Everett Street Garden

Four friends from high school asked me to build them a garden in their backyard.  Adjacent to a large cemetery, I quickly found that the condition of the soil was going to be very easy to work with. Additionally, the spot we chose for the garden get's a serious 9-10 hours of sunlight daily (which can be too much for some plants) but is certainly a good amount of sun for a new vegetable garden.

Here's what the area looked like as I started to get the ground prepared.

After taking off the layer of grass and moving that aside to continue growing on the lawn, I forked the entire area to get some air and light into the ground.  Although I planned to build a no dig garden, I did want the bottom of the garden to be as arid as possible.

Next, it was time to start building up.  First, a few layers of leaves and newspaper.

Here's what the area looked like after a few layers of all that organic matter.  The inks from the paper might not be the best for the garden, but the paper will break down naturally over time and help condition the soil by keeping in additional moisture.

Finally, I built up small areas of soil where I planted the initial bunch of veggies; I filled in the other areas with leaves, knowing that I would be adding more soil, compost, manure, etc. to the garden in due time.

This is still a work in progress, but here's what the garden looks like most recently; currently growing in the garden: tomatoes (three varieties), capsicums (three varieties), green beans, snap peas, eggplant, parsley, cucumber, zucchini, watermelon, radishes, lettuce, arugula...

Radish and Pepper Overload

Capsicums grow really well in my garden.  I don't know if it's the climate here, or the soil composition (high nitrogen) in the raised beds; maybe it's a combination of both.  What it equals is constant sensory exploration (read: test how much spice the human body can tolerate!).  These habanero peppers turned into a few bottles of chili sauce...that recipe is still under construction.

Radishes and other varieties of capsicums (7 in total growing in the garden) also grow really well. When life gives you radishes and peppers, you make something with them...here's a recipe for Radish and Pepper Spread.

The green capsicums were all sliced and baked in the convection oven for roughly 30 minutes at 180C. I covered the lot of peppers in water and two tablespoons of sugar while they were baking.

After the peppers came out of the oven, one juiced lime, a tablespoon of olive oil, and a pinch of salt was stirred into the bowl.

Finally, add the diced radishes and red chilli peppers and you've got a delicious spread with a kick.

Try it on lentils...

...or on toast.

However you decide to spread your radishes and capsicums, enjoy!

What's For Dinner?

Back from a month away in the United States, and the garden is abound with all sorts of goodies. Sidenote: it feels really good to be surrounded again by trees with leaves on them.  Getting back to the garden, we've had moderate sun and rain over the past month; without a main gardener at home certain plants get overlooked and begin producing heavily.  It's a good thing my pesky hands weren't all over the greens for that time, the garden enjoys plenty of rest as well.

A friend from Hawaii is visiting for dinner tonight, let's see what becomes of everything on this table...

- rocket and french sorrel

- jap pumpkin

- mary sheehan cucumbers

- 7 different kinds of capsicums (peppers), from medium to very hot

- chives and garlic chives

- radishes

- cherry tomatoes

What would you make?

Welcoming The New Guy

One of the most interesting facets of gardening for me is to witness and keep track of which seeds and seedlings take care of themselves, and which ones you have to struggle with to keep alive.  Sowing seeds directly into my garden has had many different success levels.  Using @Mr_Fothergills has even had mixed outcomes; but by far the best producing organic seed from the best Australian seed provider has been radishes.  And finally, after just four weeks of growing (we've had an incredibly mild, dare I say hot, winter Down Under)...my first radish appears.

Beneath my harvest you'll see just one small bunch of them still left in the ground.  After planting this first group, and realizing how well they were taking off in the garden, I decided to grow through the whole packet of seeds throughout different areas of the garden...looks like we'll be enjoying these for a while.  I separated the planting by about 2-3 weeks, as they take between 4-8 weeks before harvest and I didn't want to get a whole bunch at once, but rather enjoy them over a period of time.

This small chili pepper did really well until May, when I decided to harvest everything to start a collection of dried peppers...and finally we can see some new growth, flowers, and few small chilies scattered about.

Above: Kale and Silver beet, two staples in my cooking
and
Below: Rocket abound, we'll be enjoying this for a while as well...

A whole bunch of different varieties of tomatoes self-seeded the past few months, and they've survived shockingly well for this garden and climate.  We're just starting to enjoy the benefits.

And there you have it, the current state of affairs...

Grow Your Own: From Mint To Much More

Part of the concept of "Profitable Planting" is homegrown fruits, vegetables, and herbs.  Growing your own greens relieves some of the stress of going to the store to purchase all of your essentials, not just monetarily, but also the time it takes to go get mint for that wonderful cocktail you were planning to enjoy, etc.  Wherever I travel, I try to encourage my friends and family to utilize the extra space they have to start their own small herb garden, and that's exactly what I've done here in Paris for my friend Guy.

It started this past November when I came for a three month stay in Paris, and began growing mint (that was purchased) in water for two months to grow some roots.  In January, when I knew the mint was good and ready I brought it to Guy's for him to begin his garden.  As you can see, the collection has grown from there and the mint is still going strong!

Now his collection includes basil, mint, parsley, and yesterday we went to Leroy Merlin to get some additional soil and a chili pepper plant.

As you can see, the air and space around this herb garden is filled with light and more green!  Down below is a courtyard with palms and shrubs (unfortunately not native).

As you can see below, the basil needs some help.  Initially, the basil was planted in the same pot as a beautiful jasmine vine, but unfortunately the roots from the jasmine were suffocating those of the basil...until yesterday when I decided to add some life to Guy's garden by loosening up the soil a bit and adding some new life (and new soil) to the area of the pot that the basil is in.

It's green...but boy would this basil like to be in a veggie bed somewhere warm and sunny!  In any case, we've used these herbs the past few days in different recipes and there's nothing like the deliciousness of homegrown herbs!

Although the jasmine roots are long and invasive for the basil, the vine is currently flowering, so removing the plant simply was not an option...check out the pretty colors!

This small herb garden started just a few months ago (during a cold and wet winter here in Paris), and since then has grown into something great that Guy is able to use on a daily basis.  It's never too late to @addmoregreen and new life to the world around you!

UPDATE

Tuesday 10 September, 2013

As most Parisians do during the month of August, Guy escaped the city for some rest and relaxation.  While gone, most his garden had to suffer the consequences of no gardener.  But, one strong survivor emerged...