Help Build the FoodPrints Kitchen at Watkins Elementary

Found this online fundraiser and wanted to pass it along. Looks like a great cause.

Help DC school kids cook, eat, and live healthier lives—kick start a teaching kitchen!

Thanks to the FoodPrints local farm-to-school program, we have made a huge impact on kids’ attitudes towards food and eating healthy nutritious meals. Each year more than 200 first and third grade students at Watkins Elementary go home understanding good food can be fun, or as we like to say, “It’s COOL to eat kale.” (click here to see a curriculum overview)

In order to expand the hugely popular FoodPrints local food program and reach more kids at Watkins Elementary School, we have to have a kitchen—without it, we just can’t offer more classes or reach more students.

Read more, and learn how you can support this cause: Build the FoodPrints Kitchen

Upcoming Native Plant Sales

I found this great list of upcoming native plant sales on the Chesapeake Conservation Landscaping Council Website.

Many of them are already past, but there are still some coming up and I'm sure they will be adding more as they hear about them.

June 3 & 4 – Millersville Native Plant Sale
Millersville, PA
http://www.millersvillenativeplants.org/vendors

June 25 – Nanticoke River Jamboree
Handsell – Vienna, MD
http://nanticokeriverjamboree.com/

August 27 – Irvine Native Plant Seminar & Sale
Irvine Nature Center – Owings Mills, MD
http://www.irvinenaturecenter.net/images/native_plants.pdf

September 9 & 10 – Environmental Concern Fall Native Plant Sale
Environmental Concern – St. Michaels, MD
http://www.wetland.org/nursery_retail.htm
 
September 17 & 18 – Adkins Arboretum Native Plant Sale
Ridgely, MD
http://www.adkinsarboretum.org/native_plant_resources/plant_sale.html

Here's the link to the list, so keep checking back: Chesapeake Bay Region Native Plant Sales

In the footsteps of Rachel Carson

“If I had influence with the good fairy who is supposed to preside over the christening of all children I should ask that her gift to each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life, as an unfailing antidote against the boredom and disenchantments of later years, the sterile preoccupation with things that are artificial, the alienation from the sources of our strength.” ~ Rachel Carson

Rachel Carson is one of my idols. I admire her not only for all of the work that she did, exposing the dangers of garden chemicals and pesticides to the world, but because I think she was a fantastic writer. I aspire to some day be able to write as eloquently as Rachel Carson, and with my words, inspire my readers to protect this beautiful planet that we live on.

For those of you who know nothing about Rachel Carson, she is credited by many as being the person who inspired the environmental movement with her book Silent Spring, about the impacts of pesticides on human and environmental health.

Although she was attacked and ridiculed by the pesticide industry, her research and conclusions were sustained by a Science Advisory Committee appointed during the Kennedy administration. State legislatures responded by introducing pesticide-regulating legislation. Silent Spring was translated into more than a dozen foreign languages. Rachel was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters and received many other honors. On April 14, 1964, she died in her home in Silver Spring, Maryland.

On Sunday, May 22, there will be a talk entitled Gardening in the Footsteps of Rachel Carson, at 2:30 pm, at the Carderock Springs clubhouse, 8200 Hamilton Springs Road in Bethesda.

Dr. Diana Post, president of the Rachel Carson Council, will speak on gardening without pesticides and showing some photos from Ms. Carson's OWN gardens. . Also present will be Mitch Baker of American Plant, who will be available to answer questions on gardening and maintaining a lawn the organic way.

The program is free of charge but donations to the above council will be accepted. For more information contact dianekarlik@verizon.net.

Here is an excerpt from my favorite Rachel Carson book, A Sense of Wonder, which was published posthumusely.

One stormy autumn night when my nephew Roger was about twenty months old I wrapped him in a blanket and carried him down to the beach in the rainy darkness. Out there, just at the edge of where-we-couldn't-see, big waves were thundering in, dimly white shapes that boomed and shouted and threw great handfuls of froth at us. Together we laughed for pure joy -- he a baby meeting for the first time the wild tumult of Oceanus, I with the salt of half a lifetime of sea love in me. But I think we felt the same spine-tingling response to the roaring ocean and the wild night around us. 

Native Plants vs Exotics class - May 21st

The talk below is one in a series of classes but you can attend them individually as well. There is still space for tomorrow's talk, pay on site $5 Prince George's County residents, $6 for non-county residents. Located at Watkins Nature Center in Watkins Regional Park, address and phone number listed below.

Saturday, May 21, 10-11:30 am 
Sustainable Gardening Series: Native Plants vs. Exotics 
Join a Prince George's County Master Gardener for a series of classes that focus on organic, chemical-free, and sustainable gardening practices. The topic of this class is "Native Plants vs. Exotics".

Watkins Nature Center
Watkins Regional Park
301 Watkins Park Drive
Upper Marlboro, 20774
301-218-6702

Last week to register for JUNE Saturday family program at WYG

The Washington Youth Garden's family program, Growing Food…Growing Together teaches gardening education and healthy cooking skills for the whole family. Each week features a local chef cooking a delicious dish from what we harvest (chefs are listed on our website). Families also harvest and take home a bag of organic vegetables. This is a free program, happening every Saturday through September from 9:30am-12:30pm.

Families can sign up to come to just a few sessions or to come every week. We ask for families who would like to attend a June Saturday to sign up by the end of this week. So please give us a call soon if you'd like to join us.

Registration at the above link – or call 202-245-2709.
–
Kacie Warner
Education Coordinator
Washington Youth Garden
Friends of the National Arboretum
office: 202-245-2709
www.washingtonyouthgarden.org
http://washingtonyouthgardenblog.org/

Women - Grow a Pair, Save Water

Word on the street (and on the internet) is that Budweiser, the King of Beers, is doing their part for the environment by encouraging men to quit shaving to save water. Their slogan is Grow One. Save a Million. And their theory is that if each man decides to grow a beard between now and World Environment Day, that we can save a million gallons of water.

Well, I think women can go one better. Instead of just growing one, we can grow a pair - and do our part to save TWO million gallons.

ST. LOUIS. May 17, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Budweiser is asking adult men across America to help save one million gallons of water by not shaving in the days and weeks leading up to World Environment Day (June 5). As part of Budweiser's ongoing commitment to water conservation, the Grow One. Save a Million program allows consumers to get involved and save roughly 5 gallons of water for each shave they skip.* 

Consumers 21 years of age and older can visit Budweiser's Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/Budweiser) to make a pledge and share the program with Facebook friends. Participants can commit to a range of options, from a few days to multiple weeks. Ladies can get involved by recruiting male friends or family members.   The page also features a daily tracker of the gallons saved to date. 

"Water is a key ingredient in the brewing of Budweiser and all our beers, which is why water conservation is a priority both inside and outside our breweries," said Kathy Casso, vice president of Corporate Social Responsibility at Anheuser-Busch. "In the past three years alone, our 12 U.S. breweries have reduced water use by 34 percent. Additionally, our employees and their families take action by volunteering to participate in local river cleanup projects in communities across the country."

Well as women, I think we can do them one better. After all, we have two legs, don't we? And that adds up to a lot more surface area to shave then men have.

So, I'm calling on the women of the world to unite. Between now and World Environment Day, which is June 5th, I'm encouraging all women of the world to quit shaving! That's right, get hairy for the cause. Don't just grow one. Grow a Pair!!! Sure, it's summer and our legs are out there for the whole world to see. But it's for a good cause.

We'll show them.

P.S. If you would rather do your part for water conservation without looking like a Yeti, visit the Metro DC Lawn and Garden Blog and check out all of our great posts on Water Conservation.

DC Urban Farm Bike Tour - May 21st

This sounds like so much fun, just had to pass it along! It's a bike tour, to some really cool community gardens and farms, followed by a happy hour. What a great way to spend a Saturday!

The 12-mile bike tour will travel between 5 dynamic, urban growing spaces around the nation's capital.

The day begins at 1pm at the Mamie D. Lee community garden (100 Gallatin St., NE) in Fort Totten. By 6pm, we will have made our way by bicycle to the Washington Youth Garden, The Farm at Walker Jones, the Marion Street Intergenerational Garden, and Common Good City Farm for tours, talks, and workshops — all activities are free and open to the public.

Things will wind down with a happy hour at Big Bear Cafe, featuring seasonal cocktails and other tasty goodies. (Note: you'll need to bring a little cash for food and drink at the happy hour.)

Please bring a bike lock, water bottle, and helmet. More details can be found here. For questions, or to RSVP, please contact Ibti.

Read more about A Bikeable Feast here.

Learn to Create Backyard Wildlife Habitat - Webinar - May 19th, 8pm

If you have followed this blog for very long, you know that Wildlife Moves Me! I love having wildlife visit my backyard and I love encouraging other people to garden for wildlife. Birds, butterflies and hummingbirds are some of my favorites, and the more yards that they have to visit, the better chance there is for attracting them to my neighborhood.

As part of May as Wildlife Gardening Month, Eliza Russell, director of Education Programs for the National Wildlife Federation, will be hosting Creating a Wildlife Habitat in Your Backyard, a webinar, on Thursday, May 19th at 8:00 pm EST.  

If you are ready to learn how to green your garden and help wildlife, tune in to this great webinar!

Join National Wildlife Federation's Director of Education, Eliza Russell, and homeowners to learn how you can take the steps to create a more wildlife-friendly garden at your home, in a park, at your church, or at your place of business.  

Creating a wildlife-friendly backyard webinar will discuss:
 

• Creating a site inventory and analysis: What do you already have to work with?
• How to add more wildlife friendly features
• Adding native plants to support wildlife
• Providing the 4 essentials elements for wildlife - food, water, cover, and places to raise young
• Using sustainable gardening practices to help your garden grow

Click here to register: Register Here

Enjoying the Birds and the Bees in Your Own Backyard - Attracting Pollinators

What do flowers, fine chocolates and flavorful coffee have to do with the birds and the bees?

Both chocolate and coffee are two of the 1000+ plants that depend on visits from the birds and the bees, and other pollinators, to help spread the love, or in their case, pollen, from flower to flower. In fact, it is estimated that about 90% of all flowering plants rely on animal pollination (as opposed to wind pollination) and over 200,000 species of animals participate in the pollinating. Without pollinators, many plants would never produce fruit or set seed and many of the foods we eat would no longer be available. As if a world lacking chocolate and coffee wouldn’t be bad enough, wild creatures that rely on pollinated plants for food and shelter could also disappear.

Like so many other species, some pollinators are showing steady population declines. Although the declines in honeybee populations are mainly due to diseases, declines in wild pollinator populations are attributed to habitat loss, competition from invasive species and exposure to pesticides.

Fortunately, we can do our part to correct the problem by inviting the birds and the bees to our own backyards. Simply choosing the right plants and eliminating chemicals in our landscapes will invite more pollinators, which in turn will bring more flowers, more fruit and a new level of enjoyment to a garden filled with colorful, winged wonders.

The most popular pollinators are already some of our favorite garden visitors – butterflies and hummingbirds. Other pollinators include beetles, bees, ants, wasps, moths and even small mammals.

So how do we attract these pollinators? Plant what they love!

To attract more pollinators to your yard, keep these things in mind:

• Choose plants with overlapping bloom times to provide flowers throughout the year
• Select plants with a variety of colors and shapes to attract different pollinators
• Plant in clumps, rather than single plants
• Whenever possible, choose native plants.  Avoid modern hybrids, especially those with “doubled” flowers, as the pollen, nectar, and fragrance is sometimes unwittingly bred out of these plants in exchange for “perfect” blooms
• Include night-blooming flowers for moths and bats.
• Avoid pesticides, even so-called "natural" ones such as Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). If you must use them, use the most selective and least toxic ones and apply them at night when most pollinators aren't active.

Include some  favorite plant choices for pollinators in your garden (see lists below). And then pull up a lawn chair and treat yourself to a little coffee and chocolate while you enjoy the birds and bees in your own back yard.

For more information:

Creating a Wild Backyard – Hummingbirds, Butterflies & Bees – Maryland Department of Natural Resources

Creating a Wild Backyard – Bees – Maryland Department of Natural Resources

U.S. Forest Service – Celebrating Wildflowers: Pollinators – http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/pollinators/index.shtml

Pollinator Partnership – http://www.pollinator.org/

Pollinator Conservation Resources – Mid-Atlantic Region

Learn More About Pollinators – Chesterfield County, Virginia Cooperative Extension

Rain barrels for DC residents - answers to some of your questions

Yesterday I posted a question  asking why more people don’t use rain barrels. The responses gave me some good food for thought and sent me on a quest to find some more info and possible solutions for our readers.

Here is some great information that I received from Leah Lemoine, Environmental Protection Specialist with the District Department of the Environment:

Many new rain barrel styles have entered the market in the past few years, but choosing one that will perform well can be daunting. There are several design features homeowners should consider before purchasing a rain barrel. I hope to shed light on rain barrels and also assistance for homeowners who may be ready to go ahead and begin capturing their roof runoff for later reuse.

The chances of mosquitoes breeding can be eliminated by choosing a rain barrel carefully and by sealing connections during the installation. Mosquitoes tend to get into the rain barrels from the inlet and around the spigot and overflow.

Use caulk and/or thread tape to seal the connections between the barrel and downspout extension, overflow tubing, and spigot. If the barrel has a screen top the gauge of the screen should be at least as narrow as a window screen. The entire perimeter of the screen should be tacked down with adhesive and also screwed in for added stability.

Other design features to consider are:

1. Overflow: The overflow should be at least 2” in diameter to avoid water spilling out of the barrel near the foundation.

2. Volume: The bigger the better. A typical row house (800 square feet) will have nearly 500 gallons of runoff during a 1” rain storm.

3. Spigot: Spigot no higher than ~3” from bottom of barrel to eliminate dead space.

Installation can be a cinch with the right tools. Homeowners will need downspout extension to connect the barrel and downspout, a hack saw to cut the downspout and drill to fasten the downspout extensions and overflow. The following guide provides step-by-step directions for installing rain barrel: Instructions for Installing a Rain Barrel. If any homeowners need additional assistance, they are welcome to contact me for additional resources.

The District Department of the Environment (DDOE) is committed to facilitating the wide-spread use of rain barrels throughout the DC. DDOE offers two programs- RiverSmart Homes and the Rain Barrel Rebate- which are designed to make rain barrel installation easy and cost effective for homeowners. The RiverSmart Homes program offers homeowners up to two rain barrels for $30 each. The beauty of the RiverSmart Homes program (besides the bargain price of $30) is that our nonprofit partner, DC Greenworks, will install the rain barrels for you. These barrels have a capacity of 130 gallons, are constructed from a durable black recycled plastic, and have a fine filter inside which eliminates any chances of mosquitoes breading in the barrel. Homeowners may enroll in RiverSmart Homes by filling out our online application or by contacting me.

We did have a pause in rain barrel installations over the winter. We apologize to any homeowner who has been waiting for a rain barrel for longer than they were expecting. The rain barrel installations are back in full swing and we hope to eliminate the backlog soon. The Rain Barrel Rebate program is a good option for homeowners who would rather install their own barrel, do not have enough space for the RiverSmart barrel, or do not wait to wait for the stormwater audit that is required through RiverSmart. A list of approved barrels and application materials can be found here: The Rain Barrel Rebate Program.

I hope this helps! Please have your readers contact me at 202.654.6131 or leah.lemoine@dc.gov with any questions they may have. 

Wow!! Rain barrels for $30! That's a price that should make rain barrel believers out of a lot more gardeners!