DIG / GROW / EAT

THE TESTOSTERONE

2009-05-17T13:49:00.003-04:00

Yes, the testosterone. That just flew over my head as I dug holes for our newly purchased impatiens. It started with the Righty's big scary dog barking. The fence isn't very sturdy and he was growling by it, so I got a little scared, and told him to shut up. The barking continued, but I had things to do. A few minutes later, Lefty/nosy-neighbor, stepped out on his 3rd floor porch and tried to start conversation / a whine-fest about the barking. I shrugged, smiled and said, "Well, ya know, dogs bark." A few more minutes passed, and then Righty himself came out. Lefty hurled his complaint over our yard to Righty. Righty snapped back. Lefty said Righty didn't take care of his dogs and they were filthy "like his yard without grass" Righty defended he doesn't have the sunlight to grow grass. Lefty referenced Righty's 3 foot dreadlocks. Righty called Lefty a racist. Lefty said white people had dreads also. Righty told the guy to go to --- and that no one liked him. Lefty shot back. Righty said the reason people in our apartment always move out because of him. His rebuttal was ditto.

At this point I thought hey maybe I should go inside, maybe this isn't safe. But I'm such a damn voyer, and I didn't want them to think I was scared of their bickering. So I kept on planting. Due to my strategic position, I was unlikely to sustain injury if either of them took out a gun. Lefty tried to engage me at one point with "hey lady don't you hate his dogs? and his nasty dreads? and his dirty yard?" I just said "I'm staying out of this!" and they moved on in their conversation.

They continued to sling accusations of filth, trash in the front yard, unemployment, nosiness, racism, loser-hood... Lefty said he could call the cops, Righty claimed he has a friend at the police station, Lefty called him cop-gang-corrupt...

I finished my last flower, gathered my tools, lest I be accused of backyard filth and gingerly walked up our porch steps and ducked inside.

A few days ago I thought this blog may fade due to monotony. Thanks, neighbors, not boring one bit.

THE SEPARATION

2009-05-15T20:47:00.003-04:00

I've hit a few of my first snags, er, learning bumps, er, coulda-done-more-research-but-trial-by-error-is-more-fun moments.
How do I explain this without photos? First, the plants that are in peet pots by themselves are fine. They are easy to transfer and move. But, when I ran out of peet pots I planted multiple seeds in plastic pots...
and today...
I realized...
that if I left them there any longer the roots would tangle. I had to separate them out, plant a few of each in the garden, and hope they don't die.
The corn looked strong and didn't flop over dramatically when I transplanted it along the northern fence. I broke some bamboo takeout chopsticks to mark the plants so I don't accidentally "weed" them.
The morning glories, which did dramatically flop over, are now along the southern fence with old broken fence posts to hopefully climb up.

Flower Update: Other than the morning glories, my $8 flower seed investment seems to be a case of failure to thrive. They are just way too slow to grow, so in the interest of seeing real flowers before 2010, we're going to my favorite save money, live better garden center tomorrow morning. Should this be considered a failure? Nah, a lesson learned.

THE WATCH

2009-05-13T20:53:00.002-04:00

If I could locate my camera connector cord, you could all see photos of the wonderful things happening in the sunroom. The plants are, for lack of better words, adorable. In my expanses of time I check on them 2-4 times per day and there are hourly changes. Almost all of the vegetables have sprouted, except for the carrots and lima beans. The corn is standing nearly 2 inches tall, the bush beans are curly, the spinach looks sturdy. The morning glories are winning the race at nearly 6 inches in a week! I wish I had a time-lapse camera on them. The shasta daisies are delicate but very much there. Now, if only I could post some pictures to show you!

The plants in the garden haven't grown in a week. I water them - but not overly. They seem to get enough sun, but maybe I overestimated the backyard's UVA/UVB?

If nothing else the morning glories will form a mutiny over the entire yard and compete with the corn.

THE SPROUT

2009-05-11T10:30:00.004-04:00

I spent most of Sunday on the couch, recovering from a whirlwind Saturday that began with a 5 am yard sale and ended with getting home from a Cinco (nuevo?) de Mayo party at 11 pm.

Around 3 pm yesterday when I finally went outside to see the sun, I also saw the first signs of life from my plants. The morning glories, practically overnight had sprouted and grown to 1.5 inches. The corn was nearly a centimeter above the dirt, and the shasta daisies and lettuce had little discernible sprouts.

I stood around half-asleep as Plus One cleaned out years of dead leaves and twigs from the corners of the yard. There is just something OCD about me and cleanliness and I didn't feel like I could really enjoy my garden with all of that death hanging around.

He tried to open the water line in the basement to the outside and found that there's a leak that results in sprinkler system action inside the basement. Thankfully, he enjoys fixing things with which I'd rather not be bothered. For now the water will have to be transported from the kitchen or bathroom to the backyard.

We're headed back to Walmart today for a long list of household items and hoping to get some more pots to transplant whatever succeeds.

THE OUTREACH

2009-05-07T14:59:00.004-04:00

To begin, I note that I planted the seeds in mini peet-pots in the sunroom on Tuesday. While Plus One continued to unpack boxes from our big move. He's so nice.

This morning, I ventured to a transitional housing program, where I had made contact with the volunteer coordinator. To maintain their privacy I can't/won't be sharing details. But they have a variety of areas where they need/want help, and total flexibility and openness to new ideas. After a chat, a house tour, and further chat, we decided I will grow a vegetable and flower garden in the backyard! It's a beautiful space with full sunshine, a playset for the kids who live there, and empty pots and a raised gardening bed just calling my name. They are even going to try to acquire some supplies for me - mineral rich soil, some developed plants, gardening gloves. So, all I have to give is my time and not from our very limited budget. There is a chance some of the residents will want to help and learn, and that we can get the kids involved and our playing in the dirt - a first for most of them who have called homeless shelters their digs for the majority of their lives. Then, if its successful, they'd also let me teach the residents about cooking by incorporating more vegetables into their meals. I'm so excited. It's an alignment of the unemployment stars.

After I got home and rested my useless knees and tired legs for a bit, I spent some time in my own garden, digging up some room and planting the mini-plants from the greenhouse. I propped some old fencing scraps up against the current fence and am going to try to get a vine cucumber to climb.

My current goal is plant so much that something is bound to succeed.

Please visit my other site: http://unemployedinthekitchen.blogspot.com/
Further adventures in unemployment over there!

THE BUY

2009-05-05T11:59:00.005-04:00

Save money, Live better. Or, Save money, Grow more.

I went a little excessive at Walmart's garden center. Planning a garden involves - to me, mainly do you #1 go conservative and reasonable or #2 go outa control and grow a garden to be truly proud of. One which impresses. I chose the latter.

I've had to consider - do I want to calculate the money spent and the cost of the return on my investment? I say yes.

First, my buy:

two bags of moisture control soil ($12.50 X 2)
two trays of biodegradable seeding pots ($5 X 2)

My brother and sister-in-law gave me two plants: a large tomato variety and an eggplant. These will be good for earlier crop while I wait impatiently for everything else.

We drove to the closest Mennonite greenhouse for some mini plants:

Candy Onion
Golden Bell Pepper
Zucchini Gold
Revolution Green Pepper
Hybrid Climbing Cucumber
Big Boy Tomato
Cherokee Heirloom Purple Tomato

(75 cents X 7)
These will provide a next round of crop.

And then, the seeds:

Sugar Snap Peas
Looseleaf 5 Lettuce Blend
Spinach Hybrid
Short 'n Sweet Carrots
Bush Blue Lake Beans
Bush Champion Cucumbers
Sweet Silver Choice Hybrid Corn
Roma Tomato
Super Sweet 100 Hybrid Cherry Tomato
Jalapeno Peppers
Baby Fordhook Lima Beans
Sugar Baby Watermelon

($1.50 X 4)

($1 X 8)

This assortment will give us crops sooner, a little later, early, and later summer. And enough vitamins and minerals to be super heroes. And come September, fall into a deep depression about needing to spend so much money on imported produce at the grocery store!

Realistically, I only have space enought for 1-3 of each plant and will have dozens of seeds leftover. Most unused seeds will last until next year but I may just give them to the highest bidder on CL's Free section.

I'm also torn because I went crazy on the flower seeds and they will compete with veggies for space. I'm not factoring in these costs but here's the list for your enjoyment:

Heavenly Blue Morning Glory, Giant Mixed Color Painted Daisies, William Guinness Columbine, Silver Princess Shasta Daisies, Barlow Mix Columbine, Butterfly Weed, and Marigold. And, my sister-in-law gave me a packet of Giant Zinnia seeds.

My selection of flowers wasn't strategic. I just picked the prettiest pictures on the packets.

In order to make more of the yard cultivatable we'd have to introduce more nutrient rich soil. We don't go through enough produce in the kitchen to create massive amounts of compost. If I can find my little sitting bench and get Plus One to bring everything in from the car, I may sit in the sunroom today and work on my seedlings.

Total, thus far: $54.25

Truth: Due to space constraints we won't yield the potential of this investment, but the entertainment value alone is worth the cost.

THE RAIN

2009-05-04T13:57:00.003-04:00

Keeps coming down, day after day, with the end in sight but far in the future - next week, perhaps. It's likely stomping down the soil I worked so hard to loosen. It's not as if its hindering any other work though. Still haven't bought seeds or plants, and I'm likely to grow most of them in the sunroom until they are strong enough to withstand the rain (and turkey legs).

THE DIG

2009-05-02T13:02:00.001-04:00

Today is Dig Day. It's pretty warm outside, though nothing like it will be in a few weeks.

The backyard is a veritable dump. Thus far I have found:
cigarette lighters
metal scraps
nails and screws
plastic parts
a french fry container
wire mesh
an ice cream container
half eaten pizza
grapefruit halves

Then, there are the BONES. Since the first day I have seen and collected bones. They look to be too big for a chicken. Perhaps a turkey? Most are nawed down without a scrap. But today I found a fresh leg with meat and fat still on it.

I'll refer to our neighbors as LEFTSIDE and RIGHTSIDE. On the Leftside the yard is an expanse of weeds and tall grass. It's interesting (my favorite word) that one of the tenants gave us a nosy neighbor lecture about trash being throw about and how he will call "the city" if we let animals get into our cans. Moreover, the Rightside neighbors' yard is grassless - with a plethora of odd planters, tae kwon do mats and posts, and funky strings of outdoor lights. These neighbors appear to love barbeque, and disposing of their bones in our yard. "In this economy" I don't think it's right to waste food, so I threw the half eaten bone back over the fence toward their yard. Mostly because the meat will undoubtedly attract animals, of which I am not too fond. Their dogs have been digging under the fence, which calls for a piece of wood to prevent infiltration.

I'm determined to make our little plot pretty and purposeful. If we have to have a summer-long feud of bone throwing, so be it. I'm down.

NOTE: Regarding photos: Since I've lost my laptop I have no way of uploading pictures, but I promise I'm taking them along the way and at a later date will trace back to update so you can see the progress!

Back to the dig!

Do you have a computer?

2009-05-01T09:11:00.000-04:00

My laptop, purchased in May 2005, has died. I am going through the mourning process, and trying to figure out what to do so I can continue to blog, update my FB status obsessively, keep up with email, and google endlessly.

So, what better time than to ask, most sincerely, if anyone out there has an old laptop in working condition that they are willing to donate? I'm not kidding. We can't afford a new one, even an inexpensive model - and I have a feeling someone out there has a computer sitting around that they no longer need.

I will pay you to ship it to me.

The reimbursement will be my forever thankfulness! So, preemptively, THANK YOU!!!

Welcome to My Garden

2009-04-30T12:38:00.001-04:00

We've got a new apartment in the city, mostly chosen for the outdoor space - a backyard with great potential. With the East Coast summer weather fast approaching, I'm looking forward to a gardening venture. I've loved blogging about my cooking on Unemployed in the Kitchen and can't imagine this new undertaking without the chance to share my lessons learned.

I'm technically a gardening novice. My experiences are limited to hiding in my family's backyard garden as a kid, eating enough sugar snap peas and cherry tomatoes to get a stomach ache. However, I believe anything that can be learned via Google is worth my vast expanses of free time.

Gonna be digging, growing and eating! Hope you join me, become a follower, add this to your favorites, and read it everyday!