2010 Getting Started

Even though it's still cold and a tiny bit snowy out (the blizzard fizzled earlier this week), we're getting started on the 200 Foot Garden already.  Last week, Tracy and I ordered seeds (for the 200 Foot Garden, plus our other garden projects) from the High Mowing Seed Company.  They're already here. 

We won't start everything from seed, we might end up buying some seedlings or get some plants donated.  This year we're expanding what we're growing--doubling the number of plants, actually--by adding a row of vegetables between the sidewalk and the fence.  These will be shorter, obvious pick-me kinds of vegetables, like peppers, eggplant, cherry tomatoes, and some herbs.

I also had a terrific meeting with a friend this afternoon.  She's interested in working on the project as a whole, and especially in serving as outreach/volunteer coordinator.  I'll announce more details on this as the situation develops, but it should help a lot as we try to get more people involved from the neighboring apartment building and the rest of the neighborhood.  Plus we're talking about some ideas I have for possibly expanding farther down the fence, and maybe to other sites within Brookline.  Lots and lots to think about.  Luckily, we have time before it's time to start planting.

I don't mind winter, but the thought of getting started growing makes me especially eager for spring.  And I know it'll be here soon.

New Ways of Looking

The garden is done for the season. Last week, I stopped by to look at the few scraggly bean plants on the fence and spied a few bean pods still hanging on. Surprisingly, they were still green. A woman from the nearby apartment complex came up the sidewalk as I was picking, and said, "How do you see those? I walk right by and see the plants, but I don't see anything to pick."

And that's the fun thing about having a garden. You learn to look at the world in new ways. Experience with plants and growing things makes a gardener look at a big mass of green leafy vines entirely differently from someone who isn't a grower. And I still consider my self a beginner-intermediate gardener. I like going into gardens with the real experts. Their eyes are fully trained to spot problems and opportunities, where I still see almost nothing.

One thing I like about the 200 Foot Garden is that it's a way to impact a whole lot of people who are walking past the garden, who before might not have looked twice at plants growing on a fence, but over the course of this year, and our future years, they'll learn to see in entirely new ways. They'll learn to spot the beans and cucumbers, they'll know when the garden needs rain, they'll pay attention to the seedlings starting to climb up the fence. And their relationship to the world and the earth will change, ever so slightly.

Still Blooming

The growing season is really pretty much over. Today it's cold and gloomy outside. I walked past the garden on the way to the T, and the few bean plants left on the fence, though still green, look forlorn. Still, on one Scarlett Runner plant a few orange blossoms waved in the breeze, a wispy denial of the oncoming winter.

Very soon, it will be time to start getting serious about planning for next year. (And we need to add compost and mulch to the garden in the next few weeks.)

Urban Homesteaders League Meetup

Tracy and I attended a Meetup of the Urban Homesteader's League today in Cambridge, organized by Lisa Gross. We met a lot of very interesting people (including folks with real farm experience and lots of garden experience), and also had a chance to learn about Lasagna Mulch, helped build some raised beds (which housed said mulch), and also helped build a tiny hoop-house for a 4x6 raised bed. (Tracy wrote about the projects in more detail at Beyond Dinner.)

I'm sure some of these techniques will come in handy in the future in several of our garden projects, including the 200 Foot Garden. I'm hoping that we'll have a Urban Homesteaders Meetup in the spring at the 200 Foot Garden to show off our project and share some of what we've been learning about vertical and commuter gardens.

Fall Clean Up Day

We had a successful fall clean up at the garden yesterday, with me, Tracy, Sarah, and Alexis all pitching in. Four pairs of hands made the work go by quickly--we pulled vines off the fence, raked leaves, picked up a little trash, and filled four big paper yard waste bags. Yvonne stopped by and said we could dump them in her compost bin a few blocks away, so I used my granny cart to ferry the bags over once we were done (and the Patriots were done with Tampa).

One pleasant surprise--we found two large cucumbers and two smaller ones buried under the leaves along the fence. There were also at least a pound of green beans to be picked (we had our share for dinner last night).

We pulled all the spent vines, but decided to leave a few of the greenest pole bean plants still attached. It just seemed a shame to pull them while they're still alive and kicking, and they provided a luscious contrast to the vibrant yellow maple trees dotting parking lot by the fence. In a few weeks, they'll die back and we'll go back and pull them out. We left the signs on the fence for now, but we need to print some new ones that will be more appropriate for the winter months. Next year, the new planting scheme of doing ten-foot blocks of the same plant along the fence should make clean-up a lot easier.

We had several people stop by and thank us for the garden (one woman went away with a cucumber and a handful of beans). We made sure to mention that we could use more help next year--I hope they'll follow up.

It was a perfect day to spend outside and a great reminder of why this whole project is worth doing.

Work Day on Sunday, October 25

We're planning to have a work day on Sunday, October 25, starting at 11am. It'll be time to clean up most of the vines from the fence and rake up leaves and pick up trash. Shouldn't be too tough. There's a chance we might have some bags of compost to add to the soil, but I'm not sure we'll have the resources to get them in time.

If you're in Brookline and want to meet some fellow gardeners and help with the project (and chat), please come on by. (99 Kent Street)

Green Brookline Expo, 11am-3pm, Oct 18

I'll be at the Green Brookline Expo at Brookline High School tomorrow from 12:30-3pm, helping staff a table for Bountiful Brookline, and also there to talk to anyone who's interested in the 200 Foot Garden project (trying to recruit more helpers for next year). If you're at the Expo, I hope you'll stop by and say Hello.