Seedlings and Garden Planning

I've been anxious to post photos of our seedlings - this first photo is in our kitchen window (photo taken at night). There's a closer photo of the tomatoes on the top left below. Top right has tomato seedlings started 3 weeks ago as well as some herbs and the tall cool looking plant is nasturtium which is an edible flower. Bottom left has onions started from seed (which I honestly don't recommend, I think I'll stick with onion starts in the future) and Brussels sprouts. There's another photo of the tray on the bottom right below as well.
This tray has mostly herbs and flowers - I can't recall exactly what everything is (we've started soooo many plants!) I do know that there are red poppies, broccoli, calendula, bachelor buttons, and basil... surely I'm missing something. These tomatoes were started about 3 weeks ago. I've transplanted a lot of 2" soil blocks into 3.5" recycled plastic pots because Cam was away in Georgia when the time came to transplant them and I had no idea how to build a 4" blocker. My solution was to buy these pots and trays and they're working out really well.

Here are a variety of tomato plants started from seed about 5 weeks ago. These plants are on the top left in the photo above.So these plants are just the beginning. We have two more shelving units in the dining room with four shelves on each occupied by seedlings. It's quite an endeavor.

Now I do have to mention that the garden planning process has been a challenging one as well. I've mostly used an excel file to create a grid (and this works well since we're doing square foot gardening) but being the visual creature that I am I've really enjoyed a website that my friend Kari introduced me to. It's www.growveg.com The site costs I think $25 per year but you can try it out for 30 days for free without giving any billing information (I'm currently taking advantage of the free trial).

Things I like:

• The web based application that focuses on organic gardening techniques allows you to easily design your garden and has fun icons to represent the plants you choose to grow including a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. It's a drag and drop system which makes it easy for anyone to use.
  
• Each icon has an option to look at more detailed information about the plant including plant family, soil type, sowing and planting time, frost tolerance, feeding, notes, harvesting, and companion plants.
• The design tool includes a plant list of those you have selected to be in your garden with a chart including when to sow indoors, sow outdoors and harvest as well as helpful spacing information.
• The site includes grow guides such as: crop rotation, starting a new vegetable plot, companion planting, gardening with children, natural pest control, growing from seed, growing in small spaces, permaculture and so much more!
• The founder of the site also keeps an interesting blog with helpful articles.

What I don't like:

• not much, it's a pretty cool site but there is just one thing: I wish that I could modify the information for each vegetable to include the specific variety I'm using. I can't currently do that, though could possibly be an upgrade that the site may consider if I ask nicely. After all, I am growing more than a dozen varieties of tomatoes and if I'm planning my garden with this tool I want to be able to plan it quite specifically.

So if you are planning a garden this year, I highly recommend checking out the site. It make garden planning a lot of fun.

A New Love

Chickens. Not to eat. I don't like to eat chickens at all, though I will eat unfertilized eggs. And to raise chickens... the concept has become somewhat of a small obsession ever since we visited the Farm and Home store (Orscheln) on Sunday afternoon. They had adorable little baby chicks for sale. They were Cornish hens which cost something like $1.58 each, I don't remember the actual cost but I was certainly tempted. Adi was so gentle with them and I have no doubt that she would also adore some family raised chickens.

With a new Iowa City ordinance allowing up to 5 chickens per household (update: I later learned that the ordinance had not yet passed but we're working on it), the idea is gaining more and more attention in my brain. So I've been doing a little research online, and it seems there are plenty of urban folks raising chickens and they are more than happy to share their experience with others.



This one is cool but probably too tall for our sloped back yard. I'd be concerned that it might tip over. I've been searching all over the web for the best designs and I've grown really fond of the portable ark designs.

The Eglu is super cool but also pretty expensive coming in at $495 plus $170 for shipping. That's a hefty price and would take years to recoup the cost. Besides, with a handy hubby like Cam, why not make one of our own and spend the extra cash on some fruit trees/bushes, a rain garden or more raised beds.
I like the idea of a portable chicken coop because of their many benefits. The run (open area) keeps chickens safe from predators (our rascaly dog Ihry and wild raptors), moving the ark every couple of days will minimize or even eliminate odor issues and we won't have to worry about adventurous escapees while we're not in the yard with them. I imagine that we would let them out while we are present to roam the yard freely but they still need fresh air and sunshine to be healthy. I found this image on flickr and it has all the features I'm looking for: raised hen house with open area below for shade, open run for sunshine and fresh air and light weight compact design for easy moving. The only thing I might add is a set of wheels on one end so one person could move it on their own.

One final design that I fell in love with and would imagine having something similar to house hens in the winter months is The Garden Coop designed by a couple in Portland, OR (one of my favorite places to be). I love this simple and beautiful design. I love the clear roof for protection from the elements and allowing sunshine. For a more permanent design I think this one is a winner.Now we're still in the dreaming and researching phase of raising some hens of our own. Next step, talk to the neighbors and make sure they'd be OK with a few hens clucking around next door. Maybe we can bribe them with some eggs :)

First Soil Block Party

We had been looking forward to our soil block party for so long and it really was a success. We had a total of 18 people including children, so it felt like a full house but everything went so well and I think everyone had a great time. Here is photo of our friend Jordan making some soil blocks.
This is what the blocks look like, Jordan's wife Fran later told me that she thought they looked like brownies ;) They do have a delicious sort of look to them. The soil was made from a mixture of peat moss, mushroom compost, green sand and colloidal phosphate. Cam and Adi mixed the soil in a large plastic tub and then added filtered water to get the moisture level perfect for forming soil blocks.
Our friends Seth and Alicia are total sustainability rock stars (aren't they cute?) They'd probably say they're more like wanna- be's but these two have the heart for it, that's for sure! They were so gracious to share many amazing varieties of seeds with everyone. I don't remember now, but I think I started at least 10 varieties of tomatoes between our own seeds and the seeds other brought. I can't wait to watch our little seedlings grow. It's so incredibly gratifying.
Sacha is enthusiastically seeding her soil blocks while Seth and Alicia work on their own seeding project. It was so much fun to see everyone just digging in and having fun with this whole process. We ended up using the lid of a shoe box size plastic container as a tray for the soil blocks (you can sort of see what the boxes look like in the above picture on the side table to the right, behind Alicia .) Cam had the brilliant idea of using the lid for the blocks and then placing the container over the top to create a mini greenhouse. Then the whole thing should be placed on a low-temp heat mat of some sort to help the seeds germinate properly.Adi was so excited to have this many friends over. I think there were a total of 8 kids. And being that this was the first time Adi had to share her toys with so many others, I can say that I'm totally impressed with her graciousness.Wow, we were so excited that everything went so well. We're anxious for the next party in a couple of weeks to start transplanting. We'll keep the blog updated as our seeds begin to sprout.

Soil Block Party

We are so excited to get ready for spring planting season. In the past we have used the soil block method which is recommended by Elliot Coleman of the Four Seasons Farm. We love using soil blocks and have always planted way more seeds than what we needed and gave at least half of them away. While it can be fun to give plants away we always had more than we could get rid of which felt like a shame. And in this economy, we're feeling like this year is a great time to empower others by teaching them what (little) we know and do this organic growing stuff in community. We'll make the blocks together, share seeds and get together every couple of weeks to transplant the smaller blocks into the next size up. What a great excuse to get together.

And because I long for organization, I created a social network where we can start discussions, share photos and tips and just continue the community atmosphere in between meetings. If you're interested, check it out: Iowa City Environmental Ministry. In the near future, a house group will be born focusing on our faith response to being stewards of creation. We will pray, discuss and act through this group, engaging in a variety of activities to help others live more environmentally friendly lives. We're really excited about the possibilities.

So Saturday is our first block making party, I will take lots of photos and report back.

Quiche

I finally made my first home made quiche. I've been wanting to try this for a really long time and just happened to have everything I needed including time and craving. I got the spinach quiche recipe from www.allrecipes.com



So the recipe I used was for a crustless quiche which just didn't seem right to me so I used this recipe for my crust: click here.



As a generalization I long to include more raw foods in my diet but during these cold cold days of winter I keep coming back to hot comfort foods. Hopefully spring will be here soon and I can get back on the raw bandwagon. Until then, I really am enjoying some tasty home cookin.

Winter Grilling

Cam had a craving for steak so Sunday night we decided to grill. Adi and I shared a small piece of wild caught Alaskan Coho and Cam found an acceptable steak at the co-op. I have to just say that I can't believe how expensive it is to buy responsibly raised animal products. I knew eggs were often double the price, but because we rarely buy meat/fish I was pretty clueless as to the expense. Another good reason to eat a mostly plant based diet.



Due to early sunsets in the winter and a grill that is frozen to it's current location in the back yard, Cam had to improvise and pulled out the good 'ol head light. Our friend Sol would be proud :)

Per Adi's request we enjoyed a candle-lit dinner, though we didn't have enough candles or light to eat that way for long. I kind of like to see what's going in my mouth ;) Sorry the photo is so dark but if you look really closely you can see Adi and I in there.

I'm Posting This on All Three of My Blogs

John McCabe from Sunfood Living
sent out an email last week about his new book.

Here is what he wrote:


Hello everybody,

After years of work, I have decided to pass over the traditional book
publishing fiasco and to publish my newest book on an
advertiser-supported Web site:
http://www.hempnowbook.com.

People told me, “Oh, you can't do that!”

Yes, I can!

Yes, I did!

Various publishing companies that looked at the manuscript
wanted the book to be shorter, to be focused only on hemp,
and to not contain the “controversial chapters” about the drug war,
political corruption, the prison industry, and corporate greed.

To their proposals to cut my book in half, I say: No, thanks!
That would truly be a book to nowhere.

By publishing the book for free on the Web,
people all over the planet can educate themselves on the topic.
People all over the planet have already been looking at
my other Web sites (http://www.sunfoodliving.com,
and http://www.sunfoodtraveler.com - which is going to be overhauled).
This new site will give them more of my writing to read.

I didn't write the book for money. I wrote it for the environment,
for wildlife, for family farmers, for the health of humanity,
and for a more sustainable world.

According to the authorities and industry leaders who
read through the manuscript as I was writing it,
it is the most up-to-date and complete book on the history,
laws, and uses of hemp, the world's most useful plant.

Even though the U.S. is the world's number one
importer of hemp products, U.S. farmers are not
allowed to grow it, but Canadian farmers are growing
many thousands of acres of it, and they are doing so
largely to supply hemp products for the U.S. market.
Read my book and understand why the U.S. government
refuses to allow family farmers to grow hemp.

My new book has been endorsed by
The Canadian Hemp Trade Alliance;
The Hemp Lobby;
The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML);
Oregon NORML;
and The Women's Organization for National Prohibition Reform.

Also, the people at http://www.VoteHemp.com read
through the manuscript, provided me with information for the book,
and connected me with people to interview.

After years of writing, rewriting, researching, toiling,
interviewing, editing, and more researching and writing and rewriting…

As of today, December 30, 2008…

The complete manuscript of
HEMP: WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW
can be read for free by accessing:
http://www.hempnowbook.com

"Hemp: What The World Needs Now" is the first book to be formulated for this strain of Web delivery by a new company. If you know of any other authors who want to publish their books in the same advertiser-supported format, feel free to contact Sam Estrin: Sam@Odinmetatech.com.

Meanwhile, spread the word about http://www.hempnowbook.com.
Link it to your Web sites.

Educate yourself about hemp and what it can do
to create a more sustainable culture.

Add raw hemp seed powder and raw hemp oil to your
daily diet, and feel your health improve.

And, have a great New Year!

Rock on!

John McCabe