Met Scott at the downtown Co-op, end of his week, start of my night. He was on bike with a backpack of food and six-pack of brew. Scott lives by the cemetary in an area i now call Co-op row (reason being Big John from production is his neighbor, Craig in pastry next to him others near) in the house deemed officially...
the smallest house in iowa city
From which his is doing the most grandious things.his front yard has two apple trees, one doing well one maybe done, asparagus patch, poppies, and a row of beautiful flowers. He grabbed a knife and a shovel and we headed across the street to the backyard garden he transformed on the Governor Street side.
good gardening is all about decomposition
Scott has taught classes for Tap Root Nature Experience and the Iowa City Public Library on composting, urban gardening, and drumming as well. He helped start an organization called
Food not Lawns
trying to keep it simple and resist stupid city ordinanaces that favor lawns over gardens. And promote the beauty of diversity in plants, which in turn enriches our lives through strenghthening our soil. Codes that call for height restrictions on flowers and crops like sweet corn or those that restrict your right to have a greenhouse. All for what purpose? Some kind of deal with the companies that poisen our land and water sources? It's unbelievable. We should be...
building community by building soil
Scott explained that the more he does in dense urban areas, the more people passing by ask him about gardening. His neighbors should all have a fruit tree (not bluegrass) someday everyone will share veggies they are long on, no one will spray. Real steps toward healing. Through food.
scott's method of no till urban gardening
Obtain compost, create and purchase the super affordable city compost. Find a lawn, get a shovel skiff it just over the grass shallow scuff, flop it over and chop it up. The grass under will decompose and the earth is disturbed as little as possible. A row is left for now that later will be wheel barrowed full of compost. The compost will decompose the grass on your paths and the nutrients will spread down and into the root system of whatever is planted on each side. This can be done in extremely tight paths which is necessary in an urben enviroment. That's just the start. But is is cool.
When you feel like intervening
in your garden stop, observe, reflect, stay stopped, stop some more. Less is more. The cucumber and bean beetles sometimes get your plants. Something, each year, is gonna. Weeds will grow and become compost. This year it was the squash vine bore for Scott. It is a yasp that lays its eggs at the base of the squash vine and the eggs hatch right into the base and kill the plant. Bugs and weeds are part of our garden. They are not pests just because. Think of the least intrusive solution, then move on to what is doing well that year. just stop and reflect—it works.
i cried for nuts
Scott showed me the pecan tree he planted back in his yard. He planted a pecan tree in iowa. Hazelnut can grow here too. and of course chestnuts. and even though they are not from trees peanuts G.W.C. totally.
full page ad
calling all local growers! bring us your stuff. right Steve? Dennis? and Mike? i'll say. seriously, people need to try to sell and try to buy better. it can be done.
the triangle United Foods:Farmers:Co-op
Oats and wheat berries are no longer big enough sellers to be supportive to a real farmer by just selling through Newpi. Farmers are going to have to break through the United barrier and have there stuff distrubuted. Then it's not just local is it, Nope. It's being trucked, but maybe just to the midwest. idunno. Black beans they can be grown here, they are widely used in every restaurant in IC, maybe that's a viable local crop.
the map of what can be grown is changing
Hello Global warming! We can grow rice now, just like Arkansas 10 years ago. Like i ate peaches, like Scott's growing pecans. They were formerly southern foods, now Iowan. Kinda scary, kinda cool.
come get the grubbing hoe
thanks Scott very much
