Author Archives: Ann

Work Party Saturday: We Make an Abrupt U-Turn, and Yet Another One, Spiralling into Quiet Joy . . .

By Urban Farm

Meaning, what we had decided to do, we couldn’t: terraform in a few places, but the soil outside had frozen overnight.  So . . . okay, well we can still get soil ready for Tuesday (Valentine’s Day), when, according to our biodynamic schedule, we will begin to plant seeds.

As in the past four weeks, both Ben and Ningyao (finally got her name right!) were here, hoping to learn from us how to do permaculture. They’ve been working with us to us clean and organize the greenhouse the past few weeks — sweet of them, but that’s not what they signed up for! And we had a new person with us, too, Mathew, who also wants to learn permaculture by doing it.

So, here’s Marita, about to tell everybody what goes in our soil mixture.

We use a mini-block recipe from Eliot Coleman’s The New Organic Grower. The page obviously earmarked . . .

But . . . abrupt U-turn again. Why? Because everybody was eager to not just get the soil ready, but to get their hands in the soil, learn how to use the soil block tool, and hell, let’s plant some seeds! 

 

And since we had already-mixed soil in this container, leftover from last year, let’s just use that, and mix soil for the rest of the greens and herbs next Tuesday. 

Newcomers quickly discovered that you have to get the exact amount of water mixed into the soil so that it will both stay in the soil block tool, and yet not be too wet.

Mathew and Joseph, squatting. Much better than stooping, especially if you’re tall!

(A discussion ensued about the virtues of squatting and that it was how humans used to “sit” before we had chairs).

I’m the only one who didn’t plant, since my hand tremor makes it impossible to work with such tiny seeds as those of basil, arugula and chamomile, all of which we ended up planting in mini-blocks. This next pic makes it obvious. And BTW: the tiny seeds below are ours! From our harvest last year. FINALLY, we’re collecting our own seeds, mostly thanks to Joseph. (I know I’ve said this before in this blog; but it still excites me!)

Next, Joseph and Ningyao. Joseph was the one who decided to see if flower seeds would grow this way, and now, mid-February, Used a mid-sized block, rather than the itsy-bitsy one, to plant zinnia, nasturtium, and sunflower — the large ones, which, surprisingly, didn’t come up last year. Hmmm . . . did he use our sunflower seeds for his planting? Hope not. I know we had packs of store bought seeds left over from last year.

Ben, stooping, having trouble getting his eyes to work with the tiny seeds.

So that’s how we began using biodynamics — on the very first day of the actual gardening season — by impulsively and joyfully starting to plant seeds three days ahead of our carefully chosen (according to the Moon) start date. 

We took all the trays inside one of the houses, next to the window, so they won’t get cold and we won’t have to start a fire in the greenhouse at night. We will keep them moist by spraying them regularly. The tiny seedling blocks get transferred into mid-size blocks when the second set of leaves sprout.

 

 

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February begins: work party still organizing; community dinner warm and excited; new learning — biodynamics!

By Uncategorized

February begins, and we’re still embroiled in clean-up work parties. Thought we’d be done by now, but we’ve moved from organizing to micro-organizing, to still deeper micro-organizing. Or at least that’s the plan. Our start date for seedlings in February 14, Valentine’s Day! Between then and now, we need to both haul off stuff to ReStore and wherever special things like scrap metal go, plus regular dump (not much of that), plus to a composting place for the continually dropping branches and other stuff from our constantly renewing land!  Will borrow neighbor Dave’s truck. This coming Tuesday?

Unfortunately, so many of us were on hand for yesterday’s workparty that the greenhouse became crowded. And there were times when one or two would be standing around, wondering what next? Luckily, I was on the lookout for this, and would direct the person to “Please take this to the basement where the paints are” or, “Please take the bicycle out of the greenhouse while we’re working.” Or: “Let’s consult on what should go in the lockable cabinet in the inner room.” On and on.

Good humor was maintained by all as we kept weaving around each other on our various tasks. One major task: to test all the tools that use electricity. Do they have batteries? Are they charged. In other words, do they work, or can we get them to work?

You’d think that this would be yearly task, but it has not been. So many extra drills (I mentioned this in a recent post), and it’s all because each time somebody went and bought a new one (and charged it to the GAPV), because either they couldn’t find one (which is why we’re finally getting more organized), or whatever they found, they couldn’t get it to work!

So we (especially Marita, Camden, and Ben) tested everything, sent off tools that need some kind of work to ReStore, labeled those that now do work — and besides, we were able to gift Ben one of our extra drills. 

Our bi-weekly dinners are a great idea. We really look forward to our gatherings, now that they are no longer once weekly. 16 of us this time, and the atmosphere both warm and excited.

Thanks to Joseph, who used to live at a farm upstate with an old woman who used Julia Thun’s Almanac as her gardening bible, he ordered the one for 2023, North American edition, to help guide us in the gardens this year. (If you recall, we used to have an official garden manager, a resident who lived and breathed growing food. Now we don’t. We’ve all picked up a lot of permacultural ideas over the years; but we’ve decided to accelerate our own growth via biodynamics.

Closer . . .

Keep in mind that I take photos exactly once on each occasion, work parties and community dinners. None of them “composed,” and some blurry, due to both quick movements and my hand tremor; the entire photo session might last 30 seconds .   .

Just want to give the flavor. 

 

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Lots still going on . . . AND ON! (Are the props the play?)

By Uncategorized, Urban Farm, Village

See last Sunday’s post for the reference.

And, it’s still winter . . . and Joseph and Marita, according to their calculations, say we won’t need to start any seeds until February 12.

Okay. So yesterday was another two-hour work party. What to accomplish? “How about organizing all the non-garden tools,” I text in early AM to the others, “both those in the basement and those in the workshop area in the greenhouse?” To which Marita added a brilliant suggestion: “And let’s consolidate them. Bring all the tools in the basement to the greenhouse.” Okay! So that’s what we did, plus consolidating stuff that has to do with painting in the basement. 

I’ve long been a fan of the old adage, “The props are not the play.”

But you know, sometimes it seems like the props ARE the play.

Or, what I think is a better rendition of the same, because given greater context:

“What we’re doing here on Earth is moving stuff around.” To this, I add, “and it’s always an excuse for relationship.” 

And you know what? A few work parties ago, Neng Yao (I think I’ve spelled her name wrong earlier, must correct) and Ben started to join us; and yesterday, another new person arrived for the first time, says he’s a friend of Joseph (who was still asleep! will contribute his energy later), and wanted to plunge right in! Okay! So three new people joining our work parties in ten days! That’s NEVER happened before. 

Here are two pics.

In the first, Nikolas (Marita’s 14 year old son, here most weekends), Ben, and the brand newcomer, Dave, in the basement, sorting paint stuff.

Each of them (and me, too) was also making frequent trips to the greenhouse with tool stuff, handing it over to Marita, Neng Yao, and Camden.

At one point, Marita came down into the basement, begging us to stop sending stuff, that the table for receiving and organizing tools from the basement was already overloaded. We reassured her that we were just about done, so she doesn’t have to worry. 

After two hours, the much simpler job in the basement is now done.

But the greenhouse tool organization is going to take at least one more work party.

Question: How many drills do we have?

(I count five, not all of them in this photo.)

WHY?

Well, I’ve lived here for 20 years, and ever since 2005, others have also lived here, in this house or the other two, circulating through, at least 46 so far, often bringing their own tools, and then, when they move out, either gifting them to us, leaving them for later, or forgetting to take them. But, despite the proliferation, we often can’t find what we’re looking for! And so, go buy a new one. YUCK!

(Another example: soil thermometers. I count five.) 

This kind of organization is long overdue! 

 

 

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Lots Going On, Despite Winter Weather!

By Urban Farm, Village

Someone at last Thursday’s dinner asked me if we who live here in this three-house village eat together other than during our Community Dinners (which, starting this month we reduced from once weekly to every other week, for the time being), and I said no, because I, for one, couldn’t stand it. I need my solitude! 

She then said that even so, most people couldn’t live with other people the way you do. That they prefer to live alone. (A note here: it’s true that though we don’t share meals on a regular basis, we DO live together, in that each house has three bedrooms, for three people, with kitchen, living room, bathrooms in common.) I told her that for me, it’s a good thing because it forces me to deal with my shadow on a regular basis. Each time someone annoys me, I look to their behavior as somehow reflecting my own in a way that I hadn’t recognized. Once I re-educate myself, then the situation with the other, invariably, clears.  

Indeed, usually the other person doesn’t even know what’s been going on inside me! Which is fine, the less drama the better.

Lots of folks gathered, neighbors and friends, about 16, as I recall, including Sam, who came for the first time. 

Sam’s on the couch, next to Camden.

Then, on Saturday, we gathered again, those of us who live here, plus Neng and Ben, who want to join our work parties so they can become more familiar with permaculture.

We needed to find out whether or not we have all the ingredients for soil blocks for when we start planting in February. And we do! So nice not to have to purchase anything this year, not even seeds, since, I think I’ve said before, we are finally saving our own.

Plus, we needed to clear out a back room and reorganize it. 

Here’s Joseph and Neng. Joseph is still checking soil ingredients. Neng is hauling out a bucket from the back room.

And here’s Ben, hauling out another bucket.

P.S. It turned out that missing ingredients for soil blocks in the main greenhouse were all in that back room . . . Plus lots of other stuff, like four soil thermometers . . . Huh? Why? Because we have trouble staying organized, so we don’t always know what we already have. 

We did give Ben a chance to follow Marita out to the compost piles, to help her turn them, and thus learn something about that aspect of this operation.

And, before they left, I lent them Charles Eisenstein’s remarkable book, SACRED ECONOMICS: Money, Gift, and Society in the Age of Transition.

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Almost Mid-January, 2023: Cleaning/Organizing, Greenhouse and Basement — and more!

By Urban Farm, Village

Oh my. I know. It sounds boring. But actually, it’s therapeutic, and fun. 

In the dead of winter, during last Tuesday’s work party we prepared for for the new gardening season by beginning to clean and organize the greenhouse. First, we took everything in there, out. Luckily, it was a fairly warm, sunny day. 

Then, the goal was to wash all the walls, shelves, and trays. Here we go.

Decided to save this stacked pot behemoth until next week, along with the north wall and shelves. 

And we still have to go through this workshop area. (Notice the tools, already cleaned, sharpened, and oiled . . .)

But otherwise, we did it! Joseph, Marita, Adam, and me!

For Saturday morning’s work party, Marita, her son Nicolas, Joseph, Camden, and I headed back down into the bowels of the basement. Five of us, this time, two in one area, three in another.

As usual, we discovered lots of goodies from residents in years past, many of which just happened to be exactly what one of us needed! It’s like Christmas, every time we clean the basement.  

But what, pray tell, is this? Gigantic. See through (kinda.) Not a blanket for humans. Likely some function in gardening, cover for something, but it seems too thick . . . Hmmm . . . I will email it to Rebecca (who migrated west after ten years, having wisely guided us in our growing efforts), and see if she knows. 

And do we really need these plumbing materials? Where did they come from? Rather than automatically relegating them to the Habitat Restore pile, I decided to ask Colin, he might know of a use for them. (But now, I’m thinking. Hell no, let them go!)

I spent my time deep in the process of organizing stuff for the office section of the basement. Need tape? Scissors? Files? Paper, Stapler? Etc. Etc. Check the basement first. It’s probably there.

The office section is unfinished. As is the section for drying herbs. But . . . we’re getting there! Afterwards, Marita and Joseph met to look at our seed collection and sort them for what gets planted first.

Joseph says we’re going to take a more biodynamic approach this year, which includes planting according to lunar cycles . . . Great!

If you recall, we decided not to have a formal garden manager this year, but to see what we can do by everyone taking their own part in figuring it out. So here we go! I asked Joseph, and he agreed, to do a short presentation on biodynamic gardening at one of our Community Dinners.

 

 

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