The Rookies

Fortunately for my group we have a perfect place to grow some urban foods without having to put too much into it. With little experience in the organic farming world, we were a bit worried about producing a successful crop. We have three very fertile beds sunken into my back patio that may have grown flowers or plants years ago but have been neglected for years. Either way, the soil seems like a dark topsoil. Yesterday we raked the leaves back and began to break the ground. Much to our surprise we found what looked like antique cement blocks scattered underneath the soil. After we pried those out, things started to look pretty nice. We started our seeds about three weeks ago in a green house. We selected broccoli and cabbage for the greenhouse to be transplanted next week sometime. Our other options are okra, beans, sunflowers and a tomato plant we would like to experiment with. These will be direct seeded as soon as we figure out this thing called Mother Nature. Also we have a raised bed that consisted of eroded soil and rocks when we moved in the house two years ago. Soon after, we wheel barreled in several loads of dirt from a neighboring construction site and covered it with some mulch to make it look nice. Unfortunately, that soil seems to be very clay-like and could cause some problems with our crops. For this bed we were advised to plant sunflowers which have stable roots that can dig deep in the compacted clay. As this project started I think as a group we were all a little concerned with our potential. After actually getting our hands dirty yesterday and seeing what we had to work with, I think something sparked us. The planning process was fun but now that we get to see our crops grow I think we will all enjoy the growing season.