Monday, March 30, 2009
People / Urban Farming Urban Farming, Chapter 1: The Site Evaluation
Posted by Carrington Fox on Mon, Mar 30, 2009 at 6:40 AM
Welcome to what is intended to be the first installment of a feature chronicling the transformation of my small urban property into a farm-let. Our story begins in my practically non-existent backyard, where precious little sun pierces the canopy of my neighbors' trees, where the soil can best be described as construction fill, and where I am determined to grow food.
After last year's failed attempt to nurture corn on my shady quarter-acre, I decided to call in professionals. Enter Marcus Kerske and Peter Anderson of Gardens of Babylon and the Personal Farmer.
Peter and Marcus (pictured above) approached the project as if transforming a postage stamp of property into a haven of agricultural activity were the most natural thing in the world. Armed with a compass and an uncanny grasp of the sun's patterns, they paced the yard front and back and asked what I wanted out of a garden. In the process, Peter, who just moved here from Colorado, caught a snake.
Primarily, I want to teach my kids that vegetables come from the earth. I'd like to grow food to cook and share with our neighbors and possibly even save a little money along the way, at least in the longer term. Off the top of their heads, Peter and Marcus suggested we start with a "pizza garden," with onions, garlic, chives and scallions and a patch of salad greens. We also considered a sunny patch of blueberry bushes and herbs. We're going to replace hanging petunias with hanging tomato plants and possibly trade a spirea for a blueberry bush. In a useless strip of grass that runs under a bay window, we're considering a tiny hoop house, where I could grow greens in the winter.
The most intriguing part of the plan is the proposed cornfield in the planting strip between the sidewalk and the street, which is the sunniest real estate we've got. I don't know how my neighbors are going to like that, much less my husband. One friend has advised me that "corn is for the back 80." Unfortunately, my back 80 is in the middle of 440.
We talked about a lot of options, including composting and raised beds. Marcus hinted at live chickens. We'll see about that. Now Marcus and Peter have taken their sketches and photographs back to Gardens of Babylon at the Farmers' Market, where they will work up an estimate for the various parts of the project, including soil, compost, fertilizer, labor, plants and seeds, all of which they can provide.
Since hanging out the Personal Farmer shingle this year, Gardens of Babylon's phone has been ringing off the hook. Clearly, I'm not the first person to exhibit these survivalist/agricultural tendencies. Consequently, it will take a week for the guys to put an estimate together and another week to start the installation. That gets us to mid-April, which is an ideal time to start planting. I'll keep you posted.
Gardens of Babylon and the Personal Farmer offer site evaluations for $35, which is deducted from the cost of services and products purchased. To schedule a site evaluation, call 244-8949.
Comments (19)
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Carrington, that is so exciting! Last year I grew herbs on my little balcony and it changed my life. This year I'm hoping to expand the operation. Urban gardening huzzah!
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Claudia -- Can you grow corn? Maybe we could split up the crops. Apparently, I have a good habitat for onions and things, so it's going to be the Summer of Halitosis unless I find a way to diversify, which might require some sharecropping.
Due to my extensive redneck heritage and 12 excruciating deliveries of kale last year from the CSA, I'm growing my own this year too. It must be the zeitgeist. A nice man came and dug up the plot with a tiller. I'm tending little sprouts of chard, dill, arugula, basil, tomatoes, okra, cukes, winter squash and green beans, but the family passed legislation against zucchini. I'll swap someone arugula and basil for zucchini.
carrington - i'm putting in a 4x8 raised bed and some hanging tomato baskets. my entire back yard was an amazing garden when i moved here. i bought the house from active caterers and they grew a ton of stuff. but it was hard for me to keep up due to the obvious and my ex was not a gardening fan. we did it for awhile but i finally took out all of the beds.
i wish i knew someone who loved to farm/garden but needed the right spot. i ahve a big area but am limited to what i can do. but i am tired of buying my herbs and embarrassed being a food blogger who grows nothing!
the guy comes thursday to look it all over for me. the previous owners grew a ton of corn out in the side yard. we'll see what he says but in the end, i am only one woman on wheels. they are emailing me a list of plants and of course the ONE thing i adamant about growing, they never heard of... but are willing to look into it! i gotta grow ramps. they are the allium of my dreams...
nicki - arugula is my life but it is fussy to grow, liking sandy soil. as for zucchini, i may not go there. but kale, i love. and chard. i'm going to do lettuces and herbs and i've yet to decide on which vegetables. but i definitely want yellow cherry tomatoes because they are like candy.
Home gardening is worth it if only for the herbs. It made everything I cooked last summer—from eggs to pasta to roasted veg—taste ten times better.
This year I want to grow chilis too. Anyone done that before? Can it be done in a balcony box?
Unless you have a good deal of space, growing corn won't do much good. You'll irritate the neighbors - the leaves are scratchy (if you do the spot between the sidewalk and the road) and squirels will be more aware of when it ripens just right than you will. They'll get every bit.
Hit the farmer's market or a CSA instead for corn or potatoes. They take too much room. Do herbs or tomatoes.
I love all this urban farm/garden activity!
We've expanded our upper 40 (as in inches!--the only patch of 6 hour sun is in the front yard) to the easement ( so rebellious)across the sidewalk from the house.
Right now, onions and potatoes are in the ground; mixed lettuces and chard are coming up.
If you have a deep enough container, chilis should do fine on the balcony.
Claudia, I'm lame on know-how but game on want-to, if you just need a body to do the hauling and hoeing and fiddling with a hose now and then. You've got my email from the class if you want to get in touch. Some fruits of the labor and great conversation along the way would be enough for me in exchange.
I spent three summers trying to grow my own food. And three summers losing to the squirrels, rabbits and deer. So I will gladly purchase any extra stuff you guys have.
SL - i am totally game. if only to get to hang with you. you do the heavy lifting. i'll cook. let's gather and assess the situation.
everyone else - please charge lesley extra, if only for being a vegetarian. i know i will.
(by the way. i am just wanting to announce that i am from nyc and have a food blog that some people like. in case anybody didn't know.)
thank you and goodnight.
If there is a garden party, I want in. I'll bring the gin and tonic. Oh, wait, is a garden party the same thing as a gardening party? I'm in for that too.
Last year I had some basil, greek oregano, habanero peppers, lavander, chives, spearmint and rosemary.
Everything worked out really well last year. Two years back I grew everything in pots, but it didn;t work nearly as well as when planted in the ground. Also, some of these herbs come back every year (oregano and lavander). I've had a rosemary plant outside for 2 years solid and it's a beast, can't kill that plant even in the most harsh winter conditions.
Peppers are difficult to grow, they take ages and their water demands are less than other herbs such as basil, rosemary, etc.
This year I'm growing some basil, oregano, peppers (when I find some starter plants) and mint. Spearmint last year was too much like gum, very strong flavor that overpowered just about everything it touched. This year I opted for the basic mint that goes better with limoncello / lemonade.
I'll gladly trade herbs for some good 'veggies, always end up tossing over half my herbs out because I never use them that much.
I am definitely in to help out on the farming situation. 99problems just posted a video about these guys Bebo.com/99ProblemsDotOrg
Good luck to you all, but unless you absolutely thrive on August heat, keep your garden minimalist the first couple of years. It's kind of like a love affair in the amount of work required to keep things from getting really messy.
i'm trying something new with my garden this year. i've had good luck the past couple years with traditional row gardening, but this year i am going to try square foot gardening. it is supposed to be a lot less weeding, no tilling, and higher yields. all raised beds, and all the plants within easy reach. no tilling between rows. if a plant only needs 6 inches between seeds why plant in rows spaced 3 feet apart. it seems like it might be a good system for those of you with less space.
i would recommend to anyone attempting a garden space out your planting. it can get overwhelming pretty quick when 50 tomato plants all produce at the same time.(i let the best boys rot on the vine and harvested all the brandywines) sweet 100's are like candy. unless you really like cucumbers or are planning on making pickles, one or two cucumber plants is plenty. same with zuchini. i live out in the country so the squirrels may be a little more timid out here, but the possums are not. never had a problem with them getting my corn.
and finally, while i love the corn from the farmers market, i say grow your own if you can. on more than a few occasions i went out to the garden with a flashlight (i work nights) picked three or four ears of corn and a tomato or two. boiled the corn for 30 seconds sliced the tomatoes, salt pepper, butter, and holy shit was it good. there is almost nothing better than corn picked minutes before it is eaten.
i'd love to be involved if some sort of garden party happens. i'll bring the corn. it is the only thing i am planting in rows this year, but i'm hoping to put out 8 or 9 rows.
