We went back to our old community garden (as we do every Christmas, when we go to visit the in-laws), which is really where I learned how to garden. It’s been a crushing though eye-opening experience, to see how all my efforts aged there. They did not age well, all the invasive aggressive species have come back with a vengeance, and outcompeted so many forbs… perennial flowers, no sign of even dead stems. The herb beds have melted away. Before we moved, I tried to teach or train anyone who would listen, but there weren’t any takers. It’s amazing how quickly it has lost biodiversity. The trees and shrubs we planted, most are doing fine, though some of the fruit trees could use some TLC. One of the original grape vines is doing well, no sign of the others. The garden beds are falling apart, and it looked like only one of the many plots had even been gardened it. It’s a hard space to work, it’s so freaking hot in summer, there’s no water line, and there’s tons of mosquitoes in the area. But it’s always had so much potential, and it still does. It’s disheartening that few people have stepped up, right now it’s barely maintained. The hardest part of community gardening is definitely the ‘community’ part.
V and I have talked it over, we REALLY want to visit when it is spring there, when the fruit trees are flowering. And we want to label things, mostly the fruit trees that we planted. Nothing is labeled there anymore, it all looks pretty abandoned except for the children’s sandbox area next to the small pavilion. There were originally 4 people who really threw themselves into this project, us and M+R. We moved away, and M+R are busy with kids and jobs and lives. It’s only E, who is not a Plant Person but who brings in large volunteer groups to work on big projects, who is left holding the torch.
On the one hand - green. On the other hand, these are all invasive species that have taken over the understory. ALL the groundcovers in sunny areas looked like this. No more clover, that we spent years establishing… no signs of many flowers and herbs I’d planted, even tough things like Bee Balm and Lemon Balm.
All of our knowledge, about what plants are where, is just… missing. Plant labels are hard, we’ve actually gone through multiple iterations at this place. We don’t live here anymore, other people will have to step up to help this place realize its full potential. It’s 7.5 acres of food forest and community garden, and more than a little guerrilla gardening. But we still help out how we can. I actually just updated the original google sites page that I created back in 2011, so it’s vaguely pertinent.
The big tree branch that V is looking at? It’s a ‘Belle of Georgia’ peach and it has produced the best damn peaches I’ve ever eaten in my life.
There was a giant mulch pile at the entrance that we both kept eyeing. We could knock that out in no time. I’m a lot stronger now and we’ve been gardening together as a team for 10 years. It seems ridiculous on the one hand to drive across state lines to do volunteer physical labor for a community space we no longer occupy. On the other hand, we’ve poured thousands of hours into this space, and we love it deeply. We planted our first tree here together! It’s doing really well.
Bat house fell off the tree when the wood rotted. To our knowledge, we were never able to convince any bats to occupy it. It was not cheap. The bird houses that were bought around this time (2011/2012) are long gone. It’s hard to build things that last.
Reminder that ICE is arresting more people for the exact same reason that some jails are releasing/not arresting people - the more confined people are, the more likely they are to catch disease. Keep an eye on the camps.
This world is a place of business. What an infinite bustle!… I think that there is nothing, not even crime, more opposed to poetry, to philosophy, ay, to life itself, than this incessant business.
“
—
Henry David Thoreau, “Life Without Principle” (via philosophybits)
The coronavirus pandemic has already started to hit American pocketbooks, with nearly 1 in 5 households experiencing a layoff or a reduction in work hours, according to a new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll.
As people stay home, avoid crowds and cancel plans to avoid spreading the disease, it’s rapidly causing a contraction in economic activity that is hurting a wide range of businesses.
Restaurants, bars, hotels and airlines are among the hardest-hit industries, but the ripple effects of the drop in demand are expected to spread across virtually the entire economy.
A store-bought bag of topsoil, a roll of landscaping fabric, or a bag of cedar chips doesn’t go very far if you have a large garden or a very limited budget. Here are some ways to create the materials you need for a beautiful, organic, productive garden, by both re-directing household waste, and foraging in your local area. I use a lot of these tricks in my garden to make it almost completely free for me to continue growing new things, and expanding the workable area every year!
For soil
Save your food scraps to create a rich compost for growing veggies and amending your soil. There are numerous options for every size of dwelling and yard. Small space solutions such as Bokashi and vermicompost work indoors and don’t produce bad smells, so you can keep them underneath the sink.Worm towers, compost heaps, and outdoor compost binsare a great solution if you have more space. The more you add, the more rich, nutritious material you can make for your garden. I like composting because it means I don’t have gross smelly garbage bags to deal with, because food waste is diverted. It seems like a lot of work at first, but it actually saves time, money, and transportation.
There are three things that are essential for plant growth. These are nitrogen for leaves and vegetation (N), phosphorus for roots and shoots (P), and potassium for water movement, flowering, and fruiting (K). Commercial fertilisers will give the relative concentrations of each of these compounds with and “NPK” rating. Plants like tomatoes also need calcium to produce healthy fruit. You can create amendments for your garden and soil at home so that you do not have to purchase fertiliser.
Human urine contains 12% nitrogen, and it’s sterile. Dilute before adding directly to plants.
Legumes such as beans, clover, peanuts, and alfalfa fix inorganic nitrogen into the soil with mycorrhizal organisms and nodules on their root systems. Plant these crops every few years in rotation with others to renew the soil organically.
For phosphorus
Human urine is also a great source of phosphorous and trace amounts of potassium.
Many plants are particular about what the soil pH should be.
To make soil more acidic: add oak leaves, pine needles, leaf mulch, urine, coffee grounds or sphagnum.
To make soil more alkaline: add wood ash, shell, or bone.
Mulch
Mulch is decomposing organic matter that adds nutrition to the soil, while simultaneously keeping out weed growth and retaining moisture. It also attracts worms, fungi and other beneficial creatures to your soil. Free sources of mulch include:
Leaves
Garden waste
Grass clippings
Straw (often straw bales are given away after being used for decoration in the fall. You can also plant vegetables directly in straw bales using a technique called straw bale gardening).
Wood chips (if you can borrow a wood chipper after you’ve collected some wood you can have attractive wood mulch for free)
When mulch isn’t enough to keep the weeds down, many people opt for landscaping fabric. It can be quite expensive and inorganic-looking. Free solutions that both attract worms and can be replaced in small segments as they break down include:
Newspaper*
Cardboard*
Egg cartons*
Printer paper, looseleaf, etc. in thick layers*
*try to make sure you are using paper that has vegetable-based dyes, so you aren’t leeching toxins into the soil.
Soil density/drainage
If your soil is compacted and you have plants that require low levels of water, or excellent drainage, add sand. I don’t recommend stealing it from the beach, but ask around and you’d be surprised at how easy it is to get for free. Sawdust also improves drainage. Adding organic matter and mulch encourages worms, who also till and aerate compacted soil.
If the area still needs drainage, dig a hole and fill it with bricks or rocks to create a “dry well”
For drainage in pots, add crushed bricks,terra cotta pot fragments, packing peanuts, small stones, marbles, orsand to the bottom under the soil layer. I find these in construction sites, on craigslist, or at flea markets.
Pots and growing containers
If you have space, raised beds are a great no-dig way to establish growing space. If you are pressed for space (like working on a balcony) there are many cheap or free options for container gardens.
Creating raised beds allows you to build up the soil without digging. Free ways to do this include using rocks or lumber (like my DIY “lasagna garden” made with the sheet composting technique), using the “wattle“ method with sticks and posts you have found, using discarded straw bales, old bricks,paving stones,cinder blocks or really anything else you have lying around.
Hugelkutur raised beds, which fix carbon and provide drainage, can be made by stacking sticks and untreated wood, and then piling soil or compost over it. (Thanks milos-garden)
Rubber tire gardens retain heat in the night and allow for great drainage. They can also be painted in fun ways.
Herb spirals (here is mine: 1, 2, 3) can be built with stones, bricks, and other found materials.
I often use old cooking pots, barbecues, teapots, or other found objects as planters.
If you can track down peat moss, cement, and vermiculite, you can make an easy Hypertufa planter in whatever shape you would like, provided you have a form in which it can dry.
Paving often requires a foundation of sand or another stable and well-drained substrate, and a covering of stones, bricks, or other weatherproof elements. Slowly collect stones over time, or free paving stone fragments to create a mosaic-type walkway. Often people give these things away on craigslist. I made a patio and fireplace out of free salvaged bricks, for example.
Save seeds from foods you like from the grocery store: consider growing peanuts, ginger, garlic, peppers, or a walnut tree: all of these and more can be planted from store-bought produce.
Learn to take cuttings. There is a tonne of info on the web about basic cutting propagation, layering, (like I do with rhododendrons) air layering, and numerous other techniques to take clones of plants you like. This saves going to a nursery and shelling out big bucks for all the variety you want.
For cuttings, willow tea and honey are great rooting hormones/antiseptics/anti-fungal agents, which can save you $40 if you were thinking of buying commercial rooting hormone.
I hope this helps you build your garden outside of the usual capitalist channels! It can be a cheap or free hobby if you are willing to think outside the box, and maybe put up with things that don’t look as clean or crisp as a hardware store catalogue.
If you have any further ideas, please add them! The more information the better.
Another source for pots: Your local garden center (even some at the big name big box stores) may have many, many, MANY used pots they will sell for pennies or possibly even give away.
This blog is mostly so I can vent my feelings and share my interests. Other than that, I am nothing special.
If you don't like Left Wing political thought and philosophy, all things related to horror, the supernatural, the grotesque, guns or the strange, then get the fuck out. I just warned you.
