On October 13th, 2009, I was invited to document this demonstration at the DEA Headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. You can spot me in the YouTube video above in the beginning. I am wearing a black jacket and hat with a rose on it.
This story starts back in 2007 when farmers Wayne Hauge and David C. Monson attempted to obtain permits from the Drug Enforcement Administration to grow industrial hemp [well actually the story goes back further!]. Their
respective state governments had granted the farmers licenses to grow the plant, but since the
DEA still considers the non-psychoactive industrial hemp plant to be marijuana, they have refused to grant the farmers permits. Faced with no other legal option, they decided it was time to stage a direct action on the grounds of the DEA Headquarters to help push public opinion towards changing the outdated laws. A week later the Department of Justice officially
clarified it’s stance on medical marijuana, but has not yet addressed industrial hemp farming. Below are two articles about the demonstration with photographs that I took that eventful morning:
This set of pictures is the final part of the series showing my Jaloro plant. As you can see from the previous entries (below), this Jaloro plant has been quite bountiful this summer. I germinated the seed indoors sometime in February which allowed the plant to grow larger than it would have under normal outdoor growing conditions. In all, even with the spider mite infestation, this plant has yielded over 80 beautifully colored peppers. I have saved many of the seeds and I hope to grow this plant again next year.
View the rest of the photos:
I first noticed the green bean plants in my backyard starting die but didn’t realize that it was a pest. I simply thought the plant was receiving too much sunlight and not enough water. As the leaves wilted on the green bean plant, I sincerely wondered if the ground might have been contaminated by some foreign chemical. On my 3rd floor deck, where I was already growing my Basil plant and my Jaloro pepper plant, I decided to plant some of the seeds harvested from first green bean plant in my backyard. About a month later the green bean plant was showing the same discoloration on the leaves. Again, I didn’t think much of it. I simply thought the green bean plant was not suited to either this climate or the soil I was using. I continued to let the green bean plant grow and the rest of the leaves slowly wilted. Then I noticed that my Jaloro plant was showing discoloration on the leaves. As a pepper plant, I knew it was designed to receive ample sunlight, and the discoloration raised the final flag. I decided to turn the leaf over, squint my eyes, and there they were, spider mites.
Last Friday I attended the first celebration of Park(ing) Day in Washington, DC. Originally conceived & celebrated in 2005 by the artist/activism group ReBar in San Francisco, the concept behind Park(ing) Day is quite simple: reclaim urban space normally taken by cars by taking over different parking spaces for the day and turning them into temporary parks.
Organized by the contributors of the blogs ReadysetDC & F1RSTNR, the original concept for last week’s inaugural Park(ing) Day DC involved four locations around Washington, DC, but at the last minute the DC Department of Transportation threw up some large impediments that made the day’s planned celebration nearly impossible to execute. According to one of the organizers, among the various obstacles that DCDOT came up with was that they wanted the organizers to have large concrete jersey barriers to prevent cars from plowing through the temporary park (really?!).
After hearing about this issue, I mentioned the old direct action maxim: it’s easy to beg for forgiveness, then to beg for permission. As in, if the organizers would have just gone ahead and setup their temporary park(ing) spots and let the police and DCDOT deal with the matter in real-time, they could have ‘begged for forgiveness’ and made a scene in the process. The other way around, being lawful citizens that is, involves going to the DCDOT asking for permission (aka permits) and if the authority isn’t too keen on the concept (which it appears they weren’t) they can make it impossible to undertake.
Thus result was more of a Park(ing) Lot Day than a Park(ing) Day, but that didn’t stop the fun that was had by all the participants. The day’s savior was the owner of the local business Garden District, who currently owns a vacant lot at the corner of 14th & S streets, and allowed the Park(ing) Day organizers to set up there. The organizers drove out to Virginia and picked up 1,500 pounds of sod and laid it down over the asphalt and created their own temporary urban park, which ended up being much larger than a parking space would have been! They also sourced some plants, furniture, books, 3D chalk, christmas lights, and even a badminton set; all of which made the lot more of a corner park for people to hang out at.
I arrived around 3pm and hung out with everyone, took a few photos (above & below) and even made a couple new friends. Around 5:30pm I left and went to a friend’s house to get equipment for the show at the Black Cat later in the evening. And after setting up for the show, I went back to the Park(ing) [Lot] and helped them cleanup park. In all, I had a great time. Next year, however, I am aiming for having a park in the central business district. Check the other photographs I took:
Photo taken on July 22nd, 2009
This photo series is showcasing the Jalaro plant I’m growing on my 3rd floor balcony. This final part of the series shows the 23 peppers that I harvested the other day. While I wouldn’t say they are super hot, they definitely add both color and spice to my dishes.
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Click here to read more about the series.
Related Entries:
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Growing a Jaloro plant on my back deck – Part One
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Growing a Jaloro plant on my back deck – Part Two
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Growing a Jaloro plant on my back deck – Part Three
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Growing a Jaloro plant on my back deck – Part Four
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Growing a Jaloro plant on my back deck – Part Five
Photo taken on June 1st, 2009
Back in February I sprouted a yellow jalapeno plant (Capsicum annuum) known as the Jaloro (sometimes spelled Jalaro) in my window and began growing the pepper plant indoors. Around late April I moved the plant outdoors. This series of photos documents the growth of the plant. I am told it produces decent yields and the peppers turn from yellow, to orange, and to red when maturing. According to numerous sources on-line, the cultivar was developed by the Texas Agricultural Extension Service and is disease Resistant to 6 types of pepper viruses.
Related Entries:
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Growing a Jaloro plant on my back deck – Part One
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Growing a Jaloro plant on my back deck – Part Two
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Growing a Jaloro plant on my back deck – Part Three
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Growing a Jaloro plant on my back deck – Part Four
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Growing a Jaloro plant on my back deck – Part Five
|| 10/8/2005 || 2:38 am ||
seeds of change
Today I started to make the conscious decision to save the seeds from the vegetables I’m harvesting from garden. I have a small pile already of my favorite green pepper :) I am drying out an eggplant as well. Saving seeds cuts out next year’s middle man, and I’ve never tried this before.
Next year I am going to politely ask my neighbor if I can plant his fallow backyard. I doubt he’d mind free vegetables! As it is now, he mows it like two times a year. Usually when the grass gets about 2ft high .I figure that all I’d need to do is go in the back yard two times a week to inspect the plants, and I can water the backyard from our second story balcony. If I buy a second hose I can keep it up there and water his backyard in the afternoons. I think I’d grow corn & sunflowers if I get the chance to.
After raining the last few days, the cold front made this evening feel like the first day of fall. Its time to harvest and plan for next year.
|| 9/21/2009 || 11:05 pm ||
Photographs from Park(ing) Day DC 2009