Free Beginner Gardening Classes put on by the West Ward Neighborhood Partnership in Easton!

What: Beginner Gardening Series

When: Tuesday Night, February 21, through April 10, 2012

Where: Easton Area Community Center 901 Washington Street

Free Classes will be held on Tuesday nights from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Schedule: Dinner 6:30 to 7:00

Class 7:00 to 8:00

Questions and discussion 8:00 to 8:30

 

Class Schedule: classes are taught by Penn State Master Gardeners

  1. 1.     Introduction to Gardening 2/21  Welcome and Introductions. Information about WWNP’s community and backyard gardening program. Getting Started
  1. 2.     Planning and Design 2/28

Planning where to put your garden is the first step to success, do you have good sun exposure and access to water? This class will teach the basics of design and planning.

  1. 3.     How to Make Compost 3/6

Compost adds beneficial microbes and enriches the soil. Everyone can make their own compost. Here’s how!

  1. 4.     Soil Preparation and Soil Testing 3/13

Preparing your garden soil is the first step in successful vegetable gardening. Learn how to test your soil and understand the results.

  1. 5.     Seeds and Transplants 3/20

Buying plants for your garden can be costly, learn how to start your own plants from seed and how to care for and transplant them successfully to your garden

  1. 6.     Bug Begone (IPM) 3/27

Your plants are in and your garden is flourishing, but wait, what is that little yellow and black striped bug on the cucumbers? This class will tell you how to check for bug problems before they get out of hand and what to do about them.

  1. 7.     Garden maintenance 4/3

How to keep going over the long haul and still enjoy the fruits of your labors.

  1. Growing Flowers and Using Containers 4/10

You don’t need to have a big space to grow a garden, learn how to successfully use containers. Flowers attract beneficial insects to the garden and add diversity, beauty and color.

Why:  Community and backyard gardens are a way to get involved with your community, live healthier, and create a better environment.

You don’t need to know how to be a gardener to do it. People of all levels of experience are welcome, and that includes kids.

The West Ward Neighborhood Partnership is offering classes to teach people the basics of gardening. If you want to start gardening, but don’t know how, these classes will help you get started.

Sign up now by calling or emailing Sophia Feller,
Urban Agriculture Coordinator 610-515-0891 or sfeller@caclv.org to register. Childcare will be provided. Registration is limited with priority given to West Ward residents.

Don’t delay – Sign up today!

The Role of Pesticides in Community Garden Pest Control

Hey folks,  today I have a guest post to share, written by a fellow gardener, Sam G.

There is no doubt that a community garden or student farm has different requirements for care than a large commercial operation. That being said, there are several problems such as pests that impact both small operations and large scale agricultural concerns equally. However the solutions that many commercial concerns have used for their pest problems are not only harmful to the environment but also would be far too dangerous to use by those who are tending to a smaller plot of land.

With that in mind let’s examine some of the healthier and saner options for pest control that are well within the reach of any sized farming or gardening operation. Here’s a list of some of the non-toxic pest control options that can protect and enhance a community garden or farm.

#1 Think About Prevention First

  • While pests are a big problem in any garden or farm, sometimes you can avoid the problem all together by being prepared and preventing them from getting in. Obviously this is incredibly difficult when you have a large open space, but there are a few measures you can take that will make your green spaces much less attractive to pest species. The best thing you can do in this case is to apply an organic repellent such as hot pepper extract more info on which can be found at this site or similar products around the perimeter of your space, to keep bugs, snakes, rodents and other pests away.
  • Being sure to keep your plants healthy is also a great way to keep several types of insects and other pests away, as healthy and robust plants are much less likely to attract opportunistic insects than a sick or damaged plant is.

#2 If Repellents Don’t Work, Use A Natural Solution

  • Despite the fact that pesticides have a well-deserved reputation for doing more harm than good for many farms and gardens, there are a multitude of products that will still deal effectively with pests but will not cause the same amount of harm to the environment, or your plants for that matter.
  • Two of the best products for natural pest control are rosemary oil and peppermint oil. They have much the same effect as chemical pesticides when sprayed onto plants, but are completely non-toxic to humans and other mammals and best of all are not toxic to aquatic life. This lack of aquatic toxicity has huge implications for gardens and farms that are located near sources of freshwater or use extensive irrigation that would make the use of more toxic products a bad idea.
  • Another great topical treatment for many pest problems is diatomaceous earth, despite the fact that it is completely safe for humans, even if it is ingested, it is quite toxic to insects, and can be used to get rid of virtually any sized infestation in a garden or farm setting. Because of its low toxicity, it won’t be dangerous to eat plants that are treated with the product, which cannot be said of many other topical pesticides.

#3 Encourage The Predators Of Pests

  • This is a quick and simple way to gain control over any pest problem with a modicum of effort on your part. For any pest, there are likely to be a large number of natural predators that can reduce or even eliminate their numbers, particularly if they are used in concert with other organic pest control methods.
  •  For instance, you should encourage animals such as cats to hang around your garden or farm, in order to keep mice and snake populations down. Although even snakes can be helpful in their own way if they are eating any rodents that might be intruding on your plants. However you should be careful to not encourage the presence of poisonous snakes because obviously that can cause issues above and beyond those posed by rodents or insects.

Author Bio

Sam Gerald is an amateur gardener who is concerned with the role pesticides play in today’s agricultural scene. He advocates for using natural and organic solutions to pest control problems whenever it is feasible. Click the following link to learn more about some of his favorite natural and organic pest control products.

Picture of squash bug eggs on under side of winter squash leaf. When you see these, squish them!

 

PASA Conference Recap

Today, I’m back to work rejuvenated and excited about the new season even more than before!  Here is a quick recap about the 2012 conference:

Intro: The Pennsylvania Association of Sustainable Agriculture 2012 Farming for the Future conference was a great experience.  Farmers, community organizers, business

owners, educators, and so many people that are interested in sustainable agriculture and food came together to learn and interact.  There were 2 days of pre-conference tracks and

2 full days of conference workshops and speakers.

Here is a quick breakdown on the events I attended:

1) Pre-Conference Track on Tractors:

This was a great experience to learn a little introduction to tractors. This class was taught in the Penn State Ag Arena by three Penn State employees.  First, we learned about

pre-operation checks, safety, and equipment maintenance.  Next, we discussed how to buy equipment: used or new, and what to look for.  We then learned a bit about operations and how to hitch and unhitch attachments and got a chance to try driving.  This was my first

experience driving a tractor and I drove the New Holland TC45 with loader… great fun!

2.) Next on Thurs night, I attended some social events including the Young & Beginning

Farmer Mixer, Cheese tasting, and live music.  This was a great chance to network, catch up with old friends, and meet lots of people doing sustainable agriculture across PA and the north east.

3.) On Wednesday, the real conference began.  I took a morning yoga class and then was off to workshop #1. I went to Oilseeds for Food and Fuel taught by Doug Shaufler from Penn State Farm operations.  I am interested in feasibility of a potential research operation in making oil for food.  We learned about the processing of oils including seed cleaning,

prep, pressing and extraction, filtration, and processing.

4.) Next was a keynote speaker, but I missed the chance to get a seat!  It was standing room only, so I took this time to talk with many vendors, visit the auction, and do some

seed swapping.  The next presentation I went to was by a local Lehigh Valley farmer, Tom Murtha.  He talked about his successful heirloom tomato growing technique called grafting that he uses in his very successful high tunnels.

5.) Next, there were breakout discussion sessions.  I went to one called “Building a Regional Staple Food System” because, again, I’m interested in potential research projects for the College.  What I learned from this discussion is that this is a very important

aspect of local farming today that is missing in our region: staple foods play a major part of our diets, but are not available locally.  We have many fruit and veggie producers in the area, but there are no local or sustainable grain, bean, or oil nearby that I know of.  This is

something that is very possible and very necessary to have a local food system, but requires some larger equipment such as a combine and processing equipment.

6.) The next presentation I went to was by Homer Walden from Sunnyside Farm.  I’m familiar with this farm and farmer because I went to a PASA Innovative Farm workshop held at his farm last fall (see picture from previous post).  This talk was on Drip

Irrigation and Rain Barrels, we have always had large-scale rain barrels at the community garden and student farm, but drip irrigation is something new we will be doing this year at the student farm.

7.)  The next morning, I again attended yoga and then headed to the first workshop of the day, called Designing a Sustainable Fruit Production System on your diversified farm by Lou Lego at Elderberry Pond Farm.  This had some great information and tips on growing a mix of fruit and veggies with an emphasis on what

varieties have worked best (including disease resistant varieties that both taste great and grow successfully for the organic grower).   Also, he covered what specific varieties of apples are good for what uses.

8.) Next was the PASA awards and Keynote speaker, Shannon Hayes.  She was an unbelievable woman who is famous for her books on radical homesteading and two farm fresh cook books: remind us all that simplicity helps us realize what’s important in life.

9.) Next, I attended a workshop on Efficient Human-Powered Vegetable Production by Kenneth Mulder, the Farm Manager at Green Mountain College in VT.  This gave me a whole new appreciation for what we do at the Lafayette student farm!  We

are also human powered!!  With the exception of yearly tillage and an occasional weedwacking, we use hand tools such as the wheel hoe, hand implements,  and reel mower to control our weeds.  They do 1.5 acres (we do 1) of completely human-powered: no tilling

except when breaking new ground.  This is very inspiring!  This talk also gave me tons of good tips on efficiency and useful tools for our operation.

10.) The final presentation I went to (tear, so sad!) is on diagnosing pest and disease problems in vegetables by two folks from Penn State.  This was an unfortunately depressing note to end on, haha! It focused on all the possible problems that can be experienced, and we organic growers felt like we had seen it all!!  I learned a lot of great

tips for dealing with problems and found the #1 most important thing to be SANITATION.  Anything that was at your garden (stakes, organic matter, string, fence, etc) last year has the potential for harboring disease.  Clean it thoroughly or use new.

Conclusion:
As you can imagine, I’m a little overwhelmed by all of this wonderful information, but really pumped to put it to action.  It was so hard to choose which workshops to attend

because I wanted to be at several each time slot.  If you are interested in any of the topics listed and want more information, please leave a comment here with your contact info and I will get you more info.  For this post, I wanted to write just a

sentence or two about each topic, but some topics I have several pages of information I can share!

Jenn driving a tractor at PASA 2012, photo from PASA website

Headed to PASA!

Hello everyone!

I (Jenn, farm manager) as well as many local Lehigh Valley farmers and food enthusiasts, are off to the 21st Annual Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture Conference at Penn State this week! I will be there from Wednesday through Saturday including an all day pre-conference track on Beginners Tractor Operation and Maintenance.

This is an all-around exciting opportunity for folks in PA and all over the Northeast to get together and share insight and information about sustainable agriculture.  The schedule includes two days of pre-conference tracks (Wed-Thurs) and two days of regular conference schedule (Fri-Sat). This includes time for discussion, socializing, and fun, but mostly two non-stop intensive days of workshops on various topics pertaining to food and sustainable ag.  Here is the 2012 PASA Conference Schedule.

I will be posting more info about the tracks that I attend and what I learn soon.  Happy February!

PS. To all 2011 Community Gardeners, keep an eye on your inboxes.  An email will be coming very soon!

Here is a picture taken by the PASA folks at an Innovative Farmers PASA workshop in October 2011 at Sunnyside Farm in Dover, PA. Homer the owner is in the center pointing and Jenn is on the right side.

What to do now? Seed order time!

Hi folks,  it’s about that time to think about ordering seeds.  Where can I get organic seed, you say?  You can request a catalog or shop online.

Lots of options these days…

1. High Mowing Seeds: Vermont

2. Fedco Seeds: Maine

3. Park Seed: Pennsylvania

4. Seed Savers Exchange: Iowa

5. Johnny’s Select Seeds: Maine

6. Seeds of Change: California

7. Peaceful Valley: California

Here is a list by the Organic Seed Alliance of even more organic seed sources! Do you have other suggestions?  Leave a comment with your favorite seeds.

Fall harvest, 2011: Delicata Winter Squash from High Mowing and Provider Snap Bush Beans from Seeds of Change

Tons of Fun Events Coming Up!! Spring 2012

Here’s our schedule of events for the semester… Mark your calendars!!

First LEAP Meeting!!  Wednesday, February 1st at 12:15 in Keefe Commons: Pizza Provided!! Come learn about what’s up with the environmental  club this year and meet Julia, the student garden leader!

Student Film Showing:  Dive!   Date TBD: Next couple weeks. Determined after the first LEAP Meeting… attend if you can for more info or watch this website or the facebook site for more info!

Student Film Evening: Grow! Date TBD Next few weeks. Date determined after 1st LEAP meeting!

1st Weed and FeedFriday, March 23rd  Come help out at the student farm!! Food provided!  All are welcome!!

Weed and FeedSaturday, March 31st  Come help out at the student farm!! Food provided.  All are welcome!!

Philly Farm and Food Fest: April 1, 2012 10-4pm Sunday

Weed and FeedFriday, April 13th  Come help out at the student farm!! Food provided. All are welcome!!

Bike to the Garden: Sunday, April 22nd  Ride your bike the challenging 3 miles to come help out at the student farm!! We will bike there, work at the farm, have some food, and bike back!

First Day of Easton Farmers Market: May 5th Saturday  Come experience tons of local food and craftsman that make Easton so special!  Lots of great farmers to meet and fresh food to eat!

Volunteer Opportunities

Tentative Dates for Volunteer Events in Spring 2012

More info to come, but mark your calendars!

1. Weed and Feed: Friday, March 23rd

2. Weed and Feed: Saturday, March 31st

3. Weed and Feed:Friday, April 13th

4. Bike to the Garden: Sunday, April 22nd

Email Jenn at bellj@lafayette.edu if you would like to help out at these events.
We will also have weekly volunteer opportunities! They will be once a week Fri-Sunday and will be determined weekly.  Email Julia at seidensj@lafayette.edu for more info on these days! 


 

Happy New Year!

Happy 2012 to all!

Looking forward to a new year after a tough garden season now behind us!  Stay tuned for the 2012 season Community Garden Reservation Forms coming soon!!

 

Have you been getting your seed catalogs in the mail?  If not, order one or check them out online.  Here is a link to more info on seed companies in our FAQ section, question #3.

Dreaming of Spring yet?  Here’s something to start thinking about: Have you ever tried starting your own seeds?  Seed Starting by Mother Earth News

Website Updates

Howdy everyone!

Are we in the Christmas spirit yet? It was almost 60F today–yikes!

I’ve been busy removing old plants and adding organic matter to the soil in the student farm area.

I took some time today to update our website.  Here is what’s new:

There has been a lot of little tweaks throughout, so feel free to browse around and let me know what other information you’d like to see on our website!

I will be updating the pictures soon, but it takes awhile to upload to this site.  For frequent updates including pictures, check out our facebook page!!

Compost 101!!

Want to learn to compost?  Here’s a great video from Rodale’s Organic Gardening.  Many of our community gardeners have a compost pile right in their community garden plot.

We compost large-scale at Lafayette: we have two “Earth Tub” composting units that compost all of the food waste from the Farinon and Marquis Dining halls!

Photo of Earth Tub Composting Units from article on Lafayette Website "Turning Food Scraps into Compost"