Bornfamous

I took Sharon’s Independence Days Challenge to heart. I’d post garden pics, but I can’t get the newly reformatted computer to recognize my digital camera. Argh. Anyway, here’s my update:
For me, the big one was getting over my fear of the unknown by finally diving in and planting seeds on my little balcony. I’d never [...]

It’s World Naked Gardening Day–publicradio.org article [mildly NSFW]. Official web site [definitely NSFW].
Take off your clothes and start gardening! But don’t expect me to join you. :o]

It’s billed as a documentary that Americans won’t ever see.. except on the Internet. Google Video has the entire, 1 hr 49 minute film. You owe it to yourself and your children to see it:

On March 11 a new documentary was aired on French television (ARTE – French-German cultural tv channel) by French journalist [...]

Yeah, I know. I’ve been neglecting poor Bornfamous. Sorry. It’s just that I’ve been reading and learning so much that I needed time to process it all. And I haven’t been able to decide what to share–and certainly haven’t felt competent enough to set myself up as an expert, which is how I feared I’d [...]

I couldn’t help myself. I signed up:

Not that I’ve been successful at growing food on the balcony YET. Other than rosemary and chives, but I ate them and that’s a start, right? Damn straight.

Well, sort of. After reading and ruminating about gardening for weeks, I got a slow start today. My new worm bin arrived, along with worms, and I got them all settled in their bedding. [Pics coming shortly.] Then, what the heck, I finally transplanted a rootbound pot of rosemary that I bought at a farmer’s [...]

Thanks for all the great comments, support and suggestions on my little gardening problem. I’ve been pondering this for the last week and I think the key is my realization that, while the balcony is too hot IN SUMMER, it’s just fine the rest of the year. This IS San Diego, after all. And I [...]

Herbs and sun tea at sunset
Okay, so I have a whopping nine plants in my little balcony garden: eight herbs and an aloe vera. That’s it. No tomatoes, no cukes, no peppers, none of the usual summer veggies most backyard/balcony gardeners have going strong by this time.
I got all excited about [...]

I am now officially a fan of Bill Mollison, one of the fathers of permaculture. I’d want to have his baby, except I’m over the baby thing now. See Bill demonstrate how to set up a permaculture food garden on a highrise balcony, and then watch the whole series.

Three new plants! More chives [because I'm eating them faster than they can grow], sorrel, and sweet basil. Mmm…

Plant a Row for the Hungry
Approximately 25 million people, including 9.9 million children, have substandard diets or must resort to seeking emergency food because they cannot always afford the food they need. In the past year, the demand for hunger assistance has increased by 40%, and research shows that hundreds of hungry children and [...]

I went to the farmer’s market and impulsively bought my first herb plants: rosemary, chives, and cilantro. They smell so good!

I know — I could grow sunflowers on my balcony, for the flowers, the seeds AND the shade. Plus my grungy balcony would look pretty for a change. I love it. Facts about Sunflowers

The nice thing about living in San Diego is that it’s never too late to start a garden. It’s just a matter of what to plant and when to plant it. Oh, and where. Kind of like the five w’s we learned in journalism class [who, what, where, when and um, how -- I know, [...]

Freedom is growing your own food. That’s the philosophy of Jules Dervaes and his three grown children. They are supporting themselves by farming almost every inch of their 1/10th-acre yard in Pasadena, California — complete with chickens, ducks and goats. Their amazing urban farm, which yields three TONS of yummy organic food per year, [...]