Poshly expanding

This week I expanded my posh farm further. My refrigerator continues to incubate my vegetables and now I’ve added two new items to my posh farm. Before I talk about them though, let me give you an update on the Irish potato, escallion, and sweet potato. I am soooo excited!

The Irish and the escallion continue to grow like a teenage boy experiencing a growth sprout; it’s amazing. In hindsight, I should have been measuring the height of the trees for the Irish at the first week, but I didn’t. It is something I’ll do next time to see how fast they grow at this stage; it is quite possible that the growth rate will change throughout the process of propagation.

Escallion in water

Escallion in soil

Growing potatoes

Sweet potato with 2 roots

It’s been 1 week for the escallion and 5 weeks since the Irish was planted. The escallion has grown 2-4 inches while the trees for the Irish stand between 8-10 inches……

The sweet potato is now showing tiny leaves and two roots….The beauty of nature. It’s exciting to see it unfold.

So, now unto my new adventures.

The Carrot Top 🙂

Don’t laugh. This is a forgotten carrot which was in the drawer of the refrigerator for about 5 months. I noticed it growing shoots and I’ve decided to plant it as well.

Carrot with base in water (just taken from refrigerator)

Like for most other farming things, I consulted farmer Google. Most sites suggested that I place the carrot in water so I did just that (after cutting off the edible bit). There are some sites that say you can grow a carrot from a cutting and some which say you can’t. I’m not sure which is correct so I’m going to try and see what happens. I don’t think I’ll leave it in the water indefinitely though. The sites say that this should lead to root development so I’ll leave it in water for two weeks and then plant it in soil.

A Head of Lettuce

Romaine lettuce was my next item (from the refrigerator en route from the supermarket). It seems far-fetched but I have nothing to lose except the base of the lettuce, so I’m giving it a try. The farmer in me can’t wait to see what happens.

Freshly cut lettuce base

Lettuce moved to soil

Like the escallion, I cut off the top of the lettuce and planted the base. I first placed the base in water and left it on the window sill. But, after a few days of having to change the water repeatedly, I figured it would either rot while breeding mosquitoes, or die of water shortage during periods of abandonment. So, I’ve put it in soil, in the same pot that once housed the Irish potatoes; maybe the magic of the Irish potatoes will lead to something here. It too is under the eave of the house where the roof forms droplets from the dew.

In the meantime, you have ringside seats to the happenings on the posh farm, and the possibilities in your kitchen. Happy Posh Farming!

Re-potting and expanding

Re-potting the Irish potato

My little one(s) are doing quite well from what I can tell. Being the novice I am, I take pride in the green leaves and growing plants. I’m not sure what’s going on underground but they look quite healthy and the plants are growing real fast. As I mentioned last week, I noticed that the plants which had emerged had doubled in size in the week since they broke the soil. By week 4 they were too big for the pot they were in, and I was concerned that if I left them in that pot, it would limit the yield. So I re-potted the plant(s) in a 5 gallon bucket that I begged from a painter (he was about to toss it).

Potato at 4 wks – too big for the pot

The bucket for the growing potato

Punctured the bottom of the bucket to allow excess water to run out

I had to be very careful because I didn’t want to disturb the growing potatoes. I must admit, I think I may have damaged a few of the more fragile sprouts but I tried my best and I think I did well; my little one(s) now have ample room to grow. I also know now to plant it in a big container from the beginning.

I must also admit that growing the potato in the container is far more interesting to me as a novice. It is also more manageable. In hindsight, I’m not sure what I was thinking taking on such ‘large scale farming’ last year :-). Anyway, it was a wonderful learning experience and I now have a new level of respect for those who till the soil so that we can eat.

Re-potted potato

Escallion (Green Onions)

Two weeks ago, a friend of mine sent me a photo of escallion that he’d gotten from his neighbor. So this week I decided to expand my posh farm by planting escallions (and anything else I find in my kitchen). Escallion is something I use a lot in my cooking. It’s very appealing to the senses and enhances the flavor of whatever it is I am preparing. I’ve always had to buy what I need, so this week when I went to the supermarket, I decided I would try growing escallion from the ones I’d bought. They had no visible roots (I assumed that if I had gone to the market I probably would have gotten better ones). Anyway, they were labeled ‘local’ so I am trusting that something will grow from the ones I have.

Escallion cut for planting

Escallion in water

I wasn’t sure of the best technique to use so I consulted farmer Google. All the sites I found recommended that I put the root of the escallion in water and place it on my window sill; it should grow roots and produce escallions. I was a bit skeptical so I decided to try two different methods; one in the water and the other in soil (I actually had to go to the hardware store for more potting soil, which I figure will come in handy later on. It came in very handy for the re-potting of the potato).

I first cut away the top parts of the escallion for use in my cooking and I placed most of the bottom parts in an unused jar I had lying around the kitchen. I placed them in just enough water to cover the area which should root. I also planted one of the bottom pieces in soil to see what would happen. I had two reasons for doing this. I wanted to find out if:

1. one of the planting techniques would yield better results, and
2. we could grow multiple stalks of escallion from a single piece.

I’m still not sure, but at the time of writing this, I am amazed at how fast the escallions are growing. After twelve hours, both the ones in the bottle and the one in the soil are showing new shoots.

Potting soil

Escallion in soil

New growth – escallion planted in soil (12 hrs after planting)

New growth – escallion in water (12 hrs after planting)

My Refrigerator – the Incubator

My refrigerator is slowly becoming the incubator for my posh farm :-); I take things home from the supermarket, place them in the refrigerator and they start growing. I’m loving it!

Sweet Potato

Earlier this week I was getting ready to scrub a sweet potato for cooking when I realized that tiny shoots were coming from one end of it. The farmer in me decided to remove the growing end from the rest of the potato and see how the process unfolds over time; of course, I ate the other bit :-).

The Irish potato had no help from be in its initial stage of propagating;  had simply left it out on the counter. This time I decided to ‘help’ the sweet potato by putting its base in some water. I’m not sure what will happen; time will tell.

In the meantime, be sure to plant something this week. Happy posh farming!

Water Shortage, Cherries & Babysitting

This weekend was very busy. I visited my posh farm just to make sure that the seedlings were properly watered and that all was well. I can see the weeds returning but I’ve decided to leave them until next Saturday as I found myself too busy and too tired to farm:'(

Wata Drama – The week started out just like any other week….and then we were without water….no warning. It disappeared in the evening about 8 p.m. which meant that a posh girl like myself had to resort to the back-up plan – the bath pan…we need to get a water tank for the house. 😦 We later learnt that the main pipe for the compound was broken and would remain broken for a possible 48 hours. Since we all needed a real shower by the end of the day, we packed ourselves in the car and went to a friend’s house to shower; never had to do that before but we all had a good laugh about it. 😀

And so about the cherries. I have a cherry tree which serves me quite well. It also serves the neighbours, the bees and the birds. Now that I am actually paying attention I am realizing that the cherries do not last very long once they start ripening…one minute the tree is flowering…and the next minute the cherries are on the ground. 😦 So we gave away the lot this week. It also reminded me of the proverb…make hay while the sun shines…make cherry juice, cherry pie, cherry crisps and more…while we have cherries.

And then there were my friend’s sweet children. I volunteered to babysit for the day so she (the mother) could get some time to take care of herself. The children are 18 months and 46 months. They are the cutest little girls….and of course I learnt a few things.

A baby will always choose to pee when you’ve removed his/her diaper. The girls loved being able to run around in the yard, so I spent the day making sure that they were well hydrated despite the heat. The older one did well by telling me when she needed to go, while I checked the diaper of the younger one to ensure she remained dry. Well, I took them for a walk to the park after they woke up (I didn’t want them to have too much energy during the night having slept during the day).  We returned at bath time, and immediately upon removing her wet diaper, the 18 month old chose to pee on the bathroom rug 😮 I must say I found it quite amusing.

So, until next weekend….when I hope to tackle the weeds and the okra….Happy Poshfarming 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were experiencing one of the worst droughts in the country’s recent history. Prior to now, the last time I remember us having rain was in February and that was a light shower which lasted for about an hour. Up to two weeks ago, the ground was as dry as a bone and the fruit trees in my yard were on the brink of death (we lost the apple and the lemon trees). The local water  company announced that we had less than a month’s supply of water in the dams which served the city and we had daily water lock-off. I started getting brown water through the tap which was very scary, but I learnt some things from it.

I learnt how to conserve clean water and I learnt how to be thankful for brown tap water. It made me realize that when it came to water, if there is a shortage (like for those people in under-developed communities who’ve never had piped water and do not get much rain), we will be happy for murky water. So the next time the news capture people in countries such as Indonesia, India, Bangladesh and  places in Africa rejoicing when they finally get water through the pipe and it’s brown in color, I will definitely be able to identify with them, and rejoice with them…because I now know how to be thankful for murky water.

So back to farming…My hairdresser gave me some sorrel seeds from her sorrel intake last Christmas and I said I would plant them. She later gave me some okra and gungo (pigeon) peas seeds as well. Due to the drought they stayed in a bag in the garage until two weeks ago. It had rained for three consecutive days and I was never more happy to see the showers. The grass had begun to show signs of life again. Since receiving the seeds, I had also acquired some water melon, tomato, cantaloupe and pumpkin seeds from things I had eaten….and so …. I decided to start planting on the weekend of May 10th.

I heard that the best way to prepare the soil was by ploughing, which would help it to retain its moisture. Since I did not have a plough, I used a garden fork. I prepared a small patch, about 8 feet by 10 feet and then realized that if I was going to put 2 to 3 seeds in each hole I would need more space. I was tired, and it looked as if it was going to rain so I threw a lot of seeds in each hole. I tried to keep like seeds together and I also tried to plant them so I could identify them if they started growing. I really wasn’t sure they would, so for each set of seeds that I put in the ground, I said ‘in the name of Jesus, you shall grow’.

As I suspected, the rain started early, and since I didn’t know if we were going to have rain for much longer, I wanted to make sure I got everything in the ground so they could all benefit from this time of rain. I always felt that things did better with rain as against piped water. In the end, I threw out the last set of seeds as the downpour got heavier. Needless to say, I was soaking wet by the time I was finished but it felt great!

It was good exercise….. and even though I only forked a small patch, I was in pain for days.

In the coming week I will share some photos with you. I will also share with you the work I did this week as a part of my labor day project.