice and tender. On memorial day I grabbed some more arugula, picked up a couple pears and a block of parmisan cheese and made this.


On Monday I transplanted some cukes, nasturtiums, and melons into empty spots in the lettuce patch. Looks like the arugula is done for the season. And something has chewed on 5 of the six broccoli almost to the point of defoliation, but thankfully I found good leaves growing back, so I think they'll be ok. But I found that some of these were ready which made my day. Have you ever seen such gorgeous radishes?


I started corn, black eyed peas and shelling beans.

I noticed something a little disconcerting with the female kiwi vine. Black on the edges of some of the new growth, as shown here.

A search has not turned up any plausible results. I had several shoots coming off last years's growth, so I trimmed this one, and have not seen any others succumb to its fate, but I would like to know what is happening, because it killed a male vine last year. (the replacement however is doing just fine.)

I just realized the other pictures are on other cameras, so I'll save for other posts, but I will leave you with this parting shot, the first and likely last real picture of yours truly that will show up here.



Oh did I mention we had 5 yards of stone delivered for the walkway, and 6 yards of much for the ...um mulching? I did a lot of shoveling. And no my hand is not missing, It was a chilly evening.

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!

the good, the bad and the downright awful

Busy weekend at home! But I think thats safe to say about most weekends. I got all of the stone in place for the walkways...and I have no pics or background to go with that...so I shall endeavor to update you all on this monumental project (and sizable subtraction to the size of the mowed area). Regardless, I'm a bit sore right now.

The trees look like they are doing well. The last of the pears to bud has a few green spikes now and the nectarine (despite some definite dieback) appears to be leafing out now.

I put in the marigolds in the potato bed, most of the pea sprouts are up. If I had planted lettuce more densely I'd have a salad by now. Lesson learned. Plant leaf lettuce tighter and harvest sooner and more often. I did snatch a few leaves of thai oak leaf that were awesome, and the arugula is really good. In a week or two when I have more I am definitely grabbing a couple pears and maybe a little parmesan cheese for a salad.

Transplanted a lot of flowers (mostly petunias, but some cosmos and hollyhock) and put the chamomile in its spot. The lemon balm, bee balm, and stjohn's wort are making a strong showing only a year after transplant and the wormwood and valerian are almost two feet high already.

Now for the awful news. As regular readers might remember, I ordered 3 citrus trees on feb 15th. After a long spell of no news and no trees I contacted the seller and was told "two weeks" Several unreturned phone calls, several unreplied emails. Still no trees. Sorry chumps...no money for you. I didn't bother to call to ask for a refund since they apparently have failed to conduct themselves in any measurable way decent. The business may have changed hands but their failure to respond to such a backlog of customers means I'm not likely to see results for a while. I called my bank and had them dispute the charges, in my experience its faster than getting obstinant deadbeat vendors to take satisfactory action. So this time, a little wiser I combed review sites looking for a reputable dealer and found good reviews for Four winds nursery. They appear to have been around for a while and their customers hold them in fairly good regard. Lesson Learned. Hopefully my trees will be here this weekend.

The old vendor by the way is growquest, they now operate under the name olivetrees.net. And without some kind of acknowledgement from the new owners of changes to the business practices, I wouldn't trust them any farther than I could throw a deeply rooted, 1,000 year old olive tree (which I hear are quite heavy).

True Confessions

A post over at Path to Freedom got me thinking. My gardening has honestly not "saved" us any money in a strict sense of the word. (I refuse to equate the word saving as it applies to "look how much we saved" when it comes to buying things we would not otherwise buy.)

Gardening has not reduced the cost of eating fresh (or home preserved) organic produce one iota. Gardening forced us to eat fresh (or home preserved) organic produce. Society may give lip service to living "green" but if you follow the money, its not where our priorities lay. For mainstream america, living lightly is an expensive proposition. I simply pulled price out of the equation.

I suspect I am not alone in the sense that I do not depend on my garden for economic survival, but for spiritual, healthful, and global survival. We must be prepared to accept the fact that many, in fact much of society views our arcane gardening practice as a luxury. Primarily one of time. The most common response I get (and I'm sure I'm not the exception) is "I wish I had the time for that."

Second confession. I don't have the time. By sunset I have been pulled in 50 different different directions trying to get all the little projects, appointments, and routine this and that done. But I make the time, because in a life where so many things are beyond your control, its nice to have a moment when your time is your own. So for us the cost of eating organic is time.

Book Review: Smale Scale Grain Raising

I searched high and low for this text which has become somewhat of a legend. I was not alone in my pursuit. The original print goes for around$60 used. As luck, or perhaps a change in the direction of the winds of change. A second edition was printed. I found myself on a waitlist 2 months ago and yesterday, my copy arrived.

Small Scale Grain Raising by Gene Logsdon was well worth the wait, and every ounce what it is hyped as. The content is arranged by crop and follows a clear pattern of how to prepare a field for X, planting, common problems, harvesting, storing, and a few recipes along the way.

The true value (not that the content itself should be taken lightly) is Mr. Logsdon's shall we say, wit and wisdom. Having read The Gardeners Guide to Better Soil, and Successful Berry Growing, I was accustomed to his style. He is folksy and casual without being cliche or anti-intellectual. Small Scale Grain raising is no black sheep in that regard. In fact it was a puzzlement to my wife how a book about grain could make me chuckle every few minutes.

Mr. Logsdon speaks as one who understands the science of the task at hand, and does not withhold what the "specifications" for use of say certain fertilizers for certain crops, but also has a wealth of practical experience to reassure the neophyte that in some regards, close enough is ok too.

There are brief peeks into a subject I suspect the author may elaborate on elsewhere and that is his opinion on the state of modern farming. While I have suspicions, he probably has evidence. Its one thing to hear about how a farmer has to constently get bigger or get out, its entirely another to see the numbers in front of you. There are moments that made me a tad uncomfortable, as I am perfectly content to point the finger at subsidies and giants like monsanto, Logsdon feels that farmers who have been "duped" into believing that bigger is better, take out a loan and buy more land and a bigger combine...are as much to blame. Perhaps the availability of easy credit, the cult of more more more, the dependence on technology and cheap oil have not just affected the dregs of consumers but the noblest of professions as well. Perhaps rather than look at it as just another industry, we should look at the state of food production as the true litmus test of not only the health, but the mindset of society.

I must say in closing that I have only one disappointment, the immutable laws of nature. I was hoping to incorporate a grain crop as a bed rotation. As it takes roughly 1090 square feet to make one bushel of wheat, and a healthy bushel of wheat weighs on average, 60 pounds, a single garden bed in my yard (50') will only produce about 2.5 lbs. or around 10 loaves of no-knead bread if my math is right. At 5 lbs I might consider it, but it doesn't seem likely...yet. Who knows, as the size of the mowable part in the yard shrinks. At what point do we decide its not worth keeping a mower, and if we decide its not worth keeping a mower, when do we finally commit the rest of the lawn to more productive use?

I could never run a tv station

I have no clue what people are interested in. Here I was thinking the outdoor shower was just some crazy idea. But apparently I'm not the only one with a desire to bathe outdoors. I'll have to chronicle this one more closely. I'll take some pictures tonight, but for now a little background on the project.

1. This did not come about without a good deal of bargaining and pleading on my part, as I am the only one in the house who does not look at the idea as insanity, and as such it is one of those things I get to work on in my "spare time." Of which I have little to none. Due to the aforementioned official adoption, we are having a baptism/adoption party on May 17th. Spring, as most gardening/landscaping folks will tell you is always a busy time. This creates the perfect storm of work for the next 3 weeks. Therefore, construction will largely be a board nailed in here and there when no one is looking...Thats right. This one is being built ninja style.

2. As for design... It will draw water in from the hose spigot right around the corner (like I said. Perfect spot). You're probably thinking "Holy H311! thats a cold shower." Watch your mouth please, this is a family friendly site. I plan on running a coil of black hose up to the roof before it gets to the shower nozzle. But which side of the roof, since the peak of the house runs north-south. Morning or night. I got to thinking. When am I most likely to use an outdoor shower...likely after working outdoors...meaning evening. The spot for the shower sits on the evening side of the house. Like I said...perfect. What about the wastewater? Well that part I havent got totally ironed out. And by that I mean I have a workable solution for now. I have some leftover pvc pipe that should work well enough to divert the water over to a 1'x20' strip of stone we laid down as a divider between the yard and the herb sanctuary/pond. It should be deep enough to to take a gallon at a time without flooding. In the future I'd love to see a reedbed there with a higher capacity...being used by the graywater from the house. But baby steps...first I have to get certain factions to accept and enjoy the outdoor shower first.

Sore back

I did so much work outside this weekend that it all seems like a blur, I couldn't tell you what I got accomplished, but I do remember a few highlights.

1. The outdoor shower is definitely happening. I have 4 posts in the ground and the spot is perfect. Its an otherwise unusable corner of our plot that would get wasted. I just need to scrounge up some pipe and find a basin so I can redirect the wastewater someplace useful.

2. I have baby carrots! Two years ago I droped a 3'x2' box in a corner that I thought would get enough light. Its tucked between the gazebo and the garden wall, but its never been very productive. Last fall on a whim I direct seeded a few things like beets, some chard, arugula and carrots. Nothing really got off the ground so to speak. By snowfall I had a few feathery carrot leaves and a couple baby beet greens. I have for the most part ignored it this season, though I am going to try some podding radishes there. Well oddly enough I found half inch round, 2 inch long carrots growing. Not the (we're really done growing, we just keep well in the soil over the winter...I found one of those in another bed) These all have good live foliage. I'll let them mature where they are (despite the sample being tasty). Hopefully they don't bolt on me. they are cosmic purples by the way. Who'd have thought they could survive a zone 5 winter. On the other hand, if these do by chance have some genetic predisposition to survivng the cold perhaps I should let them bolt and save the seed.