The Green Room

[PedalUma]

Here is the site of Green String Farm. https://www.greenstringfarm.com/ It is amazing how much more flavor this stuff packs.
I saw a green wall today. This could be done in cities and with food crops.

 

[Art Deco]

Michael Pollan’s An Omnivore’s Dilemma has several descriptions of small farms that punch way above their weight like one whose name escapes me near Staunton, VA whose bounty is truly amazing.

The bounty that even a small garden gives is truly amazing, and there are many photos on the web of such gardens pumping out peppers, tomatoes, squash, and beans .

I recommend a " victory garden " to everyone with a sunny patch available, along with a few chickens or ducks if that's something you want to try.

All our many generations of great grandparents had such a garden, canned and stored their surplus food, so we can too.
One of the Romans even said that a man who owns a garden and a library has all he needs in life .

 

[john peck]

We are fortunate to live in a area of family farms, including some Mennonite and Amish families, that aren't yet locked into the industrial farm system.

The Mennonites don't use electricity, the Amish use neither electricity nor diesel, only propane and coal.

Unfortunately, they mostly depend upon fertilizers, weed killers, and pesticides as much as horses to produce a crop.

Our small garden is organic, and produces a lot for it's size without any chemicals, but won't scale up to feed hundreds like a commercial operation must, without a impossible amount of labor.

I expect food shortages and frequent price hikes are a part of the new normal as well.

Yup. ya gotta look out for yur own rice bowl.

 

[PedalUma]

O‘ahu’s 10 community gardens have 1,248 plots. It costs about $10 to apply and $10 per year to get a plot. There are some rules that are just common sense like you can't grow drugs or use human waste for fertilizer. Most grow veggies and fruits, some flowers. The one by Obama's grade school is the nicest. Better than going to a museum they are a great show.

 

[Art Deco]

Our community gardens are similar priced ...$10 to $20 per season for a big plot.
And there is even a garden on the local campus that gives all it's produce to charity .

Campus Garden

Our 15,000-square-foot campus garden grows and donates hundreds of pounds of healthy food each year to those in need.

www.susqu.edu

Edit : our personal garden is on the last crop of the year ... about 50 sq ft of carrots remain in the garden to harvest soon, and then it's done till spring.

 

[Mulezen]

The Farm I mentioned above

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/how-americas-most-famous-farmer-can-appeal-to-left-right-and-center/2015/03/31/77551480-d272-11e4-a62f-ee745911a4ff_story.html

 

[Mulezen]

The Post piece has a more political stance than the chapter on Saliden in Pollan’s book. The how of his farming, the method, is what’s interesting, and relevant.

 

[john peck]

Well, stoke up on them calories tomorrow; lord knows what storm, flood, & drought will do
for the food supply in future, not to mention fuel & soil depletion. Eat, drink, & be merry.......

 

[Handlebars]

Government non-feasance does BC great harm

 

[tomjasz]

I recommend a " victory garden "

Growing up in the 50's every other neighbor had a kitchen garden. These days, 60 years later, vegetable gardens are almost non existent. A sad thing IMO. I used to produce biological soil amendments. Back when is was not disabled.
Developed the "recipes" when I was employed.

 

[john peck]

Growing up in the 50's every other neighbor had a kitchen garden. These days, 60 years later, vegetable gardens are almost non existent. A sad thing IMO. I used to produce biological soil amendments. Back when is was not disabled.
Developed the "recipes" when I was employed.

Like the notion of a victory garden, but I´ve no place left to put one. The wife´s completely flooded every part
of the property with ornamental flowers,(though many are herbals as well). We do have 3 pears, 2 apples,
4 hazel nut trees, & a huge nonproductive cherry tree. 2 inches down the soil is glacial morrain, mostly rock.
Still i´m not too worried; there´s lots of edible forage, feral cats, & squirrels. Does anyone have a good
recipe for cat stew?

 

[tomjasz]

Like the notion of a victory garden, but I´ve no place left to put one. The wife´s completely flooded every part
of the property with ornamental flowers,(though many are herbals as well). We do have 3 pears, 2 apples,
4 hazel nut trees, & a huge nonproductive cherry tree. 2 inches down the soil is glacial morrain, mostly rock.
Still i´m not too worried; there´s lots of edible forage, feral cats, & squirrels. Does anyone have a good
recipe for cat stew?

I despise the asshats that boot their cats outside.

 

[Mulezen]

A house cat should be just that

 

[Mulezen]

Container gardening, raised beds are a small but productive antidote to glacial gravel

 

[Prairie Dog]

My wife and I have been growing and harvesting our own organic vegetables from two community garden plot for the past 6 years from May-Oct. We rent two medium sized plots from the local municipality at $30/lot and have harvested enough produce to provide not only for ourselves but for family, relatives, friends and neighbors alike. It’s a bit of work at the beginning and end of the growing season but well worth the effort.

There are a total of four community gardens located throughout the city and they are generally sold out every year. Each fall, the city tills over the plots in preparation for next season when the cycle begins again.

https://www.reddeer.ca/recreation-a.../gardening-opportunities/garden-plot-program/

For the past several years, goats have been brought in to eradicate the overgrown grass next door and It’s always a popular time for families to gather around at this local spot.

 

[tomjasz]

A house cat should be just that

I love cats. I've had them for 50 years and nary a one was allowed outdoors. Thousands of years of domestication and butt heads still think they need out. Neighbor cats hunt our exclusionary bird feeders. We rescued an entire family of feral cats last winter. Had them all spayed and neutered an off to a horse ranch. There are a myriad of good reasons for not having outdoor cats.

 

[john peck]

I despise the asshats that boot their cats outside.

I do not boot my 30 pd, 22 yr old cat outside. I can barely lift it. It has learned how to open the front door
cuz it´s too lazy to go ´round to the dog door. I only keep it around as a potential emergency food. We
grudgingly tolerate each other.

 

[tomjasz]

My wife and I have been growing and harvesting our own organic vegetables from two community garden plot for the past 6 years from May-Oct. We rent two medium sized plots from the local municipality at $30/lot and have harvested enough produce to provide not only for ourselves but for family, relatives, friends and neighbors alike. It’s a bit of work at the beginning and end of the growing season but well worth the effort.

View attachment 107978
View attachment 107979

There are a total of four community gardens located throughout the city and they are generally sold out every year. Each fall, the city tills over the plots in preparation for next season when the cycle begins again.

https://www.reddeer.ca/recreation-a.../gardening-opportunities/garden-plot-program/

For the past several years, goats have been brought in to eradicate the overgrown grass next door and It’s always a popular time for families to gather around at this local spot.

View attachment 107980
View attachment 107981

Fantastic! I’m thrilled to have read and seen your incredible garden!

 

[PedalUma]

It has been mentioned here that there are eight parking spots for each car, plus additional room for them to maneuver. It adds up to 1,600 square feet per car, just for parking. That is a lot of real estate that could be freed up for community gardens as we replace cars with electric bikes for most trips. I can not think of a better thing than to make community gardens from parking lots.

 

[BlackHand]

Interesting to read these takes on gardens and cats.

Like many around here, we started a couple raised beds during the pandemic. I'm fairly sure the resource investment - lumber, soil, fertilizer, water- has far outweighed the return so far. The bunnies sure like it though.

There's been a dramatic rise in the rabbit (eastern cottontail, non-native) population the past 2 years followed by a sharp increase in coyote (also non-native) sightings around here.

The coyotes do a much better job of convincing folks to keep their cats indoors than the city council so there's that, I guess.