Easiest Plant Ever!

That's right - it's the most simple piece of green to have around.  You'll see it called lucky bamboo, but as long as you give it water, feel free to call it whatever you want.  Technically known as Dracaena Sanderiana, you'll see it in lots of asian stores, restaurants, and right up there on my bookshelf. It doesn't need much light, and you can keep it in any container that you can fit a few rocks in to hold it upright and about an inch or two of water.

Here's what mine look like ($1 or so each, possibly from Ikea)

A Veggie Garden Update

Things are coming along really well so far with my veggies.
There's been some really hot days, where I've had to water more than usual, some rainy days that have let me take a couple days off, and some days that are absolutely perfect.
The salad greens are coming up nicely and should be ready to eat in the next couple weeks.  I'm going to throw down a bunch more seed - really saturate the soil with it, so they come up in a nice big tangle of fresh goodness.

Hanging Garden of Brooklyn

I saw a great idea on the web, and decided to give it a try.  It's a simple way to grow either edible greens or flowers, when you have a wall that gets some good sunlight.
I picked up a cotton (canvas would be better, I think, for strength) 24-pocket over-door shoe bag.

I strung a piece of webbing between the bars of two windows (yes, bars, it's Brooklyn) to hang the bag from.  This particular bag came with hooks, which worked just fine even with all the weight.

I hung the bag from the webbing, like in the picture.

The Family Shamrock

Family legend has it that the shamrock in my parents house is a descendant of a plant they had over 30 years ago.  They gave a cutting to a friend, and, years later, after their original plant had passed on, got a cutting from the friend.  This means that they've effectively had the same plant for a really, really long time!
Over the number of years, I've gone through a bunch of versions of this plant. Some have been lost to neglect, some to bad treatment, and others to....other forms of neglect.  Luckily, I always am able to take a cutting when I go home.  I picked up the most recent one a few weeks ago, when I went home for a visit.  It was a sickly looking plant, but my dad said he was pretty sure it would come back to life with lots of sunlight and constant wetness.
I'm happy to say that in the last few days, some small sprouts have started to peek their heads above the soil, and it does indeed look like, at least for a short while, the family shamrock will live on.
Here's a photo of it in it's current state.  Those long tendrils are the old growth, and you see those bright green leaves starting to grow.

I"ll keep you posted!

Urban Farming and the Wonders of Cardboard

Once there was an on- and off-ramp to the highway smack in the middle of San Francisco. Then, predictably, there was an earthquake that destroyed some of the on-ramp, and the 4 square blocks surrounding the ramps were gated in and left nearly isolated, save some drug addicts and prostitutes who inhabited it.

After 20 years and failed plans to develop condos, the space was finally reclaimed as a temporary urban farm called Hayes Valley Farm. Last Friday, I was able to visit it as part of Chronicle Books' Volunteer Day.

Like many urban farmers, the folks at Hayes Valley Farm aim to provide local, sustainable food and educate the community. The latter goal was exemplified by the long tour we got before digging dirt. Jay, our ever-enthusiastic guide, walked us through the process of creating roots for such a project. Highlights included finding a practical solution for saving trees choked in ivy. To salvage the trees, they turned to laying down cardboard at their bases, essentially suffocating the ivy, which would eventually break down with the cardboard, creating a nitrogen-rich soil.


I was amazed at how cardboard was laid down in many places to kick start the farm, and while this certainly didn't make for a pretty sight, they'd figured out a way to re-use an item that would take resources to recycle.

With 2.2 acres, the farmers also used dwarfed trees in pots to conserve space, and had rigged a potato planter out of some chicken wire, soil, and existing potatoes. Apparently, if you create a bed for about 20 potatoes and give it some good sun for 120 days, you'll get 4 times the amount of potatoes. I'm sure there's science behind this, but I'd still like to call it magic.
After checking out their compost grounds and walking by some honeybees, we were put to work planting rows upon rows of fava beans. Interestingly enough, we were planting new fava beans because we were also cutting out old ones, tearing them apart, and throwing the remnants back onto the soil. Fava beans emit nitrogen-rich bulbs on the bottom of their roots, so we were creating life only to take it away and create more life. Nice touch, Hayes Valley Farm.

Beautify your street - easy, cheap and the neighbors love it!

It had always bugged me that the little patch of dirt around the tree in front of our apartment seemed to attract all sorts of nastiness.  It was an ashtray, doggy toilet, garbage can - just plain ugly, if you get my drift.
I figured that I could add a little good soil that I had around after setting up my veggie garden, add a cheap little fence to it, and plant a few flowers.  There's nothing like putting some flowers in the ground to stop people from dirty-ing up a couple square feet.
Here's what it looked like after I dug it up and added some soil.

Then, I hit up my local garden store and picked up a few flats of begonias for about $15 total - really not a bad price for a little loveliness every time I walk outside.  So after no more than an hour and no more than $25, I had this nice little space.

This was a couple weeks ago now, so it's started to grow in a good amount.  Here's how it's looking today.

Farmer's Markets - Not Just Veggies

You might think that your local farmer's market is a great source for fresh, local, delicious fruits and vegetables - and it is.
It's also a great place to start when you're thinking about doing some growing, whether flowers, veggies or other plants.  The sellers tend be local, so they tend to be good sources of information about what, when and how to grow all kinds of things.  If you have a pest problem, they've probably dealt with it before and can tell you how to take care of it.  Got a question about when's the right time to get your seedlings outdoors without fearing the dreaded frost?  They know.
The farmer's market is also a good place to pick up already-started plants, such as peppers, tomatoes, herbs of all kinds, greens, and so on.  If you don't have the ability (or capability) to start them from seed indoors, being able to get some plants that you just need to pop in the ground is a big convenience.  I tend to do this for my tomatoes, since my local market has many heirloom varieties that I don't see anywhere else.

Flats of flowers of all kinds, houseplants, rosebushes, little trees for indoors and out - check out the farmer's market near you!