Garden Update : Cold weather growing

So this is our first fall growing season and we dont entirely know what we're doing yet, so I'll share few discoveries we've made so far. The tomatoes are kinda done since we dont have a greenhouse, but all the brassicas and lettuces seem to be growing strong. I say growing strong because they look healthy, but I must admit growing organic outside os summer creates an awfully slow crop. It took me about 4 weeks to sprout sweet basil seedlings.

Although summer is gone, winter means a successful crop of yummies such as swiss chard, kale, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and artichoke ... of of which we're trying to grow. We ran out of space in our yard (still trying to convince our landlord to dig up the 400+ square feet of crab grass outside out front door :/ ), so we started planting in 5 gallon containers. This is great for those of you who dont have yard space to utilize. As long as you have a patio or porch that gets sunlight for about half the day, you can totally find containers (my neighbor was throwing away like 15 of them!) to start growing in. See below the photos for specific info.

New raised bed with arugula, roma beans, artichoke, kale, and brussels sprouts. I have a feeling it'll get crowded soon and I'll have to thin it out.

What happens when you ignore a head of romaine lettuce. It gets uber tall and sprouts cute little cute flowers.

Basil seedlings (left) and peas climbing the trelis (right)

Strawberrys! What what!!

We planted this broccoli from seed in April and it just keeps going. It survived being eaten to death by two different pests. Total trooper.

Artichoke, four weeks in.

Swiss chard (rhubarb), four weeks in. Chard and kale both grow really well in containers. It doesnt even have to be meant for plants ... anything that holds about 5+ gallons and allows drainage will work fine.

Roma beans (havent ever eaten one before, I am curious to see what happens) and cherry tomato.

Leanne's baby. Cabernet grape successfully made it over the door.

We just found out that the ugly little tree in from of our neighbors house is a baby pomegranate tree (!)

Nice yellow and blue (almost) complimentary colors standing out on a cool fall morning.

peace, love, and carrots,

-Paul

Amazing Roma Beans

Its safe to say we have never eaten, let alone seen, a roma bean. But the seed package enticed me and I bought them. Out of about 40 seedlings I have going right now, these were the last to sprout. I was worried that they weren't going to develop for some reason ... most seeds will germinate and sprout within about 10 days this time of year, but after day 13 there was nothing (!). I kept watering them hoping to see something manifest and lo and behold ... I come out to check wednesday morning and these guys were popped up. Apparently (to my delightful surprise) the bean was developing entirely under the soil and decided to jump up overnight. Keep an eye out for more posts on the status of these buggers.

-Paul

Pescaterian (?) gets a wag of the finger

Here's an insightful article from the BBC this morning. It was categorized in the "most popular" grouping, so I wasn't out trawling for something to fit my own personal agenda. It discusses the idea of vegetarians eating meat and still keeping their title as vegetarians. It also goes on to offer reasons why people are eating less or no meat, but not calling themselves vegetarian.

I think the line is drawn pretty clearly in the sand ... people should not amend the term vegetarian with thinks like "pesca" and "pollo" because they eat a lot of vegetables the rest of the the time ... its stupid. There's nothing unique about that ... not eating red meat is just healthy common sense. Calling oneself vegetarian is a title that is special, needs to be earned, and should be regarded with pride. If someone wants to eat a vegetarian diet most of the time, but occasionally sample seafood, no worries just think of a title that accurately reflects that (green diet?). Its like calling myself a heavy weight boxer because I punched a guy in the breakroom at work. All I can say is I would rather see a world full of mostly-vegetarians than a world full of marginalized vegans.

heres a link to the article here.

- Paul

Take that Sucka!

Oh man, what can I say about this one. I'm really glad the courts have it together with this case ... can you imagine what would happen if he were just fined and turned loose? He be out shooting at cyclists to "teach them a new lesson" - D-bag.

One step closer to making cities away that they need to support and protect cyclists. With obesity and gas prices rising to ridiculous levels, cycling is going to only get more popular in the coming years.

Full story by the LA time here.

Yes Men

Not one of my usual posts but I wanted to share and I dont know what other outlet to broadcast through. I just returned minutes ago from the Hammer Museum in LA where they screened the debut of the film in the courtyard. Whats also really cool is the directors (actors, pranksters :) were there for a Q&A. There was also a performance, full bar, and DJ till 11 but I didnt stay past the film. Gotta love LA.

The film was drop dead funny and really showed the corporate word in an unsavory light. I give a lot of credit to Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno for their audacity and wit. I hope it inspires more people to stand up and say something when big companies act in a profit over people method.

Link to site here.

Today's Lunch

Nothing too much to say here ... just showing off the reaping of my reward. Lunch was lentil soup with organic red leaf + romaine lettuce and organic cherry tomato from the garden. The onion and avocado were from the farmers market and the sesame seeds, Gloucester cheddar cheese, and tuscan vinaigrette dressing were from the every wonderful trader joes. If I could grow it all and avoid going to the market I totally would.

* footnote on trader joes ... I have boycotted purchasing produce from them because of their heavy duty use of packaging materials on simple items like onions and bell peppers. But I was in today and apples, onions, and bell peppers are finally offered in bulk and plastic / styrofoam free (!). Letter to the manager, you no longer have to be written (stay in the drawer until I bring up monsanto).

- Paul

Garden Update : new plants to experiment with

Well, we're about 6 months into our urban gardening experiment, or the "sargeant homestead" as I like to call it. I think we've had some great success our first venture. The cherry tomato provided no less than 300 tomatoes throughout the summer. The italian kale, swiss chard, thai basil and sweet basil, garlic chives, broccoli, german chamomile, zucchini, rosemary, peppermint, cabernet grape vine, red sails lettuce, arugula, speckled romaine, spinach, cilantro, serrano pepper, pepper, floral gem pepper, and jalpeno all grew (and tasted!) remarkably well.

The only real problem children were the green onions (new crop doing better), big boy and champion tomatoes (didnt grow at all ... crowded growing space?), and the golden bell pepper (the plant looks healthy but the peppers are small and usually get destroyed by bugs :(.

Not bad for the patch of crab grass below our front windows. Next step ... ask my landlord to remove some (or all :) of the 600+ square feet of grass in our yard.

See below the photos for more specific info.

Starting out in the pots. Super seedling power!

Container sunflowers, doing well, the first batch were eaten (birds?)

Red speckled romaine lettuce ... mmmmmmmmmm.

Leanne building a trellis out of old raffia and left over canvas bars. For the sweet peas and climbing peas.

Bum Cat!!! I want to keep him, but Mickey loses his marbles when he comes by. He can be our "garden kitty"

Grape vine (notice how its changed since our previous postings)

Cherry tomato seedling ... from seed! The flowers mean the tomatoes are coming soon :)

Swiss card in recycled container, from seed

Thai basil. The purple flowers are quite cool and the bees love them, but the flowers come when the plant matures, so not much time left for grandpa basil

mmmm ... broccoli !!

Forgot what these are. No marigolds for sure so I hope the keep the bad bugs away

Green onions from seed. Third time is a charm! I think they'll take

Serrano on the left, cherry tomato and basil on the right

Two recently installed raised beds. Zucchini, swiss chard, and kale

Leannes trellis and peas. Whut whut!

Some creepy little mutants I found while digging up old plants. I looked them up online and found them to be white grubs ... which I guess are pretty destructive to roots. So these bad boys got evicted and the others will have to be eaten by nematodes (yet to be introduced to my soil).

You Grow Girl

Probably a post for Leanne to moderate, but I found this blog a few months ago and keep up with it as often as possible.

Gayla Trail is an extremely accomplished an respected rooftop gardener in her hometown of Vancouver Canada. She covers everything from seedlings, disease, pests, her failures, events, and even canning / recipes! So if you're following us and found anything remotely helpful ... she'll amaze you.

Check it! :

yougrowgirl.com

-Paul

Currently Reading

These are but a few of many books I am drudging through right now ... all interesting reads but I am just a slow and attention deficient while reading. I especially recommend "Food not Lawns" by HC Flores! She starts the book off by stating that growing your own food is radical. We've been told to follow along and listen to the corporations and industrial farms because they have the investments and technology to keep everyone fed and happy. But we know that is not true. Agribusiness and contemporary farming practices pollutes our water, creates bland and nutrient deprived food, destroys topsoil, favors mono cultures over diversity, and clearly supports the consumption of fossil fuels, causing a large carbon foot print and great environmental detriment.

So growing our own food makes a statement. Its an assertion of willingness to fight the powerful status quo. Its extremely radical. Flores says it far better than I, please read it if you can ... even if you dont have a lawn, there are ways to successfully creat a container garden or patio / balcony garden. Along with garden creation, she teaches how to collect and reuse water, manage healthy soil, and most importantly ... how to engage with the community (ex, plant sharing, seed swapping, community garden, etc). I'm inspired :)

-Paul

Discovery Channel Garden

So we're outside walking around the garden seeking our newly ripened veggies or relocating pesky catapillars who eat them ... and we look down to see a huge wasp on our broccoli (which is starting to flower, finally!). No big deal, we thought to ourselves, he seems to be minding himself in a natural setting. An instant later, he flew up around our heads and we noticed something in his mouth. He landed quickly on the boxwood next to us. It was then we discovered the catipilllar, half chewed, in his mouth. Score! We had natural predators working with us to keep our garden organic and pesticide free.

But it gets better. The wasp lost his focus and stumbled into a spider web. Rather than become lunch himself, he dropped his meal and took off flying for another lunch. Then the spider came out of his web to inspect what was left behind. Super cool! Who needs the PlanetEarth DVD's when you can hang with us in our garden and get such an intimate view of the natural world.

-Paul+Leanne

Growing a Second Round in Second Hand Pots

The garden has been coming along pretty well. We have carrots, tomatoes, serrano peppers, broccoli, bell peppers, basil, camomile, and a grape vine. ....But there is still so much more to grow! We decided that since we don't have a ton of space we would start planting in pots. We went down to armstrong and picked up some of their recycled (used) 5 gallon pots for $1.00 each. Then when we got home we searched around for any starter pots we could find for our seedlings. 

In our pots we are starting a second round of some of the veggies we already have plus some new lettuces (kale, swiss chard, and red leaf ). Eventually we plan to create a raised bed where we will grow squash, zucchini, and cucumbers.

Let's Eat!

So I was browsing recipes... mostly because I am hungry... and I came across this awesome site called The Veggie Table. I am always looking for great vegetarian recipes, and this site is a gold mine!

They even have a section on French Vegetarian Recipes! Here is one I look forward to making as soon as our tomatoes are ready! 

Recipe: Provençal Tomatoes

These stuffed tomatoes from southern France are delicious served with soup, pasta, or rice dishes.

Yield	4 servings
Time	40 minutes
Tools	knife cake pan or casserole spoon bowl wooden spoon
Ingredients	4 medium tomatoes, ripe but firm 4 cloves garlic, minced 1 c parsley, chopped 3 T basil, chopped ¾ c bread crumbs ½ c parmesan cheese, grated (optional) salt + pepper, to taste ¼ c olive oil
Directions	Preheat oven to 400º. Cut the tomatoes in half (top and bottom halves, rather than left/right) and place in pan. Scoop out the seeds and pulp. Discard the seeds, but put the pulp into a bowl. Mix in the remaining ingredients, except for a few T of the olive oil. Fill the tomatoes, drizzle with the remaining olive oil, and bake for about 30 minutes, until brown.

Treasure Hunt

So ... Leanne and I adopted the most amazing kitty last Saturday. He is a manx breed - what I have deemed a cross between a bobcat and a bunny rabbit ... photos to come soon - who apparently was a feral alley cat turned shelter inmate before we brought him home. We knew he was the right one because he rolled over in his cage and let Leanne pet his belly within minutes of meeting him. Anyway, so I am cleaning his cat box the other day (something I surprisingly have never had to do in my life), using one of those scoops with the slits so the litter falls through, and I couldn't help from flashing back to preschool ... where I apparently was given a similar "shovel" and told to sit in the sandbox to sift for treasure. I recall finding marbles, army men, hotwheels ... this recent endeavor only awarded me with clumps of poo.

On to the point ... there is a feral street cat that appears in our yard from time to time. I just discovered the other day that he has decided to use our garden as a nice place to dig and poo. I was initially annoyed (figuring he/she would disrupt my seedlings), but soon remembered that the cycle of biological matter needs integration. It is only natural that the cat waste will break down and create (I hope!) a compost to help keep my soil strong and healthy.

Happy Thursday!

-Paul

Beginnings....

Paul and I have decided to grow a garden. We are so excited, and want to document our process and progress using this blog. We're off to a pretty slow start, but delicious, nutritious veggies are worth the wait. We have two specific locations that are perfect for planting and growing (in addition to the numerous potted plants in the back patio). Both planters are located on either side of our front door. We already dug up the crabgrass (finding such treasures as two shells, two antique spoons, three marbles, and a bone {?}) and are ready for our tomatoes, jalapenos, grapes and various herbs. Our front yard has full sun most of the day, so I am sure the tomatoes will flourish ... fingers crossed for the rest.

Preparing the soil.

working with compost.

Starting our avocado seedlings... I call them Paul's babies because he has like 12 and is obsessively taking care of them everyday.

.. hmm I guess I can't make fun because I certainly will be eating a ton of avocados once they are old enough to fruit.