David Howard

On Monday, April 27, at 6 p.m. we will be hosting the former head gardener of Prince Charles' home and farm, David Howard. He will give a lecture at the Ohio 4-H Center, and the proceeds will benefit the programs and operations of the GRHG.

The cost to attend the lecture is $50, but we have been given a special opportunity to attend at a reduced rate for students and volunteers. Students can attend for $10, and Master Gardeners and Chadwick Volunteers can attend for $25.

More information on this lecture and others are available at http://www.friendsohiogrhg.eventbrite.com/.

Nice Job MGs!

Backyard and Local Foods, the new state specialization for Master Gardener Volunteers, will begin in May.

Participants will learn about growing all kinds of edibles, edible landscaping, community gardens, farmers' markets, CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture) and more.

Certified, active MGs are invited to apply; the deadline to apply is May 9th.
Details and applications can be found on line at: http://summit.osu.edu/master_gardener

MG’s Building Bins!

From the Weekly Weeder by the fabulous Cory Skurdal:

Thanks to Gretchen Heinke and Barbara Merritt for documenting the MG Compost Building Effort on Saturday, April 18th!

Look on our website for morephotos of the event:
http://franklin.osu.edu/horticulture

Buckeye Yard and Garden on-Line

A resource you should all know about is: Buckeye Yard and Garden on-Line
The newsletter is weekly from April to October, and provides information about Ohio growing conditions, pest, disease, and cultural problems.

BYGL offers:
• Weatherwatch,
• Hort Shorts
• BugBytes
• Disease Digest
• Turf Tips
• Industry Insights
• Coming Attractions
• Byglosophy

Check it out online at: bygl.osu.edu

The Ever-Green Gardening Ministries--active and growing!

(Click on the link to see the great website...)

Susannah Evans told me about her gardens' (six of them!!) blog. Setting up a blog is a great way for gardens to communicate about upcoming events and green successes. I'm inspired!

Last minute announcement!!!

On Sunday, April 19th @ 2pm, Franklin Park Conservatory will be screening the Documentary 'Taking Root' in the Chihuly Resource Center.
Free with admission to the Conservatory. Please pass this along to others who would like to see this inspiring film this Sunday. *Content of the film is PG13.


Taking Root tells the dramatic story of Kenyan Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Wangari Maathai whose simple act of planting trees grew into a nationwide movement to safeguard the environment, protect human rights, and defend democracy—a movement for which this charismatic woman became an iconic inspiration. For more click the title for a link.

This film will be screened by Deborah Stokes, founder of The Black Oak Project.

Deborah Ellen Stokes

Deborah Ellen Stokes is a true Buckeye whose love of Ohio’s landscape and wildlife finds expression in many of her poems. She has read her work throughout the Miami Valley, and her poetry has appeared in several journals. She serves as the Artist in Residence at the Paul Laurence Dunbar State Memorial House in Dayton, Ohio, advancing Dunbar’s Reputation in a Keynote Address and readings of his poetry. She initiated the conferral of the Doctor of Humane Letters on Dunbar by Wilberforce University in 1999.
Stokes is an Associate Professor of English at Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio; and she is also proud Alum of CSU. She received her Masters in English from the University of Dayton in 1987. She is the Director and Founder of the Black Oak Project. She conceived and implemented an ancestral wreath-laying ceremony honoring three leading African Americans buried in Massies Creek Cemetery, Greene County Ohio.
Part of the Black Oak Project is realized through its community partnership with Independent television Services (ITVS) of San Francisco. Stokes serves to screen award winning independent documentary films throughout the Miami Valley and Ohio, encouraging deep and serious dialogue on many complex social issues.
She lives in the Greater Dayton Area where she continues her advorcy work for Animals Rights and Environmental Issues.

Please join me in engaging in this powerful documentary This Sunday at FPC @ 2pm.
Thank you,
Bill

2009 Waterworks Grant from Organic Gardening

Now accepting applications for the 2009 WaterWorks program, sponsored by Aveeno and Nature's Path. Click here to download the application. At Organic Gardening, we've been dedicated to helping people make their homes and neighborhoods greener for more than 65 years. And we know that using nature's resources wisely is the only way to make all of our efforts sustainable and lasting. Community gardens bring together people of all ages, ethnic backgrounds, and experiences to create beautiful green places in their neighborhoods. Because community gardens are often set up on abandoned or undeveloped lots, they have little, if any, access to water for irrigation. So, we are joining forces with the caring people at Aveeno Skin-care Products and Nature's Path Foods to bring rainwater harvesting systems to 3 community gardens this season. The systems to be engineered for each location will direct water from nearby rooftops into cisterns from which the gardeners can take it when they need it. Below are short profiles and links (where available) to the gardens we are supporting this year. Each will host a dedication party when their WaterWorks system has been installed. The first was held on April 20, 2007 at the Dias Y Flores garden in New York City. Check back here for dates when you can join the celebration at the garden nearest you. Click here for tips on conserving water you can use in your own garden. WaterWorks Mission Statement: Organic Gardening and its partners (the American Community Gardening Association, Aveeno, and Nature's Path) have joined forces to support the commitment of community groups that work to beautify and bring hope to their neighborhoods. The WaterWorks 2009 project will help community gardeners conserve water for their needs and educate their neighbors on the invaluable benefits of urban green spaces to the community as a whole.

Have your SAFE pesticides ready this season!

Click on the title to find many recipes for anti-bad-bug juice and other pest prevention strategies! May your squash thrive and your tomatoes survive.

The Creation Process of a Worthington CG

Dear Community Gardeners,

After several discussions with Worthington Parks and Rec, here is an update on where we stand. Please come to tomorrow night's meeting at the Old Worthington Library if you can, or let the group know of your interest and willingness to get involved. I sent this to Celia Tincher, assistant to Linda Chambers (Mrs. Chambers is currently on vacation) and she supports my view of he project. I will bring copies of Ms.Tincher's overview (written as I was writing mine) to the meeting tomorrow.

The Worthington Parks and Rec Department has a nearby field that might make a good site for a community garden, and Linda Chambers, the director of Parks and Rec, is someone who has participated in community gardening herself, and believes it could be an excellent component of the Worthington P & R program. If the project near the Rec Center is successful, we might eventually be able to develop community gardens in neighborhood parks as well.
There are some hurdles to leap.

Site Related Concerns
First, P&R is in the process of investigating what chemicals have been put on the field in the past, to make sure the area can be used as a garden. Second, P&R has a plan to build a pavilion in the field, with a solar panel on the roof (this will help with energy costs at the rec dept.). They spoke with the representative of the company about the possibility of a garden there as well, and he did not think the two uses were incompatible. It would be a nice place for gardeners' harvest feasts, rest breaks, picnics, children's activities, garden-related demonstrations and classes and more! Third, the summer day camps use a part of the field for recreation, so the garden design would need to accommodate that.

Persuasion
Community gardening did not rank very high on the surveys the City asked citizens to fill out last summer. That doesn't rule us out, but it means we have to demonstrate broad interest and commitment to get approval from the Parks and Recreation Commission and City Council. Here are some things we will need:

Committed leadership who will meet with Linda Chambers and Celia Tincher and assume responsibility for the projectPower point presentation on the project to present to the P & R Commission and City Coincil (Fred Yaeger said he will advise and help with technical side, as he has done several of these)Some funds for the initial ground preparationDevelopment of a Community Garden club or group that will be ongoing, with officers and a treasury

Advantages of this Site
Most community gardens in our area are connected with Parks and Rec in some way. A good example is Grandview's Wallace Community Garden, which began as a WW II Victory Garden. It is across the road from their Park Dept., which allows staff to keep an eye on things, provided easy access to water, lets parks and rec manage tilling and end-of-season clean-up easily, and allows parks and rec to collect gardeners' fees and oversee the allotment of plots.
Proximity to the Rec dept means parents can garden while children take part in their activities, or combine their own activities with gardening (a swim after weeding, perhaps?).

Parks and rec can help us with site management, registration for plots, collection of fees.
We can develop garden-related programs with them for the benefit of our gardeners and the education and encouragement of new gardeners.

Parks and Rec told us when we were developing the pioneer garden that we could use the community bus for community garden tours, to develop ideas and gain advice for our project. Perhaps this could be done this summer.

Although we would not be able to garden there this spring and summer, we could plant a winter cover crop that would enrich the soil and could be tilled in for spring of 20i0.
Our Strengths

Enthusiasm -- over 60 people are in the SW community garden Google group, and are still asking about a garden site (4 inquiries in the last 2 days)Expertise -- we have a master gardener, JoAnne Dole, who is willing to advise us, and a botanist who works with Bill Dawson at the Franklin Park Conservatory, Kim Brown, and Marc Zody, a nearby resident with a strong interest in this garden,as well as many others with knowledge and skills we can draw on.