click on the post title to make your own picture words!
Friday, October 31, 2008
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Cooler days perfect for planting garlic
Sunday, October 26, 2008 * By Nancy O’Donnell * Albany Times Union
Not quite ready to throw in the gardening towel for the season?
Try your hand at growing garlic. The optimum time to plant garlic is just around the corner, so there's still time to get prepared.
To grow your own, plant anytime from mid-October up until about five weeks before the ground freezes. Planting within the next few weeks takes advantage of the cooler soil and air temperatures, which are a catalyst for root development.
Once the ground freezes, the bulb will go dormant until spring, securely anchored in the soil throughout the winter. Come spring, the roots will be in place, ready and waiting to absorb nutrients and begin the growing season.
Begin preparing your soil by incorporating lots of organic matter -- compost, grass clippings and shredded leaves -- into the garden.
Garlic loves organically rich soil with excellent drainage. Provide full sun and a pH around 6.5 to 7.
When you buy garlic, it comes as a complete bulb. Separate it into individual cloves. Make a furrow about 2 inches deep, then plant cloves pointed end up and at least 6 to 8 inches apart.
Once covered, tamp and keep watered well until the ground freezes. Apply a 2-inch layer of mulch and leave until you harvest it next summer.
I Passed!
It is official! I am an OSU Master Gardener!
"Hi Amy: You scored 83 out of 100, and then 4 bonus points, for a total score of 87! Welcome to the Franklin County Master Gardener program. I'd like to talk with you about your interests, how we can plug you into existing projects and initiatives, and how we can tap your ideas and creativity for new projects and initiatives. If you have any interest in teaching, we have our Home Gardener Series coming up January through April.
Hope to talk with you soon.Thanks!
Cory"
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
TUESDAY NOVEMBER 11TH
"An Evening with Dr. Antonia Demas"
Tuesday, November 11th, 2008
Indianola Alternative School, 100 West 4th Avenue, Columbus 43201
Reception & Food Tasting from 6:30-7pm
Keynote Speaker: Dr.Antonia Demas 7-8:30pm
Sponsored by The Greener Grocer and Two Caterers
Local Matters, a nonprofit organization that plays a leadership role in providing equal access to healthy, locally grown food for everyone in our community, invites you to join Dr. Antonia Demas for a special evening of discussion about the importance of healthy, nutritious food in each of our lives and especially its effects and benefits for our children.
Dr. Demas has taught food studies in a variety of educational settings to people of diverse ages, ethnicities, and economic backgrounds all of her life. After graduating from Godard College with a B.A. in Community Nutrition, she worked for 20 years in food education before completing a Ph.D. at Cornell University.
Dr. Demas will begin speaking at 7pm and will talk about her book, "Food is Elementary", a hands-on, experiential food-based curriculum designed for teachers and trained food educators. This book contains 28 sequential (and 8 supplemental) lessons with age-appropriate lesson plans for pre-K through 2nd grade and 3rd grade through 8th grade, in addition to equipment lists and “how to” guidelines. Additionally, Dr. Demas will also answer questions from the audience in a town hall style format.
The evening will begin with a tasting of delicious, local foods, hosted by The Greener Grocer and their “green” catering partner, Two Caterers. The cooking teams will prepare several recipes from the "Food is Elementary Curriculum” and as our guest, you will have the opportunity to get to know each other and enjoy some of Ohio's best local products!
We encourage you to attend this evening and to join in this discussion about the role of food in our schools and it’s effects on our children’s health and performance. We also encourage you to invite other members of your community, including professionals in other fields, who could benefit from this conversation and help Local Matters promote our mission of equal access to healthy, nutritious food for everyone in our community.
Please call 614.263.5662 or email info@local-matters.org with any questions.
We look forward to seeing you!
Crazy Veggies
I had posted an interesting image about a square watermelon when I was first getting going with this blog. I always thought it would be an interesting project, and then I found some other weird/crazy ideas from looking at my RSS feeds.
This from the website and blog, Mental Floss.
Who I accessed through Neatorama. http://www.neatorama.com/Thanks for putting out the neat ideas!
Machine Tillers/Disrupting Soil/ETC!
I just read about a tiller that You Grow Girl was asked to review (read: review=free tiller). Must be nice to get things like tillers delivered to your door. She works hard for it, and has made herself a brand name, so good for her! How do I get this blog to take off like that?!
Anyway, there seems to be quite a bit of opinion concerning tillers, digging into the soil as opposed to amending it, etc. I guess I hadn't realized this was such an area of contention.
So far in my veggie garden career, I have used a tiller I borrowed from a neighbor in my garden (thanks, Kim!) in the spring and fall for the past two years. Without doing any scientific studies, I can tell you right now my soil is not the best.
*SIGH* I also added sand to my garden thinking that would be a good soil amendment, but that just makes concrete. This incredible garden maneuver should reveal to you how much I know and how I tend to learn.
Does the tiller have anything to do with my poor soil? I don't know. But I do really like this tool if you are going for the old-fashioned method:
So, soil is my new focus. This my new area of growth as a gardener. And from all of my research, it would appear that now is the time to build it for spring. Will I till? Not this year. I would like to get my soil tested though. Put that on my to-do list!
Another great resource from the Ready Made Blog:
"Talk about beneficial growth: In the 1940s, San Francisco played host to some of the most productive Victory Gardens in the country. Sixty years later, the idea still has roots in the city: This past July, the greenspace in front of San Francisco’s City Hall was transformed into a Victory Garden as part of the city's Victory Gardens 2008+ program (conceived by ReadyMade darling Amy Franceshchini). The city hall garden will donate the fruits (and veggies) of its labor to the San Francisco Food Bank, and 15 more city gardens are on the way. Want to participate? Join the program's Garden Registry and check out the tools and ingredients you'll need to start a garden of your own."
Check out the community garden starter kit. So clever!
Youth Grants and Funding Opportunities!
Please check out these funding opportunities for youth, arts, education, nutrition, etc. Note that some are due very soon.
Bill
Youth Today’s Grants E-Blast
Week of Oct. 27, 2008
© 2008 Youth Today
Compiled by Erika Fitzpatrick
(Subscribers: Login to Youth Today Online to search and sort all available grants, including notices with rolling deadlines, which are not listed here.)
Featured Grant
*Grant: Arts Connect All – To encourage arts organizations to create or enhance multi-session, inclusive education programs for youth with disabilities by strengthening partnerships with local public schools.
Funder: VSA arts and MetLife Foundation.
Eligibility: Nonprofit performing and/or exhibiting arts organizations – such as museums, theaters and multidisciplinary arts presenters – that are creating or have an established educational program.
Deadline: Dec. 12.
Amount: Up to 10 awards of up to $15,000.
Contact: www.vsarts.org/x273.xml.
Advocacy
*Grant: 2009 National CASA Awards of Excellence – To recognize the work of child advocates, program directors, judges, board members and Court-Appointed Special Advocates/Guardians Ad Litem (CASA/GAL) programs excelling in diversity and inclusion efforts.
Funder: National CASA.
Eligibility: Nominations of outstanding judges, board members or volunteers in CASA/GAL programs are invited.
Deadline: Nov. 30.
Amount: Complimentary conference registration, travel and hotel expenses, as well as $1,500 toward honorees’ programs.
Contact: www.casanet.org/conference/excellence.htm.
Arts
Grant: NAMM Foundation Grants – Music education and research grants are available through programs that include the Disney Music in You Grant Program; Sounds of Learning: The Impact of Music Education; and Sounds of Living: The Impact of Music Across the Life Span.
Funder: NAMM Foundation.
Eligibility: Public middle and high schools, and music education and research programs.
Deadline: Disney Music in You – Dec. 15; all others, Dec. 1.
Amount: Grants average $20,000 to $40,000.
Contact: www.music-research.org/Grants/guidelines.html.
Grant: Media That Matters – A showcase for short films with big messages, including youth-produced projects.
Funder: Art Engine.
Eligibility: Individual filmmakers and community/youth media centers.
Deadline: Jan. 9, 2009.
Amount: $1,000 per film.
Contact: www.mediathatmattersfest.org/submit.
Child Welfare
Grant: Brookdale Relatives as Parents Program (RAPP) – To develop or expand services for grandparents and other relatives who have taken on the responsibility of surrogate parenting when the biological parents cannot.
Funder: Brookdale Foundation.
Eligibility: Nonprofits.
Deadline: Dec. 4.
Amount: Each of 30 selected organizations will receive a two-year mini-grant of $10,000.
Contact: www.brookdalefoundation.org/RAPPrfpdownloads.htm.
Civic Engagement
Grant: To promote understanding of environmental issues among youth.
Funder: Captain Planet Foundation.
Eligibility: Nonprofits.
Deadline: Dec. 31.
Amount: $250 to $2,500.
Contact: www.captainplanetfoundation.org/default.aspx?pid=3&tab=apply.
Grant: We the People Challenge Grants in U.S. History, Institutions and Culture – To support humanities activities that examine American history through the lens of the nation’s founding principles.
Funder: U.S. National Endowment for the Humanities.
Eligibility: States, special district and tribal governments, institutions of higher education and other nonprofits.
Deadline: Feb. 3, 2009.
Amount: Up to $1 million.
Contact: www.neh.gov/grants/guidelines/wtpchallenge.html#awardinfo.
Grant: Lexus Eco Challenge #2: Water Works – To encourage school environmental projects affecting local communities in the areas of water conservation, shrinking wetlands and habitats, and threats to oceans and waterways.
Funder: Scholastic, Inc.
Eligibility: Teams of elementary and high schools students and teacher advisers.
Deadline: Dec. 12.
Amount: 16 teams will receive $10,000 each.
Contact: www.scholastic.com/lexus/waterchallenge_welcome.asp#details.
Grant: AmeriCorps 2009 State and National Grants – To improve lives, strengthen communities and foster civic engagement through service and volunteering. Priorities in 2009 are mobilizing more volunteers, ensuring a brighter future for America’s youth, engaging students in communities, harnessing baby boomers’ experience, and helping communities recover from and prepare for disasters.
Funder: U.S. Corporation for National and Community Service.
Eligibility: Organizations that work in just one state apply through state commissions. Organizations that work in more than one state may apply for national grants. Indian Tribes may apply through state commissions, or directly to the corporation. (Check notice for complete eligibility rules.)
Deadline: Jan. 13, 2009.
Amount: Nearly $69 million is available under the various program categories.
Contact: www.nationalservice.gov/pdf/08_0531_nofa_ac.pdf.
Grant: Increase Your Green – For student-led projects to reduce the carbon footprint of schools.
Funder: Do Something.
Eligibility: Middle and high schoolers.
Deadline: The competition started Oct. 13; see website for details.
Amount: $1,500 for first prize and $500 for three second-place prizes.
Contact: www.dosomething.org/increase_your_green.
Grant: Lorrie Otto Seeds for Education (SFE) Fund – For schools and nature centers to plant and maintain natural landscapes.
Funder: Wild Ones.
Eligibility: Schools, nature centers and nonprofit places of learning, including houses of worship.
Deadline: Nov. 15.
Amount: $100 to $500.
Contact: www.for-wild.org/sfecvr.html.
Education
Grant: No School Left Behind Software – Awards of a perpetual license to VIP Tone’s School MATRIX software product, designed to enable educators to manage information on student standards, curriculum and progress.
Funder: VIP Tone.
Eligibility: Any public U.S. school district with total student enrollment of 1,000 or fewer students.
Deadline: Jan. 16, 2009.
Amount: The list price of the license is $18,000.
Contact: www.viptone.com/NSLB.htm.
Grant: Educator grants – To promote aerospace education activities in classrooms from kindergarten through grade 12.
Funder: Air Force Association.
Eligibility: Schools.
Deadline: Nov. 14.
Amount: Up to $250.
Contact: www.afa.org/aef/aid/educator.asp.
Grant: Love Your Veggies – To increase access to and consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables in elementary schools.
Funder: Hidden Valley Salad Dressings.
Eligibility: Elementary schools.
Deadline: Nov. 7.
Amount: 10 grants of $15,000 each.
Contact: www.loveyourveggiesgrants.org.
Grant: Surdna Arts Teachers Fellowships – To support the artistic revitalization of outstanding arts teachers in public arts high schools.
Funder: The Surdna Foundation.
Eligibility: All permanently assigned full- and part-time arts faculty in public arts high schools.
Deadline: Nov. 14.
Amount: 20 awards of up to $5,500 each, with a complementary grant of $1,500 to the fellow’s school to support post-fellowship activities.
Contact: www.surdna.org/resources/resources_show.htm?doc_id=697830.
Health
*Grant: Olympus Innovation Awards – For innovation in education.
Funder: National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA).
Eligibility: Faculty nominees from NCIIA member institutions.
Deadline: Nov. 21.
Amount: Winners receive awards ranging from $1,000 to $10,000.
Contact: www.nciia.org/olympus/index.html.
*Grant: Healthy Start Initiative – To eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in perinatal health indicators.
Funder: U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration.
Eligibility: Public and private nonprofits.
Deadline: Dec. 5.
Amount: Nearly $80 million for 74 awards.
Contact: http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&flag2006=false&oppId=43140.
Grant: Coverage Ideas From the Field – For applicant-initiated projects related to national health reform.
Funder: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Eligibility: Public or private nonprofits.
Deadline: Dec. 2.
Amount: $2 million for grants of up to $400,000 each.
Contact: www.rwjf.org/applications/solicited/cfp.jsp?ID=20541.
Grant: For human nutrition in the areas of health, education, training and research.
Funder: Allen Foundation.
Eligibility: Nonprofits.
Deadline: Dec. 31.
Amount: Ranges from $2,000 to around $75,000.
Contact: https://www.allenfoundation.org/commoninfo/aboutus.asp.
Grant: Child Mental Health – To support integrated home- and community-based services for children and youth with serious emotional disturbances and their families.
Funder: U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
Eligibility: Public entities.
Deadline: Jan. 15.
Amount: 17 grants of up to $1 million.
Contact: http://www.samhsa.gov/Grants/2009/sm_09_002.aspx.
Grant: Emergency Medical Services for Children – To solidify the integration of a pediatric focus within state emergency medical services (EMS) systems.
Funder: U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration.
Eligibility: State EMS agencies.
Deadline: Dec. 2.
Amount: 47 grants of up to $140,000 each.
Contact: http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&flag2006=false&oppId=42959.
Grant: New Connections: Increasing Diversity of RWJF Programming – To expand the diversity of perspectives that inform the foundation’s programming, introduce new researchers and scholars to the foundation, and help meet staff needs for data analysis.
Funder: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Eligibility: Scholars from historically disadvantaged and underrepresented communities who have received their doctorate within the last seven years.
Deadline: Brief proposals, Nov. 13; full proposals, March 12.
Amount: 12 two-year grants of up to $75,000.
Contact: www.rwjf.org/applications/solicited/cfp.jsp?ID=20425.
Grant: Community Health Leaders – To honor 10 outstanding and otherwise unrecognized individuals who overcame dramatic odds to improve health and health care, especially to underserved populations.
Funder: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Eligibility: Public or nonprofit organization.
Deadline: Nov 7.
Amount: Ten awards of $125,000 each.
Contact: www.rwjf.org/applications/solicited/cfp.jsp?ID=20422.
Grant: Campus suicide prevention – To facilitate a comprehensive approach to preventing suicide in institutions of higher education.
Funder: U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
Eligibility: Institutions of higher education.
Deadline: Nov. 25.
Amount: $2.1 million for 21 awards of up to $100,000.
Contact: www.samhsa.gov/grants/2009/sm_09_001.aspx.
Life Skills
Grant: “Go-Brennan” Scholarships – For scholarships for training in the trades.
Funder: Fabricators & Manufacturers Association Foundation.
Eligibility: Youth headed to a two-year trade school.
Deadline: Nov. 9.
Amount: 25 $500 scholarships.
Contact: www.fma-foundation.org.
Grant: YouthBuild Grants – To provide opportunities for disadvantaged youth in education, employment and community engagement.
Funder: U.S. Department of Labor.
Eligibility: Nonprofits.
Deadline: Jan. 15.
Amount: $47 million for three-year grants of $700,000 to $1.1 million.
Contact: www.doleta.gov/grants/find_grants.cfm#youthbuild.
Grant: Community-based Job Training – To support workforce training for high-growth/high-demand industries through the national community and technical college system.
Funder: U.S. Department of Labor.
Eligibility: Community and technical colleges, community college districts, state community college systems, and one-stop career centers.
Deadline: 45 days after the Oct. 10 publication date.
Amount: $500,000 to $2 million.
Contact: www.doleta.gov/business/Community-BasedJobTrainingGrants.cfm.
Grant: Young Parents Demonstration – To provide educational and occupational skills training to young parents, especially those in high-risk categories.
Funder: U.S. Department of Labor.
Eligibility: Nonprofits.
Deadline: Nov. 17.
Amount: $5 million for grants of $500,000 to $1 million.
Contact: http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/E8-23319.htm.
Media/Technology
*Grant: Public Telecommunications Facilities – To plan and construct public telecommunications facilities that extend delivery of services to as many citizens as possible.
Funder: U.S. National Telecommunications and Information Administration.
Eligibility: Public or noncommercial educational broadcast stations, telecommunications entities, educational or cultural nonprofits, and governments.
Deadline: Dec. 18.
Amount: Up to $10 million is available for grants of more than $10,000 each.
Contact: www.ntia.doc.gov/ptfp.
Recreation
Grant: Stonyfield KaBOOM! Double Play – To fund a volunteer project to build or improve a playground, skate park, basketball court, sports field or similar play space.
Funder: Stonyfield Farm.
Eligibility: Schools and youth organizations.
Deadline: Dec. 31.
Amount: One $50,000 grant.
Contact: www.stonyfield.com/kaboom/rules.cfm.
Grant: NFL Youth Football Fund Grassroots Program – For upgrading existing facilities that are in poor condition or otherwise underutilized; partnerships with parks, recreational departments and YMCAs that promote youth and community programming are encouraged, among other types of projects.
Funder: National Football League Youth Football Fund and Local Initiatives Support Corp.
Eligibility: Nonprofit community-based organizations.
Deadline: Dec. 15.
Amount: Up to $200,000 each.
Contact: www.lisc.org/docs/2008_nfl_grassroots_rfp.pdf.
Grant: Responsible Sports Community – To defray the costs of youth sport programming.
Funder: Liberty Mutual.
Eligibility: Nonprofit youth sports organizations or school sports programs that are registered with Responsible Sports.
Deadline: Nov. 30.
Amount: $2,500 each to 20 organizations.
Contact: http://responsiblesports.com/community_grants/community_grant_details.aspx.
Research
Grant: Foundation for Child Development Young Scholars – To stimulate both basic and policy-relevant research about the early education, health and well-being of children living in immigrant families from birth to age 10, particularly those who are living in low-income families, and to support young investigators from the behavioral and social sciences or in an allied professional field.
Funder: Foundation for Child Development.
Eligibility: Researchers who have earned their doctoral degrees within the last 15 years.
Deadline: Nov. 5.
Amount: Three to four fellows receive up to $150,000 each to use over one to three years.
Contact: www.fcd-us.org/programs/programs_show.htm?doc_id=447982.
Safety
Grant: Prisoner re-entry services – For post-release services primarily to the prisoners receiving pre-release services under an existing re-entry grant program.
Funder: U.S. Departments of Labor and Justice.
Eligibility: Faith-based and community organizations working in selected jurisdictions – listed in the notice – that have received prisoner re-entry grants.
Deadline: 60 days after the Sept. 5 publication of the notice.
Amount: Up to $300,000 each.
Contact: http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/E8-20570.htm.
Substance Abuse
Grant: Strategic Prevention Framework State Incentive Grants (SPF SIGs) – To help state governments organize programs for and fund substance abuse prevention.
Funder: U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
Eligibility: Chief executives of states, District of Columbia and U.S. territories.
Deadline: Nov. 7.
Amount: $38.1 million.
Contact: http://samhsa.gov/grants/2009/sp_09_001.aspx.
Youth Development
Grant: Developmental and Learning Sciences – Fundamental research that increases understanding of youths’ cognitive, linguistic, social, cultural and biological processes related to development and learning.
Funder: National Science Foundation.
Eligibility: Researchers may apply for individual investigator or workshops/small conference projects.
Deadline: Jan. 15, 2009.
Amount: Up to $100,000 per year for investigators and $15,000 for workshops/small conference projects.
Contact: www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=8671.
Grant: Palm Foundation grants – For projects related to the education of youth at risk.
Funder: Palm Foundation.
Eligibility: Nonprofits.
Deadline: Dec. 1.
Amount: $1,000 to $25,000.
Contact: www.palm.com/us/company/corporate/foundation/cash_grants.html.
Grant: Community Action Grants – For innovative programs or non-degree research projects that promote education and equity for women and girls.
Funder: American Association of University Women.
Eligibility: Individuals, AAUW branches, AAUW state organizations and community-based nonprofits.
Deadline: Jan. 15, 2009.
Amount: $5,000 to $10,000 each.
Contact: www.aauw.org/education/fga/fellowships_grants/community_action.cfm.
Grant: Shared Site Best Practice – To raise the profile of intergenerational shared site programs (where children, youth and older adults receive services at the same facility or on the same campus) and to encourage new models.
Funder: Generations United and MetLife Foundation.
Eligibility: Nonprofit shared site programs.
Deadline: Nov. 14.
Amount: Up to five shared site programs will receive $2,500.
Contact: www.gu.org/Curre6271219.asp.
Master Peace Community Garden
I just read about the Master Peace Community Garden in the Garden Rant blog. I found a really creative video about this garden that will inspire you!
Monday, October 27, 2008
Late-fall garden tasks
From the Home Depot Garden Club:
Late-fall is a busy time in the garden. Northern gardeners are working to put their gardens to bed for the winter, while green thumbs in the South are cultivating cool-season gardens. Here's a to-do list to help keep your outdoor space looking great through autumn and winter — and to get a head start on spring.
In Northern climates (roughly to zone 6), now's the time to prepare your garden for its dormancy, and to protect your outdoor furniture from the elements. Divide the tasks over a few evenings and weekends so the work is less daunting. Use our handy checklist to keep you on track as you wind things down outside.
· Test garden soil pH and nutrient levels, using a do-it-yourself kit — and amend soil as required. · If you haven't already done so, spread mulch around trees, shrubs and perennials to insulate them through cold weather.
· Wrap tender trees and shrubs in burlap.
· Clean and oil gardening tools.
· Hose off and scrub pots with hot, soapy water and a bristled brush. Let them air-dry, then store in your garden or shed to prevent them from freezing and shattering in the cold.
· Bury potted trees and shrubs to insulate roots. Dig a deep hole or trench in a protected area and set the pot in. Top with soil and a layer of dry leaves.
· Lift and store dahlias, tuberous begonia, caladium, gladioli, etc.
· Disconnect and store seasonal water features. For year-round fishponds, you should have already stopped feeding your fish in early fall, or as soon as the temperature drops below 43°F. Now is also the time to remove any dead plant debris, install a bubbler for oxygen intake, and move delicate fish like butterfly koi and lionhead goldfish indoors. Cover your pond with a mesh screen to keep leaves and debris out.
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