Love

Tell someone you love them tonight.

Farm House Dinner

Follow this link to a great article at Grit.com for a great idea for a warm Farm House dinner, hopefully highlighting a few of your favorite things:  Roast chicken, roasted root vegetables, crusty bread, homemade butter, and Pecan Pie - yum, yum!

http://www.grit.com/food/good-things-to-eat/farmhouse-dinner-menu-zwr1212zgou.aspx?newsletter=1&utm_content=12.12.12+GRIT+GTTE&utm_campaign=2012+GTTE+ENEWS&utm_source=iPost&utm_medium=email

Great Green(s) salad

Last Friday the last E3 Friday Gardening group made and ate a delicious salad with all locally sourced and just picked produce (it almost all came from the Green School's garden and farm).  Our salad included: spinach, mustard greens, kale, swiss chard, pea shoots, radish, radish greens and apple.

We also made our own honey mustard dressing.  All together a perfect blend of sweet and savory!  Some students ate dressing, some students had no dressing, but either way the salad was a hit based on all the empty bowls!

Another amazing find is happening with the sunflowers.  The sunflowers that were not harvested and left whole for the birds (by the front door) are sending out new sunflowers!  Simply amazing.  I didn't know they could or would do this.

Stop by and see!  It's 67 today - crazy!

E3 Friday Food Studies

During the winter this year, as the garden and farm sleep,  E3 Fridays for the Gardening and Farming group will focus more on eating food than actually growing it.  Tolerance Cuisinesm will study food through the lens of culture.  We will look at how things such as culture influence food, how geography influences food, and explore world food history and food traditions.  We will also focus on dining etiquette and compare and contrast cultural dining etiquette's.

Hopefully your kids' palates will expand and their dining manners will become a little more refined.  By studying food through the cultural lens we also hope that students' tolerance for other cultures and communities will broaden.

Keep a look out here.  We plan on including recipes from our sessions that you and yours can share in making and enjoying at home.

TreeBaltimore

WE NEED YOU! Please attend the TreeBaltimore annual meeting December 7, 2012  12:30 – 2:30 p.m. Cylburn Arboretum’s Vollmer Center Does your organization wish to plant trees in your neighborhood or elsewhere?  TreeBaltimore is the umbrella organization for all groups and agencies promoting and planting trees throughout Baltimore!  Join our partners in speaking with one voice to increase the Urban Tree Canopy.  Talk with tree experts about how to get your community involved in the tree game and let us know what your neighborhood is already doing! Topics will include record keeping, planting and maintenance guidelines, ‘comparable’ programs in other cities, tree stewardship program, and much more! Please Don’t Forget to RSVP at your earliest convenience, to: Charles.murphy@baltimorecity.gov If you can’t make the event, but are still interested, feel free to email any questions, thoughts, or interest.

Cover Crops

Today for E3 Friday we pulled the last of the warm weather plants and then planted cover crops.  Annual rye, crimson clover and hairy vetch now reside where peppers,  eggplant, sunflowers, tomatoes, and cucumber once reigned.

I heard today that we may see temps. in the mid 60's Monday and Tuesday.  I am hoping that those temperatures will give our peas an extra boost and more blooms will be created.  We have many blooms now, but more is better!  C'mon sugar-snap peas!

Where did November go?

Warm, then cold, then warmish, the really cold, then gobble, gobble, gobble, then brrr, then a cold wet trip to Clagett Farm, and now cover crops and pepper plant pulling on Friday.

Wow.  Hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving and gave lots of thanks.  The holiday bug hit me early this year and I am so ready for peace and good cheer.  I've already hung lights, 'cause that's the way I roll,  and I am looking forward to all the beautiful lights and love and spirit of the season to be seen and experienced in Baltimore.  Of course I love all of the food that comes from all cultures this time of year.  Yum.

That said, seed catalogs are already rolling in and it is so exciting to start thinking about the next growing season.  Crazy thing is that season starts in just 3 months from now.

Get out and enjoy the muted sophistication of mother nature in winter!

610 Spring Bulbs

Pollinators be aware!  The green school is planting 610 spring bulbs that will provide food for pollinators and beauty for us humans from early spring through early summer!  What an exciting endeavor for the entirety of GSB to plant that many bulbs together.  If all goes as planned, it will quite a spectacular site through to the spring of 2013 and beyond.

The holes were predrilled today so it will just be a matter of placing the bulbs in their new homes (pointy end toward the sky), covering with soil and letting mother nature work her magic!

First frost

On election morning, we woke up to our first frost of the season.  Not a hard freeze, but a frost none the less.  Some things suffer for that, but many cool weather and overwinter crops benefit.  Just check out our bolting spinach - it has slllooowwwweeeedddd down.

We are going to have a warm up and that will benefit all of those last minute cool weather and cover crops we still want to plant.

We recently cut down and hung seeding plants like sunflowers, corn, and zinnias knocked down by Sandy for the benefit of birds.  They, the birds, are thoroughly enjoying their bounty.

Friday we are going to try to plant about 700 spring bulbs for their beauty and bounty for humans and fauna alike.

I hope everyone voted today.

Garlic History by Julia Parker 5th Grade

 In 5^th grade Investigations the 5^th graders planted garlic cloves.  Here are some interesting facts about garlic:

·         Garlic bulbs usually have 10 cloves of garlic inside, and if you plant each clove you will get a whole other bulb out of it. Cool huh?

·         Egyptians worshipped garlic and place clay models of garlic bulbs in the tomb of Tutannkhamen. 

·         Folklore says that garlic repels or kept out vampires, protected against the evil eye.  It also warded of jealous nymphs that terrorized pregnant women and engaged women.

·         The word garlic comes from old English word Garleac meaning “spear leek.” This word is dating back over 6000 thousand years and is native to Central Asia. 

·         Today Americans alone consume over 250,000,00 pounds of garlic annually.

That’s what I call garlic history.  Information from www.about.com. Written by Julia Parker 5^th Grade GSB

Happy Halloween and a Good Post Sandy

We hope everyone faired well through Sandy.  I believe that we, here in Maryland, got off pretty lucky - thankfully.  GSB and the gardens and Farm made it through with very minimal casualties.  The monarch chrysalis was moved inside pre-storm and hatched during the storm and was named Sandy and is now waiting to be released to fly off to Mexico or South America tomorrow or Friday.

Remember to compost those jack-o-lanterns, or break them up in your yard to breakdown and let what ever animals nibble on for a while.  If ya got a rat problem then the yard thing may not be a good idea.

An old Halloween diddy from my elementary school days, think of a witch over her cauldron:

Stirring and stirring and stirring my brew, oooo, oo, oooo, oo, tip, toe, tip, toe, tip, toe,  BOO!

Hope I didn't scare you.  Happy Halloween.

Watching Sandy?

Four of my favorite surf cam links for watching the ocean:

Hatteras Island: http://www.surfline.com/surf-report/rodanthe-southeast_4410/

Outer Banks: http://www.corollasurfshop.com/surf-report/

                      http://www.avalonpier.com/piercam.html

Ocean City, Maryland : http://www.malibus.com/surf-report

Sandy, Sandy stay away!

O.k., we are on the brink of a possible big storm and I would be just as happy if this isn't one for the record books.  Meteorologically this is fascinating to watch unfold.  Watching the wave and wind maps' predictions on the surfing sites is mesmerizing for me.  If you have the opportunity over the next few days as this storm gets closer watch surf camera sites up and down the east coast to see what wind does to water.   There are surf cams at most of the piers on the Outer Banks as well as in Ocean City Maryland and New Jersey.

That said, my true wish is for Sandy to pass quietly as as far east as possible.

5th grade had another great day of garlic planting and observations in the gardens.  Here are a few of the questions they are pondering:

If one seed clove taken off of a garlic bulb creates another bulb of garlic, then where in the new bulb is the seed clove?  Great garlic information here: http://www.filareefarm.com/pdf/filaree-garlic-catalog2011.pdf

If a mother strawberry plant puts out runners from which daughter plants are born, and the spots on the outside of a strawberry are seeds then what purpose do the seeds serve serve; and if the seed's purpose is to grow new plants how are the distributed? (find some answers for strawberry seeds here: http://strawberryplants.org/2010/05/strawberry-seeds/

Things that make you go hmmm.

5th graders' new plantings and a Pine Warbler

The 5th graders have spent time over the last two days planting at the Farm.  Yesterday they planted salad boxes  that contain leaf lettuces and will be ready to eat anywhere from 30 to 50 days.  Today they planted garlic and took time to observe the gardens as they get ready for winter.

Shallots and two different 30 day Chinese cabbages also joined the ranks.

Many migratory birds are making their way through the area and today I saw a Pine Warbler in the Pollinator/butterfly garden.  As uber cool the siting was for me, I had startled the bird and it turns out the bird put on a broken-wing fake out for me.  The bird hopped to the ground with it's right wing slightly askew and hopped into a bunch of strawberry plants.  As I kept my eye on the spot where it went into the strawberries, I called Mrs. Primm to come see.  She came right out and we went looking for the "injured' bird.  We looked and looked, but it was gone.

So when we got home we looked in our bird guides to identify the bird.  We then looked online to see if that bird does a broken-wing act and sure enough it does!

How about that.

Bolting Spinach

The weather has been so warm that my spinach has started to bolt.  How crazy is that!?  Things are looking quite good in the garden and my plans for pulling peppers, zinnias, and what not have been thwarted by their continued productivity.  In fact, there are new sunflowers sprouting from seed dropped out of this year's sunflowers.  Even the strawberries are getting bigger, and juicier and sweeter.

So much for starting cold frames.

I'm not complaining, just explaining.  Our spring bulbs arrived so we will be doing a massive planting over the next week.  There are something like 700 bulbs.  It should provide for a very colorful spring.

The raspberries are doing well as are the greens on the hill.  I am going to finally plant those 30 day cabbages this week.  We are also going to start some salad boxes to do some indoor experiments and of course great eats if we are successful.

Soil Compaction

We have had raised bed gardens/farming at GSB since 2008/2009 school year.  I incorporate mulch in our beds every year.  At the end of every growing season within the raised beds our soil has been compacted as if we were walking on it.  A mystery since we had not been walking in our beds.

Today I am reading an article in Urban Farmer about the benefits of mulch and the author is preaching to the choir until he starts to talk about how mulch layered onto of the soil during the growing season stops soil compaction from - drum roll please - rain.

Soil without mulch on top takes x inches of rain each season, which equates to x gallons of water and each gallon weighs eight pounds and the rain fall from x high up in the sky - yadda, yadda, yadda - compressed soil like the farmer/gardener has been walking in the beds.

Epiphany!

Who would have thunk it - not me.  Next year the farm and garden will have a rich layer of mulch on top, as a shock absorber,  throughout the growing season.

Greens, greens, and more greens

The greens on the hill are showing off.  The greens we planted in pollinator garden are off to a great start.  We hope they continue on their great trend.  The peas, carrots, greens, lettuce and onions on the farm are doing well also, but the coolest discovery today on the farm was the monarch chrysalis on the sunflower.  How about that.

The raspberries are looking very healthy and everything enjoyed yesterday's rain.  We will soon be planting garlic, shallots, pansies, and some 30 day cabbage seeds (that still haven't made it into the ground) next week.

New Raspberries

14 new raspberry bushes were planted today in the garden outside of the 5th grade classroom.  They are fall bearing raspberries.

There are two Crimson Nights, 6 Heritage, and 6 Annes.

The fall greens are sprouting and doing well, the spinach is getting huge, and sunflowers are still coming into their own.  You should stop by to see all the birds feasting in the garden.  Like hot peppers, or are you enjoying ones you have gotten from Green?  Good news, the peppers are still going crazy.  Note to folks who keep picking and stomping the peppers - stop it.

We have onions planted and just received shallot and garlic starts. Yum.  The 30 day cabbage are going in Friday.

Stay tuned, more yumminess coming!

Herring Run Nursery

As we look to expand our gardens and Farm and look to create more habitat and food sources for birds, bees, butterflies and other pollinator friends, I have been looking for resources to supply the flora for these next steps.

There are some really cool nurseries out there and one, specifically, that is local and has been a great partner of ours - Herring Run Nursery.  As they say on their website - they specialize in growing native plants for Maryland's coastal plain and Piedmont regions.

This time of year is a great time to add perennials, shrubs and trees to your landscape.  So, if you are ever considering natives for your landscape visit Herring Run Nursery at www.bluewaterbaltimore.org/herring-run-nursery/native-plants

Happy planting.

Cold Frames

We are going to experiment with cold frames this year on the Farm.  I found an easy structure to build with PVC pipe in Urban Farm magazine.  What I like most about this design is the ability to build as small or large as you want and how inexpensive can be.  We will be looking at how long we can extend a growing season compared to the same crop left out in the cold.  We should also be able to use the frames in the spring to start crops outdoor earlier.  Stay posted.

This article was in the January/February 2011 edition.

Mustard, Kale, Collards, and Swiss Chard

We planted all of these in the pollinator garden today.  We will see how things grow and for things we don't harvest we will see how well they wintered over.

I am still waiting for the rest of my Burpee order and I also bought onion sets at Meyer seed today.

A very mowed garden

The pollinator garden received a huge haircut today in preparation for fall crops, weed clean-up, and strawing the strawberries.  I love eating fresh strawberries off the vine on September 27th.  That is what an ever-bearing plant will do for you!

The raspberries have not arrived yet.  I am already looking forward to harvesting raspberries next fall.

Yesterday we had two contractors stop by to give us pricing for a new fence around the outdoor classroom and pricing for tiered amphitheater seating where the forsythia currently reside.  The fence will mainly be split-rail and will have one panel of 6' just like by the P.E. space.  There are some grants we will be pursuing and maybe some targeted fundraising to bring this project to fruition.  An outdoor classroom with such rich resources is such an incredible opportunity for the students.

There are monarch butterfly caterpillars on the milkweed in the pollinator garden.  Stop by to watch them munch.  As I was mowing and weeding, I also found an empty Corona bottle and a few empty chip bags in the pollinator garden (without pollinators on them), but I don't remember planting those seeds this year.  Lucky me!

Many new sprouts

How exciting,  there are many new seedling showing their lovely new green heads at the farm.  Old seed, new seed, in-between seed - everyone is showing off.

Even better, more cool weather and over-winter seed came in the mail today.  The fennel and dill, as warm weather as they can be, should produce enough to help the late season butterfly caterpillars eat up.

Stop by and see!

Like it hot!?  Peppers are still coming in!

Care about Belair-Edison and GSB? Volunteer in the garden and on the farm and contribute to education at GSB and help improve quality of life within B-E.  Come see Mike.

See ya' sweating in the garden!

Eating soon,
Mike

Hello cool weather and cool weather plants!

I just finished ordering a whole lot of excitement for the Green School farm and pollinator garden!  As far as the farm goes, we have lots of new greens and root crops growing.  I have also ordered more greens, garlic and shallot sets, and some quick (as short as 30 days) cabbage, as well as fennel and dill for our butterfly friends.

We are developing the gardens by the sides of the 5th grade classroom steps which lead up to the pollinator garden.  We have 8, yes 8, new fall bearing raspberry plants on their way.  We will also be planting spring bulbs with pollinator and butterfly friendly perennials within that space.  Remember that space by the steps used to be full of invasive plants and non fauna friendly plants and shrubs and (ouch) barberry.

Kindergartners were out today and saw tiger swallowtails and black swallowtails in the pollinator garden.  There is a black swallowtail caterpillar living on the fennel on the farm and one living in kindergarten eating GSB grown fennel!

Have you heard about the awesome horseradish Mrs. Primm made today!?  Yowzaa and yummy!!!!  We will be freezing most of it.  Bring on the pit beef sandwiches!!!

We do what we can...

Frederick County Fair

Chickens and goats and sheep and horses and mules and pigs and rabbits and corn and whoopee pies and 4H and corn dogs and the midway and tractor pulls and, and, and...

you should go!

Horseradish

What an exciting E3 Friday.  The Goldfinch group had a very productive day at the GSB Farm.  Our group's kindergartners, 1st, 2nd and 3rd graders harvested a lot of horseradish.  If you were inside the school after 10:30 you would have seen the baskets full of horseradish root on the table in the foyer.  So exciting!  As a 1st grader boldly stated as he was yanking on a long horseradish root through the garden, "We're going to get you horseradish, you can't get away from us!"  I love it.

While the youngsters were wrestling horseradish our 4th and 5th graders were planting fall crops where the corn had been growing inside the fence.  Earlier in the morning a group of 5th graders cleared the plot and readied it for planting.  Then, during E3 Friday, students planted carrots, peas (thanks Kira!), sugar-snap peas, and radish.  We divided their bed in half and planted seed from 2009/2010 in the left half and 2011/2012 in the right half so we can later compare germination rates/success.

After E3 Friday, I cleaned up the horseradish bed, added manure and compost and planted spinach.  In early October we will over seed  cover crops in these beds to winter-over.

So cool!

Can't purge all pests

Seems that someone was angry, or needed a hug, or dislikes sunflowers, or goldfinch, or whatever because they broke off four mature sunflower heads yesterday.  Thankfully the left them where they fell so we can still make them available to the birds.

Sigh!

Go in peace my friend...

Bugs and onions and hots, oh my!

I had the opportunity today to rid the Farm of harlequin bugs by cutting down all of the greens from the horseradish.  The bugs that didn't make it into the trash bag with the greens are trying to find a new home.  Good luck fellas!

While cutting down the greens I found 15 or so yellow onions that I thought had been harvested earlier in the summer.  They are beautiful, smell great and will be quite tasty.  I also harvested many more hot peppers today.  I have cut them all up, bagged them and put them in the freezer for future use.  Yum and yowzaa!

The cutest baby cardinal was eating sunflowers today.  His attempts at flight and gaining seeds were clumsy at best, but most adorable.  The insect life is still amazing in the gardens.  From bees, to butterflies, to beetles and more.  Amazing to watch.

New Sprouts

I enjoy seeing brand new seedlings as they begin their new lives. Especially with a back drop of greens just weeks ahead of them!

New fall greens coming up!

Harvesting in the Sun

Today at E3 Friday the Goldfinch group harvested lettuce, mustard greens, corn, a very small eggplant, and peppers.  There was more than enough lettuce, mustard greens and corn for Mrs. Primm to make a very large salad and share it with all three lunches that eat in the Spice Dining room.  For students who like their greens tangy and with a kick this was the salad for them!  The peppers turned out to be too hot for tender palates.

We also did a lot of weeding, pulling of old hot weather crop plants, and preparing the soil for cool weather crops.  I planted another round of lettuce, and added a sprinkling of spinach and radishes.  All of the corn stalks inside the fence were harvested, set aside for drying, and will be decorations for the fall season.

Friendly insect alert! There was a huge praying (I so want it to be preying) mantis and a gorgeous black swallowtail at the Farm that we took pictures of.  So cool.

Another exciting addition to the blog is coming.  The Green School student newspaper for which Mrs. Butcher is Editor and Publisher that runs concurrently as an activity with E3 Friday will be starting soon.  The budding journalists are GSB students.  There will be a column devoted to the Farm and Garden written by GSB students.  That column will also be published here!  I can't wait.  Thanks Mrs. Butcher and GSB journalists.

Observing in the rain

I spent some time with 5th grade in the garden today as they carefully documented the garden as they saw it through their scientist lens.  It is always fun and amazing to listen to their conversations and answer their questions as they make their discoveries.

It did start to sprinkle right and the end and they soon found out that a farmer thinks rain is a good thing!

Wildflowers and butterflies

Kate and I spent a bunch of time on a 1,000 acre property on Lake Anna in central Virginia that is currently undeveloped.  At one point in time, from the mid 1800's to the early 1900's,  it was  a gold, zinc, lead, and a couple of other heavy metals mine and processing center.  Virginia was once the third leading gold producing state - then California and later Alaska happened!

The land is now naturally in a state of forest succession and provides opportunity for witnessing all sorts of flora and fauna.  We've seen deer and evidence of coyote and fox, many birds (and there just has to be turkey there) and a bear wouldn't surprise us.

This week-end, however, we enjoyed the many meadow wildflowers in bloom and the butterflies they attract.  There were also many different bees and flies and moths.  I love the diversity of a wild meadow and the plant life it offers in bloom at this time of year.  I'm not one, but it seems to me that a geologist would have a great time on the property.  I can't even stop pocketing rocks and minerals.

Unfortunately,  a huge (I mean like over 800 home sites and a golf course and equestrian center and marina) development is in the initial sale phase.

Until then it is our own little nature utopia.  The meadows there also inspire our thoughts for turning our little patch of urban living back toward a wild meadow!

Trash fish and Bycatch

I just finished reading with great interest an article in Edible Dallas about trash fish and bycatch.  http://www.ediblecommunities.com/dallasfortworth/fall-2011/edible-enterprises.htm

I, too, fish and eat many species that most folk don't take seriously. I love bluegill and most fish in the bream family.  As you will learn in the article, commercially speaking for us in the US,  trash fish and by catch are those un-targeted, commercially unviable species that are thrown back, dead or alive, mainly dead or injured.  Wasted.

Consider this,  our beloved Chesapeake blue crab was once a trash species beaten out of nets of bay fishermen.  Wasted.  On menus during the late 1800's and early 1900's a crab cake was often cheaper than a peanut-butter and jelly sandwich.

Mmmmmmm!?

Common Yellowthroat

We had a common Yellowthroat warbler visiting our garden yesterday.  The bird was hanging out amongst that corn, beans and pumpkin vine at the fence near the front door.  How cool is that!?

The lettuce and mustard I planted a little while ago are doing well, especially if you like your greens a little larger than micro, but not full gown.  I have to get some more rows established next week.  I really want to get some spinach going.  We are making plans for over-wintering onions and garlic again as well as plans for our cover crops.

I was weeding my beloved morning glories again in the pollinator garden today.  In fact, I can still smell the rosemary on my hands.  Its cool, the rosemary is in bloom right now and the pollinators love it!  What is more amazing are the plentiful and tasty strawberries still coming in.  Yum.  Stop by and eat a few.

What a fantastic opening!

After two days of letting kindergartners and 1st graders acclimate (they are also making up days they'll miss this winter when 2nd-5th all go to Arlington Echo),  the entire school was welcomed back today.  Students and families had the opportunity to meet the entire staff and see an overview of the academic year outlined by the teachers.

It is always exciting to see how the kids have grown over the summer and their excitement in anticipation of a new school year.  Of course, all of the students are excited to see old friends and to make new friends.

Congratulations to a great start everyone.  What an exciting year it will be!

Need a solution.

I need your help.  We have a beautiful PE space that needs a durable surface.  When we bought our school our PE space was a grass field, and that is being generous.  We have applied mounds of mulch, which due to play and gravity and water are becoming a maintenance nightmare.

Folks and companies online are poo-pooing rubber mulch. A lawn is out of the question.  Astro-turf is so yesterday.  I am starting to think a base of Coir Geo Blanket and some kind of covering may work, and we are going to go to DC to look at Marvin Gaye Park at their Surface America product.

Any who, if you have a bright idea for covering a 47x47 foot space that sees upwards of 600 little feet or more a day then write Kate Primm, the Principal, at www.kate.primm@thegsb.org - less raking and more playing would be great!

Can't wait to hear!

Hungry?

You get home from work and your starving - what to eat?  I am a big fan of the Edible Communities magazines! www.ediblecommunities.com.  There used to be an Edible Chesapeake and I used to pick it up at Whole Foods out Falls Road, but it has been defunct for a while now.  A few falls ago I found myself at Monticello for a gardening/farming/heritage seed thing and found Edible Blue Ridge and learned there was a whole community of Edible magazines that highlights local foods and food issues!

They are quarterly publications and are wonderful periodicals - especially if you love food and locavore and sustainable practices and cutting edge gastro stuff.

I am currently reading Edible Allegheny and they highlight 5 burgers from local restaurants that could oh-so-be-made-at-home.  They all also have recipe sections that highlight regional, seasonal recipes for what is coming in from the fields.

Go explore, go try a recipe from wherever.  Mangia, Mangia!

Rain!

When things get backed up it lets you appreciate the power of water.   Water can move house sized boulders.  Just sayin'!  Remember the State Fair discount passes have a rain date.  Ride your boulder to the fair!

Plants are happy.

Zinnias shedding seeds

We have been at school today putting finishing (well as finishing as they ever can be) touches on things. The zinnias are starting to say goodbye and as sad as that is, for many reasons, the lemonade is the seeds they are producing and dropping.  That of course means seeds for zinnia next year.  Students will be harvesting things that go to seed from the start of next week and into early spring.

The hawk was busy today at school.  We could here him(?), but never saw him.  I wonder how he impacts us attracting birds.  I know for now the pigeon (squab?) keep him fed.

We look forward to seeing everyone this coming week.  Remember to use the State Fair discount passes we sent out yesterday.

See you at school or at the fair!

Gold Finch

At least one pair of goldfinch are enjoying our smaller sunflowers.  Now, I say at least one pair because we've seen a pair out front and a pair out back in the courtyard.  So far nobody has seen 4 birds in one place or 2 pairs of birds in two places.

How cool, goldfinch feeding at GSB!?

We want to do much more of that.  Planting plants that attract and hold all kinds of fauna.  Right now we are getting so many different kinds of butterflies.  Outside of a swallowtail or monarch, I'm lost, and there are so many right now.  Come on Baltimore Checkerspots...  Then there are bees and flies (yes flies) and moths and beetles.  If you like bugs come to GSB and if you do, take all the Harlequin bugs you want...

Did I tell you how good the sweet corn is? Shhhh - our little secret.  My fingers are still burning from processing jalapeños and mexibells!

It was Jalapeño

So the pepper that I wasn't sure about is jalapeño.  I don't remember buying it and in fact think it was mislabeled, but I'm not complaining, just explaining.  A little heat this winter will be oh-so-yummy.

I put up peppers and corn tonight for the winter.  I blanch the corn, then two ears to a baggie.  The peppers, I just cut them up and fill up a baggie. Yum.

I was so remiss last year in putting up stuff and so sorely missed it come late February.  Not this year.

If ya love it now start freezing away.

Real Food Farm

The Farming movement is so important and there are so many cool things happening in Farming and Urban Farming and Real Food Farm (RFF) in Baltimore City is one of them.  If you don't know them look them up.  Of course, for us, they are an important one because they are so, so close to our school.  We've partnered with them in a bunch of different ways over the past few years; from field trips to mini-stops for their veggie truck.

They are a great group of people who believe in the work that they are doing.  RFF, as any non-profit, can use the support and synergy of those around them.  Anyone living close to any Urban Farm should buy, or volunteer, or give in any way they can.  There is so much happening at RFF and so much more that will be happening there.  So visit them, buy from them, volunteer for them - do something with RFF!

And in fairness to all the great Urban Farms out there - pick one or more and do right by (buy?) them.

Bon Appetite!

Harvesting!

Had the chance to do some harvesting.  I picked eggplant, white cucumber, Mexibell peppers, and another sweet pepper that isn't bell and I can't find my notes or Id tag for it...  I also picked an ear of sweet corn.

The peppers are picking up in production and I believe we will get more cukes and maybe a squash.  The pumpkin, however, is still dropping fruit.  I can't find a single edamame now.  The plants are still there, just no beans.  Can't find evidence of picking humans or pilfering rodents - a mystery.  My edamame at home is full!

I'm thankful for the rain tonight, good for the fall crops - too late for summer.  Bummer.

Thanks to all the folks who came to school on Saturday and rocked it out!  So much work was accomplished both inside and out!!!  Sorry Cat, haven't found your pruners yet.  They must be keeping my hammer company.  I'll keep looking.

A Baltimore farming moment

So, we were just sitting at Chameleon Cafe's outside area having a small libation after a full day of preparation for our volunteer day at GSB while waiting to pick up our food from Touloulou's.  We start talking to the only other fella sitting outside who also looks like he just stopped farming for the day.

Turns out he is part of the Cherry Hill Farming group.  We spent a bunch of time talking drought and harlequin bugs and other bugs and the challenges of kids in the garden and what is working and what is not.

It was great and one of those great B-more moments.  Because why would you ever want to b-less?

MORNING GLORIES

are currently the bane of my pollinator/native garden's existence!  Don't like them!

More white cucumbers and Farming woes...

On the way out of our board meeting last night our board president was lamenting her families gardening woes.  Withering, unproductive plants.  Much like many of ours.  Much like many farmer's crops in the mid-Atlantic and beyond.

A tough farming year.  We have had some success.  The mexibell peppers, the white cucumber, edamame, strawberries and crazy-as-it-seems-now sunflowers.  And busts like tomatoes, sweet peppers, snap beans, and squash.

In my unofficial polling of gardeners, it seems that folks who started planting in mid to late April have had the best production.  I don't know why that is.  More rain? Better roots? Better nutrients, earlier? Mmmmmmm?

So, as the start of the school year approaches and the start of the fall planting season is upon us, we will see if we can eat better this fall and winter...

Fresh Edamame

We just finished eating freshly harvested edamame.  As you may know from reading this blog we are growing edamame on the Farm this year.  Today we harvested a small amount and boiled it in salty water for six minutes.  We drained the water, lightly salted the edamame - and then ate.

Yum, yum, yum.  It was so good and salty sweet and perfectly al dente.

YUM!

Cooper's Hawk

The hawk was a Cooper's hawk.  I got a great look at its silhouette and when I looked it up in a bird book the long tail gave it away.

We are looking to attract more birds to our property and neighborhood at GSB.  I have a great book called "Bird-by-Bird Gardening" by Sally Roth.  It should be a great resource.

Big white cucumber and Pretty white sunflowers

Maybe a bit freaky, but the white really is cool.  There is going to be harvesting of eggplant and the white cucumber this week.  Strawberries are still producing, but they have slowed a bit and gotten smaller.  They are so sweet, yum.

Remember the movie with Tom Hanks where he is a kid in an adults body and he is at the cocktail party and eats the mini corn like corn on the cob?  Well I broke a small corn stalk today and peeled back the little developing ear.  It was just like the mini ones.  Way cool.  It tasted kind of bland.

The fall crops are coming up, well we have germination anyway.  Lettuce, mustard, and spinach.  We will see how they come in, then thin.  I am going to do succession planting for these for sure.

I am so blown away about the sunflowers.  They are doing so well and are so gorgeous.  I really thought they were going to be under performers or had been sparrow micro salad.  I love surprises.

Anyone know a little rain dance?  Remember a little one, not a big one!  ;)

So we live in a city... Hawks

We were leaving the house earlier tonight to buy the school and teacher's a mifi setup. You know, roaming Internet so you can work anywhere and as remotely online, anytime you want kind of fun gadget.

And birds were scattering.  Right at eye level, a small hawk (Cooper's or Sharp Shinned - we are not sure yet) came buzzing through, hot!  It tried to land on a neighbor's car, then turned and chased a sparrow even harder.  Boy were they flying hard!

Man they went at it.  Real Snoopy dogfighting the Red Baron kind of stuff.  The sparrow won that round.  So, cool.

Dry

We could use more rain.  Nice, consistent rain.  Not make-it-all-up-and-wash-all-the-topsoil-away rain.  Nice, steady, a-little-at-a-time-rain rain.

Please!?

Virginia Farmer's Markets

I had the chance to see two different Farmer's Markets in Virginia this week-end.  One was in Mineral and one was in Louisa.  I didn't need anything, but all of the produce looked so good!  I'll be down again next week-end and am planning on supporting some local Farmers.

I didn't find out until it was too late, but there was a county agriculture fair in Louisa this week-end.  SO bummed I missed it.  Locals say it is small, but truly an agriculture fair with a fantastic livestock auction.  Drat.  Maybe next year.

Speaking of finds I would like to make down here.  Turns out there was a 7 pound gold nugget found in a small creek that feeds Lake Anna in the early 1900's.  That nugget now resides in the Smithsonian. I should be so lucky!

Sweet Corn

As I had said in an earlier post, we are trying sweet corn this year.  By all appearances, so far so good. We have tassels and on some we have ears with silk forming.  Way cool.  When we tried indian corn and popcorn some years ago we had nice, fully formed ears of corn.  Obviously I am hoping for the same thing this year.

We still have tomatoes growing at the Farm and in the canoe garden.  They are a hybrid bred specifically for containers.  While they are not setting fruit abundantly yet they are very healthy.  Did I mention the eggplant that are coming in?  They look so good and will be ready for harvest sooner than later.

White cucumbers and other exotic seeds

Today I found a white cucumber at the farm.  I forgot I planted the seeds.  Last year I bought a bunch from Burpee and they sent me free seeds.  I'm sure the seed package says something more exciting than white cucumber.  Like Cucumber Ice, or Icee Cucumber, or Ghost Cucumber.  Anyway we are growing white cucumbers.

Speaking of exotic seeds, I am growing some cool stuff and maybe (or NOT) I want to find seed for them next year.  I've grown an empty Coors light bottle, and an empty Corona light bottle, and an Absolute bottle, and packages for Utz potato chips, and cookie packages, and Doritos and... Ah, Urban Farming.

Those accidentals are amazing.

O.k., enough tongue-in-cheek.  I pulled all the sad and sick tomatoes and started spinach, lettuce, and mustard in their place.

I also am excited about the eggplant doing so well.  Did I say how pretty the sunflowers are?  I know, all of the sudden we have sunflower going to town!  Who knew, I had given up.  I guess the birds didn't get to them all after all.

Come see!

Got Tomatoes?

We really don't yet.  I don't quite know what is happening.  I'm getting ready to mow, water and weed and take a hard look at the tomatoes and their blooms.  I looked Friday and they don't seem to have many blooms.

I'll let you know what I find later.

3 days on the Bay

We spent three wonderful days on the Bay with the teachers at GSB this past week.  I'll tell you all about it when I finish this post later in the day!

So, the folks at Karen Noonan Center take us out to an island that was a home to folks who lived on the Bay and worked the Bay.  Long story short, the rising seas have won.  Now those very shrunken islands are a rookery for brown pelicans and cormorants and gulls.

There we are among more birds than you can count, more nests than you can count, and more babies and eggs, and hatchlings than you can count. Wow.  Plus we are looking for remnants of human existence.  Sea glass, bottles, brick, arrow heads, etc.

Surreal.

I could talk about the beautiful moon rises, and sunsets, and sunrises, and the Milky way so close you could touch it.  But, on the last day we scraped grass beds looking for creatures.

We found hog chokers and flounder and oyster toad fish and grass shrimp and crabs and busters and most everything, except a seahorse.  11 years later the seahorse still eludes us.

This year we had the privilege of having Richard LaMotte come and share his expertise on sea glass.  He shared his travels around the Bay and world looking for sea glass as well as helping us identify the history around the pieces we had found earlier out at the rookery.  Check out his book - Pure Sea Glass, Discovering Nature's Vanishing Gems.

The next day we had two birding experts share their knowledge of birds and e-bird.  They helped us understand how we can incorporate birding into our curriculum while also using e-bird to document our sitings and adding to the real work of scientists around birding and the environment.  Too cool!  Their dedication to birds and teaching are commendable.

Bay experiences are all pure magic and the CBF folk never forget that and neither should we.

5" and counting

Between our last big rain and today's ongoing rain we are up to 5" of rain at the farm and it is still raining.  Everything seems to be enjoying the rain.  Our oldest set of sweet corn is bent over due to all the moisture and, now, loose soil.

I hope it recovers.  The rain barrels have been replenished and are actually overflowing.  Our summer staff retreat starts Monday.  I look forward to seeing all of he teachers again and experiencing the bay all all she has to offer!

When it rains, it pours and a barred owl!

Holy cow, I love rain, we need rain, but all at once!?  That was one heck of a storm.  Over 4" were recorded in some places.

I usually water early in the morning to beat the heat.  Due to the aforementioned event, I didn't have to water.  So Kate and I went to North Point State Park super early this morning to let Dooley and Rooster get their run on.  We weren't in the woods 20 yards when a huge bird flew from one branch to another, crossing our trail about 15 feet up in the canopy.  We at first thought hawk or eagle since we see both regularly at North Point.  But when it landed it looked so owl like and it didn't make any noise flying or landing that we thought, owl?

Out came the binoculars and sure enough we were looking at a mature barred owl.  The book says they get to be 21" tall with a 42" wing span and this bird was all of that!  So we watched it and it watched the dogs and it was cool.

So I thought I might talk to it. A barred owl's call sounds like "who cooks for you, who cooks for youuuuuuuuu"  I can mimic that by modifying my mourning dove call I do with cupped hands.  So I call a couple of times and the bird perks up.  Then we started hearing a a weird little screeching kind of call from behind us and it seems to get closer to us as I call the owl.

Then, out of nowhere, a baby barred owl lands in a branch right over our head and is looking down at us.  It seems that baby thinks I'm mommy.  Way cool.  I stop calling and we watch the baby mesmerized.   After a few minutes of watching this cool little owl 15 feet over our head, we headed down the trail so momma and baby could reunite.

As soon as we were about 30 yards down the trail momma flew to baby.

And that is what it is all about!

Pumpkins!

The pumpkins are now trying to grow pumpkins.  We've had many blooms, but had not had any fruit try to set - until the last couple of days.  There are about 4 little pumpkins starting to grow.  Unfortunately pumpkins can be susceptible to blossom end-rot.  Blossom end-rot occurs due to a lack of available calcium and one reason for that is dry conditions and another reason is uneven watering.  We've experienced the first and have been trying to avoid the latter.  We shall see.

So, the Mexibell pepper is hot.  I was expecting some heat, but wow.  Not habanero hot, but a far way from sweet.  That said, I liked it and it added a nice kick to my Angry Feathers.

Edamame

We have edamame growing!  Little soy pods that will be plumping up soon enough!  Can't wait.

Mexibells and strawberries

I planted a new pepper this year called a Mexibell.  It is a sweet pepper with a kick.  We harvested our first one today.  A beautiful red, small flying saucer shaped pepper.  We will let you know how it tastes. I also harvested more than a quart of strawberries red, ripe and a so sweet.  The berries re not as large as in the June harvest, but the flavor is so intense.

Everything is looking good except for the tomatoes I am going to be replacing with other crops.

Wild Blueberries

Today we ate wild blueberries while hiking and birding at North Point State Park.  I do forget sometimes that everything we eat started wild.  We humans cultivated, and cross-pollinated, and hybridized (wow, that's a word) all, o.k., if not most of our current eats. How about that.  I often ponder the first folks that put the first whatever into their mouths!  Brave people.

We also ate blackberry with the squirrel and saw bird eat wild grape and wild black cherry.  There were other trees and bushes with fruit that wasn't ripe that we couldn't/didn't identify that the wildlife will be loving soon.

Wanna see birds and wildlife?  Find the food source!  That is our mantra!

See ya in the wilds.

GIANT sunflower(s)

We've had a horrible year for sunflower germination, both at the school and at home.  We planted lots of seed and have very few plants. Ironically, we planted all different kinds of sunflowers from a couple/few different companies.  I just read in Organic Gardening that birds LOVE sunflowers in the two to four leaf growth stage - micro heaven I suppose!?  Any who, lots of seeds, few plants.

The crazy thing is that we have two GIANT sunflowers in the school garden that are accidentals from last year.  They are crazy big and beautiful, and just hitting their stride.  Stop by and see them.

So, the fusurium wilt is getting bad.  I've lost one tomato plant completely and a couple more are going south.  These are the ones that we started in the grow room and I believe they were heirloom, or organic.  I'm going to search through my seed packets and notes to see if I can see which.  They other problem is that I stuck them in a place I planted tomatoes last year that gets the minimum sun.

So much for my pledge of hybrid and crop rotation, and, and, and...  I am going to pull them in a day or two and start a second planting of I don't know what yet.

The corn is showing off as are the pumpkins and zinnia, and peppers, and edamame, and snap beans, and eggplant.  Too cool.

Thanks again to the Hopes and Couches for watering and weeding while I was suffering surfing.  Yea for them!

Check out the Front Porch Farm plots through out Belair-Edison.  Hybrid and water is working! Yum.

Go to a County Fair, or as many as you can.  Kate and I went to Talbot County Fair yesterday and had a blast and gleaned a lot.  Crossing the Bay to see Bay-based agriculture is always a thrill.  I am always encouraged to see how Maryland is helping farmers be Bay friendly by promoting sustainable agricultural practices. A few baby farm animals and rescued horses, donkeys, and mules always helps to warm one's heart too!

See at a Fair!

Buy local challenge - Its on!

Do it, take it, have fun with it!

http://www.buy-local-challenge.com/

See ya at the farm stand!!!

Omnivore

I am one.  Michael Pollan has taught me alot and every now and then I have a vegetarian day or two, I even now enjoy putting all kinds of veggies in my mouth that I sat staring at and crying about at my childhood dinner table.

However, I can also be a meatetarian.  It is not unheard of from me to serve three meats and a pasta.  I also love Paradise By The Dashboard Lights, by Meatloaf.  We all of our guilty pleasures.

That said, here is a great link from Fine Cooking about ribs, where they come from and the potential for each cut.  Enjoy. Be sure to add some corn and fresh, sliced tomato with basil...

http://www.finecooking.com/item/44564/rib-roundup/?&lookup=auto&V01=&V02=&V03=&V04=&V05=&V06=&V07=&V08=&V09=&V49=&V50=&Taun_Per_Flag=true&utm_source=email&utm_medium=eletter&utm_content=20120710-pork-ribs-recipes&utm_campaign=fine-cooking-eletter

It's corn season

I love corn and tomato season.  Follow the link below for to the Organic Gardening page for some recipes.

When I find good corn at a farm stand I'll buy an extra dozen or two. I husk it, and clean it all up while I bring water to a boil and then cook the corn for about 2 minutes. I then dunk or rinse in cold water until cool. I then cut it off the cob and put two ears worth or so in each freezer bag to wait for me in the freezer until winter.  Yum!

http://www.organicgardening.com/cook/grilled-mexican-style-corn?cm_mmc=GardentoTableNL-_-971636-_-07102012-_-grilled_mexican_style_corn_title

Harvesting and pests

I ate a very delicious banana pepper from a Front Porch Farmer's plot this morning.  The Front Porch Farmers that are watering have good looking plants with lots of blooms, forming fruit and in some cases big fruit.  It seems that we are experiencing some fusurium wilt both in our garden and FPF plots.  It doesn't seem to be bad, but we will see.

Speaking of plant problems, the horseradish is hosting harlequin bugs and they will need to go.  We've also had some carnage from human pests - peppers smashed and plants broken as well as flowers pulled up and blooms plucked just to be left on the ground.  This always makes me sad and frustrated.

We try to educate, we try to share and such blatant waste and disregard is always disheartening.

Ah, the life of a farmer.

On a positive note, we had our first ever garlic harvest this morning at GSB and about 8 plants produced.  They are now drying in the office!  Yum and they smell so good.  Yee haw!!!

More Hatteras Veggies

It is and has been hot and dry down this way.  Unless folks are watering and or irrigating things may start to get dicey for them in the long run.  That said some of the gardens I've seen in the local's yards are looking great.

I'm excited to get back and see ours.

Veggies on Hatteras

I saw some front porch farming on the deck of a house on Hatteras Island this morning.  A mix of tomatoes and peppers and herbs, very cool.

Their neighbor has chickens - it goes to show you that anyone can farm anywhere!

Bees and Butterflies

I saw three species of butterflies and three species of bees in the pollinator garden as I was watering and weeding today!  Speaking of weeds, everything is growing like one AND if I didn't have prolific Morning Glories I'd have no weeds to speak of...

The definition of a weed is any plant growing where you don't want it to.

Stop by and enjoy the beauty.

Rain Good!

So it rained some today.  Just enough, but not enough kinda, sorta and not enough to not be watering almost daily through the upcoming hot spell.

And summer is just a few sunrises and moonsets away.

The pumpkin has had two blooms already.  Doesn't seem to have set fruit.  So do you pluck the new, fresh bloom and stuff it with cheese and drag it through batter and fry it? Or, see if fruit comes... Mmmm?

And some poor germination

Love giant sunflowers!  We planted a lot of giant and mammoth sunflowers and germination has been poor, or something is eating the seed!?  Don't know but, it has been the same problem with different lots of seeds at the same and a couple of different sites.

So,  we will try some new seed again Monday and see what happens!

Have you ever seen unending fields of huge sunflowers?  So cool, and we are trying.

ZZZZZZZZZOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMM...

Again, watering and weeding and again seeing and hearing lots of great aircraft showing off for Baltimore!!!

Have you seen all the great ships yet!?

Way too cool!  Way to go B-More!  War of 1812 or not...

Sailabration 2012

As I watered and weeded early this afternoon I was treated to watching two military jets practicing for the air shows this week-end.  They were so low and fast and loud. And it was so cool.  You could almost make out the pilots in the cockpits.

Can't wait for the ships and the planes and rainbows and all the excitement in B-more this week-end! Why B-less?

School's out for Summer...

Here it is the last day of school.  We have massive germination in the Urganic Farm, many new plants in the pollinator garden and a very exciting summer and growing season ahead of us.

We hope everyone has a fun and safe summer.  We hope you have time to visit the garden and farm over the summer to watch it grow and enjoy the creatures it attracts.

Have a great summer!

And More Germination

More beans and more edamame have germinated!  Just about all of each are up.  The corn is just starting to peek through in places and we are still waiting on the first round of sunflowers to start coming up.

We mulched the new outdoor teaching space and Urganic farm with 4 cubic yards of great, new mulch.  3rd and 5th graders moved mulch and picnic tables.  It all looks fantastic.

More flowers and sunflower seeds were planted in the perimeter beds today.  So now we are down to weeding and watering until our second plantings start later in the summer.

The kindergarteners have been hard at work outlining their pollinator and native garden with stones they collect from around Herring Run.  It looks great.  They will also be doing their annual end of year pollinator planting(s) very soon!

Did I tell you that Mrs. Buckley spotted a ruby-throated hummingbird feeding in the pollinator garden the other day!?  Well she did and shared the sighting with Mrs. Primm.  I was too slow to turn around :(

Baltimore, we have germination!

So, as of yesterday the edamame are poking their little heads out of the ground and as of today so are the snap beans! Way cool.  What is even cooler is seeing such large cotyledon and also seeing the first set of true leaves form.  Come take a peek.

I also planted more sunflowers and other surprises in the perimeter beds.  A mix of flowers and food.

Some Seeds are in the Ground

Today I planted mammoth sunflower, sweet corn, snap beans and edamame.    Two experiments for me and the corn this year.  The first is that I am using seed that was packaged to be sold by11/11.  Supposedly seed is good for out to three years, so I am curious about germination rates.  I have a second set of seeds for this year, which I will sow toward the end of the school year as a second crop and to see which germinates better.  The second experiment is with the sweet corn.  We had great luck with popcorn and indian corn three years ago, so I am curious to see how this turns out.

I am also new to snap beans and edamame.  The corn and edamame are in the 90 day range and the snap beans are 55 to 60 days.  I plan on doing a second planting of snap beans in late July.

I always love the mammoth sunflowers.  The are always very tall with big heads and lots of seeds. Yum.  I hope to have a forest of them this year.

Tomorrow I hope to plant more of the ornamental sunflowers and some nasturtiums.

Time to Plant Cucumbers

and here is a link to the Organic Gardening's June check list of things to do.  Remember we are like zone 6-7.  It is fun though to see what they are doing where it is still relatively cool.  Enjoy!

http://www.organicgardening.com/learn-and-grow/gardeners-to-do-list-june?cm_mmc=OGNews-_-925872-_-05302012-_-gardeners_to_do_list_for_june_readmore

Woodlice

Who knew!?  So potato bugs, or roly-poly, or sow bug, or pill bug, or tiggy hog, or... are woodlice.  Woodlice are land crustaceans (look out crabs). Turns out that the woodlice (woodlouse the plural) are a garden beneficial.  They take care of all that dead and rotting matter, help create soil, and aerate soil.

Where they take a hard hit from gardeners, especially organic gardeners, is that they like young, tender veggie flesh; young plants, young fruit, etc..  That is why I am complaining as they munch on my strawberries!

But, they also eat a lot of fungi and fungus problems.  So, I guess they stay and I put up with munched on fruits and veggies from time to time.

Check out http://www.small-farm-permaculture-and-sustainable-living.com/garden_pest_wood_lice.html  as a place to start answering your woodlouse questions.

Peas on the Wane

Peas hate it hot.  Sugar-snap, shelling, snow and all their friends and they all hate it hot.  We'll have a big harvest for the 5th grade sale and then it is officially official, we are into pure hot weather crops for a while.

I am sweating bullets as I write this, but all of this week-end's transplants are so happy in their new homes.  Warm soil, plenty to eat, plenty of room to spread out, and all the water they can drink.

I have a lot of potato bugs (rolly polly(s)?).  I'm afraid they have got to go.  Going to look up what I might be able to do organically as soon as I post this.  I'll let you know!

City Grind

I often wish that the grind of the city, especially now when it gets hot, didn't exist.  A tired record of redundancy in ignorance and anger and just plain being mean; all overlapping, all without need - but I always hope that maybe, just maybe, one day the pain will end for us all.

Power to the peaceful!

Hot Weather for Hot Weather Crops

It's just past 10 a.m. and it is already 80 degrees on the way to 90 something today.  We planted more tomatoes, as well as marigolds, peppers and eggplants yesterday.  Everything received a layer of mulch and a good watering.

This morning we watered again and transplanted a hydrangea out of a shady spot into a sunnier spot in front of the school new to the fig and lilac.  Should be happier and grow more now.

Enjoy your Saturday!

Strawberries, Love, and Memorial Day Week-end!

The 5th graders had harvested about 10 quarts of strawberries today, the last time I saw them.  Yum, bring on the shortcake and whipped cream!!!!  All of the onions are also pulled, prepped and for sale as I write this!

In addition to the many joyful years I spent in my Dad's, Dad's strawberry patch, Kate and I also got engaged in a strawberry patch around this time of year many moons ago.  So, I have a fond place in my heart for strawberries and strawberry patches.

Memorial Day week-end is usually the height of my spring grass allergies and, of course, lots and lots of strawberries picked and eaten.The smell of fresh cut grass and/or the smell of fresh sliced strawberries sometimes makes me feel like I should be sneezing.  Maybe old age has tempered those allergies, I don't seem to be as affected as I once was.  Who knows!?

Take a moment to remember all those who serve and have served, their sacrifice should be acknowledged and appreciated.  Cheers to you active duty and to my fellow vets.  Thank you.

I hope everyone has a safe and fun long week-end off.

Onion Harvest

Today 5th grade students are going to harvest onions to add to their farm stand.  They are also going to pick strawberries and harvest rosemary for sale.

The onions look great and we are still going to leave the onions mixed in amongst the horseradish to see how large we can grow the bulbs.  Harvesting the onions is also going to create room for us to start planting our warm weather crops.

Bush Beans

I love snap beans.  I've just ordered seeds for bush snap beans that are an assortment of green, yellow, and purple.  We are also going to try edamame and acorn squash.  Many of the kids love edamame, so I hope this works.  This year we are also going to plant sweet corn, edible seed sunflowers and ornamental sunflowers!  Can't wait.  We are also going to do some peppers, squash, and a couple different varieties of tomatoes.

We are starting a bit earlier than previous years, but a little later than we need to.  I do this so, in theory, more harvest happens after the kids are back in school in the fall.  The cool thing with the beans, an maybe even corn, we can do a second planting for a later-into-fall harvest.

5 ways to feel like a farmer...

http://www.organicgardening.com/living/5-ways-to-farm-if-youre-not-a-farmer?cm_mmc=LivingLightlyNL-_-916946-_-05212012-_-5_ways_to_farm_if_youre_not_a_farmer_readmore

By now you may know that I read Organic Gardening magazine and often link their articles here on this blog.  And this article is a great reason why.  In my humble opinion, if you grow herbs on your kitchen counter or have 10,000 acres in California, or wherever and whatever size, then you are a farmer.

And those of you who are conventional farmers can't be upset 'cause farming and farmers are a short to last breed unless we change our thinking and practices.  If farming is going to survive, if American Farm Land is going to survive, then everyone needs to be a farmer.

You grow food?  You're a farmer.
Gotta couple of egg laying hens? You're a farmer.
Got goats that mow your lawn and then you make cheese (or a great curry)?  You're a farmer.
Keep bees?  You're a farmer.
Grow hops for beer? You're a farmer.
Have a strawberry patch?  You're a farmer.
Have a blackberry or raspberry thicket?  You're a farmer.

Now go grow it and buy your favorite tractor company gear and wear it proudly - as you farm!

Occupy Wall Street?  How about occupy farm land, or even better vacant land that needs to be farmed!!??

Plot Plants for 50 Front Porch Farms Delivered

On Friday, as part of our Green Fair,  students from the Belair-Edison community that attend GSB and have Front porch farms delivered plants to farmers.  A total of 150 plants; tomatoes, peppers, basil, and marigolds are now finding homes in their new farm containers.

I am sad to see those beautiful blue skies go, but this rain is fantastic.  GSB students also transplanted cut and come again zinnias around the main GSB garden.  We will harvest the onions tomorrow and 5th graders will sell them at their farm stand.  One the onions are harvested we will start to plant the rest of our warm rather crops and start seeds for corn and sunflowers.

Dense, sweet strawberries and tasty peas!

A couple days of dry weather and the strawberries are really showing off.  The berries are dense and sweet!  Takes me back to childhood days in late spring in my grandfather's strawberry patch.  My sister and I would pick strawberries and then eat them until the hives set in!

The peas are starting to produce nicely.  I enjoy going from eating a few peas, kind of sweet and kind of bitter, to a mouthful of sweet, sweet strawberry - YUM!

A letter to Belair-Edison Front Porch Farmers

Hello Belair-Edison Front Porch Farmers,

Planting time is here.  You will find with the attached packet of information your boxes planted, or plants to plant in your box(es).  Some of you have planted in your boxes already, so you can find a home for these veggies and flowers anywhere that gets 6 or more hours of sunlight per day.

These plants are from Valley View Farms and might include: tomatoes, peppers, basil, and marigolds.  I tried to pick plants that have been bred for containers.

Watering

Last season, most of our crop failure was do to a lack of watering. Water:

The limited volume of growing medium available to container vegetable plants makes it critical to keep the root system moist at all times. See the attachment, Water, Water, Water, Happy roots and plants by Grow it, Eat it at UMD Extension services.  Please be mindful of watering.  A plant not watered regularly is at least not going to produce, if not die.  

Fertilizing

I have included some organic fertilizer with instructions.  For a non-organic fertilizer I have also included Osmocote and Miracle-Gro with instructions.  Feel free to pick which you would like to use, or use both.  Think about this, “University of Maryland researchers were able to double pepper production when 5-gallon buckets containing 100% compost were fertilized, at planting, with a slow-release fertilizer. This occurred because nitrogen is usually the limiting nutrient.  This highly soluble nutrient is required in large quantities by vegetable crops and is easily lost in the water that drains from the bottom of your containers”. From Grow it, Eat it.

Attached are planting and watering guidelines.  Feel free to contact me with any questions at 410-488-5312.  Come by the Green School’s gardens at anytime and see what is growing throughout the season.

Happy growing!  Did I say to remember to water...

Peas in a pod and soggy strawberries

Finally, peas are in bloom and pods have begun to form, so exciting.  We need every drop of this rain we are getting, but the strawberries are suffering for it.  A lot of berries rotting and a soggy mess AND the birds are still getting their pecks in, what to do?

The onions are looking fantastic and as much as I would like the whole crop to go to full maturity we are going to have to harvest some earlier than later to make room for our warm weather plants.  Not that that is a bad thing because they will still be quite tasty, but I would love to see a big, no huge, onion come from our "farm".  I think I might let the onions that are mixed in amongst the horseradish scratch that itch.

The transplanted tomatoes and zinnias have taken well.  Crazy, but I have zinnias still in their flat that are going to bloom!!!! Going to have to get those in the ground REAL soon.

Planting time for Front Porch Farmers

This week we hope to get our Belair-Edison Front Porch Farmers planted and growing.  I'll be taking a trip to Behnke's or Valley View Farms to buy my plants.  I will get the usual suspects: tomatoes, peppers, squash - a surprise or three.  I'll have to see what jumps in the cart!

Get out their and plant!!

Tomatoes and Zinnias

Tomatoes and zinnias are going to be planted in the garden today!  The students started both plants in the grow room during testing week. We are also going to plant a lilac by the fig tree!

Whooo Hoooo!

Belair-Edison Front Porch Farmer Visits

Today  took a couple of 4th grade students around Belair-Edison to visit Front Porch Farmer boxes and deliver letters of things to come this growing season.

We were pleased to see so many boxes with onions and spinach, pansies and even new flowers folks had planted.

We are looking forward to a fantastic growing season!

Ah, rain! Drat starlings!!

Finally, some much needed rain.  The garden is doing well, but we've been dipping into the rain barrels a lot to water.  So it is nice that mother nature has lent a hand by watering the garden and replenished the rain barrels.

The strawberries are so happy and the yield is high, but!  It seems that starling like strawberries and know when they are at the peak of perfection.  Now, I don't mind sharing, but the problem is they just take a peck or two then move onto the next berry, take a peck or two and repeat.

I could net, but I really don't want to.  So we'll just monitor and decide if any action will be taken.

The peas are coming up, the onions are plumbing up, the horseradish is going crazy, lettuce is ready to be harvested, and the spinach has gone to seed.  Wow.  We will plant tomatoes and cut and come again zinnias on E3 Friday!

Carnaval Vert

Thanks to everyone who came out and made Carnaval Vert so much fun!  You all packed the place, it felt like we were busting at the seams.  We were so glad to see so many smiles, hear so much laughter, and watch so many folks cutting' a rug!

Thanks to Clementine, Swingin' Swamis, Barrage band, Radiant Hoops, and of course the we awesome Gala committee and volunteers the night of!

See y'all again next year!

Rain is a good thing

Rain gauges reading around 3" - Yippee!

Earlier this year,  I had been searching for Baltimore's 2012 last frost/freeze date.  I found dates as early as April 19th.  Then we had all that warm weather, real warm weather, and I actually planted a couple of tomatoes the students had started from seed.

How happy am I that the SNOW is staying well north and west of us.  In Pennsylvania and Western Maryland they are seeing from 2 - 8"of snow as I write this.  WOW!

Final cover crop turning

This E3 Friday we completed the cutting and turning of our cover crops. Our beds are ready to go! Looks like one little chilly spot in the weather coming up, but after that we are going to start to plant, plant, plant!

Ah, rain!

As little as it was the rain yesterday was nice. Hopefully we will get more this week-end.

As you may know, I love looking at what other people are doing out their with Food Justice and Urban agriculture. CBS ran a great report on Wendell Pierce (The Wire and Treme on HBO) and his new corner and grocery store projects in New Orleans. These stores are bringing groceries and whole foods to under served neighborhoods in post Katrina New Orleans. Hard to believe that NOLA is still reeling from the effects of Katrina 6 years later, but they are. A link for the story http://newsone.com/1916785/the-wire-actor-wendell-pierce-starts-new-orleans-grocery-chain

The New York Times Magazine did a piece on the Lower 9th Ward in March. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/25/magazine/the-lower-ninth-ward-new-orleans.html?ref=magazine# Its seems scientists have always wondered about how developed land would fair after a catastrophe; i.e., at what rate would man and nature come back. The Lower 9th is a live model that scientists can track and compare real data with their hypothesis. Very interesting stuff.

I then found a great program in the Lower 9th called Our School at Blair Grocery. A link to their blog - http://schoolatblairgrocery.blogspot.com These folks are working with and educating at-risk youth through an experiential education model around Urban Farming. They also offer a cool 6 day summer course for anyone that would be great to take if Urban Farming is of interest.

Kate and I just love NOLA and southern Louisiana. Baltimore has not had a catastrophe per se, but our urban ills have much in common with New Orleans and their spirit and societal melange offers much inspiration.

Strawberry, Strawberry

I spent some quality time in the pollinator garden today weeding and there are many wonderful things happening there. The strawberries look quite happy and prolific with lots of blooms and berries forming. I hope we enjoy a long and productive berry season this year at GSB. All of the perennials are coming up and how they have grown and spread themselves. Stop by and see all of the fun!

It looks like our pollinators are going to be very happy this pollen and nectar collecting season in their namesake garden!

We are prepping the vegetable beds for planting. Cover crops have been harvested and/or turned in and the soil is being worked for upcoming plantings. We have tomatoes plants the students started in the grow room as well as zinnias. We also have experimented with carrots and beets, just to see how they will transplant.

Warm weather crops will include the usual suspects this year: tomatoes, peppers, squash, sunflowers, corn. This year we are going hybrid. Last year was all heirloom with marginal results. Pretty plants, but little fruit.

Be on the look out for some wild and crazy different things this year too.

Spring!?

Very hot and very dry, 'nuff said!

Bees, Bees, Bees!!!

Today a swarm of honey bees came to our pollinator garden. Thousands of bees. Their excursion was documented in photos and recorded. Seems they had lost or outgrown their home. A bee keeper came to collect the bees and take them to a new home. Eyewitness details to follow!

Gators, skeeters, common moor hens, Edible School Yards and even warmer weather!

Just got back from the Crescent City last night and B-more's highs were NOLA's lows, just sayin'. Spent some quality time down in Jean Lafitte National Park as well as exploring the Greater New Orleans area and it is all sensory overload.

I love the brilliance and juxtaposition of New Orleans! Really!? From the French Quarter to a bayou within <20 miles of Bourbon Street with for real, wild, gonna eatcha' gators just off the path you are hiking... doesn't get better than that. Both will keep your on your toes.

And where else can you trade places on the food chain so quickly!?

We visited Samuel J. Green Charter School while in NOLA. A K-8 with an Edible School Yard by our well known eat-right-grow-it fresh-and-local pioneer, Alice Waters and friends. For all y'all that don't think that you can grow it and eat it in urban environments, well...

We were over the moon jealous of their kitchen at SJG too! We do so much with so relatively little at GSB - c'mon kitchen building benefactor!!! 410-488-5312, ask for Kate - build it and our students will cook and learn even more. :)

I just love seeing what other folks are doing educationally and experientially out there. It is all so motivating and inspirational.

Mudbugs, Boudin, Red Beans and Rice...

That is what the planning committee is eating tomorrow during the continued planning of Carnaval Vert... Besides attending this year's gala, what are you doing in preparation!?

greengala.wordpress.com

Come visit!

Happy seedlings

The seeds we started during MSA are fairing well. Most are starting to get their first real set of leaves. The marigold have not had a great germination rate and the basil have been slow to come up. But the tomato, corn, beets, carrots, and zinnia are all doing well.

Sulfur Butterfly

I was watering in the grow room and a butterfly flew by. It was a sulfur, mostly white with bright yellow on the wings, toward the body.

I was able to catch it and took it to the office to let it fly around for a while. I caught it again and released it outside.

So far the only indoor start failure has been beans. We started the beans, or tried, in those expandable peat pots. Each and every one molded over. Hmm.

All the others are doing well. Zinnia, tomato, carrots, beets, corn, basil, marigold...

A great week of Farming

What a great run of WARM weather. We've had a terrific week of Farming at GSB. We turned in some of the cover crops, planted more peas, planted onion sets, transplanted lettuce that over-wintered and cleaned, cleaned, cleaned. We have also started seeds indoors: tomatoes, zinnias, basil, marigolds, beets, and beans to name a few.

How exciting!

Bats, Bees, Venus, Jupiter, Bolting spinach and 80 degrees

So which is cooler? Because all of this was experienced today, the 13th day of March, 2012. I can't make this stuff up!

We had to harvest over-wintered spinach at the GSB farm because it was bolting. I got home and opened all the windows because it was 80 degrees. We went outside to enjoy the evening and watched mason bees work. We sat in the back yard and watched bats munch on insects (so glad not mosquitoes)! Then we were like, what are those two uber bright stars and it turns out that the "stars"were Jupiter and Venus.

Go figure. How cool! The 13th of March, 2012.

MSA, warm weather, and farming

So, this upcoming week is MSA testing for our students. We look for ways to break the stress and tedium of testing for our kids. So, quality time outside playing, exploring and creating are all on the agenda.

The great thing is there is a nice warm spell forecasted with just the right amount of rain at just the right times (like overnight). This will allow for some wonderful prepping and seed planting in the outdoor raised beds. We will also be able to set-up our seed starts outside (makes it so much easier to clean up outside).

Hope you changed your clocks forward Sunday!

Snow? In the winter!?

Did you see it snow today? Just a bit, just for a minute, just to see how we would feel... it is still winter after all!

Onion Sets

Just purchased a whole bunch of onion sets on Friday. Some onions that we overwintered are still growing in the canoe garden. It will be interesting to see how onion sets planted in the spring do in comparison.

The Enemy

Today, among some staff, we got to talking about GMO's and those who wish GMO's upon us. I just happen to be reading a book, fiction as it is, called "The Enemy". In the story suddenly everyone in modern day London over 16 dies and/or turns into zombies and kids are left to fend for them selves while battling the "grown-ups" aka zombies... I know weird and corny and far fetched, but entertaining.

Any who, the kids start to speculate how that happens, i.e. over 16 perishing, and one of the possibilities speculated are GMO's...

Mmmm?

I know, weird and corny and far fetched.

USDA and GMO's

If you care about where your food comes from now and into the future, this is an important article to read...

www.rodale.com/research-feed/usda-wants-fast-track-approvals-gmos?cm_mmc=OGGazette-_-831052-_-03012012-_-usda_wants_to_fast_track_approvals_of_gmos

Ya Ka Mein

Find a recipe for this online, stop and admire a daffodil on the way to the store to purchase your ingredients, then make it and enjoy. Yum, really, really yum! Can work vegetarian too!

Happy Leap Day

Have to write on the 29th of February. One only can do that every 4 years. So, how about all that rain today. My peas are loving it, but many had made their way to the surface and I had to recover/replant them.

I hope to start some lettuce this week indoors.

Get out tomorrow it is going to be beautiful!!!

Happy leap day!

Happy B-day to me!

Whoda thunk it?

Another 60* day

Another beautiful day. I planted a bunch of spring peas - 65 days until some pea yumminess!

First round of sugar-snap peas planted

I had the pleasure of being able to work the Urganic Teaching Garden today. I went through last year's bags of manure, and leaves, and compost, and leaf mold and added those tail ends of bags to spots that had no cover crops. It was crazy to see all of the critters that had found homes in those bags - worms, and centipedes especially.

I had some older sugar-snap pea seeds that I planted today from 2009 and 2010. I'm curious to see germination rates. I also have some early peas from 2011 to plant.

That spinach plant I have written about is thriving. Will have start to harvesting it, again!

GSB Field Day - Fun, Laughter, Nature

SO, we had this great field day this afternoon at GSB. In the park, 150 students enjoying a myriad of outdoor active activities, and the sunshine, and the warmth. By the by, in the shade it is 62 degrees.

Would you believe me if I told you we spotted a cabbage white and a small yellow butterfly (sorry don't know it yet) today on the 23rd of February 2012? Well you will also have to believe 25 1st graders because they saw them too.

How cool, so much better than shoveling snow!!

Last Spring Frost 2012

If you believe the last spring frost predictors then Baltimore's is as early as April 11th and as late as April 22nd. If you go with the 11th then there is 50% chance for light frost after that date and if you go with the 22nd then there is a 10% chance.

So, in go the peas and we can start our warm weather crops indoors anytime now.

Yee Haw!

Extinction is a big word

I give a lot of thought to what I do and how I give back to this world.

I recently watched a wonderful documentary about water and southern Louisiana, how the two are inseparable and all the unthoughtful damage man does to ecosystems in his pursuits; whether it is gas, or oil, or timber, or industry, or development, or natural resources, or whatever man fancies.

Much of the documentary's premise was that greed (or even better mammonism) fuels all decisions with absolutely no thought toward the future or sustainability, only to maximize profit here and now. It is much like all of our woes around the Chesapeake. We are inseparable from the estuary we surround. Yet we pollute it and pilfer it. As I write this, sewage is leaking from some pipe, or sediment is running off the land into some stream, that runs to a river and into the bay, or some greedy, unlawful waterman is poaching oysters, or striped bass. These are all of our problems and all of our fault.

That is why I give a lot of thought to what I do and how I give back to this world.

I sat through a wonderful presentation at the MAEOE conference on using bio indicators as ecosystem health markers. In other words, is the ecosystem around you healthy and balanced enough to support the living creatures that should be living there, from big to small to micro. If not what, are the changes that can be made to improve the ecosystem?

The presenter had taught at a high school in Virginia for 38 years. The school, when he started, was surrounded by forest, some of it older growth, streams and small farms. By the time he retired 90% and been developed and covered with impervious surface.

Yet there was still a strip of land that buffered a stream, harbored 100+ year old trees, and was a relatively healthy, balanced ecosystem. His thought was, “I can’t save the rain forest, I can’t save the bay, I can’t save the Potomac river, but I can save this tract of land and creek - I can save it for me, my students, and all the creatures that live and migrate through here, and for the future.

He and his students made it theirs. Their trees, their salamanders, their butterflies, their bees, their frogs, their owls, their fox, their creek, their clean water, their fish, and their healthy, balanced ecosystem.

And that is one thing I want to do at GSB. Our challenges are no different than the presenters and creating stewards and sustainability and a healthier ecosystem around the school is our responsibility.

The documentary is on Snagfilms and the title is - Sola: Louisiana water stories