Urban Gardening 2.0 - Mid-June

The yellow peas have a few pods.

So, there’s not much going on in the veggie garden right now. It’s a big ol’ snoozer out there.

The garden is sort of in between right now – in between the fading cool crops (lettuce, spinach, mustard, arugula, and mizuna are toast) and the growing warm crops (tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, cucumber, watermelon don't have fruit, yet).

The cilantro is blooming, which means it’s at death’s door, and, if we wait it out, coriander will make its presence (cilantro seeds = coriander).

Since it’s such a bore out there, I’ll tell you about my super-duper, kick-ass bucket. I’ve gardened for umpteen years with a used 15 gallon black plastic bucket that trees come in, and, really, it worked just fine, but... no more! I got myself a Tubtrug - extra large, to be exact.

What’s great about Tubtrugs:
wide range of colors (this is important, no?)
indestructible
handles a lot of weight
holds water (hello, ice and beverage filled party bucket)
flexible, so you can grab both handles in one hand to carry, and
can squeeze it together to make a spout to pour out dirt or water

I actually gave one of these to my sister for Christmas! I was like, “Um…so...I got you a bucket for Christmas, but it’s awesome!” She then put all her presents in the bucket and was able to carry them all in one trip. See! Awesome.

Urban Gardening 2.0 - Mid-May
Urban Gardening 2.0 - Late April
Urban Gardeining 2.0 - Late March
Urban Gardening 1.0

Urban Gardening 2.0 - Mid-May

This is how our jumbled, tight-for-space garden is looking right about now. Not everything is labeled in the above photo, because the bed really is jumbled. There's a basil hiding between this and that, and a few tomatoes in the back, and even a watermelon over yonder. The watermelon is an insane idea for such a small spot, but we're going vertical with it, or, at least, hope to.

The empty space along the front of the bed used to hold cute, yellow violas that were an impulse buy waaay back when the first flowers were hitting the market, tempting saps like myself. The violas had to go to make room for the veggies.But I'm notoriously cheap (or you could say economical), so the yellow violas got a second life in containers.

Yeah, yellow violas and white geraniums together make my inner designer and outer hort snob retch, but the geraniums were free, and, like I said, I'm cheap! I'll tolerate this combination until something else free comes along. Plants are expensive!

Little baby celery stalks. Aren't they cute?

Bad flowers - mizuna (L) and arugula (R) are bolting. These annual greens are on their way out. Sad face.

Good flowers - tomatillos are in our future. Happy face!


Urban Gardening 2.0 - Late April
Urban Gardeining 2.0 - Late March
Urban Gardening 1.0

Urban Gardening 2.0 - Late April

A garden update so soon? There’s been a lot of activity in the garden – by squirrels! See that empty strip down the center of the bed? Lettuce was there. The squirrels at it all in one day!

Man, we’ve got some scruffy, half-tailed, one-eared squirrels in South Philly, and these badass squirrels have a palate for salad. They bounded over the fence, flung all one pound of their mangy asses on the bird netting until it collapsed, and then feasted. They crawled though the cracks, too. If I weren’t so nonchalant about life, I’d join the old-geezer-with-shotgun gang.

So, we just planted some more lettuce. And rigged the bird netting in a more secure fashion.

Running out of room! Out with superfluous beauty; in with utilitarian foodstuff.

It’s been so warm lately that it’s easy to grab up some tomatoes and peppers, forgetting that the last frost date is in May. Professionally, I’m being a good person and holding off on warm-weather plants for my clients (having hundreds of dollars of plants die is no fun), but, for myself, I can do what I want.

With the replacement lettuce, we also planted tomatoes, peppers, and tomatillos. Still kicking and going strong from the first planting are snap peas, celery, cilantro, spinach, arugula, and mizuna. Yeah, our squirrels don’t like spinach, arugula, and mizuna – just lettuce!

After the planting this weekend, we enjoyed our first salad from the garden (greens only) with a side of Jerusalem artichoke pickles.

Guess what? While I was messing around with scrapers and not posting about food, the squirrels ate the lettuce again – all of it! Lettuce performed so well for us last year. This year, no dice. C’est la vie.

Urban Gardening 2.0 - Late March
Urban Gardening 1.0

Urban Gardening 2.0 - Late March

It doesn't feel like spring here in Philly, but I couldn't help myself the other day when I stopped in the garden center and saw gorgeous flats of cool weather vegetables and pansies, and, so, the second year of vegetable gardening in the tiny raised bed on the tiny back patio began this past weekend.

Plants are so expensive, but without a greenhouse or cold frame to start seedlings, the expense of buying starter vegetables is justified. A few extra bucks spent on starters instead of seeds, and I don't have to deal with bringing trays in and out of the house every day. The pansies weren't justified. I just couldn't help myself.We started by adding Organic Mechanics soil to the bed to raise the soil level – and add some love in the form of compost and worm castings.

With limited sun on the patio, lettuce and greens did really well for us last year. This past weekend we planted lettuce, spinach, kale, mustard, arugula, mizuna, cilantro, brussel sprouts, and celery. I know some of these crops will not mature (brussel sprouts and celery) before it's time to put in warm weather veggies, but we can't help ourselves. This is similar to the affliction of planting twenty tomato plants per person.We set the flats of plants outside, and damn it if the squirrels didn't decimate one of the kales and a six pack of lettuce. Don't know what it is about city squirrels? They're either desperate, or don't know better.And, so, the bird netting fortress went up. Take no chances!While we were at this whole spring cleaning of the patio, I had the boy divide a pot of mint and trim the rosemary. I tried to let him participate in the planting of the garden by having him do most of the work, while I just helped (I do this for a living, so nothing new to me).

I admit I am not the best teacher and lack patience – especially when I can do something faster than I can explain it. I did a fairly good job of letting him be in control (I said fairly), except, when it came time to trim the rosemary, I pried the scissors from his hands. Sorry. I'm a mini-shrub/topiary-trimming Nazi.When it was all done, this is what it looked like. We brought out the table and chairs in anticipation of warm nights and wine to come. We even grilled veggies on the world's tiniest grill. Come on spring! We're ready!

Urban Gardening 1.0

Urban Gardening - Ah, the Memories

Left: Early March; Right: Early April

Left: Early May; Right: Late May

Left: Late June; Right: Early July

Left: Early August; Right: Mid-September

Right: Early November; Left: Mid-November

This is my favorite part about taking pictures of the garden: looking back on the progress. I also like time-lapse photography, flip books, and boxes of chocolate. And boxes of chocolate.

I ripped out the garden this past weekend, even though we haven't had a killing frost yet. I'm tired, the plants are tired, and I prefer working outside when it's not 20 degrees.

Considering the mediocre light that reaches the raised bed on the patio surrounded by a three-story house on one side and a fence on the other three sides, I think the urban vegetable garden was a success. The tomatoes, with their light-seeking, vining habit, and the shade tolerant lettuce were the most prolific crops.

Whether or not we do it again next year is up to the boy, since it is "his" garden, after all. I would like to think that he enjoyed the produce and herbs just a few strides outside his kitchen. He has even taken to the sport of sneaking up on the rascally squirrels to snap their mugs for Philly's most-wanted lineup. Word on the street is one of them's a cop-killer.I noes eat toemater. I swearz.

Urban Gardening - Early March
Urban Gardening - Early April
Urban Gardening - Mid-April
Urban Gardening -Early May
Urban Gardening - Late May
Urban Gardening - Late June
Urban Gardening - Early July
Urban Gardening - Early August
Urban Gardening - Mid-September

It's a Miracle

I’m really excited about the new plant that landed on my porch this afternoon snuggly packed in a cardboard box, because…

1. Writing about this plant is much shorter than the other post I was prepared to write, and I’m draggin’ ass for some reason, and…
2. *Jumping up and down* The plant is one of those Miracle Fruit plants that you've heard so much about – berry makes sour foods taste sweet.

Synsepalum dulcificum has intrigued me since hearing about the magical berries on NPR. They sound like some candy drug-fantasy straight out of Willy Wonka, but they are for realz. Pop one in your mouth and lemon rinds are candy.

I ordered up my own plant from the trusted and reputable Logee’s Greenhouse. I had to wait a bit until they were back in stock at Logee’s, but there are other purveyors of the Miracle Plant to be found on the web.

A bigger pot, a wipe-off of the water-stained leaves, and a little fertilizer to bring the green back to the leaves, and my little guy should be happy. I’ve read conflicting reports about how long it takes to produce fruit, but check back in 1-10 years and I’ll give you a berry!

Peeved About Basil

The plant that prompted this post.

I have my fair share of pet peeves – people who spit in public, wet sponges left in sinks, your dog's huge balls that should have been chopped off, cops that don’t use turn signals…the list truly go on and on.

I would like to take the time now to prevent future sighs and eye rolling at one of my pet peeves that is somewhat of culinary concern – improperly harvested basil! Trivial? Yes, but…

This post was prompted by a severely stripped basil plant sitting outside a Philly coffee shop that will remain unnamed. I wouldn’t have noticed the plant – ok, I would have – if not for an employee that came out to harvest some of the last few leaves remaining on the plant to construct their mozzarella, tomato, and basil sandwiches.

I engaged the employee in conversation, all the while hoping the conversation would lead to why the plant looked so poor. I could have just blurted out why the plant had almost no leaves, and I often do blurt out what is on my mind without thinking of tact, but I didn’t want to seem like a crass know-it-all. Pleasant guy, but he didn't seem concerned about the plant.

My opportunity to right this basil wrong escaped me. But that’s why I have a blog; I can blurt out anything I like here.

Don't do this.

So, here’s how to properly harvest basil and stop me from going ka-ra-zee...

When pinching basil leaves, don’t pinch off individual leaves, or grab a hunk and indiscriminately pull. If you do this, you will strip the plant of leaves without encouraging new growth. To harvest basil and encourage new growth, pinch the stem right above a set of leaves. You want to harvest the tips of the stems, not individual leaves.

And it's not just Joe Schmo who grabs and pulls, I know people who maintain beautiful gardens, yet terrorize their basil plants.

I have no computer graphics skills.

• Plants put on new growth from buds at the tips or tops of the plant. These buds are apical buds, and have apical dominance. These buds will always be dominant, and be the place of new growth, unless...
  

• If the apical bud is cut, pinched, or damaged, plants can also put on new growth from axillary buds at the base of leaves. These axillary buds stay dormant until the apical bud is cut, pinched, or damaged. (This is the basis of all pruning.)
  

• By pinching basil right above the node (leaf and axillary bud), you have removed the dominant apical (top) bud, and sent a message to the plant to push new growth from the axillary bud.

• Wrong Way - Pinch directly underneath a node or in the middle of the internode (stem between the leaves and buds), and the plant does not get as strong of a message that the axillary bud should kick into growth. This is the scenario that happens when you just grab and pull.

• Right Way - Pinch or cut basil directly above the node to encourage new growth. Once substantial new growth develops, pinch (harvest) the new tips to encourage further growth and branching. If you continue this, you will have a rounder, fuller plant...that actually has leaves on it!

See the pinched stem and the baby leaves at the top starting to get larger?

As the plant continues to grow, the once baby leaves and stems grow in size. What once was a dormant bud is now a large stem with leaves (out of the picture) all along it.

Urban Gardening - Mid-September

It’s been over a month and a half since I snapped a picture of the Urban Garden. This is going to make me sound like a bad plant person, but, frankly, this is the time of year when I start to hate plants. While I can’t stand winter and all the bleakness, I just want the tired, played-out plants to die or get frosted so I can clean them up and put the garden to bed.

The tomatoes (‘Juliet’ and ‘Mr. Stripey’) are monstrous and still kicking. I’m giving up on ‘Early Girl’; she has disappointed two years in a row with minimal fruits.

The eggplant cultivar ‘The Fairy’ is tender and tasty enough, but the fruit is too small – fits in your palm – if you only have one plant like we do.

We just used all of the chard. Yay!

The 5 foot tall pepper plant finally decided to produce, as did the late-planted crook neck squash.

Unsolicited product endorsement: As a gardener by profession, I pack heat daily with Felco pruners and the little scissors in the photos above in a holster on my hip. I’d say I use the scissors as much, if not more, than I use my pruners. These scissors are actually grape scissors by ARS, and are my favorite small scissors (bonsai-type and other small scissors for plants) because the blades are pointed and short – about 1.5 inches long. These scissors are made to get into tight places (grape clusters), so fast and accurate cutting is easy. They’re also light weight, so are much kinder to my carpal tunnel-prone hands than pruners. Take them into the vegetable garden!

Urban Gardening - Early March
Urban Gardening - Early April
Urban Gardening - Mid-April
Urban Gardening -Early May
Urban Gardening - Late May
Urban Gardening - Late June
Urban Gardening - Early July
Urban Gardening - Early August

Urban Gardening - Early August

The dog days of summer are upon us, and the vegetables are relishing the heat. Unfortunately, there's a bit of a drought going on, so watering every day is imperative.The tomatoes and cucumbers have grown to the top of the fence and are taking up real estate in the neighbor's back yard.
Mr. Stripey Tomoto, Juliet tomatoes, cucumber, and jalepeno pepper.

The garden plot has turned into a cucumber factory; we've got more cucumbers from one plant than we know what to do with. We just started harvesting tomatoes in the last week or so. We waited patiently for the first large tomato, but we were not the only ones with greedy eyes on the tomatoes...And to think, I fed you bagels when it was snowing outside. Good ones from South St. Philly Bagels, too!

We'd come home to find every large, juicy tomato we were waiting on to ripen half eaten and left in ruins on the ground. Squirrels! (Said how Seinfeld exclaims, "Newman!") There are double doors leading from the kitchen to the back patio, which we leave open to catch what little breeze there is. One morning, I came down the stairs and caught one of those ballsy little effers on the kitchen counter eating a banana. He actually peeled the banana, and dug right in; that's how intrepid these South Philly squirrels are!Only hire trained professionals.

That was it! We had to go on the defensive. I brought in the vermin control squad to install bird netting over the garden.Jailed tomatoes.

Thai Hot Peppers, and Chard.

Veggies currently kickin' in the garden: tomatoes, cucumbers, hot peppers, chard, eggplants, leeks, and carrots.

Still waiting on: Sweet peppers (the plant is four feet tall, but aborting all the fruit; could be heat and stress), okra (late start), and squash (late start).

Second crop: Do we want to bother with a fall crop? If so, we need to start acting soon.

Urban Gardening - Early March
Urban Gardening - Early April
Urban Gardening - Mid-April
Urban Gardening -Early May
Urban Gardening - Late May
Urban Gardening - Late June
Urban Gardening - Early July

Philadelphia Urban Farms Bike Tour

Mill Creek Farms' mosaicked shed

This weekend I forwent my normal weekend bike ride and participated in a bike tour of urban farms in Philadelphia organized by Weaver’s Way Coop. The bike tour coincided with the passing through of a group from Washington DC that is touring urban farms in the Northeast via bike and documenting their experience. I learned about the ride at Straight from the Farm, a blog written by a volunteer at Weaver’s Way Farm who shares timely and tasty recipes for produce that is in season.Weaver's Way Co-op Farm

We started the morning at Weaver’s Way Co-op Farm, a one and a half acre, non-certified organic farm located on Awbury Arboretum in East Mt. Airy that supplies produce and flowers to the Weaver’s Way Co-op.

We then booked it over to visit Mill Creek Farm, a collectively run urban education garden on the site of previous vacant land in West Philadelphia that is devoted to sustainable living and the immediate community.Jade, co-founder of Mill Creek Farm, standing on the living roof of their cobbed shed.

Calendula and tomatoes at Mill Creek Farm

A quick stop was made at the Spring Garden community garden in Fairmount, one of the most beautiful of Philly’s many community gardens, just beyond the shadows of downtown Philadelphia. Residents in the area tend plots filled with ornamentals and vegetables which they bring home and donate to local charities.

Downtown Philly towering over Spring Garden community gardens

Perennials and vegetables co-mingle in a Spring Garden plot

A quick ride over to Fishtown and we arrived at Greensgrow Farms, an operation that sells produce grown in greenhouses on the site of an old galvanized steel plant to local restaurants and the community. Greensgrow is also one of the only nurseries supplying ornamentals accessible to those in the heart of Philadelphia.
Greensgrow Farms

The tour ended a few blocks away at Yards Brewery, where “Beer is the answer,” but if you read this blog you know that beer is never my answer. (It’s a shame Philly doesn’t have a vodka brewery.) A quick peek inside at the facilities and a break in their bar area with a beautiful high timbered ceiling, and I was ready for lunch.

Really?

Missed the bike ride, but still want a tour? There's a very similar tour during the Buy Fresh Buy Local week that takes off over at White Dog Cafe on Saturday, July 21.

Urban Gardening - Early July

I was afraid to come back to a crispy little urban garden after my vacation. Apparently, that rain dance worked. I'll keep up the tapping, jigging, and shuffling.A month ago, we had itty-bitty baby cucumbers, eggplants, and jalepenos. Now, those babies are all grown up and ready to eat. The cucumbers are making a run for the neighbors yard, so I snatch those delinquents back over and make vinegar marinated cucumber salad, a cool and refreshing summer staple that gets better as it sits – and even better with tomatoes.

The eggplant in the garden is a variety called 'Fairy Tale', which I've never grown. I don't like the traditional Italian eggplant, simply because the fruit is too big and more eggplant than I know what to do with. I usually grow the long, slender Japanese varieties because they are smaller and more tender. I couldn't find any Japanese eggplant starters this year, so gave 'Fairy Tale', a miniature eggplant, a try. The purple fruits striated with white are absolutely gorgeous.

The jalepenos will probably end up in salsa – once the tomatoes ripen. 'Juliet' (tomatoes in this picture are smaller than they appear), not so early 'Early Girl', and too young for his stripes 'Mr. Stripey'

In the last post I mistakenly wrote that we had baby cherry tomatoes; we actually have a variety called 'Juliet', a prolific grape tomato. Grape tomatoes are slightly larger than cherry tomatoes and smaller than plum tomatoes, and oblong instead of round. Like cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes are perfect for popping in your mouth or throwing on salads. We also have an early variety, 'Early Girl'. Apparently, girlfriend doesn't wear a watch. The boy picked out 'Mr. Stripey', a low acid heirloom tomato that I neither love nor hate. I kinda like acidic tomatoes; it's how it's supposed to be, but I understand that some people have problems with acid. Head on view of the garden. The walls are turning green.

We pulled all the lettuce except one – they all bolted and were old and bitter. The boy likes bitter lettuce, so he gets one – just one! – plant. We also pulled the beets that were growing on the shady side of the garden. Like the kohlrabi on the shady side of the garden, the beets never developed a bulbous base. In addition to the two existing basil plants in pots, three new basil plants (pictures taken before the deed was done) went into the raised bed for maximum basilosity.

Urban Gardening - Early March
Urban Gardening - Early April
Urban Gardening - Mid-April
Urban Gardening -Early May
Urban Gardening - Late May
Urban Gardening - Late June