Urban Farming Externship-Week 6

Week 6- Community Garden

This week at the garden we prepared several of our beds for spring crop planting. We chose the beds that have the hoop covers because the weather is still unpredictable and calling for frost.

Here we have pictured are red clover that we planted as a cover crop to help fix the nitrogen in the soil. We harvested the lettuce and pulled up all the clover to work back into the beds.

 

Clover get tiny little dots on the roots which are bacteria that form nitrogen.(See photo on right) After the clover blooms that is when it is best to turn into the soil. because we are turning it in before the clover had a chance to bloom we are also going to be adding fertilizer.

Your some lettuce we harvested.

 


After we pulled up all the clover we then covered in felt the beds with fresh soil. Adding and mixing a pasteurize chicken manure slow release fertilizer . The directions call for 5 pounds per hundred square feet of a 40 pound bag. We used triple the amount because it is slow release.            

 

The soil and fertilizer as organic and we get it from Victory Gardens in Savannah   Savannah Victory Gardens

You can also follow them at                                                                                                                                                                   SavannahVictoryGardens/Facebook Page .








We will come back in two weeks to replant. Here are a few pictures of some cold weather peas we planted a few weeks ago that are sprouting. They are called Winter Peas or Whistler Peas. They were sprinkled in the beds and as you can see some taken root and they are so cute.

 


This is my final week of my externship for my Urban Farming Certification, I will still continue going to the community garden and keep sharing my experiences through this blog. This is been a wonderful experience. I want to thank Charles Morris of the Charles H Moore Center at Trustees Garden Trustees Garden  and The Charles H Morris Center at Trustees Garden/Facebook Page for opening his garden to the community. Thank you Kerry with Victory Gardens for your wealth of information; I've learned so much. Thanks to Paul, Garden Ambassador, you have been very helpful. I also want to thank Jennifer Cabe and Canyon Ranch Institute Canyon-Ranch-Institute/Facebook Page and Canyon Ranch Institute for the impact you are making in the lives of our community. A special thank you goes out to my instructor, Torrie Birkemeier at Southwest Institute of Healing Arts  SWIHA . God could not have led me to a better school; I have absolutely loved my experiences, the teachers and support I've received. I love my amazing classmates, Robin, I hope to meet you one day in person you have been an awesome partner for this past year (We did it only a few more weeks to go). Thank you and much love to all that read and follow me.                    ~Blessings & Love~                        

Seed Saving Hacked Webinar Part 2- Simple Easy Ways to Save

Thanks for joining me again. If you did not have a chance to look at the webinar; Seed Saving Hacked, mentioned in last week's blog, it is still available online at http://instantteleseminar.com/?eventid=63542964 The webinar is presented by Bill McDorman and Belle Starr, co-founders and co-directors of Rocky Mountain Seed Alliance,  http://seedsave.org/  and  http://www.seedsave.org/index.php/learn/seed-school-online . Bill and Belle share with us two simple ways to save seeds, the three easiest vegetables to save seeds from and how to save them.

First of all the three easiest vegetables to save seeds from are tomatoes, beans and lettuce. Tomatoes are considered the "gateway drug to all gardening"; 80% of all gardeners grow tomatoes. Tomatoes are self pollinating which adds to their simplicity.

       Cut the tomato at equator                                                     Squeeze all the juice out

                                                           Add water. Let sit for 2-5 days to ferment, Mold on top is a good thing. The good seeds will float to the bottom stirring occasionally. 

Water winnow until only clean seeds remain and water is fresh and clean. Strain through a sieve or strainer.

 Place seeds on a plate or paper towel. Be sure to label them date and year. Allow them to dry then separate.

One tomato has hundreds of seeds. One seed can produce hundreds of more seeds. You would never need to buy, seed packets, seedlings or plants again.

The second easiest vegetables to save seeds from are beans. Beans are also self pollinating so they too are easy to grow. 

Wait until about 70 to 80% of the pods on the crop are the desired color buckskin. Pull the whole plant and hang upside down to dry.

 Use the ancient term threshing to remove the beans from the pod. Threshing beans during the heat of the day when the pods are brittle and easily cracked.This can be a fun ritual for the family.




The third easiest vegetable to save his lettuce. You get tons of seeds from the lettuce according to Bill, "maybe even enough for the rest of your life".

First you need to let the lettuce bolts, here are some images below of what that looks like. You'll want to save seeds from the last lettuce to bolt.

The seeds are in little tent packs under the parachutes.

Now that you've learned how to save seeds and you see how easy it is, what even a do with all those seeds? You will have more seeds than you need in a lifetime. Two great ways to share your seeds are seed swaps and seed libraries. There are over 400 seed libraries globally. These are freely exchange libraries. You checkout seeds and then return seeds back at the end of the season. Further information on seed libraries can be found at http://seedsave.org/ . You can also learn how to start a seed library, possibly at your local library.

Finally if you haven't had a chance to watch the webinar, I really encourage you to do so there was so much more information covered that I presented here. As Bill and Belle said in the webinar, "you don't have to be an expert, go play; have fun with it."                     ~Blessings & Love~

                                                                     

Seed Saving Hacked Webinar Part 1-Why Seed Saving Is So Important.

If you ever wanted to know how to save your own seeds, why saving is so important and how come more people are not doing it? Take a look at this webinar; Seed Saving Hacked hosted by Greg Peterson: http://InstantTeleseminar.com/?eventid=63542964 as of today you can still access the link but I’m not sure for how long. The webinar is presented by Bill McDorman and Belle Starr, who are co-founders and co-directors of Rocky Mountain Seed Alliance, http://seedsave.org/ and http://www.seedsave.org/index.php/learn/seed-school-online Bill McDorman has 30+ years of experience with seed saving. He started a nonprofit called Down Home Project to have more diversity and varieties. Belle Starr was in radio and marketing. She was a co-producer of Soul Fest, and environmental show in the early 90's. They have developed a Seed Saving School online to teach how to save seeds and also create teachers, to teach seed saving. Here are some interesting facts that were presented in the webinar, along with a brief summary on what was covered.

Who is seed saving for? Seed saving is for anyone and everyone interested in sustainable agriculture. Whether you’re a farmer, home gardener or a family you can reap the benefits of seed saving. Let’s face it buying organic is expensive so keeping the food local down to the seed can decrease food expense. Seed saving has attracted community leaders, activists and policymakers to join in the “Seed Justice Movement”. Seed school training courses are great for students and teachers, also survivalists and Preppers that are seeking security for future food sources.

So why is seed saving so important? First of all seed saving is important because crop diversity has experienced a 96% loss since the beginning of times. In the beginning, all food came from wild plants; now check out the statistics from the webinar:

Here's a little chart I put together with some statistics shared during webinar.

Of the 12 Modern Day plants which make up 75% of our food, there are 3 plants that provide over ½ of the world’s food. Those 3 plants are; wheat, rice and corn. As a side note, 28-40% of the world’s calories come from corn/corn syrup. You can see why it is so important to bring our plant diversity back.

How did we lose ownership of our seeds and the history behind it? Here is a fitting quote by Jefferson, "the greatest service which can be rendered any country is to add an useful plant to it's culture”. When Thomas Jefferson was president he brought back 100 varieties of rice. In 1862, Lincoln signed the Morrill Act which included land grants to help us be more self-reliant. There was emphasis put on higher learning in agricultural which put local extensions in place to assist.  1.1 billion packs of seeds were distributed in 1897 by the USDA Distribution Program for FREE to promote self-reliance. Big companies decided to tap into that market. By 1924, a company called American Seed Trade Association or ASTA lobbied until Congress cut the program so that they could sell seeds for profit.

Here is a slide image from Seed Saving Hacked Webinar

Wow, they (lobbyists) took away OUR self-reliance and replaced it with genetics and biotechnology. An important side note to make in regards to the 1986-Coordinated Framework for Regulation of Biotechnology was mentioned in the webinar is that, "90% of corn is biotech and no regulations have been passed to regulate it". I can stop right there, this makes me want to start saving seeds and growing my own food immediately.

Here we are modern day, and we are full of myths on why we can’t save our seeds. Myth’s such as it’s too difficult and time-consuming. Another myth is we might make a mistake and mess up the purity of the seed. There are several manuals out there that scare people off because they are complicated, breaking down plant families in Latin terms leaving growers with the misconception that you need to be an expert to save seeds. According to the webinar, 238 generations have been saving seeds; you don’t have to be an expert. Seed saving started with farm’s ritually saving their seeds year after year. An example was given with the tomato, you get hundreds of seeds out of one tomato and one seed can produce enough tomatoes for 10 years. Another important point made by Bill McDorman about the purity of seeds was, “purity is only relevant in large-scale commercial farms”.  So don’t be afraid, experiment and have fun. You CAN save seeds.

Seed Saving Hacked was a webinar packed with so much information. I hope had you will have the time to listen to the link and look into seed saving for yourself.  Check out Bill and Belle at http://rockymountainseeds.org/connect and  http://seedsave.org/ .

Look for my upcoming blog, Seed Saving Hacked Webinar Part 2 where I share more from the webinar about; seed libraries, two simple things we can do, the three easiest vegetables to save seeds from and how to save them.

                                                                                                        ~Blessings & Love~

Urban Farming Externship-Week 5

Week 5- Aquaponics Externship

Well all, I got to embark on a new and great experience. So excited to be able to volunteer and finishout my externship with Billy Duggar of Billy's Botanicals in Richmond Hill, GA. here is a link to his website:
http://www.billysbotanicals.com/   check him out and if your in the area you can find him at the Farmers' Market at Forsyth Park in Savannah GA on Saturdays; Best Tilapia and product. Awesome guy, I can't thank him enough for the opportunity.

I didn't get a chance to write down notes or take very many pictures; we were on a mission to get seeds planted for new plants. Billy had seeds planted but they did not take due to the drastic temperature changes we have been having. I trust and believe they will sprout in about 2wks big enough for us to transfer over to the Aquaponics system. We planted about 12 trays that held more than 100 seeds each. Seeds consisted of several varieties of lettuce, celery, dill, fennel, rosemary, thyme, parsley, basil, kale, mustard greens, etc. I'll be back out to help him next week. We might be trimming back the tomato plants, as you will see in the pictures below they took over. Lots of work to be done to prepare for spring.

Billy has 2 different Aquaponics systems setup. He started his farm 2yrs ago with an outdoor system not pictured below and in June built and setup a greenhouse system. Take a look at these pictures:

Here are the tanks that hold the Tilapia. Water is pumped out and back in keeping it flowing between the plant beds and fish tanks. Water is heated to about 78-82 degrees to keep the fish happy.                    

Trays on top of tanks are the seeds we just planted.

Here we have celery growing in water bed.

A few more celery plants and beets.
Soon all of these pods will have life.

These are tomato plants. They are strung up and taking over. Still producing an abundance of cherry tomatoes and Roma. Billy is going to cut back and build a shelf with laticce to make for easier harvesting. 

Can't wait to help grow and learn some more. Next week I will report on the organic materials seeds and plants grow in. I didn't get full details but it felt smooth and look dark and rich. Billy told me and showed me a Coconut Coir Brick but I didn't get any info written down or pictures. I'll have that next time.

~Blessings & Love~

Urban Farming Externship- 1/10/15

1/10/15- Community Gardening Externship

I hope everyone is having a Green 2015 so far this year. I've had to take a break from the garden for several weeks with the holidays and New Year brings change and new adventures. Here is a bit I learned from my last trip to the garden on transplanting and growing fruit trees:

When transplanting fruit trees from the store it is best to get a self-watering pot. Pot should be 2 x's the size of the root bulb. If you are using clay pots(which breath well) it is suggested to but pebbles on the bottom to allow drainage of water so roots won't be saturated in water at the bottom of the pot; this could cause root rot. A nice soil mix to use is compost, pine bark(just a little) and peat moss. Avoid any air pockets in the soil when transplanting and fill soil just over the roots. It was suggested to feed Citrus-tone in the spring. We transplanted a Sacsuma; a citrus fruit that is like a tangerine.

Here are some helpful hints for caring for Blueberries. Pictured below is a Rabbit Eye Blueberry. Blueberries are dormant in the winter. It is best to prune them when dormant. When pruning; prune from the cane. Blueberries fruit will produce on the new growth branches. Blueberries are happy in high organic matter and acidic soil. Hybrids can get about 6ft tall. Soil Acidifier was suggested to add to pots in the spring. Another important thing to note is that Blueberries cross pollinate so it best to have more than one plant in order to product fruit yearly.

Another helpful tip I learn that can be applied to other plants is that Neem Oil helps prevent Afits and other pests.

On a side note the garden greens are not doing well. Temperatures dropped to freezing and some of the beds did not get covered, resulting in frost bite. Even the beds that were covered are hurting. Hopefully we can save some of our beautiful greens. I'll report back in a few weeks when I go back out to volunteer.

~Blessings & Love~

Urban Farming Externship-Week 4

Week 4-Community Gardening Externship

This week at the Community Garden we harvested Kale, Romain Lettuce, Collard Greens and Hon Tsai Tai (Asian Broccoli) for a local community district food bank. Here are a few pics of the growth progression. Plants are very happy, lush and green. The clover proves to be an amazing cover crop. We also pulled some of the clover up because it is overtaking some of the smaller plants. Not to mention, I love the smell of clover; it brings back memories of picking the flowers to make necklaces and bracelets.

 I never knew you could grow such a bountiful, lush garden in the middle of winter.  Not just beautiful but tastes great too.

This weeks Community Garden featured a workshop on Vermicomposting. Thanks to Paul Arkwright III, Ambassador of Trustees Garden for making it happen. Here it a quick step by step of how it can be done.

 1st we started with a plastic storage bin with several 1/2 inch holes drilled in the bottom for drainage and sides to create airflow. We covered the bottom with some small rocks for better drainage.

Next we shredder newspapers. *note it is best to avoid the ads with waxy paper.

                             

                                      Then we layered soil on top of the paper, poured in water and mixed together, we repeated this step, creating several layers before adding the warms.

Finally we added a little Red Wigglers and covered them with a layer of shredded papers and dirt.

 You then place the lid on the container and set the warm bin on top of another container to catch the compost liquid also known as leachate. 

Worms prefer dark, and thrive in temperatures from 55 to 75°F. One should be fed once or twice a week. Some things that are suggested to see them are vegetable and fruit scraps, coffee grounds, tea bags, eggshells and untreated yard waste. Foods to avoid are citrus fruits, garlic, onions, meat, bones, oils and dairy. As the leachate fills up in the bottom in you can recycle it back through by pouring it on top and mixing around. When diluted liquid leachate is excellent for feeding plants.

As you can see from the pictures it was fun for the whole community. Kids love playing with worms and dirt. This was a very exciting garden experience for the last one of 2014.

Have a great and safe New Year's to all!!!

 Think Green for 2015!!!

~Blessings & Love~