MVG logo on field

Montgomery Victory Gardens Update - October 1, 2009

In this update:

*
Buy Produce at the Only Farm in Downtown Silver Spring!
* Red Wiggler Seed Garlic Available for October Planting
* Will Allen's Growing Power Goes to Africa
* Don't Forget - Harvest Festival and Agricultural Reserve Bike Tour this Weekend


Buy Produce at the Only Farm in Downtown Silver Spring!

Believe it or not, only a few blocks from bustling Georgia Ave. and some of the high-rises in downtown Silver Spring, you will find one of the lushest food-producing acres in Montgomery County - Charlie Koiner's Farm!

Charlie, who will turn 88 this fall, runs this acre+ "farmette" with the help of his daughter Lynn. It is truly a local food mecca in an urban setting, and Charlie has become a local trend setter, deservedly so.

And is the food good? Koiner's farm won an astounding 104 ribbons at the recent Montgomery County Agricultural Fair, including four Grand Champion awards . If you come by this month you will be able to buy award winning lettuce (Green Ice and Sierra Blush), collards, broccoli, kale, Tokyo turnips (no peeling required), eggplant, hot and sweet peppers, leeks (great for soups!) and beets.

Come by pretty much anytime except Saturday morning (Charlie sells at the Silver Spring farmers market) and Sunday morning (church), and you will likely find Charlie at home on the farm, at the corner of Easley and Grove Sts. (technically, 737 Easley St.) in Silver Spring. And if he doesn't have what you want at the table, he'll walk into the farm and cut it while you wait. (You can also email them at [email protected].)

Thanks for supporting this icon of local food production in our county - Charlie Koiner's Farm!

For a good short article on Koiner's Farm, click here.

For short video about the farm, click here (third video down on screen)



Red Wiggler Seed Garlic Available for Planting

"Anything not benefitting from the addition of chocolate will probably benefit from the addition of garlic."  - Culinary proverb.

If you love to cook with garlic as much as I do and have some space in your garden, there is nothing quite like growing your own - and mid to late October is the time to plant garlic in Montgomery County. Lucky for us that our friends at Red Wiggler Community Farm have their award winning (blue ribbons at the Montgomery County and Damascus Community Fairs) organic stiff neck garlic available for seed!

Garlic planted this October will be ready to harvest on July 4th. (Plant the individual cloves. One pound of garlic "seed" will plant 20 row feet, with the plants six inches apart, and yield about 5-7 pounds of garlic bulbs next year. Garlic can then be stored for up to six months.) And if you just prefer to cook with it now (it's the same stuff), Red Wiggler garlic will keep until Martin Luther King Day in January.

You can buy Red Wiggler garlic in Montgomery County at Green Earth Goods in historic downtown Clarksburg, for $10 per pound.  If you would like to buy 20 pounds or more you can contact the farm directly and receive the wholesale price of $7 per pound. Call 301-916-2216 to coordinate with a farmer at Red Wiggler by clicking here.
 


Will Allen's Growing Power Goes to Africa

Former President Bill Clinton stirred the local and sustainable food world when, at the end of his Clinton Global Initiative meeting last week, he declared Will Allen of Milwaukee-based Growing Power his "hero."

Will Allen, who is featured in the independent food documentary "FRESH" (we have copies if you'd like to arrange a home screening), is already a hero to many for his strikingly innovative, grassroots methods of food production. Even better than Bill Clinton now joining that club, it was also announced that Growing Power will work with the Clinton Global Initiative" to strengthen food security for school children and their care givers in South Africa and Zimbabwe... and build a new model of local food systems...." Or as Erika Allen, daughter of founder Will Allen says, "Overall, it's about helping people use their resources to build soil and grow food."

Wow. As the author of this article notes "Growing Power will be bringing its community-based, low-input style of agriculture to Africa-under the aegis of a group most known for its top-down, Big Solution way of development work." Hey, what do they say about blind squirrels finding nuts every once in a while?

This is a fantastic development for the people of South Africa and Zimbabwe, as well as for building and disseminating models of local, grassroots-based food production around the world. Best of luck to Will Allen in this new venture!

To read the full article in Grist, click here.

To find out more about Growing Power, click here.
 

 
Don't Forget - Harvest Festival and Agricultural Reserve Bike Tour this Weekend

Two of wonderful opportunities to experience Montgomery County's local agriculture and food ways are coming up this weekend - don't miss 'em!

Agricultural Reserve Bike Tour  - Sponsored by the Montgomery Countryside Alliance, there is no better way to see the beautiful Montgomery County Agriculatural Reserve then by joining the bike ride this Saturday, October 3.  (The tour begins in Poolesville, with staggered starts from 9:30 - 10:30am.)  Local food stops on the tour include the Homestead Farm, Kingsbury's Orchard and Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard, and the beautiful Agricultural Reserve for scenery/ 
For more details on the Agricultural Reserve Bike Tour, click here.

Harvest Festival - One of the most popular events at our county's Agricultural History Farm Park, the Harvest Festival is this Saturday and Sunday, October 3rd and 4th, from 11am - 4pm. The Farm Park is in Derwood (just a few miles north of Rockville), and the Harvest Festival features live music and numerous exhibits and activities to celebrate both past and present farming life and practices in Montgomery County. It is also home to the Montgomery County Master Gardener's Demo Garden, and the MGs will be present this weekend to answer all your gardening questions!

A great event for all ages, click here for more information on the Farm Park's Harvest Festival.


That's it for this week! As always, don't forget to help Montgomery Victory Gardens grow - send us your feedback and suggestions! Let us know what's on your mind, and please send us any items, particularly about local food production, that MVG can promote. Email to [email protected]

Thanks!

Gordon Clark,
Project Director
Montgomery Victory Gardens