I finally got a Wordpress blog going which is where this blog will be going. I'll leave this one up for a while here at Blogger, but all the posts have been moved over and the new entries will now be there at: http://calliopeztable.wordpress.com/
Peace and peas,
Calliope
Monday, June 15, 2009
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
April showers bring...more showers?
The rain just keeps coming, but one of the things I can do in a rainy period like we’re having is to take a few minutes to catch up with the blog.
The ground is still wet with the recent round of rains we’ve been having. The last two dry cycles offered some drying out for new plots waiting to be prepared, even if just for a day or two before the rain is back again. It’s all about being ready to work the windows of good weather when they arrive. This new garden was within hours of being ready to plant when the day ran out before the two farmers present could finish it all. By later that evening the rain was back and it will be another week before this one can be worked on again.
It’s often just this kind of close timing that makes the difference in farming. Had we been able to start earlier that day, had we had just one other helper, well, you get the idea. The difference might have allowed us to get this one planted out with the salad greens we plan there. And that’s a huge difference. Everything that is planted at this point is doing fantastic! While it seems unusually rainy to me, a check with the National Weather Service confirms that so far it’s a fairly normal year precipitation wise here in Cascadia, and by August we’ll actually be a bit short on rain. If you like geeky weather stuff their Climate Prediction website shows you just such things.
By the way, these pictures are from a stylish new cell phone given to me by a farm supporter when he learned about the “farmers without phones” dilemma posted about recently by Farmer K. Thank you! I have been waiting to take some pics of what’s going on in the gardens and now I can.
Rainy weather usually means more work in the greenhouse, and last Sunday the moon cycle, the right day, the materials, and my quest to have my favorite hot peppers to cook with for years to come, finally came together. I spent that beautiful spring day starting seeds for several of my faves, and also got to eat lunch with the bees there. I enjoyed starting Peacework Sweet Peppers beside two heirloom tomatoes, Burbank slicing and San Marzano paste, with seeds from Seeds of Change. That would be pre-Mars, Inc.-Seeds of Change as these seeds were bought last year but never got planted. These are two of my favorite heirloom tomatoes, and when I bought the seeds last year expressly for growing out and saving the seed from them I didn’t realize it would be that much more important as another “organic” company sells out to agribusiness interests.
Last year Seeds of Change was quietly sold to Mars Inc. of candy bar fame. This is the same Mars candy company who will now be using GMO sugar beets for the sugar needed in their products. Mars is claiming innocence about their part in non-GMO sugar beets becoming essentially unavailable, but I will no longer patronize them, nor will I trust them to preserve the heirloom varieties that are important to me.
This mission statement can be found on the Seeds of Change homepage: “In 1989, Seeds of Change began with a simple mission: to preserve biodiversity and promote sustainable, organic agriculture. By cultivating and disseminating an extensive range of organically grown vegetable, flower, herb and cover crop seeds, we have honored that mission for 20 years.” Maybe so, but I have strong doubts about that intention going forward. So these two tomato seed packets will be my last seeds from Seeds of Change, now that Seeds of Change has changed. Another company that started out trying to do the right thing suddenly becomes part of what they fought against. If this were a rare thing you could just say it’s an anomaly. But do you know how many small organic producers end up being owned by an agribusiness company? Lots. Check out this chart on Organic Industry Structure.
How does this happen? I don’t think they all sell out for the money. But when companies like Dagoba Chocolate and MaraNatha Peanut Butter end up being owned by Hershey and Heinz it makes you wonder how this happens. Perhaps it’s an issue of scale. Do these companies just get too big for the comfort of the big food companies? Does the popularity of the products grow the companies too large to hang on to their ideals? Maybe it’s when a regional company goes national that is the dividing line. In the case of Ben & Jerry’s, now owned by Unilever, it apparently started when Ben & Jerry’s collective ownership of the company fell to less than a majority share and they could no longer insist that their vision be embraced. I think it will be important in the future that we hang on to our regional producers lest we lose the ability to make that product on a local basis in enough quantity to matter.
In other news I’m happy to tell you a newly built bike trailer for me is just days away from being completed. I borrowed a similar trailer from the trailer builder last week and did the first compost pick-ups from the coffee shops last week on the bike. It was so great to just zip up and park next to the front door on the bike and change out the buckets. Sweet!
I’ve been picking up coffee grounds from 3-4 coffee shops on Mondays and Thursdays for a couple of months now and have been using the grounds to amend beds and start new compost piles. It does take time away from other farming activities but it’s something I’m committed to. Coffee grounds are concentrated tropical nutrients, high in nitrogen, available for free. If you’ve got a garden, go talk to your nearest coffee shop and ask for their grounds. The key is coming back regularly to pick them up. Most coffee places have experience with people picking up the grounds for a while and then fizzling out. If you’re someone who would enjoy an hour or so zipping around to a few places on a bike twice a week to pick up compost, let me know. I can hook you up with a trailer and there’s often a free cup ‘o Joe in it for you.
I’ve also started picking up the veggie scraps from the awesome people at Soup Cycle. I ran into one of their soup delivery people delivering soup to the residents of one of the gardens, and we got to talking. It seems we’re all kindred spirits in cooking great food, using good organic ingredients, and bike delivery! Hopefully some of the compost from them will help grow veggies that will make their way back into a future batch of soup. I’ll keep you posted!
If you want to contact me about helping out, my new phone number is: (203) 962-2741. Just give a call on a day you want to come out to one of the gardens and find out what we’re doing that day. There is much to do and plant in the next 6-8 weeks, including a huge new plot in Ladd's Addition that was once a community garden! It's in a fantastic, very visible spot across from one of the rose gardens, and I would like to infuse some community growing there again. Besides planting corn which has been a tradition there in the past, I think it would be awesome to grow some things like Giant Kohlrabi which people don't see growing very often in a city. Much thanks to J & J who made the land-lender aware of Calliope's Table and what's going on with urban farming!
Come out and join us as we turn these spaces into food production sites. With so much to be done, we can accommodate all ages and skill levels and help you find something to do that lets you find your happy space while in a garden. See you soon!
Peace and peas,
Calliope
Thursday, April 16, 2009
It's April in Cascadia!
Hello farmies,
There is lots going on in the urban farming world and with Calliope's Table. I've been trying to get out an update for you for the entire month of April but have just not found the time and place to do so. The season is getting BUSY, even on the rainy days when work in the gardens is not possible there is still much to do.
Just before the last sunny stretch of weather we had during the first few days of April there was a round of planting in the greenhouse that hit that weather window perfectly and Broccoli starts were up in an amazing 3 days! We're happily looking at another stretch of that good weather starting...today!!
One of the things that has been going on during rainy times is looking at new plots that have been offered mostly through the "Got Grass?" flyers that have been posted in a few places around SE. I'm happy to tell you that some fantastic growing spaces have been offered in the last couple of weeks, including several larger spaces around the SE. In an ongoing effort to account for plots, and what crop is going to be where, and how often a plot will need tending, and where they are in relation to a distribution location or a market, and who's doing what, we finally needed a face to face of farmers to figure it all out.
It has been such a fantastic development that within a couple hours of the Portland Urban Farming event at People's Coop back in Feb, farmers of like mind started to collaborate and help each other whenever possible. That loose association has now turned to a more formal collaboration that we will use to more effectively feed all of you. At the face to face meeting was myself, Farmer K and Deva of Sunroot Gardens, and Tom of Mall56. An accounting of gardens and new growing spaces in our separate realms totaled at least 50! We decided that what makes the most sense is to treat all these places as a network of farms that we collectively will grow at and tend to.
Here's Farmer K's take on it all if you haven't seen this already: 50 Gardens (and counting)
If you're a Calliope's Table CSA subscriber you probably won't notice much if any change as I'm still trying to locate a mid-week distribution point in SE that works for everyone, and I'll keep you posted on how that develops. Behind the scenes this collaboration allows me to more efficiently grow and distribute all the produce to you, and buying needed things such as tools and amendments in bulk as a group has yielded some tremendous cost savings for the farm. With this new collaboration and the additional growing spaces I've just recently received, I feel comfortable offering 2 more full CSA shares which will fund additional purchases of tools and amendments. Some of you have expressed interest in finding a share for a friend, and if you're still interested you have first priority. Get in touch with me please.
If you're one of our fabulous volunteers this means you have multiple opportunities on almost any day to get out in a garden and help out. Some of you have noticed this collaboration already as you get similar information from Sunroot Gardens and Calliope's Table. There will be a produce distribution for you as well which could likely be the Friday distribution Farmer K speaks of. This could turn out to be a regular Friday nite hotspot as well this Summer.
If you're still trying to connect with us about volunteering, here's the scoop. On any given day we will be out in a garden somewhere. What has been working best for us lately is that all or most of the farmers work together on a particular day to accomplish what turns out to be that day's most needed task, with respect to weather, season, and what's ready to be done. What we think would work really well is if we could each lead a work party with a few volunteers at different locations. The season is upon us, and we are needing to make up some ground due to the rainy periods and the cooler weather lasting until April. If you'd like to be part of this, get in touch with one of us whenever you have a day to help in the gardens.
Farmer K - 503.686.5557
Calliope - 503.756.9163
Tom of Mall56 - 973.296.5305
While that will be the best method for day to day, there will still be planned days for us to all get out in a garden (or help make one). Among them will be some Saturday volunteer gatherings with gardening, a BBQ, music, and other forms of fun. With the awesome weather heading our way this weekend, Saturday will be the first at the new Miniuex garden at 8348 SE Clinton St. This is a small backyard space that we are planning to make into a very intensive plot to see how much food we can grow in a small space. If you'd like to see how this is done this could be a great opportunity as we plan to dig, make beds, lay down irrigation, and plant some food all on Saturday. Miniuex has been waiting for over a month for a sunny day as the first attempt at this was thouroughly rained out. Please join us and bring something for the grill, a side dish if you'd like, and any other things you'd find at a BBQ that you'd like to bring. We'll start by 10-ish with the BBQ commencing in the early afternoon.
Hopefully updating you will become easier too as a new Wordpress blog is headed my way, and some of the communications will be combined with Sunroot Gardens in the future. I'm not even sure what it will be called at this point, this new farming network, but I am so happy how this has fallen into place. It's going to take all of us to make this work so we can feed all of us. Thank you for all that you do!!
Peace and peas,
Calliope
There is lots going on in the urban farming world and with Calliope's Table. I've been trying to get out an update for you for the entire month of April but have just not found the time and place to do so. The season is getting BUSY, even on the rainy days when work in the gardens is not possible there is still much to do.
Just before the last sunny stretch of weather we had during the first few days of April there was a round of planting in the greenhouse that hit that weather window perfectly and Broccoli starts were up in an amazing 3 days! We're happily looking at another stretch of that good weather starting...today!!
One of the things that has been going on during rainy times is looking at new plots that have been offered mostly through the "Got Grass?" flyers that have been posted in a few places around SE. I'm happy to tell you that some fantastic growing spaces have been offered in the last couple of weeks, including several larger spaces around the SE. In an ongoing effort to account for plots, and what crop is going to be where, and how often a plot will need tending, and where they are in relation to a distribution location or a market, and who's doing what, we finally needed a face to face of farmers to figure it all out.
It has been such a fantastic development that within a couple hours of the Portland Urban Farming event at People's Coop back in Feb, farmers of like mind started to collaborate and help each other whenever possible. That loose association has now turned to a more formal collaboration that we will use to more effectively feed all of you. At the face to face meeting was myself, Farmer K and Deva of Sunroot Gardens, and Tom of Mall56. An accounting of gardens and new growing spaces in our separate realms totaled at least 50! We decided that what makes the most sense is to treat all these places as a network of farms that we collectively will grow at and tend to.
Here's Farmer K's take on it all if you haven't seen this already: 50 Gardens (and counting)
If you're a Calliope's Table CSA subscriber you probably won't notice much if any change as I'm still trying to locate a mid-week distribution point in SE that works for everyone, and I'll keep you posted on how that develops. Behind the scenes this collaboration allows me to more efficiently grow and distribute all the produce to you, and buying needed things such as tools and amendments in bulk as a group has yielded some tremendous cost savings for the farm. With this new collaboration and the additional growing spaces I've just recently received, I feel comfortable offering 2 more full CSA shares which will fund additional purchases of tools and amendments. Some of you have expressed interest in finding a share for a friend, and if you're still interested you have first priority. Get in touch with me please.
If you're one of our fabulous volunteers this means you have multiple opportunities on almost any day to get out in a garden and help out. Some of you have noticed this collaboration already as you get similar information from Sunroot Gardens and Calliope's Table. There will be a produce distribution for you as well which could likely be the Friday distribution Farmer K speaks of. This could turn out to be a regular Friday nite hotspot as well this Summer.
If you're still trying to connect with us about volunteering, here's the scoop. On any given day we will be out in a garden somewhere. What has been working best for us lately is that all or most of the farmers work together on a particular day to accomplish what turns out to be that day's most needed task, with respect to weather, season, and what's ready to be done. What we think would work really well is if we could each lead a work party with a few volunteers at different locations. The season is upon us, and we are needing to make up some ground due to the rainy periods and the cooler weather lasting until April. If you'd like to be part of this, get in touch with one of us whenever you have a day to help in the gardens.
Farmer K - 503.686.5557
Calliope - 503.756.9163
Tom of Mall56 - 973.296.5305
While that will be the best method for day to day, there will still be planned days for us to all get out in a garden (or help make one). Among them will be some Saturday volunteer gatherings with gardening, a BBQ, music, and other forms of fun. With the awesome weather heading our way this weekend, Saturday will be the first at the new Miniuex garden at 8348 SE Clinton St. This is a small backyard space that we are planning to make into a very intensive plot to see how much food we can grow in a small space. If you'd like to see how this is done this could be a great opportunity as we plan to dig, make beds, lay down irrigation, and plant some food all on Saturday. Miniuex has been waiting for over a month for a sunny day as the first attempt at this was thouroughly rained out. Please join us and bring something for the grill, a side dish if you'd like, and any other things you'd find at a BBQ that you'd like to bring. We'll start by 10-ish with the BBQ commencing in the early afternoon.
Hopefully updating you will become easier too as a new Wordpress blog is headed my way, and some of the communications will be combined with Sunroot Gardens in the future. I'm not even sure what it will be called at this point, this new farming network, but I am so happy how this has fallen into place. It's going to take all of us to make this work so we can feed all of us. Thank you for all that you do!!
Peace and peas,
Calliope
Saturday, March 21, 2009
The new "Victory" garden
Greetings farmies,
Welcome to the first day of Spring!! Despite the drizzly weather this week, have you felt the shift in temperature? I have felt a decided shift this week that tells me this is really Spring we're feeling. The wet ground does pose some issues for breaking new garden ground, but with many established gardens there is still lots to do. With the moon being in the last quarter this week it's a great time to dig up plants to move to a new location as they are at their sleepiest of the moon cycle right now and won't mind the fuss too much.
The gardening gathering planned for today has shifted focus as well. The beds I had hoped to plant in this week have really not dried out enough to work, but in farming there's always something else that is just right for a particular day. If you're still interested in meeting me at the Ginger-Olive garden at 10am I will be there for a while working on the new compost piles and probably planting some lovely perennials that came from another garden.
I had a thought last nite about how to best coordinate these times when there is something interesting to be done in one of the gardens, but also accommodating the change in direction that often happens on a daily basis due to weather, resources needed, resources offered that need to be picked up, and just stuff that happens. I am thinking about setting a couple of regular days that I will drop by People's Co-op and meet who is up for doing some gardening that day, and we can depart for what needs to be tended to that day. I am happy to say there are several gardens now that are near or fairly near People's that I can plan work in the gardens there around these days.
So I'm thinking something like 11am on Wednesdays and Saturdays at People's as an informal gathering time to see what's up in the gardens that day. I'll try to keep some interesting things to do on those days with the idea that for those that are into it, you can see and do a wide variety of things over the season(s). I know some of you are pretty available to do some gardening all through the week, and once we get to spend some time together and you know more about what's going on in the different gardens we can come up with something more informal.
The reason for all of this is that I have some land-lenders who want to meet and know the people working with me in their spaces. Since I'm interested in keeping everyone happy in these gardening arrangements, I say, no problem. So if you've worked with me in a particular garden, or been to a gathering at a garden, don't assume it's okay to show up there at some other time to do some gardening. I want to get you all involved, but there's no way for you to know what arrangements I've made with the land-lenders until you've been there with me, and learn what's going on in that particular garden.
I'm really hoping that a few of you will see this as a great opportunity to learn some more about growing food and use this as a stepping stone to doing your own farming. I am seriously interested in growing a few farmers this season as well. There are new urban farming operations this season that were started by people who volunteered with other urban farmers last season. If you have the desire to be a farmer the opportunities are there.
So please let me know how a Wed/Sat 11am meetup at People's would or wouldn't work for you if you've been wanting to spend some time in the gardens. As the season now kicks into full swing, I expect to be less available by email, possibly checking just once daily, and less and less available by phone. I've been moving around resources like compost makings, tools, and amendments to new gardens at a mad pace in order to be able to spend most of my time actually in the gardens starting ... well right about now, so soon that is where you'll find me more and more.
Oh, and the "Victory" garden. Well the Obamas finally decided to plant a Victory garden at the White House. I worked on this campaign through Kitchen Gardens International which didn't even seem to get a mention in the official press release announcing that a Victory garden will be planted at the White House. Apparently there were other longer standing efforts to get this garden planted as well.
What's important to me is that much effort and energy was put into getting a garden planted at the White House as has been done in the past, and while it is a noticeable and symbolic shift for those who keep up on these things, it's still only one garden. During the time that the White House garden has been talked about, urban farmers just here in Portland have manifested dozens of gardens. This is the kind of action that will make a difference. If you're inspired by Victory gardens you can be making some of your own in the time it takes to go to meetings, sign petitions, and campaign for "others" to create the actual things we campaign for. Whatever resources you have to make tangible change in the world by starting new gardens, whether it's time, human energy, US currency, other tangible resources such as space for gardens, or just desire coupled with a readiness to take action, you can channel that into real change right here in the town you live in. The path to change is that direct.
Peace and peas,
Calliope
Welcome to the first day of Spring!! Despite the drizzly weather this week, have you felt the shift in temperature? I have felt a decided shift this week that tells me this is really Spring we're feeling. The wet ground does pose some issues for breaking new garden ground, but with many established gardens there is still lots to do. With the moon being in the last quarter this week it's a great time to dig up plants to move to a new location as they are at their sleepiest of the moon cycle right now and won't mind the fuss too much.
The gardening gathering planned for today has shifted focus as well. The beds I had hoped to plant in this week have really not dried out enough to work, but in farming there's always something else that is just right for a particular day. If you're still interested in meeting me at the Ginger-Olive garden at 10am I will be there for a while working on the new compost piles and probably planting some lovely perennials that came from another garden.
I had a thought last nite about how to best coordinate these times when there is something interesting to be done in one of the gardens, but also accommodating the change in direction that often happens on a daily basis due to weather, resources needed, resources offered that need to be picked up, and just stuff that happens. I am thinking about setting a couple of regular days that I will drop by People's Co-op and meet who is up for doing some gardening that day, and we can depart for what needs to be tended to that day. I am happy to say there are several gardens now that are near or fairly near People's that I can plan work in the gardens there around these days.
So I'm thinking something like 11am on Wednesdays and Saturdays at People's as an informal gathering time to see what's up in the gardens that day. I'll try to keep some interesting things to do on those days with the idea that for those that are into it, you can see and do a wide variety of things over the season(s). I know some of you are pretty available to do some gardening all through the week, and once we get to spend some time together and you know more about what's going on in the different gardens we can come up with something more informal.
The reason for all of this is that I have some land-lenders who want to meet and know the people working with me in their spaces. Since I'm interested in keeping everyone happy in these gardening arrangements, I say, no problem. So if you've worked with me in a particular garden, or been to a gathering at a garden, don't assume it's okay to show up there at some other time to do some gardening. I want to get you all involved, but there's no way for you to know what arrangements I've made with the land-lenders until you've been there with me, and learn what's going on in that particular garden.
I'm really hoping that a few of you will see this as a great opportunity to learn some more about growing food and use this as a stepping stone to doing your own farming. I am seriously interested in growing a few farmers this season as well. There are new urban farming operations this season that were started by people who volunteered with other urban farmers last season. If you have the desire to be a farmer the opportunities are there.
So please let me know how a Wed/Sat 11am meetup at People's would or wouldn't work for you if you've been wanting to spend some time in the gardens. As the season now kicks into full swing, I expect to be less available by email, possibly checking just once daily, and less and less available by phone. I've been moving around resources like compost makings, tools, and amendments to new gardens at a mad pace in order to be able to spend most of my time actually in the gardens starting ... well right about now, so soon that is where you'll find me more and more.
Oh, and the "Victory" garden. Well the Obamas finally decided to plant a Victory garden at the White House. I worked on this campaign through Kitchen Gardens International which didn't even seem to get a mention in the official press release announcing that a Victory garden will be planted at the White House. Apparently there were other longer standing efforts to get this garden planted as well.
What's important to me is that much effort and energy was put into getting a garden planted at the White House as has been done in the past, and while it is a noticeable and symbolic shift for those who keep up on these things, it's still only one garden. During the time that the White House garden has been talked about, urban farmers just here in Portland have manifested dozens of gardens. This is the kind of action that will make a difference. If you're inspired by Victory gardens you can be making some of your own in the time it takes to go to meetings, sign petitions, and campaign for "others" to create the actual things we campaign for. Whatever resources you have to make tangible change in the world by starting new gardens, whether it's time, human energy, US currency, other tangible resources such as space for gardens, or just desire coupled with a readiness to take action, you can channel that into real change right here in the town you live in. The path to change is that direct.
Peace and peas,
Calliope
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Got Grass?
A big Thank You! to those that were able to show up and help with the digging up the remaining lawn at the new Ginger Olive garden last Saturday. We were able to get that pretty good sized area dug and the grass turned over that day, and now the exposed soil is happily drying out and will be ready for some further bed prep in the next few days.
More and more this whole urban farming thing seems to be about being in the moment, paying attention to what's right in front of you, and moving available resources to where they have the highest use. By not focusing on a single growing space, or farm, and it's unique situation, I've started to see how the gardens are a place to concentrate materials so that the plants can do their thing. When you are able to let go of the feeling of ownership about things, places, and situations, you start to see how opening up to a slightly larger perspective allows things to flow back and forth in a wonderful way.
I find myself telling many random people I meet about growing what works in your yard, helping your neighbors grow what works in their yard, and then sharing what you've all got with each other. You know, that's really all I'm doing, on just a bit bigger scale. I'm just the one who is happy to hold that space on pretty much a 24/7 basis, and knows what's growing where. Oh, and I've learned how to talk to the plants too. ;)
I'm also finding it's about action. The plants, the seasons, they are all on their own schedule. And I find they are much more serious about survival than most humans. When the season is right, when the moon is right, when the weather is just right, it's time for some kind of action in regards to growing food. We don't need another meeting to discuss what to do. We can just spend that time in the garden watching what the plants are doing on their own. We can chat for 5 minutes with a hoe in our hands about what to do that day. Because until that day and moment presents itself, we probably don't know what that day in the garden will bring.
If you'd like to share some of those moments get in touch by email about what's going on, and when you'd like to spend some time seeing what's happening in one of the gardens. While there will be more organized get togethers like last Saturday, there is also something happening somewhere every single day too.
As we hear more every day about institutions and organizations that have become ineffective if not near complete demise, I am only concerned with our society's lack of action about feeding itself. As I travel throughout SE Portland each day I see so many huge expanses of neatly manicured, bright green lawns and empty lots, and I wonder when the majority of us are going to wake up and realize that produce from China and Mexico are not going to feed us in the long term.
The empty lots I feel will become more and more available as the owners of those lots realize they are not going to cash in by building condos there, if they are even able to hold off the bank from taking them. And what is the bank going to do with those lots? I'm sure I will be growing and helping to grow food in many of those places, but what of the huge expanses of resource intensive lawns in so many places? There needs to be a huge shift in consciousness of those who dictate what grows in those spots. I think it's only a matter of a year or two until growing a lawn becomes an unacceptable use of resources and space that could be growing food.
When you start to really notice lawns, it is astounding how many of us hold on to that very old concept of royalty who used lawns as a way to show that they were wealthy enough to not have to grow their own food. An old idea from another era. And I'm not talking just about front yards of residences. Start noticing how many lawns and parking lots you see at schools, churches, parks and golf courses. How much grass and asphalt do we really need? I think many more of us will start seeing those places as I do, with food growing there. I just heard in the last few days of a group starting to buy up old golf courses to plant food. Not sure where I heard that or I'd provide the link which I don't remember. If you are the one who told me that, could you please send me that link?
BTW, you might have seen the "Got Grass?" flyers starting to sprout up on bulletin boards around SE. It's aimed at telling potential land-lenders what's in it for them if they agree to become a partner in this urban farming by letting some food be grown in their space. I felt a different picture of this might have been painted at the urban farming event in Feb, and I wanted it to be known how I and a few of my farming allies see the stewardship of a new garden plot. Take a look at the info page on the website. Got Grass?
I just read a very interesting story in Mother Jones about the current state of the "local" and "organic" movement that you need to read, Spoiled: Organic and Local is so 2008. This article truly has some food for thought about where we are and where we might need to go. While I don't agree with everything that Paul Roberts writes here, such as that the majority of food production will be in rural areas, I do feel that some important points were made that might not be obvious.
There is a recurring theme in the story about what won't work because it's not very successful on a large scale. This points out what I think we all need to wrap our heads around, and that is that it's this large-scale thinking that got us into this sad state in food production anyway. Many small efforts that collaborate and support each other are what's going to work for us. The era of competition is over folks. We're going to have to learn to work together and trust each other, oh yes, and be willing to give things away if we want to create true abundance.
There is much food for thought in this article that you will not find in similar articles in the mainstream media who are all jumping on the bandwagon with what they call relevant news about the topic of food in our future. Even George Will wrote the thinnest article you can imagine recently about the evils of agribusiness while quoting Michael Pollan for more than 50% of the article. Nice try George, but you're about 5 years late with no new info in that article. Has war become too much of an unpopular topic for the journalistic hawks to make a living at it?
If you want to see what's really going on with food, get yourself to a garden and watch what is happening there. The plants will love your company.
Peace and peas,
Calliope
More and more this whole urban farming thing seems to be about being in the moment, paying attention to what's right in front of you, and moving available resources to where they have the highest use. By not focusing on a single growing space, or farm, and it's unique situation, I've started to see how the gardens are a place to concentrate materials so that the plants can do their thing. When you are able to let go of the feeling of ownership about things, places, and situations, you start to see how opening up to a slightly larger perspective allows things to flow back and forth in a wonderful way.
I find myself telling many random people I meet about growing what works in your yard, helping your neighbors grow what works in their yard, and then sharing what you've all got with each other. You know, that's really all I'm doing, on just a bit bigger scale. I'm just the one who is happy to hold that space on pretty much a 24/7 basis, and knows what's growing where. Oh, and I've learned how to talk to the plants too. ;)
I'm also finding it's about action. The plants, the seasons, they are all on their own schedule. And I find they are much more serious about survival than most humans. When the season is right, when the moon is right, when the weather is just right, it's time for some kind of action in regards to growing food. We don't need another meeting to discuss what to do. We can just spend that time in the garden watching what the plants are doing on their own. We can chat for 5 minutes with a hoe in our hands about what to do that day. Because until that day and moment presents itself, we probably don't know what that day in the garden will bring.
If you'd like to share some of those moments get in touch by email about what's going on, and when you'd like to spend some time seeing what's happening in one of the gardens. While there will be more organized get togethers like last Saturday, there is also something happening somewhere every single day too.
As we hear more every day about institutions and organizations that have become ineffective if not near complete demise, I am only concerned with our society's lack of action about feeding itself. As I travel throughout SE Portland each day I see so many huge expanses of neatly manicured, bright green lawns and empty lots, and I wonder when the majority of us are going to wake up and realize that produce from China and Mexico are not going to feed us in the long term.
The empty lots I feel will become more and more available as the owners of those lots realize they are not going to cash in by building condos there, if they are even able to hold off the bank from taking them. And what is the bank going to do with those lots? I'm sure I will be growing and helping to grow food in many of those places, but what of the huge expanses of resource intensive lawns in so many places? There needs to be a huge shift in consciousness of those who dictate what grows in those spots. I think it's only a matter of a year or two until growing a lawn becomes an unacceptable use of resources and space that could be growing food.
When you start to really notice lawns, it is astounding how many of us hold on to that very old concept of royalty who used lawns as a way to show that they were wealthy enough to not have to grow their own food. An old idea from another era. And I'm not talking just about front yards of residences. Start noticing how many lawns and parking lots you see at schools, churches, parks and golf courses. How much grass and asphalt do we really need? I think many more of us will start seeing those places as I do, with food growing there. I just heard in the last few days of a group starting to buy up old golf courses to plant food. Not sure where I heard that or I'd provide the link which I don't remember. If you are the one who told me that, could you please send me that link?
BTW, you might have seen the "Got Grass?" flyers starting to sprout up on bulletin boards around SE. It's aimed at telling potential land-lenders what's in it for them if they agree to become a partner in this urban farming by letting some food be grown in their space. I felt a different picture of this might have been painted at the urban farming event in Feb, and I wanted it to be known how I and a few of my farming allies see the stewardship of a new garden plot. Take a look at the info page on the website. Got Grass?
I just read a very interesting story in Mother Jones about the current state of the "local" and "organic" movement that you need to read, Spoiled: Organic and Local is so 2008. This article truly has some food for thought about where we are and where we might need to go. While I don't agree with everything that Paul Roberts writes here, such as that the majority of food production will be in rural areas, I do feel that some important points were made that might not be obvious.
There is a recurring theme in the story about what won't work because it's not very successful on a large scale. This points out what I think we all need to wrap our heads around, and that is that it's this large-scale thinking that got us into this sad state in food production anyway. Many small efforts that collaborate and support each other are what's going to work for us. The era of competition is over folks. We're going to have to learn to work together and trust each other, oh yes, and be willing to give things away if we want to create true abundance.
There is much food for thought in this article that you will not find in similar articles in the mainstream media who are all jumping on the bandwagon with what they call relevant news about the topic of food in our future. Even George Will wrote the thinnest article you can imagine recently about the evils of agribusiness while quoting Michael Pollan for more than 50% of the article. Nice try George, but you're about 5 years late with no new info in that article. Has war become too much of an unpopular topic for the journalistic hawks to make a living at it?
If you want to see what's really going on with food, get yourself to a garden and watch what is happening there. The plants will love your company.
Peace and peas,
Calliope
Saturday, February 28, 2009
It's all about the seeds!
The theme has been seeds this week. The second and last of the big orders has gone out and now I can breathe a sigh of relief and start focusing on where things will get planted. I still have a few more things I plan to buy if they remain available for another few weeks, and I've also received some very special seeds, mostly medicinal herbs, from a friend. These seeds were from her deceased mother-in-law who was a sign carrying peace activist in the ‘60’s, and started an organic gardening store in Hillsboro some years ago where she sold seeds among other things. I am very proud to find new homes for her babies.
So with the medicinals and what I still plan to order, the 75-100 varieties I had envisioned planting this year will likely end up closer to 150. It’s all about the diversity for me, and finding and trying some new things to see what does well in our region. I'm also investing cash in seeds as I believe they will soon become a more valuable currency than what we are now using, at least for me.
Last year orders doubled at many of the big seed companies, and this year I think seeds will become in short supply even earlier in the season. If you have any intention of buying seeds this year I would really consider doing so in the next couple of weeks if you’re ordering online. There will be the very small sampler packets available at local nurseries and such a bit longer, but your choices will decrease quickly.
In the next few weeks I’ll be getting some seeds started in cold frames, which were built Friday, and starting to prepare beds for planting.
I’ve gotten a lot of emails asking what type of volunteer opportunities there will be, and so here is the start of a list:
Gardening:
Removing lawns, brush, blackberries, etc., preparing beds with rototillers and shovels, planting seeds and transplants, building trellises, and seed starting. And of course in a month or two there will start to be things to harvest, distribute and get to market. As the summer season winds down and shifts to autumn there will also be the putting to bed of some of the beds, and preparing and planting fall and winter crops.
Have I mentioned that many things can and should be grown here in the fall, winter, and early spring? We are blessed with a unique climate here in the Maritime Northwest, and while it takes some work to grow heat-loving species like peppers and eggplant, we can grow the most amazing, delicious greens and root crops here in the winter that taste like nothing you can buy that is grown out of our area.
Soil Health – This will be about composting, making and applying compost teas, and setting up worm bins. This is a great way to learn about soil biology and beneficial critters in the soil.
Transportation – Bike transportation for hauling materials to and from the gardens, biking a regular route a couple of times a week to pick up organic waste from restaurants and coffee shops, and the occasional truck transport to/from outside the city for things like manure.
Farmer’s Market – I’m planning on selling at one of the farmer’s markets here, probably on a Sunday in SE, so if you like chatting with people about veggies and love the atmosphere of a market, this could be for you.
I’m also looking for one or two people interested in learning how to keep chickens for laying eggs. If you’re interested in learning how to develop your own local egg business or CSA, let’s talk.
Tool & Equipment Person- If you like tools and have a knack for organizing things you might be interested in learning to be a tool librarian. It would involve keeping track of where tools go and when they come back, and learning basic tool maintenance.
Volunteers are a very important part of urban farming and running a CSA. There will be an equal amount of produce available to all the volunteers as there will be for CSA subscribers. So you can essentially earn a CSA share by regular volunteering. The difference is the CSA subscribers have a more formal arrangement as they purchase (or barter) for their share in advance of the growing season. For volunteers it’s on a week-by-week basis throughout the season. If you’re looking to do some regular volunteering let me know and we can figure out what you’d like to do. This is also a fantastic learning opportunity as whatever area of the gardening/CSA you are interested in, you can see the whole cycle from seed to seed, and season to season.
That’s it for now. I will start updating the blog on at least a weekly basis, and if you’d like to be on the list, as it were, hit the feed button up at the top right here and you will be notified when I update the blog. As the weeks progress I will try to provide at least one or two gardening get-togethers for each of the season’s activities. In the next few weeks there will be some opportunities to see how a new garden is developed, and also some seed planting. I also think a social event will soon be planned so we can all meet each other. Stay tuned!
Peace and peas,
Calliope
So with the medicinals and what I still plan to order, the 75-100 varieties I had envisioned planting this year will likely end up closer to 150. It’s all about the diversity for me, and finding and trying some new things to see what does well in our region. I'm also investing cash in seeds as I believe they will soon become a more valuable currency than what we are now using, at least for me.
Last year orders doubled at many of the big seed companies, and this year I think seeds will become in short supply even earlier in the season. If you have any intention of buying seeds this year I would really consider doing so in the next couple of weeks if you’re ordering online. There will be the very small sampler packets available at local nurseries and such a bit longer, but your choices will decrease quickly.
In the next few weeks I’ll be getting some seeds started in cold frames, which were built Friday, and starting to prepare beds for planting.
I’ve gotten a lot of emails asking what type of volunteer opportunities there will be, and so here is the start of a list:
Gardening:
Removing lawns, brush, blackberries, etc., preparing beds with rototillers and shovels, planting seeds and transplants, building trellises, and seed starting. And of course in a month or two there will start to be things to harvest, distribute and get to market. As the summer season winds down and shifts to autumn there will also be the putting to bed of some of the beds, and preparing and planting fall and winter crops.
Have I mentioned that many things can and should be grown here in the fall, winter, and early spring? We are blessed with a unique climate here in the Maritime Northwest, and while it takes some work to grow heat-loving species like peppers and eggplant, we can grow the most amazing, delicious greens and root crops here in the winter that taste like nothing you can buy that is grown out of our area.
Soil Health – This will be about composting, making and applying compost teas, and setting up worm bins. This is a great way to learn about soil biology and beneficial critters in the soil.
Transportation – Bike transportation for hauling materials to and from the gardens, biking a regular route a couple of times a week to pick up organic waste from restaurants and coffee shops, and the occasional truck transport to/from outside the city for things like manure.
Farmer’s Market – I’m planning on selling at one of the farmer’s markets here, probably on a Sunday in SE, so if you like chatting with people about veggies and love the atmosphere of a market, this could be for you.
I’m also looking for one or two people interested in learning how to keep chickens for laying eggs. If you’re interested in learning how to develop your own local egg business or CSA, let’s talk.
Tool & Equipment Person- If you like tools and have a knack for organizing things you might be interested in learning to be a tool librarian. It would involve keeping track of where tools go and when they come back, and learning basic tool maintenance.
Volunteers are a very important part of urban farming and running a CSA. There will be an equal amount of produce available to all the volunteers as there will be for CSA subscribers. So you can essentially earn a CSA share by regular volunteering. The difference is the CSA subscribers have a more formal arrangement as they purchase (or barter) for their share in advance of the growing season. For volunteers it’s on a week-by-week basis throughout the season. If you’re looking to do some regular volunteering let me know and we can figure out what you’d like to do. This is also a fantastic learning opportunity as whatever area of the gardening/CSA you are interested in, you can see the whole cycle from seed to seed, and season to season.
That’s it for now. I will start updating the blog on at least a weekly basis, and if you’d like to be on the list, as it were, hit the feed button up at the top right here and you will be notified when I update the blog. As the weeks progress I will try to provide at least one or two gardening get-togethers for each of the season’s activities. In the next few weeks there will be some opportunities to see how a new garden is developed, and also some seed planting. I also think a social event will soon be planned so we can all meet each other. Stay tuned!
Peace and peas,
Calliope
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