The Commune V.01

The Commune No More...

2011-03-26T10:58:00.000-07:00

The commune has moved on but we're still gardening. Find us here...

Around the Commune: Where are you guys?

2009-07-21T08:10:00.000-07:00

I'm sure that's what you're asking yourself. What's going on with the garden? How are all the plants? Yes, yes. Here's an update.

Mx moved out. He got a great oppuetunity to go to law school and off he went. Congratulations, Mx!

When Mx moved out, Kv took is place upstairs.

Mt, not to be outdone, is getting ready to move off to India (with a quick stopover in Okinawa, Japan first). :sigh: We all hate him now because he's just soooo much cooler than us. :pout: (<3 you, Mt!)

This all means that Nk has the back apartment all to himself (soon).

Jn has a new job lined up to start soon. Congratulations, Jn!

Al, Rb, and I are just doing our everyday thing. Nothing super new or special here.

So now you know what we are all up to... you probably want to know about the garden:

Well... we live in Texas and it's ridiculously hot these days. So, being the lazy hippies we mostly are, there isn't a lot getting done with the garden. We decided to skip our July planting and wait until the heat has dispersed and we will actually do the projects we want to do.

Right now we are barely managing to water the plants we have and pick the food they give us.

Also, Jn has saved some of our cucumber and jalapeno seeds. He's going to try to plant them and see what happens. And our tomato plants that were looking bad are looking better after a treatment with ash.

Stay cool!

Plans for July 1-15th planting...

2009-07-01T11:31:00.000-07:00

We have 3 major points to hit in the next two weeks. (Everyone was supposed to have 10$ to me by today, btw... but I only have mine so far.)

mulch: We have a big problem with erosion and water retention, especially in our side garden. We decided at our meeting to mulch this area first, about 2-3 inches deep. We'll probably mulch the rest of the garden eventually (hopefully even the containers) but, due to being broke-ass hippies, we're going to start slow.
compost: Our new planting area (the fence garden, as we call it) needs its soil amended to help our yummy food grow. We didn't do much towards this on our first set of gardens but want to improve our gardening awesomeness with each new step. We'll be buying enough compost to make some compost tea to spread over all the gardens and then hopefully have some of the raw stuff to mix in with out 'compost' from the pile behind the shed.
planting:
First... the fence garden (NEW!) will have eggplant, carrots, radish, marigolds, pole beans, roma tomatoes (to make into tomato paste) and some random herbs and flowers.
Second... across the driveway, in our side garden, we won't be changing much. But we have a few tomato plants that aren't going to make it (oddly, the ones that are actually producing fruit). So it may behoove us to buy a few new tomatoes to replace them with. Also, a few more marigolds and a couple new bell pepper plants to fill the holes in the garden would help. We also need to take out the cilantro down the center row and plant parsley.
Third... and finally... the front garden gets a makeover. The row of cucumbers will stay as is, but we'll pull out our bean plants to make room for MORE CUCUMBERS! In the empty space up front (which was supposed to have Brussels sprouts) we are going to plant squash plants (zukes, yellow squash, and one other variety). [The confusing drawing in the bottom right-hand corner diagrams how we plan to plant the cukes, and maybe the squashes. It's a fairly hard-to-draw recommendation by the lovely gardeners at Redenta's, one of our local gardenries. It will be explained via pictures when we actually do it. ;) ]

Yum!

Changing colors...

2009-07-01T09:49:00.001-07:00

Our red cherry tomatoes are kicking arse. Two out of three plants already have tomatoes that are ready to eat. Several of us hippies have already noshed on some of them (and were very pleased)! There should be enough of these to give each of us a couple a week (not much, but it's something for our labor). I'd say 2 of these plants would be about right per person.

As for our other tomatoes... all of them are flowering but...
Only the purple cherokee (one of them) has made any fruit. This little guy has been hanging their green as the day it was born for well over two weeks. (I'm not great at being patient... I thought the cherry tomatoes would never turn.) I'm secretly (well, not so much anymore I guess) hoping that we'll get at least 1 hillbilly tomato. They're kind of my pet plants. :shh:
We have already eaten two delicious cucumbers and have one more on the vine that will be ready any day now (and three more babies to boot!). Our beans are still coming surely but slowly. Our jalapenos are producing with a lust that our tastebuds can't keep up with.

And finally... our bell peppers...

We still only have the one fruit to show for all our hard work but it's finally starting to turn! It's a California Wonder and it sure is wonderous! I'd love to see some Blushing Beauties or Purple Beauties but I'll take what I can get.

I have to say that (as with our other hippies) I'm torn between disappointment that our garden hasn't been more productive (partly because of laziness, partly because of being beginners, and partly because that's just how it goes sometimes) and excitement at what is getting done and what we hope to do from here on out.

I guess that's the way it goes, huh?

Bad News, Folks.

2009-06-24T15:58:00.000-07:00

Our hardy octet was excited about a new project: CHICKENS!

We had put in much research and design, meetings, and hopefulness. But, alas, today our landlord (*play pompous trumpeting here*) banned us from being able to have them because 'it would draw attention'.

:(

Around the Commune: To work or not to work?

2009-06-24T09:09:00.000-07:00

Imagine it's a quiet Tuesday afternoon. The Dallas weather is sweltering at best. The commune is unusually still and deserted. All it's inhabitants are at work or school.

Except two lone hippies with nothing to do.

What did our intrepid hippies choose to spend their afternoon doing?

One choose hard manual labor with old rusty (but effective) tools. The other did crossword puzzles.

It's a good... if lonely... day at the commune. :)

Plant updates!

2009-06-24T08:42:00.000-07:00

There are limes starting to show on the lime tree.

The stevia has survived and is coming back much stronger than before.

The mint and catnip are still struggling but haven't died out.

As I mentioned last time the tomatoes, peppers, and cukes are producing. However, we are still having problems with what looks to be early blight on the tomatoes. Even though I trimmed and we've started being more careful about watering, the plants are still turning wilty and yellow.

Our herbs and lettuce are pretty much spent. (We should eat the rest of it soon!)

The beans are almost done for the season...
and we have a plan (mostly) for next season (thanks to last night's meeting).

:whew: Busy hippies!

Around the Commune: Meeting tonight!

2009-06-23T12:33:00.000-07:00

We're having our follow-up meeting for garden and chickens tonight. I'm hoping it will be productive... we've fallen down on most of what we had planned to get done after the last meeting. (Of course, that storm changed a few things...)

In other news, our tomatoes are finally starting to turn, our cucumbers are cuking, and our pepper plants are peppering. :D

Two surprises and a contest!

2009-06-18T18:29:00.001-07:00

A lot of our garden is sad after the storm. The side garden fared pretty well but the front garden and (especially) the container garden got hit pretty hard. The strawberries are on the brink of destruction, something has started attacking our beans and our lettuce was completely destroyed.

But...

All hope is not lost at tehCommune. NO. We are survivors. And here is our proof:
Grow, babies, grow!

And lastly, but not leastly, there is a GARDEN CONTEST being held over at Instructables! I know I'm going to enter something! Are you? If so, link to it in the comments so we can all see it and vote!

Storm of Doom (aka 'And Thor said FU!')

2009-06-16T13:37:00.000-07:00

Apparently, it's bad for me to leave the Commune. I was dropped off at Love Airport at 5:30 am and shortly thereafter disaster struck.

The storm that had been threatening us for a day or so hit... HARD. Our power lines and meters were ripped from our house and it took almost a full week for it to be restored!

Cucumbers

2009-06-10T07:23:00.000-07:00

We have a tiny little cucumber. Actually we have about 5 of them, but this guy was the first!

Problems...

2009-06-10T06:13:00.001-07:00

Our poor poor Brussel sprouts were eaten alive by caterpillars. Unfortunately we found the culprits too late (they're pretty good at blending as you can see and they only show up in cooler temperatures). They have been RIPped out to make way for our next planting.

The strawberries (which are delicious and producing fairly well) recently turned white. Well, actually there is some white gunk on them. I don't know what it is, but I just washed it off when I watered and I'll see if that's all that needs to be done. (Maybe it's just bird poop. o_O)

Last, but definitely not least, our earliest tomato plant (who has several fruits that are full-size but still green) is turning yellow at an alarming rate! (Thankfully it's only this one plant! :whew:)

We thought they might just need more fertilization, so we used John's recipe on them a few days back, but alas no change for the better.

In my handy-dandy "The Veggie Gardener's Answer Book," someone else had a similar problem:

My tomato plants looked fine until just before the first batch of fruit was nearly ripe, then they turned yellow and wilted. Should I have fed them more?

... [Y]our plants probably didn't die because of insufficient fertilization. Instead, they probably succumbed to one of the major tomato diseases such as fusarium or verticillium wilt. While plants can become infected early in the season, symptoms often don't show up until fruits begin to ripen, and the plant is under stress.

The author then goes on to explain about early blight and late blight and how to identify them (concentric circles and black or purple spots, respectively). These diseases are supposed to show up on the lower leaves first. But we don't have concentric circles or black or purple spots (they are just sort of brown) and it didn't start on the lower leaves but rather the leaves nearest fruits. Here are what ours look like:

So what to do about our poor plant?

Well after much more internet searching, it seems like it's likely to be early blight (even though I can't see the concentric rings). So the consensus seems to be to trim off all the infected leaves and avoid overhead water (something we're pretty bad about here at the commune).

I plan to do that right away and will keep you updated.

Trees

2009-06-10T05:57:00.001-07:00

One of the goals our commune strives towards (or rather a select few of our members want) is the procurement of fruit-bearing trees.

To start with, the property has a pecan tree and Jn has an apple tree.

Recently we've been expanding our collection:

Jn potted a wild baby pecan tree and is going to try to learn to graft trees.
Jn also bought a plum tree.
Rb bought a Kefir lime tree.
And Js tried to buy a Meyer lemon tree, but found out it was selling for 250$ (not 50$, as she had thought). :(

Mosquitos... OH NO!

2009-06-10T05:31:00.000-07:00

Mosquitoes are out of control at the commune. And we are tired of the itching and scratching...

We've planted citronella-scented geraniums near Jn and Mx's porch and are going to try the same (plus catnip, variegated lemon thyme, lime thyme, lavender, and lemon verbena) next to Rb and Js's porch.

Wish us luck in our mosquito-genocide!

Cleaning up

2009-06-09T11:47:00.000-07:00

One of the things we talked about in our meeting, as a current project, was cleaning up the brushpile (that accumulated when we took out the trees in the front garden). Our backyard has looked quite a mess with all those limbs and leaves clogging up the driveway, so the guys got out there and started cleaning it up to make our big trash pickup deadline.

Yay for big trash pickup. In our neighborhood we found loads up lumber that we can repurpose for a chicken ark, compost pile organization, and more!

How To Blanche And Freeze Beans

2009-06-07T17:24:00.001-07:00

Here at the commune, we found ourselves with a little problem. Our bush beans had started producing but not in such numbers that we could all take our fill. So what to do?

After much discussion it was decided that I would pick and store the beans as they came ready and then we'd share our load of deliciousness together.

But the beans just didn't come fast enough for refrigeration alone. We needed to blanche and freeze these bad boys! (One problem: I had no idea how to do that... BUT NOW I DO!)

Step 1: Get your steamer ready.
I used my handy-dandy rice cooker/steamer/cake maker on the steamer setting.

Step 2: Prepare the beans.

Ours had been chilling out in the fridge (washed, dried, wrapped in paper towels, and stored in bags).

Altogether we had 64 green beans and 28 purple green beans. :D

<-Look at those beauties!

To prepare your beans, just snap off each end (pulling the string if one presents itself) and snapping them in two. The bean should do most of the work for you and it can be quite a meditative process (or lots of fun to share with a loved one).

Step 3: Steam your veg for 3 minutes.
They aren't quite cooked through after 3 minutes but the resources I've used say that is all that is needed. I suppose you'll cook them the rest of the way when you use them.

Step 4: Ice bath
Once they've finished their 3-minute steam, cool them down quickly in an ice bath (for 6 minutes).

We didn't have any ice so I just filled the sink with cold water and threw in a few frozen veggies. I put them in one side and when the water seemed to warm up a bit, I switched sides. Do this as much as you need to in order to cool the beans down quickly and stop the cooking process.

Step 5: Drain the beans well. (Nothing I saw suggested that you need to actually dry them off. I didn't because I want them to retain as much moisture as possible.

Step 6: Bag 'em!
I threw these little guys in a sturdy freezer bag (be sure to leave at least 1 inch of empty space at the top) and then sucked all the air out.

Step 7: Throw them in the freezer. (I labelled mine first: 'Garden beans 06/07/09'.)

ALL DONE!

Current and Future Projects

2009-06-07T12:34:00.002-07:00

Just in case you're wondering what goes on at the commune besides gardening (and drunken bees), here is the list of current and future projects that were discussed at our meeting. (If you want to know more about one, leave a comment!)

Current projects:
Garden
Compost
Shed
Brushpile
Garage sale
New website
Commune organization

Future projects:
Drip irrigation
More garden
Recycling/trash
Yard work
Workout setup
Rain collection
Solar power
Bees
Better composting
Aquaponics
Row covers
Greenhouse/cold frames
Lease or use empty lots
Chickens

Around the Commune: Look what I found on the way to the laundromat!

2009-06-07T12:34:00.001-07:00

One of our crazy communite hippies (Mt) also happens to make his living as a writer.

He (not too long ago) wrote a hysterical piece about animals getting drunk and that's where I learned all about bees getting drunk on pollen.

So wasn't I surprised to find this guy on our driveway:

He's clearly covered in pollen, completely coated. He was just sort of dancing around like a very tired rave kid whose glow sticks are being outshined by the sun rising.

Around the Commune: A meeting?!

2009-06-06T13:24:00.000-07:00

How organized of us!

In further news, this site is about to be abandoned in lieu of a better homemade site. (Thankies, Rb!) But don't worry I will be sure to tell you exactly where and when to switch over! Until then keep coming here for more updates!
<3>

Green and More Green, Now With Even More Green!

2009-05-29T18:46:00.000-07:00

Our yard/garden is looking amazingly green!

Front yard (w/ close-up):

Side garden:

In the side garden, we've got more green peppers than my excitement can tolerate!

And we have even more green tomatoes! I just love watching these little guys grow!

Flipside

2009-05-29T08:06:00.000-07:00

I suppose that if 3/4 of the commune attends an event it is worthy of blogging. So, here are just a few highlights of our trip to Flipside:

More success!

2009-05-29T07:48:00.000-07:00

We're currently experiencing much success around our little commune garden. Here are some of my favorite examples:

Jn's apple tree:

This little guy was the one being attacked by aphids. Now it's aphid-free and shooting out new leaves!

This pecan tree:

While I suppose it's not really a success of any sort, Jn pulled it up accidentally yesterday and decided to plant it in a pot and see what happens. I suppose it's successful in that it stayed out of the compost heap.

Strawberries:

That's right! We have some strawberries that are almost ready to eat! (I have no idea if they'll taste good, but still...)

We have two beauties like this one that are days away from being pickable. And we also have another that is just behind those.

There are also several budding strawberries that I have high hopes for.

Beans:

Not only do I have a baggie full of green beans in my refrigerator waiting for enough to gather for a pot.

We also are about to get our first batch of these purple green beans! (Apparently they grow, as you can see, purple, but once they are cooked will be green and taste just like the others we have.)

Parsley:

We don't have very much parsley (which is a shame). But what we planted certainly is looking (and smelling) delicious.

Tabbouleh, here we come!

Tomatoes

2009-05-29T07:22:00.000-07:00

We have several tomatoes (about 12) that we transplanted (about 3 to a bucket) when they were seedlings that were bound to be transplanted again into hanging buckets when we had our supplies ready.

For over a month now, we have had said supplies and have not made the needed transplants. This has led us to many unhappy tomato plants, root-bound to their comrades, wilting and dying.

Yesterday, we finally got enough motivation to at least give up on some of those plants and pull them out of their tiny overcrowded tubs, allowing room for a single plant to try to make it.

On top of that, we also managed to get another two (for a total of three) tomatoes planted in the buckets for hanging!

Yeah for productivity! Let's see if any of those plants can get a new start!

As for the tomatoes in the side garden, they are all growing amazingly. Our two cherry tomato plants have something like 40 tomatoes a piece on them right now (not ready to eat but tiny and growing nonetheless). Altogether, I counted 119 baby tomatoes that have started so far (and 40 baby peppers)!

Back from Flipside... so much to update!

2009-05-27T07:53:00.000-07:00

So much can happen in a week... (well, almost 2 since I last blogged).

Here's a rundown on the garden:

First the beans:
Yummy purple 'green' beans are sprouting to add to our collection of green beans (the green kind) that we've had popping up. We've had lots of these little guys, the first fruits of our labor (well, other than lettuce and microgreens).
The plan for all these beans (to be fair to the communites) is to pick them all as they are ready, store them appropriately (cleaned, wrapped in paper towels, stored in a zipped plastic bag in the fridge). Then, once we have enough little beanies for a pot that will feed us all, we'll cook them up and split them between us. This solves the problem of having to mete them out little by little and still make sure everyone gets a fair amount.

Tomato saga:
Before we left, I pulled the tomato plant out of the front garden and transplanted it into a bucket. Our only tomato in a bucket so far, though we had plans for 12 or so. (This tomato needed to be transplanted before we left because it was accidentally planted in the front garden with plants that do not like tomatoes. The other tomatoes needed to be replanted too because they are dying from being so root-bound, but... :sigh: they may be lost.

Unfortunately, a few days later, as we were about to leave, the tomato plant showed signs that it wasn't going to make it. Droop, droop, die.

HOWEVER, upon our triumphant return, the little guy had pulled through and started to grow new leaves!

Geraniums:

Jn bought this geranium (and another just like it) that have been grown with citronella. Here at the commune we have something of a mosquito problem and we're hoping these little guys will help. They looked soooo good before we left but we came back and they were all brown leaves and sadness.
Let's hope some extra water, some trimming (which a lot of our garden needs), and a bit of shade will fix them up.
We're also trying to grow more geraniums from cuttings (see below). As well as trying to get some peach trees growing by 'stealing' some fruit from a tree down the street and planting the seeds (also see below).

Brussel sprouts have erupted from the ground and are looking strong. This is my first try with Brussels, so I'm :crossingmyfingers:!

Also, the mint seems to be springing back, much to my surprise!

On a very happy note, we have lots of little tomatoes (so far only cherry) and peppers (both bell and hot). Even cucumber flowers have graced our presence.

4 days and counting...

2009-05-16T10:53:00.000-07:00

Burning Flipside is almost here and T'rrst Camp is rushing to get ready.

Al and Mx will be in charge of keeping the homestead safe and healthy (the garden growing and the cats alive) while the rest of us head out to terrorize Burners.

This is T'rrst Camp's first Flipside together (though we've jihad'd Myschevia and Freezer Burn/Teaserburn). Now, we've even got our own business cards. :D (Great job, Rb!)

Hula hoops, AlKy-47's, a shade structure, a bar, an obstacle course, and sponge bomb vests are all in the works, but with 4 days left until we leave... ???

:excitement:

Growing garden

2009-05-14T09:20:00.000-07:00

How does our garden grow?

With a vengeance!
Our side garden is verdant and bushy!
Our front garden is starting to produce!

The strawberries have some tiny berries starting to grow, but I don't know that they'll be any good. We'll see how they turn out.

The beans, on the other hand, will be feeding us very soon!

We've also got lots of peppers on the way and 3-4 tomato buds.

I thought mint was easy to grow...

2009-05-14T09:08:00.000-07:00

But apparently it's not invulnerable.

Our mint had been looking amazing: full and luscious.

But now it's hardly a shell of its former self. It's yellowy leaves and brittle stems wither away and fall off. :( There are some little bugs in the dirt but they aren't easily identifiable.

Our plan... I believe... is to uproot them, wash them off, and replant them. But this probably won't be done between now and the end of May.

Here's hoping they survive!

Apples or Aphids?!

2009-05-14T08:59:00.000-07:00

Our sweet little apple tree (well, Jn's) recently became the home of a ant cow farm. Those little buggers where milking a plethora of aphids. Gar!!!

Get off our yummy plant!

What will we do? (Well, what did we do?)

Jn went after them with a spray bottle of Bronner's and then I hosed 'em down.

There may still be one or two left that will need another beating, but I feel mighty successful anyway! (Those guys were no-fooling hard to get a picture of...)

Around the Commune: T'rrists

2009-05-07T23:07:00.000-07:00

With only 14 days left 'til Flipside, the T'rrists gathered for pictures and silliness.

Our blossoming garden

2009-05-06T08:04:00.000-07:00

Around the Commune: Rain and Beer

2009-05-06T07:11:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, most of the commune (6 out of 8, missed you Rb and Al) and a couple of friends headed out to Kv's family's lake house to shoot guns, drink beer, play in the mud, and generally have a great little vacation. (Thx Kv!)

It's been crazy rainy lately (woo!) and the lake was much fuller than I have ever seen it. Pretty, pretty, pretty.

<- This pretty much sums up the weekend. The lake, the doggies, the beer, the ammo, the guns... who could ask for anything more!

But wait... that's not all. We also scored a fridge for brewing!

Goodbye, dear Stevia

2009-04-30T17:46:00.001-07:00

The stevia plant just does not look good. So far it's our garden's one EPIC FAIL. I'll have to research stevia more and then ... and then I will share my findings and my new-found sweet glory with the world.

Garden Growth

2009-04-30T17:32:00.001-07:00

NOW --> THEN

A Lesson in Microgreens

2009-04-28T11:05:00.000-07:00

What are microgreens?
Microgreens is the stage of development in plants between sprouts and baby greens. They're just tiny plants. Some popular plants to eat at microgreen stage include: Amaranth, Arugula, Basil, Broccoli, Celery, Cilantro, Endive, Mustard, Pea, and Radish. There are many, many more plants that can be used though.

Why microgreens?
From Microgreens: A guide to growing nutrient-packed greens by Eric Franks and Jasmine Richardson: "Growing your own microgreens gives you access to fresh, living greens all year long with minimal investment of money, time, or previous knowledge. [...] Aside from their extraordinary taste and aesthetic appeal, microgreens are also extremely nutritious. The ability to harvest and eat them within minutes gives you access to their most nutritionally rich state. They give us a strong dose of digestible vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients. While your taste buds enjoy their intense flavor, your body will reap the benefits of their concentrated nutrients."

Getting Started:
First, you need seeds:
You can use seeds from your local garden store (or Whole Foods or anywhere else that sells seeds) or you can order seeds online that are specifically for microgreens from a place like Johnny's Select Seeds.

We've tried seeds from Johnny's, seeds from our local garden store (Botanical Interests is the brand of seeds) that are specifically for microgreens (mild mix and spicy mix), and regular seeds (same brand as above) from same garden store.

If you buy them online, be sure to let your pets play in the immense amount of paper that they use to wrap them up safe and sound!

Other than seeds, you will need:
a tray
We bought some trays, we got some free from our local garden center (just ask), and we found a bunch in the people's trash as we were walking through our neighborhood. The one pictured (which are the kind we've gotten free and found) are what gardening places use to carry seedlings around in and if you buy a lot of seedlings they usually let you take them home.

paper towels (unbleached)

Saran wrap and tape

and dirt/potting soil. (not pictured)

If you are using a tray that has a bunch of holes in the bottom (see the picture of me above with empty tray), cover the bottom in paper towels to keep the dirt in.

Put in your soil. This is not enough soil. (We didn't find that out until later.) Put in a couple of inches worth. You don't need A LOT of soil in there because they are just baby plants, but you do need enough that they can dig their roots in some.

Distribute your seeds.

(This is not enough. Seriously. You pretty much want to put a whole top layer of seeds covering the dirt.)

Water your seeds. Make sure the soil is wet all the way through. Water should leak out the bottom but not be pooling on top of the dirt.

Cover your tray with paper towels and water again, as my beautiful assistant has done here.

Be sure the towels are thoroughly wet (but again, no pooling of water on top).

Wrap your trays in plastic wrap, creating a cheap greenhouse. This keeps heat and water in. Just they way they like it!

About 2 days later:

At this point, there are a few little sprouts but not much else going on. Keep the paper towel and plastic on and leave them alone, unless you notice that the towel is dry. In that case, water them again, and then leave them alone.

About 4 days later:

See all those fuzzies? Those are the plant sending out scouts to find a way to root! Cool!!!! (The fuzz is not mold. Don't mess with them.) But at this stage, you can take the paper towel off. Make sure that the dirt isn't dry (if the paper towel isn't dry when you take it off, you're probably fine). Water, if it is dry.

Also, you may lose a few sprouts when you remove the paper towel. Don't worry about it.

Otherwise, replace the plastic wrap and leave it alone again. Make sure it gets some sun.

A couple more days (around a week from starting them):

Take off the plastic wrap.

Let these babies get some sun (but not too much; early morning and late afternoon sun is best without the blaze of the day). Make sure to keep them watered.
We haven't been able to overwater ours. We water them every time we water our container garden which is about once a day, except on hot sunny days we do it twice.

It's really easy to grow a lot of microgreens (a little more difficult to do others).

We've had success with radish, arugula, and lettuce. But cilantro... not so much. (It's definitely a harder crop to do because it doesn't come up all at the same time etc.)

Doing one tray of each type of green you want seems to work best. But I've done trays of different types. The only problem I had was with the cilantro. I tried leaving it under a towel, since it wasn't ready to be uncovered but the lettuce and radish were. But it just never sprouted.

As for what kind of seeds work best:
The seeds from Johnny's have been incredible. They sprouted very consistently, taste great, and worked very well across the board.
The regular seeds (cilantro, radish, and lettuce) that we used (Botanical Interests) worked alright for the most part.
The microgreen seed mixes (also BI) kinda sucked and I'm not sure exactly why they didn't work out well.

<--They just didn't come up much. Of course, it's all still an experiment for us but in the end here's some of our wonderful success:

Once you get a tray like those above, you just need to harvest.

Use some sharp scissors (the sharper, the better), grab a handful at an edge of your tray, cut about 1/2 an inch or so off the dirt, and what's in your hand is yours to eat! You can just grab and pull but then you'll spend a lot of time washing your greens.

Then EAT! And doesn't success tastes delicious?!

Around the Commune: :EEEEEK:

2009-04-28T10:16:00.001-07:00

I mentioned once, awhile back, that the property could be sold out from under our sweet little hippie adventurers. Today, that threat becomes a little more real.

Someone has come by the house, liked it, and is coming back again to see the other units. They 'really want' to see the whole place. :sigh: It's a little hard not to start sabotaging the commune so that they won't want it.

It seems more serious than normal. Not only are they coming back, but the landlord has asked us to clean up more and has sent over the handymen to fix shit up. :(

Will all our hard work be for naught?
More to come...

A rainy Monday

2009-04-27T08:10:00.001-07:00

Today is a very rainy day. Very rainy indeed!

It's absolutely beautiful out and it's supposed to stay like this all week, but how do you think the garden feels about this?

Lettuce patch: :)

Container garden: :D

Front garden: :)

Side garden??? Uh-oh!

BONUS QUESTION: Wtf is up with these stakes in the yard? Anybody? Anybody?

Brewing and building

2009-04-27T07:50:00.000-07:00

The Ghetto Brew Club worked on a new beer this weekend. (The brew club consists of about half of the commune and several of our 'outside' friends.)
They've been brewing for awhile. But this time they BLOG'd it!
Here's the link: The Ghetto Brew Club
First post (yesterday's brew): Okocim Porter.

Also, we've been building for our T'rrist Camp (for Flipside... in only 3 1/2 weeks :eek:). Here's our structure so far:

Oh... and Jn... showing the strength of the structure and himself. :giggle:

BOOOOOM!

2009-04-27T07:15:00.000-07:00

I leave for a day and the garden blows up! (Not, uh, incendiarily...)

Above are the cuke and bean seedlings. These are from seed in the garden and are doing great! Also the brussel sprout seeds (to the left) that I grew inside transplanted well and are growing up to be big and strong.

Also, the chard looks to be coming along well. (And it has a new table to sit on, instead of the ground. Thx, Rb.) We also have a new stand for our microgreen trays!

Update: Around the Commune

2009-04-21T19:39:00.000-07:00

Not too much going on.

Several of us dirty hippies are preparing for Flipside (a regional Burning Man event). We went from having a bunch of boards in the backyard to having a shade structure skeleton! Very important in Tx in May. We're also working on wine-shooting AKs, an obstacle course, a bar, and hula hoops. 33 days left... not much time.

In other news, we gained control of the shed in the backyard. The owner of the house had been storing some stuff in there and we were locked out. But he came by picked up his stuff and allowed us to have the extra storage room. Result! This has allowed Rb and I's porch to be cleared off (mostly) and some extra space in each apartment.

Now we have 4 runners in our commune of 8, 3 of whom are barefoot. We also have 3 bikes and have been using them a lot! (Mostly to go buy ice cream and look at comic books, but still...)

So that's what's been going on around the commune.

Greens, more greens, even MORE greens, and a flower.

2009-04-19T18:56:00.000-07:00

Greens:

Our lettuce bucket must be the happiest lettuce bucket in all of Texas!
The first sown seeds are reaching baby greens phase soon and the second sown seeds are nearly microgreens. Soon, it will be time to take out the transplanted greens (and eat them) to make room for the third set of seeds.

More greens:

Just because we can't get enough of this new yumminess, Jn and I decided to try our hands at microgreening. He made a tray of lettuce, I made one with lettuce, radish, and cilantro, and I also created one for my mom (who Rb and I'll be visiting next weekend!) with radish and lettuce.

Even MORE greens:

And just because Jn can't be stopped and we all want tons of lettuce (can you have to much? we're going to find out!), he planted 2, yes 2, more lettuce beds.

Flower:

And, happy news, one of our pepper plants has produced this cute little flower. I believe it's the blushing beauty (but am too lazy to go look). No matter which it is, that will be a very exciting fruit to pick!

Stop the presses!

2009-04-19T17:58:00.000-07:00

Our happy hippie commune has made the paper, the UTD Mercury.
The headline reads: 'Intentional family' forms urban commune

You can click the picture for a bigger (readable) version.

There are a few mistakes (we don't burn at home and we have 8 people here but only 6 listed out in the 'jobs' portion)... but really, it's good to get the word out.

So, welcome to anyone who found this site through the paper. Feel free to comment or ask questions.

Front Garden, say what?

2009-04-15T23:22:00.000-07:00

Today I came downstairs to find this:

What are you hippies doing?! What do you mean the front garden is FINALLY ready to plant? It's a Wednesday afternoon!
Wait! You want to plant it NOW!

Well... okie:

Jn planted the snap beans (several babies and some seeds) across the middle:

Nk planted the cukes, along the back edge of the garden (again one plant and several seeds):

Kv planted the Brussel sprouts (one tiny plant and several seeds) in the front of the garden:

And the long awaited front garden is finished with the first round of it's planting. There is still plenty of room for succession later in the season though. It's hard to tell anything's been done, except for the fact that Mx is there celebrating with the brown bag special.

I'm so proud of the hard work that gets done around this place.
The guys even cleaned up the tools! Way to go, not-as-lazy-as-me hippies!

The gardening isn't all just fun and games though... sometimes it's delicious too!

Rb and I had some freshly picked microgreens (lettuce and arugula) with our dinner last night. (If you can't tell, that's grapefruit, baked chicken, and the mixed microgreens. Perfect!)

Here's your effing blog post!

2009-04-15T20:41:00.000-07:00

Blogger, you are killing me!

I was gonna post about planting the front garden this afternoon, but blogger won't let me.

So, for those of you waiting...Jn..., here's your effing blog post.

:P

Garden updates... and hippie-hooping

2009-04-15T14:08:00.000-07:00

First of all, any of you webophiles out there want to tell me if the stevia is ok?
That's it over there on the left. See how it's leaves are sorta brown and crunch on the outside? Get googling please and tell me how to fix it.

Next up is the happy growers:
The first batch of lettuce is in microgreen stage and looking awesome (and delicious)! And the second batch of lettuce has some tiny little sprouts coming up. Can you see them?

The cilantro and chard are greening up a bit too.
Not many of the cilantro sprouted but there's a nice long row of chard coming out!

Then we have the tomatoes and peppers and herbs. While the marigolds are all spotty and the basils are if-y, the tomatoes and peppers are doing really well overall. I can hardly wait for the fruits of our labor!

The front garden is ready for the plants to go in. We just need to get that done! Right now it just looks like a big pile of dirt.

And here are some bonus pictures of our backyard area:

The compost heap and patio:

And me being a hippie hula hooper. Woo!

What's up at the commune?

2009-04-11T11:31:00.000-07:00

Mostly work work work... school school school... garden garden build... and lazy Spring days.

But here's a garden update:

Microgreens - try #2: RESULT!

Other Suc cesses:

The strawberries (which had a hard start) and most of our tomato plants are taking off!

The lettuce and bean plants are looking strong too! (The beans need to be planted in the bed, but that's work for tomorrow.)

FAILS:

The cilantro and parsley may or may not produce well.

And our hot peppers (these are the serranos but the jalapenos don't look much better) look sickly.

Well... you win some, you lose some.

Gardening on a Tuesday? My God! What kinda hippie freaks are you people?!

2009-04-07T20:42:00.000-07:00

Today as I was minding my own business, doing my last minute homeworks, one of my hippie friends raised the idea of working (playing?) in the garden on this bright Spring afternoon. I had to resist the temptation but he wrangled up some other more-than-willing volunteers (not to hard to find around here, thankfully).

Off went Jn, Al, and Mt...
Finishing the planting of the side garden with marigolds, 3 kinds of basil, oregano, and cilantro (the cilantro going where parsley was planned)...

Putting our biggest, fastest growing seedlings (the 6 snap beans and 6 cucumbers) into larger pots so they can grow to be big, strong, happy seedlings...

And generally watering and checking on all of our happy family of planties, including these newly transplanted tomatoes... (They won't be staying in those buckets but they needed more room while they waited.)

8 tenents... 16 green thumbs. :)

Preparing the bed for a cold night... a photo-documentary

2009-04-07T20:32:00.000-07:00

Success!

2009-04-07T16:12:00.000-07:00

Though I was terribly sick this weekend, which can only be seen as a FAIL, the garden and tehCommune rose to new heights of success.

Rb's second tray of microgreens sprouted thoroughly instead of like patchwork. And Johnny's Seeds shot him an email saying that they'd replace the 1/4 lb bag of seeds that leaked in the box!

The lettuce seeds I had sown have also sprouted quite evenly over their 1/3rd of the lettuce bucket.

And the seeds inside took off under Rb's caring hand (and the sunlight that caring hand led them to).

Buckets and buckets of tomatoes... well, for tomatoes

2009-04-03T17:12:00.000-07:00

Rb prepping the buckets

Up, up, and away!

2009-04-03T16:46:00.000-07:00

Beans! Cukes!

Brussel sprouts!

Adventures in Microgreenland

2009-04-03T12:53:00.000-07:00

Rb received his shipment of seeds from Johnny's Selected Seeds on Wednesday night.

With excitement and anticipation, he opened the box...

... but, like a child on Xmas who asked for a Red Ryder BB Gun, his eye almost got shot out upon opening the package! :gasp:

What could have gone wrong?!, you ask.

Tiny seeds everywhere!
Amongst all the paper and wrapping and bags that still had seeds in them lay a large amount of escaped seeds.

Thankfully, our brave hero was able to capture the rogue seeds and contain them within the safety of a bowl (and now a plastic bag).

We can all breathe a sigh of relief, knowing we are safe from evil seedies once again.

A news crew? At the Commune? Uh-oh.

2009-04-02T13:09:00.000-07:00

That's right, everyone! A news crew came today to check out the humble beginnings of our little homestead. (Well, not quite a news crew, but a reporter and a photographer from The UTD Mercury.)

*Apparently*, Mt's been flaunting our immense amount of coolness around campus. I'm sure it went a little something like this: Doo doo doo. I'm so freaking cool because I am a part of the bestest commune around. Doo doo. Doo!

Whether that's the way it went or not, today I spent half an hour chatting with the intrepid reporters and showing them around the place. After showing them around and trying to act natural in pictures, I really have no idea what they thought of us... or what the article will say. But when the article comes out, I'll post it!

(PS Mt keeps running past my windows... and he's barefoot. I see you, Mt... you hippie.)

Planting, planting, planting on a beautiful Spring day.

2009-04-01T12:11:00.000-07:00

I have been worrying about the tomato seedlings. They were looking healthy but unfortunately they were also starting to get rootbound.

Mt and Kv and I (Js) decided that action needed to be taken. Save at least a few of them!

So today, on a beautiful Spring day, the three of us fixed up the bed (aerate, aerate, compost, aerate, smooth) and then planted the peppers and tomatoes in the east side bed.

They look very happy and we saved at least 14 of those beautiful tomato seedlings. Yay!

Here's what was planted (yellow means 'yet to be planted'):

I also threw the stevia and catnip into pots. Grow, little guys, grow!

Microgreens

2009-04-01T11:50:00.000-07:00

Rb's been brewing up a batch of microgreens on the porch. All I know about them is that half the tray is a 'spicy mix' and the other half is a 'mild mix'.

Today, my curiosity got the better of me.

These babies (literally) have been cooking for almost 3 days.
No sprouts yet... :/

Garden plans

2009-03-30T07:48:00.001-07:00

Key:

T = tomatoes

P = peppers

M = marigolds

LBs = Lime Basils

ThBs = Thai Basils

ItBs = Italian Basils
O = oregano
ooo = parsley

C = cucumbers
. = 2nd planting of cucumbers
BS = Brussel sprouts
B1 = bush beans
B2 + B3 = 2nd and 3rd plantings of bush beans
Squiggly blue line = lettuce and dill

And here is our container garden so far (minus the tray of microgreens Rb planted last night):

We also will have containers for tomatoes (there are twenty-two unaccounted for in the above plan), stevia, catnip, and more microgreens.

A productive Sunday!

2009-03-29T18:50:00.001-07:00

Today, Rb and I (Js) turned a trip to the Farmer's Market into more plants!

We bought seeds for lettuce, microgreens, cilantro, parsley, and beans. In addition, we bought mint and catnip seedlings/plants.

And when we proudly returned to the commune with our purchases, we found the communites hard at work! (Yup, clearing more stumps.)

After a few hours work today, the stumps are gone! Yay!

Before: :After

Also, the mint seedlings, lettuce seedlings, lettuce seeds (with dill seeds), cilantro seeds, and chard seeds have all been planted into their containers.

The cilantro and lettuce trays are divided into three sections so that we can succession plant them. I'll start new seeds of each every week or two, enabling us to have a continuous supply of lettuce and cilantro. Yum!

Before the end of the night, we'll probably even have some microgreen trays started. Our commune will be swimming in greens if Rb and I have anything to do with it!

The trays for the parsley are ready too, but the seeds need to soak overnight before planting.

Oh... and tiny monster helped too:

Another day of stump clearing

2009-03-29T15:50:00.000-07:00

Saturday was a rollicking day of fun!

We cleared out 2 more stumps. But, boy, did those trees put up a fight!

Here are some lovely shots of the workers.

Go, hippies, go!

Stump 0, Guys 1. Cider 0, Girl 1 (at least).

Don't hurt yourself... use science! FTW!

Next stump...

Seedlings in the oven... so to speak

2009-03-27T16:12:00.002-07:00

Last Monday, seeds were sown. Seeds of wonder and terror... or vegetables; I don't really know which because I mixed up the bags. Either way, something is growing in Rb and I's kitchen.

We have seeds aplenty and dozens of starter pellets, but only two 'greenhouse dome' trays. So we'll get these started and go (grow?) from there.

Our seeds are mostly Seeds of Change brand, although we have a few Botanical Interests, as well.

In the small black tray, we have 4 Long Island Brussel Sprouts, 3 Mammoth Dill, 3 Arkansas Traveler Tomato, and 2 Brandywine Tomato pellets cooking.

In the larger tray, we have 6 Mideast Prolific Cucumber, 6 Provider Snap Bush Bean, 4 Chadwick Cherry Tomato, 4 Cal Wonder Orange Bell Pepper, and 4 Nardello Sweet Peppers.

Our hippie communites all want to eat many, many cucumbers, so I'm hoping that this variety is as prolific in the Southwest as the name suggests it is in the Mideast.

But either way, these plants-to-be and our current seedlings should provide nicely for us on this first round of our garden.

Gardening: Step 2: Seedlings!

2009-03-27T16:12:00.001-07:00

Last Saturday, a handful of us hippies found ourselves wandering around the Texas countryside looking for something to plant.

Here's what we found:

At the Jones' out in Poetry:

(above, from left to right: thai basil, italian basil)

(lime basil, purple beauty bell pepper)

(Serrano pepper, jalapeno heaven, golden summer bell pepper)

(cherokee purple tomato, b-w tomato)

(persimmon tomato, green zebra tomato)

At Classic Gardens in Murphy:

(above, from left to right: Italian oregano, spearmint, stevia)

(hillbilly tomato, red cherry tomato)

(leaf lettuce, bistro salad mix lettuce)

(blushing beauty bell pepper, strawberries)

(marigolds)

Gardening: Step 1: Prepare a bed (or two)

2009-03-27T16:11:00.001-07:00

Though some of our gardening will be in containers, we were able to find (and get approval for) two good-sized beds that get (we hope) plenty of sun.

One is on the east side of the house and only gets partial sun, due to the shadow of the houses nearby.

This bed, once full of small brush and weeds, was cleared out in a matter of minutes. (See, not all hippies are lazy.)

We also put up a long 2x4 to act as an edge to the bed. Today, Mt even aerated it so that it is ready for planting!

The soil here is lush and just begging for our seedlings!

Our other bed needs quite a bit more work before it will be ready. In the front yard, there lies a beautiful (and well-positioned) bed, but alas, it is (was) full of trees. Not even trees, really, but the dreaded holly bush!

Amazingly, we managed to get approval from our landlord to remove these trees/bushes and plant here. Now all we have to do is remove a bunch of trees.

... ... ...

Yeah. I'll leave that to the guys...

Here are the "in progress" pictures:
Start:

After the first session:

Here, they've just cut down the bulk of the trees, but the stumps, oh the stumps, remain. (This was done on Saturday.)

Now/After the second session:

In a surprising Friday afternoon twist, Kv, Jn, and Mt pulled out one stump and dug a second one almost out!

Woo! Here's our new brush pile:

Go, hippies, go!

Projects

2009-03-25T09:54:00.000-07:00

Since this is merely our first go-'round of a commune (and because we don't own the property), we're trying to take the projects slow. That's much harder than it sounds because we are full of ideas, but we know that it's a learning process and we only have so much work and money we are willing to put in (especially given that the property could be sold out from under us at any moment. :eek:)

Though each member of the commune has a different idea of what the finished product should be like, there are some general concepts that get thrown around:

We'd like to:

provide most of our own food from our garden (and eventually animals)
use solar (and other efficient) power sources
live frugally, but also sustainably
make room for our multiple projects (everything from making and using hula hoops to building large shade structures and art works for Burn events to refurbishing old furniture to its original (or some other equally awesome) condition
and love where we live (not just another rental, but a space that is ours).

Our first step is to start our garden.

Welcome to the Commune (V.01)!

2009-03-25T09:32:00.000-07:00

Eight people, three apartments, one property: Welcome to the Commune!

Two of us (Jn and Mx) lived in the upstairs apartment of a great duplex. They had parties, they let various friends stay there for various times when needed, and they generally made us all fall in love with the property.

They'd been there for nearly a year when the garage was turned into an apartment and put up for rent. Quick as a bunny (well, two bunnies, one with a bad ankle), Mt and Nk scooped that tiny apartment right up, making the property two-thirds 'ours'. Weekends became party explosions, with our crazy hippie friends hula-hooping, giggling, and camping out at the property.

Fortuitously, and probably due to the vast amount of noise this group makes, the downstairs neighbors abandoned ship. I (Js) wanted in. Rb, ma trustcentric-polyamorous quasi-boyfriend, was also looking for a new place. We made the necessary arrangements and were here in a heartbeat.

This was followed by Al, ma psuedo-roomate before the move, and Kv, a sometimes squatter at the duplex already, moving in to the upstairs and garage, respectively.

This leaves us where we started... eight goofballs, three apartments, one property... and a sitcom waiting to happen.