Sunday, March 13, 2011
2011 Plans
Hello All,
We have been getting a lot of questions about The Urban Ton Project for 2011 and we thought it was time to post an update. There is still a solid foot of snow covering our little part of Minnesota and everything has been dormant. That said our chickens have still been laying like crazy: averaging 5 eggs a day since the new year. That works out to 45 lbs of eggs already! We've harvested a few more citrus and some herbs from indoor plants but not much more has been happening.
As the snow has slowly started to melt (we had well over two feet of snow cover a few weeks ago) anticipation has been building for the 2011 growing season to begin. It wont be long before young garlic tips start to emerge from the ground followed by those beautiful asparagus ferns. Our mouths are starting to water already! We have made some plans for changes and additions to our landscape in 2011. We will be planting some more blueberry bushes, another apricot tree, and expanding our strawberry plantings just to name a few. The most major major change will be that we will be scaling back significantly in the annual vegetables we grow this year. With that decision we not be attempting to grow most of our own produce. In fact we will only be growing staples we will want to readily have on hand and some of our more exotic variates.
Hearing this you might think our enthusiasm and interest has wavered, but this decision is a result of our passion increasing to a point that we need to step back this year. Daniel is preparing to start a commercial scale agricultural enterprise, and has accepted a job for the growing season on an established organically certified CSA to gain more experience. With this job will come a long daily commute that will significantly decrease the amount of time we have to spend on our landscape, but more importantly a benefit of the work is as much produce as we want. With that perk, growing everything here is a little redundant.
Between working on a CSA, the commute, and getting a business started we are letting the Urban Ton Project fallow for 2011. We will give a few updates throughout the season, focused mostly on photos of the landscape so you can see how it has grown and evolved.
As always, feel free to send us comments, or questions about things we have done. We are happy to share information!
Yours,
-Kate and Daniel
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11 comments:
Wow, your chickens are such great layers! I hope for 2011, that you will add some more photos to accompany your blog posts. Love reading about your Urban Ton Project.
I am looking forward to seeing your landscaping and how your urban orchard is doing!
I am really happy that you posted this update. I hope you will blog about your business venture. That would be just as inspiring to me as your gardening :)
Also it seems to me that since you spent so much effort putting in perennial producers like trees and berries, hopefully you'll still get goodies . . .
Best of luck!!! Please keep us updated! You two are go-getters.
I live in Buffalo, Mn. With this year's high snow drifts, the rodents completely girdled my apple trees, able to get up above the protective tree wraps.
So, now I'm scouring you site and others, considering what else I might like, in place of those delicious Honeycrisp apples.
Do share details about your fruiting trees and berries, from the amount of effort to yields to your enjoyment of the fruit itself. Winters like these make our neighbor's experiences more important. Thanks for sharing your journey!
Congratulations on your new job, Dan! Best of luck with the CSA and your new business. We're continuing to follow your blog, and we'll consult it for ideas when we get our own place (probably 2012). Keep posting when you can -- we enjoy hearing your updates.
Wow, just found this site. I'm over in south Minneapolis, also on an oversized lot (50 x 250). With the heartbreaking deaths of 4 80-foot elm trees in my back yard last summer, I now have sufficient sun to move my edible food gardens out of the community garden plots I've been renting and into my own back yard. It's uncanny how many of the things you've planted are the very cultivars I've been considering. When you get a moment, please post about how your many fruit trees survived the winter. I have been interested in many of the varieties you've planted but was worried about buying them because some of them are only rated to Zone 5 or 6. I would be thrilled to hear that on the right rootstock they did just fine (and if ever there was a good "test case" winter, I'd say it's the one we're still trying to shake). Thanks for a great blog!
After following the Urban Ton zealously last year and starting my own garden + orchard this spring, I am a bit sad that I won't be able to follow along this year for inspiration, but I do want to pass along a hearty congratulations on your new pursuits and gratitude for the work you put in last year.
I've been inspired to take my own patch of land and make it bountiful. Thanks, and I look forward to any and all updates you have time for this year!
Your blog is an inspiration to me over here in North Dakota! One question - did you ever get any artichokes to produce? I tried last year with no luck, and will try again this year, but I have my doubts about their survival in this climate.
It would be great if you could take a few pictures of how the orchard and other perinnels (asparagus, rubarb, etc) look this spring and post them for us to admire! Enjoy your new endeavors.
Hello, I just found your blog and was very excited. Sorry to hear that you have to scale back this year. That being said, I was wondering if I could talk to you about your project and visit your home if you are willing to and have the time to.
I'm a student in MCAD's Sustainable Design Program and am currently taking a Permaculture class. We need to do some field work for the class, and as I am trying to incorporate permaculture practices into my own urban yard, I thought it would be fun to see all you have done.
If it doesn't work out to meet with you, I understand. I still have lots of your blog postings to go through -- thanks for the wealth of information!
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