Stacking UP!

One of the biggest problems urban farmers come across is the lack of space for growing. There simply isn't enough area to plant and for apartment dwellers this is further complicated by not having any land. This problem can be fixed by being innovative and creative. Plants do not just have to grow in pretty one dimensional horizontal rows. Often, going vertical is the answer.
They can hang, stack, climb. tower, protrude, and spiral just to name a few.
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Warmer conditions translates into delectable tasting strawberries, but with our farm already at growing capacity we only had an area of about 4' by 4' to grow them. To combat our space dilemma, we decided to build vertical stacking towers about 5' high. This would expand our number of plants grown from 6 to about 70 in the same amount of space. An added bonus is the actual berries are no longer sitting in the soil leaving them exposed and prone to pill bugs. (There's nothing worse than patiently watching your strawberry grow bright red and plump with sweetness and when the berry is ripe for picking , you turn it over to find out pill bugs were slowly devouring it the whole time!)

It was a fairly simple process of constructing the boxes and stacking the towers. For the individual boxes, we used donated wood and used long screws to reinforce each box. Once the boxes were constructed, we attached window screen and remay cloth to the bottom of each box using staple guns. The reason for the screen and remay is to hold a majority of the soil in place.

Next we cut holes in the screen and remay to aid with the natural process of soil erosion. As the soil breaks down, it will progressively lessen, lowering into each box. As it does we will just add soil to the top box. We also reinforced the towers by driving a metal stake down the middle of them.

The last step was transplanting the strawberries. We started with the bottom box and worked our way up. We put one plant in all four corners and than added another box on top. The soil mixture consisted of compost, peat and some left over top soil from our sweet potato bed. I think the final product looks great and we all had a really good time putting the towers together!
Be creative and have fun!

Teocentli Calli

I was sitting in the dirt. A conch shell sounded to signal a turning to each of the four directions. Then I watched as three women in traditional Aztec outfits danced around an altar against the backdrop of skyscrapers--their drum beats accentuated by the freeway traffic just a block away. What a beautiful and poignant juxtaposition. 

On April 2, students and professors from the Chicano Studies program gathered with Seeds at City farmers, volunteers, and Native American elders for a magical ceremony. (See slideshow pictures below). The new site where we gathered has been named Teocentli Calli, meaning "home of the ancestral corn" in Nahuatl. 

The occasion was a planting of the Three Sisters crops: corn, beans, and squash. In traditional Mesoamerican milpa agriculture, these three crops are so named because of their harmonious qualities. The corn grows tall and strong so that the beans are able to climb it. The beans fix nitrogen from the atmosphere into the soil, which is beneficial to the corn, and the squash is used as a ground cover; monopolizing the sunlight so that weeds don't grow, repelling pests with its prickly trichomes, and retaining moisture in the soil by protecting it from wind and sun. 

After the songs, dances and words of gratitude, each person planted a few seeds of an heirloom variety called Pink Hopi corn, followed by a potluck in the sunshine. The beans and squash will be planted in a week or so once the corn has established itself. 

I am thankful to have shared this ceremony with the 50 or so people gathered that day. There seemed to be no rushed agenda, but a quiet wonder and an acknowledgment of the symbolic actions being performed. In the middle of a bustling city, this ceremony felt somehow like a blessed and effortless act. The sense of connection to each other and the earth left me joyful and eager to continue cultivating these relationships. 

La Milpa Ceremony - Slide Show

raspberry serpentine

This is not a recipe for some exotic berry soufflé.

Our resident gen-i-us Paul had yet another trick up his sleeve when it came time to put down some berry vines. We planted two terraces with raspberry vines and the third terrace got a blackberry.

After amending the soil in each terrace with some highly fertile compost we positioned two posts on either side. These posts allowed us to string peices of twine between the two creating a place to attach the vines of our newly planted berries. (see below)

Instead of attaching all of the available vines to the makeshift trellis, Paul devised a plan to create new berry vines out of no where for free. It sounded too much like hocus pocus to me but Paul insisted. The technique was to weave any available vine of decent length into the soil and then out again like those computer generated hoax pictures of the Loch Ness Monster (see below).

so...

The idea is that the nodes on the vine that happen to fall underground will put down roots and become a brand new plant.

genius

Behold! The Mighty Bush Bean

This past Saturday at the farm we planted bush beans. A bush bean can be described as a bean plant whose bushy growth does not need support, like a trellis to climb. We planted nearly ten different varieties, seen above. But first, the back story.

On these particular beds we had planted spinach. I wasn't part of that planting, but I imagine it went something like this. Two inches of compost was spread on native soil. Using digging forks and spades, the 2 inches of compost was mixed with the below 6 inches of native soil, with a little Dr. Earth mixed in for good measure. Any clods of dirt were broken up, and any stones bigger than a golf ball, and sticks bigger than a cigarette were sifted out. The loose, airy soil/compost mix was then formed into two raised, flat beds, with a 18 inch path dividing them. The spinach seeds were then planted and covered with fine, sifted compost.

Unfortunately, the spinach didn't take, and its growth stopped after a couple weeks. This is where the bush beans come in. Beans are nitrogen fixers, which means they capture nitrogen from the atmosphere and deposit it in the soil (actually, bacteria and microbes living in their roots do that in exchange for carbohydrates). Nitrogen is a key nutrient for plant growth, and beans are often used to enrich nutrient poor soil with nitrogen. We thought we'd give them a try. So...

We prepared the beds nearly identical to the spinach beds with a couple key differences. First, from turning a little bit of the soil, we could see it was dark, with plenty of organic material, so adding compost wasn't necessary this time, and in fact may have been detrimental. Again, dirt clods were broken up, stones were removed, and the beds were formed. We made 3 rows about 12-18 inches apart, and planted the seeds at 6 inch intervals, about two finger knuckles deep. This time, we didn't cover the seeds with fine, sifted compost because the beans are hearty enough to break through to the surface.

These beans were planted in the beds nearest the garden entrance, by the hay bales, so check out there progress in the coming weeks!

Farmers Kimchi

Making kimchi is easy, my friends.

You will need: kosher or sea salt (garlic and cayenne pepper are optional)


and greens from the mustard/cabbage family (Brassicaceae).


Greens from the Brassicaceae family, such as mustard greens, kale, radishes, collards, or broccoli, contain bacteria that are necessary for fermentation. It's important not to use iodized salt because iodized salt contains an anti-bacteria.

Take a big handful of greens and roll burrito-style. Chop into little pieces.


Radishes are good too.


Using a 2x4 or 2x2 piece of wood with a flat end, bruise greens in a large bucket.


This breaks cells open so moisture can run out of the leaves.


Pound away like so.


Sprinkle 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon of kosher salt every 2 to 3 inches of greens. The salt will draw water out of the foliage.


You can add cayenne pepper when you add the salt.


Greens...salt...greens...salt...greens...salt...got it?


Now put a plate on top. Then put a large heavy rock on top of the plate. Cover the bucket opening with plastic wrap.


The kimchi will be ready in 4 days. The greens will shrink to about half the size and the water will rise. The fermented liquid is nutrient-rich and is good to eat. Taste the greens after 4 days and see how you like it. Store greens in large mason jars in the refrigerator. This will arrest fermentation. Make sure there is moisture in the jars.

While waiting, why not enjoy a piece of juicy grapefruit


and take time to smell the flower?