Unexpected! - Friday, November 30, 2007
A few weeks ago I reported how the unexpected can be taken two ways, in a negative or positive way. Today I had all kinds of plans to do work when two unexpected things happened. The major one was that a friend called this morning sounding very sick and asking for a ride to the doctor’s office. At the appointed time I went to her apartment to get her and discovered that she had been calling from work. She has been working in the same position for ten years, ever since arriving with two young girls from war-torn Sierra Leone. She was afraid that if she called in sick on a Friday her boss might be thinking she was taking a long weekend and she would lose her job. Because of this delay in getting her we were 15 minutes late in getting to the clinic. Since we were late we had to wait for an hour and half for her to see a doctor. Now this unexpected happening might have been a waste of time if it did not give me a chance to read a book called “Earth Democracy, Justice, Sustainability and Peace” by an Indian, Vandana Shiva
Growing Power Home GardenThis is part three of the Growing Power Gift - The Gift that Keeps on Giving article that was started a few weeks ago. In Part One you discovered the ingredients for Growing Soil. In Part Two you discovered the seeds and worm-enriched soil and organic fertilizer you need for a Growing Power home model garden. In Part 3 you will find components and advice to complete the gift that keeps on giving.
Tired Leaves - Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Too Tired to Think,
Maybe, like a plant
I will grow in the night,
While I sleep,
And rise up in the morning
To face a new day with renewed strength.
Light and Heat - Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Greens Seeking LightToday I watered all the plants in the house. In doing so I noticed that those in the GP box or in the house that had the most exposure to light, be it from the sun or the 4 ft. fluorescent growing lights above part of the GP box, did the best. The four-foot fluorescent light set we use over the GP box was in my garage. We just added two grow lights. I am tempted to find or purchase another four-foot unit so the whole box is covered. I can move the present unit to middle, one side or the other but the difference between lights or no light is dramatic. Also the plants in the house or the unheated sunroom are also doing well because of the heat. When we were gone I kept the furnace at 60 degrees and the small radiator in the sunroom at 57 degrees. With the five- pane inserts the radiator was not on a good part of the time. Even now when it is 26 degrees outside, the gauge on the small heater says it is 57 and so has shut down. The gauge on the wall above the GP box, farthest from the heater, says it is 47 degrees and if I had not broken my ground temperature gauge it would probably be reading in the 60’s in the GP box.
Graf FamilyWe just returned from the Graf Family Reunion in Littleton, Co. at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.
Unlike the recent unexpected family reunion of my wife’s family, due to the death of my mother-in-law, this one was planned and was focused around a happy event, Thanksgiving. Graf Family members gathered from Hawaii, Iowa City, Utah, Wisconsin and of course Colorado. Everyone in this picture is a Graf Family member and range in age from my granddaughter, Carolee who is three to me who is free. (64). I found myself again relating better to the children than adults but enjoyed the presence of both and the three dogs and my sister-in-laws family from Colorado and Nevada that were present. Getting together as a family is a real growing power event.
We are having a Graf Family Reunion, starting tomorrow. The question raised in my head was whether to post on the “Diary of A Worm” during this time or not. It is not that I believe that there are many persons out there waiting for my daily post, but just that the posting of some thoughts clears and refreshes my mind. However, with my priorities being Faith, Family and Work — in that order — I have a chance, by not posting, to practice what I preach.
This also means part three of “The Growing Power gift, the Gift that Keeps on Giving” will need to wait till next week. To make sure I keep my priorities, the computer in my office is not connecting for the moment to the internet. So no picture tonight. The other computers in the house, like this one, are. So the “Diary of A Worm” will be back online next Monday, after the Graf Family Reunion.
For this posting I was going to show a picture of a Grape Leaf — something we will be enjoying during the reunion. You can find the family recipe: check the “blue” (right) side from the site’s Home page. The grape leaves we will be enjoying come from the GP home garden in our back yard. So wherever you go on this earth the power of Growing Power is with you. Enjoy Thanksgiving wherever you may be!
Green Earth - Monday, November 19, 2007
GP Box 11/19/07Continuing on the “Going Green” theme today there is a picture of the GP Box (another term that needs to go into the Glossary) growing salad greens. This year I am trying not to over-water, so the roots go deep seeking water. This slows down the growing up (compare with the picture above, of the same date last year) but I think the greens will be fuller, greener and last longer this year. Going Green is popular this day with Churches, eating, restaurants, making automobiles, buildings and environment issues. Non-green activity, like the whale-killing ships the Japanese just sent out, is met with resistance. In this case I heard a GreenPeace representative today on the high seas. They will try to position themselves between the harpoons and whales in an effort to keep the Japanese from killing 1000 whales — not very sustainable creatures. Killing whales is not like the deer hunting that is going on this week in Wisconsin. Deer, when hunters thin the herd, come back in even greater numbers the next year. Thinning the herd is part of their survival in this urban landscape. Not so for the whales, according to GreenPeace. Whales, like peat moss and unlike coir (coconut shavings, and another word for the glossary), is not a sustainable, renewable resource.
Go Green! - Sunday, November 18, 2007
Collard Greens InsideAt breakfast this morning, reading the newspaper, my wife saw a recipe for collard greens. This is something she would have overlooked a year ago, but now that we are growing collard greens in the garden and in the Greenhouse (or sunroom) she brought it to my attention. It sounded like the way my friends in the DMZ Garden Co-op, Dawn and Marna, suggested I cook it, but it had a few other twists. Also today when finally working on the garden outside, I brought in from outside two more planters of collard greens, something I have been meaning to do for a while. I hope it is not too late. They look like they survived but we will find out in a day or two.
Mahatma GandhiToday working on a brochure for a Pilgrimage of Peace to India that a friend and I are planning for a small group in about a year, I ran across some quotes from Gandhi that our guide in India had given us. Gandhi had a lot to say about growing organically using waste, especially cow manure. One quote reads:
“Organic manure ever enriches, never impoverishes the soil. The daily waste, judiciously composted, returns to the soil in the form of golden manure causing a saving of millions of rupees and increasing manifold, the total yield of grains and pulses. In addition, the judicious use of waste keeps the surroundings clean. And cleanliness is not only next to godliness, it promotes health.” Gandhi was surely into Growing Renewable Affordable Food (GRAF?).
Worm CondoThis is part two of the article about creating a Growing Power gift that I started last week. Now that you have the ingredients for Growing Soil, it is time to purchase, gather, or make the rest of “The Gift that Keeps on Giving.” The next part of the gift is something that you will need to purchase for the garden, and that can be a gift to wrap for under your tree, which is the seeds. You can purchase seeds from Growing Power, a garden store, or from one of the many seed catalogs. The catalog I used, originally recommended to be by Will Allen at Growing Power, is “Johnny’s Selected Seeds”. They can be reached on the web at www.johnnyseeds.com or by phone at 800/738–6314. What seeds you order depends on a number of factors: 1) Your tastes and interests or those of the person you are giving the gift to; 2) Your growing space or that of the person you are giving the gift to. It could range from one large pot on the deck, to a small garden, to a large garden. My suggestions for the GP garden beginner is to stick with the easy and fast-growing items: lettuce mixes, green mixes, certain herbs like basil and mints and some vegetables like tomatoes, eggplants, squashes, cucumbers, peppers etc. depending on taste, conditions, room and soil. My experience with making your own soil is that even using the same soil and same seeds, two plants will grow differently, because of conditions, in two gardens. This year I gave Dawn of the DMZ Garden Co-op some of the same soil for mounds and the same zucchini seedlings I used, yet hers were many times more fruitful than mine. Discovering what seeds to buy, when to plant them, and where, is a learning experience and part of the gift.
Matthew, Mr. PersonalityToday I noticed that while I was gone for a few days the greens spouts in the GP box in the sunroom had grown. It is true, when you see something or someone each day it is hard to notice growth, but go away for a while and you can see it. It will be the same with my grand nephew. When I was out East at my mother-in-law’s funeral I saw him in person for the first time. I had seen pictures of him when he was born 2 months ago, but he had a lot more personality when I saw him last weekend. I am sure that will be more true the next time I see him. Like the greens he will grow gradually. Since I am two generations ahead of him I do not know how much I will see his growth, but what I do observe I will deeply appreciate. For I think the best way to be childlike to enter the Kingdom of God is to observe a child. The same thing can be said about being a Growing Power person — observe the growing power of a garden inside a box or outside in the yard, and you will learn about Growing Power.
Sunset Of Life - Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Sunset Nov. 9, 2007On the first full day of our getaway to Florida my wife’s brother called to tell us that my wife’s mother, Elena Guarino, had died. Even though she was 91 years old, her death caught us by surprise. After arranging to fly to my wife’s hometown near Boston, we went to nearby beach Siesta Key to watch the sunset. Some of my friends refer to birth and death as sunrise and sunset. This beautiful sunset on Nov. 9th was a special for one for my wife Pat and me. Pat’s mom had loved going to Florida for some time every winter. As Pat’s brother, who is a Catholic priest, said in his homily at her funeral mass, she “was a person who prayed hard and played hard.” This was her sunset.
Postponed - Tuesday, November 13, 2007
The Diary of the Worm will return tomorrow eve, Wednesday, rather than tonight. A death in the family, my wife’s 91 year-old mother, has postponed the return of the diary today. However, as in the garden, a death leads to new life. More to come. See short memorial to my mother-in-law, on the Main Home Page above News.
Good Waste - Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Waste of Space(The Diary of Worm is going on a waste break till next Tuesday.)
In this county waste is a bad word. We say “what a waste of time”, “he is wasted”, “Haste makes waste” and treat waste as something to be discarded. In the world of Growing Power waste is a good word, something to be desired. From the waste of coffee grounds, wood chips, leaves, food scraps, grass clippings, we make soil to grow new food.
Worm Depository 11/06/07My friend Godsil, co-founder of the Milwaukee Renaissance, wrote a draft for a Holiday Gift, a “City Farm Startup Kit” for Spring 2008. Godsil is a board member of Growing Power and is the person who inspired me to get into the home model of Growing Power. However his draft kit did not mention worms or worm-related components like worm condos or a worm depository (see picture). Worms are at the heart of Growing Power. When I mentioned that to him he suggested that I draft my own Startup Kit, based on my experiences the last two years in applying the Growing Power model to home and garden. It is much too early for me to talk about Holiday gifts, but since some components of this kit need immediate attention here goes: the first part of the kit. More will follow and by the Friday after Thanksgiving, the official start of the Holiday buying spree, I should have it finished. The entire kit should be posted on the Growing Renewable Affordable Food GRAF? site as it unfolds.
Nonviolent Worms eating
the Living StonesThe weatherman on the TV news tonight is saying winter has arrived. I guess we had a few fall-like days and now it is cold. Today it was also windy. The cold and wind made working outside hard. I emptied the rain barrels of water but did not too much else. I need to find some time the next few days, despite the cold and wind, to get outside and clean up the garden and the garage. It is just a matter of cleaning up now since most growing outside is done. The Kale and flowers still bloom, but are not really growing. The Worm Depository (another word I will need to add to the new Glossary) is topped with leaves and wood chips to keep the worms warm and cozy. Fortunately the five-pane windows are in place in the sunroom (now a Greenhouse) and I can maintain a decent temperature without using the heater much.
Tea Anyone? - Sunday, November 04, 2007
Tea BagLast night I talked about a need for a glossary on the GRAF?, Growing Renewable Afford Food page for terms like ‘tea’ that I use all the time. Today Tegan of Emergency Digital, the wikignome for this site and many others, told me how to do such a glossary. Two other emails, one from another friend and one off a list-serv, gave me the motivation to do that and add to and improve on the GRAF? page. The one from the list-serv was about purchasing a compost bin, something I do not understand the need for. With the same amount of money, or less, one could build a worm condo, an item that is essential to growing in this model. The other was from a friend who talked about purchasing a $400-$500 urban farming kit that includes no worm condo and no castings and comes with ready-made compost.
Name That Pile!Working outside in the garden today I started to realize that in this journal I often use words that I picked up at Growing Power. Sometimes I explain them and sometimes I do not. In fact even the words ‘Growing Power’ are not familiar with everyone unless they have visited the place or been a regular reader of the diary. So I thought that I need to start defining some of the terms, like ‘tea’, ‘coir’, ‘castings’, ‘worm depository’, ‘worm condo’ and such. On the site G.R.A.F some of the words are explained but not all. I will start defining the terms on the G.R.A.F site tomorrow or the next day or next day.
Green Savings - Friday, November 02, 2007
Green Savings of Old
Green Savings TodayToday I put in the last of the five-pane window inserts, turned on the new digital radiant heater, and hooked up a device to measure the kilowatt hours the heater takes. With the three temperature gauges — one in greenhouse, one in office/house and one outside — we should be ready to go, to see exactly how much in savings these new inserts will mean. However, for a formal test I will need to wait for my research and development person John to do some formal measuring. Now with this cold weather we should be able to measure the savings.
Today I brought a selection of pots of flowers, herbs and greens into the greenhouse, formerly known as the sunroom. Also today my friend John came over to take my small radiator heater for the sunroom to make room for one that I am getting with a digital control that will help us in testing the effectiveness of the five pane windows. I have not used the heater so far this year, so I saw no problem with him taking mine without my having purchased its replacement. However, tonight the temperature took a sudden drop and it is now 39 degrees outside. Despite having 10 of the 12 five-pane windows in the greenhouse, with no other heat source the temperature in this room started to drop below 50 degrees. I quickly opened the doors from the home office to the greenhouse and the temperature is now going back up. Fortunately the ground temperature of the GP box and the planters, due to the compost in the soil, is warmer and the plants, even the outside ones, will be okay.
