A Seed Starting Autogarden

Every year I try to step up my game and get a little better at starting seeds.  Last year I bought a small grow light kit for my closet.  This year I bought another one and started two trays in there.  This is a big step up for me, but nothing like the gargantuan leap of the snazzy seed starting autogarden designed by my friend Dr. Duncan Bell, who has his own brilliant blog here.

Knowing of the seed saving and starting mania that I am possessed by this time of year (I collect and buy a LOT of seeds!), Duncan kindly made one level of his autogarden available to me.  I'm doing a small experiment, which I'll talk about in another post, but first I want to tell you how the autogarden works.  The secret is wicks!

Trays are made from downspouts that measure 18" long and 3" wide.  Seven holes are drilled in the bottom of each tray.








The holes are threaded with wicks cut from microfiber dishcloths.

Once filled with soil and seeded, the trays are placed directly on top of another set of wicks that carry water up from a reservoir below.  The reservoir is filled by tubes fed by plastic bottles hung above the trays.

A floating element made from foam and weather stripping controls the flow of water through a hollowed-out disposable pen into the reservoir.

This system of piping, tubes and wicks does a fantastic job keeping the soil in perfectly moist condition.

Now awaiting little leaves!

Other posts about Autogardens.
More From Dr. Duncan Bell
A Self-Watering Autogarden
Dr. Bell's Autogardens Blog

Honor Your Ancestors: Attend a Family Reunion



Alzieri Family Reunion - August 2012

Going to a family reunion is one of the best ways to honor the memory of our parents, grandparents, and other relatives that have gone before us.

The Alzieri Sisters

A reunion organized by cousins of my grandmother a few years ago attracted very few young families.  It made me sad because my Grandma would have wanted us to connect.  She would have been happy to see us visiting with her sisters, recalling her smile and the sound of her voice in theirs. She would have been delighted to see her grandneices, nephews, and second cousins once removed playing with my kids.   It made me proud to be examined by a cousin who proclaimed "You look just like Rose did when she was your age."   It was a way to keep her memory alive,  a testament of her genetic fortitude.   Throughout the day, stories were told -- some important, some trivial -- that might have otherwise been buried and forgotten. 

Grandma Rose wasn't there to see the exhaustive research on the family tree that my dad's cousin Jeff performed on Ancestry.com, but she would have been proud that we were there to see it.  A huge diagram was displayed on the wall, including photo copies of documents from Ellis Island that recorded the arrival of our ancestors from Calabria, Italy.



Dominic and Rose Angelo, my great grandparents

One of the most precious documents in my cache of important papers is an essay by our cousin Doloris, who wrote about how my Grandma Rose worked hard and sacrificed, not just to keep our family fed, but to teach the former Italian peasants the American way of life.  She writes about my grandmother: 

Grandma Rose, in the darker coat, foreground left

"Aunt Rose was 14 years old and the sole support of the family...she was the only person left who could speak both Italian and English...They lived in Mayfield.  Aunt Rose taught her family and the DiGravios how to shop...how to understand money, how to set a table, all the things that come so natural for us, but were so new to these immigrant families.  Not only did she support her own family, but she sent money 50 cents at a time to my parents to help with the medical expenses for my eyes.  Were it not for her, I may not have the vision I have today.  Aunt Rose is a remarkable person."

  

Where do we have Sunday dinner when we outgrow the kitchen table?
In the garage of course!

Would you believe that Doloris found me on Facebook recently and sent me a friend request?   There aren't many people left in this world who remember my grandmother's contribution to the overall welfare and stability of our family-- even my father, because he wasn't alive yet to see it.    I'm so grateful to Doloris for recording it, and to be living in a time where connection with her is so easy, even when living so far apart. Still, a Facebook reunion is not the same as a live visit. Funny how our self-reliance, mobility, and online connections can also be the enemy of family continuity.  Why fly to grandpa's when we can Skype with him?

An invitation to a family reunion is a precious opportunity to meet people like Jeff and Doloris.   Where else we bring the box of old photos and have the elders identify those we don't recognize?   We can take pictures and video, and then come home and write about it, too, just in case the future generations aren't on Facebook.

Check out this cool graphic that I got from my friend Scott's terrific genealogy blog Old Blue Genes.  If you're new to geneaology you might start with this post, Tips for New Genealogists:

Review of "Barnheart" by Jenna Woginrich

Strange things are happening to my reading habits.  When given a choice, I rarely choose to read fiction now.  It’s not unusual for me to pass up new books from favorite writers like Alice McDermott or John Irving in favor of a type of book that’s most decidedly in the non-fiction genre:  the homesteading memoir.   I have cancelled my subscription to The New Yorker and replaced it with Mother Earth News. 

I think I caught this bug a few years ago after reading Joan Gussow’s This Organic Life.  It was followed by Mildred Armstrong Kalish’s Little Heathens (my review here) , The Good Life by Helen and Scott Nearing, and Animal Vegetable Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver.   Jenna Woginrich has given a name to my affliction, and titled her book after it.   I may be a suburban mom with an urban job, and I may be approaching menopause, but I have a “Barnheart.” 

I recognized myself in Jenna’s description: “You start reading online homesteading forums and shopping at cheese-making supply sites on your lunch break.  You go home after work and instead of turning on the television, you bake a pie and study chicken coop building plans.  Then somehow, somewhere along the way, you realize that you’re happiest when you’re weeding the garden or collecting eggs from the henhouse.  It’s all downhill from there.”

Jenna did not have an easy time of it in the beginning, but her ordeal does show that with determination, and a flexible vision, a more fulfilling lifestyle is possible -- even if you don’t have money, inherited land or a background in animal husbandry.    While keeping a day job for a mail order company, she slowly builds her savings and purchases a plot, animals, and a truck.  There are financial setbacks, interferences from disapproving neighbors and landlords, and many lessons learned along the way -- for example, a sheepdog cannot be without a “job.”  

Our heroine is frank about her initial difficulties fitting into her Vermont community.  Throughout the course of the book, I found myself worrying for her, becoming anxious, then heaving a sigh of relief as each obstacle she encounters becomes a chapter, a memory, a tale that she has lived to tell.   Jenna announced on her blog, Cold Antler Farm, that she’s left her day job to focus on writing, farming and offering workshops.  A great lesson for all of us future farmers.

More from Dr. Duncan Bell

Remember my friend who has the solar-powered, automatically-watered vegetables on raised platforms on his plot in our community garden? (If not, see my post of July 29.)   He started a blog about his gardening projects!  Among Dr. Duncan Bell’s other gardens are a spectacular patio flower bed planted in recycled containers, and watered via a timer attached to a toilet (see above), a basement seed-starter under fluorescent lights also watered via gravity and capillary action, a second vertical vegetable plot in his side yard, and another plot at his former offices that features vines . 

When he’s not gardening, he’s running the shows over at Elmwood Playhouse or working on robotics projects.  Looking forward to following his adventures!

Speaking of adventures, how did you survive the hurricanes? 

Dr. Duncan Bell's AutoGardens

What's Blooming Now in Nyack



Helleborus

Here it is May, and other than the daffodils, we didn't have much bursting forth here until the past couple of weeks.  It was slow to warm up and, being high on a hill, my house seems to have a microclimate that delays blooms even further. I snapped this photo of a new hellebore bloom last week. Here you can see it in the background behind some grape hyacinth.



Muscari armeniacum

A few narcissi are still in bloom, believe it or not. 



Lilies-of-the-valley are so happy in the shady spot under one of our big trees.  They're spreading at a very comfortable speed.  Jocelyn, at The Home Tome, is also growing them.  (A new Nyack blog to follow!) 

Convallaria magalis 



Also in the little white flower category are these forget-me-nots.

Myosotis sylvatica

Speedwell (Veronica)

Euphorbia  (Thanks to Tina from In the Garden, I finally got this identified!)

Creeping Phlox (Phlox subulata)

Tulipa humilus (Persian Pearl)

Tulipa

"Black" Tulips- actually, they're very dark burgundy- even the pollen!

Columbine (Aquilegia)

Allium "Purple Sensation"

Who can forget the tree?  The Flowering Cherry (Prunus serrulata)  was finally cut back.  I didn't even have to rake up the petals this year! 

Join Carol over at May Dreams Gardens for links to lots of other blogs around the world that are featuring their best blooms today!  

 

Infinity Farm in New Mexico

Armando was among several we met during our trip who called New Mexico “The Land of Entrapment.” He's is originally from Buffalo, and, like my father-in-law, is one of the many transplanted residents from “back east” who have fallen in love with the wide skies and purple vistas here.  I can see why it would be hard for them to shake themselves free.

Infinity Farm and its sister farm nearby, Drangonfly Farm, are two of a growing number of small farms whose mission is to aquaint people with the pleasures of growing and eating fresh organic food and changing the way our children eat.

We met Armando at the farmers market and he invited us to visit his farm, where he’s worked for the past 3 years to become a sustainable producer for local restaurants and residents. Several times during my visit I was asked if I was a “wwoofer.”  WWOOF stands for World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. WWOOFers exchange a half day of work on participating farms in exchange for food, and accommodation, and in return learn practical farming skills and gain experience. Infinity Farm often hosts woofers, and I got a taste that day of what it is like to be one.

Buona Fortuna! It was a rare, overcast, cool day when I was there. The day began with a tour of the farm. The Pecos River Valley, where this farm is located, is known to be among the most fertile areas in New Mexico. Many of these farms use a combination of river water and well water to irrigate their crops. A system of canals, known as acequias, are a used communally to bring river water to the fields.

Armando designed these bee hives using old milk tubs.



The greenhouse had loads of tomatoes workng hard on ripening. There was also a small orchard with plum, peach, apple and pear trees.

Two other volunteers, John and Betty, worked with Armando and I on Tuesday. We picked and weeded the tomatillo patch, where many have re-seeded themselves and gone wild.

Then we moved up to the “willow patch” where weeds had overtaken the onion patch. Some onions were ready to harvest.

I love this fence, handmade from willow branches. 

The visit closed with a lunch of fresh homemade sushi. Many thanks to Armando for his kindness and hospitality, and for putting up with my many questions about why this is that way and what to do about this or that pest!  His stand can be found at the Las Vegas, NM Farmer’s Market on Fridays.

Here is a link to a wwoofer’s blog, Fieldwork 2010

Project Feederwatch Update

Project Feederwatch is underway and although I’ve been sharing a periodic count and photo in the sidebar, I thought I’d fill in a few more details. It seems I’ve been feeding my visitors the birdseed equivalent of oatmeal.  The true caviar of bird feed, ording to my trusted sources Our Friend Ben, the venerable Nyack Villager, and Proud Procrastinator’s ornithologist dad, is black oil sunflower seeds. When I saw that my seed was running low, I purchased a bag of these and am dedicating a single feeder just to these gourmet tidbits.  Business is booming.

What seems to have made the biggest change in my clientele, though, is the addition of suet to the menu. We started with a single regular hairy woodpecker visitor and now we’re up to 4 hairys and a red-bellied.

The titmice, juncos, doves and nuthatch are always around.

The sparrow markings are fun to note.  In these rather bad photos, you might be able to see the different masks and markings.  A few of the sparrows are distinctive because of their white throats. 

One day, I saw a purple finch!  (I did get a photo but can't seem to find it anywhere - I'll keep looking!)

Another time, a flock of starlings visited the yard. Only a couple were brave enough to visit the feeder that day, but since then, the starling population has been growing consistently.

The chickadees are my favorite. They are the littlest and cutest. And they seem not to be as camera shy.

We get excited when we spot a rare cardinal. 

I saw a robin today hopping around in the yard. Spring can’t be far behind. I guess that means I have to clean my deck.

Distractions abound.  I'm talking about that crazy-schedule-full-time-job-no-blogging-time thing.  Plus my Bloglines subscriptions got screwed up and now I have to subscribe to everything again.  I've missed visiting everyone and hope to catch up with all my blogging friends this weekend!