It's 80 Degrees - Can I Plant My Tomatoes?

After one of the mildest winters in history, we are now having a freakishly warm March, with thousands of "warmest ever" records shattered across the country, often by 10 degrees or more.

This fantastically warm winter will have serious, long term repercussions, as environmental activist Bill McKibben points out here. But a more immediate question being asked by many gardeners is, can I plant my tomatoes now?

Well, unless you are prepared to take extraordinary measures to protect them from the elements, the answer is no. Some big box stores might be selling tomato transplants already, but tomatoes are a summer crop, and like other warm weather crops will be killed by even a light frost - which, however unlikely it seems right now, is still a statistical possibility if not likelihood over the next 4 - 5 weeks (indeed, perhaps tonight). In addition, even if we have historically "normal" temps in April, that is still too cold for tomatoes, which do very poorly with temperatures in the 40s and 50s.

This vegetable planting calendar from the Master Gardenerss Grow It Eat It program is still the most reliable guide for when to plant. It may need to be changed in the coming years, but for the moment the safest route is still to plant your warm weather crops starting in May.   (Although of course you can be starting those seeds indoors, if you haven't already!)

p.s. - When you are transplanting your cool weather starts outdoors, try to do it on a cooler/cloudier/damper day if possible. If direct sowing seeds, cover them with a little straw - it will help keep the ground from drying out in the warm sun, which is death to seeds!

Attack of the Flea Beetles

One of the major consequences of a warm winter is an increase in insect pests, as the weather never gets cold enough to kill off or reduce their populations, and the extra early warmth causes them to be active much sooner than usual, up to a month or more ahead of schedule. So be prepared - we're going to be dealing with a lot of pests in the garden this year.

We will be posting some good sites for bug identification in the next update, but want to alert you to one of the first pests launching attacks this early spring - flea beetles. While difficult to see - they are small, furtive, and like their namesake, spring away quickly when approached - their damage is unmistakable: hundreds and hundreds of tiny pin-sized holes chewed in your eggplants (their favorite), or in cool weather crops such as potatoes, kale, tat soi and pak choi (the latter two being under attack in my garden).

A good way to prevent them is floating row cover. If you've already got them, treatments with kaolin clay or a dusting of wood ash are effective. I have also had success using a garlic solution (commercially available as Garlic Barrier), as have others with a pepper-based spray - although you might need to use it several times to drive them away. For more information on flea beetles, click here.

Save Nick's Organic Farm - Important New Developments

For the past year we've been tracking the campaign to save Nick's Organic Farm in Potomac - a 31 year old, 20 acre organic farm on a piece of Montgomery County Public School land that County Executive Ike Leggett wants to turn into a privately run soccer field. (And to be clear, MVG loves soccer - but we strongly believe that preserving the ONLY organic seed-producing farm in our county takes priority over building the 501st and 502nd soccer fields.)

Big development #1 is that Nick Maravell and his daughter (and fellow famer) Sophia have started Brickyard Educational Farm. Although the County Executive has seemed uniquely uninterested in the possibility of this organic, urban agriculture education center in our county, Nick and Sophia have moved ahead with the project, and are excited to now be a resource to local school classes, summer camps, civic organizations, environmental groups, and anyone else interested in learning about local and sustainable food and agriculture. Right now they are accepting requests for field trips and group visits for the spring and summer. Click here for more information, to volunteer, or to schedule a visit for your class or group.

Big development #2 is that the County Council appears to be hearing the continued strong protest of the local community and other county citizens, who want to see this precious farm resource preserved and expanded, not plowed under. Led by Councilmember Roger Berliner, who represents the Potomac area, the Council is seeking to expedite Bill 11-12, which would give them some control over county-owned land, such as the land Nick's Organic Farm is on. (Currently it is the sole prerogative of the County Executive.) Click here for the story in the Potomac Almanac, along with a great history of the political struggle to save Nick's Organic Farm.

MVG would like to applaud this action by the County Council - and encourage them to follow through, pass the legislation - quickly, and use this new tool to make sure county-owned land is used in accordance with the wishes of community residents and best interests of the county in mind. And saving a 31 year old organic farm as Montgomery County's premier urban agriculture center would be a great way to start!

Know Your Local Farmer - Twin Springs Fruit Farms

While the early warmth has brought extra early greens to our farmers markets and gardens, visitors to Montgomery County markets know there is one farmer who has been selling greens throughout the winter: Aubrey King of Twin Springs Fruit Farms. 

Intrigued by this, I visited Twin Springs back in February to see how they do it, and was greeted by Aubrey, his son Michael (pictured with dad), and an amazingly diverse and sophisticated operation. Not all farmers who live in Montgomery County grow crops to feed local residents, and not all farmers who feed Montgomery's fresh food craving residents farm in our county. Aubrey of Twin Springs Fruit is one of the latter, and we a delighted to highlight his farm. Click here to read all about Twin Springs in this MVG edition of "Know Your Local Farmer." And then visit Twin Springs at the market - and tell Aubrey you read about him in the MVG update!

Just Label It Campaign on GE Foods - Let's Make it One Million Signatures!

Here is one other very important national food campaign where your support is needed.

Genetically engineered (GE} foods are controversial, with many consumer, health and agriculture organizations concerned about their possible (and unknown) health, safety and environmental effects. GE foods are banned in some countries, and many - including 15 nations in the European Union, Japan, Australia, Brazil, Russia and even China - require that foods containing GMOs be labeled.

But in the U.S., where the vast majority of our commodity crops like corn and soybeans are grown with GE seeds, there is no law requiring GE foods to be labeled - and the Monsanto corporation, which produces and controls more than 80% of the GE seed trade, has fought vigorously to keep it that way.

Upwards of 90% of Americans agree, when asked, that GMO foods should be labeled. Knowing what's in the food we eat is a basic right, and it is fundamental to making informed choices about our food. The Just Label It Campaign, composed of more than 500 partner organizations, has filed a legal petition to compel the Food and Drug Administration to label GE foods. They are seeking 1,000,000 citizen signatures on the petition, and have just passed 900,000. Click here to add your name, and demand that genetically engineered foods be labeled in the U.S. too.

MVG Food Book Club - Next Meeting Monday, April 30

This month we had the first meeting of our Food Book Club, and had a great group discussion of Slow Food Movement founder Carlo Petrini's book Slow Food Nation: Why Our Food Should Be Good, Clean and Fair.  Thanks so much to MVG supporter Jackie DeCarlo for putting this together!

Folks enjoyed it so much that we decided to do it again - and we welcome all those interested in reading about and discussing the new food revolution to join us.

The next MVG Food Group will be held on Monday, April 30 at 6:30pm (the location is TBD, but will be in the Silver Spring area). And the book we will be discussing is Breaking Through Concrete: Building an Urban Farm Revival, which chronicles a biodiesel-fueled, internet-enabled bus trip across America by a team of young men looking to document our nation's growing urban farm movement. You can click here for more about info on this fascinating and timely book, and we welcome folks to pick up a copy, read it, and join us on April 30! Just RSVP to Stacy at wormcastings[at]comcast.net for more info.

Food Gardening Classes Galore!

The Food Gardening bug has really caught hold here in Montgomery County this year! And we're delighted to announce the following food gardening workshops scheduled locally in April:

Classes at the Whole Foods Market in Rockville/White Flint:

* Introduction to Organic Food Gardening - Tuesday, March 27, 6:30 - 8pm

* Container Gardening 101 (for gardening on decks, porches, patios and other small spaces) - Tuesday, April 3, 6:30 - 8pm

* Introduction to Food Gardening for Kids (ages 6 - 11) - Tuesday, April 10, 4 - 4:45pm

All classes are FREE. The Rockville Whole Foods is at 11355 Woodglen Drive, Rockville, MD 20852. (Free parking under the store.) RSVP is requested, please email them at rockvillecommunity@wholefoods.com, and include the name of the class in the subject line. For additional information or questions, call 301-984-4880.

Classes at the Whole Foods Market in Silver Spring:

* Introduction to Organic Food Gardening - Wednesday, April 11, 6:30pm - 8pm

* Half Pints Kids Club: Introduction to Food Gardening - Thursday, April 19, 4pm - 4:45pm

* Container Food Gardening 101 - Wednesday, April 25, 6:30pm -8pm

All classes are FREE. The Silver Spring Whole Foods is at 833 Wayne Ave

Silver Spring, MD 20910 USA. Folks may register at Customer Service or by calling 301-608-9373. Please mention the name and date of course when registering

Classes at Montgomery County Community College, Germantown Campus:

* Techniques for Extending the Growing Season - Saturday, April 7, 9:30am - 12Noon

Class fee is $65, click here and type course title in Keyword Search to register.

Classes at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton:

* Vegetable Gardening Basics: Plants, Mulches and Watering - Wednesday, April 4, 6:30 - 8pm

* Forest Gardens: Productive Ecosystems - Thursday, April 12, 6:30 - 8pm

* Vegetable Gardening Basics: Harvest and Succession - Wednesday, April 25, 6:30 - 8pm

The vegetable gardening classes are $15, while the Forest Garden class (sounds interesting!) is free. All are held at Brookside Garden 1800 Glenallan Ave.

Wheaton, MD 20902; registration is required. Click here for more information and to register, or call 301-962-1400

#     #     #

That's it for now! Thanks for sharing these emails with your friends, continuing to forward events and ideas for articles to us, and for doing everything you can to support (and grow!) local food in 2012!

Yours in using this early spring to full, garden planting advantage,