Oh, there you are Lil Fella

I planted chives last year and it was a slow, disappointing yield. No flowers! Aren't these things supposed to have flowers? My mom used to make this chive vinegar when I was a kid and it had flowers in it. Well, HERE THEY ARE! Yes, after two years, we have a flower; the new pride and glory of the entire landscape. Its glorious.

Primp and Proper Hardscaping

I've dug many paths and, while its in the spirit of nature and all that good stuff, I've realized, I'm not that natural. I bleach my hair, prance around in 5 inch heels and insist upon wearing makeup in the garden. Some may call this being shallow but I really don't give a crap. So, when I realized that my garden borders were becoming unkempt, I freaked out. I bartered my way into a pile of antique brick (in exchange for a website www.ggld.org), "put on my face", and began laying a path; a proper path with straight lines and structure. With my bare, slightly manicured hands, I'm laying a brick path that will ultimately stretch from my front step to the street (roughly 50 feet). My grandfather, Poppy, has been a brick mason since he was 14 years old so I'm hoping that I inherited some knowledge along the way. We'll see...

Hungry Gnome Garden Scapes

After reading about this service in the Flagpole this morning, I had to investigate. Turns out, its pretty rad. Coming from Roots Farm, Kevin Yates of HungryGnome.org creates edible landscapes in peoples' yards. He says:

Hungry Gnome Gardenscapes is dedicated to empowering people to grow their own food. Growing food connects us to the fundamental processes of life and can fulfill us in ways that little else can. Growing your own food (even if it is just a small amount) has wide ramifications ranging from a personal sense of achievement and the delightful taste of food harvested minutes before eating, to a deep sense of spiritual connection with creation.

I emailed him this morning and he responded in a polite and timely manner. He seems really nice. Props to Kevin Yates with Hungry Gnome Garden Scapes.

Another Reason Why Georgia is Rad!

So, alot of folks give Georgia alot of guff, especially folks around Athens, but, personally, I think they are bonkers. I've been here for freakin ever and, the more I get out, the more I like appreciate it. This weekend, the UGA Horticulture Club had a wicked plant sale! I got there a bit past midday and was nervous that it would be a violent free-for-all like a Tupperware party in the 50's but it wasn't. There was more than enough for all, no need for a-pushin' or a-shovin'. In fact,they were still unloading their bountiful supply when I arrived. It was truly awesome. I got some lovely grasses and tomatoes that I used to trade for two 60 year old lantana (I definately got the sweet end of that stick, thanks neighbors).

Here yee, here yee, I hereby contribute 5 ounces to your 1 million pound goal.

Yes we can! I just signed up for the 1 Million Pound Harvest Drive by FreedomGardens.org. The goal is to tally our harvests every month and, hopefully by the end of 2009, we will have collectively grown 1 Million Pounds of Produce!

The folks from FreedomGardens.org write:
"Last year we launched the successful 100-foot Diet Challenge encouraging individuals and families to eat at least one homegrown meal a week. The overwhelming response led to the creation of Freedom Gardens, an online social networking community of nearly 2,500 gardening enthusiasts who are fed up with foreign oil, frequent food miles and high food prices—and who want to band together with like-minded folks. So, this year, we want to expand the scope and impact of the 100-foot Diet Challenge and think big—really big! Are you ready for the 100-foot Diet Challenge 2.0?

1 MILLION POUND FREEDOM HARVEST CHALLENGE"

I can't wait until the end of April cause I have a freakin crazy ton of greens to tally! Though, five bags of greens probably amounts to about 5 ounces. ahahaha. "Here yee, here yee, I hereby contribute 5 ounces to your 1 million pound goal." I'm totally gonna be contributor of the month.

Walk the Line Tattoo Guys, You are the BOMB!

Hey, thanks Cory and Dustin for digging and mulching in the crappy, windy cold weather. You guys are super rad!

Ahahaha, Holy Crap!

Holy Geez! Remember that garlic that I found in my fridge and dropped in a bowl of water (refer to post from March 29). Well, here it is only 4 days later. Its freakin hysterical. Im not kidding, in less than a week, it has grown to be about 9" in height. Freakishly quick growth. Maybe I shouldnt eat this...

Um Yeah, I think the Drought is Over.

Unbelievable. Its been raining and raining and raining. We very well may be partially amphibious due to our rain exposure as of late. Again, I'm stuck inside. Again, planting seeds. I have a bazillion left over so, if anyone wants some seeds and happens to have an Ark in which to make the commute, bring it on.

Garbage Can: A Treasure Chest of Valuable Loot!

I FOUND THE COOLEST SITE!!! Its called Compost This and it tells you what you can and cannot compost and why. They even have toenails on there! AAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH. I got excited and rummaged through my home to find hidden goods. Here we have taters, greens, carrots, coffee grinds and natural filter, brown bag, and hair. Yes, hair, from my pups. I have bleached blond hair so mine's no good but my dogs go au natural so I'm stealing their strays. So, friends and family, if I pick a hair off your coat, dont thank me as you're doing me a favor as well.

Challenge: You have $5 in the World, What do you do?

Let's see...I have $5 to my name. I could go out for a beer, but I'd just want more. I could buy A grocery. I could save it (aahahah, right). I know, I'll make a sound investment in my future by buying seed potatoes! The 7 lbs bag was exactly $4.99 ($5.34 with tax so I had to scrounge up some change) but now I have a full-days worth of activity and hope for the future, all for $5. I cut the taters so that there is at least one good eye on each section, stuck them in a basket with damp newspaper (to prevent dehydration), and stored them in my closet till the wounds heal. Then, out to garden!

Clean Out Your Fridge!

Yep, its still raining, all my buckets are full, most of my seeds are planted...what to do? Clean, alright, fine, I'll clean. EUREKA! I found old garlic from so long ago that I can't remember. "What a waste", I thought to myself. But then, what do I see but a little green sprout from one of the cloves. WHA HOOO! I unshelled the others to find a ton of greenery waiting to escape. I shelled them and dropped them, sprout-side up, in a bowl of water. They're now incubating under a grow light in my kitchen.

4 Days and 4 Nights.

Planting seeds, the perfect way to stay horticulturally productive during a monsoon. These here are soy seeds waiting to be covered by a smidgen of earth. I have them in Jiffy pots which really helps me remember where they are when I put them in the ground. I poke a hole in the bottoms, bury them with just a bit of rim showing and am able to conclude that, if something is growing outside the boundaries of a Jiffy, its probably an intruder to be yanked.

Booo, Rain. I mean, YEAH Rain.

There's good news and bad news. The good news is that we're getting a freakin ton of much needed rain and I'm catching what I can before I finish my homemade rain barrel. The bad is that I'm stuck inside with pent up momentum. Time for more seedlings...

The Urban Garden Project! We're In!

I'm so excited! I'm part of the Urban Garden Project™!

"The Urban Garden Project™ is the initiative to encourage people to learn from history, become more self-reliant, save a significant amount of money, and eat healthier, all as a result of planting their own urban garden! The goal of The Urban Garden Project™ is to encourage and catalog the creation of 100,000 urban gardens by 2020." (Urban Garden Project™: urbangardenproject.wordpress.com)

Like Baby Tortoises on a Beach...

Ahaha, hey lil fellas! Here I have a row of kale sproutlets and an army of swiss chard seedlings. May they grow to be bountiful masses!

Anyone want Greens, or Reds for that Matter?

Our Arugula and Lettuce are popping at the seems. (Especially after surviving the Blizzard of 2009). So...if anyone would like a few handfuls of Red Leaf or Arugula, just lemme know...The Red Leaf has turned out to be relatively mild but the Arugula packs a serious punch! Yummmm.

Lucky Ducks.

Can you believe it? I found a tonnnn of iris bulbs just scattered about in our backyard; lil patches of lost and lonely plants just trying to make it amidst the bumble and brime of milkweed and dandelion. I scooped them up and moved them to the front to line a small path to our water hose. They seem pleased.

And what more, they definitely added to the aesthetics of our veggie garden. Now, I just have to remember not to plant any food-stuffs in their vicinity so we dont get poisoned...

I like P.L.A.C.E.

My friend Craig is rad and began P.L.A.C.E. to "promote local agriculture and cultural experiences". P.L.A.C.E. offers farm tours and all sorts of community events. They're doing good things. Check it out...

Spotted Team Surviver

As you can see here, the remaining members of Spotted Team are hanging their heads low and retreating to the wilderness.

Sadly, Only the Strong will Survive.

This guy is from "Orange Team". With 16 brothers and sisters, we decided to forgo formal names and assign them teams: "Orange Team" and "Spotted Team". As with most ecosystems, there are winners and there are losers. Apparently, "Orange Team" is kicking the dirt outta "Spotted Team" who has suffered a tremendous loss of at least five teammates.

BathTub Water Garden.

Boy did we luck out. When I bought this house, the previous owner left a multitude of interesting items...a bike, a ceramic owl lamp, some matchbox cars, and...this super freakin rad claw-foot tub. What better use of another man's trash than to house 16 goldfish in your front yard. And, in the spirit of drought tolerance, it'll be a gray-water home for our new friends.

May I Present the Fore-Fathers of this Vast new Terrain:

Dig Dug.

Holy Geez. I've been digging my tale off. Note the hard, clay-like consistency of the terrain. I went at it with all my 100 lbs. of maniacal fury and a shovel to shape and mend the area. Kinda like large scale grooming. As this was all rotten-handle-shovel-work, I now have the hands of a crab fisherman on the open sea...very Ernest Hemingway...I kinda like it. I also ordered a dumptruck load of wood chips (sorry neighbors for covering your driveway) to build up the beds. The granite sand is arriving today to fill the paths. Again, neighbors, should you decide to use your driveway, it may be occupied for a bit longer...

The Grand Master Plan.

I devised a plan. I wanted a super curvy landscape or accessible, edible treats. This is in code. The good news is that it looks pretty, the bad, is that I cant really recall what the letters represent. Time to get to work...

Yummy Yummy Rosemary

So, after planting things all willy-nilly last season, I've matured into being far more calculating in my plant placement. With this row of rosemary, I honestly felt like a super-pro landscaper at a car dealership or something. I was proud. I also really "dig" the idea of smelling rosemary upon arrival.

Post Post Apocolyptic Yard

And here's the yard about 7 months later after we raised the money to build our fence. My fiancee build this inch by inch (he even made the pickets, talk about custom made). Then I scraped a hearty layer of weeds off the surface and laid mulch/newspaper beds.

Post-Apolcolyptic Yard.

The aftermath of destruction is never pretty. Here's our yard after digging up the grass. A relatively lovely site to see considering...

Survivors...

Luckily, there were a few stragglers along the periphery that were spared: a prayiing mantis that, hopefully, didnt suffer some sort of death shock from my shoving a giant camera in its face, and some lovely flowers (till I cut them and threw them in a vase in our kitchen, that is).

Fatalities!

When ripping out a lawn, there are a few deaths along the way. RIP: bitter (seemingly poisonous) lettuce, decoy collards, tomatoes, kale, and tiny chard. You were missed but your death was not in vain.

Good riddance to the following: bastard bermuda grass, milkweed, and other assorted and sundry lawn invaders.

First Things Second.

So, in the spirit of being a novice, we decided to jump in head first and just grow some greens. We dug up some deep rooted grass, burmed up a few rows and started planting, no rhyme or reason. The kale was the big winner, followed by the tomatoes that later arrived. The lettuce was hysterically bitter (seriously, unbelievably bitter) and bled some kind of white goo that seemed a little suspicious. The Collards became sacrificial decoy plants and attracted the predators. This worked pretty well till we realized that we had to thin out the plants and ultimately should remove the entire lawn...

AHAHAH, Our Yard Sucked!

Literally, it sucked. Our yard sucked up rain, sunshine, and fuel from our really old mower. It was completely useless. It rarely rains here in the summers and it was all wasted on this pointless terrain that devoured even the bravest of newcomers (for instance, these two saplings were STRUGGLING). Then there's the concrete path which led to a flooded area in our garage. Again, precious rain water sent "down the drain" or "drive" for that matter.

On the bright side though, we got a TON of sunshine (that pun is intended).