Inner City Farmer

Magnificent Mulch

Storms — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 20:04:15 +0000

Here’s an example of how I am getting smarter in my old age. A year ago I was happy to drive across town and haul scavenged materials back to the homestead. One back injury later I have figured out that it’s better to allow others to do the heavy lifting.

Some of my ultimate goals for the farm are helping my fruit trees get big enough to actually bear fruit, turn my clay into usable soil, and controlling and trapping the flow of rainwater that hits my property, and to do all that I need lots and lots of mulch. While you can get it at the landfill for free, I recently discovered another way of acquiring it and all it took was a simple email. I asked the folks at Davey Tree Service if they wouldn’t mind dropping a load of wood chips in my driveway the next time they were in my neighborhood and the very next morning they did just that.

My neighbors probably think the huge pile of wood chips sitting in my driveway is an eyesore, but to me it’s beautiful, for it represents one more step along the path towards prosperity for the Inner City Farm.

Earth Floors

Storms — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 16:59:06 +0000

One MRI, three cortisone shots in the back, and countless hours of physical therapy, and the Inner City Farmer is back! Sort of. To finish up the the earth floor in the Man Cave (or Brandy Library, if you prefer) I needed to employ the services of Frank Meyer, and I am so glad that I did because Frank is simply the best. He’s easily in the top three or four out of all the earth floor makers in the world. Think about that. It was like having Michael Jordan stop by to help me work on my jump shot.

Frank took care of applying the first coat of linseed oil to seal the floor and left me to do the rest. He heated the oil up so that it could be spread thinner. Even so the clay was “thirsty” and the floor drank up four gallons of the stuff. For the successive coats the oil hasn’t needed to be heated, but I have thinned it by adding some Citrusolv, which I got at EcoWise. The Citrusolv helps the oil dry quicker and it makes it smell better, like oranges!

I have added four coats total at this point and plan on adding one more. It’s taking about two days for each coat to dry. But soon–within a week?–the process will be done, and we’ll be able to start using the room! For those interested in learning more about earth floors, a good article was written about them in the New York Times several years ago, and, of course, Frank is one of the main people featured in the article.

Ouch

Storms — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 22:25:35 +0000

So what happened to the usually diligent Inner City Farmer? He is currently suffering from a ruptured disk in his back that occurred while he was digging a hole in the front yard. Until this thing gets better, updates will be sparse.

The Fall Garden

Storms — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 19:09:11 +0000

After two summers battling the elements and losing, I think I’m finally starting to get it. If you want to garden in Texas, you need to take advantage of the three seasons that actually produce vegetables–fall, winter, and spring–and go on vacation for the fourth, the brutally long and hot summer. In the past the last thing I wanted to do on a hot August day was start a garden, but this year I sucked it up and did it.

Much of the morning last Sunday I spent making these raised beds. The rest of the day I spent filling them with Hill Country Garden Soil from the Natural Gardener. On Monday I planted peas and beans; on Tuesday, summer squash. I’ll sow the seeds for the rest of the garden later this month: cabbage, spinach, lettuce, carrots, and Swiss chard.

Making an Earth Floor for the Tool Shed

Storms — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 18:25:05 +0000

Guess who’s back playing in the mud? After staying indoors for what seemed like an eternity away from the summer heat, I have emerged from my summer hibernation. Several weekends ago, I was given a metal tool shed that will finally give me some place to store all my tools. It came with a roof and four walls, but, alas, no floor. Most people would have simply poured a concrete slab and called it good. But, as you surely know by now, I hate concrete worse than I hate Nazis.

So I started digging a square hole in the ground.

Then I dug trenches on the outer edge of the square hole so that water would drain away from the future floor.

Next I filled in the hole with all the septic gravel that was left over from making the earth floor in the Man Cave.

After erecting the tool shed, I then starting digging clay from my pit/future pond in my back yard. Thanks to the drought, the clay was rock hard so I soaked it in water, let it dry a little in the sun, then sifted it through a wire screen.

Just as I did on the previous earth floor, I used two parts coarse gravel and one part clay for the first layer. It’s like slicing cold butter into a flour mixture when making a pie crust. All the little bits of butter/clay should get completely covered by the flour/sand. I then pounded this layer with a tamper.

I’m going to let it dry a little–the clay was still quite moist when I mixed it with the sand–before I start on the next layer.

The Fear

Storms — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 21:51:50 +0000

So, yeah, I’ve been a little removed for the past month or so. Just surviving, really. The heat came early this summer and hit hard and won’t stop. Living in Texas, as far as I can tell, used to be all about counting the number of 100-degree days in July and August. This year, like last year, the 100-degree days started in early June, and all-time record highs continue to be set what feels like every other day. 105. 107. Oof. My trees and plants have all gone into shock. My garden is dead, save for a sweet potato vine that’s flourishing and some hardy basil that’s contributed to five or six batches of pesto (along with the pecans off my tree) and that I am now propagating, piece by piece, in cups of water scattered throughout the house. My relationship with the outdoors has been pretty much put on hold lately. All projects stopped. And then the other morning, when it was only 90 degrees outside, I made this fence thing at the very front of my front yard. It’s going to look much cooler, at least from the street, once I have attached the pieces of weathered cedar fencing I scavenged several months back. I intend it to function as more of a berm than anything, a little hill that keeps rainwater on my property instead of trickling off. Plus, in the process of digging the dirt to make these berms I will be creating little depressions where that water will hopefully end up. Here, I intend to plant hardy native plants that can survive on their own from one good soaking to the next. This was something I have been wanting to do ever since I saw Brad Lancaster speak. He transformed his tiny lot in Tuscon from a barren desert into a lush oasis simply by designing his landscape in such a way that every drop of rain that hit his property stayed on his property. Sinking water into your soil, our soil, may be the greatest investment you ever make, for there vegetation and the creatures that feed on it will flourish. Meanwhile, the City of Austin continues to chop down trees because, get this, they were getting old. As if trees don’t know how to die on their own.

Published on CNN

Storms — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 15:19:16 +0000

I just published this little story on CNN.com. Anyone can do it. The beauty of modern technology.

Rainwater-Harvesting Guru Brad Lancaster Rocks Austin

Storms — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 02:20:01 +0000

I dropped the ball on this one. I’ve been spending so much time tending to the garden I forgot to hype Brad Lancaster’s visit to Austin. For those not familiar with him, Brad is a rainwater-harvesting guru from Tuscon, Arizona who preaches (and practices) taking the path to “a bun dance” (you have to see him to understand this joke) and not scarcity when it comes to water conservation. He’s also pretty damn funny.

I first saw him speak at the 2007 Natural Building Colloquium and was so impressed I swore I would drop everything to see him speak again if he ever came within 100 miles of Austin. Well, he spoke at least four times last weekend so odds were good that I was going to get to see him, and I did. His talk at the AMD campus just off Southwest Parkway was every bit as enlightening and inspiring as I hoped it would be. The event was well attended, and I got the sense that it could serve as a real lightning rod for change. When Brad explains how much water we waste as a society flushing our “waste” down the toilet, it makes you want to scream. The important thing is to remember who to scream at.

Fortunately for those who missed him speak, you can still learn all about him at his website or by ordering one of his books.

Now We’re Cooking With… the Sun

Storms — Mon, 25 May 2009 21:03:49 +0000

The solar oven I bought last fall is quickly turning into one of the best purchases I have ever made. While others curse the brutal summer sun, I am embracing it as the cleanest source of energy around. Last week, I cooked a pan full of chicken and potatoes and I never had to use a drop of natural gas or electricity to do it. All I did was put the pan in my solar oven, close the door, and situate it so it was facing the sun, and a couple hours later dinner was done. These things are becoming increasingly popular in places like Africa where fuel for cooking can be scarce, but I don’t see why they shouldn’t take off here as well. Using one is easy, efficient, and just plain smart. Mine is made by Sun Oven, and I only have good things to say about it.

How To Make Cars Slow Down Before They Run Over Your Children or Dog

Storms — Tue, 19 May 2009 21:16:35 +0000

All the talk on my neighborhood’s listserv right now has to do with traffic calming. No one likes cars whizzing by their house, but let’s face it: in our society cars have more rights than people. The logical way to put an end to this would be to call up the city and request they put a speed bump on your street. The problem is that the city of Austin has no budget for this right now, which means it’s up to us to make the change we want to see happen.

A great solution to this problem is to erect some sort of art installation in your front yard, something so visually arresting drivers will simply have to slow down to check it out. The rock wall and rock pathway I am making have done a pretty good job of making drivers hit the brakes, but I think I could do better. For example, my neighbor Jim (of JimHatesWork fame) has a giant lollipop in his front yard. Even though he lives on the busiest street in the ‘hood, drivers practically slam on their brakes as they pass by and you can almost hear their thoughts: what the hell is that?

If only Jim would take some of the treasures he has hidden in his back yard and stick them in the front, traffic wouldn’t be a problem at all. Check out some of these goodies. The Christmas Scene:

The Aquatic Bear Man:

The Outdoor Bathroom:

I am hoping to talk to someone who works for the City to determine what they can or cannot do to help with the all the cars that speed through our hood. If they can’t help, then I believe it’s time to start taking matters into our own hands. I am hoping to motivate some others to help me with a project very similar to what City Repair does in Portland, Oregon. Who could complain about citizens beautifying the neighborhood, fostering a better sense of community, alleviating crime, and calming traffic?