Sustainable Abundance?

Bryan Welch is a writer who Rancho Cappuccino blog appears as a regular column in the Mother Earth News. Over the course of the last couple of months, he has turned his attention away from negative touchstones of how to combat global warming or the impending doom promised to us by the scientific community, and instead turned in a more positive direction. He asks the question: what does a sustainable world look like? To further break down that question, he focuses on four sub-questions for a sustainable society (each question below links to Welch's relevant post).

1. Is it fair?
2. Is it repeatable?
3. Is it beautiful?
4. Does it create abundance?

The last question piqued my interest, because I believe that every human advance in culture, science, technology, or the arts has come from a society that enjoys abundance. After all, if your main concern is how to make your last $2 buy enough to feed your family of four today, you are much less likely to care about the Eigenvalues inherent to a rational canonical form in linear algebra!

Give him a read. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the matter. 

Two news items: one hopeful, one less so

Sorry I took a break from posting for a while; I've been a bit out of sorts lately.

The first bit of news I have to share relates to--you guessed it--the community garden. No, i haven't finally secured permission to grow there or anything momentous, but I did speak with the family that lives next door to the property. I have apparently been barking up the right tree, but there's a lower branch I overlooked. The owners are indeed the C----- family, but there are two brothers who control the property, and the one who is directly involved in decisions regarding the land lives in Skokie (much closer than Wisconsin).

The guy who bought the north half of the property to build his home said that he had tried to also buy the southern (still vacant) half to develop another house on. His offer was turned down by Mr. C-----, who is reportedly very difficult to contact (or at least to get answers from). Mr. C------- does not appear to have any imminent plans for the property, but thought (I guess) that the offer wasn't high enough. At any rate, the guy that lives next door promised to ask his lawyer this week to get contact information for Mr. C------- so that I could contact him directly. Additionally, the family on the north half seemed generally agreeable to the idea of a community vegetable garden next door, saying that the land should be used for something.

The second news item relates to my cold frame--which is now useless! Yes, friends, the lower pane of the window lid (a piece of glass about 10" by 48" was shattered in about three nights ago now. There were no rocks or tree branches or other implements of mayhem lying nearby, so I can only conclude that the damage was caused by a Malamute paw (or butt). When it's cold and a 100-lb dog stands on a thin sheet of glass, bad things can happen. Milady does not appear to be hurt (other than by my very suggestion that she is in any way culpable), but 1 group of tender little seedlings inside were not so lucky. Besides having to pick splintered glass out of my lettuce (grr!) the impact had bruised or cut several of the plants. We'll see if they survive. I went to Home Depot to find a replacement panel of acrylic or Lexan (don't want to use glass again, right?) and found that the box store wanted $42 for a piece of that size...much more than I care to spend on a free cold frame. I am pondering what to do...

Community Garden Update #2

Our techno society has become so accustomed to Google as a search tool that the name itself has been pressed into service as a verb. Need to know about weeping willows, or tax code, or indigenous marsupials? Google it! Sometimes I forget what life was like before the Internet and algorithmic search engines. So, there's a strange sense of enjoyment--almost adventure--in researching something the old-fashioned way.

Thursday, after an interpreting job downtown, I strolled over to the County Building and paid a visit to the Cook Count Recorder of Deeds to try to figure out who owns the parcel of vacant land I'm eyeing for our garden. Naturally, I was sent to the basement, down an austere and sterile corridor, to plight my case in the Tract Room. After giving the PIN (Property Identification Number) of the land to the clerk, she checked her computer and confirmed that there was no information on file, so the last transaction was at least 25 years ago, prior to 1985. She pulled out a huge paper-and-ink reference tome, which gave her the numbered location of a plat book.

Cross-referencing that, she was momentarily confused until I explained that it seemed that the land was divided into two properties a few years ago. That matter cleared up, she handed me nothing more than a scrap of paper with a "Document Number" on it. I was then directed down another subterranean corridor to the Microfiche Vault.

The gatekeeper of this tiny chamber (little more than a desk, a chair, and a counter for filling out forms), took the document number and disappeared through a door behind him, returning a few moments later with a single 9" x 9" sheet of microfiche. He then bade me go across the hall into the Microfiche Reading Library. Using a reading terminal (the operation of which took me back to my college days!), I saw that the film contained deed and transfers from a variety of addresses all across the county. Finally locating the property in question, I find that the only deed transaction, a sale of the property, happened in March of 1963! Since I know the demolished farmhouse was on the developed side of the property, that means the land has sat fallow for 47 years!

Sadly, the deed transfer contained very little information: the names of Julius and Mary C------, S------- Realty, and a legal description of the land. Returning the microfiche to the Vault and heading back to the Tract Room, I asked the clerk if she knew any way to contact them. "Not if they're not in my computer," she replied.

NOW I turned to Google. I'm pretty good at searching, and soon I turned up the date of death for Julius (2005) and Mary (2004). I also found some property owned by them in Palatine and Schaumburg, tranferred to a Victor C------, who also went by the anglicized name of Victor S--------...the same name as the realty company on the original deed! Victor is apparently 53 years old, and married a woman named Barbara Sc-----, who seem to have sold their Illinois properties and seem to be living in E-------, Wisconsin, on a fairly nice piece of lakefront property. I have called the phone number, heard Barb S-----'s voice (and heard that they are general contractors, which explains the several properties in Wisconsin sold to banks: developed houses, no doubt). However, I haven't left a message because I don't think I could explain the situation very well through a message. Nor have I attempted to Facebook friend Barbara, though I could try.

(Editor's note: Are you scared by Google yet? You should be. I'm leaving out things like their names and exact location...and how much their property is worth and Julius's and Mary's Social Security Numbers....)

I did also knock on the door of the people who bought the property just adjacent--sometimes the most direct method is the best! They weren't home, however, and I will try again tomorrow. I'll also gives the S----'s another call tomorrow, too. I will get to the bottom of this and get a yes/no on the garden idea.

Calling My Bluff

Sometimes, gardening is easy (after all, we live in the Midwest). I throw some lettuce seeds or carrot seeds into the ground, water them occasionally, and soon have a bumper crop. It's easy to think I'm getting pretty good at this gardening stuff. And then I order something that calls my bluff.

Grow that, garden boy!


Henry Field's Seed Company tells me those sticks are a Sweet Sixteen apple tree on a dwarf rootstock and three red raspberry plants. Sure they are. Don't come to me for your apple pie or raspberry jam this year. Or next year either, I suspect. If I can actually get fruit and berries from these sticks, then I might start to think I'm a capable gardener. 


Or not.

Don't Do It. Yes, that means you. You, too.

Well, it's officially Spring, and the weather here in the Windy City has been hitting the 50s or 60s, which makes urban gardeners (myself included) eye our budding seedlings and start champing at the bit to let the planting begin.

Danger, danger, Will Robinson! (Did I just date myself there?)


Remember, our last frost date is between April 25th and May 1st here in Chicago. We got a frost last night. This past weekend, it snowed. Last year, we got a significant snowfall on April 5th. It ain't over yet, folks. If you moved your tender seedlings outdoors, the worst case scenario is that there will be one or more hard frosts that will kill everything you just planted. The best case scenario is that through a lot of worried studying of weather reports, diligent covering and uncovering the young plants, and a streak of luck, your seedlings might survive the transition from inside your house to the nascent Spring...but their "headstart" in growth will quickly vanish compared to later-planted seedlings. Why? Because even plants that can survive cold weather don't do much--or any--growth when the mercury is low. Your lawn is a good example. It's probably not totally brown and dead, but how many times did you mow it this Winter? Yeah, I thought so.

But I know you. You've read up on your plants and noticed that some plants like spinach and lettuce do okay in cooler temps, so you want to move them outside--possibly to reclaim that window ledge that had been overwhelmed by plants. Go ahead and move them outside if you must, but do it in stages...

It's called "hardening" the seedlings.


Find a shadier place that's sheltered from the wind. If you have a cold frame, then--duh--use that. Leave the plants out only for a few hours a day before bringing them back inside. Gradually, over the course of a week or even two, increase how long the seedlings are outside and how much sunlight they're getting. I like to end this process by placing them for a day or two (still in their containers) on top of the place in the garden that will become their permanent This process will greatly reduce transplant shock, give you healthier plants, and at least make you feel like you're getting something done.

Take the time. You (and your vegetables) will be glad you did.

Poor Man's Drip Irrigation

Ah, the two liter soda bottle: is there any problem it can't solve? This week's repurposing of our time-honored refreshment container is for drip irrigation. Drip irrigation, to review, is simply the art of delivering water slowly, right where your plants need it, with as little possible wasted to evaporation and none given as free nourishment to weeds.  Note: This kind of "system" is better to install before you transplant those delicate little seedlings or sow those tiny rows of seeds.

Take some 2-liter soda bottles and remove the labels. I guess it isn't strictly necessary, but it does make them look neater and keeps my blog from encountering any awkward product placement issues. Next, find a small but sturdy pin. I used a thumbtack. Poke a series of holes all around the bottle. I did about 2 dozen. When you fill it with water, it will look like this:

Now, bury in your planting area. Some people cut off the bottom and plant them upside down, but I find too much garden and soil debris falls into the bottle, and things like mosquitoes use the water for breeding...not good. I bury them right side up, leaving only the top neck of the bottle exposed, or at least no more than a few inches. Then I plant within about four inches of the bottle on all sides.

When you are ready to water, simply open up the cap, fill with water, and re-close. The bottle will slowly drain and the water will seep slowly and deeply into the ground, without worry of evaporation loss.

This technique is great with square-foot gardening, or with containers, which tend to dry out quickly. Give it a try!

Veggie Traders

Here's a fun site that I'd like to do well: Veggie Trader! If you have a surplus of tomatoes or carrots or beans, you might be able to trade for plums or cantaloupes or onions.

Sign up and trade me for stuff!

Community Garden update

So, I started looking into the ownership of the plot of land that I mentioned in the last entry. The City of Chicago does not own it. The Cook County Recorder of Deeds has no information regarding any transaction involving the plot in the electronic files. When I asked what that meant, I was told that it meant there has been no sale or development of the land since at least 1985.

It also means that to find out who does own the land, I have to go downtown to the Recorder's Office and look through the (gasp!) paper-and-ink tract books to research the ownership further.

Undisturbed for at least 25 years is a good sign that they won't be developing this summer, eh?

West Ridge Community Garden?

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The post above is a mug shot of a parcel of land on my block. It was part of a double lot that held a single, dilapidated house that was torn down in 2004. Half of the land was developed into a large brick house, but clearly the parcel was subdivided into two pieces, because the current owner of the split half of the lot hasn't ever developed or landscaped the remaining lot on the corner.

So I'm thinking about starting the process to repurpose the land as a community garden, at least until some developer decides the economy has recovered enough that people might actually want to buy something built there.Who's with me?

The land in question is here, on the corner of Birchwood and California. I know several of the readers of this blog are in striking distance to this area, and I'm hoping a few of us might be interested in joining together to use this vacant land more efficiently. It would be especially good if you live in a condo or apartment and don't have easy access to a suitable backyard for planting. GreenNet is a good website for discussing the process of a community garden, to give you an idea what might be involved.

Please email me at fightplot@gmail.com or comment on this posting is you are interested.

Winter Composting

You can't compost in the winter, right? Well, yes and no. The microbial action and insect work certainly slows down greatly and it may not look like anything is happened. After all, we have freezers in our house exactly because low temperatures nearly stop decomposition in its tracks. However, you can continue building your compost pile through the winter months: food waste topped with carbon (autumn leaves, straw, et al) to be ready for warmer temps.. I just went out to turn my stacked pile and saw a great indicator of Spring: fat earthworms like snakes tunneling through the pile and steam rising from the newly-turned stuff. The center is noticeably warm to the touch and is already starting to break down. 


If you are going to winter compost, make sure that your bin is rodent-resistant. Mice, rats, opossum, skunks, and squirrels will all happily dig in the smorgasbord you leave lying under just a thin layer of leaves. While you don't want to contriubte to the well-being of the wild rodent population, it's even more annoying to have the little critters be stealing the nutrients you're carefully saving and trying to compost.

Another Beautiful Day

I hope you're also taking advantage of this unseasonably beautiful weather! I was supposed to spend the afternoon writing, but it was so nice out that I decided to use a couple of hours to work on the garden instead. I finished up the side rails for the main bed (which I had started working on before the New Year). With the ground unfrozen, I was able to drive the support stakes and finish up the bed:

All of this was constructed from scavenged lumber, meaning the final cost for the project: $0.

It is my considered opinion that if the sight of a raked raised bed, filled with black Midwestern loam, doesn't stir your heart to want to plant something, you have nothing of the gardener in your soul.

I was tempted to transplant my lettuce and spinach seedlings that are currently outdoors under my cold frame, but I really think this weather is a false Spring and we'll get another snow. So, I'm remaining true to my garden plan and exercising restraint. For now.

Soil Testing
Also, I tested my soil today and found that it's ph neutral (around 6.8 - 7.0) and high in potash, but it could use some potassium and nitrogen. My compost pile has been building all summer, but hasn't had a spate of warm enough weather to finish "cooking." I'll probably buy a few bags of compost from the store, especially since I could use a few more inches of good soil to raise the level closer to the top of my bed rails.

There's always something to do in a garden!

The Problem of Irrigation

Proper watering was my most difficult challenge last year. "Proper" here has two meanings: 1) distributing the correct amount of water to the plants' roots, and 2) using appropriate and sustainable water management practices. In order to encourage deep rooting and healthy growth, the soil around the roots needs to be irrigated down at least 6" or more. When watering by hose and sprayer, as I did last season, it takes a long time of standing and aiming the water in one place to achieve more than just a surface watering. Add to that problem is that watering the ground outside the root zone is inefficient and watering the foliage can actually encourage some fungus and disease.

Last year, I also installed a rain barrel to use water more responsibly--yes, we live by a huge sea of fresh water, but the more I can re-use from rain, the more Lake Michigan for everyone--but using the rainwater means filling a two-gallon watering can one trip at a time, and then repeating the inefficiencies mentioned above with even more time involved and through much more manual labor.

So this year, I'm experimenting with installing a gravity-fed Drip Irrigation system. I'll be installing it in late March and early April, while I'm preparing my beds and before I plant anything. If all goes as planned, I'll keep my rain barrel on my wheeled garden cart under the downspout where it gets roof runoff. then, when needed, I'll haul the cart and barrel over to the garden, and with a quick hose connection and a twisted spigot, deliver recycled rainwater directly to the roots of my vegetables and herbs with no wastage and very little effort.

That, at least is the idyllic dream, in which you will allow me my indulgence for the nonce. Stay tuned to this blog for the harsh realities of the challenges which will inevitably arise...

Urban Farm Potential in Skokie!!

Talking Farms is in negotiations with Skokie to build an urban organic farm about FOUR BLOCKS FROM MY HOUSE! They are planning a vegetable garden (obviously), a greenhouse, composting, and a range of educational workshops and classes.

I'm a little excited at the potential. Here's the full article. Anyone else interested in the prospect of volunteering?

My Indoor Garden

People have asked about how I set up my indoor growing space. The area I use is above a utility sink and counter top that sits beside our washing machine in our laundry room. We never really used the sink much at all, but the counter top was too small, so I built a legged platform out of scrap lumber that makes a single flat area just above the height of the faucet. Above that, I rigged a $20 florescent shop light, with two plant grow light tubes. It looks like this:

Because the light needs to be 3'-6" away from the plants, it is necessary to have a light fixture whose height is adjustable. I solved this by rigging the light on a rope-and-pulley system, tied off with cleats. The nice thing is that I can raise or lower each end to make an angle, if I need to accommodate taller plants on one sides and seeds on the other. Here's a more detailed shot;

The gizmo plugged into the power strip is a light timer, which turns the light on for a 14-hour cycle each day. It seems to work pretty well.

Reminder: Plant in succession, not in bulk!
I transplanted 16 lettuce seedlings, then separated out another 12, and I still have a ton left over. I'll probably just harvest them as baby greens, but this is a good reminder to not overplant. It's hard to just pull up seedlings and throw them away, after all--far easier to not plant too many in the first place!

Seriously, if you want some, this whole panful is up for grabs...

Seedlings, anyone?

Hey everyone--

I have a bunch of 2-week old lettuce seedlings (mixed varieties) that I seeded too abundantly. I've already pulled out 16 to grow to maturity (which is way more than we can use in any one planting cycle), and I probably have thirty or more which I'd love to give away to good homes. You can grow them in just about any container, under fluorescent lights or near southern-facing windows.

Any takers?

Making a Cold Frame (part 2)

Another beautiful day out today: weather is 40 above and the sun is shining! Makes a gardener really start to take stock and look forward to Spring. So that the day wouldn't go to waste, the girls and I jumped right out and set to work to finish up the cold frame.

First, I finished scraping the flaking paint off the window that will become the lid. I did pretty well in some areas, going down to the bare wood, and in other places where the paint was bonded with the strength of 50 years, I just did the best I could. If you use reused windows like I am, be careful when it comes to the glazing (the caulking around the window edges. It tends to crumble over time, but it you remove too much of it, you need to reglaze...or the window panes will fall right out! Here is a detail shot of the "finished" window:

After that was done, I spray painted the inside of the frame with a dark navy blue that I had on hand. The dark interior does just what you think it might: helps to trap solar radiation and keep it a bit warmer inside the frame. You can use black, dark blue, dark green--it doesn't matter as long as it's a very dark color.

Next I fitted the window into the frame (I had to trim about 3/8" off one edge of the window for a good fit) and hinged the window to the frame. I re-used some of the window hardware I had taken off the other side and attached them where I needed them to serve as handles for the lid. they work all right, but later on I may well add a regular handle in the center of the lid edge, because it's still a bit cumbersome to raise.

Obviously, my window does not fill up the entire frame width--that's the breaks when you're using scrounged materials--so I cut two edging pieces out of 3/4" ply and screwed them in place. The way my frame was built also left two 1" wide gaps at the back corners, so I covered them with two layers of plastic sheeting, tacked down with staples, since I didn't want such a big gap to let cold air in. So, here's my completely constructed cold frame:

And here it is with the top propped open, to show how it will function:

I will likely paint the outside when it warms up a bit (Eleanor is pushing for pink; that would take some convincing for me to agree), but otherwise, my first cold frame is finished!

Making a Cold Frame (part 1)

After mentioning cold frames in at least two entries, I thought I'd show you how I'm making mine. Remember how I told you about scavenging windows and frames left in local alleys after the owners remodeled? Well, now's when that bit of frugality pays off. If you don't have a window frame handy (or one that is big enough), you can of course make the basic box out of pretty much anything you happen to have.

For my first cold frame, I started with a bay window casing about 40" x 57":


I removed the window hardware from it, including the aluminum molding on the inside (which you can still see in this photo if you look closely). Next, I wanted to cut three pieces of plywood to elevate one side. This helps to angle the frame and help more sunlight reach your plants. I decide on a rake angle from 14" in the back to 6" in the front. I had some scrap plywood from when they remodeled the stage at my church...I'm not above Dumpster diving when it comes to my garden!

The back piece is a simple rectangle, while the sides are trapezoids that slope from the height of the rear rectangle down to the height of the front of the casing:

There are my sides, ready to install. The front of the cold frame will simply be the window casing itself. A few screws and the sides are attached. Here is the frame so far:


Now for the glass top. I selected a large 3-pane window that was the right width, but a few inches shy on the length. I didn't have anything that exactly fit my casing, but the big window I picked should work nicely with the addition of a couple of plywood strips on the sides. Here is the window:

Now, if you are using scrounged windows as I am, they will often have paint that looks something like this:

This is potentially bad, because that peeling paint could well be from the 1950s and be lead-based. You certainly don't want a lead-based paint to flake off over your seedlings or your grow bed, because it could taint your soil. So, I am going to be scraping off the old paint with a paint scraper, and sanding the wood a bit for good measure. Luckily, I have child labor for just such eventualities.


Well, that's part 1 of making a cold frame. Eleanor and I will keep scraping off the old paint, and you keep doing...whatever it is that you do with yourself. Next time, I'll finish it so you can see it in action...

Good luck with yours!

Have You Started?

March is upon us, and it's time to kick your garden plan into gear. I know the snow is still on the ground, but it's nearly 40 during the day (perfect maple sugaring weather) and you should be thinking about your garden.

Seeds. Go ahead and plant some things indoors. If you're starting tomatoes from seed, now is a good time to start. Lettuce, cabbage, cauliflower, and celery can benefit from planting indoors now. Remember to not get too excited and think you need three dozen plants of each variety unless you have a lot of outdoor space to put it in later--and a big family to eat everywhere when it all ripens at the same time! Small, successive planting are best.

Cold frames. If you were thinking about making a cold frame (good for hardening off seeds for transplanting or to protect young seedlings from a late frost), plan time to build them very soon. You'll need them in a couple of short weeks!

Soil Preparation. It's a little too cold to go out and work the soil now, but you can buy the bags of compost, bales of peat moss, or any other soil additives you want to work in. It's also a good time to test your soil to see which minerals might be deficient. Better to know before you lay in all your plants.

Irrigation. Do you have a plan to water your burgeoning garden? If you thought last year as I did about installing a gravity-feed drip irrigation system, now is the time to make that a reality. (I'll keep you updated how mine is progressing).

Good luck, and remember to plan your work and work your plan!