Over the last couple of weeks, I‘ve been sharing my tomato seedlings with my friends who are able to give them good homes. The starter cells are getting crowded with little guys fighting for sun and nutrients, so the call for caring tomato parents goes out!

Today around the Farm Aid kitchen table, Ted, Jen, Glenda and Anna all grabbed a few for their EarthBoxes and back yards. Wendy doesn’t know it yet, but she is the proud mamma of four heirloom (two red, two black) plants, too – come and get ‘em!

Fast forward a few months...I reap the rewards of my generosity. Mmmm...tomatoes...
**An update*** It is not advised that you plant the actual newspaper, as it does take a long time for the paper to biodegrade. Our friends at Homegrown Evolution also say that the newspaper tends to wick precious moisture away from your fledgling veggie plants.**

CSA Roulette

Now that we’re enjoying the first signs of spring after a long winter, the yearning for fresh local veggies is strong. I signed up for my first CSA share this summer with Revision House Urban Farm and I can’t wait!
While I know that the first box will be heavy on just a few ingredients (definitely not a problem), I’m looking forward to June’s more diverse boxes so we can play “CSA Roulette” (our friend Severine’s term) – essentially, make a fabulous and delicious meal out of a random grab from the box. A pretty obvious thing to do with a bunch of vegetables, but using a sexy casino term in concert with fresh vegetables might just get us to dress up for dinner!

DIY - Organic pesticide made from vegetables!

The tomato seeds I harvested from last summer's yummies have sprouted into delicate, yet ambitious, wisps. It won't be long until my nephew plants them in his raised bed garden in the country. In the event that any unwanted visitors shack up on the plants, I want to provide him with a safe pesticide alternative.

Our friends at Instructables have just the recipe - using onions, hot peppers and a little bit of dish soap - brilliant!
link

The Greenhorns

We had a delightful visit from Severine from The Greenhorns yesterday. We dug into a fresh blueberry peach pie while she told us about the many interesting projects she's involved in - including getting The Greenhorns movie produced and distributed. Her passion for getting young farmers hooked up with each other is wonderfully infectious - you go, Severine, we're big fans!
The Greenhorns Trailer:

The bounty of spaces large and small

I just returned from three days in New York City - took in The Whitney Biennial, Scope, Volta and toured dozens of galleries in Chelsea. People in New York sacrifice the convenience of having space in return for other conveniences: 24-hour living has its appeal. Seeing how art is displayed in such a dense urban area got me thinking more about how we use space, and the economy of space.
In the world of HOMEGROWN, space is about connecting to the land and to people using your hands: growing, crafting, cooking and, of course, eating. Since we've started this blog, I've encountered so many people who are thinking about growing - and the space in which they grow - in modern, creative ways. A few examples:

Edible Estates "is an attack on the front lawn and everything it has come to represent!"

It "is an ongoing series of projects to replace the front lawn with edible garden landscapes responsive to culture, climate, context and people!"
Basically, turn your yard into a farm!

Our friend Mark in the Pacific Northwest sent us a link to WebUrbanis -3D City Farms: Sustainable, Ecological and Agricultural Skyscrapers.

Blade Runners as farmers!


























And, again, The New York Times shows us how urbanites are living HOMEGROWN.
A Fruit Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Tell us about YOUR space - how do you choose to use what you've got?