All those piles are the compost/manure, ready to be spread out and tilled in. It's starting to look like a real garden, isn't it?
Thursday, January 29, 2009
More progress on the beds
We've had a bit of rainy weather, which hasn't been good for the tilling effort. But in an effort to make lemonade, yesterday I spread cardboard over most of the walkways. The ground was wet, and there was no wind, so the cardboard stayed put while I was placing it. I would have liked to put some wood chips on top of the cardboard, but since we haven't had a load delivered (yet), I had to make do. We got a nice, wet day yesterday and last night, so the cardboard really isn't going anywhere now.
All those piles are the compost/manure, ready to be spread out and tilled in. It's starting to look like a real garden, isn't it?
All those piles are the compost/manure, ready to be spread out and tilled in. It's starting to look like a real garden, isn't it?
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Work party success!
Starting at about 8:30 this morning, we all got to work. In addition to Dan and myself, we had four more people and four more kids. We started off cleaning the rest of the debris off the lot, which at this point mostly consisted of little bits and bobs of plastic and metal, lost for who knows how long.
After the cleaning was pretty complete, we sprinkled dolomite lime and agricultural lime over the whole lot, 150 pounds of each, then tilled it in. This is a standard recommendation by the father of Pacific Northwest gardening, Steve Solomon. The dolomite has magnesium and the agricultural has calcium, both of which are almost universally lacking in soils west of the Cascade mountains.
I had a great time running Dan's BCS 712 rear-tine tiller. I've used rear-tine tillers before, but not one this nice. It has a reverse gear! (Great for making tight corners up to a fenceline.)
I ended up tilling for hours and hours (and hours), but managed to get the whole site tilled very well. There was grass in some spots and some strangely extremely compacted soil, which took a couple passes each. We've had close to two weeks of dry and occasionally sunny weather, which is out of the ordinary for this time of year. So I made the best of it - it's supposed to rain or snow tomorrow.
After all the tilling was done, I marked out the beds for the front half of the lot ("my" half, since Dan is using the back half) using wooden stakes. I've got 28 beds, each 36" wide and about 20 feet long, for a total of over 1600 square feet of growing space. As daylight waned, I was able to get manure-compost dumped on a couple of the beds. I'll get the rest of it distributed tomorrow, and will probably mix it in with just a rake, along with some complete organic fertilizer.
It's starting to look like a garden!
After the cleaning was pretty complete, we sprinkled dolomite lime and agricultural lime over the whole lot, 150 pounds of each, then tilled it in. This is a standard recommendation by the father of Pacific Northwest gardening, Steve Solomon. The dolomite has magnesium and the agricultural has calcium, both of which are almost universally lacking in soils west of the Cascade mountains.
I had a great time running Dan's BCS 712 rear-tine tiller. I've used rear-tine tillers before, but not one this nice. It has a reverse gear! (Great for making tight corners up to a fenceline.)
I ended up tilling for hours and hours (and hours), but managed to get the whole site tilled very well. There was grass in some spots and some strangely extremely compacted soil, which took a couple passes each. We've had close to two weeks of dry and occasionally sunny weather, which is out of the ordinary for this time of year. So I made the best of it - it's supposed to rain or snow tomorrow.
After all the tilling was done, I marked out the beds for the front half of the lot ("my" half, since Dan is using the back half) using wooden stakes. I've got 28 beds, each 36" wide and about 20 feet long, for a total of over 1600 square feet of growing space. As daylight waned, I was able to get manure-compost dumped on a couple of the beds. I'll get the rest of it distributed tomorrow, and will probably mix it in with just a rake, along with some complete organic fertilizer.
It's starting to look like a garden!
Pickup & Payment
Unlike other local CSAs, I'll be doing a pay-per-month system. This will allow me to adjust the number of shares that I can support (up or down), as well as allow some flexibility in the length of the program. At this point, I'm planning to start on May 20th, possibly earlier, possibly later, and running 17-21 weeks, through September 30th or so. The price will be $40 per 4 weeks. This is less than half the price of other CSAs in the Portland Metro area, so while you should not expect less than half the produce and terrible service, you should understand that there may be bad weeks for which you will still need to pay.
UPDATE 3/17/09: All 2009 shares are sold out!
In order to get this show on the road, I need the first month's payment now. That will be the first month's payment, $40. The next month's payment is due four weeks after the first and on subsequent four-week intervals (not even months) after that. I will send out payment reminders as we get closer.
Pickup will occur at my house, 6127 NE 12th, each and every Wednesday. I'll have the harvest done early enough in the day so that if you'd like to pick up your weekly share earlier in the day, go home and cook something, then bring it back for the potluck, that will be an option. And of course, attending the weekly potluck isn't a requirement to picking up your share.
UPDATE 3/17/09: All 2009 shares are sold out!
Thursday, January 22, 2009
What is the carbon footprint of a glass of orange juice?
How Green Is My Orange?The most interesting thing about this article is that the single largest producer of carbon emissions (and over 25% of the emissions overall) is the fertilizer used in the orange orchards. That's roughly comparable to the amount of carbon produced in the distribution of the finished orange juice, from Florida to us here in Oregon.
By ANDREW MARTIN
Published: January 22, 2009
PepsiCo calculated that the equivalent of 3.75 pounds of carbon dioxide is emitted to the atmosphere for each half-gallon carton of orange juice.
What if we could completely eliminate the use of all chemical fertilizers as well as reduce the number of food miles by a factor of 100? Well, we can. Buying into a CSA is one good way.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
The devaluation of food
The devaluation of food is something that I've thought about for some time.
For the last while, we've grown a lot of food in our backyard garden, and we've bought meat direct from a farmer. When the zucchinis are growing fast and heavy, we would be hard-pressed to eat or freeze them all. But by-golly, I was going to hell first if I let them go to waste. And since we pay $1 or $2 more per pound for all our meat, and only buy it once a month, and know the farmer's first name, I find myself chewing a little more gristle than I would if I had bought a pork chop from the grocery store.
But I only came to these conclusions recently, mostly after spending time growing food myself, slaughtering a chicken and eating it, and eating more than a few meals sourced nearly 100% from our garden.
Over the last 20 years, our spending on food compared to income has dropped 7%, and at no time in recent history have American's spent less on food than we do now. Some of the reduction in cost is due to technology and efficiencies, but not most of the reduction. Instead of spending less for the same quality of food, we're spending less and getting less. Less nutrition, less variety, less quality. And what's worse is that most American consumers no longer place as much value on food as we rightly should. After all, what's more important than food?
So in addition to only delivering produce that my CSA subscribers actually want to eat (as opposed to some weird Asian root crop that suddenly shows up), I'm trying to ensure that, as much as possible, all of the food that I'm growing ultimately gets eaten. Here is a great interview with Johnathan Bloom who is pretty much an expert on food waste, particularly produce. It was certainly enjoyable to watch. Parts 1 & 3 are also good.
In summary, Bloom's advice to cut down on food waste are:
1. Make a weekly shopping list
2. Stick to that list
3. Serve smaller portions
4. Save leftovers
5. Eat those leftovers for lunch
So in addition to learning more about market gardening and providing fresh veggies to my CSA subscribers and restaurant buyers, one of my major goals is to, as much as possible, reduce the amount of food that I grow that ultimately goes to waste. If you have any ideas to help me accomplish this goal, I'm all ears.
For the last while, we've grown a lot of food in our backyard garden, and we've bought meat direct from a farmer. When the zucchinis are growing fast and heavy, we would be hard-pressed to eat or freeze them all. But by-golly, I was going to hell first if I let them go to waste. And since we pay $1 or $2 more per pound for all our meat, and only buy it once a month, and know the farmer's first name, I find myself chewing a little more gristle than I would if I had bought a pork chop from the grocery store.
But I only came to these conclusions recently, mostly after spending time growing food myself, slaughtering a chicken and eating it, and eating more than a few meals sourced nearly 100% from our garden.
Over the last 20 years, our spending on food compared to income has dropped 7%, and at no time in recent history have American's spent less on food than we do now. Some of the reduction in cost is due to technology and efficiencies, but not most of the reduction. Instead of spending less for the same quality of food, we're spending less and getting less. Less nutrition, less variety, less quality. And what's worse is that most American consumers no longer place as much value on food as we rightly should. After all, what's more important than food?
So in addition to only delivering produce that my CSA subscribers actually want to eat (as opposed to some weird Asian root crop that suddenly shows up), I'm trying to ensure that, as much as possible, all of the food that I'm growing ultimately gets eaten. Here is a great interview with Johnathan Bloom who is pretty much an expert on food waste, particularly produce. It was certainly enjoyable to watch. Parts 1 & 3 are also good.
In summary, Bloom's advice to cut down on food waste are:
1. Make a weekly shopping list
2. Stick to that list
3. Serve smaller portions
4. Save leftovers
5. Eat those leftovers for lunch
So in addition to learning more about market gardening and providing fresh veggies to my CSA subscribers and restaurant buyers, one of my major goals is to, as much as possible, reduce the amount of food that I grow that ultimately goes to waste. If you have any ideas to help me accomplish this goal, I'm all ears.
Steaming pile of...
Today I got delivery of the first of at least a couple dumptrucks of composted horse manure. If you search craigslist, you'll come across a dozen or more people in the Portland metro area who have enough horses to produce a virtually unlimited supply. The good things about this particular ad, is that they charge nothing for the manure, a small fee for delivery, have an 18 yard trailer, and the product is pretty well composted already. 18 yards is at least 3 trips with a big truck and trailer, combined with a lot of shoveling. Money well spent!
With this new delivery, we'll be having a work party this weekend to lime, cardboard, wood chip and compost the lot. Time to get dirty!
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
More Lot Clearing
Today was more clearing of the lot. I chopped down the giant holly bush-tree, and have it all loaded up to go to the chipper/composter tomorrow.
And yesterday, Dan and I got about 600 pounds of cardboard from New Seasons grocery store. It was a bit of a hassle dealing with their logistics, but well worth the time spent figuring it out, then loading it into Dan's truck. Their bails are reeeeally heavy, and they can't forklift them into a truck, so we had to bust open the bail, then repack it all into the truck.
We're having a work party this weekend to sheet mulch the cardboard along with composted manure.
And yesterday, Dan and I got about 600 pounds of cardboard from New Seasons grocery store. It was a bit of a hassle dealing with their logistics, but well worth the time spent figuring it out, then loading it into Dan's truck. Their bails are reeeeally heavy, and they can't forklift them into a truck, so we had to bust open the bail, then repack it all into the truck.
We're having a work party this weekend to sheet mulch the cardboard along with composted manure.
About The Farmer
"Eating is an agricultural act." - Wendell BerryTo add to Wendell Berry's quote, eating is also an interpersonal act, in fact a pact, between the grower and the eater.
I grew up playing in the dirt. My family moved around a lot when I was young, and one of the first things my mother would do at each new rental house was put in a vegetable garden. I remember digging, tilling, planting and of course, harvesting veggies usually in excessive abundance. And I remember collecting nightcrawlers to sell to local fishermen.
Fast-forward through many years of computer work and my green thumb comes out again in our home garden, a respectable 350 square feet, but I always wanted more. Sure, we had too many tomatoes than we could possibly eat, but we could only can a dozen quarts. And yes, my daughter ate nothing but fresh picked peas for many a summer day, but it only took a couple autumn months before our frozen stock was depleted. We dug up ornamentals and expanded to four raised beds, then five, with plans for more. But no matter how intensively I planted, I wanted more.
For several years, I eyed an empty lot across the street. Finally, I had the opportunity to rent it from the owner, and the Fruits of our Neighbors garden was finally born. In early 2009, Dan Bravin and I began preparing the lot for an intensive market garden. This is my first year as an urban farmer and I get a lot of help from my daughter Lily. Her business card even says "farmhand" on it.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Contact Me
The Fruits of our Neighbors Market Garden is located in the empty lot at about 6100 NE 12th Ave, Portland Oregon, 97211. If you'd like to come by for a visit, please contact me first to make sure I'm available.
Nat West (more about me)
natjwest@gmail.com
971-255-0617
Nat West (more about me)
natjwest@gmail.com
971-255-0617
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Mini-CSA Shares Available
I'm excited to be offering shares in my mini-CSA for this coming growing season, running from approximately mid-April through approximately mid-October. My heavy use of the word "approximately" combined with my unorthodox use of "mini-" to preface "CSA" is because this year will be a learning year. Dan Bravin is going to help me get started planning and growing and I'm sure there will be hiccups.
I'm still working on prices, but anticipate it to be in the $200-$300 range, and bartering is available. Let me know if you're interested. I already have 5 shares taken - only a few left!
I'm still working on prices, but anticipate it to be in the $200-$300 range, and bartering is available. Let me know if you're interested. I already have 5 shares taken - only a few left!
Announcing The Fruits Of Our Neighbors Garden
I'm very happy to announce the creation of the Fruits of our Neighbors market garden. This garden will be created on an empty lot in Northeast Portland.
View Larger Map
I'll be working with Dan Bravin of City Garden Farms and Portland Organiponico Project to realize this dream. Dan's been a fierce proponent of urban farming in Portland and I'm very excited to be working with and learning from him.
So far, I've cleared over a ton of debris and garbage from the lot (much of which was recycled), as well as chopped down and dug up dozens of blackberry bushes. I'll be cutting down a sumac weed-tree this coming weekend and then we'll start bringing in soil amendments in preparation for the upcoming growing season.
View Larger Map
I'll be working with Dan Bravin of City Garden Farms and Portland Organiponico Project to realize this dream. Dan's been a fierce proponent of urban farming in Portland and I'm very excited to be working with and learning from him.
So far, I've cleared over a ton of debris and garbage from the lot (much of which was recycled), as well as chopped down and dug up dozens of blackberry bushes. I'll be cutting down a sumac weed-tree this coming weekend and then we'll start bringing in soil amendments in preparation for the upcoming growing season.
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