Cultivating Community Summer and Fall 2011

Now that Mother Nature is settling in for winter hibernation in Michigan, we have some time to enjoy the harvest, eat lots of food, cuddle by fireplaces, and look back on the season.

Here is a taste of how we worked to cultivate community this past summer and fall:

Ginsberg Garden Workdays, thanks to everyone who volunteered!!!

Harvesting potatoes, planting garlic, cleaning up the garden, jumping on the compost to compress it

Giant cabbage

Yum! Kale (top right) was our winning producer this summer!

Harvests!

We were able to share our harvests with others in the Ann Arbor community by donating produce to Food Gatherers, which is an organization that rescues food, cooks meals, and provides tons (literally tons) of food to those in need.

Focused Hands Garden, Detroit!

During the summer, we ran a weekly gardening activity for kids, where they learned how to care for their garden and how to make snacks from the food grown in the garden.

Detroit Urban Ag Tour!

Catherine Ferguson Academy, a school for teenage mothers, has a farm and a horse in the middle of the city.

Green Things Farm!

We helped harvest onions at Green Things Farm which is part of the Tilian Farm Development Center, a farmer-incubator program close to Ann Arbor.

Pickling Workshop!

Using cucumbers, dill, jalapeños, onions, and spices from the garden!

Late Summer Blueberry Picking!

Fall Raspberry Picking!

Almost-Halloween Apple Picking!

Pepper Preservation Workshop!

To preserve our bounty of jalapeños, we tied them up to dry.

Sunseed Farm Volunteer Day!

We helped harvest winter-storage crops, beets, carrots, and rutabagas, at the beautiful Sunseed farm.

We are thankful for all of the food and fun times we enjoyed with Cultivating Community this season, and look forward to an equally awesome winter!

Our giant pumpkin jack-o-lantern says, "Happy fall!"

We think that the giant pumpkin was actually a hybrid giant pumpkin X winter squash due to its curvy shape and stripes.

Bountiful Balconies

How to grow food on your porch or balcony 'student-style'

By: Jessica Ruff

This is specific to Ann Arbor, but similar resources exist in other towns!

First of all... why grow food as a student?
1. Fun
2. Cheap
3. Fresh nutritious food
4. At your convenience
5. Impress your neighbors and friends
6. Reduce your carbon footprint by loving your plants, reusing materials, and reducing transportation to buy food at the grocery store!

Planting Schedule
Fall Semester
Start seeds and plants during first few weeks!
Fall crops: spinach, lettuce, kale, radishes, collards, turnips, mustard, herbs (i.e. basil, oregano, rosemary)
Harvest in early October through the fall!
Winter Semester
Start seeds indoors in March and April, plant spring crops outdoors in April
Spring Term
Plant summer crops outdoors: after the last frost, usually around Mothers Day
Harvest throughout Spring and Summer!
Summer Term
Harvest and eat your delicious fruits and veggies!

What you need:
1. Containers
2. Soil
3. Plants or Seeds
4. Sun
5. Water

How:

1. Find FREE containers (in your recycling bin)
Milk jugs, orange juice cartons, large yogurt tubs, cardboard boxes, coffee cans, two-liters, plastic storage tubs, old shoes, Styrofoam coolers, milk crates, egg cartons (for seed starting).

Punch holes in bottom of container for drainage



2. Fill container with potting soil or compost

Compost is FREE!

1. Make it yourself:

Home Composting Info from the City of Ann Arbor

http://www.howtocompost.org

2. Ann Arbor residents can pick it up for free from:

Ann Arbor Wheeler Service Center

4150 Platt Road, 48108 734.794.6380

3. Buy potting soil close to campus at:

Downtown Home and Garden

210 S. Ashley Street (734) 662 8122

3. Plant your plants!

Where to get plants in Ann Arbor:

1. Spring Plant Sale at the Matthaei Botanical Gardens
http://www.lsa.umich.edu/mbg
2. Ann Arbor Farmers Market
315 Detroit Street, open every Saturday and Wednesday
http://www.a2gov.org/government/communityservices/ParksandRecreation/FarmersMarket/Pages/FarmersMarkethome.aspx
3. Detroit's Eastern Market
Eastern Market has the best value!
http://www.detroitseasternmarket.com

Starting your own seeds is another cheap and fun alternative!
Seeds can be started indoors or outdoors in March, April, and May!
Link to seed-starting instructions

4. Water your plants every day or every other day! Keep watered during periods of extremely high temperatures!

5. Place plant on a sunny balcony, porch, windowsill, or yard and let Mother Nature do the trick!

Wala...

6. Harvest yummy herbs and veggies!

Tomato in a box!

I did an experiment to see if I could grow a tomato plant in a cardboard box. It works!

Here's what I did:

1. Found a cardboard box (poked drainage holes in bottom)
2. Lined it with a garbage bag (poked drainage holes in bottom)
3. Threw in some kitchen compost scraps (apple cores, ends of veggies, egg shells, etc.)
4. Made a cardboard barrier (with holes)
5. Filled up with potting soil
6. Planted a tomato!

So far my tomato-in-a-box is growing great and I will harvest some tomatoes from it soon!

*My tomato is eating up the extra nutrition of the compost; but, for a simpler project try filling the box with just potting soil!!

More fun container ideas:

More links about container gardening:

Container Gardening Info
Container Gardening Instructions
Growing Fall Vegetables
General Vegetable Growing
Lettuce Growing Tips

How to make a Container Fairy Garden
Mother Earth News Gardening Section

If you have any questions or comments.... stop by at a Ginsberg Garden Workday! Or feel free to email me at jmruff@umich.edu!

Happy Planting and Go Blue!

Cultivatin' Community so far this summer

Happy Summer everyone! It's been a busy-bee spring for Cultivating Community! We've been learnin' and plantin' and harvestin' and field trippin'

Check out these photos of some of our activites so far:

Ginsberg Garden Progress

Late May, Tania in compost pile

Mid June, Our veggies are rockin' out so far!

The garden looks so beautiful thanks to our hard workin' friends

Ginsberg Garden workdays are Mondays and Thursday evenings, everyone is invited!

One of our bountiful harvest days

We've harvested kale, green onions, strawberries, sage, lavender, chives, one raspberry, sage, basil, more kale, and some more kale!

Yum! Fresh Michigan strawberries are the sweetest treats, and a little dirt never hurt anyone! Photo: Kinsey Brock

Greening of Detroit Tree Planting

Tania and Jen working hard to help replant Detroit streets with native trees. Check out Greening of Detroit at http://www.greeningofdetroit.com/5_1_trees.php

Ann Arbor Compost Tour

We learned how the city manages compost on a large municipal scale.

20 Hoophouses in 20 Days!

Theresa and I helped attach the plastic film to this hoophouse in Stockbridge. Hoophouses extend the growing season in Michigan, which helps out local farmers and local eaters. More info about the community hoop house movement http://www.annarbor.com/entertainment/food-drink/selma-cafes-farmers-fund-builds-hoop-houses/

"Have a beautiful weekend everyone!" Says our new garden guardian (he still needs a name, any ideas?)


Stay tuned for more news about the Ginsberg Garden, potlucks and workshops, and our weekly Detroit kids camp adventures!