Is It Too Late to Plant Pumpkins?

Posted on August 24, 2011 by Helen Jupiter

I love Halloween, not least for the fun of carving jack o’ lanterns. Ideally I would have planted a pumpkin patch way back at the beginning of summer, but I kept putting it off. Why? Because, as a first-time gardener, I was unsure of where to plant my pumpkin seeds. I knew that pumpkins needed:

Warmth
Sun
Space

There’s a corner in my backyard that’s still empty and waiting to be planted. It would have provided plenty of room for the pumpkins to sprawl, but it doesn’t get a lot of sun.

There’s a raised bed in my front yard that’s empty, but I wasn’t sure it would provide the pumpkins with enough room.

So, despite some concerns about ‘what the neighbors will think’, I decided to buy a pumpkin seedling from the grower at the Culver City Farmers Market, and plant it on our tree lawn. Voila: A head start, full sun and plenty of space. Continue reading →

Gardening as Resistance: Why I Joined SLOLA

Posted on August 23, 2011 by Helen Jupiter

Part of why I decided to plant a kitchen garden was to empower myself. It has become all too clear that the corporations and government entities responsible for our food supply do not have our best interests at heart (not to mention the best interests of future generations). In addition to supporting local, sustainable farmers, I thought it made sense to educate myself about growing some of my own food. I started slowly – first just with lettuce seedlings, then a few other crops. For the past ten months, I’ve purchased almost all of my seedlings from a grower at the Culver City Farmers Market (my tomato seedlings came from Tomatomania). Lettuce, chard, broccoli, cauliflower, cucumbers, summer squash, tomatoes, eggplant, basil, mint, sage, parsley, cilantro, and dill: I’ve grown it all, some with great success, and some with little. I’ve learned enough to know that I have a lot more to learn, and the experience has been wonderful, though largely solitary.

Recently I’ve found myself thinking about seeds and community. As enjoyable as it is to grow a small kitchen garden in my front yard, I never intended or expected to stop there. I know that to become a better gardener, I have to learn about seeds: how to grow food from them, and how to save them. I also know that I will learn more and faster if I connect with other growers, both beginners like myself and longtime masters.

With all this in mind, last week I joined the Seed Library of Los Angeles (SLOLA), and this past weekend I attended my first SLOLA meeting. Continue reading →

Dirt! The Movie

Posted on August 22, 2011 by Helen Jupiter

I had a seedy, dirty weekend: On Saturday I attended my first SLOLA meeting (more on that in a separate post), and last night, I watched a documentary called Dirt! The Movie. Please rent this movie. Netflix offers it on both DVD and streaming. If you don’t have a Netflix account and your local video rental shop doesn’t have it, you can buy the DVD for $19.95 on the official site.

Inspired by William Bryant Logan‘s acclaimed book “Dirt! The Ecstatic Skin of the Earth”, Dirt! The Movie offers a fascinating look into the history and current state of the living organic matter that we call dirt. The film unearths our cosmic connection to soil and explores how diverse groups of people are uniting to save the natural resource. Dirt! exposes the serious environmental and social problems that occur when we mistreat our soil – “Drought, climate change, even war are all directly related to the way we are treating dirt” – but it also does an excellent job of offering solutions for how to heal our planet. The list of farmers, scientists, and activists who participated in this documentary is exceptional, and though the issues raised are critical, the movie will leave you feeling empowered to effect positive change.

Seriously – I just signed up to volunteer with Tree People (Andy Lipkis, founder of Tree People, is featured prominently in Dirt!).

So please, rent this movie. Buy the DVD. Invite some friends over to screen it, and have a discussion afterward. Then let me know what happens!

A Sunny Spot for Seedy People: My First Sunflower Is Blooming!

Posted on August 15, 2011 by Helen Jupiter

Eighty four days ago, I planted three Mammoth Grey Stripe Sunflower seeds in my front yarden. Having never grown anything from seed before, I was nervous. Back in January, I tried and failed at sowing carrots from seed, which set me up for serious sunflower seed helicopter-parenting. About a week after planting my sunflower seeds I was overcome with anxious curiosity, so I dug one up and discovered that it had germinated! Then I felt enormously guilty about having disturbed its germination process, and covered it back up. That was the end of that. The poor little sprout never emerged from the soil.

Only one of the three sunflower seeds I planted back in May has grown into a flower, but leapin’ lizards: What a flower it is!

It’s relatively mind-blowing that a flower this big (and still getting much, much bigger) grew from a little seed. I had to hold my camera way up over my head to get that shot. Here’s a better perspective:

My lone sunflower just began unfurling its bright petals over the weekend. I’m not the type to describe things as magical or miraculous, but I have to admit that I’m awestruck. The more that I think about seeds and just how amazing they are, the more spellbound and fascinated I become.

Hatching An Eggplant

Posted on August 10, 2011 by Helen Jupiter

It is a thing of beauty, is it not? My very first organic, homegrown eggplant. Behold the shape, the shine, the wonderful deep purple color. But…how did it get here? One thing I’ve realized through the experience of tending my first garden is that I have little to no clue what the plants my favorite vegetables grow on actually look like. I’m not alone. Neighbors and passersby routinely ask me what the plants in my garden are. Most of said plants are common varieties of common foods: Lettuces, zucchini, broccoli, and the like.

Getting acquainted with not only the whole food but the whole plant has been an eye-opening, fun, beautiful, and sometimes amazing experience. From the incredible size that a cucumber or tomato vine can grow to, to the beautiful blossoms that herald zucchini and the pretty flowers that transform into peppers, there’s a lot more to a vegetable than what you see in the produce section of the supermarket.

Here are a few photos of the growth process of an eggplant, happening now in my front yarden. I hope you find it as lovely and fascinating as I do. Continue reading →

Beneficial Bugs: Wasps VS Caterpillars

Posted on August 9, 2011 by Helen Jupiter

If you had asked me a few months ago whether I’d rather have wasps or caterpillars in my vegetable garden, I probably would have answered, “Caterpillars, obviously! They’re so cute, and they turn into butterflies.”

That answer would have inspired a fair amount of eye-rolling (and possibly even a spray of hose water in the face) from the experienced gardeners I know. Caterpillars, it turns out, are definitely not polite guests at a garden party – especially when it’s a tomato garden party. Having learned this the hard way, I can now confidently report that caterpillars such as the Tomato Horn Worm will unabashedly eat your tomatoes and then poop all over your garden.

Exhibit A: Caterpillar nibbles. Continue reading →

Front Yardening: urban organic vegetable gardening in the front yard

Monthly Archives: August 2011