Introduction, and Beginner Request

[infrarad]

Thank you for the invitation.

My situation is as follows: I have spent my adult life working in
education and mathematics. I have spent my entire life in cities, and
have been very disconnected from my food supply.

When I learned to love to cook, I started to become a little
knowledgeable about how food worked chemically. I became increasingly
interested in cooking from whole ingredients, rather than relying on
packaged items. I preferred local produce when it was obviously
labeled as such, but gasoline was still relatively cheap then ($4/gal
or so) and I liked mangos, so, there you were.

That was 10 years ago. I am ashamed to say that a lot of my
professorial paycheck has been supporting green-market produce that
the guy insists "fell off a truck." That has to stop. But I don't know
where to begin. Heck, I even missed the season for starting an herb
garden.

There must be others like me: People who love food, and who love
cities, and who want to become more involved in the food web, but who
need simple, clear missions on exactly what next actions they can
take. Therefore, I propose that this struct (or a spin-off struct)
take that as a major project.

[Audrey Eschright]

There's a wonderful Wendell Berry essay titled "The Pleasures of Eating" that concludes with recommendations for city dwellers: http://edibleportland.com/content/2008/09/04/the-pleasures-of-eating/

He suggests:

1. Participate in food production to the extent that you can.

2. Prepare your own food.

3. Learn the origins of the food you buy, and buy the food that is produced closest to your home.

4. Whenever possible, deal directly with a local farmer, gardener, or orchardist.

5. Learn, in self-defense, as much as you can of the economy and technology of industrial food production.

6. Learn what is involved in the best farming and gardening.

7. Learn as much as you can, by direct observation and experience if possible, of the life histories of the food species.

Perhaps a good first mission would be to cook and eat a meal made from food grown entirely within 100 miles of your home? We could start a discussion thread on the site for people to describe what they cooked and share recipes. What do you think? For some people this may be a small meal, but even that could be quite educational.

--

Audrey Eschright

lifeofaudrey.com

[Laura Hall]

I saw a great article from 2008 about planting a "Recession Garden" -
http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2008/10/13/pinched_almond/index.html

I was just about to mention that someone had posted some really
awesome examples of local-eating to the Booklist thread on the
Facebook group...but then I realized it was Audrey! :)

~Laura

[Audrey Eschright]

On Oct 14, 2008, at 12:05 PM, Laura Hall wrote:

> I saw a great article from 2008 about planting a "Recession Garden" -
> http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2008/10/13/pinched_almond/index.html
>

Thanks for the link. It's fun seeing how people get into food gardening.

> I was just about to mention that someone had posted some really
> awesome examples of local-eating to the Booklist thread on the
> Facebook group...but then I realized it was Audrey! :)

I admit, I've been obsessed with this topic for some time. :)

Another book I didn't think to mention in that discussion is "How to
Cook a Wolf", by MFK Fisher. I first read it in college when I was
living off of bulk oatmeal, and continue to be inspired by her essays
on eating and enjoying food despite shortages.

Audrey

[infrarad]

I just borrowed the Urban Homestead, and I'm pretty excited about it.
I'm hoping to get some ideas on what can be done in an apartment,
because they claim there's a nontrivial amount of food production I
can do despite having no yard.

[Laura Hall]

Ditto here. I have an apartment balcony ready to receive plants. I
know there are superstructures for rooftop and urban gardening, but
are there any specific tips, goals and missions for apartment
dwellers?

~Laura

[Audrey Eschright]

I had a successful container vegetable garden on a deck when I lived
in Seattle. The big thing to watch out for is that you'll have to
water twice a day in hot weather, to make up for the low amount of
soil (more soil means more moisture for plants to draw on, and
increases their water-hardiness). When you read "intensive gardening"
think "higher-maintenance". :) You'll also have to work harder to
keep the soil nutrient levels up. Steve Solomon's books have more
than you wanted to know about soil science and vegetable gardening.

There are some nifty compact vegetable varieties now that can be
planted more densely. I grew potatoes, peas, zucchini, spinach,
lettuce, strawberries, broccoli, and some herbs in planters.
Everything but the broccoli did pretty well.

Potatoes do well in a bucket with holes drilled for drainage. You add
dirt as the plant grows so it forms potatoes all the way up the
plant. There are other tricks for tomatoes. See directions on
building a hanging tomato planter here: http://www.curbly.com/DIY-
Maven/posts/1620-How-To-Make-An-Upside-Down-Tomato-Planter

Citrus also does well in pots: http://www.fourwindsgrowers.com/
growing/containers.html

Here's a picture of about half of my deck setup: http://flickr.com/
photos/ame/2660051/

I noticed a condo association struct that might be of interest:
http://www.superstructgame.org/SuperstructView/341
It looks like it's focused on getting condo groups to work together
on growing food. I haven't seen much activity on either rooftop
growing struct yet.

I think the first step I would recommend is to build a small herb/
salad garden in a rectangular windowbox. Leafy lettuces and spinach
grow well as long as there's enough light and water. It's already
late in the year to be planting at my latitude, but you might be able
to find a few plant starts at a garden center. When the light levels
get low enough, plants quit growing entirely, but pick up again in
early spring.

Audrey

[Andrew Jensen]

You can also do mushroom logs. You get the innoculations from mushroom
cultivators, they'll have instructions too.