Intermission: Summer 2014.b.

'Sup:

We spent most of our "project" time @ City Hall/co-ordinating with our trades to slam out this Basement Suite asap (with reconstruction starting Sept 2014), and the rest was pell mell shows, events, walks along the riverbank falling in love with this Cityscape, tomfoolery and general rolling with summertime's bliss as the garden grew (notes: pools w tomatoes not a design meant for this climate of rain & mosquitos). Also, the Foyer project aired on the AT website, which was a lesson in needing a second editor as well as re-establishing that internet trolls are depressing excuses of human life: as enlightened & sensitive human beings, when confronted with the pain of others (in the usual forms of personal attacks/attachment, superiority/inferiority complexities, and blame/not having accountability for your own actions) it is cause for; a.humour, b.restraint to not poke the bear, and c.getting more serious about our life's work making a path for compassionate expression we can all access aka re-dedication to finding another way to interact as human beings to each other on this planet. In other words "the squeaky wheel gets the grease" is how we are approaching personally resolving that experience (not uncommon, as it is basic psychology that a person needs 5 positive instances to counter-act 1 negative). Synchronicity that we officially closed the other job down after tour this year to now just accommodate custom/bespoke items, as the accumulation of STUFF and need to concentrate more upon our passions for reclaiming/sustainability in this new urban way take centre-stage. It's a hell of a lot of work to promote & push forth a new bridge-philosophy of living... send us & our peeps the strength to continue our peaceful revolution, love for all people & the planet, and send us hope that it will catch on.

So... a loaded summers worth for us! We love our life.

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.

Phase III: Garden.a. (update)

Deconstruction:
Dig diggity dig dig dig diggin' up the existing pretties (rhubarb, lillies, green onions, etc.).
Well... once the snow dissipates. Will it ever? I dunno... it's hard not to take 8' of snow piled high on the Spring Equinox as a sign of winterpocalypse doom & gloom. Saskatchewan amnesia is in full bloom (every year we forget our extreme manic character-building seasons, so as to endure them come 'round again).

Reconstruction:

(3D rendering)

We will be constructing self-wicking beds so we can get food-production started, then move on to the rest at a later date. This year is still mega hard-core renovation territory, so there is little time/budget to be spread around = priorities become clear. (Also on the 2013 summer docket: rebuilding the fence with our Neighbours to the North, repairing the extensive damage from the taint licking roofing debacle, and painting the desperate exterior. Casualties of our plan due to general assholery of said roofers circumstance: refinishing the hardwood, Dining Room and Living Room, and building the deck). Rolling with it...


Dreaming:
Garden-porn.

Urban Farming.b. (Philosophy)

Our History:
In our twenty-something years, "getting back to the garden" was taken literally to heart... and we moved to the Farm. We not only moved our little family, but we moved our friends too. There were legendary gatherings, parties, weddings, making babies, and a general time of innocence & confidences.

We moved past our homesteading experiences and evolved our ideals into an urban setting. We were still committed to farm, but our foundation of beliefs had grown past self preservation and into reaching a broader audience to produce a potentially higher impact on the Planet.

The Urban Farm reaches a greater amount of people in our community through: being visible with our food-producing yard, and integrating our own successes with reliance on others. It is a model based upon reducing carbon emission (staying local), creating a safe & supportive environment (by an invested community), and transforming how we live & how we sustain ourselves on a day-to-day basis (sustainability).

There is an outrageous amount of faith leaping involved when you wake up in the morning.

Residing in this Urban setting, we are reaching out for people to make a commitment to sustainability right now. The most common barrier we hear from city-folk is that they can't begin their ideal healthy life without a chunk of land (common phrases amongst leftover hipster thirty-somethingers: "we're just waiting to find the right land to make our homestead", "can't wait to start living off the grid when we find our forever land!"). Move away from the idea great amounts of land are necessary to "get back to the garden", and begin sustainable practices wherever you are now. Apartment balconies, Community Gardens, Food not lawns.

Learning is steep, mistakes are rampant, embarrassment is inevitable, things break, humility is egregious, tears, laughter ensues, love isn't lost, gratitude begins each day again.

Urban Farming.a. (Urban Foraging)

Urban Foraging:
We make friends with our neighbours who have neglected or plentiful fruit trees & rhubarb bushes (or other delicacies & treats), harvest for them, gift in return some baked goods, and use the remainder for our table. This has been catching on as a trend with people like Out of Your Tree Saskatoon, along with other trends in Urban Foraging & Guirilla Gardening/Seed Bombing.

The trees (with the man being a previous Arborist) receive some care, the land-owners receive tasty treats & full clean-up, and we lower our food-costs & keep our diet healthy (who doesn't want to eat applecake & ice cream for breakfast? weirdos, that's who).

We have a small freezer in use for a limited time until it is cold enough outside, and we transfer our foraged bounty to the outside freezer: an old dresser inside the front porch.

It's true, folks, this labour is extremely time consuming (harvesting, coring, prep. baking/canning/dehydrating), but we just LOvE and nomnomnom.

Phase III: Garden.a.

Garden:

The man & myself have accustomed our dirt-diggin' ways into becoming Urban Farmers: living off our land in an Urban setting. Moving was difficult, as the 223 garden was carefully tailored with irrigated raised beds & berry bushes, and we knew our neighbourhood well enough to Urban Forage apples, rhubarb, pears, plums, and other goods we did not have space to grow ourselves. Had it all... and now we must begin again. Yay?

Features:

Large lot. Full Southern exposure.

These were the selling feature of this home: more important than kitchens and bathrooms... we could change those things. Can't change location. 

Original Material:

Our very nice neighbours have politely described this yard in the hands of it's previous owners as "unkempt". Sh-yeah... no kidding!

So... what to do? We conclude to mow it down, let it grow, and see what comes up. How convenient because we also ran out of money & time! Ha!

There was once care put into the planting of the perennial flowerbeds (which have bloomed surprise bouquets for our breakfast table), with medicinals and edibles among the decorative.... all which have been overgrowing with grass and weeds for 5+ years. But now we know what we inherited, and instead of bulldozing it all we will salvage echinacea, green onions, rhubarb, lilies, lavender, chives, and bleeding hearts for the bees. 

Deconstruction:

Spring 2013. Garden veggies here we come! (The delay of gratification is a cultivated skill.)

Next Up:

Now, as autumn's rosy fingers squeeze each sunrise a little later and later each day from our bigsky, we are mapping & measuring for future plotting, gathering resources, and dreaming...