Compost Confidential

My Very Cool Weekend Taping Pilot for PBS Series

Last Friday and Saturday, I assembled a very impressive pool of talent from Boston, Atlanta and Philadelphia to converge on Greensgrow Farm, nationally recognized as the leader in urban sustainable farming. Its location is just three miles north of downtown Philly, barely noticeable amongst tightly packed row houses that surround it.

Until recently, I didn’t know about Greensgrow Farm, but I did know about its co-founder and chief farmhand, Mary Seton Corboy. We had worked together when she guest-hosted with me on a GardenSmart episode a couple years ago. I was impressed with her then, but now I know why I felt such a deep admiration for this woman.

Just over 10 years ago, Mary was in search of a place to cultivate locally grown lettuce to supply area chefs and restaurants. With such a high demand and limited supply, the idea was a sure winner…if she could just find something close and affordable. The site she found was hardly the type of location you’d expect for growing organic fruits and vegetables. You see, the one-acre plot of land was a former galvanized steel plant, now abadonded as an industrial brownfield. What would stop most people dead in their tracks didn’t faze Mary. She saw the potential, rolled up her sleeves and went to work.

Since this plot of land Mary chose to call home was unfit to plant her lettuce directly into the ground, she developed a system for growing her lettuce hydroponically, above ground and without soil. Her makeshift troughs were rain gutters. In short order she perfected her system and soon her customers were clamoring for other varieties of Mary’s delicious produce. Since not every crop is best suited for hydroponic growing, she had to find a way to utilize this finite space in a more traditional way. So she trucked in many tons of organic soil and loaded it into very deep raised beds. Soon she was not only supplying her clients with a wide variety of fruits and veggies, her bumper crops allowed her to open her business to her neighbors and community. Area residents quickly ventured into Mary’s tiny farm. On Saturdays, they would snatch up the fresh in-season produce and fruit; for many a novelty as such a treat is uncommon and unavailable in urban neighborhoods such as these.

It didn’t stop there. Rural farms and orchards just outside of town began supplying many of the edibles Mary was unable or simply didn’t have the room to grow. And from that, her “City” Supported Agricultural co-op was born. Similar to a traditional “Community” CSA, Mary likes using her version to emphasize the symbiotic link between urban dwellers with the local growers in neighboring rural communities.

And while all of this is going on, Greensgrow successfully manages to make their bio-diesel that fuels the big yellow delivery truck. The raw material is spent cooking oil from area eateries; a resource that is in no short supply! Adjacent to the fuel making operation lies a dozen or more honeybee boxes, filled with combs and oozing with honey. The bees are an important component to the success of Greensgrow’s bounty. In such an intown setting, attracting sufficient quantities of pollinators can be a daunting task. But with these happy hives, there is a plethora of pollinators and an abundance of honey. So much so in fact it too is sold at the weekly farm stand under the label Honey from the Hood.

 As excited as I was to see all that was being accomplished with limited funds, space and human resources, there was still more. Between the beehives and bio-diesel, a lush and lovely living roof covered the large storage shed. Its purpose, in addition to being beautiful to look at, was to capture and retain rainwater, reducing runoff, sequester carbon and return oxygen, reduce the heat island effect and promote biodiversity. Not a bad use of space and something we could all do at our homes and businesses.

Finally, there was the community kitchen. Located at a church just down the street, Mary has arranged for Chef Corbin Evans to teach local residents everything they need to know to cook and prepare delicious meals and extend the menu with fresh in-season produce. It’s the culmination of the complete cycle and a wonderful example of sustainability in action.

You can likely understand my infatuation with this urban agricultural wonderland and why I was so excited to be there for the location of my first episode and pilot of my new series. I’ve always wanted a forum to tell stories of people, places, and companies that are doing their part to grow a greener world. I’d say Mary and her small but talented staff are prime examples of that! It just goes to show you, abandoned land only is only unproductive if you choose to leave it that way!
JL

Good People Doing Good Things with Locally Grown, Organic Vegetables

 
Last week I was in Baltimore to install another Community Garden for Fiskars, under their Project Orange Thumb initiative. Believing that community gardens can provide the catalyst and inspiration for great change, it’s common for the company to select sites for these major gardens in neighborhoods where poverty rates are high and urban blight is all too apparent. The neighborhood chosen for this particular installation was just such a place. Known as the Oliver community, it is located in the east-central part of the city.

Now, several organizations are attempting to revitalize the area. Installing a major community garden in such a place will hopefully be a serious shot in the arm. But this post in not about that community garden project. It’s about another grass-roots effort taking place on that same block, as well as in other neighborhoods across the city.  I wouldn’t have known anything about it, except for the four or five fresh vegetable-laden tables and handmade signs lined up on a nearby street corner that quickly caught my eye and drew me in.

It was a bit of a strange site. So many fresh vegetables, obviously picked only hours earlier, stacked tall and wide, just waiting for people to buy them at bargain basement prices. But where were all the people? Recreate this scene in a heavily trafficked part of any city, or place them for sale at a farmers market on Saturday morning, and they wouldn’t last the hour. But that was the beauty of this program as I soon learned.

As it turns out, he project is a joint partnership between Knox Presbyterian Church and the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future (CLF) (specifically, the Baltimore Food and Faith Project. I introduced myself and met several of the volunteers, including Angela Smith, Project Coordinator for CLF. She fills in the rest of the details for this amazing program.

“CFL recently undertook a food assessment of Baltimore and found there were certain areas where people didn't have much access to healthy, fresh foods. Often, these neighborhoods were located where poverty rates were high and which had suffered from urban blight for decades. Because the poor are at greater risk for developing diet-related diseases such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, obesity, etc., and are the very people who have the most trouble finding and affording good food, we were particularly interested in finding a way to bring healthy food to them.

Knox Presbyterian is located in East Baltimore, an area that suffers from poverty and blight.  The majority of its food outlets are corner stores, which typically don't sell fresh produce. Knox has hosted a weekly soup kitchen, serving around 120 people each week for years now, and the church was interested in further reaching out to the community. They saw the opportunity to bring fresh, organic fruits and vegetables to neighbors as a natural extension of the work they were already doing.

Joan and Drew Norman operate Maryland's largest organic farm, One Straw Farm , and they operate a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program. In a CSA, an individual pays to become a shareholder at the beginning of the season and receives several items of fresh produce each week until the end of the season. It's great for the farmer because it diminishes their financial risk; and it's great for the consumer because they develop a relationship with their farmer and know exactly where and how their food was grown. (Many people do this because they want to support locally-grown and sustainably-produced foods as well).

Since many people can't afford the large upfront cost of becoming a shareholder (sometimes hundreds of dollars), especially in East Baltimore, we purchased 10 CSA shares with money donated from a private foundation. For every 10 shares a congregation purchases, One Straw Farm throws one in for free, so, Knox receives the equivalent of 11 shares (plus a few donated by CLF), and we price the food as individual items based on what individuals would pay in a nearby grocery store for non-organic produce. All proceeds are put into a fund that will be used to purchase shares in upcoming years, the hope being that within three to four years, it will be economically self-sufficient and no longer need grant money to help maintain.

Unpurchased produce is either donated to Knox's soup kitchen or to local residents in need. Since many individuals are not used to eating seasonally, or cooking certain types of fruits and veggies, we give samples and recipes to take home and try out.

We've been doing the co-op every Tuesday since the beginning of July and it's really starting to pick up now. Members of the congregation, their kids and grandkids, and folks from CLF come every week to help man the table” (Angela Smith).

I applaud you and every person and organization mentioned here for your genuine desire to make fresh, healthy produce available to all in such a creative and sustainable way. Good things really to come out of a garden, especially when you add the efforts of so many good people!
JL

105 Pounds Harvested and Counting - My Quest for the Twenty-five Dollar Victory Garden Challenge

This week marked a big milestone in The Twenty-five Dollar Victory Garden. I officially crossed over the 100-pound mark of harvested vegetables! But what do I really show you to mark this momentous occasion, a big pile of veggies? Nah…how about the awesome tomato pie I made from those homegrown tomatoes that put me over the top? Thanks to my very funny west coast Internet friend I know and love as “finnyknits”.

If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t know about one of the most awesome meals anyone can ever make with tomatoes! She emailed me to share her version of the recipe she got from her favorite blogger. Finny described it as one of those meals you can’t stop thinking about after you eat it and I have to agree. It was fabulous! I encourage everyone to give this easy to prepare meal a try and you’ll impress everyone that is lucky enough to get a taste. Thanks finnyknits! (By the way, finnyknits was also one of people that provided seeds for my Twenty-five Dollar Victory Garden so it only seems fitting that I share this milestone occasion with her in some way). 

Back to the garden; When I took on this project, I had no idea how much would come out of my little 240 square foot garden based on weight. All I knew is that it had to produce enough food to keep my family of four supplied with all their summer vegetables. Well, I’m here to tell you, 100 pounds is more than enough! Most of the time, the production outpaced the consumption in my house, which gave us the pleasure of sharing the excess with friends, neighbors and especially the local shelter.

But now that summer is winding down and school kicks in this week, I suppose in the near future, I’ll declare “victory” in my little 30’ x 8’ garden. Like many people across the country and especially the east coast, my garden has suffered in these last few weeks. It’s now a constant race to keep ahead of the diseases that are gaining a stronghold on many of my tomato plants.

And just for the record, this is NOT the official “wrap” on the Twenty-five Dollar Victory Garden Project, …just a late season update to share with you my excitement of breaking through an important milestone while realizing that things really are winding down. Who would have thought a total investment of $15.05 would yield a harvest of over 100 pounds that is still going strong?

Once I do make my official victory declaration post, I’ll post a final video to summarize the entire story. That should be fun and I expect to have that ready within a couple weeks, when I finally do tally up the numbers on a pretty darn successful and very fun project.
JL

Closing in on 100…(pounds that is) – My Quest for the Twenty-five Dollar Victory Garden

Things have slowed down a lot in my garden. That explains why the posts are less frequent lately. It also has a lot to do with my lack of motivation to get another video out there. I simply don’t have much to show you.

As you know from the last post, my squash and cucumber plants are long gone. Now, I’m counting on tomatoes, peppers, pole beans, chard and Malabar spinach to supply my family’s veggie needs and cross over 100 pounds of harvest for the season.  Fortunately, I’m pulling off a few tomatoes nearly every day. If I’m lucky, they last long enough on our windowsill to allow all four of us to enjoy them. However, that’s become a challenge since my oldest daughter Rachel eats two or three tomatoes for breakfast every day!

I made a big dent in the 100-pound goal the other day when my youngest daughter Amy and I spent almost an hour picking pole beans. The more we looked, the more we found. We managed to pull off about seven pounds. Clearly this was way more than we could eat, and I didn’t have the energy to string them all anyway. So with great satisfaction, we hopped in the truck and drove them straight to our local shelter where I was told they would be cooked that very night.

The typical late season challenges of keeping ahead of the tomato fungal diseases has me picking off plenty of infected leaves every day. Hopefully I’ll be able to keep enough leaves on the plants for the necessary energy that needs to take place. As of today, I’ve harvested 91 pounds and anxiously awaiting the 100-pound milestone.

A Bittersweet Day in The Twenty-five Dollar Victory Garden

What a difference a couple of weeks make. The picture in this post represents a bittersweet milestone in the Twenty-five Dollar Victory Garden. I took this shot four days ago. I’m not sure why I waited this long to post. I guess it's partly due to facing the fact that my garden has already, in part, played out its useful life. It seems like just yesterday I was just getting started. Now, I’m already ripping out plants that have offered up a bounty of fresh food yet have succumbed to the inevitable forces of nature .

The black plastic garbage bag you see in this picture contained only the discarded plants with diseases, specifically bacterial wilt and powdery mildew. As much as I’d like to compost them, I don’t want to introduce these diseases into my compost pile, or even the community composting facility for that matter.

As of today, my little garden has produced over 78 pounds of incredibly delicious vegetables and herbs. There have been many times when the harvest was more than my family could eat in a reasonable time. We took great pleasure in sharing our good fortune with friends, neighbors and most importantly, our local shelter. Now that the squash and cucumber plants are gone, I’m counting on the fruit laden tomato and pepper plants to finish out the summer season. With just over 20 pounds left to go before I cross an important milestone of 100 pounds harvested, I’m feeling pretty good about my chances.

Finally, here’s an update to the out of pocket costs so far. As of the last report, I listed the total expenses, including the cost of some Velcro tape I had on hand, at $18.20. But Susan Moore commented that I should have used an old pair of pantyhose instead. And I agreed. So in the spirit of spending as little as possible, I’m reversing the $3.15 that I didn’t really spend anyway, and going with the old nylons for free. That brings my net out of pocket back to $15.05. Thanks Susan!

Here’s the recap:

Current Expense Count as of August 6, 2009:

Seed starting Mix: 2 bags….$7.00
Twine for bamboo………......$2.27
Two tomato plants………..…$5.28
Organic fertilizer………….....$0.50
Velcro brand plant tape……$3.15
Velcro brand tape–credit  ($3.15)

Total…………………….....….$15.05
Available………......….....…$  9.95

Total pounds harvested: 78 pounds, 3 ounces.

With only a few weeks to go before summer ends, I hope to hit the 100 pounds of harvest. I’ll keep you posted and get another video out as soon as I can.

Fifty Pounds Harvested so far - My quest for the Twenty-five Dollar Victory Garden

 
Here’s a quick update on the garden. I’m very excited to report that as of today, my cumulative harvest exceeds 50 pounds! That’s on a total investment of $15.05. So assuming I don’t spend any more money, which I don’t plan on doing, my current cost per pound is about thirty cents. Assuming I reach or exceed my goal for the summer of 100 pounds of harvested veggies, I’ll be looking at a cost per pound of fifteen cents! Now that’s my kind of price! Not to mention the unbeatable taste of organic food, fresh from the garden.

On the downside, my cukes are starting to show signs of decline. The cucumber beetles have done their damage, causing bacterial wilt on some of my plants. At this point, I don’t plant on trying to save them because once the plant is infected, there is little else to do. But on the upside, I have lots of tomatoes forming on six of my eight plants. The other two are a new variety and the flowers develop but then nothing comes of them. Oh well, that’s part of why I love gardening so much. Nothing is predictable!

I know I’m due for another video so I promise to have that out by the end of the weekend. Frankly, there hasn’t been much new going on so I haven’t felt the compulsion to crank out a video that isn’t telling you anything you haven’t already heard. But I am going to update you on how the garden looks now and let you know about my fertilization and show you how I’m securing my massive tomato plants.

That’s all for now. Thanks for checking in!
JL

p.s. Pictured: 'lemon' cucumbers in foreground, 'green finger' cukes on left, tomatoes, squash and pole beans. Dinner was excellent!

A Shrinking Budget - My Quest for the Twenty-five Dollar Victory Garden

I admit to being a little slack this week. I had the best intentions to have this latest post and video up before the forth of July holiday. But the closer we got to that date, the less motivated I became. And based on the activity on Twitter and Facebook, I’d say a lot of you were feeling the same way.

This video covers the end of June up to just a couple days ago, so we’re pretty close in real time as to what you see and how things really look today. The exciting news is that as of yesterday, I’ve harvested over 18 ½ pounds of vegetables and the best is yet to come. The cucumbers show no signs of slowing down, the squash are just getting started and the heaviest fruit are still green on the vine. We're talking of course about my tomatoes and they are looking beautiful! With eight healthy plants and all in bud or fruit, I dream of harvesting over 100 pounds out of this little garden with a total expense fixed at around eighteen dollars!

By the way, speaking of expense, I was at $14.55 total but as you’ll see in upcoming episode 13, I purchased some organic fertilizer at a garage sale for fifty cents! I was pretty proud of that purchase since I talked them down from their original asking price of seventy-five cents! I’ve also charged my budget for some Velcro tape that secures my tomato plants to their stakes. I actually already had all I needed of this and didn’t need to buy anymore. But in the spirit of doing this as a first time gardener, they likely would not have this on hand so I’m charging myself just to keeping the playing field level. Sure I could have used the twine I already purchased but I’ve used this tape for years and am very sold on it. I feature it in the next episode as well but here’s a link if you want to see what I’m talking about now.

So I guess with that, I’ll wrap this entry up with a revised summary of my budget and feeling pretty good about where I stand today with total expenses: 

Current Expense Count as of July 6, 2009:

Seed starting Mix: 2 bags….$7.00
Twine for bamboo………......$2.27
Two tomato plants………..…$5.28
Organic fertilizer………….....$0.50
Velcro brand plant tape……$3.15

Total……………………….$18.20
Available………......……$  6.80

With weeks to go in this challenge, I’m hopeful I can pull this off within budget. I’ll keep you posted either way.
JL

First Harvest Meal from the Twenty-five Dollar Victory Garden

Once again, this is not a video but I just had to show you my first harvest of note where I actually had a complete meal from the bounty. Everything in the garden is coming on strong now. Even the nasturtiums are blooming on cue. What you see in this bowl is over four pounds of veggies, all harvested in one day. Not bad for a total expense so far of $14.55. And the best part; we’re just getting started.

A new video should be up within a couple of days. Thanks for checking in.
JL

 

Thought You'd Like to See...

 

This post does not include a video but if you'd like to see them for this series on The Twenty-five Dollar Organic Victory Garden Challenge, click here to view them on YouTube.

I realize that if I only post a blog entry every time I have a new video to show, you're not getting much action in between in real time. So here's a shot of this mornings surprise harvest of 'green finger' cucumbers, compliments of seeds sent to me by my virtual friend on Twitter, Theresa Loe. These cucumbers are really tasty and I love the size. This is the second harvest from only about two plants. I also love that fact that they don't take up a lot of space in the garden. They're mostly 'hanging out along the front of my bamboo fence.

In other harvesting news, some of my squash will be ready for harvest tomorrow. Initially I was concerned that they were not getting pollinated because I hadn't seen any bees out there. So I hand-pollinated all I could. But today I saw honey bees in my garden and I was really excited about that.

Some of the pole beans, Chinese cabbage, chard and lettuce will come in tonight for dinner so now that it is officially well into summer, all the vegetables my family and I eat for the rest of the season must come from the garden. The tomato plants are doing well but I am a few weeks away yet from harvesting any of them.

My plans for the next video are to address the very few pests problems I'd had. Actually, I wouldn't even call them problems. I had a few whitefly and one cucumber beetle. But I feel like I need to addrsess what do do for pest control on a budget so I'm thinking that should make it into episode 12, which I'll edit and upload later this week.

That's all for now. The budget is still holding at $14.55 in total expenses. Now I'm wondering if I can keep it here for the rest of the season. How cool would that be to finish out the season for under $15?!?

If you'd like to see all the videos in this series, The Twenty-five Dollar Organic Victory Garden Challenge, they can be viewed on my channel at YouTube.

Keeping the Deer at Bay When Joe's Away - My Quest for the Twenty-five Dollar Victory Garden

(To watch this video in better High Definition, click here to view it on Vimeo).

So I survived nearly week away, without my nightly ritual of spreading homemade deer repellent around the garden perimeter. My plan to deter the deer in my absence was one I concocted in a few minutes time, but with no idea as to its potential effectiveness. Yet with no other options, I had to take a chance and hope for the best.

As you’ll see in the video, I placed these “deer repellent traps” for lack of a better term evenly around the garden perimeter by securing them to the bamboo fence with twine. The tops have remained securely in place and I’ve managed to avoid any evidence of deer or other critters munching on my garden since then.

In the next episode I plan on addressing other pests control, such as how I’m dealing with whitefly and cucumber beetles that have started to show up in my garden. With only a little over ten dollars in the budget, home remedies are still at the top of the list for controls.

And now that it is officially summer, all the veggies my family and I eat for the rest of the season, must come from my garden. This week, we started harvesting cucumbers, along with lettuce, chard and Chinese cabbage. Basil is a no-brainer and I use that every day.

So here’s a rundown of where we stand as of June 26, 2009: 

Current Expense Count (still the same):

Seed starting Mix: 2 bags….$7.00
Twine for bamboo………....$2.27
Two tomato plants…………$5.28

Total……………………….$14.55
Available…………......……$10.45

Thanks for keeping up with my progress and especially for your comments on this blog and when you post them on YouTube.