Frost Willow Urban Farm

I realize that this little plan of mine will probably only effect me and mine but the thought that I might just possibly piss a few people in high places off...well it is just too much to resist. I wasn't planning on becoming an environmental activist but I think I am and have and now I think I am ready to make some noise. Calculated, responsible, solidly on the side of right type noise that gets things just a little changed sometimes a lot of changed.
It all started a little while ago when I heard about the 100 mile diet, then there was the documentaries The 11th hour, The Inconvenient Truth, Who killed the electric car?, The Take, Michael Moore's films and that sort of cleared the fog and made me think. So I decided to start after the low hanging fruit compact lights, line drying our clothes, turn down the hot water tank, wrap the hot water tank and pipes, drive less, use cloth bags at the store, take my bottles back, recycle, repair rather than replace and all of that sort of stuff. It's been fun, and it has been interesting, but now we're moving up to the middle fruit and I still have to keep up the low hanging fruit and do those things better.

So this year I have put in 5 raised vegetable beds and put newspapers 5-10 layers thick between them to kill off the grass with about 6 inches of straw on top. I have also planted a corn block back by the compost heap. We have planted 4 apple trees, 2 currants, 1 cherry tree, 2 gooseberries, six grapevines and perenial herbs and vegetables. We have planted heirloom seeds multiple varieties of cucumbers beans and tomatoes, then just single varieties of corn, peas, beets, carrots, onions, spinach and pumpkins. I have planted Strawberry Spinach and Asparagus Peas which both date back to the 1700's, corn salad, sorrel, both of which are perenials, and artichokes. I am trying to grow artichokes in Alberta am I nuts!!?? I have an orange tree and a lime tree in pots on the front step, and potatoes growing in barrels that I recycled from the hospital laundry.
I hope this works I am also planting the early potatoes into the straw this weekend, another new thing to try but which would open a lot of territory for planting spuds next year.
Speaking of weekend projects Arhgggg this cold has put everything back at least 2 weeks and I have a ton of staking and trainning to do. The currants have to be moved to the front yard onto either side of the walkway, the bed accross the back needs to get weeded brutally so that I can plant some of the herbs and natives and other perrenials so that I can fill in with them next year.
I also am going to finish the patio once and for all and get at least a couple of layers of stone down and mortared into place. I need to get the frames into place and the bean poles have to, have to be put into place cause when they start to grow oh boy will they grow. I will have to wire the pole cross pieces into place and check the hedge trimmings to see if I still need any of the heavier pieces. I might try to take out the gate as well and move the lilac before it gets any bigger it is a nice shape to plant as a garden gate post. That will leave room for the wildflower and grasses along the fenceline the rye and joe pye will grow high enough to provide privacy the raspberries need to be edged off and then the weeding can begin. I have to turn the compost as well and give it a good water..water Friday, turn Saturday and water again. Better water the corn block as well and give it another planting that will be the bed that gets the compost dressing out of all the summer gardens. I also have some more newspaper to put down I think along the fence and across the garden, the topsoil under the tarp I better use up for the Yukon Gold potatoes in the straw and then put that tarp into the camping gear.
I should measure that floating row cover just to see how much I will need to build a frost house and seriously consider it so that I can add some real time to our growing season. I just need to be able to stand up inside in order to work and put candles down or trim oil lamps or whatever it takes. I probably only need to enclose oh all of it!! I have the rain barrels but the water is not very nice and I am going to use it to wash off the patio cause the roof wasn't rinsed yet.
It is so dry. Less than an inch in like a month I need to get the front one on PDQ as well to gather that water but the barrels need to be washed out!
It would be nice to find the time to make the moss mortar but I don't know it is so dry and I will have to fix the prime barrel it is still leaking darn it all. I would really like to figure out a better filtering system for the rainbarrels the idea itself is sound it is just the tweaking now that is making me a bit nutty. It is worth the present 200 gallons of water storage and if it gets dry the way Jay said it would get dry I will probably want more and they're recycled from our laundry.
Well I had better close this for now since I have to get up with the boys in the morning and then will have a busy day as I can see from the list and the plan for this first summer of building the garden. I will be eating organic, I will listen to bird song, I will plant wildflowers and count bees, I will make cherry jelly from cherries off my own tree.
cheers.