April/Early May Garlic Mustard Pull

Hello Gardeners,

I forgot to mention that April/early May is the time that nasty Garlic Mustard comes out. The best defense against this invasive is to get rid of it when the soil is relatively moist - grasp low and firmly on the plant and tug it gently until the main root loosens from the soil and the entire plant pulls out. As long as there aren't any flowers you can just drop it where it is. If there are flowers already, get rid of it by disposing in the trash.

Please be on the lookout for it during our Clean Up Days and beyond, in the rear of the garden behind the raspberries as well as on the perimeter for this nasty stuff. Here's a link so you know what it looks like: Plant Conservation Alliance Fact Sheet.

Thanks!

Two Dates for Spring Garden Clean Up

Credit to FCIT for use of this image.

Hello Gardeners,

April has started out pretty much as we suspected, blustery and cool but there's some nice sun out during the day time hours. With this thought, its time to think about our Spring Cleanup! I had mentioned in our Feb. meeting that the clean up date would be: April 14th with the 15th as a rain date. It sounded good at the time, however, it's also the start of school vacation week and we're going away! So, in light of this, Tracy and I have decided to hold two cleanup dates:

Sat. April 7th (Kitty will be there from 2-4pm)

Sat. April 14th (Tracy will be there from 9-11am)

Rain date, April 15th

We hope you can make either one of these dates to clean up your garden plot and if you are in the berry co-ops, please ask the coordinators how you can help them (Margaret G. - Raspberries, Barbara P. - Blueberries).

Frank C. has not been able to do much clean up this year due to his knee operation, so if your plot is already quite clear of rocks and other debris (including black plastic and wood chips), please help others. This will help the Town employees when they come to do the rototilling (date TBD).

Please wear gloves and bring large plastic trash bags for debris.  If you cannot participate on these dates, please plan to visit your plot between now and then to clear it of any rocks and debris. Please dispose of all rocks in the back of the garden in the rock pile. Do not place in paths or in the perimeter as this will interfere with weed clearing and mowing later in the season. Anything not removed by April 14th will be disposed of that day.

If you are a new gardener, we'll be contacting you in a separate email about plot locations soon!

Thanks for every one's help and see you this weekend (or next)!

Kitty & Tracy

Cousins Field Community Garden Co-Coordinators 

 

Debbie Barr, our friend and fellow gardener, has invited everyone to a movie tonight called Dirt! which will be held at 7:30 at Alcott School. Hope you can make it! They're also raffling off a Farmstead 4x4 mortise and tenon raised garden bed! Should be a fun night. Hope to see you there.

Kitty

I hope  you can join us for a terrific evening focused on ---DIRT! As community gardeners you can appreciate the importance of the topic...so I hope you will come and forward to your members!

Here are the details:

The ‘Focus on Food Film and Discussion series’ presents ‘Dirt! The Movie’, full of heart and soil, on Friday, March 16 at 7:30 pm, at the Alcott School, 93 Laurel Street. The Film Series is co-sponsored by ConcordCAN and the Walden Woods Project. Doors open at 7 PM. One way to get your hands dirty is to enter a raffle for a Farmstead 4x4 mortise and tenon raised garden bed. Raffle tickets are $1 each at the screening. 

Dirt! The Movie tells the story of the glorious and under-appreciated material beneath our feet. The film looks closely at the living organic matter that feeds us, holds and cleans our water, and regulates the earth’s climate. It also offers many ways to build a more sustainable relationship with this precious resource.

Come at 7pm and see the compost display, and stay after the film for speakers and discussion. Brian Cramer, Manager of Hutchins Farm, will speak about farm soils in Concord and organic methods for building up soil. Mark Hanson, composting advocate and experienced gardener, will demonstrate composting techniques for home gardens.

‘Dirt! The Movie’ is a widely praised Official Sundance Selection. “The film excels. It is a playful, spiritual tale of the soil beneath our feet” says Documentary.org  and Variety calls it “Thought provoking…welcome humor and visual pizzazz.” 

Attached is the flyer! Learn more: www.concordfood.ning.com orwww.dirtthemovie.org. 

If Concord Schools are closed due to bad weather, the program will be cancelled.

See you there, 

Debbie Barr

Seed Swap and Meeting 3/6 @7:30 at Harvey Wheeler

Hello Cousins Field Community Gardeners,


You are invited by our Gardens for Life friends to a seed swap and meeting this Tues. 3/6. Hope you can make it!


Kitty 


Garden/Life members and friends! 

Join us for our SEED SWAP AND TALK MEETING  this coming TUESDAY MARCH 6, 7:30 PM at Harvey Wheeler Community Center with experienced seed saver and gardener, Debbie Bier, who will speak briefly about seed starting techniques, transplanting and hedging our bets in an unpredictable garden season. Please RSVP by Monday March 5 if you plan to attend. Scroll down for info on how links to templates to package your seeds to share! We will have materials on hand to make seed packets  as well. 

WHY SWAP? By sharing seed (they can be from the last or current growing season) we make sure we don't end up holding more than can be used before the seeds lose their viability, and we can buy larger packets of seed without waste. We also get to see how the same plants grow in a different garden with a different gardener tending them, which can be hugely educational. It's a great way to try out a plant without "committing" to a whole packet of seed.  Lastly, when we take on new seed, we can learn something about how the plant grew from others who have tried it themselves. (Scroll down for seed prep directions)

A BIG thank you to all of you who joined the group order of FEDCO seeds: We all get a 22% discount as a result! 

SO....Come join us on your own, or bring a friend!  Please RSVP by Monday, March 5 to deb01742@comcast.net!  For food related information, go towww.concordfood.ning.com or to www.concordcan.org for information on building community.  

See you on Tuesday!

Debbie Barr

GET READY TO SWAP!

Debbie Bier’s Directions for Seed Sharing

Please come with your seeds already set up in small packets to give away -- it's up to you how many you want to put in each packet. Have each packet already labeled with the name of plant, the year the seeds were packaged for, plus anything else you think will be helpful.  

Please write the full name of the plant and if you also tell who supplied it (including seed you saved yourself) on each packet, gardeners can look up specifics online. Be prepared to answer questions about your experience growing this plant. You can also bring seeds packaged in their original envelope to give away, or to refer to if questions come up.

If you have very small envelopes or tiny ziplock bags already hanging around, you can use those for sharing. The below links allow you to repurpose paper already on hand into homemade envelopes.

Simple origami seed packet: 
http://www.cheapvegetablegardener.com/2008/12/make-your-own-paper-seed-packets.html

More complex origami seed packet:http://maggiewang.com/2008/06/26/origami-seed-packets

Another origami seed packet:http://www.downsizer.net/Projects/Growing_food/Origami_seed_packets/

Use your printer, glue or tape:http://www.cheapvegetablegardener.com/2009/08/make-your-own-seed-packets-packet.html
You can also use this link http://www.gardensandcrafts.com/files/seedpackets/sp_blank   . This format  includes basic info ready for you to write or type in...and shared by member Enid Boasberg.

Tomato Seedlings!

Spring can't be far now, Verrill Farm has posted their tomato seedling order form : http://www.verrillfarm.com/PDF/2012_tomatoorder.pdf

From Tracy S.

Gardens for Life Meeting on Ordering Seeds for Various Growing Conditions and Cold Frames

An invite from our friend Debbie Barr for a talk tonight, Feb. 9th at Harvey Wheeler Community Center at 7:30 PM.


Hope you can make it!
Kitty


Hello Fellow Gardeners, 

Come on your own, or bring a friend! Garden/Life program is today, FEBRUARY 9 AT 7:30 PM at the Harvey Wheeler Community Center. We will talk about ordering seeds for various growing conditions AND how to make (and use) a cold frame with experienced gardeners Debbie Bier (FEDCO and seeds) and David Bearg (cold frame construction). RSVP to deb01742@comcast.net

Speaker David Bearg, eco-design gardener and engineer will talk with powerpoint to illustrate Building and Use of Cold frames; Learn how to design, build and use coldframes to extend the growing season in early spring and late fall.

  

Debbie Bier, East Quarter Community Gardens, will talk about what to seeds to order online for our joint FEDCO order. Share info on your favorites and losers. The more people sign up, the bigger the discount. Save Money! Support this employee owned, seed company with a non-Monsanto/Genetically Modified policy. Bring past plant lists or your current seed order form...or paper/pen to take notes!

See you tonight!

Debbie Barr

Film "Food Fight" Feb. 17th, 7:30-9:30 @Alcott school

This message is from our friend Debbie Barr, who would like to invite you to this film and discussion. Hope you can make it!

Kitty

The Focus on Food film series is part of ConcordCAN's Food for Thought campaign to start a public conversation about food. 

Our next film, Food Fight, includes two terrific speakers: Scott Soares, Agriculture Commissioner and a food entrepreneur, JD Kemp. 

For anyone interested in food and gardening...this is a great opportunity to consider how our local growers fit into the regional picture...and what MA consumers should do regarding the Farm Bill 2012...coming up this year in Washington. May be  our last chance for 5 years to change the direction.

I know members of the Ag Committee will be coming, and I hope you will come too! We need GARDENER voices heard! Scroll down for the invitation..and feel free to add your own message to your membership.

The Film Series is cosponsored with the Walden Woods Project.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION! 

Focus on Food Friday Night Film and Discussion Series

Friday, February 17^th, 7:30-9:30 PM, Alcott School   Doors open at 7 PM.   

“Food Fight”

screening & discussion with 

Scott Soares, MA Commissioner of Agricultural Resources

J.D. Kemp, CEO of Organic Renaissance FOODEx

Our speakers will bring us up to date on initiatives in our Northeast regional food system 

as well as the impact of the 2012 Farm Bill on farm land conservation, small farms and consumers.

                    

How did it happen that our food today is lower in taste and nutrition, and higher in fat and salt, than it was in 1960? And that in just two generations, American consumers of food have traded under-supply and malnutrition for excess and obesity?  

Food Fight tells the story.

Winner of the prestigious Audience Award from the International Documentary Association,  the film features interviews with Michael Pollan, Alice Waters, Marion Nestle, and other chefs, farmers, and politicians who are dedicated to reversing recent trends. 

This film screening is co-hosted by ConcordCAN and the Walden Woods Project. Learn more at: concordfood.ning.com

If Concord Schools are closed due to bad weather, the program will be cancelled.      

MORE ABOUT OUR SPEAKERS: 

Scott Soares is an advocate of sustainable farming and has taken a leadership role in building strong partnerships at the local, state and regional level aimed at achieving this goal. He grew up on his family farm, and joined the Department of Agriculture in 1996. His primary focus is enhancing economic opportunities for the Commonwealth’s farming community that meets the needs of an increasingly discerning public that is keenly interested in sustainable agriculture.

J.D. Kemp launched Boston-based Organic Renaissance Food Exchange in 2009 to help 're-regionalize' the Northeast food system. Food Ex offers an online platform to local food buyers such as restaurants and grocery stores, plus warehousing and logistical support so they can purchase directly from local food producers.