Share Your Bounty - Help Feed the Needy - Make a Difference

When it comes to growing food, most gardeners know that their crops tend towards either feast or famine. When we are just learning the ins and outs of growing edibles, we may end up with one measly green pepper or a few stunted tomatoes. But once we get the hang of it, we can end up with far more fruits and vegetables than we can eat.

In these tough economic times, when one out of every 8 Americans does not have enough food for an active, healthy life, an ideal solution is to donate your home grown products to local food banks and soup kitchens.

The problem is that some of these resources only accept non-perishable food items and finding the ones that do accept green goods can be difficult and time consuming. Fortunately, there are resources available to help match up growers with the organizations that can put their surplus produce to the best possible use. And sharing your surplus produce is a great way for gardeners to help others for Make a Difference Day.  

Finding a Place to Donate

The AmpleHarvest.org (www.ampleharvest.org) campaign is one group that is working hard to make sure that gardeners can find good outlets for their produce. Started in 2008, AmpleHarvest.org was created specifically for backyard gardeners to help share their bounty. Gardeners can search the AmpleHarvest database by entering their zip code or city and all registered pantries within a specified distance will be listed. Entries include not only name, address and other contact information, but also days and hours that gardeners’ donations can be accepted.

Many food pantries operate out of houses of worship. Your best bet may be to check several of the larger churches in your area. Or you may search Angel Food Ministries (www.angelfoodministries.com) which lists thousands of churches across the country that help get food into the hands of the needy.

FeedingAmerica.org (www.feedingamerica.org) has a link to locate food banks in your area. If you find a conveniently located foodbank, contact them to find out if they accept fresh produce.

LocalHarvest.org (www.localharvest.org) has a searchable listing of farmer’s markets, family farms, and other sources of locally grown food. Some of the local farmers in your area may be able to tell you where they donate their own surplus produce.

Saving Water in the Landscape - from The Green Blue Book

Earlier this month, I mentioned The Green Blue Book: The Simple Water-Savings Guide to Everything in Your Life by Thomas M. Kostigen. Although I wasn't very impressed with the author's 'virtual water' numbers that he listed for many products that we use in life, I do think that the book has some merit for the handy water saving suggestions that it includes. Here are some of the suggestions from the author for saving water in a landscape:

1) 2 inches is about the best height to mow grass. Shorter grass requires more water. And leave the clippings as a natural fertilizing blanket.

2) Get a sprinkler timer and set it for the early morning hours. Less water will be wasted due to evaporation.

3) Make sure that you aren't watering the road or sidewalk. Adjust your sprinkler heads.

4) Use a shutoff nozzle on your garden hose. Water flows from an unrestricted hose at a rate of more than 12 gallons per minute.

5) Get drought-resistant plants and you could save up to two thirds of the water you'd use on thirstier plants.

6) Create a Xeriscape. An acre of Xeriscaped land can save about 850,000 gallons of water annually.

7) Water only once or twice a week. Most outdoor plants are over-watered by 50 percent.

8) The type of soil you use makes a huge difference in the amount of water your garden needs. Find out what kind of soil you have so you can water accordingly.

9) The type of fertilizer you use can also reduce your garden's watering needs. Just 5 pounds of organic compost mixed into 100 pounds of soil can hold an additional 25 gallons of water.

10) Go natural. Indigenous plants and those that grow easily in the local area should require less water.

The Green Blue Book is loaded with other water-saving hints and tips. Give it a read!

City of Alexandria Fall Tree Sale - Oct. 23

The City of Alexandria Urban Forestry Steering Committee will hold its 6th Annual Fall Tree Sale Saturday, October 23 "Great Trees, Great Prices, and Great for Alexandria".

The sale will run from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the George Washington Middle School, 1005 Mt. Vernon Ave. The goal of the sale is to promote the preservation of the Alexandria’s tree canopy by encouraging the planting of trees on private property throughout the City. Alexandria Tree Stewards and Master Gardeners will be on site to answer questions about tree selection, planting and care.

The City’s tree supplier, Denison Landscaping and Nursery of Ft. Washington, Md., will provide the same varieties of trees the City plants in three to fifteen gallon containers. Trees will be sold at below retail market prices to encourage private planting in Alexandria, a major goal of the UFSC.

To read the full press release about this event, click here.

Learn to create backyard wildlife habitat - Oct. 13th & 15th

I love having wildlife in my garden! The birds, butterflies and other little garden visitors turn our yard into a private little wonderland for me and my husband to enjoy.

If you would like to learn how to create a wildlife habitat in your yard, why not plan on attending one of the FREE educational workshops put on by The District of Columbia Department of the Environment and Audubon Maryland-DC’s Audubon At Home. The next two workshops will be held on October 13th and 15th from 5pm - 8pm at Hearst Park, 3600 Tilden Street NW.

These hands-on workshops will help you learn about plant selection, conservation landscaping and will discuss the basic needs of wildlife.

Participants will receive a FREE habitat kit at the conclusion of the workshop. The kit will contain a native plant guide, an invasive plant booklet, a book on wildlife gardening, a birdhouse kit and live plants.

For more information or to register, visit the District Department of the Environment website.

Swap Seeds at the Green Festival in Washington, D.C.- Oct 23-24th

Start saving your seeds!!

There will be a seed swap sponsored by the Southern Exposure Seed Exchange at the Mother Earth News Fair Pavillion as part of the Green Festival on October 23rd and 24th.

Share your seeds, your knowledge and your enthusiasm for different plant varieties with other gardeners and farmers! Connect with folks who might be your neighbors, or from anywhere in your bioregion and bring any seeds you have to share. Bring all seeds, whether you’ve saved them yourself or even have varieties leftover from this year’s garden! This is an informal, relaxed event and beginners are welcome.

For more information, visit the Mother Earth news website.

10 Eco-Friendly Garden Apps for the iPhone

I’m probably one of the few people left on the planet who only uses my cellphone for actually making phone calls. I don’t even know how to text on it, or to READ a text if someone sends me one, much less use any of the more complicated functions it has. So I’m amazed when I casually ask a question in a group of people and suddenly thumbs are flying across tiny keyboards searching for an answer. Apparently, there is an “App” for everything.

There seem to be almost an endless number of Apps for gardeners, but it took me a bit of digging (pun intended) to uncover the Apps that were geared for eco-friendly gardening. Here are ten that I thought looked interesting.*

1) Garden Insects, by Natural Gardens LLC - The North Woods Garden Insect Guide features 18 of the most common garden pests that thrive on the hard work you put into your vegetables each year. Wouldn't you like to be able to identify them and learn environmentally friendly ways to discourage and eradicate them from your plantings? This app was designed to do all of that.

2) Compost - "Compost" is a calculator utility designed to help household composters achieve an optimal mix. A well functioning compost decomposes at a good rate and does not smell bad. To achieve the proper environment, experts recommend a Carbon:Nitrogen ratio somewhere around 25 to 30 parts carbon to 1 part nitrogen. Users input the pounds of food waste and/or grass clippings they have available and then select from dry tree leaves or newspaper as their high-carbon source. "Compost" suggests an appropriate amount of leaves or newspaper to use. This is another one that users say isn’t worth the price.

3) Organic Garden– A comprehensive guide with the most common vegetables, with their botanical names, descriptions, needs of light, water, soil, climate, sowing time, bloom time, cares, diseases, nutritional info, association, enemies, etc.

4) Organic Gardening for Beginners – Beginner’s Guide to Growing Your Own Organic Vegetables – In this easy-to-read guide, you will learn how to garden using no chemicals or outside man made products.

5) GardenID – Once you set your location, you can select from a master list of fruits & vegetables, or you can see what grows best around you. You can even see what’s best to grow now, so you waste waste time or money on plants that are out of season.

6) SoilPH - Many struggling gardeners don't bother learning about their soil. It certainly isn't as much fun as choosing plants. However, if you choose the wrong plants for your soil you might just be throwing money away. Soil pH is one of the easiest factors to measure and account for. Unfortunately, it is often neglected because it sounds difficult and reminds people of their old school chemistry lessons. This app was designed to help you test your soil PH, correct your soil PH and find the correct PH for your plants.

7) Rain Harvest - Have you ever wondered how much rain falls on your roof during a typical rain storm? Use this simple rain harvesting calculator to find out. You will be amazed at how much water can be collected from your roof (or any other surface) during even the shortest of rain storms. Why not collect and store this wonderful natural resource and put it to good use later to water your organic garden?

8) Gardening Toolkit - Not sure what to plant and when to plant it? The Toolkit can you give the advice you need. This feature-packed app also tracks what's in your garden, keeps notes in a handy to-do list and even lets you search a photo-filled encyclopedia of hundreds of plants

9) Vital Almanac – Vital now offers you the complete gardening enthusiast’s almanac for growing your organic fruits and vegetables by using the power of the moon.

10) Florafolio – Native Plants of the North East – The ultimate native plant resource for gardeners and nature enthusiasts. Florafolio 2 is an easy to use, interactive field guide to native plants of North Eastern North America. Florafolio is the perfect guide for anyone who wants to identify species in the wild or garden with native plants. *Keep in mind that I don't have an iPhone, so I'm not personally recommending any of these apps or the AppShopper site. However, I did find that the search function on the AppShopper site was one of the more user friendly ones.

For others without an iPhone, here is an on-line app that I find very cool. It is called the National Tree Benefit Calculator and it was developed by Casey Trees and Davey Tree Expert Co. This tool allows you to input your zipcode and select a tree to find out the various environmental benefits including: stormwater benefits, property value, energy, air quality and CO2.

Fall White House Gardens & Grounds Tours

If you have never taken a tour of the White House Gardens, you have a chance to do so on October 16 or 17th during the Fall White House Gardens and Grounds Tour.

Visitors to the gardens will be able to view the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden, Rose Garden, Children's Garden and the South Lawn of the White House.

The tours are open to the public; however, a ticket is required for all attendees, including small children. The National Park Service will distribute free, timed tickets at the Ellipse Visitor Pavilion located at 15th and E Streets on each tour day beginning at 8:00 a.m. Tickets will be distributed -- one ticket per person -- on a first-come, first-served basis.

In case of inclement weather, the Garden Tours will be cancelled. Please call the 24-hour information line at (202) 456-7041 to check on the status of the event. For more information, visit the White House Gardens and Grounds Tour site.

Landscape for Life Brown Bag Lecture - Friday, Oct. 8

The U.S. Botanic Garden will hold a Landscape for Life Brown Bag Lecture on Friday, October 8th from noon - 1pm. The topic of the lecture is Health & Well-being/Water, Soil & Materials

The Sustainable Sites Initiative recognizes the importance of Human Health and Well-Being as a critical factor in sustainable landscapes. Considerations include creating outdoor spaces for social interaction, providing views and quiet outdoor spaces for mental restoration, and reducing light pollution, as well as protecting and maintaining unique cultural and historical places. At this lecture, learn why human health is integral to a sustainable landscape and how the appropriate use of water, soil, and materials is crucial to your success.

The U.S. Botanic Garden is a partner in the Sustainable Sites Initiative (SITES) together with the American Society of Landscape Architects and the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. In conjunction with a diverse group of stakeholder organizations, SITES is establishing and encouraging sustainable practices in landscape design, construction, operations, and maintenance. A web version of SITES has been created for use by home gardeners. This series of programs serves to highlight how home gardeners can incorporate sustainability into their personal landscapes.

Date: Friday, October 8
Time: 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. Location: Conservatory Classroom
FREE: Pre-registration required: visit www.usbg.gov or call (202) 225-1116

Information is from the USBG website

Live in Maryland? Save $25.00 when you plant a tree

"Planting a tree is a lifetime investment..in our state and in our future." Governor Martin O'Malley

Did you know that if you live in Maryland, you can get $25.00 towards the price of buying and planting a tree? That's a sweet deal for every property owner and a great way to have a positive impact on the local environment.

Trees protect water quality, clean the air and provide wildlife habitat. One large tree can eliminate 5,000 gallons of stormwater runoff each year, and well placed trees can help reduce energy costs by 15 to 35 percent. Because of their tremendous environmental benefits, the state of Maryland has partnered with local businesses to provide discounts for trees. Their goal is to help plant 1 million trees by 2011!

They have an excellent website called Marylanders Plant Trees which provides information about different tree species, participating nurseries and a downloadable coupon for the $25.00 discount.

One really interesting tool that they have on the site will help you calculate the environmental benefits of different species of trees before you make your selection. Here is one page of the results that I got when I input a Live Oak (one of my favorite trees for wildlife).

Don't have room to plant a tree? Consider giving the gift of trees for holidays or to honor the memory of a loved one. The gift of a tree is actually three gifts - one to someone you care for, one for future generations and one for the environment. For more information, visit The Gift of Trees page on the Plant Trees website.

Green "Tricks" to Enhance your Gardening - Recycle Everything

Here's an online article that I can really relate to, although I think the title might deter some readers that aren't specifically into vegetable gardening. The article, Improve Your Vegetable Garden! Green Living Tricks to Enhance Your Green Thumb Success, is really about tricks for re-using various household items in your garden.

I am really into recycling and re-using almost anything that comes through our household, but writer Alex Bhaswara had a few suggestions that I haven't tried yet.

Here is just one idea from the article, referring to what you can do with the lids from metal cans.

Now, don’t throw away those lids! The lids can be placed at the base of light loving plants, such as tomatoes! The lids will reflect sunlight, thus providing extra light. In addition, the reflected light has been shown to repel plant eating insects and aphids. To deter birds from your fruits trees, punch holes in the lids and hang them from tree branches. Apparently the reflected light and movement scares these rascals away.

Other suggestions offer new uses for used jello and pudding containers, styrofoam produce trays, gallon milk jugs, popsickle sticks and other items. If you like to re-cycle everything, like I do, check out the article for more details!