Edible Front Lawn
Well it's August and the edible front yard is moving along quite nicely.
Tomatoes- The patio tomatoes are near done and the bigger tomato plants are beginning to show some fruit. Well some of them. Some are just disappointing thus far, with lots of vines but no little green fruits to show for itself. It could be that other pants are getting in the way.
Beans- Beans, beans a wonderful fruit. The Parisian bean is dying if not dead. My beans seem to suffer from a spider mite problem that requires a nearly daily dose of spraying a strong stream of water of the leaves to knock the little buggers off. Unfortunately, with my spotty watering the mites won. At least I got a few nice Harcourt Verts out of them. The red emperor bean is giving me nice little red flowers but nothing else. I don't think I'll grow them again next year. Lastly I am very happy with the conch peas or Texas Cream 8 bean. Conch peas are what I used to eat as a child in Florida. I can't seem to find these kind of peas/beans up here in DC. Though it is a very small amount that I am getting, I'm happy I'm getting them. I will grow more next year.
Thyme- It's taking over every empty spot in the yard. This is the creeping variety, not the culinary kind. I can eat it but only when I've run out of the type I like.
Salad Greens- I don't know the exact name of whatever is pictured here but whatever it is it suffers heat and spotty watering well. It hasn't gone bitter like many other greens and is salad and sandwich worthy. Corn Mache didn't like the heat, and those plants look pretty beat up, so I am hoping that they do better in the fall. The purslane is all over and I'm not eating it fast enough.
Beets- I like the ones I have and have taken the greens and sauted them in olive oil and garlic. I'm haing a problem with seeds I've placed in the ground recently as nothing is coming up and I want something around for winter.
Flowers- Daylilies are done. Pansys and Violas are going strong. I haven't felt the need to put them in a salad. Nasturtiums have suffered in the heat and seem near dead.
Etc. Somewhere under a tomato vine is a sage plant dying for some sun. The mint is fine and I guess I should ponder another mojito party... or just make mojito sorbet. I haven't done squat with the oregano, which has gone to flower. The Thai basil is about to flower. I'm ignoring the swiss chard. I should give more of it away. Make room for something else. The parsley looks sad.
So this s just my 14x8 front yard. Yes, it is crowded. Very much so. But growing in the city can be done. And it is quite fun to say everything (minus the weeds) can be eaten.
Labels: gardening
Walking on my lunch
Part of my gardening is based on the idea of throw it on (seeds) or in the ground and see what happens. If it grows cool, if it don't oh, well.
The experiment with the purslane has been great. Seeds were thrown everywhere, and like the weed it is, it grew almost everywhere I put seed down. I've been enjoying purslane salads for dinner and lunch for a while now, but there is a problem. A good amount of the purslane is where I walk. The reason why I like purslane so much is that it has this great crunch to it. And it is that crunch I hear when I walk towards my bike or go to turn on the water hose.
Now I have arugula seedings from previous plantings that dropped seed growing in my walkway cracks too. Oh, brother!
The good thing about an edible front yard is I can eat it. The bad thing is I'm stepping on and knocking over the food that would be my lunch.
Labels: gardening
Soil Test Results
From the
Soil and Plant Tissue Testing Lab at the University Of Massachusetts:
Nutrient Levels: PPM (parts per million/ parts per milligram per kilogram)
Phosphorus (P) 105
Potassium (K) 282
Calcium (Ca) 4263
Magnesium (Mg) 303
Extracted Lead (PB) 34 PPM Estimated Total Lead is 443
"THE LEAD LEVEL IN THIS SOIL IS IN THE LOW RANGE.
READ THE ENCLOSED INFORMATION ABOUT LEAD IN THE SOIL.
FOLLOW THE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR LOW LEAD LEVELS."
According to UMASS I have high levels of nutrients and really should lay off the compost..... Anyone need compost? Trade you for nutrient low peat moss. The pH levels are outta wack, apparently they are too high.
Despite all your fears and concerns my front yard, my urban front yard has low levels of lead. It has less than 43 ppm and less than 500 ppm estimated total lead. High would be greater than 480 ppm and and estimated total lead ppm of 3000+, according to the accompanying materials the soil lab supplied. Also according to the materials lead is naturally present in soil in the range of 15-40 ppm. My soil falls within the natural range.
Labels: gardening
Gardening success. gardening failure
First, failure. Though I can see the pea vines from the peas I planted, I'm announcing my guerrilla gardening effort a failure. It's okay. Lessons were learned. For one, though I decided to make just a small plot for the garden, it was a little too deep into the property. When the weeds got up to a certain size I really couldn't go back there. And didn't want to wade through the grass and not see what my feet were stepping on. Second, I thought I could deal with the glass, the trash, the bricks and the rocks. Nope. A hard ground wasn't helping either. Lastly, the biggest problem was me. I would ignore the plot for days or even weeks at a time. Oh well, nothing ventured...
Where I have so far succeeded is my own yard. I was just able to harvest just enough purslane to make a personal salad. In the other salad greens area, I have been able to cut a handful of clippings and have them for lunch at work the next day. The end is nigh for the spring salads. Tuesday, I should go around to my pea plants and snip off the pea pods and shell the peas, then blanch the peas and freeze the peas. Some of the peas are doing what I needed them to do, help the soil then die when I'm ready to put in tomato plants. Some are a little to happy and productive to kill just yet.
Labels: gardening
Dirt on the Dollar Store
Dollar stores have their place in the universe. Today it was place to grab ever disappearing bobby pins. I don't know where my pins go, but half a pack grew legs and walked off, thus a need to head over to the dollah sto' on the 1500 block of 7th.
I got my pins, but a walk around to see what there could be used or repurposed revealed dirt. Not plain dirt but 8 lbs of organic garden dirt from Clinton, CT. Several bags of if hanging out in the rear of the store.
I was a bit surprised to find potting soil at the dollar store, but a grabbed a bag. I hoped it would be a dollar. Wrong. It was 2 dollars. The woman ringing me up asked if I was sure I knew I was buying dirt. Apparently the stock of soil she has was a mistake on her part. I don't know what she thought she was buying.
Labels: gardening
Insulted
This weekend I was feeling pretty good. For the second week I appeared in a Post publication. And though my name didn't appear as I normally have it( with the first initial), was pleased to see the NCPC borders holding.
But then, later that day, a man knocked on my door. I answered and what he said to me, left me hurt and insulted.
Man: Hello Miss, I do yards 'round here and I can get up those weeds you have in your yard.
Me: [with a confused look] Huh?
Man: [pointing to one of several tufts of greenery] Those weeds there.
Me: That's my peppermint. It's supposed to be there.
Man: No, those weeds there. I can remove those.
[We both walk over to where he's pointing]
Man: That there.
Me: [pointing with my foot] That's peppermint. That's thyme. They're not weeds!
He called my yard weedy.
Great Jimmeny Christmas, if a yard doesn't fit the American norm, it has to be attacked? Is fescue the only allowable thing? Water sucking grass? I have an edible front yard where the peppermint, the spearmint, the Greek oregano, and several varieties to thyme run free. And when I gaze upon it's green lushness, I am glad. I was going to cut back on the peppermint, but a neighbor mentioned how she liked the smell of the peppermint in the morning.
Weeds? Bah. Yeah, I know some of those yard work jobs are half work, half charity (depending on the worker). But if you can't tell a weed from herb then I don't want you no where near my yard.
Labels: gardening
So how was your weekend?
Mine?
Great. Friday
I appeared in the Washington Post's Express newspaper, but didn't know it until I got an email about it. Tis the problem with having a subscription to the main paper, not having a need to pick up the free one. It's a decent article and maybe later this week I might explore the whole researching where to buy process.
Saturday, you &%#!! took all the croissants. Ok, not all, you left two. I swear it was barely 9:30 when I got to Catania's and she was out of a lot of my favorites. In that week's
Food section Catania was mentioned so I expected there'd be fewer choices, but by golly people. Since I had a lot of trouble fitting into my ball gown that night I guess it was for the best. So that I can lay off the buttery goodness that are the $1.25 croissants, let me share a trick with you. I tend to buy a whole bunch and bag/wrap and freeze them immediately. When I want a hot croissant for later I take it out and microwave it in a ziplock bag for 1 minute and 20 to 35 seconds at 30% power.
Later that day I went out to Glen Echo Park for the Strauss Waltz. About 20 minutes before my ride was suppose to arrive I discovered my dress no longer fit. I'm sure it was a comical scene as I got my roommate to try to zip me up, while I'm sucking in and the fabric just refused to come together. After a couple of tries we gave up. So I went to Plan B dress, a longer, even more formal looking gown. That didn't fit either. I did find a dress but I'm going to have to lay off the croissants.
Maybe it would help to lay off the butter and the cream too. As Sunday I made
Lapin a la Moutard, Rabbit with Mustard Sauce. I found fresh rabbit at the Florida Market/Capital City Market on Saturday in that big building with all the vendors and stalls inside. The mustard cream sauce was delicious, problem is that it is mustard and a boat load of heavy whipping cream, with a pinch of tarragon.
In the garden the tarragon has sprout back up. Through the winter it lay dormant, now it's already to be used. It's been in its pot for about two years and comes back in the spring. Also I was able to take some seedling cuttings and make them into salad. I threw the seeds in the pot a few weeks ago and now I'm able to reap some reward. Well with the Black Seeded Simpson and the arugula, the mache is too small to bother with still. I swear last week I threw some radish seeds in the pot and there are little seedling up already.
Anyway, hope you had a good weekend.
Labels: Capital City Market, gardening, misc
Mari, Mari, Quite Contrary How Does Your Garden Grow
I was going to post on how I completely forgot to attend the school buildings meeting on the 10th, but that's just a downer. Instead, why not something happy, that makes me happy, my garden.
The peas are the exciting thing right now. Pea shoots have emerged from the ground and their tendrils are looking for something to latch on to. I read somewhere that pea shoots are a Chinese delicacy that you throw into a stir fry. I've eaten the thinnings raw and they do have a pea pod taste, I guess I could throw them in the pan. There are peas growing near my fence, peas in window boxes, peas in pots, everywhere.
As peas make their entrance other things that have weathered winter appear to make their exit. Cilantro is sprouting those funny looking tops that herald flowers, then seeds. Nicely though, I noticed little cilantro seedlings that must have come from earlier plants now long composted. The arugula is flowering and it's hard to find decent salad worthy leaves on the plants. The flowers are tasty though and are nice additions to salads. Also going to flower are the sage and the chives. I think sage flowers and I know chive flowers are edible and they too will make appearances in salad, as I'll let some go on to seed for the next season.
The Alpine Strawberries are flowering, but instead of a seedy end, I'll be getting strawberries. I don't have the sunniest plot for sweet fruits, but these plants have been wonderful for the past two years or so since I've had them. They give me small sweet berries that are enough to decorate a dessert or add to a small yogurt. They even produced when I completely abandoned them last year during the renovation.
I think I'm getting kind of late with starting my salad greens. The only greens I've got in pots right now are corn mache and spinach seedlings. A low and wide pot for the mesclun mix would do fine. I look forward to baby salads.
As soon as the sample dries out I'm finally going to get my front yard soil tested. I've heard some of your concerns and completely ignored them, regarding the soil from which I grow my tomatoes, chard, arugula, radishes, mint, thyme, and other edibles. Yet I'm curious to know if I'm actually right. If there is any significant amount of heavy metals (lead) in the soil, I guess I'll do raised beds next year.
Labels: gardening
You gonna eat that?
Just in case you're new to the blog and my occassional gardening posts, my front yard has a theme. It is, "can I eat it?" If I can't eat some part of the plant, I refuse to grow it.
Now just because it is edible, doesn't dictate that I will eat it. That's what I was thinking when I moved the Swiss Chard up against the fence by the sidewalk. Looking at it, I realized it was in puppy peeing range. No matter, I'm less of a chard fan this year. Chard has this odd aftertaste that makes my tounge feel fuzzy. Beet greens are much better and no aftertaste.
The Swiss Chard I have, I started in 2007, and they survived the winter pretty well. In Fall I cut them down and gave the greens away to neighbors, only to have new growth sprout from the sides of the left over stump. Another reason why I moved them to the fence was that they are pretty. They are red, yellow and a greenish white leaves. The red can be very vibrant. I figure they are pretty enough to be one of the decorative edibles.
Labels: gardening
Composting confusion
I'm reading Real Simple at lunch and and glancing at their article on How Green Are You. There is a chart of greenie activities, one being "Compost A Fifth Of Your Garbage" which I do, maybe 1/2 of my garbage. But part of the reasoning, struck me as stupid:
"..Plus, composting food scraps, like apple cores, keeps them out of landfills, where they can break down to release a potent greenhouse gas."
....so what is that apple core doing in my composter if not breaking down? And I'm sure it is off gassing something, particularly when I haven't balanced it with the browns. Maybe I'm missing something. Does an apple core become dangerous in a landfill but not so in my backyard composter?
My other problem with the article is there is no mention of mercury in CFLs bulbs. You gotta be careful with them and dispose of them properly when the day comes when they burn out.
While I'm on the topic of compost and gardening. I did not realize how wonderful my soil is until I started hacking away in someone else's yard. Over the years I've been living at my house, I have amended the soil, put down lots of compost and other organic matter and after the rains it is soft and rich. The other yard, a big mass of heavy wet clay.
Labels: compost, gardening
Mulch
Over at ANC Kevin's site is an
announcement that free mulch is available near 5th & P. I've already grabbed some, and will probably grab some more later this week.
I'm not taking it for my yard, but for the vacant property near me. My street has a reputation to uphold for cute yards. Though I can't do too much about the occupied houses with people who don't do anything with their fronts, I can take control over one yard. What I figure I can do is chop up the weeds, lay down some newspaper or thick cardboard, wet it, then cover it with the mulch. I will leave some open spots to plant day lilies and other items that I'm moving out of my own garden.
Maybe if there is mulch left and if I haven't thrown out my back and if I still have the energy, I might try to talk one of the neighbors into letting me do their yard.
Labels: gardening
Compost
Flipping through the Gospel According to St. Martha Stewart (Living), I saw something on the order of "put aside old compost". Which I promptly did one lovely weekend day. Most of the winter I haven't been putting a lot in the compost bin simply because it takes a while to break down and I swear the worms get slow and lazy. So, it was easy work to get the shovel and take most of the broken down compost and put it in a heavy duty trash bag. The worms were not pleased.
I now have a nice 20-30 gallon bag of worm poop and decayed material. I plan to share some with B & IT, as well as get some over to the small plot over at the guerrilla garden. I'll also add it to the soil of my potted plants and put a little in the front yard.
I've begun the next batch of compost with kitchen scraps, shredder waste, coffee grounds from
Big Bear, and ruined fruit & veggies I don't get around to eating. Some worms have been relocated to the new compost. Since they can be hard to pick out of the old compost I'm just going to put down some avocado scraps (they LOVE avocado) and pull out while a whole bunch of them are gorging themselves on nature's green butter.
Labels: gardening
Seed swap sunday, Sunday, SUNDAY
Well the Bloomingdale Garden Club is having a seed swap, but sadly I'll be unavailable.
February 10th Garden Club Meeting
Novices take note: It’s not too soon to start thinking, planning, and doing something to make your spring gardening experience a cost-effective pleasure. Experienced gardeners hoping to keep the cost of gardening in check begin prepping now to grow their spring plants from seeds. So, to get the party started, the Greater Bloomingdale-Area Garden Club invites all gardeners to Windows Café & Market (1st & RI Ave NW) from 2:00-3:30 p.m. on Sunday, February 10th for a Spring Seed Exchange & Giveaway.
The Club will have loads of flower and vegetable seeds to give away. Members and others are invited to bring plant cuttings and any seeds they have to share. This is a golden opportunity to network with other gardening neighbors, give and get advice, and share your gardening war stories. I’ve got a few stories of my own to share, like the one where all of my house flowers died and… Shucks, gotta go. If you want to hear the end of that story I’ll see you at Windows on the 10th.
Labels: Bloomingdale/Eckington, gardening
Books & seeds
I stopped by the Big Bear to check out their
little library and pickup some coffee grounds for ye olde compost bin. Not much there on the bookshelf so I'll be seeing what I can spare from my shelves, that might make for an interesting coffeehouse read.
Currently I'm reading Sudhir A. Venkatesh's
American Project and I'm only at page 87. It isn't as much of a page turner as his
Gang Leader for a Day, it covers around about the same material but is more academic, and talks more about the governmental bodies that play a role in the history and operations of the Robert Taylor Homes in Chicago. There were a few things that have caught my attention so far in the book. One was the story of the Robert Taylor Homes starting off as mixed income housing and how policies helped turned it into a poor people warehouse. The second thing is the underground economy developing and the incentives for relatively benign activities to be driven underground. On this second thing, the underground economy included child care services, food and craft production, car repair, hair styling, subleasing, and under the table labor as well as criminal commerce such as selling stolen items, drugs, gambling, prostitution and 'protection.' What I find fascinating are the incentives that keep the non-criminal stuff underground. Anyway, when I'm done with the book I will add it to the BB library.
On seeds, I only got one bite for an exchange. I'll try again. Any one want to engage in a seed swap meet?
Labels: crime, gardening, misc
Somebody Stop Me Before I Buy Again
Maybe I need an intervention. Well, the first step is admitting you have a problem. Ok. I'm Mari and I have bought more seeds than my garden can grow.
Seriously, I can't grow that many peas, or beans. One hundred or more seeds, and I can maybe support 10 plants of that one variety, tops. But that's not the biggest problem, because I can just save the seed. I have seeds from years past that, may or may not grow. No, the problem is that I have a catalog and I know I'm going to order more. There are such tantalizing choices, like jeweled toned purple onions, Beetberry, grey shallots, white beets, golden cherry tomatoes, the temptations are far more than what my little yard can bear.
So, anyone want to do a local (I'm talking east of 9th, west of North Cap) seed exchange or seed sharing?
I got a tad too much of the following:
Blue & Yellow Blend Peas (Cooks's Garden #579)
Romaine Lettuce
Arugula (Roquette)- 'cause the stuff is still growing in the yard
Calendula
& Cherry Belle Radishes
There are some seeds that I could use all the seeds for if I eat them as microsalads, which are divine and tasty. But if anyone wants to try their hand at corn mache, Black Seeded Simpson, Garden Purslane, or Red Emperor beans, I can spare some seed.
What I'd like, at least to keep from returning to the catalogs, are some regular run of the mill peas, snap, shelling or snow, leeks, and pansies.
So do you have any seed to spare or is it too early to ask?
Labels: gardening
Gotta love this weather
I know it won't last, but at least the arugula perked up.
Yesterday I played in the yard pulling out weeds and getting my nails dirty. I also pondered my guerrilla gardening options, surveying the landscape and challenges of a particular lot. I think I will transplant a few of the weedy and aggressive things in my yard over to the place that I intend to, um, partially take over. I'm looking for things that can fend for themselves and survive the occasional city demanded mowing. I know of 2 or 3 plants that can do. Maybe as a lark, I might take a bunch of sunflower seeds and see what happens.
Labels: gardening, weather
Looking for vacant lot to seed
For Christmas I got a big honking stack, seriously, a bigger than what I can carry in one hand stack of wildflower seeds. Unfortunately, the seeds won't be going into my garden as they don't fit my "can I eat it?" theme. So I figure I'll take them to the nearest overgrown lot and set them free there.
Which got me to thinking about vacant lots, to go with the vacant house theme. I know of a lot, and I'm going to leave out the specifics as though I am not sure what was done was legal, it was good. There is a vacant lot that was taken over by a group of neighbors and turned into a mini-micro-park. The vacant lot was your run of the mill weedy patch o' dirt, then someone decided to do some landscaping and others supported and kept it up.
And now that the RE market has gone into a downturn, and properties aren't turning over as fast, I wonder if Spring 2008 would be a good time to do some guerrilla gardening? Find a lot, which I can think of two near me, and weed and seed a small patch of it. These two lots rarely, from what I've observed get cleaned up until they've turned into rat havens. Which make them better candidates than other vacant yards that are mowed more often.
Labels: gardening
Arugula the winter salad
Last night I had a salad from fresh greens still growing in the yard, arugula. I planted it sometime in the summer, and the plants are still going strong. They were covered with snow last week, but now the snow has melted, they are accessible again. They are harder and not as nice as the soft springtime bounty. But it's cold and I'm not going to the store and I want a salad. I have to chop them up finely. Of course, I could wilt them as well and it would be fine.
Also in the yard, not going as strong is the chard. It's okay, not looking as perky as it did before the snow.
Labels: gardening
Fall garden report
Squirrels are evil.
I had some little green tomatoes but the furry little bastards keep grabbing them and eating them. I didn't buy any blood meal to thwart them, so really it's my fault. Next year, tomatoes in the front. They don't seem to mess with the front yard produce.
The front yard has a good amount of Swiss Chard, arugula, and purselane going on as well as the herbs. These things dealt with last winter's cold quite well. However I'll probably try to get rid (ie eat) the front yard chard before it gets really cold.There are some beet seedlings that I'm not sure will be okay when it starts getting cold. And there is one little bean plant that looks like it may give me a little something.
I discovered the joy of beet greens kinda late in the year. They don't give the same furry teeth feeling as the chard. I have more beets in the back yard, but I think I'll make more of an effort next year and maybe try turnips.
And minus the weeds, the front yard is edible and doesn't require a lot of work (once established). I do enjoy grabbing some herb or greens for dinner, but the same could be said of the container garden in the rear. The good thing about the plants being in ground is that I don't have to water that much, as I tend to forget to water....
Labels: gardening
Anybody need sage, rosemary, or thyme?
Or tarragon, or basil? I got too much. So y'all Northern Truxton (aka BACA) or North Truxton Circle adjacent in need of some good legal herb, mon, email me 'cause I have too much of the stuff. I need to cut back seriously on the thyme.... and don't ask me which type of thyme because I mixed the caraway, the English thymes, and there is a winter thyme, but I think I can ID that. I can sort of ID the French, but I'm not 100% sure of where it is in the yard. Also if you want plant with root, I can do that.
I don't know why I grow tarragon when I rarely use it.
I got one recipe for sage. And more sage than what is called for. Yeah, I know you can dry it and burn it, but why?
Oh and peppermint and spearmint. Got plenty of that too.
So for herbs (before I toss 'em in the compost) email mari at inshaw period-thingy com.
Labels: gardening
Home and Garden
Home- Well I have invited a few of you over to take a look at the house. Some of you have made it over, some, not. For whatever reason you haven't stopped by to visit here is the
short picture tour.
Garden- Purslane. You'd think something labeled as a weed would be flourishing. But nooooo. A few weeks after taking purslane found on the streets and sidewalks of Shaw and transplanting them into happy little pots, they just, I don't know. The leaves looked like something attacked them. I was thinking the flies, maybe something to do with water on the leaves and the scorching heat. But maybe, they hate pots. So I'm transplanting them to the front yard where they have to take whatever nature can give 'e because the handle on the spigot is broken.
Labels: gardening, houses
Gardening
This is how I can describe yesterday. Morning, hot. Lunchtime, hawt! After work, reasonably pleasant. The weather was welcoming enough that I spent some time in the backyard looking at my tomatoes, onions, purslane, spinach, mache, chard, and herbs.
The onionsI planted these bad boys in pots last fall and ignored them. An amazing thing happens when you ignore your onions, and aren't constantly picking them, they get bulbs. I've collected a dozen small white onions and used them in cooking.
TomatoesThis year the squirrels obviously found another food source and allowed my tomatoes to ripen on the vine. Last year I would find 1/2 eaten green tomatoes littered all over the place because the tree rats lost their mulberry tree and decided to make dinner out of my unripened fruit. I've had at least two tomatoes ripen, untouched.
I'm also happy that despite being ignored and only watered to the point of wilting, they have produced. Well, now that I'm watering them more often. During the renovation they were hard if not impossible to water as the water to the house was cut off and 'somebody' had raided the water barrel's water.
LettucesI've talked about my purslane hunt and well there is nothing really exciting about growing mache and spinach in a pot. Throw in seeds. Watch them grow.
Despite not being able to take advantage of Spring I think I've done alright for myself and my little garden.
Addition:The idea of the edible front yard lives on. I'm wondering if I should put some of the purslane in the front. But that also means, in the ground. Something I should really not do with something considered a weed. Yet, then again, I have peppermint, a weed, growing in the ground. Probably somewhere oregano is a weed. It grows like one, and it too is in the front yard. So maybe I'll add some purslane, unless someone talks me out of it.
Labels: gardening
Purslane
There wasn't any at this Sunday's Bloomingdale farmers market, but they had some last week and I love the stuff. I've had it twice now. Make a dressing of olive oil, lots of freshly chopped garlic and line juice, delish!
I like it so much so that I looked on line to find out how to grow it myself as I also discovered it has a crappy shelf life. After about 4 days in the fridge it begins to fall apart. Well, I discovered it was a weed. And then that same day I noticed it growing between the bricks in Georgetown.
Later in the week I began to notice it growing in Shaw. Never noticed it before, because it is, you know, a weed. So this Saturday I went on a purslane hunt. Found a mess of them growing on a notorious drug dealing corner. I developed a theory, but that was struck down when I also noticed it growing in front of the houses of various upstanding citizens.
I don't plan to eat what I grabbed. I just want to get the rootstock, get them growing in pots, cut away the old growth and dine on the new. Until then I await the salad guys to bring in more purslane.
Labels: gardening
Mystery fruit- a cuke
Well I took it off the vine and ate it. It's a weird looking but regular tasting cucumber.
I thought I planted a cucumber but the darned thing did not look like the cukes I grew last time. The last cukes had spikes on the fruit and well looked like a cucumber and not a green baseball.
Labels: gardening
What is this?
So before the renovation, I threw seeds in things and on the ground. So the front yard is whatever survived construction workers throwing stuff on top, stepping on, etc. The backyard is whatever was there before and this thing.
Look at the picture. What the hey is this thing? It is in a pot so there is a 70% chance I put it there. At first I thought it was a cucumber because the plant is kinda small and it is a clingy plant. Well when the fruit got bigger than a golf ball I knew, not a cucumber. Cuke has little thorny bits, this has soft hairs.
So I had
Jimbo come over and used his plant superpowers to determine what it was. First guess was watermelon. But the leaves were wrong for watermelon. Second answer, don't know. Then somehow Jim put on his landscape architecture hat and made all sorts of suggestions of turning into some garden with a water feature.
So I'm taking this to the people. Any guesses of what this is?
Labels: gardening
Quick Observation: Garden Walk
This year there will be no BACA garden walk as far as I know.
Get out in your yards for the simple joy of it.
Labels: BACA, gardening
Renovation 2007: Gardening is a pain
Everyone says this renovation thing must be driving me crazy. Well, not crazy. Concerned. Concerned about staying on budget. I'm almost resigned to the idea that I won't have enough to hook up the AC. But the thing that is nearing crazy is not being in my garden.
Some plants are hanging in there. Watering is a problem, mainly when your contractor turns off the water, and somehow decides the pipe going to your backyard spigot was not really used for anything. It got worse as the weather warmed up. The plants in the smaller pots dried out faster and I think the dryness caused the cilantro and the onions to bolt. There are a bunch of alpine strawberries in an old DC recycling bin that have gotten along just fine without me.
Labels: gardening, renovation
Random gardening post
Over on the main In Shaw site there is an
announcement for an urban gardening class offered by Shaw Eco-village. Thought I'd just mention that.
There is probably a lot one can learn about urban gardening, but currently I'm okay with my general gardening knowledge. Besides, with the upcoming construction and being out of the house* my gardening will be next to nada this Spring. I'm just letting the mint go wild, and seeing what ever I planted do its thing. Maybe some container gardening. I'm not going to be very aggressive about it, not like last year.
There are some things I'd like to know about my urban garden that I wouldn't learn in the class. Like is there really lead in my soil? When I talk to others and mention my gardening theme of 'if I can't eat it, I ain't growing it,' someone eventually brings up the worry about stuff in the soil. Considering the soil was a big patch of clay when I got it, and I added a lot to it in the following years. What is on the top should be all the Home Depot purchased top-soil, peat moss, sand, fertilizer and my own compost. I guess the possible lead should have washed out of the soil by now or absorbed by the plants that I pulled out when moving in. But I would like to take the guess to a knowing and have the soil tested, so I know that I'm right.
How's the garden now? Well a few days ago I wandered out to the back yard and grabbed some Spring onions growing in an
Earthbox that I planted in fall. They are looking well and I used three of them to make a nice onion wine sauce for a bit of fried trout. In other pots the alpine strawberry has some green leaves, as does the oregano, and the mint. I'll probably need to divide the roots and repot them. The laurel bay is dead. From what I can tell it was killed by too many freezing days. I'll leave it alone, maybe it will spring back. There are some chives that have popped out in the window box that I think I seeded in Fall. Last year's thyme and sage are chugging along in the window boxes as well. I've used the thyme all year, and it's been okay. However, I look forward to more mint for the mojitos.
*Got housing in a undisclosed TC location. I'll stay there until one of the owners' pets decides that I gotsta go. Then it may be followed by crashing in Hyattsville or CH.
Labels: gardening
Surprise me gardening
Okay. I have mentally accepted that I won't be in the TC or anywhere in Shaw or even Eckington, and will be spending a lot of time in an undisclosed location in PG County where the buses suck. So if all goes well I won't be back in my house till June or July, Summer. However, I still want to garden. I want to come back to a garden.
I could just buy tomato and other plants and concentrate on fall plantings and crops when I come back. I could. Rather, I have decided to take my chances with nature. I have some left over seeds that should have been planted last year, and so I took them outside and threw them on the ground and covered them with dirt. If they grow and there is something for me to tend and something that hasn't been destroyed by workmen, then YAY! If not, so be it. They should get a decent amount of water from rain till Summer hits. They'd be in the ground, so hopefully that will help.
Winter has proven that some plants just don't need me. The Arugula was holding strong till that nasty highs below freezing weather. Then it died off. Now it is coming back, again, with no help from me. And I put them there by, randomly throwing seed against my house. I'm hoping for the same miracle.
Moving the mulch made from last year's tomato vines and leaves, I discovered the peppermint has gone wild. And that's why you keep peppermint in a friggin pot. So has the Sweet Woodruff. Before the Sweet Woodruff was impossible for me to keep alive, but it found shelter under the leaves of the arugula and several tender young leaves greeted me.
The thyme is fine. The oregano seems to be okay. I discovered some sage I'd completely forgotten about. The mint is more than fine and acting true to its nature, like a weed.
In the back, in pots, the Spring Onions are surviving squirrel attacks. As are the few sprigs of cilantro. The pot with the daylilies looks dry and the lilies are doing, something, I don't know what. The compost is looking good. I shoveled a little out last night. I'm not seeing a lot of worms and I'm worried the frost might have killed some off. I may seed one huge pot for tomato and hope that it holds enough water until I can return.
It will be interesting to see what Nature surprises me with.
Labels: gardening
What I did for the love of compost: @ the office
I just asked my boss to throw her apple core in my little compost pail.
There are enough coffee drinkers in the office that justified bringing in my compost pail from home and just leaving it at work. I introduced the idea to my office mates who were fine with throwing the coffee grounds into the pail and not the trash. The problem was the cleaning staff. They kept throwing my collection in their trash until I got them to understand that I wanted the coffee grounds and the tea bags. What's 'compost' in Spanish?
But now it is all good. Every other week I take my pail home, dump it in the compost bin. I'm happy. The worms are happy. It's all good.
Labels: compost, gardening
Garden Report
The joys of urban gardening. This summer has been very, very good to me with the rains and the not too hot heat. I've had a so-so yield of blueberries, decent output of tomatoes and the herbs I never eat are flourishing.
The problem with urban gardening, well gardening for me, is that I have a typical postage stamp yard. It could be worse, it could be smaller. I could have bought a bigger house, but it didn't have a yard. Not only is the yard small, it doesn't get a lot of "full sun". When I had the
DC Agricultural Extention person out, yes, they'll come out, she wasn't hopeful about my gardening prospects. So I've been picky about what grows in the few areas of the tiny yard that gets the good dirt and the full sun.
When I first started digging for the garden you wouldn't believe the crap I found in the dirt. Besides the ten zillion bits of broken glass, reminants of an ugly red carpet, I have found money. Not silver dollars, (I wish) but dimes, nickels, good stuff.
After all that work, I wanted the plants to give back. No ornamentals for me. No. I want food producing plants. Also it is a cool thing to be cooking and walk outside and grab one of the ingredients. Neat.
ADMINI'm going to take a short break so I'll have no posts over the weekend.
Labels: gardening
Flower Power 2004
The Bates Civic Association had it's Flower Power Awards ceremony last night at Ella's Coffeehouse/Frame shop/ Art gallery on North Capitol. It was the first time I had been in Ella's. It is many small cozy rooms with comfy (2nd floor) chairs. There was a small crowd there about 20 or more people, with Jim Berry ANC for 5C0?, and a rep from Councilman Orange's office.
Unlike the usual Bates CA meeting, it was a pleasant affair where everyone was generally pleasant. There was no peanut gallery making snide comments. No direct mention of drug dealers or unsavory kids hanging out on the corner. The unpleasantness was spoken of indirectly, using that code talk that we use, talking about "change". It was an environment of supportiveness. Yes, very unlike the Bates meetings, which the next one is Sept 6th @ Mt. Sinai.
My neighbor wanted to talk about the demographics of crowd, while we were there. Good lord man, can't take you anywhere. I shusshed him. We talked this morning and he observed that the crowd was basically gay men and older single black women. There were a few black men 4. One white married couple and one lesbian couple.
My block won a block award for our beautification efforts. I don't remember if it was for first or 2nd place. Like the Special Olympics, everyone there was a winner. I did not win any individual prize for my yard, which currently looks bad. I did win a door prize of a plant. A plant I gave to a neighbor I spotted while heading home, 'cause I don't grow indoor plants, and I don't care for plants I can't eat.
Labels: BACA, gardening
