Lift Off! Seed Starting and other things.

It took an act of faith and some serious rearranging to accomplish this weeks goal.

With the weather so cold and unpredictable I realized I couldn't trust the hoop house to act as a cold frame for seed starting this year. And with the house heaters not able to stand up to the job I knew my usual spot in the living room simply couldn't be trusted. My living room/office space is just too cold this winter so I decamped to the kitchen where I set up my laptop and my space heater. The living room simply has too many drafts and the cost of heating that room to a suitable temperature for both me and my seeds was far too exorbitant. 

Ah but the kitchen!! It's small, it's air tight and there's that great spot on top of the refrigerator. But I was using it for storage, so I had to move a great deal of items. Then there was a question of the light, it's in a very dark corner, so a of cup hooks  and some daylight bulbs and I was ready to go. Between the heat from the back of the fridge and and the rising heat from the rest of the room, temps were good. So the trays went up. And today, only 5 days later we have lift off!

These are tomatoes and leeks. And below in my very sophisticated milk jug system are sweet peas. The seet peas were really just a test to see if the seeds were viable but now I have consider where they are going to go. I'll have to build a tee pee for them

I'm very happy but I'm even more delighted by what I saw when I went out to move more wood chips:

Yes! My first crocus of the year! Considering that my landlord dug up this area to plant some monks grass, I am thrilled to see even one crocus never mind two.

Wood Chips permaculture and camoflage

So my biggest dilemma in turning this space into a full fledged garden is that there is a tremendous amount of grass, and even worse, kudzu that has been growing over the area for years. The good news is that there is a fifty foot pin oak that has been dropping it's leaves on this space for over thirty years. Underneath the mat of grass and kudzu vines is a rich humus. I need to kill off and control all this overgrowth in order to make the most of this rich organic material.

Permaculture to the rescue. As luck would have it, adjacent to my old community garden, a tree removal company was cutting down two old maples. I approached them and asked them what the were going to do with the wood after they were done. They were going to chip it and cart it off to the city
and pay them to dispose of it. I gave them a better option. They chipped it and left it all in a pile next to my old garden.

It's hard to tell there but the pile is about 3 feet high and 15 feet by 15 feet. Fantastic!

I have been hauling it off ever since and depositing it in my new space.  And so my adventure with permaculture begins.

What exactly is permaculture? Well it's a philosophy of working with nature rather than against it.  It can apply to agriculture and architecture and strives for sustainability. For instance, instead of using pesticides, establish healthy plants that can withstand and repel pests on its own. Use companion planting to assist in repelling pests while attracting beneficial insects.

In my case the wood chips are going to smother and starve the grass and kudzu. Right now I'm laying it out to define the paths while leaving my leaf and compost piles exposed. The leaf and compost piles will make up the vegetable beds while the decomposing wood chips will tie up any nitrogen that might feed the kudzu and grass. Eventually the wood chips will break down,with the aid of the worms attracted to them, turn to soil and release that nitrogen. At that point I'll utilize the soil in my beds and start the process over again.

I have to move a great deal of chips by wheel barrow and bucket and it's putting a lot of strain on my back. But by doing a bit every day I've managed to move almost half the pile.

That's Dingus my tortie cat in the middle picture. She's loving having a new place to blend in, Camoflage is her specialty.

I plan to use many permaculture practices in this garden, going organic seems a no brainer considering that this is virgin territory so to speak.  If you have a hankering to learn more about permaculture there is a wonderful documentary on it called "Back to Eden" and can be found here. http://www.backtoedenfilm.com/ As I see it permaculture and organic gardening are a passion.

Snow

Well it just keeps getting crazier and crazier.

This is what I woke up to:

 Very pretty, very scenic. But not good for composting!!! Grrrrrrr. However catching Sophie The Monster finding out that some other cat has been  in her garden was very amusing!