MCPS Board of Education Votes to Trash Organic Farm
 
With thanks to the more than 100 people who wrote or called the Montgomery County Public School Board of Education about saving Nick's Organic Farm in Potomac, and those who attended the meeting, we are sorry to report that this struggle will have to enter a new phase.  Last Tuesday morning the BoE agreed to give farmer Nick Maravell one more year to maintain the organic seed farm he has maintained for 31 years on property rented from the school system - and to then kick him off so a private corporation can build soccer fields there.

 

You can read the details here - with our thanks to the Montgomery Countryside Alliance, which has been leading this fight alongside Nick and the local Brickyard community.   

This is in a state where our license plates read "Our Farms, Our Future."  If that is true, and we believe it is, then the MCPS Board of Ed has just dealt a serious blow to our county's future with this outrageous action.  They even ignored their own attorney's advice to postpone the vote two weeks to gather more community input.   

We are all strong supporters of sports.  But the idea of arbitrarily ripping up a 30+ year old organic farm - one of the only ones in the area that produces organic seed used by other local farmers and companies -  is beyond unspeakable.  So much so that I don't even have to try to describe the insanity of it to anyone on this list.   

But the additional year given to Nick was without question in response to our protest, and this year will be very valuable - for Nick, obviously, but also for those of us who will continue to organize against this.  Don't give up hope on Nick's Organic Farm - and stay tuned here for future developments.


 

Two New Community Gardens Open Up - Apply Now!
 
While some parts of our county government seem to have a problem recognizing the value of local, organic food production, the same cannot be said of our friends at the Montgomey County Parks Department. In just two years, and with the urging and support of County Council members such as Valerie Ervin, the Parks Department has created one of the most thriving community garden programs in the country.

And we are delighted to pass on their announcement of TWO NEW LOCATIONS, at Rocking Horse Center in Rockville and Emory Center in Gaithersburg. (These two are in the central part of the county, but they are doing their best to spread them around.)  It's also great to know that these two new locations are at MCPS administrative sites, and are a result of our larger campaign to get the school system creating gardens on their abundant property.

Lottery applications for the plots are being taken now through Friday, March 25, so if you want to get one of these plots, you'd better hurry.  Click here for more details and the application form.

And thank you again, Ursula (Community Garden Coordinator) and David  (Chief of Horticulture) for your outstanding work.  The county owes you two a debt of gratitude!

Maine Town Takes Food Sovereignty Into Its Own Hands

Food security - meaning ones supply of food is secure - is one thing.  But food sovereignty - making sure that the same individuals and communities who produce and eat that food get to decide how it's produced, processed and sold - well that's a whole 'nother matter.

Even with some concessions to small farms written into the recent food safety law (which might be defunded by the new Congress anyway, we shall see), it is generally understood that federal food safety regulations are designed for large, corporate producers, and discriminate against all others - sometimes to the point of putting them out of business.  What can a local farmer do when federal law tells him (or her) they can only process food with a gleaming new half million dollar facility?

The town of Sedgwick, Maine was concerned about their inability to control their own food supply.  And as this inspiring article notes, "Sedgwick residents aren't waiting for the state to grant more local control, they've seized it."  The town passed laws codifying acceptable food processing practices for its own residents, and  is plowing full steam ahead from there, with other towns preparing to follow suit.

As one farmer added, "the trend toward licensing and bureaucracy has really put a damper on small cottage industries and small farm businesses, and I think this is going to have the opposite effect."  Could this be a model for our future?

So When Can I Start Planting Already???

Just one or two warm sunny weekend days in March and every gardener is getting an itchy trowel finger.  Goodness knows I want to start planting things.

Well, you can certainly start seeds inside (see last week's update for information on that), and there are some crops you can start planting very soon, such as  potatoes (St. Patrick's Day!) and peas (the Ides of March is a good mnemonic for that).  But to do any large scale work in the garden, you can't work the ground if the soil is too wet, as some of it still is.  (Do this and you risk serious, season long damage to the soil structure, and poor crops.)

Fortunately, the test is very, very simple.  Put your trowel of shovel in the ground, and bring out a handful of the soil.  If it all clumps hard and sticks together - or worse yet, actually oozes or drips water - it's too wet.  But if it is basically pretty crumbly, meaning you can break the dirt apart easily with your fingers, you're good to go.

The wetness of your soil will depend a lot on local conditions, and if you've done a good job amending the soil with organic matter in past seasons (adding organic matter helps improve the soil's drainage, among many other things), it could be in fine shape right now, as it was for two Silver Spring neighbors I saw planting their potatoes this week.  Just make sure to check before you plant, and wait for the soil to dry out a little if you need to.  It'll be worth the extra couple weeks!

Suburban Gardener Program: Container Vegetable Gardening - Saturday, March 26

Courtesy of the Continuing Education Department at the Montgomery County Community College, and the UME Master Gardeners, Montgomery County: 

"Learn how to grow bountiful fruits and vegetables in a wide variety of containers, including pots, boxes, barrels, and salad tables. Whether you want to grow salad greens, culinary herbs, or summer fruits, this class will show you how to start and maintain your own edible container garden. We'll go over soil mixes, fertilizers, watering, and selecting varieties that perform best in containers. You'll take home vegetable seedlings to begin your own container garden from this hands-on class."

Sound good?  You bet!  This class is the second in a series of gardening classes this month at the MCCC Germantown Campus  (I attended the first one this weekend), and it will be held on Saturday March 26 from 9:30 AM-12:00 PM.  To register, click here and then type in the keyword "gardening" to find the class listing.  If you have any questions about registration, please contact the Continuing Ed Division at 240-567-5188.  

More Food Safety Tips for Emergencies

It wasn't that long ago that we offered some tips on knowing if, after a power outage, your food is still good (and how to maximize the chances of it staying good).  Well that was last month, and this month's weather disaster has more to do with heavy rain and flooding, which many of us are experiencing already.

In response to this, as well as to the recent tsunami warnings and advisories issued for Hawaii and the U.S. West Coast, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is providing these recommendations to minimize the potential for foodborne illnesses due to problems (including power outages) associated with flooding.  

"Possible flood waters and related disruptions to power can have a serious impact on food safety and could become a critical public health issue," said FSIS Administrator Al Almanza. "With a little bit of advance planning, people can make sure they have access to safe food and water even in the aftermath of a severe event."

We should be thankful that we aren't dealing with tsunami-induced flooding, but these are still good recommendations for us to know.

Great Food and Farming Films at DC Environmental Film Festival!

There are some great films coming up at the DC Environmental Film Festival, March 15 - 27, a great reason to make the trek downtown into our nation's capital.

You can check out all the films here, but there are two in particular we would like to recommend this week:

Henry A. Wallace: An Uncommon Man - Thursday, March 17 at 12 Noon - "A brilliant farmer, scientist, writer and public servant whose views on race, poverty and peace put him far ahead of his time is profiled in this portrait film. Henry Wallace founded the world's first hybrid seed company... and also served as Agriculture Secretary and Vice President under President Franklin D. Roosevelt during some of the most difficult times in American history: the Great Depression and World War II."  Wallace was also the MAJOR proponent of the Victory Garden movement in WW II - a brilliant man indeed!

 A Community of Gardeners - Thursday, March 24 at 7pm, and Friday, March 25 at 4pm - "Throughout Washington, D.C., people of all ages, backgrounds and nationalities are gardening side by side, growing vegetables, fruits and flowers in community gardens. Some are looking for basic sustenance, others for a way to remember their homelands, still others for a place to find a respite from their troubles. Through the voices of young people, senior citizens, immigrants, garden volunteers and educators, this documentary explores the vital role of seven D.C. urban community gardens as sources of fresh, nutritious food, outdoor classrooms, places of healing, links to immigrants' native countries and oases of beauty and calm in inner-city neighborhoods. The film also looks back on the history of community gardens in the United States, from the potato patch farms of the late 19th century, to the victory gardens of World War II, to community gardening's current renaissance."

Couldn't get much better than these two films, could ya?  For tickets and additional information for them and other great films at the DC Environmental Film Fest, click here.