It has been YEARS since I've posted here in my blog. I guess I would have to say that Face Book took me away from Blogger. Well, that and changing jobs, moving back to South Dakota, travelling daily for my work, and so much more.
So much has happened since the last post that I can't even begin to catch my readers up with all the changes. In a nutshell, I left my college teaching position in Wisconsin and took an itinerant school psychologist job working for tribal K-12 schools in South Dakota. We moved, we struggled with selling our modest WI house, nearly had it go to foreclosure, and then it sold in April/May 2011 just days before there would have been the foreclosure sherrifs sale.
We now have a beautiful 1 acre lot in a small town. The land is a joy, the house is not. It is a 1921 vintage small house in rough condition, and I miss that WI house every day. Repairing our finances has been the focus, and hopefully we'll soon be at a point to do something about our crummy house. The redemption is the yard, the fruit trees, the shade, the huge vegetable gardens I can grow. As spring arrives and summer nears, I start getting excited about the possibilities and the fresh foods that will come from my efforts.
My work? I love it. I love working in SD Indian Country. I'm in my 3rd year, and I've hardly noticed. I really like the people, the kids, the travel, etc. I've learned so much, and made some good friends. I miss my work when the summer comes, because then I'm faced with trying to live in a super small town with folks that haven't had the broad experiences I have had.
So...now that I've rediscovered my old blog, I will hopefully post from time to time to keep my online diary again. I'll let you all peek into my interesting world, and experience the 2012 summer garden journey. .....Later
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Cante's Urban Croft - an adventure in Community Supported Agriculture
I'll soon be posting more pictures of my maturing garden croft. Its quite amazing how the earth brings forth a variety of plants we can eat, that our ancestor's "tamed", cultivated, and nurtured into the foods that we love and enjoy in 2008. I have the largest variety of vegetables and herbs growing in my garden then ever previously attempted! I'll try to list these here, not in ABC order, but off the top of my head as I visualize my urban garden:
I'm growing: several varieties of lettuce, red cabbage, green cabbage, spinach, cilantro, Kentucky pole beans, yellow pole beans, onions, black cherry tomatoes, pumpkins, zucchini, sugar snap peas, rhubarb, broccoli, radishes...., purple bush beans, garlic, Swiss chard, rainbow Swiss chard, collard greens, basil, spaghetti squash, winter squash varieties, tomatoes and more tomatoes - several varieties, carrots, egg plant, tomatillos, turnip greens, sorrel, ground cherries, green onions, yellow onions, baby bok choy, brussel sprouts, dill, fennel, beets, Yukon gold potatoes, red Pontiac potatoes, blue potatoes, green beans, several varieties of hot peppers, Hungarian sweet peppers, Chinese greens, a couple varieties of heirloom beans (yard long, Hmong, Lakota) for seed, Jerusalem artichokes, cucumbers, parsley, corn, kale, and asparagus. (Radishes and I seem to have "bad karma"....not very successful in getting those things to bulb up).
All of the above is in the "vegetable section" of my garden planted in either the raised beds, a couple kiddie swimming pools, or in containers.
The herb garden has a number of items, also: a couple varieties of basil, chocolate mint, apple mint, spearmint, horehound, marjoram, oregano, fever few, lemon balm, chives, parsley, tarragon, thyme, horse radish, ...and a couple other things that are escaping my memory.
So...there you have it!
Oh, my yard also has raspberries, plums, apples, cherries, grapes, pears....but the harvest of these is quite variable, having dwarf trees. The raspberries will be coming ready soon, however!
The extensive number of items is due to deciding to try my hand at Community Supported Agriculture. My friend, Maria, has indicated I am the ONLY CSA in our county. She also believes I may be the only URBAN CSA in the state of Wisconsin. So, what is a CSA? I may have mentioned it previously, but in brief, it is an agriculture effort (in my case a garden) where folks from the community purchase "shares" in the farm or garden. I describe it as folks who have taken out a "subscription" to my garden. For an up-front 20-week fee, each subscriber gets a weekly package of a variety of the vegetables that have come into season. The "share" provides meal-sized portions, meant to help folks to "eat locally". So.....I'm "piloting" the CSA idea via my backyard URBAN garden, and having a very good time with it.
One of my subscribers told me this week: "We love getting the grocery bag of items! Its like Christmas, full of pleasant surprises!"
Unlike some of the larger, established CSA's that post what a share is likely to hold, what I harvest and put into the "share" each week is a surprise to me, also, as I wander through my garden and harvest samples of items that are ready. Luckily, due to my style of French raised-bed gardening, things are going well as I was unaffected by the heavy rains earlier this month.
My little CSA seems to be getting a bit of attention. Looks like I may be hosting a tour in September, and also getting some other curious inquiries from folks embracing sustainability locally...
I'm growing: several varieties of lettuce, red cabbage, green cabbage, spinach, cilantro, Kentucky pole beans, yellow pole beans, onions, black cherry tomatoes, pumpkins, zucchini, sugar snap peas, rhubarb, broccoli, radishes...., purple bush beans, garlic, Swiss chard, rainbow Swiss chard, collard greens, basil, spaghetti squash, winter squash varieties, tomatoes and more tomatoes - several varieties, carrots, egg plant, tomatillos, turnip greens, sorrel, ground cherries, green onions, yellow onions, baby bok choy, brussel sprouts, dill, fennel, beets, Yukon gold potatoes, red Pontiac potatoes, blue potatoes, green beans, several varieties of hot peppers, Hungarian sweet peppers, Chinese greens, a couple varieties of heirloom beans (yard long, Hmong, Lakota) for seed, Jerusalem artichokes, cucumbers, parsley, corn, kale, and asparagus. (Radishes and I seem to have "bad karma"....not very successful in getting those things to bulb up).
All of the above is in the "vegetable section" of my garden planted in either the raised beds, a couple kiddie swimming pools, or in containers.
The herb garden has a number of items, also: a couple varieties of basil, chocolate mint, apple mint, spearmint, horehound, marjoram, oregano, fever few, lemon balm, chives, parsley, tarragon, thyme, horse radish, ...and a couple other things that are escaping my memory.
So...there you have it!
Oh, my yard also has raspberries, plums, apples, cherries, grapes, pears....but the harvest of these is quite variable, having dwarf trees. The raspberries will be coming ready soon, however!
The extensive number of items is due to deciding to try my hand at Community Supported Agriculture. My friend, Maria, has indicated I am the ONLY CSA in our county. She also believes I may be the only URBAN CSA in the state of Wisconsin. So, what is a CSA? I may have mentioned it previously, but in brief, it is an agriculture effort (in my case a garden) where folks from the community purchase "shares" in the farm or garden. I describe it as folks who have taken out a "subscription" to my garden. For an up-front 20-week fee, each subscriber gets a weekly package of a variety of the vegetables that have come into season. The "share" provides meal-sized portions, meant to help folks to "eat locally". So.....I'm "piloting" the CSA idea via my backyard URBAN garden, and having a very good time with it.
One of my subscribers told me this week: "We love getting the grocery bag of items! Its like Christmas, full of pleasant surprises!"
Unlike some of the larger, established CSA's that post what a share is likely to hold, what I harvest and put into the "share" each week is a surprise to me, also, as I wander through my garden and harvest samples of items that are ready. Luckily, due to my style of French raised-bed gardening, things are going well as I was unaffected by the heavy rains earlier this month.
My little CSA seems to be getting a bit of attention. Looks like I may be hosting a tour in September, and also getting some other curious inquiries from folks embracing sustainability locally...
Thursday, July 03, 2008
2008 Garden - June 30th
Another 7-days, another 7-days bigger! Look at these plants grow!!!! I'm loving it!!
Note, I've removed the straw bales from around the "giant" tomatoes. I've also made use of the space around them.
The beans, broccoli, cabbages, lettuce, spinach beds...doing very well. I'm harvesting lettuce and spinach. The peas are almost shoulder high, the beans now have flower buds. This is like watching a pot come to a boil..."a watched pot never boils".....I am so eager for beans and peas!!!! (careful what I wish for...I have 2 beds of peas, 3 beds of beans!!)
The lettuce/radish container garden is doing very well.
Note, I've removed the straw bales from around the "giant" tomatoes. I've also made use of the space around them.
The beans, broccoli, cabbages, lettuce, spinach beds...doing very well. I'm harvesting lettuce and spinach. The peas are almost shoulder high, the beans now have flower buds. This is like watching a pot come to a boil..."a watched pot never boils".....I am so eager for beans and peas!!!! (careful what I wish for...I have 2 beds of peas, 3 beds of beans!!)
The lettuce/radish container garden is doing very well.
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