Apr
28
Written by:
Andrew Marx
4/28/2009 4:46 PM
I’m a brick farmer. Considering my garden space sits on top of two infilled homes, bricks are really the only thing my soil is fit to grow. And boy does it grow them. So far, I’m picking at least a crate full a day. Whole bricks are a rare find—mostly it’s just oddly shaped halves and quarters. This debricking process has already leveled off the ground a great deal, letting me put down some grass seed that’s beginning to take. A good dousing with water from my rain barrel every other morning seems to be doing the trick.
Aside from bricks and grass, the hops are sprouting! I was talking to another beer enthusiast last night who reminded me that hops need to have all but the strongest vines cut back to encourage growth. I tried pulling one out of the soil only to find that it brought some roots out as well. I carefully did the same to a few of the other crowns (the vine parts of the hops plant), and quickly potted the extracted vine + root. If they take, I’ll have 5 more Cascade plants to give away. Who wants some hops?
Other than that, planting has been slow. Some basil from Greensgrow, cilantro, parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme have filled a few planters. It’s almost time to head back to buy my tomato plants, which will be hanging upside down as soon as I can built the supports. Anybody else making this work for them?