LA Trans-Plant
I grew up in the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles. My father and I, one year, I was about 10 yrs. old, dug up the backyard lawn, made raised beds in rows, and planted all kinds of vegetables. He told be of his life in Poland, where he lived until he was 14 yrs. old and then about the soil he grew and planted in Palestine where he arrived in 1931. Though we didn't call it organic, we used no pesticides and fed the plants with commercial feeds. We also had a couple of chickens that helped manure the beds. The time he and I shared together not only bonded us to the land and each other, but also began my love of gardening, growing food and permaculture practices. He's 86 now and stays as active as he can, though the lawn has replaced the garden many years ago.
When I began junior high school at 12 yrs. old there were still agricultural classes offered and we each had our own plot at the school. Mostly, as I remember, the semester I took it, we grew root crops;radishes of various kinds, carrots and potatoes. This was in 1970.
Then my gardening life went fallow. Except for a short experimental phase with schedule c sativas.
When I came to Ojai in 1999 I had the opportunity once again to design and create a garden. I moved into a home in Matilija Canyon with my partner and two other people. The land had been left neglected yet in a natural state except for some older fruit trees that needed tending. It was dry pan. Lots of riiver rock and clay. We set about growing soil.
Eighty cubic yards each of wood mulch and horse manure were brought in and we made a lasagne, alternating layers to about 14 inches thick. We seeded it with worms and watered it down. Daikons were planted to break up the rock, fava beans and other crops were planted to feed the soil. This was year one. I went to the Eco-Farm conference ( as I continued to do for three years) and learned as much as I could about different permaculture / sustainable practices. I bought lots of books and educated myself about growing vegetables, herbs, flowers and fruit trees.
My house mates and I designed a layout for the 900 sq. foot garden. I made a computer template and populated it with the plants we wanted to grow. There was lots of attention paid to companion planting and bee/butterfly attractors. We put in an auto timed irrigation system that covered the entire 1/2 acres so that the fruit trees were fed as well. We did our best to grow an edible landsacpe. Trellises and fences were covered with grapes and passion fruit. Hedges were grown with guavas. We labored hard digging holes in the resistant soil where we wanted to plant trees. Mulberries, almond, cherry, tangerine, peach, apple, avacado, persimmon, fig, jujube, sapote, loquat.
The gardeners in Ojai were generous with their knowledge as well as providing starts for that first year. Surprisingly, plants grew, though planted directly into the manure mulch beds, and so did I. I became much stronger and gained 30 lbs. Go figure, since I was burning so many calories.
We allowed many of the plants to seed themselves. A forest of perrenial chard, tree collard, lettuce and daikon volunteered each year. I lived there for almost five years, tending garden, home and maintining my counseling, music and web design businesses from my creekside office. Paradise to say the least.
It's been two years since I left that home, my partner and the land. I went to Philadelphia for 6 months and returned in Dec. 2004. As fate woud have it I am back in Matilija, living on a mature permaculture site with an opportunity to contribute to another household and grow more delectables and most of all learn from the mysterious symbiosis of nature.
Visit my site at simplebrilliance.com
Comments
Nice story
Posted by: Ryan | February 13, 2006 11:02 AM
A little peek into the true you. Great story!
Posted by: Tyler | February 19, 2006 10:25 PM