Find wholesome, fresh, sustainable food

I learned a new trick! Pressing the "print screen" key when you go to a webpage that you like, then copying and pasting into paint, and then saving it as a jpeg creates a great image for the blog. I love it!

Anyway, this website (thanks for the link, Leslie!) is all about finding good food in your area or while traveling. I haven't tested it out yet, but let us know if you do!

Additionally, there is a fantastic resource hidden in here, too, that you might be able to use. It is called "Cultivating the Web: High Tech Tools for the Sustainable Food Movement." Wouldn't it be great to do a version of this just for COMMUNITY GARDENING!!!???

Vegetables on the White House Lawn?

EatTheView.org

Kitchen Gardeners International is sponsoring “Eat the View,” a campaign to urge the first family to plant a garden on the White House lawn. “Eat the View” is suggesting an organic garden to provide food for the White House kitchen and local food pantries. The Obamas would be “leading by personal example on global challenges such as economic security, food security, climate change, healthcare policy and energy independence.” This really isn’t such a new idea. Several presidents have grown food on the White House lawn.
Sign the “Eat the View” petition here.

Kitchen Gardeners International aren't the only ones promoting a White House garden. The WhoFarm (White House Organic Farm) is taking their WhoFarmMobile across the country visiting schools, food pantries, farmers’ markets, and festivals to support a similar campaign. The bus, named Topsy Turvy, has an organic garden on the roof.

The WhoFarm at Jones Valley Urban Farm, Birmingham, AL

Sign the WhoFarm petition here.

Food notables such as Alice Waters (Washington Post 9/4/08) and Michael Pollan (Washington Post 1/8/09) have advocated White House vegetable gardens, too.

Slowfood Columbus

Slow Food Columbus is the Columbus, Ohio convivium of Slow Food USA, which itself is the American branch of Slow Food International. In the words of the parent organization, which began in Italy, Slow Food was founded in 1989 to counteract fast food and fast life, the disappearance of local food traditions and people’s dwindling
interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes and how our food choices affect the rest of the world.

The mission of Slow Food Columbus is to bring people together to enjoy the pleasures of the table while carrying out the Slow Food mission at the local level: to defend biodiversity in our food supply, spread taste education and connect producers of excellent foods with co-producers through events and initiatives. Read more by clicking on the title...

Online Ecological resource

Permaculture is an approach to designing human settlements and perennial agricultural systems that mimic the relationships found in the natural ecologies. It was first developed by Australians Bill Mollison and David Holmgren and their associates during the 1970s in a series of publications. The word permaculture is a portmanteau of permanent agriculture, as well as permanent culture.

Permaculture design principles extend from the position that "The only ethical decision is to take responsibility for our own existence and that of our children" (Mollison, 1990). The intent was that, by rapidly training individuals in a core set of design principles, those individuals could design their own environments and build increasingly self-sufficient human settlements — ones that reduce society's reliance on industrial systems of production and distribution that Mollison identified as fundamentally and systematically destroying Earth's ecosystems.

Grow Local Eat Delicious...

Everyone knows the very tastiest tomatoes are homegrown, lovingly staked and watered at regular intervals until they’re big and red and ripe. Until recently, such simple pleasures were reserved for rural dwellers but the growing movement for urban farming is starting to change all that. While container gardens and green rooftops have made urban agriculture more common, a new system called a Portable Farm may take it a step further. read more by clicking the title.....

Giving Garden Gala

Café Bella Restaurant is hosting the Giving Garden Gala on Saturday, February 28th from 2 to 10 p.m. to benefit the local Seventh Day Adventist CHOICE Food Pantry.

Proceeds from the Gala will be used to construct a greenhouse behind Café Bella, expected to feed 80-90 needy families throughout the growing season.

Patrons of the SDA CHOICE will benefit from "iron chef" demonstrations and gardening "starter kits" designed to teach simple, nutritious cooking techniques and beginning
farming methods.

The evening’s events include an all-star local music line-up, Café Bella cuisine by the package or à la carte, a local art silent auction, and raffle drawings featuring several prizes from area businesses.

Musical lineup:

2:00 – Curtis Cole

3:00 – Dane Terry

4:00 -- Blastronauts

5:00 -- Our Cat Philip

6:00 -- Kingsli

7:00– Super Desserts

8:00 -- Church of the Red Museum

9:00– Couch Forts

Roaming performances by:

Skunky Precious
Sam Corlett
Mamley Benler


Admission is scaled as follows:

1. w/ beverage--$10.00
2. w/ beverage + appetizer/dessert -- $15.00
3. w/ beverage + app./dessert + entree --$25.00
4. w/ beverage + app./dessert + entree + Cafe Bella dinner voucher for two (a $30 value) --$50.00


Please come out and enjoy some of Columbus' finest music, cuisine, and art to help our garden grow!

*********CALL FOR VOLUNTEEERS**************
Do you like helping local causes? Want to be involved in bringing healthy, nutritious food to local families in need? Then consider volunteering at the Giving Garden Gala on February 28th at Café Bella.

Volunteers can expect to work for two hour shifts from 2-10pm (later for clean-up crew) coordinating admissions, (wo)manning the silent auction and raffle, educating guests at the information booth, or helping with general maintenance and clean-up. Volunteers will be
asked (but not expected) to pay general admission (just like everyone else involved).

If you're interested in joining our ranks, please contact us at givinggardencolumbus@gmail.com and include your name, phone number, email address, and the times you'd like to work. Feel free to specify a station, and we will try to accommodate.

Cincinnati considers urban mini-farms

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

CINCINNATI ENQUIRER VIA AP CINCINNATI -- Officials in Cincinnati are looking at pieces of urban land that could be used to grow food.The city has identified 87 sites from the vacant property it owns that could become urban "mini-farms." The idea is to help people save money on groceries by growing their own fresh food while helping the environment, making neighborhoods look better, and building community.The City Council last week passed a plan for mini-farms promoted by Vice Mayor David Crowley. Details will be worked out in the next month. City officials must decide how to lease the plots, and whether to charge anything.They expect 10 to 15 plots to be ready for growing this spring as a pilot project. Other cities, including New York, Detroit and Milwaukee, already offer land to residents for small farms.

Grant Opportunity, Deadline October 17, 2009

National Gardening Association Announces 2009 Healthy Sprouts Awards Program

The National Gardening Association encourages the growth of health-focused youth garden programs through the Healthy Sprouts Awards sponsored by Gardener's Supply Company. The awards support school and youth garden programs that teach about nutrition and the issue of hunger in the United States.

To be eligible for the 2009 Healthy Sprouts Awards, a school or organization must plan to garden in 2010 with at least fifteen children between the ages of 3 and 18. The selection of winners is based on the demonstrated relationship between the garden program and nutrition and hunger issues in the United States.

In 2009, the program will present awards to twenty schools or organizations. Each recipient program will receive gardening supplies and resources, including gift certificates toward the purchase of gardening materials from Gardener's Supply. The top five programs will each receive a certificate valued at $500; fifteen more programs will each receive a $200 gift certificate.

Visit the KidsGardening Web site for complete program guidelines and application.

Contact:
Link to Complete RFP

Primary Subject: Children and Youth
Secondary Subject(s): Education, Human Services, Environment
Geographic Funding Area: National

Great Design

I love this garden design from the City Dirt blog.

Chalk Board Idea

This is so brilliant and simple to incorporate into the garden I had to share it, even though I should absolutely not be blogging right now, I should be writing a paper.

This is from You Grow Girl. I am giving her credit, so hopefully she won't want to beat me up.

CALL FOR PROPOSALS, ACGA CONFERENCE

Thursday, August 6 – Sunday, August 9, 2009

Franklin Park Conservatory, Columbus, Ohio

All proposals must be postmarked by March 1, 2009

We prefer submissions by e-mail to vgarrett@communitygarden.org

The American Community Gardening Association (ACGA) is a non-profit organization of professionals and volunteers who seek to build community by increasing and enhancing community gardening and greening across the United States and Canada.

The ACGA annual conference brings together hundreds of individuals from across the United States, Canada, and abroad, who are engaged in all aspects of gardening and greening. The conference includes hands on workshops, keynote speakers, a film festival, and visits to community gardens, parks, schools, and other green space in the Columbus area.

We want to hear about your work. We are seeking a diverse group of presenters to share a wide range of information about gardening and greening, including:

• Community Gardeners

• Horticulturists

• Landscape Designers and

Architects

• Arborists and Foresters

• Open Space Advocates

• Organizers and Leaders

• Public Employees

• Parks and Planning Staff

• Teachers and other educators

• Community Food Security

Advocates

• Youth

• Artists and Filmmakers

• Horticultural Therapists

• Nutritionists

• Master Gardeners

Panels and Workshops

Session length is 75 minutes long. You may propose shorter or longer sessions. Highest priority will be given to engaging, hands-on, interactive, experiential, panel and team presentations, and participant-inclusive discussions. We discourage the use of “PowerPoint” except to show pictures. A conference registration discount of $100.00 (divided among presenters) per session will be applied to the registration of the presenters. Please specify how you want the $100.00 discount split. You may also opt to donate your discount to the ACGA as a tax-deductible donation to ACGA.

Evaluation of Proposals

The ACGA program committee evaluates proposals on five criteria: overall quality, relevance to community gardening, clarity of focus, degree of potential audience engagement, and practical applicability. Incomplete applications or applications not adhering to word count limitations may be rejected.

Deer Info!

From Cory at the OSU MG extension:

Roxanne Male-Brune, MGV in Athens County, has spent a lot of time studying deer and plants – arghhh!

She has an excellent website that includes a deer resistance table based on her studies in Athens county (deer country for sure).

http://www.gardeningindeercountry.com/

Her list is based on a wide variety of plants in her garden and whether or not they are deer browsed.

In addition, she is interested in hearing from other Master Gardener volunteer and their experiences with deer browsing. This could also turn into a research project for MGV’s across the state.