Weapons of Mass Creation

My friend Jen and I went to Ten Thousand Villages yesterday to hear from Jules DeVraes, and how he and his kids manage to grow 6,000 pounds of food a year on 1/5 of an acre in Pasadena. Jen and I live on the same property and we have been talking about starting a garden since I moved in here.

Last year, we never quite managed to get past the talking phase, but we MEAN it this year. Really. At any rate, it is pretty amazing what the DeVraes have managed to do on their property. They even support themselves through farming by selling produce to high-end restaurants. This year, they are shooting for 10,000 pounds of food. They wash clothes by hand, have hand-cranked appliances, and use solar ovens in the summer. Their property is next door to a Muslim school, which uses their property as a science lab of sorts.

We don't have a lot of room on the property, since the entire front yard is covered by a big, beautiful oak tree. We've asked around about what might grow in 100% shade, and the answer so far is "Dirt." Most of the rest is driveway and parking, but we do have this spot on the south side of the house where we could do a couple of box gardens. The key is to start small.

In addition to talking about how our hands can be "weapons of mass creation", Mr. DeVraes talked about how we often get overwhelmed and think that we can never get to a certain point, so we never start at all. He showed pictures of his house in 1985, with a regular suburban lawn with a bit of garden. It wasn't until 2001 that they went full-time with the urban farming thing.

There is a time and a place for leaping into the unknown with radical changes, but I think most of the time, it's important just to begin. We take a step, and then the next one, and then the next, and it's all those little steps that prepare us for what comes next. In my own life, some seemingly insignificant things have led to major changes in ways that I could not have predicted - and I would not have been ready for the major changes if I had not taken the small steps first.

When it comes to working for change within or without, I think it's easy for me to get so stuck on what isn't possible right now that I can't see what I can do. I can't afford a hybrid or solar panels or a more energy-efficient refrigerator. I don't have the emotional space to do much direct work with youth right now. I can't give scads of money to groups doing great and innovative things.

But I can start a little garden and keep hanging out with my Little Sister and write small checks and see where that takes me. Grantwriting doesn't feel particularly revolutionary, but it helps some good people get the money they need to do what they do, and that's fine. Sometimes the seeds of personal and social change are very very small....

Comments

[Judy]

The other thing you can do is to compost your organic waste so that soil in your box gardens doesn't become depleted and you don't need to buy fertilisers. Even if you don't actually manage to do the garden, spreading your composted organic waste under the oak tree would help to maintain it and thus increase the amount of carbon dioxide that it is turning into oxygen. :-)

[Dana Ames]

You could have yourself a very nice gourmet greens garden in the shade: different kinds of lettuces and spinach, maybe some green onions- perfect for summer. Try the Square Foot method (book by Mel Bartholomew); more yield, less waste, and you build your soil as you go. Best to avoid the soil right under the oak tree- too many tannins from the fallen leaves, and oaks can't take as much water as you will need to keep your greens green. You could put your greens in a 1-foot deep box off the ground, sort of at the periphery of the tree. If you choose to plant tomatoes in your sunny spot, put 2-3 marigold plants around the base of each tomato plant; deters the bugs right handily. My preference is to keep cruciferous and nightshade plants out of the compost, but others don't mind them.

Unsolicited advice, do with it what you will- most of all, have fun in your garden!

Dana

[Christy]

Thanks for the advice. Judy,we definitely want to do the compost thing. Just figuring out how best to make it work, given that there's not really a spot that's away from people.

Dana, you're the first person to tell me that it's possible to grow something in 100% shade. Maybe we'll try it - We're going to have to do boxes everywhere, because our soil is crap.

And when it comes to gardening, I'm all about the unsolicited advice.

[rudy]

i heard some people talking about converting the corner store into a community garden

[HSY]

I think you need one of them wormie-compost boxes. because i would pay money to see you playing with the worms.

[Ruth]

Very interesting link. I'm left wondering, though, how much work each adult child is putting in, and what will happen when/if they want a different career path. I find it hard to express how grateful I am not to have to raise my own food. OTOH, I did live for a while in an 8-story apartment building in Finland with two shared compost bins, one fresh (for rubbish) and one mature (for flowerpots).

But what I *really* came here to say is this: I was catching up on Jenell's blog and as I soon as I read the first line of this comment, Damn, Jenell - you're on a roll, I knew it must be you. Scrolled down and sure enough. I'm only (mostly) a lurker on both blogs but I'm getting to recognize the players in this community!

[Christy]

Rudy -
Great idea. You should get behind that.

HSY -
Jen is totally into the worm idea, so maybe that will happen.

Ruth -
I do kind of wonder about that, since the farm and associated business is essentially a full time job for all of them, which is fine if that's what they all really want to do, but maybe not so fantastic if one of them would really rather go to law school or something. Also, I think it would be REALLY hard for any of them to meet someone unless they were willing to compromise a bit on lifestyle. But maybe they're all blissfully happy. Who knows?

And glad that I am easily recognizable by my potty mouth....

[Dana Ames]

I thought the same thing as Ruth, when I saw your comment at Jenell's :) But I wouldn't classify one damn as "potty mouth"...

There are compost contraptions of various sizes and configurations, including small. Surf the 'net, ask around at your local natural foods store, etc. I've had a snap-together recycled plastic bin (about 2' x 2' x 3.5' tall) with vents for years. Even when I was cooking for 5 with all the kids at home we never managed to fill it up all the way. Add a bucket of grass clippings now and then if you can get them, and a few of the leaves when they begin to fall; not so much oak, but liquidambers, maples, etc- No need to "special-order" worms- once there's a little pile going, go to the sporting goods store and buy a tub of night crawlers and dump 'em in. They will be happy if you keep the compost generally moist, not too damp.

There is no such thing as 100% shade during the daytime. Try a bunch of different lettuces and spinach and see which does the best. They grow fast, and as warm as it is there you could have at least three harvests before fall. You could get a few starts from a nursery (or wherever you happen on them- our Longs drug store has lots of vegetable starts) and not fret over having to have everything grown from seed. Since you're going to use boxes, be sure to throw some chicken wire or the like over them to keep the neighborhood cats out.

I've nearly always had a little garden space. Right now I'm only putting effort into a rose bush and a peach tree, but when the kids were little we planted quite a lot. I found weeding to be very therapeutic.

Dana

[Ryan]

I've been pretty successful at eating about 10,000 pounds of food a year. Just doing my part.

Here is the Philly version of what you're talking about:

www.greensgrow.org

They are growing everything in boxes and bags because the land is an old superfund site. They also supply many high end restaurants with cut-just-a-minute-ago lettuce etc.

Three videos about the Hunting Park Community Garden which has been a great encouragement to our neighborhood:

http://www.jumpcut.com/view/?id=2726F246F85D11DB8E5A000423CEF682
http://www.jumpcut.com/view/?id=843CE53C0DFF11DCBD21000423CEF682
http://www.jumpcut.com/view/?id=4D53B382A42411DCB8A7000423CEF5B0

Tomorrow is "Community Paint Day" at the Community Garden. We've been working for about a year on a collaborative community design for a mural which will go up on the wall of the abandoned house facing the community garden. We've been working with high school students to outline the design on these aluminum panels and tomorrow is a big paint-by-numbers process before we install it up on the building, which will eventually be torn down and the mural will be removed and installed on the next one behind it.

Anyway, we love our community garden. It's been a great way to bring neighbors together.

http://ayudaphilly.blogspot.com/2007/09/hunting-park-community-garden-first.html

[Ryan]

p.s. - the mural is mostly funded by a grant. So who says it's not revolutionary?