Fridays are AWESOME. Street cleaning opens up the whole block. I can't help but think about how different this block will look after a year or two. Heck, I planted full size trees for the most part. So, in fifteen years this little sidewalk farm will look like a sidewalk forest.
It happened again today. I know, I have never mentioned this before, but it happens all the time. Perfect strangers stop and ask me about the farm. Interest is peaked. Questions are asked. Dreams are shared, and then it happens. They ask me how much of the fruit of my labor do I actually expect to harvest. "You know, everyone is going to pick it over", they say. It's funny because they just finished encouraging and complementing me on all the great changes I've made. 9 times out of 10 everyone says the same thing. But, my answer is the same 10 times out of 10. "I hope they do pick it over. Americans could stand to add a little 'homegrown' to their diet. Who knows, maybe my farm will open families up to eating more fresh fruits & vegetables." They look at me like I'm crazy and then walk away.
Andrea came home and told me she had a surprise for me. Her friend had given her a garbage bag full of rhubarb cuttings. I had known of their plant and had wanted to get a cutting for awhile. Any Sustainable Urban Farm is not complete without a good healthy crop of rhubarb. I know, I know... what good is rhubarb for other than pies? Surprisingly enough, I was wondering the same thing.
I picked our daughter up from school and swung by our favorite little French restaurant, Utopia, to get a treat. The owner and I are on a first name basis and we chat it up frequently. When he saw me walk through the door he pushed a hot plate of appetizers in my face and said he wanted me to try a new creation of his. Not afraid to try new things, I popped one in my mouth and he proceeded to describe his new delectable. Ironically, it was lobster pate wrapped with thinly sliced rhubarb! Whoa! Could the clouds have parted and the glory shone down directly on my tongue? I think so! Rhubarb + Lobster + Salt + (a myriad of mind blowing peripherals) = What else have I been eating my whole life? Just moments before, I was thinking about the limited use of rhubarb and how it is taking up too much valuable space on the sidewalk farm to just have one purpose. That's when I asked him what else can rhubarb be used for. He rattled of a list salty and sweet recipes that take advantage of the unique flavor of the red stalk we call rhubarb. Score!
OK. Yes, I planted some rhubarb. As you can see in the photo, not only did I get a plant out of it, but I got a bucket of compost and a pile of stalks to make a pie! Oh yeah, that's me in the corner flippin' the peace sign.
I know what you are thinking, just rhubarb? No, it didn't stop. There happens to be a new blueberry bush and a couple of artichoke plants too.
Remember the wild flowers I planted in the cinder blocks next to Magnus' window? Well, they are starting to sprout.
And, you may or may not have heard about the Up Challenge, but I/we are in full swing. I even made a t-shirt.
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