It's Seed Starting Time!!
What a wonderful way to start the gardening year, raising your own baby veggie plants indoors (or in a cold frame), while the earth is still on the cusp of waking up! It's a great way to save money, grow varieties you won't find at the nursery, get a head start on the season, and learn more about your plants.
Many gardeners have already started their seeds, but not to worry - if you haven't yet there's still plenty of time. Aside from a couple of things that can be started outside in mid-March (remember, potatoes and peas on St. Patty's Day!), the soil is still too cold for most seeds to germinate - so you can get a 2-3 week start on cool weather plants by starting 'em now, and this is also the perfect time to start your warm weather crops such as tomatoes, peppers and eggplants.
At right you can see my own "Anne McDermott Memorial Seed Starting Station" (named after a fellow gardener who moved to CA and donated the shelves - thank you Anne!), and it's really nothing more than those shelves and some 4 ft workshop lights (some with grow bulbs, some with standard regular fluorescents). You can really start veggies under almost any type of light fixture, as well as outside in a cold frame. (Just be sure to vent it on bright sunny days so you don't bake your young plants.)
For some good videos on starting your own plants indoors, check out the Master Gardener's Grow It Eat It site here. Or to take a class on it, see below!
Veggie Gardening Classes Starting Up!
Montgomery Victory Gardens is pleased to be offering a full range of organic vegetable gardening classes again this year, and hope you can join us for one or more.
One series will be at beautiful Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, the jewel of our county's park system. The first class already happened, but the second one, "Essentials of Organic Food Gardening," is this coming Tuesday, March 19, from 6:30-8pm, followed by container gardening in April and then a fall and winter gardening class in July. Check here for details and registration info in Brookside's online catalog (go to page 12).
We'll also be coming back again to Whole Foods Market Silver Spring, with the first class, "Seed Starting for Veggie Gardens 101" on Monday, March 25 at 6:30. (Their online calendar has the wrong info for that date, but you can still register by calling Customer Service at 301-608-9373.)
There are always more classes being added, including another one or two that may be added for March. To stay up to date on the latest offerings, visit (and like!) the MVG Facebook page here.
When Should You Start Planting Outdoors?
We're all champing at the bit, and while it will be warm enough shortly to put transplants outdoors, you've got to make sure your soil is ready to work first.
The main issue here is the wetness of the soil. If you work it while it's still too wet (remember, water evaporates/soil dries out much more slowly during cold weather), whether tilling or working it up with a shovel or broadfork/garden fork (forks being my own strong preference), you risk destroying the soil structure for an entire season. Variables include the weather (precipitation, warmth) and your garden (raised beds dry more quickly than in-ground gardens), but here is the simple test: pick up a handful of the soil from a couple inches down, and squeeze it in your fist. If any water drips out, it's too wet - wait. So don't try working the soil right after a significant rain.
And Don't Forget to Consult Your Planting Calendar!
While the changing climate gives opportunities to start crops early or run 'em late (I harvested broccoli in early January this year, and last February I was told by a very experienced horticulturist that I could go ahead and plant my peas then - and the 70 degree March that followed proved him right), the UMD planting calendar is still the best guide to go by for traditional planting dates. Consult it here whenever you're in doubt!
Huge Victory for Brickyard Educational Farm!
It's been almost two years now that MVG and our supporters have been involved with the Save This Soil campaign - an effort to save the land of Nick's Organic Farm in Potomac, now home to the Brickyard Educational Farm, from being plowed under and turned into soccer fields.
Well just a few weeks ago, we had a HUGE victory. Quite out of the blue, County Executive Ike Leggett announced that he was surrendering the County's lease of the school-owned land - and with it, his plans to turn it into a soccer-plex! You can read about it here.
Naturally, we are absolutely thrilled at this news - grateful to the County Executive for making this wise decision, grateful to the Maravells (Nick and his daughter Sophia, who runs Brickyard Farm) for their tireless efforts, and grateful to all of you who kept putting gentle, friendly pressure on Mr. Leggett to preserve the farm, including nearly every member of Montgomery County's state legislators.
At the same time, the struggle to maintain this heritage (32 years old and counting!) organic farm - and the promise of the pre-eminent working agricultural farm for kids in the country - is not over yet. The lease has returned to the school board, and they have not yet decided on reviewing other options for the land, including a permanent home for Brickyard Educational Farm. So stay turned for more updates and opportunities to act, but in the meantime savor this great victory, and thanks for making it happen!!!
Showing of Cafeteria Man, Friday, March 15 - and Welcome Real Food for Kids Montgomery!
There's a new group in Montgomery County, and it's a great and necessary one - Real Food for Kids Montgomery.
Real Food for Kids Montgomery (RFKM), which took its name from a similar group in Virginia, is a new association of parents and other concerned county residents who want to bring in more fresh, whole, nutritious food into our schools. And as you can see from their website and Facebook page, they're already starting to get a lot of press!
As their first public event, RFKM is hosting a showing of the documentary "Cafeteria Man," the story of how now-famous food services director Tony Geraci turned around the Baltimore City schools food system, getting rid of pre-plated and processed foods while bringing kids out to local farms and bringing more fresh whole food into the schools. The program will also feature a post film talk with its director, Richard Chisolm, and will be held at the Takoma Park Community Center at 7:30pm tomorrow, Friday, March 15. Click here for details.
And welcome, Real Food for Kids Montgomery - we look forward to working with you!
Whole Foods Makes a Big Announcement - and GMO Labeling Campaigns Gain Momentum
We were all greatly disappointed this past fall when the California initiative to label genetically modified foods in that state, Prop 37, failed by a narrow margin after an intense disinformation campaign by Monsanto, Dupont, and a slew of major food producers.
Yet citizen pressure continues to yield results, and in yet another big victory Whole Foods, the nation's leading retailer of organic foods, agreed to voluntarily label GMO products in response to customer demand. It's taking a little longer than we think it should - their deadline is 2018 - but this is still a big big step in the right direction, one that can't help but influence other retailers, and a possible game changer for the whole movement.
Meanwhile, though, other groups of citizens are not waiting for industry to change. The loss in California has spurred people on, and state campaigns to legislate labeling of GMOs are popping up all over - in all, there are active campaigns in 22 states. We reported previously on MVG's Facebook about efforts in Hawaii and Connecticut, as well as bills introduced in the state legislatures of Iowa and Maryland - and now here's the latest one, in Pennsylvania.
This movement on GMO's is another sure sign of the power of the food movement, and the American people's unflinching demand that they be able to choose what they put in their mouth. Rock on, food activists!
Plastic Bottle Green House
Is this the coolest thing you've seen or what??
With landfills filling up, and news about growing giant plastic garbage passes in the world's major oceans, this looks like the best use of clear plastic bottles we've seen to date. And who couldn't use a good backyard greenhouse - and one that not only produces zero waste, but prevents waste as you build it! You can find directions to build one yourself right here.
Thanks to MVGer Nadine for passing this on. Anyone out there heard of any other super creative and useful ways to grow food - let us know!
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Wow, how's that for the beginning of a food year! Things are bursting out all over, huh? Don't forget to keep sending us those events, food gardening tips, and other stories we can put in the update - thanks!
Yours in starting seeds (with help from Meeka),
Gordon Clark, Project Director Montgomery Victory Gardens
p.s. - Would you like to help support the MVG Updates you love, and which help spread the good food revolution in our county? They may seem free, but our excellent email marketing provider, Constant Contact, charges MVG $40 a month to send these out. Click here to sponsor one month of the MVG Updates. (...or half a month, any contributions are most gladly accepted!)
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