Wilson Street Urban Farm

Work Day This Saturday

wilsonstreeturbanfarm — Wed, 08 May 2013 13:26:58 +0000

It is the second Saturday of the month this week and you know what that means…..

Volunteer Day from 9:00 until 12:00 right here on the farm!

Come join us for a morning in the garden weeding, cleaning, perhaps watering, mulching, and whatever else needs to be done. It’ll be a great opportunity to get some fresh air, exercise, and make a connection with nature.

Our farm has now achieved Googlemaps status, and you can locate us there all labeled and everything. Pretty cool, huh! I guess we’re legit now and all….

Potatoes!!

wilsonstreeturbanfarm — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 14:18:38 +0000

We planted potatoes this week (I guess I shouldn’t say “we” because I didn’t help at all). When we lived on the farm, we planted potatoes every year saving our own seed from year to year; we had an abundance because the soil was so fertile.

Last year we planted potatoes for the first time in the city… in the poor soil we have here. Between the lack of rain and the lack of fertility the harvest was poor and the quality decidedly non-stellar. So we bought seed potatoes again and with the eternal faith and hope of the farmer, planted in soil that has been lovingly tended for one more year. It is slightly more fertile than it was last year and, Lord willing, we’ll get rains this year … so, here we go!

Click to view slideshow.

Before the Rain

wilsonstreeturbanfarm — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 22:48:25 +0000

The weather was warm. The soil was drying. We were getting raised beds prepared and seeded and fields cultivated. The last of the winter carrots were harvested and much of the hoop house was planted. Then the rain was forecasted so we hooked up the rain barrels and connected up the water catchment system on the one side of the hoop house ( didn’t get the other side done yet). Then came the rain…and we were happy.

work force on its way

waiting for the doors to open

alternative morning activities

baby lettuce in the hoop house

mustard greens

handing out work assignments: carrot harvest

green onions

lettuce mix

spring kale

spinach

garlic popping up through the mulch

preparing the old hoop house area

assessing the compost

spreading the compost

discovering the fauna of the earth

planting chard

carrot harvest

germinating seeds

basil and cabbage seedlings

onion seedlings

more seedlings

water collection from our house

water collection from the hoop house

Peace,

Janice

Ah, Beautiful Rain!

wilsonstreeturbanfarm — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 02:17:37 +0000

I’m so glad to see the rain, feel the rain, hear the rain, collect the rain. It’s just wonderful…

But, that makes the soil kinda mucky and so I guess we’ll not be having a work day tomorrow (April 13). See you all next month, second Saturday, 9:00 for the work day in May.

Rejoicing in the rain,

Janice

First Volunteer Work Day Of the Season

wilsonstreeturbanfarm — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 13:34:06 +0000

Hurray! Spring has come…and with it all the spring tasks in the garden. Please come and join us on Saturday, April 13, for our first volunteer day of the season. We will be working Saturday morning from 9:00 until 12:00 cleaning out beds, picking up garbage, removing rocks, and generally preparing the area for the planting season. We need YOU!

Our volunteer days will continue to be the second Saturdays of each month during the growing season. Come to one; come to all; meet us; meet the neighbors; discover how nice the East Side can be!

See you then!

Janice

Artist Deadline Extended!

wilsonstreeturbanfarm — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 14:03:06 +0000

The deadline for artist submissions has been extended until May 3, 2013!

CALLING ALL ARTISTS!!

The Wilson Street Urban Farm invites

your creative participation to design our new sign!

The 2013 growing season is upon us! Wilson Street site needs a welcoming sign that reflects the essence and purpose of our operation.

JURIED DESIGN: Submissions will be judged and the winner selected by the 3^rd/4^th grade students at the Tapestry Charter School who raised the money for the new sign. The winner then, with the materials provided, will manufacture and install the sign.

PRIZE: The winning artist qualifies* to receive a full 21-week CSA share of super-fresh, naturally grown, local vegetables and herbs from the Wilson Street Farm.

Contest Rules:

Design cannot exceed a $300.00 budget
Materials used must be paint on signboard
Completed sign must be able to be mounted on existing 4×4 wooden posts spaced 5’ apart and extending 5’ above the ground. (Current sign measures 30” X 96”).
Designs should reflect the philosophy of the farm as seen on its blog site http://wilsonstreeturbanfarm.wordpress.com
Designs must be submitted by May 3rd either via email in j-peg form to wilsonstreeturbanfarm@gmail.com, or by mail to:

Wilson Street Urban Farm Sign Contest

c/o Janice Stevens,

812 Fillmore Ave

Buffalo, NY 14212.

Sign must be completed/installed by August 1, 2013.
*To qualify for the CSA, winner must be able to pick up their shares at the farm site on Thursday

Figs Arrived!!

wilsonstreeturbanfarm — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 14:07:49 +0000

I mentioned in an earlier blog that this would be the year of the fig for me and so it’s happened. I ordered 3 fig trees and a dwarf everbearing mulberry bush from a green house in CT and the plants arrived on Thursday looking beautiful and healthy. They will wait in here (the kitchen) until more stable weather when they will be transplanted into larger pots and taken outside. The mulberry will remain in a pot for its life. As for the figs, I haven’t totally decided yet where their final destination is, whether it’ll be in the ground or in a pot. Let me introduce you:

The little one is a Hardy Chicago

Black Mission fig

an unspecified Ischia, the tallest one

My fig forest. The little bitty one in front is the mulberry

So, there you have it. I’ll keep you updated on the progress.

Until next time,

Janice

Artists Wanted!

wilsonstreeturbanfarm — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 13:02:53 +0000

CALLING ALL ARTISTS!!

The Wilson Street Urban Farm invites

your creative participation to design our new sign!

The 2013 growing season is upon us! Wilson Street site needs a welcoming sign that reflects the essence and purpose of our operation.

PRIZE: The winning artist qualifies* to receive a full 21-week CSA share of super-fresh, naturally grown, local vegetables and herbs from the Wilson Street Farm.

Contest Rules:

Design cannot exceed a $300.00 budget
Materials used must be paint on signboard
Completed sign must be able to be mounted on existing 4×4 wooden posts spaced 5’ apart and extending 5’ above the ground. (Current sign measures 30” X 96”).
Designs should reflect the philosophy of the farm as seen on its blog site http://wilsonstreeturbanfarm.wordpress.com
Designs must be submitted by April 6^th either via email in j-peg form to wilsonstreeturbanfarm@gmail.com, or by mail to:

Wilson Street Urban Farm Sign Contest

c/o Janice Stevens,

812 Fillmore Ave

Buffalo, NY 14212.

Sign must be completed/installed by August 1, 2013.
*To qualify for the CSA, winner must be able to pick up their shares at the farm site on Thursday afternoons between 2:00pm- 8:00pm.
Further questions can be directed to wilsonstreeturbanfarm@gmail.com

Figs?

wilsonstreeturbanfarm — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 18:53:34 +0000

I have had a burning desire to grow figs for many years. I have wonderful, mouth-watering memories of my great-grandmother’s fig preserves smeared on toast. My great-grandmother lived in Mississippi, however and it wasn’t quite as challenging for her to have her figs and eat them too, as it is for me. None-the-less, I am determined that this is the year of the fig for me. Does anyone out there grow figs in western NY or know anyone who does? I would love to pick the brain of someone with real experience coddling them through a NY winter. I’m not that well versed in varieties, either. I have no idea what kind my southern relatives grew, so any advice on that subject would welcome as well.

You may be wondering what has been happening on the farm, since the fall when I updated it last. (Believe it or not, the above pictures were not taken on our farm over the winter) Well, we ordered seeds, planted some in the hoop house and started some onions, basil, celery, and cabbage, organized information about the current CSA shares and sent out notices to those on the priority lists, washed skunk out of my dog, worked out with a daughter and a neighbor using Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred, coughed, dealt with coughing children and husband, tried to bring down some fevers, and attempted to come up with ideas on dealing naturally with this wretched illness, rejoiced as someone began to feel better, moaned as the illness resurrected itself yet one more time, coughed some more (oh, wait, are you tired of hearing of the endless cycle of sickness in our house this winter?).

We have also been brain storming about irrigation, talking about the ArtFarms project and the potential there, picking up compost from Lexington Co-op, trying to keep up with home schooling – challenging when everyone is sick, and trimming currant bushes. I’ve also been trying to compose a flier announcing a contest for a sign design which will be posted on this site as soon as it is completed which needs to be very soon! That sentence is really confusing, but what it means is that I need to write up the flier! Immediately!

What hasn’t been happening that should be (besides the above-mentioned flier)? Well, no one has been taking any pictures of the farm, so I had to steal some pictures of other people’s beautiful fig plants. I have not yet trimmed the apples and pear trees. I haven’t ordered more currants or the fig trees yet. I am slightly behind in my planting schedule, nor has the hoop house been watered this week. And nobody has licked this illness yet, so we’re all still fighting coughs and fevers and general lethargy!

So that sort of brings you up-to-date on where we stand at the farm. And that is where I must leave you, because it is time to get started on supper. Please let me know what experience you have had growing figs. I need to order my trees soon!

Here’s to Health!

Janice

A Residential Compost Pick-up Service

wilsonstreeturbanfarm — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 17:17:21 +0000

The Farmer Pirates Cooperative is offering a household composting service which will benefit all the Farmer Pirate farms. The Farmer Pirate farms include Michigan-Riley Farm, Common Roots Farm, Wilson Street Farm, as well as a new farm on Gittere Street. Follow the link to find out more!

http://www.farmerpirates.com/farmer-pirates-compost-crew-pick-up-service/

While we’re on the topic of links to important places, here’s the link to Artfarms where you can follow more closely the progress on the art projects for the farms. We recently had a meeting to review the project ideas and fundraising is expected to begin within a month or so.

https://www.facebook.com/Artfarms

Cheers!

Janice