The Piano Lesson and Urban Gardening
Hello everyone
First of all, I would like to post a link to a review and some publicity photos of my most recent work for the African American Theater Arts Troupe. I costume designed for a depression-era play (how appropriate right') called The Piano Lesson at the University of California Santa Cruz. If I ever have anyone local to Santa Cruz tune in here often, I can post the openings of my work on the blog:
(You can still go check it out by this weekend -- March 7-8 at 7 pm, doors at 6:30 pm -- at the Oldemeyer Center in Seaside, CA for the locals reading.)
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Secondly, I recently stumbled upon a truly moving video about urban gardening this evening. The past week Santa Cruz has been showing bits of sunshine through this wet and foggy February, which has been riling me up about my own plans for the spring / summer growing season
My roommate and partner, Andrew, and I have always had quite a green thumb in our home (if there is an empty space with some sunshine, it is most likely covered with plants), but this year will be our first time growing food. Unfortunately for our gardening desires, we live in a second story apartment complex and have no land for a garden, only our cement patio. Therefore, we have resorted to many beautiful and well loved indoor and outdoor potted plants. This year will be our first "urban garden".
I have been wanting to get started on my potted vegetable garden with seedlings (they say you should start with seedlings instead of seeds if this is your first round with vegetable gardening). After some research I discovered that if you want to start your growing season early and get the most out of your veggie plants, you simply have to set up a grow light somewhere inside to shelter the plants from harsh winters. You can start with seeds or seedlings (I'm choosing seedlings because I am a beginner). For our terrariums and other indoor plants, we use simple clamp lights (which you can find for around five dollars on ebay) and 5000-6000 K daylight spectrum compact flourescent light bulbs (which you can find at most hardware stores).
It's not too hard and you'll save a lot of money on organic veggies, and what could be more local than your backyard or balcony Help the Earth and help your pockets. Start researching "urban gardens" or "potted vegetable gardens" on the web. You'll find that most vegetables do just as well in pots as in the ground. The video below discusses the myriad of possibilites for the urban gardener (like us), and the need for such resources, especially in this economic climate. Check it out and I hope this motivates you as much as it did me: