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i'm so happy that these are done!!! and, i'm even more excited to ship them off tomorrow to liz so she can hang in them in her baby girl's room:) i am actually pleased with the way these turned out. i love the colors and the concept(s). i hope baby isabelle looks up at them and they make her SMILE:)
liz and i spoke today about doing a piece for her niece miley who LOVES cows! so, i'll be sketching some ideas for that this weekend. super excited for that one as well!:)
BTW~I WILL BE SELLING PRINTS OF THESE IN MY ETSY SHOP NEXT WEEK...STAY TUNED...

Mom says:
Despite the title, this is not a version of the familiar song. In Judi Barrett's Old MacDonald Had an Apartment House, the titular character is the super of a building. When his wife's tomato plant droops due to lack of sunlight in their tiny kitchen, Old MacDonald takes it upon himself to chop down the hedge blocking the light. Encouraged by the results of his ingenuity, the super decides the courtyard would be better as a vegetable garden. As tenants begin to move out, he takes over their apartments for gardens one by one so that the remaining residents find sweet potato vines in their faucets hear cows mooing through the walls.  A much as I would personally love to have a flock of chickens, I think I will leave Old MacDonald's methods to the imagination of picture book creators and stick to the farmer's market. As the hilarity continues, the owner of the building finally shows up, and is understandably upset. However, this being a children's book, slum landlords are always redeemable and the urban farm is saved, so that even city dwellers can now have fresh produce in winter.

In light of the recent urban farming movement, this book, originally written in 1969, takes on a whole new relevancy. It was fun to use this book as a way to discuss where the food we buy comes from and how we can grow our own food without upsetting our neighbors. As as you can see from the cover, there's a bit of a nod to the American Gothic, as well.

Big Kid says: That is crazy. I don't want a cow in my apartment!

María Luz Duarte and her family own a farm, but when the land loses its goodness and food supplies run low, her father must leave home to find work. María Luz must tend the garden on her own. Then a new teacher moves into the area ... Click here to read more.

I love that we live in a community where growing your own food is ‘normal’. And growing a homestead is contagious. It’s mid September, 10:30 at night, and I just finished braiding 60 onions to cure for the winter. And they are so pretty. (It reminded me of french braiding friends’ hair during Latin class in high school. Yup, that’s right, I studied Latin. I have no idea why, but I sorta liked it.) During all that braiding, I was thinking of how four years ago, our garden wasn’t a garden. That blows my mind! There was nothing there but sage bushes, cactus plants, a few trees, and a huge, ugly pile of construction dirt. There was no “soil”. It was all dry desert dirt.

A whole lotta heart and sweat went into starting our garden. We dug and hauled about 75 wheel barrels full of the construction dirt and barely made a dent in the mound. I was SO determined to do it by hand, but luckily Patrick had more sense and hired a man and his bobcat to clear the sage and a few trees, and create a burm (and windblock) along the south and west side of the future garden. Over a few years, we have added several enormous truckloads of manur+sandy soil and double-dug it into all our raised beds which are on drip (fed as much as possible by collected rain water). It started at roughly 3600 sq ft to grow into, and in such a short time we have, and even expanded with our greenhouse-dome. I have been going non-stop this summer, and especially lately, trying to preserve as much food as I can, and this morning was one of those “awe” moments for sure. Giving a lot of thanks and appreciating what we’ve created. Patrick, Tulsi, Oso and I make the bestest team ever.

One thing happens every garden season: some things work, and other things don’t, and we always learn a LOT. And at the beginning of every growing season, I announce that I’m going to keep a journal of everything — what we plant and harvest and preserve, what we sell, where we failed and what we were most excited about. But I never do. SO…this post is for me to remember next year, and for anyone who has any interest… :) And I would LOVE to hear what you are growing and preserving!

Without further ado, THE 2010 Garden Masala FARM REPORT:

I need to remember that the summer of 2010 was sorta crazy in the sense that we did more than what seems humanly possible for 2 people with a 16 month old. And although we always felt behind, and were hard on ourselves for having a sloppy summer greenhouse-turn-temporary-chicken-house or for abandoning our potato bags (an experiment this year to save space and time and therefore had a puny harvest (yet delicious)), I think it’s important to acknowledge how we had the biggest vegetable and flower garden yet. We started everything from seed in the greenhouse which was extremely exciting. And we took a huge step closer to our goal of feeding our family year round. That’s just awesome…

Here’s what we grew/did new this year:

NuMex Bolo Onions. Our stellar crop of the year! (and the first time we’ve EVER succeeded at growing onions.) They are HUGE and sweet! The most exciting part is that we started them from teeny seeds last

Finally, something that oceanographers and old people can agree on.
Thanks Beatles.

The first bunch of wee red chillies from my garden. Slightly dried out by the time I got round to drawing them, so they're a bit warped and slightly twisted ... exactly the way I like them.

The first bunch of wee red chillies from my garden. Slightly dried out by the time I got round to drawing them, so they're a bit warped and slightly twisted ... exactly the way I like them.

It is snowing outside right now.

No, I'm not kidding.

This is why I haven't transplanted my seedlings yet.

In a yard where I like very little, this little beauty was a very welcome surprise. I LOVE the color!!!! It almost makes up for the 13 rose bushes, most of which are in colors I do not like. I really don't care for roses at all to be honest. I can't wait to replace them with something else!

I am also loving my greenhouse window. Oh the possibilities!

I already had all of these pots, so for very little money, my window is all dressed up. I can't wait to draw these little lovelies.

My favorite all time flower is the Gerber daisy. I love all daisies, but the Gerber is the queen! There're like sunshine, happiness, & fun all rolled up in one scrumptious flower. Please don't notice the gunk in the bottom of the pool. It's on my to do list.

How can you not smile at these? I wish I could've taken them all home! I hope you're having a lovely spring!

Today is the first of Orca’s Poetry Pauses in celebration of National Poetry Month. Every Friday throughout April, we will post a fun and classroom-friendly poem from one of Pat Skene’s hilarious poetry collections: Monster Lunch, Rhyme Stones and What a Hippopota-Mess!, all illustrated by Graham Ross. This week’s poem is “Grumpy Garden-Dude” from Monster Lunch.
Classroom Activities:

· Pat’s poems are perfect for reading aloud or performing in small groups. Have the class identify all the “garden” words in the poem.
· Discuss students’ favorite (and least favorite!) outdoor activities.
· Make a chart of what vegetables students would grow in their gardens and why.
· Help students write another stanza for “Grumpy Garden-Dude” with the same AABB rhyme scheme.

You can also download the Monster Lunch Teachers’ Guide for more activities and curriculum connections.

Grumpy Garden-Dude

Please excuse my attitude,
but you can keep your garden-food.
I think planting is a bore,
When you can buy stuff at the store.

One day my dad said with a grin,
“C’mon, let’s put a garden in.”
I dragged the tools down from the shelf,
and kept my feelings to myself.

We found a sunny garden spot.
I worked till I was sweaty hot.
We turned the soil to make a bed.
“Now add manure,” my father said.

“Phew!” I cried. “Give me a break!”
He laughed and handed me the rake.
I sniffed and sniffed but must admit,
it didn’t even stink a bit.

We put in rows and rows of seeds.
Dad said, “That’s what our garden needs.”
We planted seedlings in the ground
and wrapped some wire all around.

I moaned and groaned till we were done.
My dad said, “Next comes all the fun.
I’ll make a gardener of you yet.”
I answered, “Right! You wanna bet?”

I dug my heels into the dirt
and wiped my hands across my shirt.
Now what’s a grumpy dude to do?
I didn’t have a garden-clue!

For weeks I battled wicked weeds.
I shrieked at slugs and centipedes.
The sprinkler hose had sprung a leak.
My garden-life was looking bleak.

The day by day the changes came.
And things no longer looked the same.
Who knew that peas could climb a pole?
Or squash would grow out of control?

We built a trellis with some twine.
I helped my dad with the design.
We scooped up radishes and beans,
pickled carrots, beets and lettuce greens.

Our yard looked like a grocery mart
I could have used a shopping cart.
Tomatoes overflowed my pot,
and suddenly, I had a thought.

“It’s pizza night,” I told my dad.
I showed him all the stuff I had.
Red peppers, onions, herbs and more.
“We don’t need pizza from the store.”

We made the dough—it was a breeze.

For those of you who’ve been asking¹ here’s more photos of the garden.

First up here’s one of our lovely Eucalyptus ficifolia or flowering gum. They’re incredibly common here in Sydney. I swear almost every street in Surry Hills is lined with ficifolia. I miss them like crazy when I’m in NYC. Hence the need to have some on the deck:

Isn’t that adorable? Baby ficifolia reminds me of a puppy dog whose feet are way bigger than the rest of it. Only it’s the leaves that are outsized compared to the currently spindly trunk and branches. I do wonder how those branches manage to support the weight of the jumbo leaves. (Why, yes, that is a stake holding it upright.)

Did you notice the native violets (Viola hederacaea) underneath? Eventually those lovely violets will go cascading over the sides of the pots. It will be so gorgeous!

Here’s a close up on some NEW GROWTH. (Um, yes, I am kind of obsessed with the garden. I am aware that plants tend to grow.)

But still that’s actual new growth that happened while it was on our deck. Can you see why it fills my heart with such joy? I swear every morning when I go out to check that they’ve survived the night (*cough* *cough*) I find a new tiny spurt. *sigh of happiness*

Though I also tend to find that some evil beastie has been doing some munching! Grrr.

If I find the culprit I destroys it. How dare it eat our garden?! The outrage! Okay, yes, I know that it’s all part of the beautiful cycle of life and blah blah blah but they can go eat someone else’s baby ficifolia.

Here’s my favourite grass tree or Xanthorrhoea johnsonii. Tis a double-decker:

I wasn’t sure about having grass trees. They’re so amazing in the wild that I wasn’t convinced they’d look okay confined to a wee pot. But they look incredible. I spend hours on the deck just watching the wind move through their fronds. I think I am in love with our grass trees.

Lastly here is the new view from our bedroom:

That’s Syzygium luehmannii or as it’s more commonly known lilli pilli. There’s now a wall of it guar