This is free and you can make it at home!

Project Grow of Ann Arbor, MI is hosting an excellent series of composting classes. This coming April 6th, 2013 between 10:00am and 12:00pm, the first class will take place.

From the websites description: This workshop is the first of two on composting and will cover different methods of hot and cold composting that are applicable in a community garden plot, backyard garden, and even in your kitchen! Master Composters Joet Reoma and Jesse Raudenbush will lead the class as well as a tour of Project Grow’s Composting Education Center at Leslie Science Center. Come dressed for the weather. No fee, but pre-registration is required.

Both Jesse and Joet are knowledgeable and excellent teachers. The class is FREE. You can learn alot, come check it out. The second in the series will be about Worm Composting. More on that later!

Location: Leslie Compost Education Center – MAP

Signup: Registration Page – HERE

Hope to see you there.

1. the degree at which the system can sustain itself without external support
2. the fraction of time in which the system is self-sustaining

Lets think about a couple things. We do not often see, or experience the processes that produce our food. Whether you are vegetarian, omnivorous, or you manage to live on candy alone, it is all coming from somewhere.
The idea that various components of an economy are labeled “systems” suggest that there is much involved in the end result. That means that there is never just one middleman between you and the farms that produce our food. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of entities putting their hands in the proverbial pie.

example: Farm system → Processing system → Delivery system → Retail system → YOU

This is only a snapshot of what occurs in the food delivery system at large. Each component, from farm to you involves many macro and micro interactions that impact and influence it physically and financially millions of times.

According to Wikipedia’s definition of self-sustaining (or self sufficient), how would you rate yourself and your dependence on all of the systems that play a role in producing the food on your table and in your cupboards?

Lets reverse roles okay?

example: YOU → Backyard system → YOU

Of course, it isn’t just that easy. But for sake of demonstration we see how complicated things become when we subcontract out the provision of our daily sustenance. Interestingly, one of the biggest contributors to the success of both systems is guess who? That’s right, the Honeybee!
This magnificent animal is responsible for pollinating 1 of every 3 bites of food you take on daily basis. That’s an awful lot of bites! Even if you don’t chew 32 times, it was impacted in some way by the Honeybee. 

Without the Honeybee, both of these systems fail. Which one of these systems do you believe is threatening the Honeybee?

This post is cross-posted from our beekeeping blog at bees4romulus.blogspot.com

This year, I will not be doing that again. It has been useful spending the last two years locating materials and developing a local economy for things to build more beds, add compost, or even trade plants and seeds. This year, our new garden beds will be out of old pallets.

Free and ready to go!

Things that have helped us greatly:

1. Check industrial complexes/subdivisions for old pallets being thrown out. Be sure to check ahead, some places re-sell them, and stealing is not good. Explaining to a police officer that it is for your garden just isn’t going to work!
2. Check Craigslist or FreeCycle for used, free, and low-cost materials. You would be surprised what people throw out. There is also the casual cruise around the neighborhood on garbage night. No shame in my game baby!
3. Ask your friends and neighbors for leftover building supplies, and don’t forget to check the reject bins at home improvement stores.

What are you doing this year to save money on your gardening project?

If you did get bit by the mean old frost bite, or you have not planted yet, do not fret. It is not too early for plants in the Brassica family. That means you can start direct sowing or transplanting seedlings into your Square Foot Garden. broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower are all great cool weather crops that can tolerate the cool spring weather. You can also plant your onions, spinach, and lettuces. Do not forget, you can also cover your Square Foot Gardens much easier than a traditional row garden, install a hoop house or use row covers to protect your young plants when the spring weather does what it does (especially in Michigan) and drops low enough to wreck a whole crop.

Although there has been a slight chill in the air, the weather has been great for hardening off seedlings, prepping the beds for planting, and moving our homegrown seedlings to their spring time homes.

Nothing says pays off more than a spring fresh salad from your early greens harvested just as summer starts heating up!

This class was our Square Foot Gardening Class 101: Introduction:

What is Square Foot Gardening? It is a uniquely simplified system of gardening which eliminates 80% of the space, work, weeds, watering, and waste of traditional row gardening. Square Foot Gardening also provides you with 100% of the harvest and joy of gardening. This class is for beginning, the tried but failed, and the afraid-to-start gardeners. This class will provide you with an introduction to the fundamentals of Square Foot Gardening. That includes, building, planting, and maintaining your new raised garden beds and introduces you to a natural and organic gardening method that won’t break your back, or the bank!

The long awaited, and quaint, series of videos I promised a few days ago. Here you will see me, in my very first YouTube video ever, teaching my wife, and inattentive toddler, how to store, plant, and transfer seedling the Square Foot Gardening way.

When seedlings germinate, the first thing they do to reach for the sky. Or in other words, they seek out light. If they are not within reach of a viable light source, especially indoors, they will spend all of the nutrients in the seed leaves (their reserve food) and spiral toward the sun. The unfortunate side effect of this dilemma is that they basically become sprouts for you to toss on your salad. When they reach for the sun indoors, they are not likely to find it. Outdoors, the sun’s rays are powerful enough to saturate the sproutling with all of its needs.This result is called “leggy seedlings”.

1. How do you prevent leggy seedlings?
2. Germinate them in a humidity dome, mini-greenhouse, or even a plastic container leftover from the grocery store.
3. Make sure they have plenty of drainage and a sterile soil solution.
4. Keep an eye on your seeds daily, especially if you are using a heat source on the bottom. (Heat sources speed germination up, I love it!)
5. When the seeds sprout, move them to a light source. Make sure the light source is 1-2 inches above the seedling. Using heat lamps are okay if you have the right wattage bulb. But check on the soil frequently because it will dry out. If you leave them in the dome for a short time, make sure the light source is 2-4 inches above the dome.
6. Depending on the size of the planter and the medium you chose for germination, you may want to transplant your sproutling to a cozier setting. Don’t worry, you can tug on the little seed leaves and use a pencil to prod the plant from underneath and cause minimal shock to the roots. If the tap-root is too long for its new home, snip half of it off. It will live!

Now that you know how to avoid the problem, what do you do if it is too late for your little guys? Well, you can do a few things to attempt salvaging them:

1. Place them near a fan with a breeze. This will simulate wind, help them to stop growing up, and hopefully grow out. This will also strengthen the stem and the roots. Remember, you should do this with all sproutlings/seedlings, not just leggy ones.
2. Re-pot them into a bigger pot and more planting medium. When you do this, bury as much of the leggy stem as you can. This will give it strength, prevent falling over, and it will develop more roots  to suck up more nutrients.
3. Throw them away or toss them into your salad. Yup, toss them bad boys in their, add some ranch, and enjoy!

There you have it. A crash course in preventing and fixing leggy seedlings. We like to call them sproutlings, they aren’t really seedlings until they get some seniority under their belts.

Stay tuned, in a few days, I will show you a quaint little homemade video of how to transplant seedlings before they get their “true leaves.” I like to call it “Grounding your seedlings.”

Happy Gardening!

I would hope not. Maybe if you gave it another shot, with a more efficient method, things would work out differently? Thank goodness there really is another way. Mel Bartholemew has written a book called “All New Square Foot Gardening“. In his book you can learn most of everything you need to get started with your own garden. We’re talking 80% reduction in work, weeds, watering, space, and waste.

If you are curious about Mel’s method and want to give gardening the old college try once more, let me invite you to a Teach Me Square Foot Gardening class. If you are in Wayne County, Michigan, or nearby, we have several opportunities for you to get acquainted with Mel’s methods and his book.

The next class is coming soon,

Monday, March 19th, 2012 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. at the Romulus Public Library, 11121 Wayne Rd., Romulus, MI 48111. Register at the Library or call 734-942-7589. COST: FREE

Hope to see you there! Contact us if you have questions or trouble registering!

In other words, I have already started many of my seeds ahead of time. Many of us just buy vegetable transplants from the local nursery when it comes to planting time. This is good for the local economy if you are intent on supporting it, but it also comes with it’s own risk.

• Many nurseries use and sell hybrid seeds from commercial companies.
• Hybrid seeds are single use, they often produce sterile seeds
• Who knows what they used to grow that transplant you intend to eat for dinner
• You will have to buy seeds again next season

If you want seeds you can save after harvest time, that are not genetically modified, and will produce good fruits next season, remember to purchase heirloom or organic. These two labels have become virtually interchangeable. What are the benefits then?

• Heirlooms have higher yield and better growth rates
• Tradition, stories, and predictability
• You can save money on seed packets next season by having your own

So as the warm Michigan weather reminds of springs imminent return, remember to purchase or order your seeds now! That way you can get a jump start on plants like Broccoli, Cabbage, Brussels sprouts, and Peppers.

Where are your seeds coming from? Mine came from Baker Creek. You can also check out this list. Remember, not all seed companies on this list are exclusive heirloom sellers, so be sure to read about their products!

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