Yesterday afternoon I was checking my email minding my own business… as I’m apt to do when I noticed an email with the subject line Pecha Kucha – Invitation to speak. If I weren’t an art geek I would totally think this was some other random spam mail offering to help me enlarge my penis. However, I am an art geek and I know what Pecha Kucha is.
Around these parts it is something that happens every 2-3 months.
Pecha Kucha is a group of people that get together to give presentations (often about a specific topic) in a “20×20″ format. This means each presenter is allowed 20 slides and 20 seconds per slide to speak about it. 6 minutes 40 seconds in all. It is a growing worldwide phenomenon with nearly 300 cities participating. It started in Tokyo 7 years ago and the first Tacoma PKN started last June. Check out their website to learn more about it.
I’ve never been to a PKN, but I know about it. I’ve always wanted to go since it is an intriguing concept to me. Well on April 20th I’ll not only be able to watch, but participate (bites nails down to a nub). I was contacted by one of the organizers asking if I would like to be a presenter. They are holding the next PKN on Earth Day and the them is “eARTh.” Andy, the organizer, had read Sprouting Off and thought that I might be interested.
I milled over the idea for most of the afternoon wondering what the heck I would talk for 6 minutes and 40 seconds about and then I agreed to do it. Now I have 3 days to come with a title for my presentation, 2ish weeks to compile 20 slides (my photographs) and a 6 minute and 40 second presentation on said slides. Holy hell.
So I need some help interwebpeoplz. Like I said, the theme is “eARTh.” They contacted me because of Sprouting Off. So I’m thinking something along the lines of the changing food system in America, why I am covering over 1/2 of my lawn with vegetable garden, organic, good food, blah, blah and more blah. To be honest I don’t know. I have no direction here.
Help me out… what should the title of the presentation be? They would like the word Earth to be in the title some how. Give me some ideas.
I have a whole crapload of work that I have to do between now and the 31st. So instead of sitting behind my computer and actually doing it, I took 4 days off and enjoyed myself. I’m certain I’ll regret that decision later this week, but looking back on it, I’m glad I did.
I have a few photos, but am really too lazy to resize and edit them so you just get the verbal rundown.
Friday was one of the trusty husband’s flex Fridays (he has every other Friday off during the summer). It was handy that it coincided with our monthly wine club night so he helped me clean the house and get ready for company. We spend Friday evening sipping Viognier with our friends and the weather was nice enough to start a fire in the back yard and have dessert. I love wine club nights
Saturday was Salsa Day. I have been looking forward to this event for about 2 weeks. Windmill Gardens in Sumner hosts a salsa festival in the spring. One would think that it would be in the summer and you get to taste all kinds of delicious salsa. Nope. It is their big tomato and pepper sale. Complete with Mariachi band and Ciscoe Morris. Oh, and they had gallon heirloom and rare tomatoes and peppers for $3.99. We rounded out the remainder of out tomato and pepper collection with 7 new tomatoes and 6 peppers. We also picked up a few Thai Basil plants and 2 Mexican Orange shrubs. The remainder of the day was spent preparing the area the Mexican Orange shrubs (and a whole host of other plants) would live. Derek built me the first of 2 retaining walls and shoveled more dirt and rock than he did in his days as an Archaeologist. By the end of the night we washed about 20 tons of dirt off of us.
Sunday we hosted a BBQ for our friends. Since we were tired from the day before we slept in causing us last minute issues with food and preparations. In the end we pulled it together and had a fantastic time in the sun. The children were none to happy with me because I kept shooing them outside. It was a nice day. Children should play outside when it’s sunny. We ended the evening in front of the fire with guitars and good music.
Monday was back to the garden. We had one more retaining wall to build, but not bricks to build it with. Off to the mega home improvement store… they were out. Next mega home improvement store… doesn’t cary the kind we need. Mega grocery/everything store… bricks are $1.99 each as opposed to the $1.69 that we paid at the mega home improvement store. Third mega home improvement store… has the bricks. Only trouble is that I crack my head on a shelf loading the bricks onto a card and Derek smashes his finger. Now I’m down to one brain cell and he can’t flip people off. There could be worse things, although that last brain cell might get awfully lonely. In the end we finished the wall, shoveled and raked more dirt and installed an irrigation system for the area. We were on the go from 10:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. We tried to watch a movie after the boy went to bed, but I kept falling asleep.
We are all officially worn out, but can’t take a moment to rest. Not only do I have tons of work to do, I promised the child that we would plant flowers and go to the pool this week. Oy. Next weekend doesn’t look much better. Hockey, Point Defiance plant sale, 2 birthday parties and the dedication of the new addition to our church. I guess I could rest in September.
Last year I tried to create a regular feature on this blog about gardening. Some readers were really excited about this project. Sadly, I got distracted by writing about other things and it fell by the wayside. Moreover, my gardening fell by the wayside. I haven’t spent hours in the yard like I used to in 2 1/2 years. I guess that’s what happens when you become a parent. Yeah, we’ll blame the kid and not that I’m lazy.
This year we (meaning me and I”m dragging the trusty husband along with me) decided that we were going to do something different with our lives. Our goal is to lead more natural and healthy lives. We started this last year by buying as much produce locally as possible. We are continuing that, but also growing as much produce as possible too.
I ordered a few new gardening books and once again I got that bug to spend more time outside than in. I longed to get my hands dirty and stand in the sun with the hose in my hand watering my plants. Problem is that I’m the type of person that needs motivation. What a better way to motivate myself than to write about my experiences. Even better would be if I had someone to share that with. I proposed this idea to the trusty husband, but seeing as he is horribly overworked, coming home to work more wasn’t his idea of fun. The next logical choice was my mother. Lucky for me she agreed. Acutally, this is going to turn out better working with her because, well… she and I need something to do together that won’t cause me to cut off her caffine supply.
So we (mom and I) are starting a project called Sprouting Off. It is a blog that brings you gardeing know-how in a way that even the newest gardener can understand. We are going to talk about growing your own vegetables, how to properly prune your trees, tell you what books are the best, point you to the local farmer’s markets, take you on tours of garden centers and basically get you out into your yard. I’m also going to chronicle our personal vegetable garden this year. We are trying a new technique that I’m hoping will keep us in fresh veg all year long.
If you’re looking for something that I’ve written and you can’t find it here, try Sprouting Off. Odds are I’ll have somthing new. Also, don’t be afraid to pose your gardening questions to us. Just don’t ask us to design your yard over the internet. But we’d be happy to tell you how to prune your roses or when to plant your broccoli.
Evidently you guys didn’t have too much to say about gardening this week. Of course you never do. But for the amusement of those who did ask questions I’ll oblige.
Next week I’ll get back to stories about the boy like how he chased the cat around the house asking her if she wanted bacon.
A few weeks ago Jake asked: if I had suggestions on keeping rabbits out of her yard.
Yes, yes I do, but you may not like it. Rabbits are deterred by natural predators. They are also animals with a heightened sense of smell. That being said you could “place” a scent in your yard that simulates that of a natural predator. In Kansas we used to send people over to the hunting department at Galyans across the street to purchase a product called Concentrated Fox Urine. Why one would sell such a product is beyond me, but it makes a nice rabbit and deer deterrent. However, if you are the frugal gardener and have males in your house you have your own “scent” built in. Send your son or husband out into the yard to “mark their territory.” It works. Gross, but works.
Rhonda asked: This new house has 7 flowerbeds. SEVEN. How in the world am I going to keep up with it? This is not exactly my strong area. OK, here’s my gardening question. My grass is trying to creep into my flowerbeds. In fact, there’s some areas that could be mowed already. How do I kill the grass without killing the flowers?
The answer to the first part of the question is child labor a yard service. If I had the money I would hire one myself, but I don’t so I do it myself and am currently drowning in a yard full of weeds.
The second part of the question is not so easy. I believe there is a product out there called Grass Be Gone. However, I don’t condone the use of this product since it is not organic. Nor do I condone the use of Round-Up, Casaron, or Weed-B-Gone. I do suggest a citrus/clove mix that is organic and effective in killing annual weeds. But it is a broad spectrum weed killer and will destroy the good plants too. To get rid of grass the best thing is to pull it by hand (sorry) and then keep it under control. Use edging to keep the grass out. If you can find a product called Ryerson Steel Edging that is the best, but it is expensive and sooooo hard to find. So hard that I can’t even find a good photo on the internet. But it does exist. Brick edging, concrete or even a non-ugly plastic will work too. We manually edge with (currently) a shovel or our trimmer. It’s manual and a pain, but I hate grass.
Rhonda also asked: is it too late in the year to plant anything?
Go to your local nurser (not a mega home improvements store or grocery) and look for vegetable starts. You may still find gallon tomatoes, herbs or a few other things. Herbs are probably your best bet and easiest to start with. Especially if you’ve never edible gardened before. Just stay away from Mint and Catmint (catnip).
Lauri asked: how can I add color to my front beds?
Again with the local nursery. If it is a shadier area plants like impatiens or wax begonias are a good bet. I am assuming it is since you mentioned Hostas. If it sunny petunias, geraniums, million bells, marigolds or salvia will work. For this year I would start with annuals (mentioned above) and next year find a few perennials. Perennials bloom for a shorter time in the year, but are lower in maintenance (ie, you don’t have to replant them every year). My entire garden is shrubs and perennials, except one area where I plant a few annuals. I also do my window boxes and a few hanging baskets.
Liv asked about greenhouses
I would love a greenhouse personally. It is worth it where I live. I’m not as familiar with South East climates so I don’t know how helpful I can be. I would stay away from a glass house. This is the greenhouse I want. They have automatic venting, come with tables, the company installs them and moves them if you move. They have an upgrade policy and they are economical. But they are in Tacoma so that won’t help you. I found them at our Western WA State Fair. State fairs are good place to find deals like this. This particular company offers a discount if you order during fair time. Greenhouses are a lot of work (cleaning and such), but can be very rewarding.
Thanks for the questions. I enjoyed it. Now if you’ll pardon me I have to prepare myself for some chalk drawing. I wasn’t planning on participating this week, but competition got the better of me and I came up with something fun to draw. If you would like to vote for (me) any artist (me) you can vote (for me) here after 1:00 p.m. until midnight Pacific time.
I have very little time to whip out a post this morning. I have to get the boy ready for school and get us both to the church soon. But I promised a whole week of gardening so I’ll follow through.
If you’ve ever vegetable gardened before you know it is a bit of trial by fire. Some years you’ll get a ton and some years nothing. Then there are some years it looks like you aren’t going to get anything and then half way through the season your zucchini plant starts churning out giant fruit that you can’t compost fast enough. The question becomes how much to plant.
The ideal answer would be no more than you can eat. If only it were that easy. Mainly because of the aforementioned viability issue. So I thought I’d share how I figure out how much to plant.
I start by picking the veg I’d like to grow and think we can eat. This year I opted for peas, spinach, green beans, lettuce, carrots, beets, tomatoes, butternut squash and pumpkins. This is in addition to the 4000 strawberry plants, rhubarb and currants we already have. We also added 2 blueberry plants (but those won’t produce fruit this year). I opted out of zucchini this year because we simply cannot eat it fast enough. It grows too big too fast and I always have bug problems with it. I am trying the pumpkins and squash because I’ve never done them before and thought the boy would enjoy them.
Peas are easy. Normally we can’t eat enough. I do successive plantings to spread out the harvest. In one 5′x10′ bed 3/4 is peas, the other 1/4 is spinach (which is nearly done). When the spinach is done I’ll dig it up and put something else in.
Carrots are another we can’t eat enough of. I also can’t grow enough. I don’t have the space. I always over grow on tomatoes, but the boy and I eat those for snacks.
But what happens to the stuff we can’t eat? There are a few options.
1) you can preserve it. Freezing is the best, but you need space. We have a stand up freezer and assuming the plug doesn’t fall out of the wall again anything freezable will be frozen.
2) can it. I typically only can jam. I don’t own a pressure canner so I can only do certain things. I plan to make my own salsa, and tomato sauces and purees. Those can be hot water canned.
3) give it away. When we lived in that apartment without an outside the trusty husband would bring home bags of vegetables from a co-worker. It was like our own little CSA share. I loved it. Now I give away extra stuff to people who will take it and for the most part they are happy. They will be even happier to know that I didn’t plant zucchini and did plant extra peas.
The best thing to do with all of those edibles is to eat it. Vegetable stir-frys, giant salads, or just grazing in the garden. You planted it for a reason. Now enjoy it.
