A Los Angeles Urban Garden Project

Where the Farm Ends

2008-02-02T16:29:00.001-08:00

So as you may or may not have noticed, I have not been posting anything about the LA Urban Garden. This is due to the fact that I have moved to Oakland to study Eastern & Integrative Medicines at AIMC in Berkeley. I am preparing to become an amazing healer, teacher, and student of the powerfully elegant techniques of acupuncture, qi gong, body-work, herbal medicine, and nutrition.

I left the garden where it was at the end of the summer, around July 30th, 2007. At that point it was partially cared for by my sister and her roommates. I must say they did a fair job of caring for the garden and while they are not as meticulous as I was, the garden thrived and grew into the one of the few wild edible patches of land in the city of Los Angeles. So here are the final images of this wonderful and rewarding project;

There is still a lot of kale and I took a whole bunch of amazing chard and ate it for dinner. The basil have all overgrown and are seeding so hopefully whoever lives there next will enjoy basil because I have a feeling it will come back in groves. The Hawaiian Baby Woodrose vine is going wild; I think it is about 10-15 feet long and it is moving up an old avocado tree. This coming spring and summer it should be making some beautiful flowers. There are a lot of tomatoes and it remains to be seen how the chili peppers fare. The tobacco flowers are gigantic and happy and the lone poppy is growing nicely. Perhaps it will flower someday this spring?

All is well in this little microcosm and the Sweet Buddha of Abundance and Peace now sits joyfully in my parent's garden in San Jose.

Blessings to you who read these words of Love and Light. May wild and edible organic gardens appear everywhere, especially in our Urban jungles. ALOHA

Update on the State of the Garden

2007-10-28T13:55:00.000-07:00

I have not updated the LA Urban garden Blog due to a transition I have been in.

The garden is amazing and abundant and I hope to get images up soon.

I have since passed the duties on to my sister and will be looking for a new project in the Bay Area where I am moving to this Winter.

Blessings in the Harvest time!!

More on Tobacco

2007-08-16T10:58:00.001-07:00

It's So Amazing I Can Taste It

2007-08-16T10:55:00.001-07:00

Nicotania tabacum

2007-08-13T01:30:00.000-07:00

I have been growing these lovely flowers in my garden and have discovered that their flowers produce a vibrant and rich floral scent only in the evenings.

As it turns out, the entire plant contains some percentage of nicotine;

"Every part of the plant except the seed contains nicotine, but the concentration is related to different factors such as species, type of land, culture or weather conditions. The concentration of nicotine increases with the age of the plant.

Tobacco leaves contain 2 to 8% of nicotine combined as malate or citrate.

The distribution of the nicotine in the mature plant is widely variable: 64% of the total nicotine exists in the leaves; 18% in the stem, 13% in the root, and 5% in the flowers." (Inchem.org)

I am going to dry and smoke the flowers in the vaporizer with other herbs.

Fairies in My Garden

2007-08-06T23:51:00.001-07:00

The Gardener Returns

2007-08-01T15:01:00.001-07:00

A Long View

2007-07-19T13:47:00.000-07:00

This garden has become a daily explosion of new surprises, wonderful fruits, and wildness. I hope it inspires you to take growing your own vegetables or getting involved in a community garden.

I want to share a quote from a New York Times editorial that came out a few days ago that speaks on the future of gardening in our lives;

"The post-2012 world will be a world of universal telepathy... There will be a lot fewer of us, with simple lifestyles, solar technology, garden culture and lots of telepathic communication." (Daniel Pinchbeck's Tribe.net Blog)

Welcome to the New Earth. Welcome to Now.

ALOHA.

More Growth

2007-07-19T13:45:00.000-07:00

First Radish

2007-07-19T13:36:00.001-07:00

Soaking Nuts & Seeds

2007-07-09T15:28:00.001-07:00

Why is a soaked nut or seed better for you than a roasted or un-soaked one?

This question often comes up in conversation so I thought I would address it;

Here are some answers:

"Soaking nuts and seeds stimulates the process of germination, not only increasing the vitamin C content, but also increasing Vitamin B content and carotenes (pre-vitamin A). Most importantly, this soaking neutralizes phytic acid, a substance present in the bran of all grains and seeds that inhibits absorption of calcium, magnesium, iron, copper and zinc. Soaking also neutralizes enzyme inhibitors present in all seeds. These inhibitors can neutralize our own precious enzymes in the digestive tract. Complex sugars responsible for intestinal gas are broken down from soaking and a portion of the starch in the seed is transformed into simpler sugars. Aflotoxins (potent carcinogens found in grains) are inactivated. Finally, numerous enzymes that help digestion are produced during the germination process." (Wilderness Family Naturals)

How about a recap:

stimulates conversion of seed/nut make-up into more vitamin C, vitamin B, and carotenes
neutralizes phytic acid which inhibits absorption of essential minerals
breaks down complex sugars
aflotoxins are inactivated
enzymes are produced to aid digestion

So I hope you now know why you should soak your nuts and seeds and grains (for sprouting).

Not soaking them sounds relatively toxic and quite an inefficient way to nourish yourself.

Enjoy.

Farmer Brown,
aka BrownRabbit

Watching It All Grow

2007-07-06T16:06:00.001-07:00

Liquid Gold; Some Lessons Urine Charge Of

2007-07-01T16:26:00.000-07:00

Yes. It's true. I pee in a gallon container and dilute it to pour into my vegetable garden. My plants love it and I am recycling my waste materials back into the local earth around me. For me, there is a deep unification that actually and symbolically arises out of this practice;

I take in toxins and excess nutrients which in turn get flushed out through my kidneys and intestines.
I then replenish the soils around me and nourish the plants with their chemically rich blend of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus.

Here are some useful/interesting facts about urine fertilization, aka "Liquid Gold":

Studies indicate that each person’s waste fluids can provide enough nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium to grow a year’s supply of wheat and maize for that person. According to some studies, human waste can be an even more effective fertilizer than animal manure. (1)
as a fertilizer is that much of the urine is available in ideal chemical forms: nitrogen is in the form of urea (ammonia/ammonium which is present at concentrations of approximately 3.5 g/l), phosphorus as superphosphate and potassium as an ion (2)
every day people in the US discard 7 million pounds of nitrogen and trace minerals in the form of human urine (3)
One of the best ways to use urine as a fertilizer is to mix it with "graywater," waste water recycled from bathwater or dishwater. (4)

In my own web-searching, I found some wonderful resources, particularly one article from Relocalize.net that has a list of relavent books on the subject of composting and recycling waste valuables.

Enjoy the list of articles, websites, and blogs as you educate yourself on how to more intelligently and resourcefully use your body's resources. Remember, waste is richly valuable and it probably the most 'wasted' resource we have as human beings. It would be wise to change the language around 'waste' and re-construct it to illustrate and communicate its value. There is definitely a lot to be learned about abundance from the amount of resource that flows from our bodies. I think it is especially important for the sustain of our wealth and abundance, to not take these riches for granted, and to give them attention and find the best way to re-invest them into our immediate surroundings, rather than displacing them across the world or trying to get rid of them.

as the saying goes, "Urine Charge"

ALOHA and happy golden day!

Farmer Brown

._____________________________________________________ _ _ ...

Liquid Gold Blog
Pees On Earth - A photo book of the places a woman pees during her travels...
A Website by Ron Williams - Ron Williams is a Freelance writer as well as being a Horticulturist and a Rehabilitation Therapy Aid at a Psychiatric Hospital in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. He writes ezines for wz.com. He runs his own Website called Bare Bones Gardening. He also owns a discussion group about Australian Gardening, called Austgardens at www.groups.yahoo.com
Casaubon's Book - A Blog
The East Bay Express "Where the Gold is Yucky"
Relocalize.net - A list of books and materials for recycling wastes, composting, etc.

Fruit

2007-06-29T17:39:00.000-07:00

New Photos

2007-06-29T17:37:00.000-07:00

Initiation into The Garden

2007-06-24T12:16:00.001-07:00

It is All Growing!

2007-06-21T18:31:00.001-07:00

Neighbors

2007-06-18T13:18:00.000-07:00

I went away Friday night to Saturday evening, leaving the sprouts and baby-plants to fend for themselves in the Sun without ample water.

My neighbor told me he watered my garden for me. How awesome is that?

He is growing food now too;

carrots
tomatoes
chilis
sweet potatoes from the Philippines

Bokashi is supposed to arrive today... get the organismic composting on...

Hooray for vegetables.

Also, for you vegetarians - Please look into buying these posters for your education, reference and well-being, and artistic addition to your pantry/kitchen:

Updated.

2007-06-13T12:15:00.001-07:00

Some things have been progressing since last poast:

more plants planted
Landlord's overwhelming approval
decision to use more land and extend the garden due to lack of earth-space
purchased bokashi (10 lbs.) to begin composting
purchased another 5-gallon bucket due to growing quantity of waste that we am accumulating and in preparation for bokashi
purchased a softer spray nozzle for watering the garden

I also have conceived of the idea of developing a small-scale bokashi business for Silverlake/Los Feliz/Echo Park area... do you or anyone you know have any interest???

I could collect people's waste
sell compost
sell bokashi

Please share this with potentially interested parties and send them my way. Thank you.

The Sun shines and shines and it just no never stops... beauty burns.

Farmer Brown

Dance Right.

2007-06-08T02:54:00.000-07:00

Celebration of life...

I will be planting the beet sprouts, the bean sprouts, and the other vine sprout.

Full blessings,

michael

Final Layout

2007-06-05T20:45:00.002-07:00

Planting and Watching

2007-06-05T20:45:00.001-07:00

Plants Are In

2007-06-05T08:47:00.001-07:00

It's Bokashi Time!

2007-06-05T08:24:00.001-07:00

Bokashi;
Mr. Al Pasternak is a friend researching and working with Bokashi. He responded to a message I sent to him in thanks and praise for his sharing his passion and for distributing this amazingly simple, elegant, and mightily beneficial composting method.

I will be either buying his Bokashi or making my own with his guidance. For now, please enjoy his blog on the subject.

Bokashi in your house... recycle your waste; feed your surroundings with the abundant nutrients of your waste...

on a related note... discover Liquid Gold.

Love growing,

Michael

How To Make Bokashi (for composting)

2007-06-03T01:50:00.000-07:00

So I am going to be using this style of compost in our garden, eliminating and recycling all of our food waste....
and to have a continuous supply of fertilizer.
Wahhooooo!!

End of Digging

2007-06-02T18:01:00.001-07:00

More Fun Than Pain - More Beauty Than Dirty

2007-06-02T18:00:00.001-07:00

Today we purchased some more soil/fertilizer/compost and a garden trowel. We spent another $25, making the total estimated cost around $130.

We also potted some herbs...

It's all about to get freakin' wild ova here!

Jus' you wait.

Love.

I've Got Blisters On My Fingers!

2007-06-02T17:59:00.001-07:00

Treasure Hunting? or Hand Rotatilling?

2007-06-02T13:03:00.001-07:00

Miss Farmer Melissa

2007-06-02T13:02:00.001-07:00

More Sprouts and Baby Plants

2007-06-02T12:59:00.001-07:00

My Hands

2007-06-01T19:27:00.000-07:00

After the first day of digging, I decided to rest a day.

My hands are blistered in a beautiful bright red and puffy white...

I also decided to call the garden by the name of 'Love'.

Today I dug up more dirt; dirty love...

I also watered it, tilled it, and spent some time sifting through it, picking out weeds, trash pieces, weird objects, an Acme Beer can from like 1940, rusty nails, and pieces of glass.

I continue to add the 'Bumper Crop' to the soil and mix it in.

I noticed that the soil has little or no odor, especially compared to the compost soil blend.

All wonderous Love.

Dig that S'

2007-05-31T12:09:00.000-07:00

Pre-Anything

2007-05-31T01:40:00.000-07:00

The Un-touched Earth.

It's just waiting to be torn up and fertilized and filled with new life... ain't it? Little does I know that it is gonna beat me and break me to get this soil soft and fluffly again.

Preparations

2007-05-31T01:31:00.000-07:00