The Vision

I've asked myself this question a lot: given complete freedom, how would i spend my time?  How would I fill my time if there were no bills to pay, errands to run, student loans to dread or the necessary "work" it takes to take care of those "necessities?"
   What would I do if I were truly free?

   I'd grow food. And eat it... and tinker & toy with the numerous projects that entails.

   There have always been hurdles barring the path to such freedom.  And like most humans, I'm prone to use hurdles as excuses.  But I'm ready to jump, wanna jump with me?

I'm not going to wait until we own land.
I'm not going to wait until there's enough start-up capital.
I'm not going to wait until someday in the future, because if I do I'll find myself hoping to retire into the life I wanted when I was young.
I'm not even going to wait until I'm out of the suburbs.
I'm ready to grow, wanna grow with me?

I want Backyard Beddie's to foster a network of local folks growing food in their yards, on their patios, in their kitchens.  I need us to come together, so we can show each other that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.  I believe a coordinated network of avid micro-growers can produce enough food to provide for their community and earn a living.

I'm ready to plant, wanna plant with me?

signs of life

     My little babies are breaking through the dirt...
I sowed some seed Saturday, eager to test my lil Seed Starting Station & hoping to get a jump on the fast approaching cool/cole crop season.  Resisting a chronic compulsion to plant everything at my fingertips was difficult, but i managed to start with 3 flats:

• Flat #1: American Flag Leek & Red Torpedo Onion:  this is my first year really breaking into alliums (this fall i planted German White and California Early garlic at me madre's, and perennial Egyptian Walking Onions[cool pictures through that link] in the keyhole bed). As such, i've never grown them from seed, but shoots came up today from the leeks and the onions. Really hoping these work out, cuz i think the joe-knee and i consume at least a pound of onions and a clove of garlic a week.
• Flat #2: Waltham Broccoli: i planted the whole flat and within 3 days nearly all the seeds had sprouted.  Which is good, cuz we love broccoli. All of it: stems, shoots & leaves. It's probably good for you, our tastebuds declare.  Barring some kind of cataclysm, i should have some extras for trade or sale by the time you wanna put em in the ground (around the 3rd wk of February)
• Flat #3: Early Jersey Wakefield Cabbage & Red Russian Kale:  these guys have yet to emerge, but they've got some time left. We're overwintering a couple of each variety in our neighbor Randy's bed, so if for some reason they don't want to sprout, we'll still have some to CHOMPCHOMPCHOMP.

The next step is to build some kind of ramshackle cold-frame, to harden off the seedlings & free up more room to germinate my little seedlings. I'll need plenty in the next few weeks to start sprouting my celery, lettuce & tons of tomatoes...
the plan is to start lots of transplant tomatoes: Radiator Charlie's Mortgage Lifter (click link for radio story), Amish Paste, Brandywine & Beefsteak.  These should be ready by the end o' March for trade, sale, and baiting potential gardeners... :)

in other news: i made the ... correct decision? ... and impulse bought 50 strawberry plants when i ordered my heating coil.  My logic was that if i spent $6 more dollars @ www.groworganic.com  i'd get two free seed packets (i picked Kentucky Wonder green beans & Southern Giant Curled mustard), saving myself around $5.  what i failed to factor in was the cost of shipping dormant strawberries across the country (nearly twice as much as the plants) and the fact that since they're shipped from the golden valleys of California, the berries would arrive on my door in January. Sheesh. They're in the fridge until I can figure out what to do with them.  All cuz Joani said she wanted some strawberries, not because i am a berry glutton.

So stay tuned to find out:

• if the shua keep his strawberries alive until their preferred pea-synched planting date
• which plants thrive in this suburban microclimate & which wilt like cabbage in the dog days surrounded by all this noise & all these people
• if catastrophic climate collapse affects our growing season in a good way or just a wierd one
• if shua will go crazy and live in a teepee in the backyard, scaring neighborhood children & neglecting to properly launder his loincloth
• or something else...

Geeking out on planning

As you can see from the time stamp, i got a little wrapped up with planning this evening.
   I've worked out my master plan for our house by laying a sheet of tracing paper over my detailed drawing of the lot. Check it out:

 My goal is to have the 3 raised 4'x12' vegetable beds, the keyhole bed and the herb spiral installed this fall for spring planting.  The 3-bin composter should be built in the next week or two. 
  The herb spiral and keyhole bed are my permaculture 101 projects.  If you're interested in learning more about them on your own you can google-wack them, or stay tuned for future posts.
  I'll be taking cuttings from the fig trees in February for fall planting next year.  The worm bin is a spring project and i'm percolating my thoughtscicles to remedy my drainage problems.

I also got cracking on my crop plan for the raised vegetable beds.  The 3 beds subdivide into 6 plots so i can implement the 6 bed rotation i worked out for my ma's house.  I'll be using the Square Foot method in these beds like we do over at mom's.  It's pretty exciting to see how much variety you can grow in a relatively small space.  If all goes well, the front yard should keep us well supplied with fresh food from April to November.  Here's the planting plan for next spring:

 


Thats packing:

• 12 cucumbers
• a plethora of mustard greens
• 4 squash plants
• 6 broccoli
• 48 pole beans
• 92 bush beans
• 46 soybean plants
• 27 leeks
• 12 celery
• 96 storage onions
• 48 sweet onions
• 108 scallions
• 24 garlic bulbs
• 12 tomatoes
• 12 pepper plants
• 54 shell peas
• 54 snap peas

into 72 sq.ft. of space.

Am i biting off more than i can chew?
Better start practicing my mastication technique.

That's all i got. Backyard Beddies to beddy-bye.

making plans

   The fall planting season is upon us and I'm running a bit behind. 
   In addition to my experiments at our new house, I'm also working with my Ma to maximize production in her garden.  Over the years we've put in 6 raised beds that consistently produce, plus a double-dug bed by the front door, the landscape island where she grows cucumbers, and a spot on the other side of the front door where she's been growing tomatoes.  With the tremendous help of Stepfather Steve, we've begun work on 5 hexagonal keyhole beds in the backyard as well. 
  While we've attempted to grow our plants in different places in the 6 raised beds over the years, we've never really kept good records about what grew where, what varieties were grown and which ones produced the best.  After taking the Organic Growing Class at Cane Creek Farms through Georgia Organics, I've realized the importance of good record keeping for the micro-farmer (a term I prefer to "gardener").
    That being said, I post a plan for your perusal.  Any ideas or insights would be most appreciated.

There's that.
    I planted some snap peas, kale and broccoli yesterday, but I haven't even ordered our garlic yet.... I'm a bad kid...  here's hoping catastrophic climate collapse extends the season for me.

   As far as our house goes, I'm still working on the plan, brain-hurricaning and daydreaming, but I have my practical side as well (thanks mom) so I've measured our lot and created a drawing to work from:

i think the measurements around the berry bushes in the back may be a lil wonky.

   So now you should have a basic idea of what I'm working with...which is pretty much what I have too.

p.s.  hopefully we'll get a cheap camera this weekend and i'll be able to post pics of projects i've been working on recently. woohoo!