Home and garden

The post below was for February 5, 2009. I’m going through my unpublished drafts and deleting several and publishing others. I’m only publishing this because I have fond memories of my small garden as I now deal with the challenges of a suburban garden.

Arugula in Front Yard Garden. 2009

It’s been horribly cold so the only thing I’ve been doing with my yard is look at it. I may occasionally pick up the trash that blows in.

I’m not as excited as I was last year about the yard. I am planning to do something new. The current yard is suffering from too much traffic, too little space. I park the bike on one end of the yard, causing me to trample on some things that don’t like being trampled on, arugula. So amazingly the most of the arugula that has managed to survive winter is the stuff in my way, so it is looking ratty and unappetizing. Late in the season I planted some plants that I should probably move. They too are in the way of things I need to get to. So the trick will be trying to get the front yard and the bike to live in harmony, without anything I may want to eat underfoot. Or undertire.

The untrampled arugula is small and for a while was getting eaten by some odd beetle looking bug. So its leaves are a bit ugly too.

I’m going to have to use more pots for the front yard. Why? Cats. The furry little bastards have been occasionally using the yard as a toilet. Also the company I use to control rodents have thrown in the added service of spraying. I was told the spray is for the house surface (stairs and doorways) and the ground next to the house. I could cancel the service and risk a return of mice or put my garden high above the spray and in pots.

Memory Lane: Richardson Place and Jim’s Garden

Before Common there was a long battle between the residents of Richardson Place and a developer named Mondie. And before Mondie, there was a garden where part of the current shared apartments sit.

View from alley near Richardson looking towards 4th St NW. Taken December 14, 2005.

photo of Richardson Place House in 2004The garden belonged to Jim Norris who owned the house next to it. It was a cute and sweet little garden perfect for a bachelor. The houses on Richardson back then were on the very small side. I remember one Christmas, Jim had his whole living room packed with many creches/nativity scenes. He managed to make the best of the small space. Jim owned it from 2001-2018.

Rando Alley not in Shaw- More of O’Brien Court NW/ Stevens School Garden

I’m just throwing this out there. It was in a collection of things I had from the National Archives, Still Picture Division. Why I have these, I don’t know.

I previously posted about O’Brien Ct. Here is another page about O’Brien Ct but regarding the Stevens School Garden Project. Look kids, school gardens are nothing new. The Stevens School was a school for Black children at the time, which was 1936. Now, it is a Pre-K school.

In praise of the Envirocycle Composter-Update

UPDATE- The universe has semi-answered my prayers. I must thank friend and sometimes reader of the blog Shawn for giving me his unused rotating composter. It sits next to the composter I bought. It’s sturdy and I look forward to turning it into a turny worm paradise.

_______original post below________

Sometimes you never know what you had until it is long gone and you can never get it back. That is how I feel about my-no-longer-mine Envirocycle composter.

Taking another break from the Black Home Owners of Truxton Circle, again. Face it, it’s long and tedious. Also rewarding. Anyway..

When I first moved to Truxton Circle, a co-worker (now department head) gave me his composter. He and his partner had no use for it. They lived a couple of miles where I live now in the Maryland suburbs. He was nice enough to throw it in the back of his truck and deliver it to my Truxton Circle home.

I dumped my old plants in it. I dumped some cherry tomatoes from a house warming party in it. That resulted in having accidental cherry tomatoes growing in the front yard. I put shredded paper from shredded documents in it.

I took earthworms found on the concrete patio in it. At another point I bought some earthworms in the mail and put them in. This resulted in the great worm escape on an unusually hot day where worms were oozing out of the slits en masse. It was a sight.

I used the compost tea and the compost for my container garden. I also donated compost for one of the sidewalk trees Brian and crew placed on 4th St. It was a lovely thing to have.

Did it stink? On occasion, when I failed to balance the ‘greens’ and the ‘browns’. The greens were the romaine lettuce butts, egg shells, whole avocados gone bad, remaining parts of avocados gone good, and all the raw veggies that were composting in the refrigerator. I’ll also include tea bags, loose tea, and lots of coffee grounds from nearby coffee shops, when the neighborhood starting having coffee shops.

The browns were the shredded papers, dryer lint, and maybe the odd batch of leaves.

I took it for granted.

When we decided to sell our Truxton Circle home I had to find a new home for the composter. By this time, 19 years had passed and around year 17-18 some urban wildlife tore a hole in the side.

I suspect it was the big bag of fruit I threw in there.

I put the composter on Freecycle, with pics of the hole, and a fellow with a pick up truck picked it up and took it away.

Fast forward 1 year.

I was in my new suburban home and getting tired of putting food scraps down the garbage disposal drain or in the trash. The place where we moved has a composting program, however, I wanted to get back into gardening, and I want my own compost, where I know what’s in the compost.

So I went looking for a new Envirocycle and holy heck those suckers are $500! I could buy similar tumbling composters and I really don’t need the feature that made it great for my urban back patio, the system that captured the compost tea and kept it from staining the concrete.  But I really like the door for the composter. I like that all I had to do was turn the composter, no lever or having (but I did) to go in and turn the compost myself.

I don’t really like the new style of Envirocycle. The old model had several little slits, and this new one just has a vent at the top. I guess that would prevent the hole problem I experienced.

Since I’m not paying $500, I bought a $80 stationary composter. It’s eh. I’m just happy I’m not throwing perfectly good scraps away. I might break down and buy a tumbler. I just don’t see one that I like for a price that makes sense to me.

I miss my old Envirocycle. I guess you really can’t appreciate what you had until it is gone.

 

In praise of the Envirocycle Composter

Sometimes you never know what you had until it is long gone and you can never get it back. That is how I feel about my-no-longer-mine Envirocycle composter.

Taking another break from the Black Home Owners of Truxton Circle, again. Face it, it’s long and tedious. Also rewarding. Anyway..

When I first moved to Truxton Circle, a co-worker (now department head) gave me his composter. He and his partner had no use for it. They lived a couple of miles where I live now in the Maryland suburbs. He was nice enough to throw it in the back of his truck and deliver it to my Truxton Circle home.

I dumped my old plants in it. I dumped some cherry tomatoes from a house warming party in it. That resulted in having accidental cherry tomatoes growing in the front yard. I put shredded paper from shredded documents in it.

I took earthworms found on the concrete patio in it. At another point I bought some earthworms in the mail and put them in. This resulted in the great worm escape on an unusually hot day where worms were oozing out of the slits en masse. It was a sight.

I used the compost tea and the compost for my container garden. I also donated compost for one of the sidewalk trees Brian and crew placed on 4th St. It was a lovely thing to have.

Did it stink? On occasion, when I failed to balance the ‘greens’ and the ‘browns’. The greens were the romaine lettuce butts, egg shells, whole avocados gone bad, remaining parts of avocados gone good, and all the raw veggies that were composting in the refrigerator. I’ll also include tea bags, loose tea, and lots of coffee grounds from nearby coffee shops, when the neighborhood starting having coffee shops.

The browns were the shredded papers, dryer lint, and maybe the odd batch of leaves.

I took it for granted.

When we decided to sell our Truxton Circle home I had to find a new home for the composter. By this time, 19 years had passed and around year 17-18 some urban wildlife tore a hole in the side.

I suspect it was the big bag of fruit I threw in there.

I put the composter on Freecycle, with pics of the hole, and a fellow with a pick up truck picked it up and took it away.

Fast forward 1 year.

I was in my new suburban home and getting tired of putting food scraps down the garbage disposal drain or in the trash. The place where we moved has a composting program, however, I wanted to get back into gardening, and I want my own compost, where I know what’s in the compost.

So I went looking for a new Envirocycle and holy heck those suckers are $500! I could buy similar tumbling composters and I really don’t need the feature that made it great for my urban back patio, the system that captured the compost tea and kept it from staining the concrete.  But I really like the door for the composter. I like that all I had to do was turn the composter, no lever or having (but I did) to go in and turn the compost myself.

I don’t really like the new style of Envirocycle. The old model had several little slits, and this new one just has a vent at the top. I guess that would prevent the hole problem I experienced.

Since I’m not paying $500, I bought a $80 stationary composter. It’s eh. I’m just happy I’m not throwing perfectly good scraps away. I might break down and buy a tumbler. I just don’t see one that I like for a price that makes sense to me.

I miss my old Envirocycle. I guess you really can’t appreciate what you had until it is gone.

 

Fears about front yard gardening

You can learn a lot from the kinds of questions people ask. As some of you know I have an edible front yard. It has tomatoes (that are dying), herbs, a few edible flowers, arugula (lots and lots of arugula), Swiss chard, purslane and beets. One of the questions I get often is “Aren’t you worried someone’s going to steal your tomatoes/ herbs/ whatever?” No. The only thieves I worry about are furry, bushy tailed and have a recipe for them in the Joy of Cooking, I’m talking about the g*d2#mned squirrels. The two legged thieves only go for the identifiable stuff and most people only know parsley when it’s garnishing their plate or in the supermarket labeled “PARSLEY”.  Also their only value is as an edible and people can be really funny about that wondering if that’s really a tomato or is it a large poisonous red berry that just looks like a tomato? So no, I don’t have a problem with people stealing my edibles.

The other frequent question is about rats. Before and after the garden I’ve never had a problem with rats. Field mice, lots of problems, but not rats. The field mice are more interested in getting into my kitchen for warmth in the winter. The only thing interested in my lettuces are slugs and bugs. The tomatoes tend to be up high, and the only rodent bothering them are bushy tailed.

Right now my biggest problems in the garden appear to be blight, crowding and slugs.

This page contains a single entry by Mari published on July 20, 2010 8:43 AM.

Flower Power Nominees and Winners

Note- I’m leaving off backyards and the winners are in bold. If you have a chance walk by these properties when you’re out walking the dog or the baby or both.

Large yards
Though most yardspace in the northern half of Truxton is small, there are corner lots and the large front yards of New Jersey Avenue.
401 R St
1705 New Jersey Ave
1725 New Jersey Ave

Medium Yards
Whats the difference between medium and small? One looks a tad bigger. Also in this category are two neighbors who joined their yard to create something lovely.
314 P St
1612 3rd St
1419/1421 3rd St
1618 4th St
1533 3rd St (write-in)

Small Yards
112 Q St (previous year’s winner)
1532 1st St
1542 1st St

Postage Stamp Yards
These are yards so tiny there are area rugs bigger than the amount of dirt that sits outside the door. Note they are all on Bates.
64 Bates
72 Bates
74 Bates

94 Bates

Blocks
100 block of P St
1500 Block of 1st
1500 Block of 3rd

There were plenty of fine yards not nominated so these are the best of the ‘hood. Please take a look at them and steal some ideas.

This page contains a single entry by Mari published on July 13, 2010 8:12 AM.

Lazy Gardener harvest

This year, for the front yard, all I did was move some pots around, and plant some tomato plants that had outgrown their seedling pots. What’s in the ground is pretty much the result of what I’ve done years before. I amended and took care of the soil, so the arugula grows like crazy. Which means I got to keep cutting it back and giving it away. Lucky me I have a few neighbors who love the peppery lettuce. I can take it in small doses and really wish something that I liked a bit better would grow as quickly and easily instead. I’ve probably gotten a dozen bags of arugula.
I’ve gotten a few tomatoes this month. The evil squirrels so far haven’t feigned any interest in my tomatoes. Not like last year when it was a battle between me and them. There are still a few more months to go though.
Because I had some work done on my front walkway, I moved my productive lavender plant, which is now a dying lavender plant. I would pick the flowers when they were just about ready, dry them in the window sill and store them for future use. I collected enough to throw a few tablespoons here and there into some dishes. I hope the plant comes back as I am really enjoying lavender-vanilla ice cream.
Mint is still going strong. It is a perennial so I don’t have to fuss with it, as is the sage and the thyme. Some of the Swiss Chard from last year didn’t seem to bolt like the rest of the chard and are happily crowding out the arugula. 
Pondering asking to do some gardening in someone else’s yard I realize how lazy I can be now, because of hard work I put into my yard, back when I had the energy. Untended yards have hard, clayish soil. It takes a while and a fair investment in compost, dirt, mulch and serious weed pulling to get it so that arugula comes back without much help, or thought.
The backyard, since it is all container gardening does require some effort on my part. This year I tried my hand at potatoes and ate my reward. Three small fingerling-ish potatoes. This after digging my naked arm into a pot and embedding dirt deep into my nails. They were tasty. However there were too few of them. I would have turned the whole pot over looking for them but, I had some bean plants on top and didn’t want to lose them.

Flower Power 2010- Call for volunteers

Help!
The Bates Area Civic Association will be having another Flower Power Walk this year and well people are needed. Hopefully the walk will take place on a Saturday in late June, so what will be needed are people to volunteer to give tours. Before that can occur volunteers will be needed to get the word out, help with signage (producing) and volunteering to host a sign. If this interests you contact Flower Power at bacaflowerpower at gmail period com or me.
Related to neighborhood beautification, BACA is planning on having a big spruce up on May 1st. The last clean up I was able to make a dent in the trash in my alley. I picked up a big yellow bag at the start location, went back to my street, then hit the alley, and dropped it off at one of the trash drop off points.
But once again, I really need help with the Flower Power walk so please, if you can volunteer for one or more things, drop a line.

Lasty, I’m going to be migrating this blog over to another URL this week. There might be several “This blog has moved” posts. Ignore them until I post something at length stating the new URL (hopefully will be blog.inshaw.com) before updating your RSS feed.

I really need to get my garden in gear


Patio tomato
Originally uploaded by In Shaw

Last year I was chomping at the bit for Spring to come so I could start planting seeds and planning my garden. This year with various things going on, such as the short notice roommate, bf, and some stuff I’ll just shove under ‘financial’ the desire is not at the same level. Also I mentioned to friends and neighbors that I’m not going to plant as many tomatoes as I did last year. At the end of the season I had a several tomatoes that rotted on the vine simply because I didn’t know they were there. I was concentrating too much on the tomatoes the squirrels ran off with.
I know I’m going to do arugula, alpine strawberries, tarragon, sage, thyme, onions, and cilantro. Mainly because those items have either re-sprouted or reseeded themselves without any help from me. And I still have some leftover seed from last year and it seems tomato seed lasts a year or more. I’ll have to see if the same can be said about cucumber and hot pepper. I collected seed from my beets and will give those a go. So the only new seed I may buy is basil and parsley.
I also decided on a different use for the garden, as a supplement rather than a main source. I love puttering in my garden but last year I overdid it. Also I want to support the local farms and buy their produce, so that is another reason to cut back. Yet I do love having food growing in the back yard so I can quickly grab a little thyme for this or a few beans for that. I can’t wait till the BFM opens up again, anyone heard anything about it?
Still, I need to get rid of some pots, take some cuttings from the bay laurel and sell off the main tree, and start some seedlings.