Take two

Hi all,

Well, my well-intentioned efforts to write this blog have gone astray and back again. I've moved twice since we last met. Now I'm located in a more desolate spot of center city. I like it here for that very reason- lots of empty lots and abandoned buildings to explore. Here's some great pictures: http://www.citynoise.org/article/6667

Anyhoo, slowed down on the esoteric bit- I've been revisiting a lot of this information. Currently I'm re-reading all of Castaneda's works. I feel like I "get" it a lot more now. Also, it's a different read knowing that Castaneda DID have contact with the work of G via Bennett. Very interesting. On a kind of out sort of note, I feel as though during the last week I have some sort of physical sense of power. I have begun to consult the YJ as of late, sort of just felt drawn to it. It (she?) has provided me with some very interesting perspectives to meditate on. I feel as though the right time to ask a question is when I feel a certain energy, a round energy sort of coming out through my heart. I had an instance today in which I believe that I may have some effect on the outcome of a most difficult situation. I calmed myself, emptied myself of extraneous thoughts, and just focused on that resonance, and directed it to provide a workable outcome. And things worked out well, when they should have been really messed up. Yeah, sorry, can't go into all the deets here. I guess the lesson is, if you are dealing with something (energy source, etc.?) that is not quantifiable in the terms of the world you live in, all you can do is to be fully present in that experience and observe what is happening. Also calls to mind Don Juan's idea that a warrior chooses to believe certain things because he has. Yeah.

So, no guns this time folks, but we've got a garden once again. After trying to fix up this lot down the street, and continually dealing with new litter and poop every couple of days, I abandoned that plan and decided to go crazy with pots. We have a long narrow alleyway at my new place between our rowhome and the one next door. It has southern exposure, though there's a pretty tall wall in the back. A horsechestnut tree peers over the edge from the east.

Here's the rundown:
5 gal pot #1: Tomato (Rutgers), Genovese basil
#2: Tomato (Better Bush), petunias, something else?
#3: Tomato (Roma paste), Genovese basil
3 gal pot #1: Eggplant (Rosa bianca), marigolds
#2: Zucchini
#3: Jalepeno pepper, yellow long sweet pepper, petunias
#4: Eggplant (Black beauty), marigolds
#5: Melon (early silver line oriental)
Hanging basket #1: 8 strawberry plants, purple petra basil
#2: 6 strawberry plants, lemon balm, scattering of lavender bergamot
seeds
#3: Yellow pear tomato, lavender bergamot, possibly purple basil
(I can't remember)
Rectangular planter: Radish (Champion) and carrots (little finger)
Long planter #1: Snow peas (Oregon giant) and cilantro
#2: Bean (Goldmarie vining)
Trader Joe's bag: Beets (Detroit dark red)
4-pack plastic- Frying peppers (Sweet Nardello)
Hanging planter #1: Thyme, summer savory, rosemary
#2: Nasturtium (Alaska), moonflower

I also have a pot I filled with butterfly-types: verbena, sweet alyssum, and lavender bergamot seeds. I scattered the bergamot seeds among a couple of pots because I couldn't get them to grow at all last year. Worst comes to worst, the other plants will take over. I have a lavender plant hanging out on a shelf-like protrusion up on the wall. I need to repot this, it's looking to grow. I also have 4" pots of sweet alyssum (2) and verbena (1). I have some plants coming in the mail: a pink lavender plant, and some additions to the shade garden I'm trying near that big wall. I got a pink coral bells plant today, and have 2 fuschia plants and a blue toad lily coming. Should be really nice.

Other things I'd like to plant: a mint, so I can make some mint juleps come summertime. That's definitely going in a small pot. Dill for sure, and also probably sage. I'd love to throw dill in a pot along with kohlrabi. Parsley would be good, and could go in the shade garden section, possibly with the mint. Some scented geraniums that I could use in tea would be awesome but I'm not pushing my luck. I would like to grow lettuce as well, but haven't really come up with a good planting solution. I also have a gazillion other seeds, but I guess they're going to have to wait. Turnips could easily go in another TJ's bag, I'd imagine. I didn't want to be a hog with the compost today, but I might have to go for it next time.

So far, of the seeds, the radishes have come up the best. I'm starting to see some basil and eggplant sprouting, as well as thyme, and a bit of the savory. I feel kind of worried about the nasturtium and moonflower seeds- no signs of germination yet, and it's been over a week. I hope the soil wasn't too rich for them. I never have any luck with nasturtiums, but I always keep trying. Of the plants, the strawberries are doing really great. The tomatoes look slow but steady, and the eggplant and squash are really sprouting up. The peppers look to be in good shape so far, I have not always had luck in the past with peppers.

I will try to get some pictures up of the actual garden and also of individual varietals.

Planting the seeds

I planted seeds in my garden today. I mostly used leftover seeds from planting attempts in the last two years. I purchased some additional seeds from the market. Note bene: for anyone who wants to save some money, hit up Market Blooms in the Reading Terminal Market. They sell Seeds of Change organic seeds for less than on the SOC website, and you get them right away.

Here's what I planted:
Lavender Bergamot
Lemon and Tangerine Gem Marigolds
Mixed Nasturtiums
Blue Lake Pole Bean
Scarlet Nantes Carrots
Cilantro
Dill
Summer Savoury
Envy Parsley (a curled dwarf variety)
Purple Top White Globe Turnips

I managed to have screwed up already by planting the carrots right next to the dill. They cross-pollinate. Oops. At least I planted marigolds near the squash, and savoury near the beans.

I still hope to plant some more herbs (thyme, maybe lemon thyme, a fruit-flavored mint such as grapefruit, lavender, chamomile, oregano, lemon balm, maybe epazote). I saw an interesting variety of marjoram, syriaca zaatar that sounds tasty- a flavor combination between thyme, oregano and marjoram. I may try this instead of oregano. The lavender is going to have to go into pots because the soil is so clay-dominated, and the garden doesn't get a whole lot of sunlight. I guess I can chain them to the roof or something. Maybe I could put them up on the top of the entire building. I don't know if it is worth it.

As for vegetables, I will try tomatoes and some smaller peppers like jalepenos. I don't think I want to risk growing these by seed, I guess we can see. My secret ambition is to try growing tomatoes upside down (like here: http://www.seedsofknowledge.com/tomato2.html ). Throw some parsley and basil on top and we're mmm mmm good. I just don't know where I can hang them, and if they'll get enough light. My idea right now is on the fire escape railing, but then how would I reattatch the handle? I still need to figure that one out- maybe I'll just put some cherry tomatoes in hanging baskets up there, and hope no one steals them. I also need to make some sort of trellis for the beans and nasturtium. I have a while before they germinate and training becomes necessary.

There's a gun in my garden

I moved into a new apartment at the end of last summer and was thrilled to find a large raised garden plot outside, which no one was obviously tending to. Overgrown with smartweed, dandelions, grass, nightshade, and a mass of irises in the back, it definitely needed a human friend to look after it. Since this is a place that I'm hoping to live in for some time, I was beyond excited to put some work into improving and maintaining the plot.

When I arrived back in town at the end of August I did some preliminary planting (after getting rid of the weeds) just to see what conditions were like. Purple mustard was prolific. Cilantro grew successfully as well as a mound of zucchini, which sprouted three flowers before the season was out (not bad for a late planting and 59-cent seeds). Carrots and turnips did not perform well, but as I did not put a whole lot of work in yet, I was not concerned.

Today I had off, and decided to work the soil. First in order was a thorough run-through with the old cultivator. Some of the weeds had started to sprout up, and I wanted those root stocks out. As I was going through and getting rid of roots, rocks, and glass, I found....a gun. No, I'm not making that up, there was a gun half-buried in my soil. Who knows how long that was there for. Not wanting to know what the implications of touching it were, I removed it with the hand tool. As I was coming into the house to contact the appropriates, I said out loud to myself, "I can't believe there's a gun in my garden". I then realized how fitting a phrase that is for the average US citizen, or that of many individuals of the world. For there is a gun in the garden of our blissful, ignorant life here, and if we don't do something about it soon, we will be shot in the back.

Anyway, I was thinking of making both a political/esoteric blog for a while, and also something about the garden. I've never really had a blog before, so here's a good go to combine both. Yours here first folks, the only blog that combines greens and Gurdjieff, ponerology and petunias, Fulcanelli and fennel. At least, I hope it will do so.

I'm hoping to snag a camera from somebody to take some photos. In the meantime I will try to draw something on Illustrator.