Little Townhouse on the Prairie Part 1 - Urban Farming

So this past Sunday I put seeds into the ground in my first attempt at what my very dear Christian brother calls "Urban Farming". He himself owns and operates a farm an hour away from here and is currently in the process of becoming an organic farm.

Now the back story. When I lived at home, my parents had a garden. I found it enjoyable. But then I moved out and of all the six places I've lived since then, only two have been in locations suitable for gardening, unless I wanted to take the risk of an apartment deck style garden. Money played a huge factor in that not happening. So now here I am, I have a townhouse that I'm renting, where the only real full sun spot is alongside the house. But this is where theatric is happening. Well, provided Francis and Philip don't eat my crops or they fail...bit more on that later.

Anyhoobastank, so I invested in a handheld tiller, a few bags of miracle grow soil and some seeds. This year I got a metric buttload of sugar snap peas (my favorite) bush beans (a close 2nd), squash, tomatoes, blackberries and strawberries. The first three of which are in the ground and at the mercy of Philip.

I should probably take a moment to tell you about Philip. Philip is a bunny, a rather ballsy bunny if you ask me. He will let you get within three feet of him before he hops away. Francis is the mouse who loves under my back stoop. He's not any harm yet so I don't see a reason to murder him. A little chicken wire fence around my side garden should curb Philip's temptation...and as far as Francis goes, well, he better just stay the hell away from inside my house. The back stoop is close enough. Even then though, I'll look for a humane way of taking care of him, as his namesake saint would have me do.

Admittedly, I have named my animal neighbors after St. Francis of Assisi, who as you know had a thing for animals. And Philip, after my patron saint, St. Philip Neri. The next animal friend I encounter will more than likely be named Pio, or something related to Padre Pio, as I've taken a recent liking to Padre Pio. I have a system. Get over it. :P

So, here I go, waiting for my seeds to sprout. In the back of the side plot, abutting the house, I planted individual "hills" of beans. So basically I dug a small hole, put 3-5 bean seeds in, and covered it up. Then, in front of it (there's about a foot space in between), I carved a row out, sprinkled my pea seeds (which to me look like just dried up peas, and the beans looked like un-gravy-ized baked beans), and folded the dirt over my row. In the corner towards the back I put my lone tomato plant, which at time of planting already had 2 tomatoes growing out of it. I have one more miniature plant I'll put next to it. And the squash? I'm not entirely sure where I'll put it yet, but I have to get it in quick! Same with the Blackberry Bush and the Strawberries. I am told that berries love acidic soil, and I've been working my coffee grounds into the garden. Planting near a pine tree will also do the job. Updates to come, obviously. I can't keep you in suspense waiting.

In other news, I've recently been reading the blogs of some pretty good theologians, one being Dr. Taylor Marshall. He suggests reading a chapter of Proverbs a day for a month, which works out because there's 31 chapters of Proverbs. And reading a Psalm a day and writing down one word that sticks out at you. I'm in process of that one, and will probably start the Proverbs challenge July 1 (June only has 30 days and I'm anal-retentive like that). I've also been checking out the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Ireneus, St. Augustine...all in an attempt to "be a Berean" and figure out for myself just where my growing attraction to the Catholic Church is coming from, above or below. My instinct (albeit untrustworthy) is telling me (and has told me for some time now), that it is above. "The truth is like a lion. You don't have to defend it. Let it loose. It will defend itself." - St. Augustine. And I can't help but think that God would not be having me keep coming back to something that was detrimental to my faith and salvation. To put it in secular terms, I find for myself that I much more prefer the "Full Flavor" of the Catholic Church than the "Lights" of the Lutheran Church. Don't tell anybody I said that. (see it's funny, because if I truly meant that I wouldn't have posted it on a blog.) "We are the Easter People, and Alleluia is our song!" (Pope St. John Paul II)...and another favorite I've recently discovered, "I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world." (St. Teresa of Calcutta, better known as Blessed Mother Teresa)

As of tomorrow I will be working from home. I've already taken the liberty of ordering myself a manual ceramic burr coffee grinder, to prepare myself for countless French Presses to come. There is something satisfying about the idea of Self-Sustainability, planting seeds in the ground (get your mind out of the gutter), and waiting for nourishment to sprout. Making your own homemade crackers from scratch. Making your own baby food from fresh produce. Brewing your own beer...and soon, perhaps, roasting your own coffee?

Hoping not to "jinx myself with Bad Juju", I think it's safe to say I am greeting a new morning from the dark night of depression. I love being "busy", so to speak, and seeing things come to fruition, and things starting to fall into place. Just as I'm sure God intended it, and thanks be to Him who makes this all possible. I've been experiencing a Renaissance of creativity, figuratively speaking, in that I've been doing some DIY projects involving my son's old dresser I turned into a coffee bar for the kitchen (see a theme here...?), a bookshelf I turned into what is ending up as a display case...a refurbished writing desk, and a handful of canvases. It's amazing what the prospect of moving and having a new place instills in one for a sense of creativity. Juxtaposed with the ideas of self sustainability, it has the makings of a pretty wonderful summer ahead.

Oh, and the title of this entry? Thought of it whilst walking at noon. I have yet to cut the grass at the new place, and so with the grass as long as it is, and growing (due to rain which is also a hindrance to lawn mowing I might add), leads me to the christening of the place as the "Little Townhouse on the Prairie"...ha.

I'll continue to update. Also in said updates I will tie in some other blog posts about Urban Farming and Urban Agriculture. It's a thing! Stay tuned.