gardening

[kengr]

Our gardening last year was an utter failure, mainly because for various reasons we didn't really *do* much.

Didn't help that they didn't get the plots assigned until late May. Or that neither of us had much spare cash to buy plants with.

This year Fay and I had some miscommunication. I thought we weren't going to do it, she thought we were.

So I had to go and ask the (new) manager to add me to Fay's plot request.

We got the plot assignments Thursday and I got Fay's signature on the "we agree to the rules" form and turned it in Friday morning.

Saturday, we hit Portland Nursery. Apparently it's too early for tomatoes, but we got some tools (so we won't be borrowing from other folks in the apartments.

We also got some plant starts. I got this "Mesclune mix" which it a bunch of different salad greens. Also got a multicolored carrot assortment, just to try them out. If I like them, I'll get seed next year. Fay got some Swiss Chard, and some red lettuce ("Merlot")

I also got some seeds, scarlet globe radishes (I've had good luck with them in the past, but the seeds I had left were too old), and when Fay was pointing things out, there were these "ground cherries". They were interesting, but I passed them up. Put on a second pass thru that area I decided to grab them after taking a more careful look at the info on the packet.

We're going to go back again next month for other starts. And we both are likely to make another trip for other things this month. Fay needs a bigger pot for the spider plant she bought, and some potting soil. I'm thinking about getting stuff so I can start some seeds indoors and then just move them outside in the "plantable pots" (I forget what the real names is).

Also gotta talk to one of the other folks who gardens here and ask if he's going to make a run to pick up compost for folks. If so, I want to buy in so we don't have to try hauling bags of it on the bus. :-)

In other news, the 1/2 mile(?) walk to the nursery, and the quarter mile walk from it (we walk downhill from the 71 to get there, but walk over to the 20 when we leave and transfer to the 71 a few blocks later) showed that I was more out of shape than I thought. Gonna have to try walking around the block (it's a *big* block) to start.

Also gotta get a bike working. I need to check with Social Security about the overpayment (they switched me over from SSI to SS retirement benefits and managed to pay me *both* this month). If they'll let me pay it back by withholding 10% of my benefits for the next few months, I may have enough to replace the Electra Townie now instead of months from now.

If not, I'll get the one I got given working (needs a seat, and a tuneup).

Either way, I need a lock, lights, GPS mount and panniers. At least on the new benefits I have a couple hundred more a month than I did with SSI. Also, no more of the "can't have more than $2000 in resources" bit.

Comments

[stickmaker.livejournal.com]

Maybe it's because I'm on the recovery side of the bug which made me miss most of Conglomeration, but every time I saw "plot" I was thinking of my cemetery plot, in my Mother's home town.

Her father was on the board of directors, so the family has a pretty nice location, on a hill overlooking a wooded valley and some farmland. I just hope it'll be a long time before there are any more residents in our section. :-)

Anyway, I think part of the reason I got sick late Friday is that Wednesday afternoon I worked hard to get my flower bed ready, partly to beat a storm and partly because I had other things to do the next day. I dug and spread dirt then planted seeds... and was so tired as things progressed I didn't completely weed. Oh, well; the stuff I planted will hopefully be taller than the weeds. (One of the things I planted was a packet of "Bee Mix.")

Then, Thursday, after lunch with friends and some grocery shopping I baked cookies and bread for the con.

No wonder I dismissed my tiredness Friday as a combination of all that work plus allergies.

In re. the SS overpayment, the worst part of bureaucratic mistakes is that it's usually us who wind up paying for them! :-) Hopefully, they'll be reasonable.

Finally, good luck with your garden!

[kengr]

You posted twice. I deleted the extra.

Well, if SS is unreasonable, I haven't touched the money yet.

I wish you luck with your garden.

Thee "plot" is about 4'x8', and raised slightly (the frame is single 2x4s or 2x6s).

The raised bed is basically a galvanized watering trough filled with dirt (I bet the price at farm stores is a lot lower than at gardening centers :-). It's about 1.5' x 6'

I'll mostly be doing the trough because I don't get up from the ground very well anymore. Fay will be doing most of the plot. Though we'll each have stuff in both places. Mostly because of lack of room in the trough.

I had to point out that zucchini would pretty much take it over, for example. And I may wind up planting the ground cherry in the plot.

We are lucky one way. most common weeds in the plot are plantain (the herb, not the pseudo banana) and dandelion. Both of which are quite edible.

So we just harvest the leaves as we need to clear spots. Though after 2015, I learned to not let the plantain get too big as the leaves get tough then.

If I can figure out why screen cap quit working, I can post an overhead shot of the garden areas. Google maps has some decent imagery of the apartments.

[stickmaker.livejournal.com]

My apologies for the double post. My brain is fuzzy from this cold.

I'll see your zucchini and raise you blackberries! :-)

In a hard SF novel I'm working on, people planning a colony on another world joke that if they want to terraform it quickly they can just plant blackberries, dandelions and kudzu. :-) I may have to add zucchini. Any other suggestions? (Needs to be something both fast growing and edible.)

[kengr]

Make it Himalayan blackberries. Those got introduced here in the late 1800s and they are *everywhere* I've seen berry tangles in Forest Park that are bigger than most houses!

Let's see. English ivy is bad, but not edible. Ditto for morning glory. Plantain will cheerfully grab any bare spots in gardens around here, but it's not terribly obnoxious.

It's not local, but I seem to recall something about osage orange?

Cattails will spread pretty well in the right sort of terrain. And both the heads and roots are edible.

Stretching things a bit, various sorts of bamboo. The shoots are edible, and the full grown plants can be harvested for fiber and construction materials.

If they are going to have anything that grazes (cattle, sheep, goats, rabbits, guinea pigs...) you could always introduce crabgrass.

Very much *not* edible, but something that I bet would do well in the early stages of terraforming are horsetails. They were one of the first plants to colonize land.

Hey, here's a thought. Check the various state dept of agriculture sites for their lists of "noxious weeds". then see which ones are edible or otherwise useful.

Not sure what the equivalent would be in other countries, but if you could find it...

[fayanora.livejournal.com]

Cattails are edible???? O_o

I don't think bamboo is edible for humans.

But for terraforming you need soil first, and that's gonna take a lot of work. Like, a LOT of work.

[kengr]

Cattail roots are edible. You roast them much like any other tuber. And the "tail" part is edible as well. I forget how you prepare them.

And yes, bamboo shoots *are* edible. They are found in a number of Chinese and pseudo-Chinese dishes. Heck, check the Oriental foods section and you'll find them in cans.

No weirder than alfalfa sprouts being edible.

[fayanora.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah bamboo shoots, duh.

I don't think I'd want to eat cattail tails.

[stickmaker.livejournal.com]

Cattail pollen makes a fair flour. You can also use the fuzz for insulation or starting fires. The pith - at least in dead, dried stems - makes a good fire starter. There are also multiple parts with medicinal uses.

I like sliced bamboo shoots. I plan to put some in a batch of brown rice and diced beef - with a couple of fresh-peeled cloves of garlic - this evening. I like alfalfa sprouts, but unfortunately local groceries stopped carrying them a few years ago.

Yes, they need soil. In the story the humans are on a planet where a huge natural disaster ruined the ecosystem a few centuries back. Native vegetation is recovering, but slowly. There's soil, it needs work in most places, but they are prepared for this.

[kengr]

A scenario I've pointed out to folks many times over the years is humans introduce something that knocks out an important link in the local ecosystem. And before you know it, there's chain reaction leading to a massive die-off.

Which leaves the colonists in a *real* bad spot if it killed off enough of the photosynethsizing organisms.

Besides the massive piles of rotting vegetation (and animals) they'll have oxygen levels dropping (especially if lightning or something starts fires in the dead
vegetation)

If ships don't visit very often you could lose the colony. And have people fighting for places on the ships that do show up.

Yeah, it's a low probability scenario. But it'd only have to happen *once* become a legend and a warning.