What’s in the ground:

So, the season is upon us, and even with these sporadic frosts, starts need to get in the ground. It will be 80 F in Philly this weekend, so your cool weather transplants should get in the ground. Make sure before you do you harden them off in a shady place to make sure the root structure and stalks are nice and hearty. If the weather keeps going up and down, be sure to mulch very well and if it gets near freezing, put some row cover on.

What’s going on in sustainability:

Speaking of row covers, I’d like to tell a story before I give a gardening tip. Almost a year ago, I began developing what has now become the Walnut Hill Community Farm. Finally, after that long year of community meetings, business meetings and endless organizing, community beds are built, 6 forty foot rows are dug, filled and planted and Philadelphia as a whole is taking notice.

But my favorite moment came the following morning after our last work day. During the work day, twenty five volunteers worked hard for 3 and a half hours and I promised the adults a few beers. But before we could leave, we had to finish building the bed of Ms. Holmes and we had to put row cover on. Now, Ms. Holmes was at those first community meetings, sternly telling us that she didn’t want a bunch of people carrying on right behind her house (her back door opens up to our garden.) we reassured her that there would be beds for the community, and that the garden would help keep the lot clean and safe. She quieted, even consented. But every time we would be out there, surveying the lot, taking soil samples, dropping off found pieces of wood, she would be out there, suspiciously asking when we were going to finally plant something.

It’s understood. There’s a long history in that neighborhood of outsiders coming in and making promises they never keep. But when we finally built that garden bed, she was right out there with us, digging away. She finally smiled for the first time when we gave her a few collard and cabbage starts, and she was very thankful when we explained what the row cover was for and gave her a piece, saying we’d see her the next morning when we would come to take the covers off our rows after the frost.

But when my partner Erica got there in the morning, next to our rows was a black trash bag, with our row cover neatly folded inside. Now, I can’t say for certain that it was Ms. Holmes who did this. But I can say that when a garden is built by a community, when people find common ground and mutual respect by growing food that will nourish us all, then those community members can do things like go the extra step on a sunday morning to save the other some work. It’s the same energy that makes a house a homestead.

As for my promised tip, as I was working the other day, transplanting hundreds of kale starts into black plastic trays, I was freaked out by the plastic. Now, I know we are doing this for a load of people and helping them out. But there’s such a better alternative to the plastic trays you buy at the Lowe’s. Old egg cartons make the best planters. You can cut the top from the bottom and use both sides. Just fill the little holes with soil, and plant your seed. I also line the hole with a bit of newspaper to add just another protective layer so when you water it doesn’t break down the cardboard too fast and they are easier to transplant. But it’s so much better than using plastic and a good way to reuse.

Hope you liked the story and the tip. Until next week, this is the note from the urban homestead.