Back in March, I got my appendix removed. It was one of those dramatic middle-of-the-night trips to the ER that ended 24 hours later with a groggy version of me, a stitched up belly, and one less appendix.
At the time, I remember saying that if a city councillor wanted to know how many pot holes there are in Toronto, s/he just had to drive downtown with a rupturing appendix. Every little bounce felt like a million knives being driven into my belly. Not fun at all. I have now discovered an easier way for councillors to experience the effects of uneven roads – riding a bike with a front basket bike garden in it!
I have to admit, friends, the front-basket-bike-garden isn’t a project I’d recommend trying if you want to use your bike functionally. While the “wow” factor is great (it was a great conversation starter in Kensington Market this weekend), the functionality is very low. With every bump, my veggies bounced up, exposing their roots. And with every bounce up, I got covered in soil. And with that loss of soil, the plants shriveled up and died. See where I’m going?
On the up-side, both Emily and I have little sprouts poking their heads out of our cross-bar-cheese-cloth gardens. They aren’t big enough to take a good picture, but they are there, and as soon as there is more to show, I’ll post photos. It’s pretty cool.
For those of you eagerly awaiting the results from the battle of soaked seeds versus un-soaked seeds, I’m happy to annouce that soaked has won, hands down. I don’t think there was really any competition. Pre-soaking your seeds overnight does miracles for growth.
With this week’s project already underway (stay tuned tomorrow for the start of the woven place mat tutorial), it’s time to look at last week’s statistics:
Cross-bar Cheese-cloth garden:
- Cost : under $10
- Time required: 20 minutes to set up, and then ample watering
- Difficulty: Easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy
- Success? To be determined (haven’t eaten any of the sprouts yet)
- Favourite part of the project: chilling with Emily and getting her bike sprouting before her big trip!
- Lesson learned: Water, water, water to make those sprouts grow tall.
Front-basket Bike Garden
- Cost: $20 if you already have a basket, $40-50 if you don’t
- Time required: 30 minutes if you have a basket, 1 hour if you are assembling that too!
- Difficulty: Easy-Medium
- Success? Epic fail. Unless you plan to never ride your bike again. Or if you live in a magical land with perfectly smooth bike lanes.
- Favourite part of the project: Walking around Dufferin Grove Farmers Market with it and making lots of friends.
- Lesson Learned: Toronto is a bumpy city to ride in. Seriously.
So, there it is folks. One week down, 51 to go! Thanks for following!
Thanks to Emily, The Bike Joint and Urban Harvest for supplies, laughter and support on this one!
Great idea Liz! I guess I won’t try the bike garden but I do like the way it looks. Please keep being super cool so I can tell people how proud I am to know you.
Coolio!