Incredible Edibles Plant Sale -- May 4, 2013

In case you don't follow my cooking blog, I just put a post there about the Incredible Edibles Plant sale coming up May 4, 2013. I'm looking forward to it and will post more about the plants I get here.

Fall garden and cover crops

After the Master Gardener talk on Fall and Winter Gardening by Jen Aron of Peaceful Gardens I did a bit of a harvest and clear out of the summer garden to make some room.

I lightly prepped the soil, added a little organic matter and some seeds.

For the fall garden, I planted chard and lettuce. As a cover crop I planted crimson clover and some chicken vetch.

Watered that in and covered with burlap and mulch to keep the water in.

Then started watering twice a day to keep moist.

I was shocked, yes shocked, to see sprouts just three days later!

Planting Veggies

Now that I had a nice mound of dirt in the front yard, today was the day to plant! I am going for something between row planting and square foot gardening. We'll see how this turns out.

I planted onions on top, tomatoes around the back, fennel around the front. And greens, spinach, lettuce, and a mesclun mix, on the lower slope.

In particular I was a little unsure of where to put the plants relative to the slopes, troughs, and ridges along the side of the mound. So I did a little of each and will try to pay attention to what does best.

I planted a few herbs on the other mound between the path and the driveway. This will get a little less frequent water and seemed like a better place for some herbs: basil and parsley. I also planted a zucchini squash as much as a ground cover as for the food.

Vegetable Garden 2012

Today was the day to prep the front yard vegetable garden bed. I had a small bag of worm compost and some glacial rock dust to use for amendments. I probably should have used more compost, but that was what I had on hand. I also had a pile of semi-composted leaves that I worked in to the deep part of the soil to improve water retention and provide some organic matter in time. 

The basic plan was to double dig, except I was working with a mound so I had a little bit of slope to contend with. Also the area wasn't rectangular but was more of a lens shape. So I had to play it by ear somewhat.
I like the long handled spade I got at Red Pig Tools specifically for this kind of work. 

Still the basic principle was:
* Cover the whole area with the amendments.
* Remove a foot or so of dirt in a strip about the width of the spade. * Put in some leaves.
* Work them in a little.
* Repeat. 

Once I was done with the digging, I broke up the biggest of the clods and raked the dirt into a nice mound. Then I flattened the top, and created two tiers on the way down. I tried to make the tiers level with a little bit of a lip so water would fill the whole ditch and percolate in without overtopping the levies. These are basically mini-swales. 

Next up: Planting vegetables!

Incredible Edibles Plant Sale -- May 5

This weekend, on May 5, the Multnomah County Master Gardeners are putting on an Incredible Edibles Plant Sale,10am to 3pm, on the grounds of All Saints School, 601 NE Cesar E. Chavez Blvd (formerly NE 39th Avenue).

Crazy Idea: a month as a lookavore

A locavore is someone who eats foods produced "locally" (e.g., within 200 miles). But what would you call someone who obtains their calories only from operations they have seen and inspected with their own eyes?

• Lookavore
• Inspectavore
• Connectavore

It would take a little thought to put together the "rules of the game".

What constitutes having seen and inspected a place?

How much of the process must be witnessed?

What exceptions can be made? (Maybe flavorings, spices, herbs, salt, ...)

As a stunt, it should only count if you have done the inspection since the beginning of the ordeal, which would make the beginning quite an adventure.

For practical purposes, it might be kinder and gentler to allow a degree or two of separation:

buying food directly from someone who has seen the operation and represents it as something you can support (and is presumably willing in principle to allow you to inspect it for yourself if you wish). Or trading with a neighbor who went through the process themselves.

Ultimately the goal could be to have a robust web of trust where everything desired could be had from some source that someone known to you could personally vouch for.