Growing a garden has made my trips to the Farmers Market quite different. Before, I would just sort of wander around, buying whatever struck my fancy, or some days nothing at all. Now, I find myself looking at what the different vendors are bringing in, comparing it to what I'm growing, and pondering the discrepancies - why is their squash so much earlier than mine? He already has Beans!? Hm, could I grow turnips? Somehow, I think the next phase will be chatting them up for hints. What grows well for you, this variety or that one? There seems to be a lot of observation in growing a garden; I would think that some of it might result in communicable information.
Along those same lines, I used to buy only starter plants, never seeds; now, I'm a regular at the Stone Bros & Byrd seed counter, and I'm waiting anxiously for my copy of "Seed to Seed" to arrive from Amazon, so I can start experimenting with seed saving. (Sometimes, I remember how much of this my grandparents would have simply *known*, and I want to scream in sadness and frustration that they aren't still around to ask.)
Oddly, I've yet to encounter another urban gardener in Durham. Oh, sure, I know some people who have a few tomato plants in a pot, and one who even put in a small bed made of old cinderblocks, but none of them seem to have the same sort of... drive? motivation? joy? for the doing of it. I'm sure they must exist... but where? I have this vision of being in a room of old geezers in overalls, and I'm the only one under 50. Really, I don't want to reinvent the wheel, or the urban garden.
Last year, I bought a bunch of permaculture books, but they really just have not been the kind of resource I expected. It's all fine to talk about co-existing plants and such, but I need specific information. Growing food is about the most local you can get. My soil isn't like your soil, my compost isn't like your compost. If I ever wanted to get the dirt on Durham, well, the dirt of Durham is all over me now.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Hi Katuah,
What part of Durham do you live in? My significant other and I are in the process of buying a house in Cleveland-Holloway, and he has grand ambitions for a garden out back. I hope we'll stick to that idea - your blog is inspiration to do so.
Jessie
Hey Jessie;
I live in Colonial Village, which is a bit further north than C-H, but not by much. I'd say my experience will be relevant. :-) Best advice for starting out: buy dirt in bulk! And save your leaves for compost! I'm all about more gardeners in Durham. I think we should start our own meetup or something. :-)
couple o'things.
marigolds will help with aphids, but i've never known them to keep out either the dreaded squash borer or the ubiquitous cabbage worm.
for squash borers, i usually wait them out, and plant my squash a little late, like next weekend or the weekend after. i 'll use already started plants for that. problem with saving squash seeds is that if you've got multiple varieties in the garden, you're likely to get some new hybrid which may or may not be edible. I had some volunteers a few years ago that thrived in the garden, were half yellow, half green like i've seen for sale in some fancy markets, and tasted like soap.
Leaves, especially oak leaves, compost really slow. Shred 'em as much as you can before composting them.
There's lots of gardening here. Talk to Keith of Bountiful Backyards - that group is doing the most and best experiments with urban gardening and permaculture right in the heart of Durham.
Post a Comment