Lets’ Grow a Garden by Gyo Fujikawa - 1978
It looks like spring is here!
Let’s grow a garden,
full of good and tasty vegetables.
We start by
getting little packets of seeds,
and tiny, leafy
seedlings all ready
to plant.
What we do at The Vancouver Compost Demonstration Garden
30 Page Photo Album
Since 1990, the City of Vancouver and City Farmer Society have been working together
at the Vancouver Compost Demonstration Garden, to teach Vancouver residents how
they can ‘go green’ at home. Composting is part of a larger City strategy named
‘Grow Natural’, which shows the public how to “save time, money and the environment
by using natural yard care techniques.”
The Vancouver Compost Garden works in cooperation with a variety of City Departments
(Solid Waste, Water Design, Parks, Health, Streets, Green Streets) to inform the
public about these strategies, which include back yard and worm composting, water
conservation (rain barrels, drip irrigation, permeable surfaces) safe pest control
and natural lawn care. All of these ‘green’ activities overlap and involve other
topics as well.
What does your chicken coop look like?
“I was a little surprised at the lack of smell. With only a little effort, there’s
little to no smell in the coop area, and certainly nothing that would carry over
to my neighbors. The birds are quiet most of the time. [They] can squawk loudly
after laying an egg, but still it’s not as obnoxious as a barking dog.”
-Carl Wacker, Madison chicken owner
Vitalizing the Vacant: The Logistics and Benefits of Middle- to Large-Scale Agricultural
Production in Urban Land
An urban farm is considered to be one or more sites within the boundaries of a city,
where the soil is cultivated for edible plants, and where the food produced is shared
(whether for-profit or not, by sales or donation) with individuals other than the
farmers themselves. The existing sites currently known as urban farms usually occupy
a total of at least 1/4 acre (or 10,890 ft2) and have established a formal food
distribution system, often selling through Community Supported Agriculture (CSA),
at farmers markets, and to local restaurants.
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More on these stories at:
City Farmer News [http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102505496498&e=0012iftRR4FhTvjfMwW-VX-KOh44rprWTCHtyvKftBCzf1egBzK11LqtoBz23UqZ2lBSaKM1t1VyCsRu80yA0g_ohmqtubROIlZ6psYtcc0hsU7cfoycyCYZA==]
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Michael Levenston
City Farmer - Canada’s Office of Urban Agriculture
Well, on the way home from delivering eggs to oldest daughter, and picking up dog food and cat food at the feed mill, I was driving by our local Big Lots store... There was a nursery truck there unloading, so I had to go and see what trees he was bringing...
Since I had told you that the orchard was the weak link in my preparedness, and was planning to add that hopefully this spring... Well, the trees he was unloading were huge compared to normal nursery fruit tree stock... 7-8’ trees with a 1”+ bore (trunk diameter) So, I was able to pick up 2 McIntosh and 1 Yellow Delicious Apple trees, Bartlett Pear, Plum, Elberta Peach and a Belle of Georgia Peach trees. Price - - - $14 each... Trees that size run about triple that.
Well, loaded trees, compost, peat and water barrel in the trailer and now have all of them planted... Amazing how you can almost taste the fruit as you are just planting them.
Now if I can get some pecans and pie cherries, then get those seedless Concord grapes going, I should be about set...
I already have all the mulberry and choke cherry I could want, along with a nice wild persimmon.
Food Gardening to Go Up in 2009
More Americans are recognizing the benefits of growing their own produce, including improved quality, taste and cost savings.
March 11, 2009
PR Newswire
Findings from the National Gardening Association’s (NGA) new survey, The Impact of Home and Community Gardening in America, indicate food gardening in the United States is on the rise as 7 million more households plan to grow their own fruits, vegetables, herbs or berries in 2009, up 19% from 2008. This anticipated increase is nearly double the 10% growth in vegetable gardening activity from 2007 to 2008 as more food gardeners emerge this year.
More Americans are recognizing the benefits of growing their own produce, including improved quality, taste and cost savings. In 2008, gardeners spent a total of $2.5 billion to purchase seeds, plants, fertilizer, tools and other gardening supplies to grow their own food. According to NGA estimates, a well-maintained food garden yields a $500 average return per garden when considering a typical gardener’s investment and the market price of produce.
The survey findings were announced yesterday at the 5th Annual Garden Writers Teleconference, co-sponsored by The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company and the Garden Writers Association, which discussed recent trends in Americans’ gardening behaviors.
Key highlights from The Impact of Home and Community Gardening Survey include:
43 million U.S. households plan to grow their own fruits, vegetables, herbs and berries in 2009, up 19% from 36 million households in 2008.
21% of households said they plan to start a food garden in 2009.
11% of households already active in food gardening plan to increase both the amount and variety of vegetables they will grow in 2009;
10% also said they will spend more time food gardening this year.
Considering the current economy, one surprising result from the survey is that just one in three respondents said they were motivated to grow their own food because of the recession. The respondents’ other reasons include:
58% – for better-tasting food
54% – to save money on food bills
51% – for better quality food
48% – to grow food they know is safe
“As more people understand the benefits of growing their own fresh produce, we’re finding consumers are hungry for information on how they can start and maintain a successful food garden. And we are well positioned to help.” said Craig Humphries, director of consumer research at ScottsMiracle-Gro. “In fact, last year alone we saw about a 66% increase in the number of vegetable gardening-related calls into our Scotts Consumer Services line.”
A white paper detailing the complete findings of the The Impact of Home and Community Gardening in America survey will be available in early March 2009 on the National Gardening Association’s Web site, www.gardenresearch.com and on the ScottsMiracle-Gro Web site, www.scottsmiraclegro.com. The survey, conducted in January 2009 by the NGA with sponsorship from ScottsMiracle-Gro, polled a representative sample of over 2,500 households nationwide on their gardening activities last year and future plans.
http://gardening.lohudblogs.com/2009/03/11/growing-our-own-food/