Bicycles and Plants

I love a lot of things in this world. I can’t even go into them without having a cliche-fest. Unexpected hugs, kisses, and I-Love-Yous- from my preschooler. The smell of my dog’s paws. The genuine uncontrollable laugh of my partner. The sound of a sizzling pan in the stove. Scalding hot showers. The cold side of the pillow. The first few sips of coffee in the morning.  Feeling damp soil on my fingers. But more relevant to this blog: plants … and bicycles. Plants, any type, pretty flowers, or flowerless but colorful and unusual leaves, edibles, indoor plants, decorative, succulents… I have not found a plant I did not like. And bicycles. Riding them, of course, as transportation (I no longer ride the ivys since I left my life of anti-hero) but also looking at them, decorating them, as functional past and present and future, and as symbols of our identity. I love my bicycle, and I love to look at other people ride their bicycles. And more than anything, I love bicycles and plants… together.

Because in Gotham City, having a car is a luxury and in some ways a pain, I do not have one. I leave it to the Bruce Wayne’s of the city. I prefer to power my transportation with plants. (Because I only eat plants. My riding is powered by plants :) It’s better for the environment, better for my health, and better for my heart.

So, I ride to the garden center for supplies, and I carry those supplies home. A bicycle over flowing with plants makes my heart content. Last trip to the garden center I made out with marigolds, strawberries, a couple of pots. I carried a lot of the stuff in my backpack, and the plants sat in my son’s seat.  Next time you have to pick up some supplies. Take your bike! Make your heart sing!

Organic Homemade Pesticide to Stun your Enemies! KABOOM!

I was notorious for using natural chemicals against my enemies. Although Batman is no longer my concern, and my enemies might have shifted, I still employ some of my kick ass organic strategies. Fungus gnats are a big problem for me. They breed fast and get on everything. They look like larger fruit flies and they’re very annoying. They’re common in wet soil with arid air, so they develop during the winter months when the air from the heaters is dry but the soil of is wet.

I started getting a large infestation. So, I turned to the kitchen for my natural organic remedies, my weapons against my fierce enemies.  I am an avid fan of the garlic spray. Garlic in general is amazing, has so many healing properties. When I start feeling a tick in the back of my throat, the first thing I do is make some garlic soup. It really works and I have not had a full blown cold or flu in years.

In the garden, garlic is amazing against bugs. Garlic spray works wonders on aphids, June bugs, leafhoppers, whiteflies, squash bugs, fungus gnats. It is really easy to make, and spraying the soil with it gets rid of the gnats in a heartbeat.

RECIPE:

INGREDIENTS: Garlic head, water, and a drop of liquid soap.

DIRECTIONS:
Press garlic.
Place garlic in pot.
Add drop of liquid soap (soap is so that it sticks to leaves).
Boil water.

You can filter the water in order to remove the garlic bits, or like me, you can leave everything in there, and pour it in a spray bottle.

Voila, enemies defeated. POW!

Record Keeping in Window Gardens

Gardening is a science and art. The art side of farming requires a je ne se quoi, almost a spiritual communion with what you are growing, entering a state of abundant life. I can go on and on about this in all sorts of cheap growing puns. In short, it’s an instinct.  The science side of farming, requires formulas. It is a study of chemicals, in the soil, and has all sorts of variables in water, sunlight, fertilizer, pests and pesticides (all organic, of course ;) . I have not always kept detailed records, but in order to farm in tight spaces, I find it necessary.

I start the seeds in greenhouse cells. 12cells by 6 cells. In order to keep track of so many cells, I simply grid it, rows 1-12 and columns A through F. I write it down in a notebook. Although I have experience with excel sheets and databases, I find that I never actually have time to transfer the information into the computer, and while I’m gardening and have my fingers filled with soil is not the time to type into my computer.

One of the most pressing and important things of farming in window spaces is the lack of adequate sunlight for the plants. Sun becomes the most precious commodity. It stops being a question of time, or bugs, but of sun. It becomes all about sun. The solution is sun rotation.

In one window I have a spinner that I spin weekly. Although they all receive light, some receive more full sun than others.

In the kitchen, I have the shelves and the window sill and they also rotate weekly. This becomes the most important part of the record keeping for me. Making sure that they all receive their dose of full sun.

The initial chart is something I return to often, a reference to know the type of plant it is. I plant different varieties of tomatoes and peppers and can’t always differentiate between varieties. I find myself going back to the chart to find what 1F is. A sort of game of BINGO!

I keep other data as well, such as dates of sowing and sprouting, and the anecdotal notes of diseases and their treatment. In tiny spaces with a limited resource, it becomes crucial to track it and make sure it is being doled out to each plant in doses. Sometimes the science blurs into the art, and I can tell by looking at a plant that it needs more sun, and I might make a slight alteration, and exchange it for another before its due.

Figure out what the golden resource is for you, and make a plan to track it. It never hurts to keep records. The more detailed the better, in easy to find and reference charts, or lists. It might not be the way to capture the beautiful side of gardening, but it sure lets you grow leaps and bounds in the practice!

Sprouting into a New Beginning

 My name is Mrs. Poison Ivy. I have long lost my poisonous lip stick, and I have fallen out of touch with the in-crowd, you know, that hottie Batman, and that mischievous Harley Quinn. I no longer follow that scene;, I simply outgrew it. Do I miss it? Sometimes. But my life is so much fuller now, and I really do love taking care of my family, and being a force in seeing them thrive.

I have settled down, and it feels great. I work from home and run this organic vegan household, but what I would give for a patch of soil! Instead, I have three windows that receive full sun, and three windows that received full indirect light. Gotham City is still not known for its patches of raw land. But three windows is all I need, and this is how I farm.With organic soil, and lots of love.  

This blog will be a journal, but also a how to, for other cement stuck gardeners, without access to anything but windows, and yet the desire to grow food. It is possible. So many luscious gardening magazines tells us it’s not. You need land. You need the outside. You need expensive gadgets, and fancy pots, you need, you need, you need… buy, buy, buy… No you do not. You do not need pesticides, or genetically modified seeds. You need a patch of sun, coming in through a window. You need to love the plants. You need to be creative. You need to feel the urge for life to come in through the window and grow in your sill. I no longer battle the evil forces of Batman in the public realm, but step into my house and know that the political is personal, and by growing organic food for my family, I am being revolutionary. Plus it’s delicious!

Next week, I will cover how to keep track of your garden. I will divulge some of my notations. Details are everything in a tight space. Keeping track of the garden is crucial in an organic window farm. I will show you a fail proof method for charting out your needs!