…..creating the "modern man's" , stylish, edible garden
I have no idea what I'm getting myself into {chuckle}, but that's never stopped me with anything before.
But, I'm gonna see if I can grow all my plant based food (except for my tropical fruits) outside on my nice sized terrace here in Seattle Washington (without getting a citation, complaints from neighbors, or getting evicted).
Living out in the Great Northwest, in Portland Oregon and Seattle for 3-4 years now, I guess they finally got me out here with the "Green Thing".
I mean, I love Chicago, but there "seems" to be more of a consciousness of "Going Green" and "Sustainability" out here in the Northwest (I know I could be wrong, but just an observation from a person having lived in 5 states in the past 6 years).
The other side of the coin……
I admire the "Going Green" mindset out here in the Great Northwest, like the creation of
Seattle's massive public food forest, but I have seen some crazy gardens, I mean, plants growing out of old tires, or rusted bathtubs, and everything else.
Whenever I'm on the train to the airport, I chuckle at whomever is growing out of the empty engine block in the old abandoned car in their front yard…..not hatin', just chuckling.
First 4 photo credits above and below to the Crate and Barrel Website
Me, on the other hand, I'm trying for a more, shall we say, "polished presentation", you know, bringing some of that modern man's Chicago swag to an "Urban Soul Farmer's" edible garden .
Not flashy or gaudy, cause I'm somewhat of a GQ, Perry Ellis, low key smooth style, but its gotta have "Style Points" (plus, that will keep me from getting evicted LOL!!!)
I've had this apartment in Seattle for two years, but was back down in Portland living and working for the last year and a half, so I never got to spend much time here.
But now, it time to make use of this prime-time real estate, and feed my obsessive need for organic fresh veggies and herbs. I've been wanting to do a garden for a decade or more, but now is the time, besides, with what I pay at Whole Foods, I could have bought a private jet by now……..
Like they say, if you make your [raised] bed, you gotta lay in it, I started buying stuff, so there's no turning back now……..
There was plenty of room for raised beds so I bought two of the
Gronomics Raised Bed Planter Boxes below (that's their photo, not mine).
"Maybe I'm just unlucky, but why is it, my whole life, when I buy something to assemble, there is a piece missing?"
"Oh well, I've never followed instructions with anything anyway……….."
I called an "audible" at the last moment and decided, this first time around, to fill the Gronomics raised beds with terra cotta pots and starters as opposed to filling with soil.
That might make it more manageable in case some of my plants don't "like me", and I can move different things in and out, mix and match, but with a consistent look (the wire and metal spikes are so the pigeons have no place to land, I also have some netting. Not sure if that will be an issue, but thinking ahead……..)
"Having a ball" with my ball planters…………..
The Crate and Barrel Earth-friendly globe planter is just my flow for "style points", cast of naturally derived mineral compounds, sea salt, sand and fiber and manufactured with low emissions and minimal energy use.
Grey-toned planter makes the rounds in a textured organic finish and can withstand all kinds of weather. Post-use, this green-minded pot will biodegrade.
(Below) "Mom said if I grow a garden and eat my vegetables, I'll become big and strong…
…….she's right, I feel the muscles coming in already" 🙂
……cement blocks inside to make the ball planters bottom heavy, and not come crashing through my patio window in a heavy wind.
Adding some "Mother Earth" to the ball planters, that's a bag of wood chips below, an expert on the web said wood chip compost will help with amazing results.
Although, these wood chips may not start to truly decompose for a year or two to start nourishing the soil, but they also serve the purpose of not having to fill to bottom with expensive organic potting soil.
….I'm not ashamed to have the beer in the lower right corner of the photo above as a reward for manual labor, I only drink maybe 10-20 beers a year, they always seem to go well after heavy manual labor………or with a well crafted turkey, grass fed beef, bison, or ostrich (yep ostrich), with feta and spinach burger.
Hope the beer doesn't ruing my "health nut" image for my readers, but man does not live by spinach smoothies alone. As Ben Franklin said……………."Everything in moderation, including moderation" 🙂
photo above and below from the Farmer D website
I already have the planters and raised beds for "Phase 2" in April-May, after I get my bearings and prepare for the summer crop, I love the low profile Farmer D raised beds , they will make a slick little style for that front part of the fence.
I think those will be true raised beds that I fill with soil and plant whatever I want for the summer heat. But I'll deal with that in a couple of months.
And, I have a short list of cool, machismo, man-pots on standby………..
_______________________________________________________________
OK, I think I got my "Style Points" covered, now, can anybody out there tell me how the hell do you grow vegetables?
"Growing your own food is like printing your own money" 🙂
……you might also like
Ron Finley: The "Gangster Gardner"
He plants food and gardens in Vacant lots in South Central L.A.
click here or photo for all my articles in
"Sustainable Eating, Living, and Gardening" 
9 Responses
Thanks for this great article! I love what you're doing. Can't figure out why more people don't jump on this train, but this is true inspiration for anybody! It's going to be fantastic! And you do deserve that beer! Yeehaaa
Hey Mari,
We’ll see if I can actually grow something LOL!!!
~stay healthy~
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Hey Doug,
Congratulations on your stylish "garden". Would love to see an update. How are your babies doing? Are you eating them yet? Is everything edible, or do you have any flowers gracing the scene? In short, what's up?
Hey Bobbi,
You still hanging out on my site, LOL!!!!
As a matter of fact, Episode 5 is may next article hopefully coming out this weekend around July 25……STAY TUNED!!!! 🙂
~stay healthy~
Doug W.
Yeah, your site is the proverbial rabbit hole. I feel like Alice, never know what's going to pop up next. . .
Keep me posted,
Bobbi
Hey Bobbi
Maybe one day I can get you to explain how you really see my site. I’d be curious to look at it from the perspective of an observer’s eyes, since I’ve never got to stop someome and ask before 🙂
Doug W.
No problemo, I'm honored that you would ask.
I am very impressed with your attention to detail. Between multiple fabulous photos, music, videos, and of course the fun and informative narratives, it's a sensory delight to cruise through your site. I am also impressed with the amount of personal information you share with the world, although I guess Facebook does the same thing. Your personality and style fuels the emotional content and is also a delight. You include all aspects of health and well being, including spirituality, which in my experience is the most important, as everything in the physical world, our bodies included, originates in the Great Beyond. I'm sure many people tap into your blog and are blessed in one way or another. You are throwing lots of stones into the pond, and the ripples are traveling a far distance.
Your ability to envision your best future life as if it has already occurred is a sign of maturity and reflecting that on a website is a very powerful thing to do. It creates a magnetism that can help draw what you need right to your doorstep. Dreams come true and miracles happen every day. One of my favorite songs is an old song from the late 50's called Pennies From Heaven by the Sklyliners – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4-vaG-hWto Here's a comment I found on the net about this song: "Listen to that Jazzy start!! This is the kind of song you can prance to, under the Pelham Parwkay El, wearing a Zoot Suit and spats — swinging the long watch chain to the beat of this cool cool song, while you take long long R. Crumb-type "Keep-On-Truckin" strides!! One of my faves."
Last but not least I can see you are having the time of your life reflecting yourself to the world in this way. That gives it the underpining of Love, which is the best of all.
You go, Doug. Keep doing what you're doing and I support you 100%.
Bobbi
Hi Bobby,
Wow!! Well I guess I did ask…….
I think you hit that ball out of the park. I never stopped to define what I’ve been doing. I can say, the whole thing evolved to what it is very organically, and it started because I’m such a detail “egghead” scientists and researcher, I was so paranoid I would have the most boring blog in the world, with all my scientific “mumbo-jumbo”, but, the “Health Gods” I suppose wanted me to put out a product for the social media masses, so they could enjoy a fun web experience and perhaps make the healthy lifestyle “hip and trendy” .
I just put out a prostate health article which hasn’t got a lot of traffic, as opposed to my “Dance With Me in Granada Spain”, or for some reason my “Breakfast Pizza” and “Benefits of Rosewater” and “Mastering Frozen Salmon” and “The Manuka Project” articles which get dozens upon dozens , if not hundreds of reads every day.
Those issue like prostate health i am just as passionate about as any “hot babe” photo I slip into the blog, and I do want a lot of guys to read them, but articles such as that I think are just meant for me to throw out best I can, and if only 3 guys get something from it, then that was my job.
Of course we want all our work to be well read, but I’ve learned it is just like making music or a painting, in that if you go back and enjoy what you put out and it was true to you, then that’s all that matters.. I’ve got so much stuff out there now, I can really take my time and be artistic, fun, zen, controversial, creative and whatever I feel like at the moment
Even I humbly admit that health and wellness fused with my personal life experiences and my mind’s eye laid out on canvas is the ultimate sense of personal expression for me. But I didn’t think anybody saw it, you’re right I’m in love with the expression of it all, the blog is “My Baby”. My attitude has been, if I have 8 million readers fine, if I have a few hundred Loyalists, that’s cool to. Right now, I look at myself as having what I call a “Small but growing “Cult’ following”. But the objective is not to be followed, people should get what they need and then go their own way, start their own blog, whatever……………….
….Phase 2 of the blog experience, whenever it happens will be “My Organic Island Life” , I envision myself doing cooking videos at my outdoor Caribbean kitchen, traveling to places like the Grenadines for exotic spices and learning about them, bringing them back and cooking up something with the organic garden nearby, playing my favorite tunes and playing the guitar (though I never played it in my life, I’ll just be faking and pantomiming to the song)
The great martial artist and Philosopher Bruce Lee said this whole game is about expressing yourself honestly
……so I’m just living and expressing, you know 🙂
But I really appreciate your insights, I figured one day I had to ask someone…….
Hey Doug,
Remember, be careful what you ask for, you might get it! 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing your insights and the history of your blog. You're absolutely right about the prostate post. If you only help one person on the journey to wellness, it's a job well done. Someone else will be paying it forward to you at some point. You are definitely in the right place at the right time, doing the right thing. The future is bright and when you are doing your cooking show in the Caribbean, I will be standing on the sidelines, smiling and waving. Perhaps I can add a little help along the way. The "Health Gods" are on our side. Can't wait to "do lunch."
Bobbi