Finally I've started to make a dream come true!

I've started to write a small handbook in indoor vegetable gardening. Today I spent some happy hours planning the content and making the first sketches. I'll publish the first part on the blog next week. And I'm even more happy with the new online possibilities to publish a text; the plain text will be available as a free download and I'll upload luxury versions (both paper and digital) that'll be cheap to buy. I may even be able to post it as an audio book. All of this is possible because of sites like Podiobooks and Lulu.


The only snag is that I can't put up my own gardens since we are moving in June. Last time I moved with them up tomatoes flew and branches broke, so I've decided to spare myself by starting my indoor gardening after we relocated. Untill then I'm 'stuck' with making plans. We'll get two extra windows for one thing. And I'll have a really good handbook as a help :P .


Also, today I became tenant of two allotments, which means I have a place to dig down bokashi compost when it's ready. This last year I haven't been able to use my bokashi buckets and it've bothered me. Spring will be full of work - but fun!

Old favourite "Sesame Street: Street Garden Cooperation"

I'm a warm friend of the allotment movement - in its old incarnation where the gardens are meant for people with low income who needs a place to grow food, that is (it's not to be taken for granted nowadays). We need more of them, and thus this gem comes to my mind...

A minor heartbreak

Today I definately decided to give up my allotments. This because we've decided to move from the area we live in now. Tough decision, I do love those plots. But I take comfort in the fact that I'll have time and strength to concentrate on the aquaponic systems I'm planning.

Hate to see waste

Sunflowers and fennel. Will probably work just as well in a sallad as in a bouquet, and in addition to that this picture shows what my worms will wiggle in in the future. I went down to my allotment the other day. I can still find vegetables in the mass of weed. (People are taking liberties with my patch since it looks deserted - not good. I hope to keep the chard, at least.)

The fennel have survived the first frosty nights. My theory is that the weed works like a blanket, and now I have bulbs that are big as handball balls. I picked a few of them to see if they will work in a casserole, and to get them into the fridge I had to cut off the 'antennas'. Then I realised that the 'dilly' stuff at the end would be possible to dry and use as bedding in the vermicompost - thus I spent an extra half an our cleaning them. The old sunflower bouquet had some leaves that seemed to be useful so they went the same way - ie. up to the linnen sheets in the study to dry and then down the vermicompost. Sometimes I wonder if I may be a tad too economical.

Against the odds

I spent some time today gathering nettles and comfrey for the vermicompost, which means I passed the allotment area. I can't remember when I visited my allotment, so my hopes were low when I gazed across the field to "my" spot. Of course there were a few eye sores there, like big bushes of weed, but the sunflowers were flourishing too, and when I took a closer look I could see a healthy tuft of swiss chard. Everything isn't lost.

To have or not to have...

I went down to my allotment this Sunday and concluded that I had lost the battle against the weeds. As you may recall I planned to keep the garden low maintenance by weeding the beds a little each day.

Heh.

Glorious hopes in the beginning of a season. In the wake of autumn I'm getting doubts weather I should keep the allotment or not. It's fun to grow stuff there, but the beds steals times from my indoor gardens. Right now neither are getting the attention needed.

However, I hesitate. It's hard to abandon the plans I had for raised bed gardening, with the beds painted red with white corners (the most common colour scheme for houses in Sweden). On the other hand I have plans for my indoor gardens with the same amount of wackyness and interesting results.

Decisions, decisions... I'll tell you tomorrow what I've decided.

I think.

Maybe.

Or...

Yes.

Finally back to reality...

Aaaaaah! Daycare's open after summer vacation. The flat is silent and I can work. The son is probably as much relieved as I am, since he finally get to meet other children - where we live they are in rare supply during summer. Regardless of that I'll pick him up early since too much of a good thing is overwhelming in the beginning. After all we can visit the neighbour and take a look at the rabbit, something he like as long as I don't chat too much with its owner...

We'll have to visit the allotment wether he likes it or not, since we need to pick some more potatoes for dinner. I've taken the decision to not weed with him in tow - today my nerves won't stand explaining the difference between a weed and a usuful plant.
"Here we have a thistle, we are going to... NO! LEAVE THAT SUNFLOWER ALONE! Right, this thistle... Oh, you're a crane! And a pretty strong one too! Go for it! Now, this thistle... NO! THAT'S THE RHUBARB!"

Teaching threeyearolds to garden is not for the fainthearted. I think I take the easy way out and ask him to choose new plants for his window.

Twenty degrees in the soil

Hey dude! Could you spare some room up there?

Today I dug down some cheap themometers at my allotment. This because I've learnt that different crops are to be sown according to the temperature of the soil. Twenty degrees Celcius (68¤F) means you can grow everything you want - including beans.

This solves one of my big problems; how am I supposed to find space for presowing outdoor crops at the same time as I sow a new round of indoor crops? All available windows are filled, and all the other spaces are tagged for different purposes. I've looked thoughtfully at beds and kitchentables several times, but we need space for living too - and that without hitting our heads on growlights every now and then. This warmth means I can sow outdoors at once and save my precious presowing area for the plants that really need it.

So, now I onle need to build those nurseries I've talked about for so long, at the same time as I sow a new round of indoor crops and take care of my allotment.

When I'm planning I always think there are seventy minutes to the hour.

Better than a gym card

Divas due for the allotment.

I'm experiencing a downperiod right now. On earlier occasions this has meant that all my indoor plants has withered and died. This time I've actually watered them as I should. I regard this as a step forward and plan to continue this way. Perhaps it's the extra time in open air that my allotment gives me that's doing me good. I go there every day and try to find something to do - even if I only spend half an hour on the place this means a lot of outdoor hours on a week.

Tomorrow my indoor divas really needs attention though. I plan to indulge in one big cup of hot cocoa from hell and then tapdance through the common procedures of watering and showering. After that I'll rest, I hope...

Museum of garden history

Some day I'll get to this place when I visit London! Since I do believe in miracles this will happen next time, and "next time" will be soon.

Why I believe? Today an allotment was assigned to me that had been properly dug last autumn, and the soil had been handled with great love. The only things I need to do are raking and sowing...

A short trip in the fast lane

This picture was taken two hours after I put up the net. Two hours was what it took for the indian spinach to find and twist a creeper into it. Later that evening I called the person administering allotments in the allotment compound close by. We are to meet this Sunday, and if I understood correctly I'm about to get one on the spot (normally you have to wait for a couple of months if the queue is short).

I'm both thrilled and terrified.

Possibilities for everyone

Danish allotmentgardens with cottages. This looks pretty much like the allotment village where I spent my childhood summers. The photo is taken by Maltesen, you find his flickrprofile and more of his photos here.

One of the reasons I started this experiment is that I want everyone to have the possibility of living environmentally friendly. I don't know how many times I've heard or read
"I believe people are willing to pay extra for being environmental friendly."
This is then used as an argument for raising prices on everything from "ecomilk" to houses.

I'm part of the group that for a long time didn't even afford to drink soft drink instead of milk to my meals* (the difference was soft drink 1,8 SEK/litre compared to milk 6 SEK/litre). It's easy for me to spot the snag with this reasoning; it makes living environmentaly friendly a hobby and a luxury. Those who has other hobbies or can't afford it are left out. Today, when proof of global warming are clearly visible, this is an effect we can't afford. Living environmentally friendly has to be as easy and as affordable as possible.

Keeping an allotment garden (with or without cottage) is a hobby, there's no way denying that. The maintenance takes time from collecting stamps, cosplay and other interests possible to pursue. On the other hand this is a cheap way of get food in general locally produced vegetables in particular. (Not to mention the health benefits from gardening itself.) You don't have to live in Africa to benefit from a piece of land where you can grow things.

The usual way of handling allotment rentals in Sweden is that the city or municipality rents a piece of land at a low price to a cooperation, which then rents the allotment gardens to its members. When I write this Stockholm municipality are planning to raise the fees 100% or, if there are cottages in the gardens, 500 - 600%, which is what sparked this post. I suspect the municipality needs money and that the politicians are hunting for an easy income (I've been in the politics), but I also think they will loose on the deal. The environment will suffer, as the citizens.

Allotment gardens are worth fighting for. Soon more people will live in the cities than in the country (yes, on a global scale), and it's important to make city living as environmentally friendly as possible. Eventhough the movement in itself is old, I think allotment gardening is for the future.

*Milk is the common drink to meals in Sweden.