March Madness: Snow! in my Garden!

It doesn't seem right a week after the Reynolds' wonderful pea-planting post (who doesn't love alliteration?) to see yesterday evening's snowfall -- even more aggravating when it stuck around! Still, it just serves as a reminder that we are still in Michigan (even if the presence of the Great Lakes keeps us in Zone 6). And as exuberant as the occasional high-50's to 60's days make me, I have to remember that the average last frost date for this area is mid-May (see http://www.victoryseeds.com/frost/mi.html), before I go sticking seeds in the ground.



Of course, there are a lot of things you can plant before the last frost, but that list has to wait (a quick Google search was unhelpful -- I'll have to go back to the books!) Not a vegetable, but encouraging: I did see hardy pansies available for planting at Trentwood market over the weekend.



I've added three blogs to the list on the right. One is the blog from Maplecreek farms, the local CSA (community supported agriculture) farm discussed in class. The most recent Maplecreek post gets into food policy, and some bills pending in Congress. It's very informative. As a frequent reader of blogs, I especially appreciated her including the sources of the information she related.



Incidentally, I plan to call later today to find out if shares are still available. I'll post when I know.


The second blog just looked like another kindred spirit (at least from the title), from here in Michigan.

The third addition, 101 Cookbooks, is not about local foods (although I'm sure she supports their use). Instead, it's about more creativity in our cooking, with a vegetarian emphasis. In addition to getting more and more varied vegetables in my diet, I know that I should be paying attention to grains and beans as well. This site is a good source for flavorful and interesting recipes that meet both those interests.

Happy, snowy Spring!

Peas Please

I love peas and the thought of home grown peas, fresh from the garden, is so tantalizing that I took the plunge and planted some yesterday (March 21, 2009).

Because we have so much clay in our soil and last Fall I didn't plan for a vegetable garden, I decided to try container gardening.  Debby showed me the "self-contained gardening system" which is similar to the Earthbox(TM) containers.  Well, after running to the local big-box hardware and general merchandise stores, I came home with two 18 gallon storage tubs, a pond basket from the on-line "you can buy everything here" web site, and some odds and ends from our cellar.  

The directions on josho's web site were easy to follow.  I built the self-contained gardening system in less than 30 minutes.  Then we went outside to plant.  The photos show the planting process.

The photos show the empty gardening container.  Inside, you can see the pond basket which, when filled with dirt, acts like a wick to bring water from the lower section to keep the soil in the upper section moist..

Once the container was filled with dirt, I covered the top with black plastic to keep weeds down and help warm the soil.  The plastic is held in place by the original storage tub lid with the center cut out.  Rather than cut holes for each pea seed, I cut two slits, ca. 1/4" wide, in the plastic and planted my rows.  Then I put some more dirt (really potting mix) on top of the plastic to help hold it down in the wind.

Filling the tub with water was easy - that's the purpose of the fill tube.  You can't over-fill the container with water because there is a weep hole or overflow in the side.  That hole is just below the bottom of the dirt.  

Now, in 67 more days, if the package is accurate, we will be picking peas from our own plants.  Somewhere along the way I'll have to rig up some stakes and lines for the vines to climb.  But I expect that it will be a couple weeks before I have to do that.

Along the way I'll keep you posted on how the peas are growing.  Since these storage tubs go on sale frequently, I may even make a couple more.

Articles everywhere!

Wow, there are articles popping up everywhere this week pertaining to the topics we talked about in class.

From the Civil Eats blog, there's an article about getting the artificial growth hormone-containing milk out of our school lunch program.
http://civileats.com/2009/03/09/grade-a-for-getting-rbgh-out-of-school-milk/

You can go online to Mother Jones magazine and either read or listen to a wonderful interview with Marion Nestle. (I recommend listening to the interview. It's brief but fascinating.)
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2008/10/mojo-audio-chihuahua-coal-mine

Here's an article on the option of tagging livestock in order to trace disease; not a good idea, says the author.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/11/opinion/11hayes.html

Here are the latest developments on high fructose corn syrup.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/21/dining/21sugar.html

The latest on this rapidly expanding food movement
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/22/business/22food.html?emc=eta1

Mark Bittman's latest thoughts or organic or not?
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/22/weekinreview/22bittman.html?emc=eta1

And I'm sure you haven't missed all the publicity surrounding the White House announcement regarding planting a vegetable garden on the White House lawn. What an exciting time to be interested in issues of food!

Hey, This is so exciting!

Pat, this is just fabulous! What a great way for all of us to share our discoveries. HUGE thanks to you for setting this up and for offering to be our blog "guru". And thanks for having a note underway to the group regarding how they can access this blog and be involved.

A few minutes with Google this afternoon tells me that the robin who has been frenetically dive-bombing our windows this week is most likely a male looking urgently for a girlfriend. Urgently, I would emphasize. The strange things you'll see hanging outside of and taped onto our windows over the next few weeks will be our attempts to dissuade him and potentially all of his cousins. (We learned our lesson from poor Tippi Hedron.)

This will lift your spirits:

The Joys of Planting: Earth, Sun, and Peas (New York Times today)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/12/garden/12garden.html?emc=eta1

I don't suggest this next link to alarm you, but when Nicholas Kristoff speaks, I pay attention.

Our Pigs, Our Food, Our Health by Nicholas Kristoff
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/12/opinion/12kristof.html?em

I think I'll read the happy article about peas again.

If anyone's planning their garden already, here's a link to a homemade growing container that has been compared to an Earthbox.
http://www.josho.com/gardening.htm

Anyone seen any asparagus coming up yet?

Debby

Debby

Debut

First, this is a work in progress, this author's first attempt at a blog. Second, it will be a collaborative effort. This blog arises out of a six week Adult Nurture class offered at Grosse Ile Presbyterian Church of Grosse Ile, Michigan, relying on the curriculum "Just Eating." The class was so engaged by the topics offered that we could only cover a fraction of what our able leader had compiled. This is in part because the participants were so passionate about the general subject, and because there are so many topics to address under that general one: eat locally? organic? vegetarian? fair trade? with or without high fructose corn syrup? What sources does one believe, Mark Bittman and Barbara Kingsolver or the food industry? And how do our choices affect the economy, the planet, the poor?

This is the place for further discussion on all those issues, and anything else that seems to pertain. In addition, we hope to use it to share resources, such as what's in season or on sale; where's a new farmer's roadside stand; worthwhile recipes; and anything else that seems to pertain to the concept of Just Eating.