Thursday 3 July 2014

Phase III: Garden.b. (Ghetto 2014)

the Ghetto Garden:
Due to ye ole "lack of funds" song & dance (that has become increasingly familiar as we now find ourselves living in an almost-finished-and-fecking-beautiful Interior), the Garden has been pushed around... leaving us without fresh aslocalasyoucanget produce to nosh upon for several years, which was insufferable for our idealist bullshit. So... Ghetto Garden was birthed. Walkin' the walk, y'all.

Yah... we also do that weeding by hand/chemical free/companion planting hippie crap. Oh quit it... with all the shitty side-effects on your health from the neurotoxins and other lovely mass-production methods that are destroying our planet those corporate farms use... you know you wanna too.

Researching for 15 years (since our younger days on the Farm) on the best container gardening methods was very darned helpful when deciding what exactly we were to do about our predicament. Now was the perfect time to test them out. We have the

1. Kiddie pools with Tomatoes (and Peppers)
Currently taking off. Yes, we've been warned of the effects of over-abundant tomato-production. Yes, we have a plan to offload our bounty if it becomes unbearable.
This method seems to be ok... but we've learned it's not specific to our mosquito-plagued climate (holes were drilled in the pools to render them useless as water-collectors of the "wicking" effect, so there's that), and also that the burlap coffee-sacs (totally sourced) are the perfect medium for a chia-effect weed partay (the bags sprout a zombie-apocalypse scale of weeds out their sides and if the weeds aren't pulled, create knarly holes in the sacs, so there's that too) that will ultimately render them unreuseable.
Oh... and it's really really ugly.

2. 5 gallon pails (with Squashes & Eggplants)
Our previously favoured container-garden method. We have tried it this time using sqaushes... which are growing like gangbusters, but we fear may become so entangled and overgrown to manage as the summer matures. We'll see!
Oh... and this is also really really ugly.

3. Reused palettes (with Greens)
This is working out as awesome as the re-useing palette trend is! Nice, neat little defined rows for the OCD gardener. It's a winner. And it's pretty! Hope to use this somewhere in the final-garden plans :)

4. Existing planter (with Cucumber, Tomatoes, Peas, Carrots, and Herbs)
We've used this planter every year for a few Tomatoes/Peppers and Herbs just to keep us in contact with dirt under our fingernails. It's difficult to believe why planting flowers is so popular (with the exception of bee or butterfly friendly flower gardens), when eating plants is so damn good.

We didn't get around to making the Potato box by the compost, setup for the Chickens or Mushrooms, and still working on hooking up the rain barrels/eaves. But, that's how she goes...


Currently enjoying from the (ghetto) Garden:
Basil (fresh, and made into Pesto). Green Onion. Oregano. Parsley. Rhubarb. Radishes. Rosemary. Baby Greens. Sunshine.

Thankful we are, for the journey & the work, and any potential future harvest.

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