Weeding

With the intense amount of rain came an intense amount of weeds. This took me the better part of a day and it was gratifying to say the least. 

The Bean Pickers

They do need the occasional reminder to be gentle with the plants, but otherwise I have found picking beans with the kids to be a very relaxing and almost meditative activity.

Dwarf Cherry

Today we added a dwarf cherry tree to our community garden plot. I can't remember the variety at this moment; but we chose it because it was good for eating (the other varieties said "pie cherries") and at full maturity it will be relatively small, 8'-10'. In regards to the size, we figured it would be good for a community garden plot. Ours is in the northern corner so we won't have to worry about shading out our neighboring gardeners. We will use the dirt around the base of the tree to plant shade loving greens. 

The catalogue said that we can expect fruit in 4-7 years. The dwarf plum in our backyard is finally going to fruit after three years. The change brought on by the plum tree to our little backyard ecosystem has made the wait seem like nothing. We anticipate the cherry tree bringing the same benefits to our community garden plot. 

Preparing our Community Garden Plot

Last year we let our community garden plot get a little out of control. Typically we try to go no-till, but this time I needed the help.

Planting Beans

Jude has grown into an incredible garden helper. 

A Day with Will Allen

So we got to meet Will Allen. He came to our school to be the keynote speaker for a yearlong program I ran title "Agriculture and the American Identity." The event was surreal.

The program gave me the time and resources to think about food and food production in ways I had not anticipated. Now I know that I've been far too absent from this rag to go off on a rant; so I'll save us all from that. However, there is something I want to share, something that I have felt for a very long time, but could only put into words shortly before this photo was taken:

If we believe in social justice and the empowered individual, then the conversations about what to do should start with food. If real food is a solution, then agriculture must adapt itself to the needs of the people—not the other way around.  

First Pruning

Two years ago we planted a plum tree out back. We have very little experience pruning, but we figured—What the hell, let's go for it. There is no established cone or goblet shape, I just didn't see how to do it. What we did do was eliminate any crossing branches and tall vertical spikes. Oh, and we made sure not to cut more than a third of the branches. In short, we shot from the hip and we're hoping for the best. I think it looks pretty damn good.

Mostly Tomatoes

Our seedlings are doing great. I believe the number of tomato starts is somewhere between 100-125. A majority of these are determinate paste tomatoes for the community garden's market garden area. In a third tray we have a slew of greens and some flowers. 2014 is off to a solid start.

Planting Peas

The 2014 season has begun.

Applesauce

Today $20.00 in seconds became four gallons of applesauce. What's even cooler is that Jude and I got to spend some time together in the kitchen. His knife skills (for a kid who doesn't turn three for another month) are impressive.