Conantum Garden Visit

We had a very nice visit to Conantum Community Garden today. We were invited by Mark and Pamela Hanson, enthusiastic gardeners who were kind enough to show us their herb and vegetable garden plots. We learned quite a bit touring their gardens and they generously gave us some rhubarb, strawberries, raspberries, garlic and chives. We immediately went back to Cousins Field Community Garden and planted them in our new perennial plot and raspberry area.

We look forward to growing the Concord community gardens network as well as developing a Concord "grange", where we might learn from one another and share ideas and knowledge.

Teaming With Microbes

I picked up this book at the Concord Main library, not sure if it is at the Fowler. It was an enjoyable read, written by an "amateur soil biologist" and columnist on gardening, from Alaska of all places. Turns out the book is quite popular. There is a rich and lively micro world in the 8 inches of soil beneath your feet in your Cousin's garden plot.

http://www.amazon.com/Teaming-Microbes-Gardeners-Guide-Soil/dp/0881927775

Great Meeting Last Night and Not So New Invasives Info

Thanks all for coming last night and making it a successful meeting!

Thanks to Mark and Pamela Hanson, our guest speakers, who joined us to talk about different topics that we're going to put together over next Fall, related to all things gardening. Stay tuned...

I forgot to mention something that we'll need to do during in the month of May after our cleanup April 9th & 10th which is to pull then drop any garlic mustard weeds we might see.  If you're interested in why we want to get rid of this, see this link: http://www.invasive.org/weedcd/pdfs/wow/garlic_mustard.pdf

Pretty nasty stuff!

Let's all be on the lookout around the perimeter of the Garden for this weed and "pull it then drop it" so it doesn't go to seed.

Thanks all!

Spring Meeting March 16th

Attention all Cousins Field Community Gardeners:

We will be having our Spring Meeting at the Harvey Wheeler Community Ctr. inConference Rm. A from 7-9pm on March 16th.

After discussing our gardening business items, we will have a guest speaker, Mr. Mark Hanson, who will be talking about ideas around a Concord Grange. He would like to put together a series of gardening workshops and would like to share some of his ideas as well as ask you about your ideas. You may have seen him before, as last summer he spoke at a workshop at the Main Library during the "Go Green - Think Green" week about composting. 

Please join us at this meeting to welcome both Mark and his wife Pamela as well as to think about ideas for topics that community gardeners may be interested in.

We look forward to seeing you then!

Tomatoes, Calcium and Soil Warming Tips

One of our Gardeners would like some help with these questions below. I'm sure these may be on all of our minds prior to planting season. Please post a reply if you have some ideas, thanks!

• How to avoid tomato blight on our small plots? - There's not that many locations to plant.
• Adding calcium to the soil with egg shells - how much?
• Keeping soil warmer in early season - red plastic, plastic row covers?

Group Seed Order with Garden for Life for Big Discounts

We have been invited by the group, Garden for Life, to put in a bulk order for seeds with them which will yeild some discounts.  I'm all for discounts, so here is what I'm planning on doing before March 1st:

1. Go to their website: http://www.fedcoseeds.com./ 
2. Open an acct with them. The website only asks for your email and zip. 
3. Select your seeds and put them in your shopping cart. 
4. When you're ready to check out, check the part of the form that says "part of a Group" button and follow the directions. 
5. They'll ask for group name and # on checkout. Our Group Name is: ConcordMA and our Group Number is:  99109

Seed orders close March 1 and potatoes March 15. 


Have fun!

Gardens for Life Meeting and Discussion on Heirlooms and Seed Saving

Last night I attended the monthly Gardens for Life meeting lead by Debbie Barr. They invited a great guest speaker, Debbie Bier who is an experienced gardener and seed saver. Debbie shared her knowledge of heirloom seed and seed saving/purchasing strategies.  She not only spoke about how to select seeds to grow in the Concord area, but also the talk covered the definition of heirlooms, why they are important to plant, how they are collected and shared and which are the easiest for beginners to save. She had a tremendous selection of catalogs not only for heirloom seeds but also other seed catalogs around New England. Finally, she gave us 11 great tips on seed selecting which grow the best in the Concord area. Below, with her permission, I am reprinting her tips.

11 Tips for Selecting Seeds to Grow in the Concord Area

Choose open pollinated seeds. Only open pollinated seeds (OP) can be saved and bred true; many are heirlooms. Seed cannot be saved from hybrids. Get off the treadmill of always buying seeds for everything you plant by opting for OP varieties. Save their seeds and regrow your successes!

Think variety. We don’t know what climate change will bring us; don’t put all your eggs in one basket! Planting a wide array of types of plants (also, more than one variety of any single veggie) is like an insurance policy. Look at cold and warm, dry or wet tolerances for different plants and go for a broad range of capabilities.

Expand your harvest. Add more cold weather crops so you can plant and harvest during the frosty months. Multi-season planting takes practice; it’s vital for food security.

No peat moss. The peat fields of North America sequester more than 50% of the soil carbon pool for our entire planet.  They are a non-renewable resource.  Instead, use a combo of compost, sand and garden soil for indoor seed starting and transplanting.

Focus on New England sourcing. Locally grown seed means the parent plants did well in our area. Ditto for heirlooms originating in New England (climate change aside).

Look to neighbors. What do folks on your block plant that does well? Try the same!

Consult the “Ark of Taste” for New England from the US Slow Food folks.  Plant some of the varieties "boarded" on the Ark to help save New England agricultural treasures from extinction. http://bit.ly/fbZps8

Plant some RAFT seeds. Renewing America's Food Traditions (RAFT) of the Chef's Collaborative (located in Boston) conducted an annual “grow-out” of around 10 fabulous-but-threatened heirloom veggies.  Try some of last year’s varieties (no grow-out for 2011): http://bit.ly/dA1bCz

Look slightly south. With global warming, plants have to deal with higher temps and longer seasons. Try heirlooms with a long history in, say, the mid-Atlantic states.  Also among similar climates across the world.

Take some chances and try seeds you've never grown (or eaten, or maybe even heard of!) before. They could become future favorites!

Buy from seed companies doing great work -- There are some wonderful companies working to save our food and agricultural heritage -- support them! Here are three in our region that grow their own seeds, and focus on preserving heritage seed stock: Fedco (www.fedcoseeds.com); Comstock, Ferre & Co (oldest seed company in New England; only open-pollinated seed – www.comstockferre.com).  Also Seed Savers Exchange (www.seedsavers.org) does amazing seed saving work world wide – become a member and get seed through their mind-blowing “yearbook”.