Last Monday CT NOFA collaborated with the wonderful Community Farm of Simsbury to put on our forth on-farm workshop of the summer; Plant Disease management presented by Joan Allen, the Assistant Extension Educator at UConn's Home and Garden Education Center. It was the perfect day for an on-farm workshop as the temperature was a cool 73 degrees, a nice break from the recent heat wave that has struck CT.
Showing posts with label Gardens. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gardens. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Joan Allen teaches us about Plant Diseases!
Last Monday CT NOFA collaborated with the wonderful Community Farm of Simsbury to put on our forth on-farm workshop of the summer; Plant Disease management presented by Joan Allen, the Assistant Extension Educator at UConn's Home and Garden Education Center. It was the perfect day for an on-farm workshop as the temperature was a cool 73 degrees, a nice break from the recent heat wave that has struck CT.
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Come Visit CT NOFA at the CT Flower and Garden Show!
 |
| CT NOFA's booth from last year's show |
Why Attend?
Gorgeous landscape exhibits constructed by some of the most talented landscape designers in Connecticut. The award winning landscape exhibits occupy over an acre within the Convention Center Exhibit Hall. Landscapes in full bloom with lush green grass and fragrant flowers continue to amaze attendees each year.
Highlights:
- Over 300 booths filled with plants, flowers, fertilizers, garden tools, tractors & mowers, patio & lawn furniture and more!
- Floral & garden related artisian section with one of a kind artwork, garden ornaments, jewelry, photography to name a few.
- Non-profit and educational exhibits (including ours!)
- Floral Arranging Demonstrations
- Seed planting for children
- Hours of educational seminars
And the best part is you can take advantage of all the show has to offer for free by volunteering with us for part of a day! CT NOFA will be at the show all four days, and we still need help on Thursday and Friday, especially in the evenings. Volunteers receive free admission to the show as well as reimbursed parking in the Convention Center Garage. If you are interested in coming to volunteer, email me at melissa@ctnofa.org.Learn more about the show here. View a list of exhibitors (including us!) here.
Can't wait to see you there!
-Melissa
Monday, September 24, 2012
New Studies Link Colony Collapse Disorder to Pesticides
Neonicotinoids (or neonics) have again been implicated in three new studies about the cause of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD).
Over a million bee colonies disappear every year, leaving behind only a few unhealthy bees and the queen in the hive. The link to neonicotinoids has been highlighted before, but the chemicals are now more closely linked to the bee deaths while reduction in habitat is a lesser factor.
Tom Philpott's article "3 New Studies Link bee Decline to Bayer Pesticide" for Mother Jones lays out the evidence that bees are mostly affected by the neonics pesticides used for corn. The pesticides are not only applied to plants on a broad scale, but most of the United States' 94 million acres of corn (over 142 million acres including other crops) will be planted with seeds treated with neonic pesticides. Philpott points out that the findings will pressure the EPA to reconsider its registration of the pesticides based on a study carried out by the same chemical company that makes the pesticides (Bayer). The EPA later found that the Bayer study was not satisfactory in proving that honeybees were safe. Philpott links to an EPA memo which questions the study:
". . . after another review of this field study in light of additional information, deficiencies were identified that render the study supplemental . . . another field study is needed to evaluate the effects of clothianidin on bees through contaminated pollen and nectar. Exposure through contaminated pollen and nectar and potential toxic effects therefore remain an uncertainty for pollinators"
Heather Pilatic, Co-director of the Pesticide Action Network in North America weighs in on the evidence in the Huffington Post Blog. She highlights that the neonics cause a variety of health problems for bees: low-level exposure can make bees more susceptible to infection, impair memory and learning, disrupt foraging and homing abilities, and can cause an 85% reduction in the number of queens produced. A single flight over freshly-sown corn fields can result in enough exposure that bees die right away.
This Reuters article, by Richard Schiffman highlights that bee farming has also become, to some degree, industrialized. The bees are fed high-fructose corn syrup (made from corn treated with neonics) and queens are artificially inseminated resulting in a decline in genetic diversity among honey bees.
As you probably know, most of the food that humans rely on is pollinated by wild pollinators and honey bees (wild pollinators, like bumble bees, are having the same population reduction as honeybees). And we are in serious trouble if wild bees go extinct, and we continue to lose a third (or more!) of commercial honey bees each year.
An important note for homeowners: most pesticides for garden and lawn use contain the chemicals that are harmful to bees. For the bees sake (if not for your own, for your pets, and for your environment), it is important to cut out the pesticides. Even trace amounts are fatal to bees. The best neighbors are the ones that plant flowers that feed bees, and cut the chemicals that harm them!
Best,
Kristiane
Over a million bee colonies disappear every year, leaving behind only a few unhealthy bees and the queen in the hive. The link to neonicotinoids has been highlighted before, but the chemicals are now more closely linked to the bee deaths while reduction in habitat is a lesser factor.
Tom Philpott's article "3 New Studies Link bee Decline to Bayer Pesticide" for Mother Jones lays out the evidence that bees are mostly affected by the neonics pesticides used for corn. The pesticides are not only applied to plants on a broad scale, but most of the United States' 94 million acres of corn (over 142 million acres including other crops) will be planted with seeds treated with neonic pesticides. Philpott points out that the findings will pressure the EPA to reconsider its registration of the pesticides based on a study carried out by the same chemical company that makes the pesticides (Bayer). The EPA later found that the Bayer study was not satisfactory in proving that honeybees were safe. Philpott links to an EPA memo which questions the study:
". . . after another review of this field study in light of additional information, deficiencies were identified that render the study supplemental . . . another field study is needed to evaluate the effects of clothianidin on bees through contaminated pollen and nectar. Exposure through contaminated pollen and nectar and potential toxic effects therefore remain an uncertainty for pollinators"Heather Pilatic, Co-director of the Pesticide Action Network in North America weighs in on the evidence in the Huffington Post Blog. She highlights that the neonics cause a variety of health problems for bees: low-level exposure can make bees more susceptible to infection, impair memory and learning, disrupt foraging and homing abilities, and can cause an 85% reduction in the number of queens produced. A single flight over freshly-sown corn fields can result in enough exposure that bees die right away.
This Reuters article, by Richard Schiffman highlights that bee farming has also become, to some degree, industrialized. The bees are fed high-fructose corn syrup (made from corn treated with neonics) and queens are artificially inseminated resulting in a decline in genetic diversity among honey bees.
As you probably know, most of the food that humans rely on is pollinated by wild pollinators and honey bees (wild pollinators, like bumble bees, are having the same population reduction as honeybees). And we are in serious trouble if wild bees go extinct, and we continue to lose a third (or more!) of commercial honey bees each year.
An important note for homeowners: most pesticides for garden and lawn use contain the chemicals that are harmful to bees. For the bees sake (if not for your own, for your pets, and for your environment), it is important to cut out the pesticides. Even trace amounts are fatal to bees. The best neighbors are the ones that plant flowers that feed bees, and cut the chemicals that harm them!
Best,
Kristiane
Friday, June 15, 2012
Deb Legge's Homestead
Today we have a Guest Blog Post from the Organic Land Care Program's Director, Jenna Messier!
Jenna: Did this design evolve, or did you always know the
type of garden you were envisioning?
Jenna: How many hours per week are you spending in your
garden on maintenance?
“Deb Legge’s Homestead” interviewed by Jenna Messier
You may imagine that the CT NOFA staff members each have beautiful, exemplary gardens at their homes. In the case of CT NOFA office manager, Deb Legge -this is true! Deb has a unique and charming homestead in Wallingford which all neighbors and visitors admire. She lives in an old farmhouse on .5 acres of land, and she has craftily utilized her space to create a mini-farm with chickens, a greenhouse, a lovely screened-in patio and flowers spanning seasons.
I thought I would interview Deb, to find out how she has created this suburban paradise, so our readers will know what is possible.
Jenna: When did you
start your garden?
Deb: I moved into my house in October 1993 and brought about
50 pots of plants with me from the house I'd been renting. I left them under a
snow bank for the winter and started the first garden the following spring.
There had been a vegetable garden there and some mint scattered around, so I
cleaned it all up and just started planting.
Jenna: Did this design evolve, or did you always know the
type of garden you were envisioning?
Deb: It's definitely evolved over time as I've taken more of
the lawn out and trees have come and gone. There's just enough lawn left now to
walk on and play an occasional game of bocce during a family get together. I've always liked jumbly cottage-style
gardens, so you'll find herbs in the flower beds and a stray tomato plant out
by the compost bins.
Jenna: What edibles
are you growing and how many seasons are you in food production?
Deb: With the little
unheated greenhouse, I have fresh produce most of the year. Last winter was
pretty mild and there was lettuce, chard and mache in there. If you plan in late
summer to have things started before it gets cold, they'll start growing again
as soon as the days get noticeably longer in late January/early February.
For perennial edibles, I have several kinds of raspberries,
blackberries, red and black clove currants, grapes, figs, rhubarb, asparagus,
Egyptian onions, horseradish, Jerusalem artichokes. For the past
couple years I've been adding some small tree and shrub fruits and nuts. Two years ago I added 9 smallish hazelnuts
and just this year put in a couple each of beach plums, Nanking cherries,
western sand cherries and elderberries.
For the rest of the edibles, many of the usual like
tomatoes, cukes, lots of greens, peas, beans, peppers. Except for the peppers,
I either direct seed or start everything in the greenhouse.
Jenna: Did you have any problems with the town or your
neighbors when you decide to have chickens?
Deb: My neighbors have been just fine. There are other
chickens in the area, and no one seems to mind. At the risk of outing myself, I
didn't even check with the town and couldn't find any information about whether
there are even any ordinances for or against keeping a few hens.
Jenna: How many hours per week are you spending in your
garden on maintenance?
Deb: The question that's always hardest to answer! I guess a
lot in the spring, especially for a new project or renovation, but once
everything is in and planted, probably just a few hours a week. But it's my form of exercise, sanity-keeping
and much of our food, so I don't even think of the time involved, except that I
wish I could spend more time there!
Jenna: Would you
share an estimate of what you spend per year on your mini-farm, to cover the
costs of chicken food, potting soil, plants etc.?
Deb: For the three hens, I only need to buy layer feed
(organic, of course!) every few months, as they love to eat a huge variety of
weeds and kitchen scraps, so maybe $10 a month for them. As to the rest, I buy very few imports and
not many plants any more. I make
compost, buy an occasional batch of mulch and lots of seeds, but still spend
less than a few hundred dollars a year. Good potting soil is probably my
biggest expense, and I get that once a year through the NOFA bulk order.
Jenna: Do you have
any suggestions for the aspiring gardener who wishes to have their own garden
paradise on a small lot under an acre?
Deb: Start small! Even in the smallest yard you can grow a
little something. And make friends with a more experienced gardener. I've never
met a gardener not willing to share time, plants and experience with someone
willing to ask and spent some time with them.
Thanks for sharing with us, Deb! And Friends, keep working your soil and
tending your garden dreams!
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
How to Save Seed in an Orderly Manner: Advice on an easy way to get started saving seeds
The first step is to make sure
that the crop you are interested in saving seeds from is not a hybrid plant,
but rather a one that is open-pollinated. This is because hybrids do not “come
true” from the saved seeds from each generation to the next the same way the
open-pollinated seeds do. Ken Green of the Hudson Valley Seed Library says that
the best way to start is with something small and easy such as crops with a
perfect flower and a pod, take beans and peas for example. Perfect flowers are
plants with both stamens and pistils (male and female parts). Examples of these
plants are lettuce, tomatoes, and beans. Imperfect ones are plants where the
crop has separate male and female flowers, such as squash and cucumbers, making
them not quite as easy to save the seeds as the plants with perfect flowers.
 |
| commons.wikimedia.org |
Ken recommends that beginning
seed-savers try out saving the seeds of easy crops such as bush beans, because
they do not cross pollinate as much as pole beans. As well as peas, as long as
you make sure to leave a few pods to dry on the vine, and cilantro or
tomatoes.
The key is to prevent cross pollination from occurring because that can have a great impact on your crops. Kens example of this is “the offspring of a sweet pepper may not be so sweet next year if a hot pepper’s nearby”, one way to prevent this from occurring is to just grow one type of crop to “be sure that your seed will be pure”. If you aren’t willing to grow only one type of plant or are not able to isolate different varieties from each other you might want to consider growing one from each of the following groups in order to minimize cross-pollination
- Mixta: Cushaw types, some gourds
- Moschata: ‘Butternut,’ Cheese types
- Pepo: ‘Acorn,’ Field Pumpkin, Crookneck, Scallop and Zucchini types.
- Happy Seed Saving!
All of the above
information has come from the following article: http://awaytogarden.com/thinking-about-saving-seeds-with-ken-greene
Images from: thrivefarm.wordpress.com,
commons.wikimedia.org
Friday, May 18, 2012
Gardening in the Shade
When CT NOFA tables at farmers markets and other environmental events, a lot of people drop by the table and ask questions about gardening. The complaint we hear so often is about gardening in the shade. At-home food production is good for the planet and good for you, but so are the trees in your yard! Many are turning to community gardens which have full sun, which is a great idea. But even shady yards can have significant food production! Here is an article from Mother Earth News about gardening in the shade, and a list of the more shade tolerant veggies you can grow:
Many of these crops will grow more slowly in the shade, but you'll still ultimately have some homegrown produce - which is always better than none!
Happy gardening!
Kristiane
P.S. Visit our table this weekend at the Urban Oaks Green Faire (and meet our new intern Maya!) or the Girlscout Jamboree in Durham, CT.
Crop
|
Shade Notes
|
Growing Tips
|
Arugula
|
At least three to four hours of sun per day.
|
Arugula welcomes shade, as this crop is prone
to bolting as soon as the weather turns warm if in full sun.
|
Asian greens
|
At least two hours of sun per day.
|
Asian greens such as bok choi (also spelled
“pac choi” and “pak choi”), komatsuna and tatsoi will grow wonderfully with a
couple hours of sun plus some bright shade or ambient light.
|
Chard
|
If you grow chard mainly for its crisp stalks,
you will need at least five hours of sun per day; if you grow it mainly for
the tender baby leaves, three to four hours of sun per day will be enough.
|
Expect chard grown in partial sade to be quite
a bit smaller than that grown in full sun. Baby chard leaves are excellent
cooked or served raw in salads.
|
Culinary herbs
|
At least three hours of sun per day.
|
While many culinary herbs need full sun,
chives, cilantro, garlic chives, golden marjoram, lemon balm, mint, oregano
and parsley will usually perform well in shadier gardens.
|
Kale
|
At least three to four hours of sun per day.
|
You'll notice only a small reduction in growth
if comparing kale grown in partial shade with kale grown in full sun.
|
Lettuce
|
At least three to four hours of sun per day.
|
Lettuce is perfect for shadier gardens because
the shade protects it from the sun’s heat, preventing it from bolting as
quickly. Often, the shade can buy a few more weeks of harvesting time that
you’d get from lettuce grown in full sun.
|
Mesclun
|
One of the best crops for shady gardens. Grows
in as little as two hours of sun per day and handles dappled shade well.
|
The delicate leaves of this salad mix can be
harvested in about four weeks, and as long as you leave the roots intact, you
should be able to get at least three good harvests before you have to
replant.
|
Mustard greens
|
At least three hours of sun per day for baby
mustard greens.
|
Mustard grown for baby greens is best-suited
for shady gardens.
|
Peas and beans
|
At least four to five hours of sun.
|
If growing these crops in partial shade,
getting a good harvest wil take longer. Try bush and dwarf varieties rather
than pole varieties.
|
Root vegetables
|
At least four to five hours of sun per day for
decent production.
|
Beets, carrots, potatoes, radishes and turnips
will do OK in partial shade, but you'll have to wait longer for a full crop.
The more light you have, the faster they'll mature. Alternatively, you can
harvest baby carrots or small new potatoes for a gourment treat that would
cost an arm and a leg at a grocery store.
|
Scallions
|
At least three hours of sun per day.
|
This crop does well in partial shade
throughout the growing season.
|
Spinach
|
At least three to four hours of sun per day.
|
Spinach welcomes shade, as it bolts easliy if
in full sun. If you grow it specifically to harvest as baby spinach, you'll
be able to harvest for quite a while as long as you continue to harvest the
outmost leaves of each plant.
|
Many of these crops will grow more slowly in the shade, but you'll still ultimately have some homegrown produce - which is always better than none!
Happy gardening!
Kristiane
P.S. Visit our table this weekend at the Urban Oaks Green Faire (and meet our new intern Maya!) or the Girlscout Jamboree in Durham, CT.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Get Ready for Seedling Sales!
Check out our website for a listing of upcoming seedling sales.
Don't see your seedling sale on our webpage? Let us know and we can add you!
And it doesn't take a lot of space or time to care for your seedlings either. If you have the space, a small garden can feed you while fitting into a busy schedule, and if you don't have the space, containers and container gardens are a great alternative. Make sure to choose compact bush seedling varieties for large plants like cucumbers, tomatoes, and squash, and you can easily grow your produce out of containers on your front porch, outside your window, or on a rooftop. If you have access to a spot outdoors, you can grow a garden! Here's a couple helpful tips from our office manager, Deb:
Even a five gallon bucket can work. You'd be amazed at what you can grow out of one of those. And don't forget that if you have absolutely no access to the outdoors at all you can join a community garden in your area and plant your seedlings there. Just search your area online to see if there is a community garden available.Give us a call at 203.888.5146 if you have questions about seedlings and gardening, or ask the farmers and staff at the seedling sales. There is a wealth of information and expertise available, so that anyone can grow their own fresh food!
Have a bountiful day,
Melissa
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Don't Miss This Opportunity to Start a Great Garden!
 |
| Farmer Shannon Raider and Gardener Bettylou Sandy demonstrate how to fill seedling cells with soil in our last workshop at Common Ground. |
Our last workshop at Common Ground, Starting Seedlings, provided hands-on instruction on how to sprout, grow, and transplant seedlings into an organic garden. This Saturday, May 5, learn what to do with your seedlings once they have sprouted before they get too big for their containers. Give our office a call at 203.888.5146 to register.
Don't forget to mark your calendars for another upcoming workshop on Monday May 21. Join us along with the owners of Footsteps Farm, Craig and Sheryl Floyd, to learn about humane certified and sustainable livestock farming. Since 2002, Craig and Sheryl have produce humanely raised, grass fed pork, chickens, turkeys, beef and other farm products on the 15 acre Footsteps Farm in Stonington.
And stay tuned for information on more workshops we have in the works for this growing season. You won't want to miss out on these great opportunities to expand your knowledge in the garden and on the farm!
Friday, April 27, 2012
Gardening With Climate Change: Summer in February and Snow in April
With highs in the 80s in February, a two month drought, and April snow showers, how do you insure that there are May flowers?
First of all, you'll need to review the USDA's new Plant Hardiness Zone Map:
Remember, these changes in range indicate hanges in climate much more complex than the temperature increases. While the new hardiness zones mean Connecticut gardeners can plant some warmer climate plants, it also means that the plants must be tolerant of extreme weather.
Visit the interactive USDA Hardiness Zone Map here.
As we've already seen in the month of April, climate change seems to take the form of long dry periods broken up by a few storms that produce a lot of precipitation - purchasing and installing a rain barrel can capture this excess precipitation for use during extended dry periods. There are countless models of rain barrels,you can probably get them at your local garden center (including Home Depot) and they can be ordered online.
Organic matter like compost holds more moisture for longer periods of time, making it an ideal soil additive to fix moisture around your plants. Plants spaced further apart are able to spread their roots more to seek out water in the soil. Choose more drought resistant plants, and group plants that will require more water close together, so you only need to water a small area of your yard at a time. Consider the microclimates in your yard - does water collect in a certain area of your yard? Put more water thirsty plants near these moist regions.
While drought is an issue, there are also some frost warnings for Connecticut tonight - you'll need to get your burlap/cloth/plastic/other plant coverings out!
This is a great information sheet for Connecticut Gardeners about how to plant for droughts and lists of drought-resistant plants: http://www.flowersplantsinct.com/pdf/Drought-Consumer.pdf
I also like this article from the UK about how gardens can mitigate some of the affects of climate change: http://www.myclimatechangegarden.com/blog/how-your-garden-can-help-beat-climate-change
Have a wonderful weekend,
Kristiane
First of all, you'll need to review the USDA's new Plant Hardiness Zone Map:
Visit the interactive USDA Hardiness Zone Map here.
Organic matter like compost holds more moisture for longer periods of time, making it an ideal soil additive to fix moisture around your plants. Plants spaced further apart are able to spread their roots more to seek out water in the soil. Choose more drought resistant plants, and group plants that will require more water close together, so you only need to water a small area of your yard at a time. Consider the microclimates in your yard - does water collect in a certain area of your yard? Put more water thirsty plants near these moist regions.
While drought is an issue, there are also some frost warnings for Connecticut tonight - you'll need to get your burlap/cloth/plastic/other plant coverings out!
This is a great information sheet for Connecticut Gardeners about how to plant for droughts and lists of drought-resistant plants: http://www.flowersplantsinct.com/pdf/Drought-Consumer.pdf
I also like this article from the UK about how gardens can mitigate some of the affects of climate change: http://www.myclimatechangegarden.com/blog/how-your-garden-can-help-beat-climate-change
Have a wonderful weekend,
Kristiane
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Dieting vs Common Sense
Here in the United States we love to diet, which is ironic considering how high our levels of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease are. With a society so attuned to the fat, calorie, antioxidant, and carbohydrate contents of our food, and so willing to try new, supposedly healthier options, you'd think we'd all be thin and fit. But as as organicgardening.com notes in a recent post featuring good food guru Michael Pollan, our obsessive dieting culture tends to over-complicate the issue of proper nutrition. In fact, the very words diet and nutrition conjure up a science experiment more than real food, and thus much of our food has succumbed to that mechanized, over-processed ideal.
"Good and evil foods are constantly changing roles," Denise Gee writes on organicgardening.com. "One month, our
nemesis is salt; the next, it’s sugar. Now it’s high-fructose corn
syrup. We’re all over the map. 'That should tell us something,' Michael Pollan
says. 'We’re either eating the ruinous food and feeling guilty about it
or we’re eating healthy food and feeling virtuous about it. But I submit
to you that that’s a really bizarre way to think about food.'"
So what do we do when in the thick of this very complicated and confusing dilemma? Pollan suggests that we take some advice from thousands of years of ancestors the world over:
"Eat food, not too much, mostly plants. And have a relaxed attitude about food. Don’t be a fanatic."
That's really all you need to know in order to live a healthy, happy life free of dieting and obsessive attention to nutrition. If three short sentences isn't enough to live by, however, here is Michael Pollan's expansion on the above statement.
Pollan's Food Rules
• “Avoid products containing ingredients a third-grader can’t pronounce.”
• “Don’t buy any foods you’ve ever seen advertised on television.”
• “Just imagine your grandmother, or your great-grandmother depending on your age, as you’re rolling down the aisle in the supermarket. If she would not recognize something as a food, it’s not a food.”
• “Shop the perimeter of the store. That’s where the live food lives.”
• “Don’t eat until you’re full. Eat until you’re satisfied. The Japanese have a rule called hara hachi bu, which means, “eat until you’re 80 percent full.” That’s a radically un-American idea. But if we adopted this, and had our children do the same, the positive results would be profound.”
• “If you’re not hungry enough to eat an apple, you’re not really hungry.”
• “Do all your eating at a table. And no, a desk is not a table.”
Want to boost your health and have some delicious plants on hand all season? Sign up for our Organic Gardening Workshop at Common Ground High School on May 5! The workshop is just over a week away, so make sure to call into our office at 203.888.5146 to register.
Monday, March 19, 2012
A Successful Starting Seedlings Workshop
 |
| Bettylou Sandy shows students well mixed potting soil |
 | |||||
| Shannon Raider and Bettylou Sandy hold up a properly filled and planted set of seedling cells |
If you missed this workshop, there are still more opportunities get in on the action. Our series of workshops at Common Ground this spring are not yet over! Our Organic Gardening Workshop on Saturday May 5th offers instruction and seasonal tips on what can be planted in your garden now and what must wait for warmer weather. Learn how to prep your garden beds, plan your plantings, deal with early garden pests, and improve soil fertility using organic methods. At only $10 per person, this a great opportunity to expand your knowledge at a low cost.
If you want to see more photos from our Starting Seedlings Workshop, check out our Flickr page here. To see our other events this spring, check out our website.
Have a great afternoon and enjoy the warm weather!
-Melissa
Monday, February 27, 2012
Don't Just go Local, Grow Local!
The image above from the National Gardening Association details the demographics of American home gardeners. A larger version of the image can be found here. According to this information, over a third of households in the US have a garden, and many of those people are new to gardening. If you are interested in starting a garden, or have just started one and want to learn more about how to successfully produce your own fruits and veggies, check out our workshops at Common Ground High School in New Haven.
Have a great evening!
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Come Volunteer with us at the CT Flower and Garden Show!
We have volunteer openings Thursday-Saturday, in two shifts of 10-3 and 3-8pm. Volunteers be tabling with one other person (so you can take breaks as necessary) and will be provided with free admission. You can learn more about the Flower Show here.
The CT Flower and Garden Show boasts award winning landscape exhibits in full bloom ranging from 300 to 2,000 square feet and occupying over 45,000 square feet of the Convention Center Exhibit Hall. There will be 250 booths filled with plants, fertilizers, garden tools, tractors and mowers, patio and lawn furniture as well as other floral and garden related products and services, as well as an extensive floral & garden related artisian section with one of a kind designs including garden ornaments, jewelry, photography and more. Our booth will be among the many non-profit and educational exhibits. Even if you don't want to volunteer with us, visit the Show and experience some of the hours of educational seminars that will be available.
Have a great afternoon,
-Melissa
Monday, February 6, 2012
Why Seed Catalogs are Great Tools
Our newest edition of Gleanings eNews features organic seed catalogs as this month's favorite tools. Since new organic seed catalogs have just come out for the 2012 season, now is a good time to note how informative and useful seed catalogs can be when starting out your garden or farm for the year. Really knowing what kinds of seed grow best in a particular soil and climate and when it's best to plant them can mean the difference between a successful harvest and a loss. Seed catalogs (and the people working behind the scenes to compile them) provide more than just an indexed list of products for sale. They represent a wealth of knowledge from decades of experience working with seeds. If you are a farmer or gardener, taking every opportunity to soak up this kind of accumulated know-how can really put you ahead in terms of your production, regardless of whether you are growing for personal or commercial use.A recent interview by A Way to Garden highlights one individual in the vast well of organic seed producers. C.R. Lawn, the voice behind Fedco Seeds, is not only an expert on organic seed and production, but also was a keynote speaker at one of our past winter conferences, a co-author of the NOFA Handbook on saving seeds, and his business is a co-plaintiff in our suit against Monsanto. In the interview, C.R. dicusses a host of topics ranging from his heroes, to the Monsanto lawsuit, to giving advice about the best lettuces, peas, and potatoes. The following segment was particularly interesting:
Q. I have a famous garden friend who despite his expertise (and Italian heritage) lamented he could never ripen a proper crop of figs. Has any plant escaped your attempts at cultivation, or otherwise exasperated you?
A. I have never done well with peppers or eggplant. With peppers I think it is mostly that I have farmed in two windy locations and I have observed that peppers hate wind. They did much better when I built them little cages with row covers over.
I think plants know when you don’t like to eat them and they won’t grow for you. The eggplant falls in that category. Though a good chef can make an eggplant dish that I would eat, I lack that ability. The plants seem to know that and never grow for me. It doesn’t help that they prefer a great deal of heat (Maine sure was not warm enough for them most years), and they seem to be a favorite target for the Colorado Potato Beetle, which in my experience will decimate them must faster than it will potatoes.
C.R. makes a good point in this section that it's important to grow what you enjoy cooking and eating. If you love what you grow you will have a vested interest in its success, and all that hard work will be all the more delicious come harvest time!
Have a great afternoon!
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Wisconsin Woman Taken to Court Over Her Lawn
“They are less work, they come up every year, they are pretty," she says. "Native perennials have all kinds of environment benefits because the native plants feed the native bugs, feed the birds; it’s the bottom of the food chain. You can promote the survival of our ecosystem and our biosphere if you plant native plants.”
However, despite Louise's astute decision regarding local ecology, her prairie yard happens to violate an outdated neighborhood ordinance that her community has begun cracking down on. The ordinance states that native lawns can't exceed six inches in height, and when Louise refused to comply with the ordinance she was summoned to court. Louise has since been trying to push village officials to get the ordinance changed. She argues, "(The ordinance) is about lawns and it isn't about native plant communities. It was drafted way back and wasn't about 21st century aesthetics or a 21st century ecological understanding. I don't have a lawn, I have a prairie. They are using a lawn regulation to harass me about my prairie."
Read more about the Shorewood community and Louise's battle here.
Have a great day!
-Melissa
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Sustainable Yards Simplified
 |
| Native Landscape |
In this case, the numbers say it all.
- The native garden cost $16,700 to install compared $12,400 for the traditional garden. Despite its higher initial cost, the native garden’s lower maintenance requirements translate into $2,200 per year in cost savings.
- The native garden uses 77 percent less water, produces 66 percent less waste, and requires 68 percent less labor than the traditional garden.
 |
| Traditional "Mow and Blow" Landscape |
Additionally, traditional gardens require frequent applications of fertilizer and pesticides that leech into the city's water supply during rainstorms, causing pollution and aquatic habitat disruption. When considered on a large scale, this is a huge problem as the average home gardener uses 10 times more toxic chemicals than a farmer.
Overall, the choice is a no-brainer. Native gardens are an all-around amazing solution to Southern California's water shortages, as well as a sustainable alternative to landscapes steeped in exotics and pesticides. In my opinion, education is the logical next step, so spread the word about what sustainable landscaping can do for you and your community! Check out the full report here and tell your friends!
Wishing you all the best,
-Melissa
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Think about rain gardens on your property!
 |
| Diagram from Ohio Wesleyan University |
All the rain lately has highlighted the value of having rain gardens in your yard. A rain garden is a depression, filled with shrubs and perennials that collect water runoff from a roof or paved surface allowing it to infiltrate into the soil of your yard.
Water runoff is a major source of pollution to our nation’s waterways and run off and erosion contributes to the flooding which has really affected the northeast in the past couple weeks. This fairly simple process (it requires a little more thought than a regular garden, and you need to dig a 6 inch depression).
A really helpful guide to a Do-It-Yourself rain garden is this brochure published by the UConn Cooperative Extension System.
The brochure recommends that to design your garden you should consider placement of the rain garden – choose a location with good drainage that is fairly level that could catch water flowing from a gutter. Determine if the soils are suitable at your rain garden site by doing a small percolation test – dig a hole about 6 inches deep and fill it with water, if there is still standing water 24 hours later, this location has inadequate drainage and your rain garden will become a rain puddle. The UConn brochure has detailed information about what kinds of plants to include in your rain garden and where to put them.The Connecticut River Coastal Conservation District, UConn Cooperative Extension System and the town of Old Saybrook are hosting a "Build a Rain Garden" workshop on Sept. 22 from 9am – 1 pm at the Acton Public Library in Old Saybrook.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Ample Harvest and Urban Garden Scavengers
Even the White House is looking to home gardens and urban agriculture to improve our food system and food access inequalities. The AmpleHarvest.org Campaign, is a national program that enables Americans who grow food in a home garden to donate excess harvest to registered local food pantries.
AmpleHarvest.com was first created by Gary Oppenheimer because few food pantries had websites or any type of online presence for people to find them. Since then the National Gardening Association partnered with AmpleHarvest,.org to inform members of the opportunity to donate produce. In July of 2011 the program partnered with Michelle Obama’s “Let’s move!” initiative with the goal of creating a healthier America. "Let's Move Faith and Communities" is a challenge to community leaders, faith-based and neighborhood organizations to help enact a number of programs and achieve specific goals including hosting 10,000 new community gardens or farmer's markets and hosting 1,000 new Summer Food Service Program Sites. Ample Harvest has brought fresh produce to more than 4,000 food pantries across the country adding 100 just in the month of July, 2011. Ample Harvest estimates that more than 700,000 pounds of fresh produce have been donated to food pantries.
Local governments are taking similar approaches to leftover food in abandoned gardens. In the New York Times article, At Vacant Homes, Foraging for Fruit, by Kim Severson, exposes the acceptability of scavenging in abandoned gardens. Areas with high foreclosure rates mean many empty houses and abandoned gardens. There are government efforts to turn abandoned land into food – in Multnomah County, officials offer property seized for back taxes to community and governmental organizations for gardens. Even after homeowners have left, these gardens provide for people living in the area. These two trends demonstrate the importance of small gardens and urban agriculture in addressing food access problems now and in the future.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Thinking Ahead to Fall and Winter Harvests
While you’re getting lots of fruits and veggies in your home garden now, you should be planning ahead to extend your growing season into the fall! For fall and winter harvests, you can start to plant seeds in July and early August.
This website from the Hudson Valley Seed Library recommends planting the following seeds this week:
Arugula, Beets, Bok Choy, Carrots, Chinese Cabbage, Lettuce, Mibuna/Mizuna, Mustard Greens, Swiss Chard, Tatsoi, Tendergreen, Turnips
Johnny’s Seeds website also has some helpful tools for you to plan your fall planting. Check out the fall-planting calendar and seed-starting date calculator for advice on when to plant your seeds and when it is safe to do so. For information on when to expect a frost in your area checkout this form.
 |
| Massaro Farm in Woodbridge, CT |
Registration is $10 for CT NOFA members and $15 for non-members. Attendance is limited, so please preregister by calling the office at (203) 888-5146, printing and mailing this form or using our online registration.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)