The Urban Farmer’s Almanac

Dispatches from Paradise Volume 1

We’re spending a couple weeks in Hawaii doing a housing exchange (not to brag). Word is that it’s still pouring in Seattle, so we’re not missing much, and I’m not worried about the garden burning up. Naturally, my first question upon arriving here in Maui and seeing the red clay soil was, “I wonder how well you can compost here.” It seemed like the natural solution to the hard, arid soil, but that’s just me, I suppose.

We are staying in a house with a big lot (over an acre, I’d guess.) And a view of the ocean (not to brag.) There isn’t much in they way of gardens here (besides a pot of basil on the deck) but it has two things going for it in the farm department:

1. Fruit trees - Tangerine, banana and papaya trees on the premises. We’ve had a few tangerines so far, and there are some ripe papayas that apparently we can pick with a bamboo trimmer. (They’re pretty far up in the tree).

2. Livestock - There is a flock of 10 or 12 chickens, from a couple months old to laying hens. Plus, the big bonus, 2 sheep that look like goats. They are a little bit too friendly at times (see the photo below; they think they own the table on the deck.) Our morning routine consists of feeding the sheep (Robbie is kind of getting the hang of it), letting the chickens out to forage, and refreshing their water.

We started a bunch of seeds way back in January, getting things going on the kitchen counter, and then moving them to the back porch. They stalled out on the back porch, so we moved them to the portable greenhouse hoping that some warmth would perk things up. You’ll see a photo from 3 weeks ago, and bunch from today, and you can indeed see that despite the miserable weather here in Seattle, the plants are thriving in there. Plus, the lettuce that Hannah and I planted awhile back is ready to start eating… starting with a salad or three from thinning the rows. (Look at how small the lettuce is in the background of the first picture).

A bunch of the plants are in pots made from newspaper (thanks ReadyMade magazine) and ready for the seedling exchange I’m going to in a few weeks. We have tons of tomatoes, peppers, and squash, along with a couple different kinds of cucumbers and some swiss chard; way more than we have room for.

{ 2 posts today because I always get excited when I see we’re being linked from somewhere… thanks to Trudy’s friend Emily for finding this one from Apartment Therapy’s Re-Nest. Onward and upward! }

It’s still technically winter, but the cherry blossoms have blossomed and it feels like an early spring. We have started some seeds inside, and some of the plants that were dormant are emerging from colder months. In order, below are photos of Swiss Chard and Pea starts inside, garlic coming up (planted in late December), rhubarb, and the new Egyptian Walking Onions.

Our kale has proven to be the most resilant crop we planted this year.   Our recent freeze finished off the last of the other vegetables still in the ground, which only consisted of lettuce, chard and one, rather ugly artichoke.  The lettuce had long ago stopped being of use to us since it was quite bitter, but neither Dan nor I had bothered to pull it up so it remained in the garden surrounded by the burlap which covered the rest of the bed.  With the frost it became slimy and unsightly enough to motivate Dan to pull it out for the chickens.  The kale wilted for a day or two and popped right back to life after warmer temperatures returned.  We’re now in the midst of a stand off about what to do next.  Dan thinks we should move it to the backyard in the hoop house to give it a warmer, frost free environment.  I say leave well enough alone.  We’ll see who wins this one.  In the meantime we’re enjoying what little bounty we can from our garden and using up the fruits of my canning labor over the summer.

Recently its been sunny enough to get back to drying my laundry on the line.  I enjoy laundry much better when I can use it as an excuse to hang out in the sun for awhile so its been a welcome change.  There is a crispiness to line dried clothes that is admittedly uncomfortable, but it makes me feel legit, like I really live on a farm. Hopefully we will get to enjoy our crispy clothes from now until fall, but in Seattle that may be a long shot.

BTW - Some of you may not have picked up the John Denver reference in the title.  If not, trust me its hilarious.