What Did You Do In The Garden?

[digitS']

If you are a gardener, city life is a little hard to take. Of course, unavailable ground but also sunlight loss becomes an issue. Right now, I have no intention of moving any closer to the Pacific ocean ... unless I can get comfortably in the rainshadow of the Cascades ... maybe .

My son lives in Portland. He has been off on his own for nearly 30 years and has lived in Washington D.C., Pennsylvania, Minnesota, here, and Seattle. He has returned to Portland 4 times and probably been there 50% of his adult life. People like to be where people like to be and he is a man of the people.

He is yet to be caught up in the gentrification of the city. 6.5% of city population growth has been in those areas. You can read about that process and maybe find your nearby city here - LINK. It is near the top of the list but doesn't explain all of Portland's growth since the city grew 10.3% during the decade studied.

I'm curious about gentrification because I was a little baffled how something like a distinct of small warehouses could be physically changed to residential ..? Those TEG posts on modulars - where kitchens/bathrooms/utilities were in single units, often built off-site - were the result of exploring gentrification. I wondered how "pods" might be used in rehabs and infilling in other neighborhoods.

Hey, this is important stuff! Just a little scary stat I've read: the 11 western states have lost a football field of natural land every 2.5 minutes during that decade! That's mostly to housing developments outside the cities ... At some point, flight had to slow and it had better stop.

Steve

 

[Gardening with Rabbits]

If you are a gardener, city life is a little hard to take. Of course, unavailable ground but also sunlight loss becomes an issue. Right now, I have no intention of moving any closer to the Pacific ocean ... unless I can get comfortably in the rainshadow of the Cascades ... maybe .

My son lives in Portland. He has been off on his own for nearly 30 years and has lived in Washington D.C., Pennsylvania, Minnesota, here, and Seattle. He has returned to Portland 4 times and probably been there 50% of his adult life. People like to be where people like to be and he is a man of the people.

He is yet to be caught up in the gentrification of the city. 6.5% of city population growth has been in those areas. You can read about that process and maybe find your nearby city here - LINK. It is near the top of the list but doesn't explain all of Portland's growth since the city grew 10.3% during the decade studied.

I'm curious about gentrification because I was a little baffled how something like a distinct of small warehouses could be physically changed to residential ..? Those TEG posts on modulars - where kitchens/bathrooms/utilities were in single units, often built off-site - were the result of exploring gentrification. I wondered how "pods" might be used in rehabs and infilling in other neighborhoods.

Hey, this is important stuff! Just a little scary stat I've read: the 11 western states have lost a football field of natural land every 2.5 minutes during that decade! That's mostly to housing developments outside the cities ... At some point, flight had to slow and it had better stop.

Steve

That is pretty alarming! They keep building and building here. No big business, but lots of homes and big apartment buildings.

 

[Gardening with Rabbits]

I planted 5 tomatoes, 10 collards, and have weeds pulled and dirt ready for flowers. DS got the poles in for the pole beans.

 

[Nyboy]

Gentrification takes place only when people with money start moving into area. Enough money can change any building.

 

[so lucky]

(cynically) Enough money can change just about anything.

 

[digitS']

Some of those warehouses are minimally changed. It's the Gen X's and millennials making the changes by moving in. The developers would never sink their resources in the neighborhoods, otherwise.

Kinda like setting out plant starts on bare ground. I'm going out to see my transplants this morning. It takes a while for a boomer, still at home with a few infants , to gear up. I'm the developer ... it say here somewhere on my ID badge!

Steve

It takes planning. Here's a Vegetable Garden plan, from someone who likes to garden (LINK):

How to Be Successful in the Garden With Garden Planning

1. Create a plan. Begin by planning the space for the garden or multiple garden plots. Track the sun and the shadows to make sure the chosen space will receive adequate sunshine. And now for the fun. Make a list of your families favorite vegetables. Next, look through all those inspiring garden catalogs that have filled your mailbox this winter.
2. Try to not overwhelm yourself with too large a garden at first. I have done this so many times it just isn’t funny anymore. I think I will keep up with 1/4 acre. It is tilled, planted, the plants start to grow and everything is great. Until I take a few days and don’t pull weeds. Or the rains come. Or a turtle, rabbit or groundhog gets involved. Then the weeds take hold. And I can’t seem to keep up. So I weed the tomatoes. But when I go weed the beans, the tomato weeds return. Pretty soon, I am digging through weeds trying to find the vegetables. Try starting with a small manageable plot. This year I am planting a small kitchen garden that I can easily weed on my way to the car. In the farm area I am planting a 16 x 20 plot. I started with greens and cool weather crops like a row of broccoli and a row of beets. The potatoes are planted along the side so I can train them to grow outside the fence. I hope! As the season gets warmer, and the greens are done, I will start some zucchini and winter squash. I will continue to rotate through. We can grow successfully through late September, sometimes longer. Another benefit to the garden being smaller, maybe I will feel up to doing battle with the non-beneficial insects.
3. Check the quality of the soil.Add appropriate soil additives. Bring the soil pH up to what it should be I don’t have any idea what that means but here’s a great resource for building soil. Start now, saving coffee grounds, egg shells, and other compost materials that help build good soil. You may need to think about what type of manure to use to add nutrients to the soil.
4. Start your seeds inside. read more here on how to test germination by sprouting small seeds on a wet paper towel placed inside a small plastic zip lock baggie. Another method for frugal seed starting uses the plastic cups from the single serve coffee machines.
5. Direct sow seeds that do well being started in the ground. This is the simplest of methods.
6. Thin seedlings. This is always hard for me. I want to save them all. But they won’t grow if they are crowded so thin you must.
7. Install proper fencing. A couple of years ago, one of our garden areas was doing really well. The soil was rich, the plants were healthy and the garden was flourishing. We got busy with other things before putting up a fence around the area. The deer came and ate just about everything. They left the turnips. No one in my family likes turnips. I don’t know why we planted turnips. The pigs enjoyed the turnips that year. This year, each garden area will be fenced in.
8. Spend a half hour a day checking for bugs, pruning off dead shoots, picking produce, and pulling weeds. I will often check the kitchen garden as I am heading back in to the house in the evening. I find it’s a good time to do battle with the harmful insects as the heat of the day has passed. It’s a quiet time and gives me a break before getting dinner ready.
9. Stay on top of the preserving, as the produce starts to be harvested. After all, that was a lot of hard work and you want to enjoy all of the goodness throughout the winter. Aren’t you glad you started garden planning, now?
10. Keep your canning supplies organized and ready. Doing a batch of produce each night and running the dehydrator during the day while you work on other things will help you avoid an exhausting day of canning. If everything is clean and ready, you can clean, blanch and fill jars while preparing dinner. Then pop the jars into the canner while you clean up the kitchen.

 

[Smart Red]

My plan -- plant as much as, when and where as possible and pray a lot.

 

[digitS']

I don't have much trouble planting crops -- from here to the horizon!

You should see the weeds showing up to accompany them!

There are less after 4 hours of scratching, pinching and pulling! Now, to get back with the tiller and grind all the purslane I tossed outta the beds, into the soil in the paths. Or, it will be baaack!

Steve

 

[Smart Red]

Today I spent the most of my time planting the annuals that I'd started into the Butterfly garden. I also potted up two planters with variegated geraniums that I started from seed as well. Not much to look at, but we did get a brief shower to set them into their beds. Photos when there's something colorful to show.

 

[Gardening with Rabbits]

I got the pole beans planted and some hollyhocks, coneflowers,delphiniums, Pacific Giants and Fantasia. Some Crackerjack marigolds and French Vanilla and Snowdrift marigolds.