wonder

"No one knows enough to be a pessimist.  Find an opportunity to observe a tiny little green sprout emerging from a seed.  When you do, allow yourself to feel the awe of what you're seeing.  A famous poet named Rumi observed, 'Sell your cleverness and purchase bewilderment.'  The scene of an emerging sprout represents the beginning of life.  No one on this planet has even a tiny clue as to how all of this works.  What is that creative spark that causes the life to sprout?  What created the observer, the consciousness, the observation, and perception intself?  The questions are endless."

-  Dr. Wayne Dyer from "10 Secrets for Success and Inner Peace"




Our plants are beginning to pop up everywhere in the garden!  It is a pretty amazing week here.  We currently have radishes, cucumber, carrots, beets, turnips, beans and lettuce greens popping their heads out.  Some of these plants I seeded myself from vegetables that I bought back in fall at the local farmers market or community supported agriculture farms here in San Diego.  Others are heirlooms that have given seed generation after generation and date back hundreds of years to the first cultivars, from places far enough away that it makes the mind spin a little.  We have a variety of blocky carrot growing that comes from East Africa, onions from Italy that date back to the time of Machiavelli, potatoes that were staples in the Peruvian diet long before Europeans set foot in the Americas, and a cucumber originating from Japan that was written about in the Edo Period.  All of these, growing right here in our backyard.  Isn't life wondrous?

We got around to placing some netting over the planter box now that we have a very interested, very hungry, herd of birds.  They seemed a little too enthusiastic about those newly sprouted East African carrots for our taste.  So, a little PVC pipe and some net from the local hardware store solved the potential problem nicely, harming none in the process.

 We also took advantage of a few late hours of sun and a cancelled class on Wednesday afternoon to get seeds into the newly tilled section of the yard.  We shall soon have corn, two varieties of peas, two types of melon, one type of watermelon, squash and of course, plenty of tomatoes.  Oh, and don't forget the onions and potatoes potted up by the garden shed.

And lettuce and herbs of several varieties, of course poked away in pots and pans and nooks and crannies.  We won't suffer for the need of a salad.  We even have some volunteer nasturtiums coming up behind the compost bin.  And who couldn't do with a potted blackberry bramble?

In short, things are coming up green pretty much everywhere here, and we love what we are seeing.  And all for a little care and tending to a few seeds here and there.  Life is good.

good things growing...

Happy Vernal Equinox everyone!  Incase you were wondering, Spring is definitely stirring.  Here in San Diego, things have been popping up green... and purple, and blue and pretty much every other color of the rainbow.  The scent of the citrus in bloom is intoxicating in our front yard.  This is one of my favorite scents in the world.

Oranges and blossoms

Valencia oranges

Buddha Hand Citron

Lemons, Limes and Oranges

Mineola Tangerines

But that isn't all!  After hard pruning the apricot tree in the back yard, I think we will have more than just 4 or 5 apricots this season!

Apricot flowers and fruit

Young Apricots and windchimes

That much being said, we have more than just the fruit trees growing right now too.  Finally got the planter box planted a week or two ago and we already have things coming up there as well... though we are going to need to put up a cover on the bed real soon.  Apparently, finches cannot leave radish sprouts alone!

Radish sprouts coming up

Garden box all planted

So far, we have three varieties of carrots, two varieties of bush bean, three varieties of cucumber, two varieties of beets, sweet bell peppers and turnips growing.  Last weekend was two straight days of rain, which was perfect weather for ripping up another section of the yard and hauling in some more compost to mulch into the soil for the remainder of the crops, which we are still sorting out.  Once the soil settles up from this weekend's rain, we will putting in corn, melons, pumpkin, squash, climbing peas and beans, and of course, tomatoes, which we have put out to sprout in our high tech greenhouse system just today.

Tilling up the yard

Hi tech tomato greenhouse equipment

Finished garden space

Rainy weather helped with the digging

All in all, we are really pleased with how far along we've come to get this year's garden ready to go.  So far, the investment in amended soil, materials for the garden box and heirloom organic seed has come to about $350, which seems like a lot in retrospect but will no doubt pay off this season and in years to come.  When the crop shares and produce swaps come round this summer, it will be very nice to have some of the rare varieties that we have planted to trade with other urban farmers.  It's going to be a wonderful season!  Even our pocket gophers agree...

Too cute to harm

Been a long time...

Wow, quite a hiaitus!  Winter has come and gone, if you can even call it that in San Diego.  In the yard, our citrus trees are all in blossom and that smells fantastic!  All of the trees have been pruned for maximum yield on fruit.  As of Valentines Day, we also have a new big planter box set up in the back yard that we built and filled with a fresh load of amended soil and compost.  We placed some gopher control in the bottom of the box, and will have a cover that will keep other birds and rodents out, hopefully, for the growing season.  Seems like all that remains now is to get the seedlings planted and growing and we should be in business!  Seed from our catalog came in around December and I have already had a seed trade with several friends for veggies and fruit to grow this season, now all that remains is planning out the space and getting it all growing!  Can't wait!

Hiatus...

Haven’t been back to write an update for quite some time now.  We have grass growing in the yard and the rain barrels are full.  Removed all of last year’s tomato plants so things are pretty much primed right now for beginning here in San Diego Spring.  The fact that it comes in December, you would think

a good thing, but I’m finding that getting started on the venture during the holidays is a little challenging.

As most of you know, I had a car accident about 2 months ago, to the tune of about $2300 in repairs.  Needless to say, the cost has set me back a bit on planning for a spring bounty of vegetables this year.  Still, I am hopeful that I can get started on the cheap and maybe just go with something a little less grandiose than I was at first planning.

So I am looking to borrow a roto tiller and still rip up a section of the yard and put in some good compost if I can get it from a friend in town who has an organic farm and lots of poop to spare.  J  Next venture, possibly for this weekend, will be setting up the composting barrels out behind the utility room.  Stay tuned, I promise more updates and photos soon.  In the meantime though, Happy Holidays!

As the rainy season starts in...

Finally got the rain barrells completed.  Friday was one of our wettest so far this year, and with promise of more precip on the way, I wanted to finally get these done!  We are in business folks!

Was some real work tro get the taps drilled and set in the bottom of each of these, but I eventually managed.  Some flex tubing on the rain gutters into the filters and a little work with a handsaw was all that remained.  With any luck, we will see how they work today as the marine layer heads back in from the coast with the promise of more precipitation here in San Diego.  That last picture is what remains of the tomato shrub.  If you can believe, here is what we started with mid season...

For projects moving into winter, just seeded and dried our winter squash crop.  Helps to dry the seeds in a plate of rice after cleaning them (thank you Bob for the suggestion!)...

And last but certainly not least, our winter salad greens...

UPDATE at 7:00pm... I have gone out to check the barrels after the day's rain and have discovered that we have collected about 40-50 gallons just in one day!!  That's nearly an entire barrel!

Rain Barrels

Finally go the rest of the supplies I needed to begin making the rain collection barrels.  Borrowed a few tools to get the job done and followed the instructions that I posted earlier.  It was relatively quick and easy to do.  All that remains now is drilling the taps, fitting the rain gutter downspouts, and propping the tanks up on cinder blocks and we should be in business!

Bob and Adam's Excellent Adventure

As a bit of a change up from my usual, this week I bring you a short interview with my buddies Bob Rebello and Adam Sattley from back home in Colorado.  This year, Bob and Adam grew an awesome home garden that I'd like to tell you all about...


Bruno:  Tell us a little about your inspiration for your urban farming project.
Bob:  Really, it comes down to tons of sun, too much time on our hands.

Bruno:  How large is your garden and what is your crop rotation and yield for this year?

Bob:  We have 3 separate gardens (not including containers and retaining walls that we’ve commandeered for food purposes. Square footage breaks down like this:

• 80 sq ft along the garage: tomatoes, peppers and spaghetti squash. This garden is perfect for growing tomatoes that thrive and heat and sun: It sits directly against the bright white garage wall; it faces due south; it's 100% sun all day; and it's built up from the ground using dark-colored brick that helps absorb heat. PLUS we live in freaking COLORADO where we get more than 300 days of sun each year! This was where we started our urban gardening in 2010.
• 100 sq ft corner garden: sunflowers, butternut squash, onions, corn, peas, beans
• 64 sq ft strawberry garden: 10 Ozark strawberry plants

As for crop rotation, I planted chrysanthemums in the garage garden over the winter and pulled them out before we tilled and amended the soil in May.

Bruno:  How large is your garden and what is your crop rotation and yield for this year?
Bob:  Last year, which was our first urban garden attempt at this house, we harvested 40 spaghetti squash, 300-400 celebrity tomatoes, and 30 peppers of different varieties (hot and sweet) all in our 4X20 garage garden. So far this season in all gardens combined, we have harvested 16 ears of corn (there was more but we just couldn’t keep up), probably a hundred beans and peas, 11 butternut squash, 5 mammoth sunflower heads, 36 Texas Sweet onions which are still ripening, 30 spaghetti squash, easily 200 cherry tomatoes, 40 Celebrity tomatoes, 30 Husky Gold tomatoes, 10 Ancho chili peppers, 15 Anaheim chili peppers, 10 purple bells, 15 yellow bells, and just a handful of strawberries since this is their first year) Basil, Rosemary, Dill, Parsley and other herbs were planted in containers and are continuing to provide fresh herbs whenever we want them.

Bruno:  What was your biggest pest challenge and how did you overcome it?
Bob:  Our biggest challenge was powdery mildew. Not exactly a pest and didn’t seem to hurt squash production, but it’s ugly and we just don’t like it.


(For those interested a completely organic way to treat this pest is a dilute solution of baking soda and water sprayed daily on the leaves until the mildew disappears) 

Bruno:  What novel approaches have you used to integrate gardening and living space in your home?
Bob:  Kind of the opposite thing happened: Gardening has allowed us to expand our living space outdoors. You can see individual pieces of art in each garden; and even a walkway right though the busy corner garden. Making the gardens eye-catching and walkable encourages us and our guests to get outside and enjoy them.

Bruno:  What is it about growing your own fresh food that you find most satisfying?

Bob:  The most satisfying thing about growing our own food is that it enhances our apocalypse preparedness. Seriously though, we saw that empty space and knew we could do better than dirt so we gave it a shot. Neither one of us had ever grown a garden before so the number one satisfying thing is knowing that we could grow something. Watering and weeding serve as mental respites for us with each in a pretty stressful job.  We both enjoy caring for the garden. Eating the food comes secondary to sharing the food with others. We take great joy in giving the fruits (and vegetables) of our labor to our friends and neighbors.

Bruno:  What have you learned about the value of organic gardening and sustainability in your experience?

Bob:  Whether organic or not, sustainability is key. Why grow grass when you can grow FOOD? Kentucky Bluegrass just seems silly to us.

Bruno:  Share one thing about your adventure in urban farming that you would like for others to know.

Bob:  If you only have one growing season, plant in stages. We planted everything at once because we were so excited to get everything in the ground. We had SO MANY beans, peas, corn, and tomatoes at the same time that we couldn’t pick it fast enough, let alone eat it.

For more information about Bob, please visit his awesome website.  Thank you Bob for your inspirational photos and input!  And tell Adam, Peanut and Olive we all said hello!