More Urban Farming in the News

I saw a short promo on WKYC TV yesterday on urban farming, but didn't get to see the actual news story. That's OK, they posted it on their web site here. The story mentions that assistance is provided by OSU Extension as well as the Health Department.

Community Gardens

I was in Grand Rapids this weekend, opened the Sunday paper, and there was an article about community gardens in the Grand Rapids area. Here is a link to the article:

http://www.mlive.com/homeandgarden/index.ssf/2008/06/fresh_produce_and_community_cu.html

A source for the article was a spokesperson for Foodshed, http://www.foodshed.net/ Foodshed appears to be an organization that links in with various other agencies in a several-county area to ensure a sustainable food supply in the Grand Rapids area. Their community gardening activity is just one of many items on their agenda.

Tour of Gardens this weekend

TOUR OF GARDENS

The Licking County Master Gardeners invite you to tour ten of Licking County’s finest gardens. Each home highlights a different style of garden. Gardening tips and information are available at each home plus unique gardening items are on sale at selected locations. Come and enjoy an educational and enjoyable afternoon! Tour date: Sunday, June 29, 1:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. Tickets $10 - (call 927-4153, 587-4495, 763-0205 or 927-5784.($12 day of tour, available at all tour homes, except High School)For more information visit: http://licking.osu.edu/master_gardener/index.html

HOMES ON TOUR
Robert Powers & Randy Smith – An English Cottage Garden983 Buckeye Avenue, Newark OH

Norma Pickens – A Patio Garden1125 Wilmington Court, Newark OH

Gisela Parker – Containers in the Garden1135 Wilmington Court, Newark OH

Reese & Kaye Alban – The Butterfly Garden1155 Wilmington Court, Newark OH

Don & Sue Christian – Gardening for Low Maintenance1208 Meyers Drive, Newark OH

Dr. Warren & Connie Koontz – A Whimsical Garden1307 Granville Road, Newark OH

Judy & George Kaercher – A Garden in the Shade1299 Granville Road, Newark, OH

Granville High School – The Sustainable Vegetable garden248 New Burg Street, Granville OH

Sherry Gardner – A Garden for the Historical Home216 W Elm Street, Granville, OH

Annie Ogle – Using Color in the Garden1366 Chapel Way, Heath OH

Julie HuprichMaster Gardener CoordinatorOSU Extension, Licking County(740) 670-5322

Visit our Web Site at http://licking.osu.edu

Tomorrow

Source:Roger Downer, OARDC, Entomologydowner.2@osu.edu330-263-3931WOOSTER, Ohio ­ See what birds do, bees do, even great spangled fritillaries do when Ohio State University’s Secrest Arboretum in Wooster hosts “Habitats and Plantings for Pollinators” from 2-4 p.m. on Tuesday, June 24 ­ one of many programs scheduled nationwide in celebration of National Pollinator Week, June 22-28.The free public “walk-about” will search for and teach about creatures that pollinate flowers: honey bees, bumble bees, solitary bees, hawk moths, pollen wasps, flower flies, soldier beetles, butterflies, hummingbirds and a host of helpful others. What they need to survive and thrive, how they benefit people and ecosystems, and plants you can grow to attract them will be covered. Plants in the pollinator-friendly rose, aster, legume, buckwheat and salvia families, among others, will be seen close up and discussed.Roger Downer, an entomologist with Ohio State’s Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC), will lead the program. It starts at the arboretum’s Landscape Gardens on Williams Road.The arboretum itself is on the OARDC campus, 1680 Madison Ave., about 30 miles west of Akron, 60 miles south of Cleveland and 100 miles north of Columbus. Signs on campus will direct you to the arboretum.Sixty to 80 percent of Earth’s flowering plants depend on animal pollination, Downer notes. So do some 87 of the 124 most commonly grown crop plants.“Pollinators also sustain wildland plant communities that provide food and shelter for other wildlife,” Downer adds. Bees in particular “provide a valuable service to humans when they pollinate our fruit and vegetable plants and wildflowers,” he says. To find out more, call (330) 263-3761 or go to http://secrest.osu.edu/.OARDC is the research arm of Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.- 30 -Links: National Pollinator Week, http://www.pollinator.org/.

Richards' Gardens and Landscape Center

We had class time on Tuesday night at Richards' Gardens and Landscape center in New Washington, Ohio.

They gave us a custom tour after their regular hours, leading us through the "island" gardens, where they display mature plants so that customers can get an idea of what their plants will look like after they have grown. We went through the butterfly house - a screened-in area with plants loved by butterflies including butterfly bush and butterfly weed, among others. They fed the fish as we passed across the bridge - there were some huge catfish in that pond! We went through the propagation houses, into the areas where they have container trees and shrubs being grown out, and finally through the retail areas, including the shrubs and also the annuals and perennials in the greenhouse.

They explained that many nursery-grown plants are patented and they have to purchase a license to propagate them. Many nurseries no longer do their own propagation, just purchasing plants and growing them on for resale.

What a fantastic tour! They gave us a lot of information concerning their annual cycle of propagation and what it takes to move all the plants around through the various stages of growth, showed us their potting medium (a soil-less mix containing compost, peat, and rice hulls), explained some of the details about their watering to conserve water on the property, and gave a lot of recommendations about various plants that do well in this part of the country, and tips for getting blooms off some nursery-grown plants the second year (hint: buy a variety that blooms on new wood. )

Work night at Unger Farm

We had a pretty good volunteer night at Unger farm tonight. Some of us planted annuals, others worked on cleaning out the perennial beds, and others worked in the vegetable garden.

We saw damage on the eggplants from flea beetles, found a "huge" slug, and said hello to a friendly toad. We took a horticultural walk through the fruit orchard and noted that there was apple scab on some of the non-resistant trees. We saw evidence of peach tree borer on peach trees, and half-moon scars of plum curculio on the apples. There is an excellent photo of this type of damage on on the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture web site. Most of the trees are bearing a heavy load of fruit, and Steve demonstrated how to thin them by knocking the braches with a shovel handle.

Note the schedule changes: We will be meeting next at Richards on Tuesday night at 6:00 pm. This will count as training hours.

Final exam OVER!!!

For most of us, the final exam was Tuesday night, meaning that the "study" part of the master gardener program is coming to an end and the "volunteer" part of the program is beginning.

The schedule for the next few meetings:

Thursday June 12 - meet at Unger Farm - take-home final is due

Saturday June 14- CANCELLED - no meeting

Tuesday June 17 - Meet at Richards in New Washington - time 6:00 pm

I will be posting a list of community garden web sites in the sidebar.