Carrots and Eggs

I've been in Colorado for the last month but I have finally returned... for a little while at least. In my absence the garden has flourished. And although this development may have knocked me down a peg as a gardener, I am pleased regardless. I have a ton of carrots ( some which my wife traded for backyard eggs) and fava bean and pea plants up to my armpits. I also have a radish that I intentionally left in the ground that is now about as big as a baby's head. More on that later.

Yesterday I helped Rescue Earth at their urban garden in Miami. After being away for awhile it was nice to come back to something so positive. I know it's cliche but it is better to give than to receive ( insert dirty joke here). I am looking forward to getting more involved with them - thanks Pia, thanks Finn!!

Guerilla Gardening Part II

A couple of months ago I took it upon myself to "repurpose" (I think that's the word of the day) the vacant lot on the other side of my neighborhood. This was to be a very passive thing as I and, let's face it, most people don't have the time to tend to stuff they randomly drop in open fields. So it was a nice surprise when I walked over and found this ( see pics).

I find it funny that only the stuff native to the New World made it. It's also funny that the corn I planted here is doing better than the stuff I had growing in my yard...and that's not funny haha.

Amid the things growing I also found this:

I know what you're thinking - mass suicide. Some Heaven's Gate type shit, right?!!? Maybe. Maybe iguanas all need little sweaters? I think this is where QVC finally meets PETA.

Brrr

It's been cold here in South Florida. I mean for real cold. Actual freezing tempuratures. But that's gone now (I kinda miss it already) and we are back to our usual 70 degree winter. I was really worried for the garden but it seems that everything fared well. And in one of those strange twists of fate my plants seem to be going gangbusters now that its warm again. The tomatoes and strawberries especially. I have a million of these little mason bees buzzing around them. Love those guys. I already am, literally, seeing the fruits of their labors. Yay for indentured servants!!

Be Patient (I say to myself)

So its been awhile since I last posted. I guess that's the fate of many a blogger. Life gets in the way, what can I say?!!? Thankfully my schedule has been filled with work, which may sound odd unless you are a freelancer like me. We take it when we can get it ya know.

I also must admit that a bunch of less than sexy things have been going on in my garden. I've pulled about a dozen or so VERY spicy radishes but that's about as exciting as it gets. On the other end I managed to grow the weakest looking sunflowers on the planet that are already at the end of their lives. I know, all things must come to an end but sunflowers are supposed to be easy and I can never seem to grow the gargantuan beasts that everyone else does... whateva.

I have been pulling and pinching all manner of green leafy things. Like I said, not as exciting as picking a ripe fruit but that day will come soon enough. Until then I have to remind myself to be patient. The weather has finally broken here in South Florida. Our real gardening season is in full swing.

Guerilla Gardening

Not the most beautiful landscape - I know. But that's the point. When I was a younger man I had a habit for a few years there of painting walls without the consent of their owners. Some people called that vandalism. I liked to think that some of my graffiti bordered on being called art. Well, fast forward a decade or so and while I don't go bombing with spray cans anymore I still feel the need to beautify otherwise vacant spaces. I was introduced to "guerilla gardening" while I was in college by a friend of mine. There was a produce market not far from our campus that would throw away all the pineapple tops at the end of the day behind their market. If you don't know, pineapples are the easiest thing to grow ( here in South Florida at least). You simple peel back a few leaves until you see signs the little rootlets and screw that thing into the ground. They always take. Our campus was a little bland so we decided to add several pineapple patches. I believe they're still there to this day.

This picture is of a patch of vacant land across the main road from my neighborhood. The city plans on making it a passive park but in the meantime it is a barren field with a few papaya trees and (not seen in this pic) a boarded up house. Today I planted sunflowers, 3 different types of corn, taiwanese black yard beans and hairy vetch. We'll see what happens but if you believe in good omens... it rained today.

I have a hard time finding local sources of heirloom and organic seeds. Last year in my desperate search to find someone in the neighborhood to service this need I stumbled upon Eden Organic Nursery Services. Their physical store is really just the office to an auto body shop but they do carry a wide selection of seeds, organic fertilizers, pest controls etc, etc. Check 'em out if you need anything - http://www.eonseed.com/. Believe me, Home Depot doesn't have what you want.

Ah-Ha!

So back at the end of October I told the story of my overzealous use of compost tea on my then burgeoning seedlings. They seemed to be taking off, I was excited, and thought a little mild fertilizer would do them good. Well, it instead burned them...or so I thought. What I didn't say is what went into the compost that may be the true culprit.

Behind my house is a nice little 4-acre lake that happens to be spring fed. Because of this anomaly the water is relatively safe to swim in ( sans the occasional alligator) and the whole neighborhood uses it to water their lawns. Just to make sure that it doesn't get clogged with algae and to keep down the growth of grasses near the shoreline, our HOA contracts a guy to come out every other month or so and spray the lake. I think you see where this is going.

A couple of days after the last spraying I collected all of the beautiful lake grass and muck from my shoreline. Great!! I was so happy for my little bonanza of detritus I immediately put it into my composter. A day or so later it rained and I drew the putrid water from said composter and applied it to my garden. And that's when it all started ending.

Last week I had a eureka moment and put 2 and 2 together. I did some research and found that a compound called glyphosate (commercially known as Pondmaster) was used in the lake. Pondmaster is Roundup's little aquatic cousin. Supposedly not harmful to fish but just as lethal to plants as Roundup. This coupled with the anaerobic bacteria in my too-wet compost was probably the one-two punch that a) killed the youngest seedlings and b) effectively bonsai'd my other babies.

As hard as I try Monsanto always seems to creep into my world.