Hell's Garden

After months of begging my mom to let me have a garden at her house, she agreed! She was hesitant at first, assuming that I would get excited about it, dig up the dirt, get bored with it, and then leave her with a pile of dirt and weeds in the yard. Such is not the case.

The fine people from a backyard farm are going to come in and install a raised bed. We will be doing square foot gardening, which I thought was kind of stupid, but as I've read more about it, I'm a little less apprehensive.

My friend Julie is going to help with the garden, so there will be 3 of us. Julie and I talk about the garden all the time, making plans and lists of things we need. Here is what that list looks like.

Matching carhartt overalls. (I'm hoping my mom gets a pair too).

Hats.

Slingshots, to keep away the squirrels/kids.

Cocktails.

A trowel.



Some gloves.



As you can see, we are taking this pretty seriously. Our garden (tentitvely called "Hells Garden" until we come up with a better name) is going to be 4 x 8, which is bigger than we initially planned. We are going to plant a ton of stuff, including edamame, zuchinni, tons of lettuce/kale/spinach, tomatoes, carrots, cilantro, etc... the list goes on.

I have this half-dream of one day owning a fish farm, and sitting out on the lake with a beer in one hand, and fishing pole in the other. I would catch a number of fish, cut them up, and bring them to sell at the farmers market. We wont have enough vegetables to sell at the farmers market, although Julie and I have talked about pulling a wagon of our harvest around the neighborhood, and selling what we can. We'll see about that... it mostly depends on how sexy we look in overalls, as to how many vegetables we can sell.

On a more serious note, I am excited to grow my own (and eat my own) vegetables. The stuff we get at the store, often comes from really far away... lots of energy is used to get it to our dinner tables. I'm all about trying to keep things local, and I think this is a great way to start!

Perhaps this is all really optimistic... I'll check in, within a week or two, and let you know if the "honeymoon period" of this garden has come and gone.

Recent Photos of Friends

I visited my friend Ardes a couple of weeks ago. We had a slumber party, and the following morning she went out to test out her tractors. Here are a few pictures. As you can see, she is awesome.

Also, here are some recent photos of/for my friend Jim. He is in a band, you should check them out. If you're in a band, and need photos, hit me up.

As you may have noticed, today is monday. I have class in a couple of hours, and tons of reading to do. That is why I am posting a blog entry today.

Antique Shop (Evidence)

Chris and I rode bikes the other day, it was great. I took a couple of pictures of Antique Shops, and there will likely be more in the future. I love riding my bike in Saint Paul, especially when it's at a leisurely pace. More of that soon too, I hope.

this place doesn't need a bunch of crap out front to let you know it's open for business.

this place does.

this one too.

chris and andy, talking about machetes and cameras.

Antique Shops

I've been wondering this for years now, and have intended to write about it for some time as well... so today is the day.

Antique Shops. Why do they feel the need to put half of their inventory out on the sidewalk? Do antique shop owners think we will not see their store? Do they enjoy piling crap onto the street, only to pull it back in at the end of the day? Does it actually help with their sales? Other stores don't put their things out...yet we still shop there. Should other stores starting putting their items out on the sidewalk to be more visible? You tell me.

Also, if anyone knows the real reason why Catholic's don't eat meat on Fridays during lent, I'd really like to know. I'd like to know why fish isn't considered meat as well. (religious opinions of why this happens are fine too... but I'd also like to know the historical reason).

thanks,
asha.