Checkpoint on environmental “tinkering”
Regular readers here will remember my previous posts on environmental projects that I've undertaken. Since it's easy to talk about things when they start up or fail, but not so easy to remember to talk about them otherwise, I thought I'd post a little catch-up note on how things are going.
Since starting our worm bins last fall, Joy and I have had fun with our new little “pets”. Friends we see regularly know how we'll stop them from throwing away tea bags and fruit rinds, squirreling them away to later feed our worms. Since things changed around here, Joy and I combined our worm bins, initially providing enough worms to start a friend's bin, and, after several more months, a slow start for my recently-married sister, as well. We've also fed our worms enough that we've now harvested one tray... providing compost to our rather ridiculous garden of potted plants.
Speaking of which...
Another recent project has been the growing columns. I say columns because we built a second one on Joy's balcony. With two towering piles of growing potential, we've eaten dozens of helpings of salad, several sides of collard greens, a couple of stir-fry's with home grown bok choi, and an occasional meal spruced up with other plants, most of which we had a harder time keeping around, like the spinach which never seem to grow for long before going to seed. And all of it's been organic, and uber-fresh.
The growing columns are a lovely project, but not without their concerns. First of all, as the weather (and ongoing watering) has gone on, concerns about how we'll reinvigorate them next year reign - there's not much hope that these things will hold up for many years, for instance. And things tend to go to seed faster, if only because we try to water the things a lot, but not so heavily as to leave their cardboard outer layer soggy.... but, this also depends on the season. We've been refilling the columns every few months with new plants, depending on what we've been able to get to come up from a separate plant nursery we're also squeezing into our balcony. As a result, we currently have predominantly collard greens growing, for instance, since we've had trouble getting any romaine or other plants to germinate in the last couple of months.
The last project, the most ongoing and lifestyle affecting one, has been well covered here. Bottom line: Joy and I both still regularly (>>4x each week, average) ride our commutes, and typically other trips, on our scooters. My car, now fully paid-off, gets very little driving, outside of trips to the airport and other beyond-scooter travel distances. By contrast, I've put over 2600 miles onto my scooter since March; Joy almost 1000 since May. Yes, I do tend to gloat whenever someone brings up the price of gas.
Anyone have any other fun environmental-friendly projects to suggest?
Tags: environmentalism
Comments
came back today specifically to take a look at your "build a growing column" series. i've been thinking of using one or two columns for strawberries, rather than splurging on expensive strawberry pots. was wondering, though, how yours have held up and what you have had luck growing in them. would you make columns again? or, also, do you envision HAVING to make a growing column again next season due to cardboard rot? anyway, cool project and thanks for documenting it.
Posted by: mal | October 8, 2005 12:50 PM
Wow, good timing! I'm glad someone outside my normal readership found the growing columns stuff useful.
As to your question: Both of our columns are under a roof: I think that they'll probably last another season, if we continue to be careful. If your column is exposed, I'm not sure it would hold up for more than one season, depending on how you cover it. We ended up cutting much bigger holes in the cardboard than in the "construction" photos... making it easier to plan and replant, but also making the structural integrity somewhat reduced.
We try to water the plants regularly but on the lighter side, to keep the inner water level high, but avoid soaking the soil so thoroughly to let the cardboard get very wet. As a result, though the cardboard has definitely taken some wear, I think it'll last long enough to make it another year. I don't hold much hope for additional years, though, especially if we have to move them (or landlord is due to do some construction on our balcony, which threatens to derail the experiment entirely. Er, pun intended? )
We have grown: Bok choi (went to seed after only a few pickings), Romaine (last long enough to eat from several times, but not long enough to justify unless you start from seed), Spinach (no luck keeping it alive long enough to eat), and Collard Greens (doing great when we can prevent the caterpillers from eating them, some plants have lasted all season at this point). I think that's everything we've had in a growing column, to date.
Posted by: bp | October 10, 2005 11:19 AM
Hey thanks for the growing column article. I ended up on your blog after clicking on the link to this post. That Journey to Forever link is great. I also really appreciated the Amazon Waste Flickr set.
It seems we have some things in common. I too am always running an eco-project or two or three. It only get's worse once you switch from an apartment to a house. Being that I'm in Chicago, this time of year is when we start trying to weatherproof our 80 year old house, and bringing our army of potted tropical plants in from the yard. I'm also trying to figure out what I should do with my rain barrels for the winter to keep them from freezing and getting the outdoor compost ready for the winter with lots of yard waste.
Posted by: mattie | October 14, 2005 03:12 PM
Oh, I think Bryan's being too negative about the longevity of the columns. If we had it to do over again, I think we definitely would, and since ours are covered, they'll probably last ~2 years before completely falling apart. I'm not sure if strawberries are the best thing - since the main problem with strawberries is pests, and the columns don't really offer good protection from birds/squirels/etc. But the columns excel at producing leafy greens in a really compact space. Watering them without drowning or starving the bottom of the column is an acquired skill, but not too dificult.
Ah, eco projects. If we had a house, I can only imagine the things we'd get into. For now, I'm secretly glad we don't - neither of us has enough time as it is!
Posted by: Joy | November 3, 2005 05:32 PM
Oh, I think Bryan's being too negative about the longevity of the columns. If we had it to do over again, I think we definitely would, and since ours are covered, they'll probably last ~2 years before completely falling apart. I'm not sure if strawberries are the best thing - since the main problem with strawberries is pests, and the columns don't really offer good protection from birds/squirels/etc. But the columns excel at producing leafy greens in a really compact space. Watering them without drowning or starving the bottom of the column is an acquired skill, but not too dificult.
Ah, eco projects. If we had a house, I can only imagine the things we'd get into. For now, I'm secretly glad we don't - neither of us has enough time as it is!
Posted by: Joy | November 3, 2005 05:36 PM