NCC-1701 Farm
My garden is looking mangy but I’m still pretty happy with it. There are a ton of CA poppies randomly everywhere and that is very pleasing. I turned in all the borage and harvested the chamomile and have prepped that bed to be ready for something else. I got some ground cherry plants from a neighbor and some calendula seeds. T’s big fancy poppies are blooming nicely and one of my salvias FINALLY bloomed. The CA fuchsias are starting to flower, they yarrow is still happy and I think my Eriogonum (can’t remember which it is) will flower soon.
The carrots, lettuce shallots, and onions are super happy. The garlic didn’t do it’s thing at all so I’ll try again later this year. The plums are almost ripe. My zucchini has a ton of flowers and my basil almost already bolted but I hopefully pinched off the flowers in time. The cilantro is sort of sad and straggly but still trucking.One sticky monkey flower is doing really well and blooming all over the place and the one I moved from a pot to the ground is still deciding if it just wants to give up the ghost.The leeks are looking good and the bean vines are twining around.
The weeds and invasive grasses are rampant. Meadow still not done but has a new cover crop coming in.J and I just picked all the ripe strawberries and ate them all up:
I have a bunch of Heucheras placed around, they are still pretty small. I went to Flora Grubb for the first time yesterday with my sister. She bought some cute succulents and I bought a Primula veris, a Dymondia margaretae, and a Dipogon lignosus.That’s a lot of plants I’ve got in my backyard and that's not even all the food plants. How many food plants does it take to make a farm? How many farm animals? I think what it takes is a NAME. All I need to turn this thing into a farm is a good name.Pointy and Clucky Farm?Howe Street Farm?FU Farm?Playscape Farm?Laurasaurus Farm?C'mon, I need a good nerd reference name...Hobbit Hole Farm?NCC 1701-Farm?Firefly Farm
In other news I did NOT get the awesome horticultural internship I applied for. Not to worry. I will go on their volunteer days to get some actual official gardening (for someone else) experience.
Garden project: Create an Urban Hedgerow
I stumbled on The Urban Hedgerow Project recently. Hedgerow is one of those words you may have probably encountered if you read the right sort of children's books, the sort of children's books where small English children roamed the countryside having adventures or maybe the sort of book where small English creatures roamed the countryside and had adventures. A hedgerow is a "A hedge of wild shrubs and trees, typically bordering a road or field." It's a gathering place, if you will, for all the small animals and insects that need a place to live but can't live where people live and work. Mice and bunnies and bees and ants are often considered pests but not only are they super cute, they need to live as well. In urban environments these creatures are considered even more pesty and unacceptable than the country or suburbs.Here's a description of The Uban Hedgerow Project.
The Urban Hedgerow makes space for the feelings and thoughts that urban wild animals and plants provoke. Instead of a row of trees, we are exploring wall-mounted vertical forms that will comprise varied substrates, from repurposed industrial components like plastic tubing and lumber discards, to habitat for indigenous plants—hosts to indigenous fauna.
This project is parts art, political and environmental statement and is very thought provoking and beautiful.
The first time I ever saw anything like this is was some instructions on how to make a wild bee habitat. I can't find the exact one I remember but The Consensus Life has a nice couple of tutorials here.Here is an Instructable for another kind of bee habitat.and.. another one from the National Wildlife Foundation.But this basic idea can spawn a ton of similar projects. For instance, what if all you have is a porch or you are allergic to bees and don't want to risk getting stung. You can still create a fun project for your kid and I love this Insect Habitat from a shoebox idea from Indietutes. Simple and fun for a little!Read more about the idea of urban hedgerows at Pacific Horticulture.
Building a labyrinth - 4 years later
I wrote about our process for building a labyrinth here a few weeks ago and I just returned from visiting it so I thought I would do an update.I could barely remember where it was and after four years of neglect I was worried that the stones would have shifted so the whole thing would be unrecognizable. Not to worry! It was obscured by tall grass but it was definitely all still there with minimal shifting of stones.Here is is 4 years ago:
And here is my cute son who was 1 year old at the time. Mr. Helpy!
T and I started trampling the grass down and shifting stones back into place. one of the spiral arms remains a tad confused but it can be fixed later.Here is what we ended up with:
I would love to get sand or paving stones or something for that path way and really make the path more defined I guess I had better go camp up there more often. :)Here we are so you can get an idea of the scale. Each spiral arm is about 14-16 feet across.
I highly recommend a labyrinth for backyards or play areas. They are cheap material-wise, if not labor wise, to build and can be a great community project and they require very little to no maintenance. Not only do they have great scope for the imagination for kids but adults love them too.
This garden is tight
Is that the best graffiti or what? I love that it was clearly a teenager carrying around a paint marker for graffiti, enjoying the garden and commenting on it. It's such a social thing to do, really. It reminds me of the very old graffiti in ancient temples.There was an NPR article... let me find it... here it is. An Archeologist quoted in the article describes ancient graffiti as, "a spontaneous verbal outburst" that adds intimacy to the historical record of the ancient Levant and Mesopotamia". She also describes graffiti as, "intimate, vocal and spontaneous".Awesome! That is totally how I feel even about crappy graffiti.Someday I want to try moss graffiti, there is a good tutorial for moss graffiti here. This would also be a fun outdoor project for older kids!Anyway, this garden IS tight and made even more so by the fact that is is a guerrilla garden. This garden is on an embankment by the road near my house that Frank Snapp has been gardening in (he also gardens on the median strips along this road) for many years. He uses natives and Mediterranean plants that require little to no upkeep. The garden is wild, just the way I like it. I haven't met Frank but I hope to this summer.I'll blog more about some of the plants in this garden and how J and I 'hike' there.
Building a Labyrinth
About 4 years ago I conceived a desire to build a labyrinth on the property of some friends who were having a "Leave a Trace" party. They have a bunch of acres of beautiful California chaparral up in Mendocino County and i thought a labyrinth would be a perfectly fit into the natural landscape and their use of the land for enjoyment of nature, fun, and relaxation.I can't remember where I experienced my first labyrinth but I love them very much. I wanted the one I made for them to be special and not the usual 7 circuit labyrinth (see here) that I usually see. Not that there is anything wrong with those at all. I just often chose a more complicated, challenging project than the status quo.
Five Auspicious CloudsAn internet search revealed a lovely pattern called the "Five Auspicious Clouds", that's a great name too. I had to look up the symbolism, of course and here is what I found,
"Clouds, sometimes referred to as "auspicious clouds" (xiangyun 祥云), represent the heavens and also "good luck" because the Chinese word for cloud (yun 云) is pronounced the same as yun (运) meaning "luck" or "fortune".The cloud is a commonly seen design and when repeated in a pattern symbolizes never-ending fortune."
Four years ago this is what we did to build a laybrinthWe spent two days hauling rocks and gently arguing about how to lay them out. At the end of two days we had a perfectly laid out 5 Auspicious clouds labyrinth with one layer of rocks denoting the walls.How to build a meditation labyrinth using only some beer, a golf cart and a few river rocks:Step One: get beer and a big flat space: 
Okay seriously... I read around on the internets to see how other people did it but didn't find a whole lot. So, just now, in searching for the site that was helpful I found a couple more that look good, here they are:Labyrinth Enterprises FAQLabyrinthosLabyrinth SocietyWe weed wacked and we raked and moved large obstacles from the area.A rope with tape marked every 18 inches and rebar staked in the center help the rope in place as an inverted tip marking spray paint (as used in construction) was used to mark the perimeter.The design has 5 spiral arms and so we marked 5 lines at 72 degrees (apron. thank you math-y people!) and along each of these lines we marked each 18 inch segment with the spray paint.
I had decided hat we would draw each spiral arm from the center out and that seemed to work fairly well although I believe the engineers in the group did not agree. One of the best parts of this was seeing how my friends all differently went about working on this large group project. I think we all did pretty well for a group of horrible OCD control freaks. :P
The best part was that Acrobat snuck back after we all left an RE-DID much of it. Hahaa.
We hauled rocks from the river bed to outline the walls and we will fill in with the more eventually. If you can get free materials like that I highly recommend it. Have you ever priced rocks? They are expensive! Sand and gravel will mark the path and a friend has just offered some pretty sounding paving stones as well. Which is great because I was originally envisioning paving stones but then did the aforementioned pricing...
Kids in the dirt
Just letting the kids play with water and dirt in the backyard.
Wooly pockets.... hmmmm
Well, T tried to get me to put these elsewhere in the garden and I'm afraid he may have been correct. I'm not liking them right here. That side fence is SO janky. Maybe if it was covered with some pretty vines?These were both planted at the end of April.
Monardella villosa, Phormium Black Rage, Bacopa, I can't remember this one, Helichrysum petioleI set up my two wooly pockets this weekend. I'm not really sure how well all thee plants pair up in a container. I mean, they should be all pretty together but maybe not all compatible water/sun requirement times and size. we'll see!Bacopa Growing and Maintenance Tips:Bacopa flowers best in full sun, preferably morning sun. Keep Bacopa evenly moist and provide good drainage. The plant may rot if it is waterlogged and it may stop flowering if it is allowed to dry out between waterings. Pinch back as needed and feed with an all-purpose fertilizer following package instructions.Monardella villos - coyote mintThis perennial will grow to 2' tall by 2' wide. The dark green leaves contrast nicely with long blooming lavender flowers (June-August). Place in full sun to light shade, with good drainage and little summer water. Cut back heavily in winter for a compact plant next year. Native from Northern to Central California. Flowers attract a wide variety of butterflies and beneficial insects.Phormium Black RageStriking blue-black sword-like leaves make a bold upright (to 2-3') statement that holds its color well; incredible contrast plant in container or border. Sun/Med-Dry/GdDrainH. petiolare is a shrubby treasure with felted, heart-shaped leaves. Its stems form low mounds or spill out of containers, weaving their way through their neighbors. Growth is vigorous in average to dry garden soil. For best foliage color, provide afternoon shade. Perennial in Zones 8-10.
another wooly pocket experiment!creeping mint, Rumex sanguineus, Ajuga reptans 'Chocolate Chip', centradenia floribunda, Carex flagellifera - Toffee Twist, Prunella grandiflora 'Blue Loveliness'Prunella grandiflora 'Blue Loveliness'Sun to Partial Shade, Average Water Needs; Water regularly; do not overwaterSelf-sows freely; deadhead if you do not want volunteer seedlings next seasonAjuga reptans 'Chocolate Chip'Ajuga 'Chocolate Chip' is a low growing, narrow leaved ground cover with compact variegated foliage - dark green splashed with chocolate, with burgundy highlights.Leaves are thinner and longer than other Ajugas. This versatile ground cover is topped in late spring to early summer with intense deep blue flowers held on 2" flower spikes.centradenia floribundaspreads quickly to almost 6’ across & as much as 18” tall. Praiseworthy bright coppery-bronze shiny foliage make it a true stand-out in the garden, adding tons of long-range foliar interest & contrast. And wow, what a backdrop the leaves & ruby stems create for the showy bright magenta-pink flowers! Trailing stems root along the ground & are simple to control. Cascades beautifully out of beds, containers & hanging baskets! Bright shade/Sun, avg. waterCarex flagellifera Toffee Twist is a zone 7 hardy ornamental grass for sunny areas. Actually a sedge, this carex is grown for its beautiful toasted coppery brown foliage which turns a rich mahogany color by fall.Clump forming Carex cascades and twists in the most pleasing of ways, making this ideal for container gardening.Rumex sanguineusFull Sun, May be a noxious weed or invasiveAverage Water Needs; Water regularly; do not overwater
Schoolhouse Creek Common Berkeley, CA
I came across the awesome Schoolhouse Creek Common Garden playscape in Berkeley during a Bring Back the Natives Tour in 2008. Here is the write up on the Bring Back the Native site. I think this was my very first experience with an actual natural playscape and I was really excited by it.This playscape has so many great features, including boulders, a tire swing, a mesh tunnel, tree stumps (movable and not), CA native plants, a nice BIG sand pit, a small hill with boulders and plantings, and secret paths.I have brought my son here a few times over the years although we were never regulars since it is a bit far from my house. The last time we went my son was about 4.5 and we had a really good time. the first thing I did was get out my sketchbook and some pens and I started to make a map of the garden. this was a great opportunity to talk about maps and to have my son help me. He got really into it and really got the concept of translating what we were seeing to the paper. I sent him off to explore and to report back with what he found.Note to self: find that sketchbook, scan and upload it.We have actually have never encountered any other kids at this site and I would really love to see a group or even just two kids playing here to see what they do! J and I made maps, and we played Hide and SNEAK(TM), and dug in the sand pit looking for dinosaur bones.You can read more about the process of building Schoolhouse Creek Commons here.
My front porch plants
Most of my adult life I moved once a year and was an enthusiastic killer of potted plants. Now that I'm settled in a house I'm hoping to keep some of these babies alive. Unfortunately I can only have outside planters because our new cats eat, mangle or otherwise harass anything in a pot.
The front planter has one Helianthum nummularium 'Henfield Brilliant'.I love this plant's gray green foliage and bright delicate orange flowers. The flowers are short lived but there are a lot of them. The flowers are also thigmonastic, which means they move in response to stimuli, so if you touch the stamens they slowly move outward, it's so cute! I haven't seen any bees around it yet but it has been raining pretty steadily since it started blooming.Closer picture of the back planter:
I'm experimenting with combining plants in this one. The one on the left is Heuchera villosa 'Cintronelle'. Heuchera's are awesome and this one has this great neon-y chartreuse foliage. This plant gets pretty big, like up to 2 feet, so I might eventually transplant it. The flowers are spikes of creamy white flowers and it blooms in late spring to summer.The Primula polyantha 'Victoriana Silver Laced Black' on the right also gets fairly big so we'll see how it does in this pot. I like an overflowing full looking planter and this one should get fluffy by summer. This Primula is sooo pretty, it has a yellow center w/ black petals and white edges and blooms late fall to mid-spring.Here's a picture of the blooms, aren't they stunning?
The bulb in the back is Dierama pulcherrimum 'Slieve Donard', common name is fairy wand, and I've never seen this plant in bloom in real life. It has deep reddish purple flowers and blooms in late spring and summer. I can't find a good picture to use that isn't copyright protected. so here's a link to one. this is supposedly a nice cut flower and in late fall I'll try dividing it since it spreads by corms.
J and Me
Rainbow slide in Sweden
I've seen a couple of pictures of this slide in a playground in Sweden.
How fun does that look?! I want to go there immediately. I love the slide/bridge over a stream environment creation and that there are so many elevation changes visible in this picture. I wonder what the rest of this park is like!Oh I searched around online web and found out it is The Fairytale Playground in Malmo.Here's a picture where you can see more of the park.
LOVE those grass mounds to the left.and here's a link to Alex Smith's post on Playgroundology about the other awesome playgrounds in Malmo. Actually just go read his post about all the themed playgrounds in Malmo. Links and pics galore!The Spiral Playground, also in Malmo, reminds me of the DNA strand in front of the Lawrence Hall of Science.Here is my nephew climbing it
Oh this is a good pic too. You can see my son's bald head. Heehehee
On the hunt for great play areas
A and J climbing up the bank.I'm always on the hunt for great local play areas. It is easiest to start with hunting for actual playgrounds. Anyone with the care of a small child will tell you the importance of knowing your local playgrounds intimately.Just driving around isn't good enough for really exploring. I also use Yelp and Google Maps. Yelp is so useful for reviews and finding out if a playground has a bathroom or not (crucial!). In Google maps get to neighborhood level in regular Maps (not satellite) view and look for any green areas. We moved into a new house about a year ago and I found, three blocks away, the most fun little informal play area. I swear I had walked by it a million times and never even knew it was there until I saw the green band in Google Maps. It's a long skinny path mostly used by dog walkers BUT a creek runs along it for a whole block and in one spot you can cross to find a tiny little grassy picnic area. Creeks are about the best thing ever to play with, you can make dams, watch the flow of water, float boats made form leaves and bark, throw rocks, there are so many possibilities. The other non creek section has some rocks and planting beds and some neat trees. Perfect!
This area is quite urban and even though I can drive 10 minutes and be on the beautiful bay in Alameda or Berkeley it's nice to have some tiny bits of nature in walking distance.Where do you play that isn't an actual playground?
Kids playing on a neat-o tree.
KaBoom - Online Resources
It looks like KaBoom has some interesting sounding talks you can listen to online about various aspects of playground design and installation. Heres a link.There are interviews with designers, how to maintain a community garden and get volunteers, info about outdoor schools and tons more. Go check it out if you are interesting in getting your community active in having playgrounds installed and including kids in landscapes.I see KaBoom also has a new iPhone app called Playgrounds! I haven't tried it yet and I see that it gets mixed reviews. One reviewer mentions that it seems to include any school campus regardless of age range. It's not often you find a high school with a playground... and even if you did it might not be open to the public. I'll download this myself and give it a try. Hopefully my very old and getting decrepit iPhone can handle it.
Evolution of an herb spiral
When we moved in and had an arborist come cut down some of the plum trees we kept all the branches. When I was making my herb spiral I dug a hole to mix in compost and such and I buried some of the plum branches in a nod to Hugelculture. We also piled up most of them along the back wall and dumped dirt on it and have things growing on it (oh, and an embedded hillslide) in a more traditional hugelculture bed.April 2011:It started fairly small.June 2011:I enlarged it to include an attached bed for flowers.October 2011:February 2012:Here's the flower part of it in May 2012:I had a fantastic crop of borage, chamomile and comfrey plus some nice annuals this spring. I have prepared the bed for some new things but I'm not sure what. I already sprinkled some seeds randomly and put in a few ground cherries. There is also some lovely lovely smelling lemongrass and some valerian in there plus some basic herbs like rosemary and oregano.Here it is June 2012: