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Comic Info:
September 2, 2012 - 8:36pm
Obviously I wasn't expecting a huge harvest, I just wanted to see what I could manage to grow on my balcony! I also grew some kale and spinach and a monstrous bean plant that I think will have a much better yield than my poor little peas
Comic Comments
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#623scottven -
#622NickMcWilliam -
#621Jam -
#620Jam -
#619NickMcWilliam
Comments
All the tomatoes effectively failed this year - far too wet for them, and very little sunshine to ripen the poor little green blips that appeared. On the other hand, we have a *massive* crop of rhubarb!
Our friends grow massive, ugly tomatoes in their backyard, while our other friends grow cucumbers. They can't find the ripening cucumbers until they reach a diameter of about 5 inches. Then they give them to us. We take some tomatoes from the first couple and make a very odd, large salad.
Actually, Jam twittered a picture of one of her beans. Bigger than her hand, it was quite impressive.
It might be more worthwhile, given the limited space, to grow herbs. Why buy parsley, thyme, rosemary and such things when you can just grow it? (That said, I guess you still have to buy it, you just buy it before someone killed it and dehydrated it)
Be warned that the amounts needed are different for dried vs fresh herbs - I don't know the conversions, but they're easy enough to find.
Honestly, you could probably just keep most of it alive and thus use it fresh (which is more beneficial in most cases).
That was my point, actually. It's just that many recipes assume you don't have a fully functional herb/spice garden handy and thus list requirements of processed versions. Plus, some of the plants are quite annoying to use yourself. Parsley and chives are nice and simple; Rosemary takes a fair bit of leaf plucking and doesn't mince easily. Of course, saffron is the king of "too complex to process yourself" herbs/spices, but I doubt you'd even be able to make it grow indoors in Vancouver.
I knew you could do it, Jammy! Congratulations. You're on your way to becoming a useful member of my post-apocalyptic "country estate".
And now Jam oficially learned the hardship of farmers. Those small patch of "land" won't give you much. Don't give up though, keep planting.... and watering.... and putting in some fertilizer......
Actually, permaculture shows a higher product without fertilizer after you completely condition (10ish years in worse places) the soil. You can also grow in areas others would think are impossible to farm in. I think google digitized a pretty decent book on it ($200 out of print book for free), I'll comment again if I find it.
Toyohiko Kagawa did bunch of spadework in the field and really started it up (he was inspired by J. Russell Smith's book). Wikipedia has some pretty good articles on it, they're worth a read.
That smooshy face in the top/middle part just made my day. It's just so cute!
Sixpea Soup
Jam, you work in business, you KNOW that w/ limited space you grow the things that have decent price/space ratios. Herbs, spices, rare 'things' (had to self-edit >_<) like tea (you can do it w/ hydroponics, they have a tea grower in Britian right now).
Beans are a staple, but peas? Hell, grow two pots of MJ, one for relaxation, one for pain medication, that's more effective.
Regarding your last sentence, I doubt Jam's sentiments have changed since her earlier comic about marijuana users in Vancouver. Her sentiments are not also mine, though.