the tale of two tomatoes

< the facts >

Two tomato plants are growing outside on our patio. They are in smallish handmade clay pots and they quite like it on the patio because it is south facing but gets ample shade from the ceiling above them so they are protected from the harsh sun. We filled the pots with aged donkey shit, mushroom compost, and a layer of banana peels for potassium plus egg shells for calcium and other minerals. Once a week I fertilize them with Mendocino County sea weed tea. For stakes we used sticks from the forest.

playing with carlos' new instagram app

< the residents >

Carlos and me, Desiree, who will be leaving this Sunday for the gathering and to travel a bit.
My mom and dad, who will be leaving in a couple weeks for their anniversary.
Many plants in the garden and on the patio.

< the dilemma >

Our tomato plants grew way tall, super fast and one day I noticed that our Chocolate Cherry tomato was very wilty and losing many leaves. As it turns out, it outgrew the stakes, leaned over our railing, and cracked open on its stem. Also, everyone on the patio will need to be watered while the family is away. Carlos and I moved a tomato to the garden bed that gets watered with the sprinklers but the sun was killing it... so we moved it back onto the patio.

< the climax >

DIY How to mend a cracked tomato stem:

gauze + cotton yarn = tomato cast

a happy, loved tomato is a healthy, delicious tomato

AND...
I came up with a way to water while everyone is vacationing!

DIY self watering container

inspired by "aqua globes" but free.. and "shabby chic"!

Raised NO-TILL Garden

[How-To]

raised garden : no till farming style

Growing an organic garden is one of the most rewarding things to spend your time doing. Food is the energy that keeps our bodies alive and moving, feeding your body right gives you an abundance of energy and creates a healthy living system. 

Food = Life

What you will need to make an 8ft x 8ft bed:

• Newspaper (without too much color, no glossy paper)
• 5 trash bags full or 1 bale of hay, alfalfa is perfect
• 6-8 cubic feet of compost
• 6-8 cubic feet of AGED manure (chicken, steer, goat... whatever you can find)
• Wood, stones, cinder blocks - anything that holds the raised bed in place

Raised bed designs:

Step 1:
Soak newspaper in a bucket of water (or spray with the hose as you go and lay down covering the entire raised bed, 3-5 sheets thick depending on the amount of weeds, and layer them covering about 1/3 of each sheet with the next sheet. This keeps the weeds down and will break down into the soil giving it carbon. Glossy paper doesn't break down very well and has chemicals that are no bueno, as does colored ink.

Step 2:
Put up the barrier of wood or stone, whatever you are using, so your raised bed doesn't shift around over time. There are tons of great ways to set up the bed and you definitely don't have to make your bed 8ft x 8ft. If you do make it that large, you will need to put some stones throughout before you build the bed so you have something to stand on. One factor in the no-till method is that you should never step on the bed, so you never disturb the natural factors at play beneath the surface of the soil.

Step 3:
Start your first layer of manure, which should be about 2" thick. You may be able to find free manure if you live near any dairy or egg farmers, but make sure the animals are eating grass and weeds, not grain fed. If you get it from a local farm, ask if they have any that is already aged, otherwise you'll have to let it age for at least 3 months but it depends on where it is and how it's maintained. Once the manure is ready, it will be a very soft soil texture and won't have a smell. Otherwise, you can buy steer manure from a local nursery, but not all nurseries have it available so call first. Water thoroughly.

Step 4:
Layer 2" of hay, alfalfa, straw, or even dead leaves and branches will work. Water thoroughly.

Step 5:
Layer 2" of compost high in green matter ie. vegetable waste, fruit peels, fresh leaves, etc. It should say on the compost bag what was used to make it. Green matter provides a high nitrogen content.

Step 6:
Keep layering until you have a nice, thick bed. The last layer should be compost, then top with some straw as mulch.

Step 7:
Plant stuff!

GUERILLA GARDENING escapade einz

Upon arriving to San Diego with my lover last October, I started doing many new ecologically wonderful things. We started our organic garden and we have grown from lettuce, broccoli, and cauliflower to just about everything - from beets and carrots to tomatoes and peppers to all sorts of herbs, beans, squash, and the list goes on. Around this same time I also began learning about succulents and just how easy many of them are to grow from cuttings, so out I went night after night all kinds of stealth on my teal/orange bicycle clipping succulents around the neighborhood.

So I have this mass collection of all kinds of wonderful drought tolerant plants now in all sorts of places, the gift just keeps on giving. Now I feel the need to give back. Around my neck of the woods, there are many plots of dirt covered in weeds and trash that just look so sad and worthless. Wouldn't it be lovely to see beautiful plants in all shapes and sizes that need little to no water decorating the streets? That's what I thought... so I adopted my first. It's off the 78 going into my neighborhood and step one was cleaning it up. Tons of cigarette butts, trash, hubcaps, boxes, and bags. After the cleaning was done I recruited my boyfriend to help plant the little fellas and off we went. The dirt patch of nastyness turned into this:

I look a little ragged... so do the succulents at the moment, but it's a work in progress and I've barely scratched the surface of that weedy ground! We mainly put in jade, but there are couple natives from Catalina, an island off the coast of California as well as a native of San Diego county. Soon I'll be cloning native plants like mallow and sage for guerilla gardening galore!