This is a summary of plot 17’s organic development last year. The poetics of it was documented on Facebook in dialogue with friends in the album Plot 17. There is much to say about the politics but I don’t have the time to get into that right now. I just want to put up this page so I can get to the current year. If I find the time later, I will add to the commentary.
I started working on plot 17 in the late June 2008. I had done container gardening before but was a novice to growing edibles in land. I knew one thing though: I had to work on the soil, put my energy into it. For two weeks I worked on the hardened soil of the unused plot, digging deep into it, pulling out clay balls, rocks and the occasional concrete chunk. My labour worked like a prayer. Instead of adding top soil, I added peat moss and compost, reclaiming the original soil rather than covering it. When I was finished, the texture was much softer and richer.
I didn’t have to do much to get the soil ready for planting when the season started in May 2009. In October 2008 I had weeded, turned the ground and used the dried stocks remaining of the plants to mulch. So when I returned in spring all I did was loosen the ground with a fork and mix in some compost. But I redesigned the footpaths. I hadn’t liked the grid like rigidity in the way the bricks had been laid the year before, so I pulled them all out, brought in new un-rectangular tiles, and laid in new paths in a more organic design. They worked really well, so I think I’m going to keep the design this year too.
In 2009 I wanted to a) go from seed to seed as much as possible, b) produce most of my herb and vegetable needs, 3) have as rich a variety as I could in as condensed space as possible. In April I started from seed purple and green basil, cilantro, beets, varieties of lettuce, arugula, rapini, red mustard, tot soi, four varieties of tomatoes, black bush beans and ochra. I bought celery, kale, rainbow swiss chard, parsley, peas, dill, red cabbage, marigolds, callendula and echinacea as seedlings. Tarragon, sage, chives, mint and lavender were returning perennials I’d planted in 2008.
I wanted to bring a variety of colours into the garden. The beets and red mustard added rich dark red leaves and bright red stems, rainbow swiss chard brought in bright yellow and orange stems, red cabbage and purple basil mixed in their rich hues, and marigold and callendula sprinkled the garden with vibrant yellows and oranges.
By late July, I was harvesting enough for myself and to share with a few friends and neighbours. I harvested the outer leaves regularly to encourage new growth. And the plants never failed producing more. By this time I was also cutting and drying herbs regularly. The staircase in my house where I hung bunched herbs wrapped in paper bags looking like pods smelled beautifully.
