Down(town) on the Farm

Farmer Update: Ben's Report

Well, here we are again with another update from the Farm.  Now, while some of you may pass by and see us standing around and eating, we actually do get some work done.  No really, we do!  We don't always celebrate birthdays and eat cupcakes and cookies like on Tuesday.  (By the way, it was Adam's birthday, so you can wish him a happy late birthday and give him a present.)  Sometimes, we have delicious cinnamon rolls and bread with homemade fig preserves, like on Thursday.  But we do work hard and deserve to relax and have some good food...most of the time.

Alright, enough about food we ate--let's talk about the food we're growing.  We have made a few new pathways where the bush beans are growing and it has made it look so nice.  We also planted some cool season plants in with the beans, like beets and some more radishes and I believe, some onions, too.  This area is starting to take shape and look really nice.

There hasn't been a whole lot of planting this week, but the stage is being set for the cool season.  Thursday, Kim planted some seeds in starter trays so that we can plant those in our Farm when they're ready.  Once we get our greenhouse built, we will able to do some more prep like this.  Don't worry, our greenhouse is on its way; we should be starting in the next week or so.  Now that the cabinet's living roof is almost finished, we will start on the greenhouse.  I know Marley told you last week that the living roof was finished, but we have found a way to keep working on it.  Just a few more little touch-ups to make it look really nice.  Trust me, it will be worth the wait!

It's really wonderful to be able to be in this environment and watch nature grow and mature.  You get to see so many incredible things.  It seems like every time I show up after not being there for a day or two, I miss out because everything has grown another foot in the night.  The amaranth is taking over.  Literally, it is taking over.  Little did City College, as well as ourselves, know that this whole "Urban Farm" was just a way for Paul to further his "Amaranth Across America" campaign, but I have to hand it to him, it is very beautiful.

There are so many things I'm sure I miss out on seeing just because I don't watch the plants constantly.  It's interesting to think about how much nature changes from day to day and what we don't see either because we are too busy or just not paying attention.  I was lucky enough to capture some pretty cool pictures of some plants that have now changed and it makes me wonder what else I've missed.  Our sunflowers are starting to bloom and they look beautiful, of course, but I captured a few before they opened and thought I would share them with you.  I found this stage of the flower very interesting and quite stunning even though the flower has not yet emerged.

The other thing that caught my eye is that while most of the sunflowers we planted to seem to look the same right now, there are a few that look completely different.  When we started planting the sunflowers I wasn't that excited about them.  Although I do like sunflower seeds, I was more interested in planting food that I wanted to eat.  But now that they have started to grow, I am really excited to see them in the garden, especially when they are full grown.  This sunflower is probably one of my favorite plants in the whole garden.

I have learned a lot in these past few months working on this project, but the most important thing I am starting to learn is to enjoy the wonderful things nature can bring.  To really sit and watch plants mature and grow is something we should not take for granted.  I'm going to leave you with one more picture that while I was taking it, I thought was going to be a really cool photo for my entry.  It turned out great and I was really excited about it, and the next day I went back to look at the squash plant where the flower was and saw the flower had wilted.  Don't miss your chance to enjoy the beautiful things nature has to offer.

Farmer Update: Marley's Report

The first week of September has given us plenty of hot sunny days that are great for the corn and other summer crops that grow fast in that type of weather.  If you have looked at the past entries and photos from this blog, you would really notice how much things have developed and grown.  Lots of students, staff and faculty have also noticed how fast things are changing as they walk by the Farm in their daily movements around campus.  It's fun to come look at the garden every once in a while and see how things grow!

As Adam said last week, we have moved into the Fall semester and the level of activity on campus as increased.  Our Farm work and volunteer days on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday mornings have become more public as students, staff and faculty notice us, observe us, and engage us in conversation while we work.  People have been attracted to the Farm by the tantalizing aromas and beautiful colors and forms of the food that we prepare and eat.  That's correct; we don't only pull weeds in the sun, we also relax, talk, trade books, prepare cool foods and drinks and learn about crazy new stuff that we can eat.  (Some people like to hula hoop, too...)

Learning tool and refreshing view: Some instructors have already taken advantage of the great learning opportunity that the Farm represents by bringing their classes for a scheduled talk and tour or just for a look.  Whether it is a Biology class, a Chicano Studies class, or an English class, the Farm is well worth at least a quick visit.  If you are studying in the LRC and your eyes are all tired from staring at a book or computer screen, you can take a quick break outside and look down on the Farm from the concrete walkway.  The Farm provides a refreshing view between classes too.

Plants taking over:  Here's an update on what's growing.  The brightly colored, burgundy, purple and green amaranth plants remain one of the most visually impressive plants in the garden.  There are a lot more coming, too, as they sprout up everywhere!  Some of the ambitious squash in the milpa (three sisters) bed look like they are planning to take over the entire campus.  I'm predicting that they could cross the path into the Bermuda triangle in two weeks.  We might have to make a bridge over their sprawling, tentacle-like vines.

In case you were wondering about the bamboo teepees, they are trellises for climbing beans, not teepees for putting canvas around and camping out (sorry if you were getting excited about that possibility)!

The sweet potatoes have been growing marvelously in the bed that once was all Bermuda grass.  There are about 6 different varieties; it's like a sweet potato museum up in there!  What else?...Little cucumber fruit are starting to form, sunflowers are opening, winter squash and beans are in their final maturation stages, and delicately beautiful gourd flowers are unfurling their thin white petals.

Some new things that have been planted are two types of perennial kale, several sages, Aloe vera, more beans, and an heirloom tomato plant.  Check out our Flickr album for some great images.

The roof is alive!!!  On September 6, the living roof structure on top of the tool cabinet was finally finished and we added the soil (much props to all those whose sweat was involved).  Now we just need to add plants and water and watch it grow.  Soon you will look down from the concrete walkway and be surprised to see a lush mass of plants growing out of the shed roof!  What a way to innovate and creatively use space in a beautiful and productive way.  Once it is planted, we could even cackle madly and shout, "It's alive!" like Dr. Frankenstein, but without the lightning and brains in glass jars.

I'm not a math major, but I want to leave you with one last tidbit that happens to be an equation, a rather simple one, but extremely profound:

Farms = Food

The Three Rs

One might think that on a college campus we would be talking about Reading, (W)riting, and 'Rithmetic.  No, we're talking about the other ones, the one you have hopefully been hearing about more often lately: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.

One could argue that simply growing some or most of your own food is one of the best ways to Reduce--it reduces packaging, food miles (the miles driven to get your food from the farm to the plate), use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides (if you garden sustainably), calories (have you ever spent an hour weeding?), and it reduces the mystery of where your food comes from and what's in it.  The list goes on and on.

Recycling is pretty simple and straightforward, right?  It's almost second nature in most homes and many offices now, to separate waste into separate bins.  There's no mystery there.  Or is there?  If you're not sure, check out the recycling page at Edco Disposal.  You might be surprised at what can't go into the blue bins.  Another way to recycle something that the City won't, is to reuse it!

Here on the Farm, we're really good at Reusing.  Nearly everything here had a former life as something else.  Even our soil--the compost and mulch we initially brought in--had a former life as green waste from yards all over the city.

Some more examples of our Reuse projects:

Wood Shipping Pallets + Monkey Cages + Cheap Paint = Compost Bins

Wood Outbuilding + a little skill with the circular saw = Tool Cabinet

Bedframe + Bike Wheel + Plywood Sign = Garden Cart

Wood Outbuilding + PVC Pipe scraps + Cast off air matress and carpet = Green Roof!

Mini-blinds + graphite pencil = weather proof plant markers

Plywood scraps + Moldy pile of bamboo = Charming Garden Bridge

And of course, more moldy bamboo puts the 'Pole' in Pole Bean

And we're just getting started!

Farmer Update: Adam's Report

Hey all you food lovers out there, this is Adam with the blog report for the first week of September.

Since the last post, a lot has been going on!  For starters, the 'three sisters' garden has really started to take off.  After cutting back some of the tightly grouped together corn and feeding the plants with some organic fertilizers, it is all starting to grow very large and healthy looking.

A large section of the area with Bermuda grass popping up has been meticulously hand-weeded due in large part to our new intern, Marley.  That freshly de-grassed soil was mixed with a good amount of compost and made into a very nice, soft bed for sweet potatoes.

In the back, Ben and Paul have been working hard at getting our living roof for the shed set up.  With the sides all built and some of the drainage materials in place, it is almost ready to be mounted.

The hillside up against the wall has been planted with some beans and thoroughly covered in mulch to keep the soil fertile for our fruit trees that may be coming soon.  Keep posted to find out; we might be getting a large number of trees rather quickly.

With so much growth going on at the Farm, and so much activity, we have re-instituted our path and made a couple of off-shoot paths to make sure our young plants aren't getting trampled.  It is looking more official every day!

The Fall semester is now in full swing, and things have really started to pick up at the Farm.  We have been getting a lot of support from students and faculty who are both really excited about the new Farm that sprouted up this Summer.  We have even gotten some volunteers as people walk by and want to help out.

Thanks to everyone that has been giving their support and don't be shy to come out and ask us questions, or just say hello!

August on the Farm

While most gardens traditionally are at their peak and even winding down in some areas, ours is really just getting started.  Making the most of our long long growing season, we're still encouraging the growth of things that are usually started in the early Spring, like corn, gourds, winter squash, beans for drying, and even tomatoes!

What's growing?  Here's a quick photo tour for you, of the Farm and the work we did in August.

While we lost one of our four interns, Sara, early on in the Summer (and perhaps we'll see her apply again in the future!) our remaining three interns, Adam, Ben and Kim, have been working hard.  They all signed on for another internship for the Fall Semester, and we gained another, Marley (stay tuned for more about Marley!).  So in addition to their Farm duties, and their classwork, they will also be blogging here!

Next up, an update from Adam!