Whole Foods Leading the Way on School Gardens - with Two More Important Events Coming Up, Sept. 17 & 18!
When it comes to school vegetable gardens in Montgomery County, Whole Foods Markets is the very definition of a civic-minded business, one that supports the community that supports it. Their Whole Kids Foundation has funded more than a half dozen school gardens in our county, and Whole Foods staff teaches nutrition classes in select schools. Their stores have co-sponsored meetings for school garden champions, provided vegetables for school salad parties, and funding for local organizing. And they have two more great events coming up next week you should know about and be part of!
Workshop on Whole Kids Grants for School Gardens, Tuesday, Sept. 17 at 4pm at the Silver Spring Whole Foods - a workshop for teachers, parents and administrators who want to learn more about working with the Whole Kids Foundation, and applying for grants for their own school gardens. Please note that registration is requested - notify Emma Whelan at emma.whelan [at] wholefoods.com
5% Day for Real Food for Kids Montgomery, Wednesday, Sept. 18, all day at Silver Spring Whole Foods - another one of Silver Spring Whole Foods' great profit-sharing days, on this one they will give 5% of their profits to Real Food For Kids Montgomery, a great group promoting healthy food for school kids, as well as MVG's partner in co-hosting the November 2 Montgomery County School Food Forum. (Big announcement coming soon!) If you shop at Whole Foods in Silver Spring, make sure to go on this day!
Our profound thanks to Whole Foods Markets, and in particular to their Silver Spring Marketing Team Leader, Emma Whelan, for leading the way on food education and food gardening in our schools! Feel free to thank her yourself the next time you're in the store!
Low Tunnel Construction Workshops - Sept. 14 & 17
Low tunnels are the modern version of cold frames - and the indispensable structure for winter food gardening!
We'll be learning all about how to build and use these very simple and easy to make low tunnels in two hands-on MVG workshops, this coming Saturday and next Tuesday:
Saturday, Sept. 14, 1pm at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton ($18 fee); registration requested (click here or call them at 301-962-1400 to register), walk-ins welcome
Tuesday, Sept. 17, 6pm at Whole Foods Market in Silver Spring (Free); registration requested - click here for more info, and stop by their Customer Service Desk or call them at 301-608-9373 to register, walk-ins welcome.
It's stlll a little known secret, but winter food gardening is some of the best, most fun and rewarding gardening you can do - come join us at these upcoming classes and find out how to do it!
Are You Unknowingly Poisoning Bees with Neonics?
As the threat of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) continues - many beekeepers lost half or more of the hives this past winter - an increasing amount of evidence is pointing toward a class of pesticides known as neonicotinoids, or neonics.
Introduced in the 1990s not long before the onset of CCD, these neuro-active agents are now the mostly used pesticides in the world. The European Union, after a study by the European Food Safety Authority, suspended the use of neonics for two years this spring based on their suspected link to CCD. The American Bird Conservancy called for a ban on their use after a review of 200 studies, saying they are extremely toxic to birds and aquatic wildlife. And in March of this year a collection of U.S. beekeepers and environmental groups sued the EPA, demanding that their use be suspended in the U.S. as well. (Neonics are made by Bayer, which claims they are safe for bees.)
Now, a new study has concluded that neonicotinoids are being found in plants sold in large garden retailers in our area, such as Home Depot and Lowes. Neonics are often used to treat seeds and become systemic, meaning the toxin is contained within the plant itself. Thus, you can unknowingly buy tomatoes, squash plants or flowers at one of these stores, and they will in turn produce pollen that many believe could be toxic to bees.
It's a little late for tomatoes and squash around here, but if you want to be sure that you're not using such bee-toxic plants in the future, avoid buying them at the big stores. As with you food, buy your plant starts local, from farmers or small nurseries - making sure they were grown from untreated seeds - or start 'em yourself.
And to help get neonics off the shelves of big garden retailers, click here to sign a Friends of the Earth petition to the CEOs of those companies, asking that they be removed. (FOE co-conducted the study on the big retailers.) Thanks for taking a stand for the bees!
Drought, Water Shortages, and Your Garden
Though it hasn't been in the news for a while, running out of water is an increasingly common problem in the U.S. The crisis is driven by climate change, overuse and poor use, such as the untold amounts of fresh water used for energy development, in particular for hydraulic gas fracturing, or "fracking."
According to the EPA, 36 out of the 50 states will be suffering from some sort of local, regional or statewide water shortage this year. We continue to get serious warnings that the aquifers that support Midwestern agriculture are being taped out, and a persistent drought continues over much of the American southwest. In cities like Denver, Colorado, community gardens are already following strict rules for water conservation due to ongoing drought conditions.
We haven't thought of it much in our area because of the drenching wet first half of the summer. (Although the second half has been notably dry, today's thunderstorms notwithstanding.) But the trend is clear nationally, and it probably won't be long before we're having drought like conditions here again. Yet another reason to support local agriculture and to grow your own food - the most water efficient food you can eat.
What The Hell is FSMA, and Why Are Small Farmers Freaking Out?
FSMA is the Food Safety Modernization Act, the first attempt to write a new set of food safety regulations in 70 years. New regulations are certainly needed, as the rash of outbreaks of foodborne illness over the past several years demonstrates. But what are the regulations really designed to address - and which food producers will be most impacted?
Unfortunately, a great number of small and family farmers, and advocacy groups for them, are raising the alarm over the new regulations. Despite the apparent intent of Congress, the regulations the FDA has written are largely a one-size-fits-all prescription that many small farmers fear will put them out of business - even though it is the very big food producers and distributors that are responsible for the vast majority of disease outbreaks. (As a rule, the further food travels to reach you, the greater the chance of pathogens being present.)
The regulations are complex (of course), but many basic issues, such as how much sterilization and labeling of foods is required, could be no problem for large farms and agribusiness, yet would constitute a crippling blow to small farmers - as well as fundamentally changing the food we get from them. These issues are discussed in this recent Gazette Letter to the Editor by Mike Tabor and Nick Maravell - both long time farmers living in Montgomery County. (Nick is also a member of the prestigious USDA National Organic Standards Board.)
Still others contend that the regulations are being used by agribusiness as a way to pressure the rapidly growing local food movement, which is eating into their profits. It comes as no surprise that the head of food safety at the FDA, Michael Taylor, is a former Monsanto VP.
Whatever the reason for this regulatory over-reach, it's pretty clear that FSMA is a major oncoming crisis that needs to be addressed by those who care about buying fresh, local food, and supporting small farmers. As the best available action, we recommend you sign this smartly written FSMA proxy letter to the FDA, written by the Cornucopia Institute, a national leader in advocacy for small farmers. And stay tuned to this channel for updates!
Something Useful to Do With Your Weeds
Weeds have been a real struggle this year, what with all the early rain, and whenever I pull them up I always wonder about the wisdom of taking them over to the compost pile in the community garden - which, in 2 of the 3 gardens I grow food in, is then picked up and shipped somewhere to make compost. Oh, and in the meantime I have to get something to mulch the ground I just uncovered with my weeding.
And then, after maybe the 10,000th weed, it struck me: why don't I just pull 'em... and then leave the weeds where they are???
Basically, I mean using weeds for mulch. There are some strict rules on this: you cannot, of course, use weeds that have gone to seed, or weeds that re-root easily (!#!$@!@%$! wiregrass). But with an awful lot of grassy weeds - nutsedge, a very common weed, is perfect for this - you can just pull them up and lay them right back down on the ground... and they make an excellent organic, nutrient-adding, moisture retaining mulch. Love it! Using hedge shears to chop up the weeds can also make the mulching easier. Pictured at right are some of my fall lettuces, with a 100% weed mulch around them.
Weeds as mulch, check it out - it's a lot easier, cleaner and smarter than you'd think... and often, than the available alternatives!
And Hey - Don't Forget to Order Your Seed Garlic!!
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Don't you just love all the cherry tomatoes this time of year?! And they keep growing no matter what wilts and blights and what-all attacks my big tomatoes. (Make note to self for next year...) Keep your eyes peeled for an announcement on the big Nov. 2 Montgomery County School Food Forum - and mark the date on your calendar now!!
Seasonally yours,
Gordon Clark, Project Director. MVG |