Juicy!
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SFG, Day 14 – Sprouts!

Posted by BLin on December 20th, 2009

Aerial view

So I must have done something right so far, because I have some wee little sprouts of various flora.  The lettuce looks nice and healthy, and the chard is very pretty with its ruby red stems.  Very nice.

Lettuce

lettuce

swiss chard

swiss chard

spinach

spinach

On a related note, I decided to start composting, which is another activity that I used to think was impossible for any without a farm to do.  Turns all you really need is a garbage can with a bunch of holes drilled in it.  And you can even get them on the cheap if you’re a NYC resident.

compost1

compost2

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This entry was posted on Sunday, December 20th, 2009 at 8:33 pm and is filed under Some Pulp. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

4 Responses to “SFG, Day 14 – Sprouts!”

  1. December 21st, 2009 at 12:34 pm

    fil says:

    Brian. I am very, very excited to see you doing these things. I am very interested in composting and growing my own food….and have been doing both since I was a child (as a result of my dad making me). Now that I’m older I realize that its an invaluable skill to have. I’m diggin your greens.

    If you are getting really into it, I would suggest a beautiful book for you:

    The Urban Homestead:
    http://www.amazon.com/Urban-Homestead-Self-sufficient-Process-Self-reliance/dp/1934170011

    It’s a great book with more information that most people will ever employ about urban farming and green living in an urban space. Very good stuff. One of the more informative books I own.

    Also, The Earthbox is a beautiful solution to growing a lot of food in a small space. (The book shows you how to make your own for far cheaper)…

    http://www.earthbox.com/index.php

    It looks like a sham but these systems really do work. Make your own from that book if you want to get your hands dirty.

  2. December 21st, 2009 at 3:56 pm

    kyle says:

    AWESOME!

  3. December 23rd, 2009 at 9:48 pm

    brad says:

    Hey BLin, it’s really cool to see some results! I’m looking forward to seeing the salads that come out of that puppy.

    I just finished reading “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle” by Barbara Kingsolver, and I feel like it’s right up the alley of anybody who’s interested in this kind of thing.

    [UNABRIDGED]
    In the book, she describes a year-long personal experiment during which she and her family live (mostly) on locally grown, organic food. It’s cool to see how the seasons affect their meal plans. They actually start a small working farm, although they’re much, much more capable than an average family would be when it comes to farming. It really made me want to raise some chickens.

    I don’t think that she presents her arguments as well as Michael Pollan, and the material isn’t as well researched as “In Defense of Food”. However, her passion for food shines through and makes it a pretty excellent read. She clearly presents some key problems with modern agribusiness. She comes off as a little elitist, but in a way that is friendly and understanding to her opponents.

    I’m trying hard to develop her strength and fortitude, and am having trouble eating foods that are out of season… if you want to eat locally grown tomatoes in December, you need to plan months in advance by freezing or canning tons of them (or live in California). At the very least, I’m 500% more conscious about where my food is coming from, and I check the origin at the supermarket. It will be a gradual change. It’s so strange that we have almost everything available to us all the time, no matter the season. Even stranger that I never considered it a problem before. There’s a complete and total disconnect there. I’m tempted to move to SoCal, so that I can eat fresh tomatoes and citrus year round.

    Also, Kingsolver touches on the greatness of heirloom varieties of animals and vegetables, which is a topic that’s I’m getting increasingly interested in. While disappearing pandas are very important, I don’t feel like enough stress is placed on disappearing turkey breeds. I’ll spare you now, but I could go on for a while. Anyways…

    [ABRIDGED]
    It was a good book.

  4. December 24th, 2009 at 10:27 am

    eric says:

    Well done, sir. I am inspired.

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