Phil's 3rd Story Garden

Here are some pictures from the glazed kid's small garden operation:

 We have two large doors which open up to a wonderful view of an alley and a building.

 The fake sunflower really loves the six or seven hours of sun.  The real plants like it too.

 Our balcony/porch/patio/intergalactic-space extension is home to some rosemary, oregano, peppers, onions, parsley, tomatoes, and a few different beans and some cucumbers.

 A smidgen of yellow in a world of grey.

 We also have a little porch/rooftop/collapse-death-trap type thing.  Here we have our mini compost operation and a couple of planters.

 Grow baby basil, grow!!

PS:  These are all things we can help YOU grow in your own space/lawn/vacant-land-next-door-you-want-to-squat-on!

Weed Hugger

I must confess:  I love the weeds in my garden.  In fact, there are mostly wild things growing there interspersed by a few 'plants'.

Weeds are tough.  Last summer, during the drought, I was happy to have the bindweed for its flowers and the lambs quarters for my soups. Zero maintenance as opposed to OMG everything will die if it's not watered every day.

Weeds bring native pollinators and native predators of garden pests. There was once a large bright green caterpillar eating tomato plant leaves. He developed white, squirming, 3-d  polka dots which day by day got bigger as he appeared to shrink . A caterpillar wasp had laid eggs on him;  the larvae  fed on their living host.

Last Sunday I went on Steve Brill's wild food tour  in Pennypack Farm and learnt to identify more wild edibles besides lambs quarters, purslane, dandelions, chickweed, wineberries, blackberries, mulberries and tradescantia. Now my diet includes:  mile-a-minute, wood sorrel, smartweed, burdock root and field garlic.  

For those interested in learning more about edible 'weeds' I recommend Green Deane's videos on youtube and his website, eattheweeds.com. If you live in Philly, contact Lynn Landes at wildfoodies.org.

So think twice before you pull out that weed!
Kathleen Browning

Food NOT Lawns project

Philly Food Not Lawns is NEW! 

Help us turn unused land into useful food!

This project is meant to address how we utilize land in our society, and how we can better use land to help people feed themselves and others!

We will begin with turning our own unused spaces into gardens, and we'll branch out to help others through garden workdays, skill-shares and seed swaps.  

Spreading the knowledge about growing food and beginning our own gardens is increasingly more important with our current food situation. We want to help people lessen their dependency on the uncertain and unsustainable food supply.

Our First Steps:

We met last Friday night at The Wooden Shoe, and had a great turn out to get the project rolling!

Upcoming Projects:

Garden planters are being built at Lava to be placed out front. There is a tentative meet for this Thursday June 2 to slap on the final touches.

Monday June 6 we will venture to Alicia's house for Garden building fun.

Email phillyfoodnotlawns@gmail.com to inquire about any of the projects listed above.

-AC:-)