This last week I have been thinking a lot about seeds and seedlings.
I just placed a big seed order and we have a lot of seeds that were donated to us and to Welcome. We have some seedlings that were donated from Sunnyside Organic Nursery, most that have been put in the ground already, and we have seedlings that we started that are growing in cold frames at the Free Farm. We need to be planting the seeds we have and that are coming in the mail soon. Almost everyone that wants to plant a garden needs seedlings and seeds. I say almost because we also like to plant root crops like potatoes that you start from tubers, and garlic from bulbs. My real passion is planting fruit and nut trees that you don’t always start from seeds, though I do with avocados and white sapotes that I then later graft.Seeding help is needed now to make this seedy story happen.
I wrote in my last blog that if we get a greenhouse the revolution will really begin. Actually seeds are the revolution packed with hope.
The Free Farm Stand too is really just a seed that I have planted to help grow an urban farming movement in our neighborhood to make sure everyone has access to fresh locally grown produce, especially those on tight budgets and low incomes. Now a lot of people are making that seed grow.This week the long line was back and we are still in the early part of the season with less produce available. The hecka local table was hecka seasonal with mostly greens and oranges. Wendy with the Urban Sprouts School Gardens brought by 3lbs of greens from their gardens, and a volunteer brought lemon balm from his backyard. Spike also brought produce from her ex-myfarm garden that she said is growing well. Again we ran out of produce early.
We are making great progress with the Free Farm. On Wednesday another bed was double dug and planted. Saturday started off to a good start when a huge dump truck arrived with about 12 yards of manure. Then more beds were finished and planted, steps down to the farm were improved, some work on the labyrinth was done, and it being Arbor Day two trees were planted: a Pakistan Mulberry and a Lamb Haas avocado. More neighbors showed up to help and what is nice is that we have all age groups represented, from kids to seniors. Also check out the Free Farm website for other write-ups of the project as it goes along and