Rabbits. And off on vacation.

It was hot here today and it's been two days without rain, so I got some water on the garden. Most of the plants look pretty good, but many of the very newest bean seedlings are now missing their leaves. The stems are still there, but the cotyledons and freshest leaves are gone. I suspect rabbits or other rodents. Luckily they've left the more mature plants alone. And they don't seem interested in cucumber seedlings either.

We're about to head out of town on vacation for almost two weeks. Luckily, we've got volunteers lined up to handle the watering while we're gone. I'm not sure how much rain we'll have--the forecast looks a bit on the dry side (just scattered thunderstorms, and those too unreliable to count on for young plants).

I'll very much miss the gardens while we're gone. But the one good thing about going away in the summer is that when you get back, the plants have jumped ahead with new growth. I'm very curious to see what the garden looks like when we return.

Inspiration: The Urban Homestead by Erik Knutzen and Kelly Coyne

A lot of people ask where we got the idea for the 200 Foot Garden. It came from a number of sources--lots of time working in community gardens, writing about them and their issues (including in my short play, Pumpkin Patch). Plus we've been reading a ton of books on agriculture, food, and farming (and really like Michael Pollan and Joel Salatin).

Erik Knutzen and Kelly Coyne's book, The Urban Homestead: Your Guide to Self-sufficient Living in the Heart of the City, came just at the right time for us. As we read it this spring, its section on guerrilla gardening really got us thinking. That's when I saw the spot for the 200 Foot Garden. They also publish a terrific blog, Homegrown Evolution, on urban agriculture and homesteading. (And they even posted the story and video about our garden.) The book is one that we first got from the public library, but then decided we needed to own a copy. The blog is both fun and interesting (I like the post with the chicken coop made of IKEA parts). The post that mentioned our garden generated a whole discussion about Scarlet Runner pole beans--and I learned that the blossoms are edible! I can't wait until we have some.

Budget and funding

At the moment, this is still a very small-scale project. As I mentioned in an early post, I received hundred bucks on Father's Day that I decided to put towards this project. We've gone through that cash, plus a little bit more. We've spent a little more than $160 so far, which includes signage ($16 just on laminating), seeds, pots and potting soil, soil testing. We were able to get compost donated and the lime at a discount. Volunteers have been extremely generous about sharing their tools, wagons, and supplies (and even tomato plants).

One of the best things about gardening is that it can be low-cost, and if the budget for this project stays small, it will be easier to replicate and modify for other venues and sites.

While I was at the garden today, a woman asked if she could donate to the cause. I'd been considering adding a "donate" button to this blog, in case people are interested. She said she could give me cash right there, which caught me by surprise (and explains why I'll never be rich... a sensible person would just have said, "sure" but I just stumbled around and said, "well, if you go to the web site, there will be something there...").

As this project expands, and I hope it will, we will have the need to spend more for plants and seeds, tools, mulch, additional soil testing, and soil amendments. So, for now, I've added a "donate" button to this blog, where people who are interested can contribute money towards the project. (And next time someone offers me money on the street, I'll be sure to take it and put it in my "saving for seeds" jar).

Small Work Day

We did just a little bit of work this morning--weeding, staking tomatoes, and replacing damaged signs. There were five of us--me, Tracy, Yvonne, Ilana, and Lura Lee, which was plenty of hands for the work that needed to be done. Next year, if we grow a lot more plants, or we extend the garden (all the way to the T would be interesting, and would make for a VERY long garden, with lots of different challenges), we'll need more people. But for now, a few hands at a time does great.

(Noah, with Yvonne and Ilana pulling weeds, and Tracy fixing signs.)

mini-work day on Sunday 10 a.m.

We're going to have a mini-work day tomorrow (Sunday) at 10 a.m. If you want to help out or just want to talk to us about plans for the garden, please come on by.

There won't be much to do--a tiny of bit of weeding, maybe some watering, lots of admiring seedlings and plants, put new signs up, and chat. I'm sure we'll be there less than an hour.

Walked by the garden at lunchtime today everything looked good. A couple new lemon apple cucumber seeds have sprouted. I don't think any of the Tatume squash are up yet, but I'm not sure.

New Beans Have Sprouted

We had extremely hard rain last night and this morning, enough to flood parts of the Muddy River near our house. Our 200 Foot Garden is on high ground, but I did wonder if how our plants would handle the deluge.

I checked them out around noon, just as the rain stopped and it looks like they all made it through pretty well. Some of the cucumber plants look a little beaten up, but they'll recover. The mulch made a huge difference in terms of keeping the soil in place.

And, even better, a whole lot of the bean seeds have sprouted. I'd realized late last night that I didn't check to make sure that the new mulch wasn't too heavily covering the seeds we planted. The beans are strong enough to push through, but I went along pulled back some of the mulch so the less muscular cucumber seedlings will be able to push their way through. It looks like both Scarlet Runner and Kentucky Wonder seeds have sprouted. If we can get a few warm days with sun, they'll be catching up the the plants we put in no time.


(you can just barely see the new sprouts to the left of the bean plant)

200 Foot Garden Video (from the Brookline TAB)

The Brookline TAB story also has a video from our planting day. Check it out: