Community Gardens

In Akron, Colorado the picture to the left shows the beginning of a community garden. The community players were people who work for the county, Colorado Master Gardeners, Washington County Connections, the local greenhouse and other community residents all came together to start implementing an old vacant lot. A run down building was taken down on this lot and the city needed to place a frost-free faucet on the lot for water.

All these community players came together to build a dream. This dream was to create access to fresh food for the seniors and low-income families, the Washington County Connection which is the local resource center and teach young children how to grow their own food.

In the picture to the left, this is the children's garden. Regularly, under the direction of the owner of the local greenhouse and a local Colorado Master Gardener children were educated on growing plants throughout the season.

The sections in this garden were kept in small managable squares of 4' x 4'. By keeping the spaces smaller the participants were not overwhelmed with gardening. The squares embrace the raised bed concept as well.

We were in cooperation with Kansas State University with a Brownfields Grant. We were scheduled for having field plots in this garden to test for levels of contaminants in the crops grown here. After the testing, we could not participate in the funding because the contaminant levels were within a safe range or below normal. Being a vacant lot with an old structure recently removed, sometimes contaminants such as lead can be found a above normal levels.

When starting a community garden, this is one of the things to bear in mind. Test the soil. You have a starting point with all your nutrients: nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus and the micro-nutrients. With a starting point, you know what needs to be added and how much needs to be added. Do soil testing every 5 years to keep a clear picture of understanding your soil composition.

Other than soil composition, what is the composition of the landscape within your community garden? What does it represent? The picture to the left demonstrates how participants bring their own creativity to the garden. This creativity builds a certain cultural dynamic within the community garden. In every garden having rules is necessary. A few rules to set parameters such as clean the tools before putting them back in the garden shed. Pick only what you can use for your family at one harvest. Rules for safety and consideration for others are important. You do not want your rules to stifle a creative and fun garden space.

The Akron community garden was started in 2010 and was filled with participants immediately. It is now a source of great pride for the town of Akron.

Phillips County Event Center Garden

In Holyoke, Colorado at the Phillips County Fairgrounds, there is a Plant Select demonstration garden outside the Phillips County Extension Office. This garden was funded by Colorado Garden Show, Inc. This is an educational garden that demonstrates to the public a variety of plants that do well in our landscapes.

Beyond the plant select plants in the garden there are herbs and host plants for butterflies as well as hummingbirds. The plants used in mass arrangements within the garden. Since this garden is located at the entrance to the Extension Office, we want the color and textures to draw people to our garden.

Other features have been added such as two birdbaths, benches and statues. Every plant is labeled. So if you ever travel to Holyoke, Colorado come visit our Plant Select garden.

Visit our Plant Select Gardens

Come and visit our Plant Select gardens if you are ever in Washington County and stop in the fairgrounds in Akron, Colorado.

What is a Plant Select garden? Plant Select is a cooperative program administered by Denver Botanic Gardens and Colorado State University. The purpose of the program is to seek out, identify and distribute plants the best plants for our landscapes and gardens from the intermountain region to the high plains.

Throughout the state of Colorado there are several demonstration gardens like our demonstration gardens in Akron, Colorado. Each garden trials plants selected from a short list of 7 plants. These seven plants are selected by a committee. Each garden volunteer(s), Extension Agent or Colorado Master Gardener reports on how the plants performed each year. There is a comprehensive list of information from around the state on how a particular plant performed for that year.

Certain plants have become more popular because of this program. The yellow and purple ice plants have gained such popularity. Other plants such as Apache Plume have been a native to our landscape for years and now because of the exposure are being used in the landscape.

These plants are helping people lessen the amount they spend on water usage, fertilizers and pesticides. In doing so people contribute to a cleaner environment. The less fertilizer we use, the less nitrogen there is around to contribute to sewage and contaminate the water supply with nitrate. According to the United States Geological Survey too much nitrogen in the form of nitrates in drinking water is harmful to infants and young livestock. In infants it can cause blue baby syndrome because infants under 4 months do not have an enzyme to help with oxygen transport in the blood.

Overall, these plants lower the maintenance of a garden. Go to the website http://plantselect.org and view the wide range of perennials, annuals and woody plants there are to chose from for your landscape.

And the next time, you are in Akron, Colorado go over to the fairgrounds and view the gardens. All plants are labeled.

January is the time to sit back with all your catalogs and add plants that add flavor to your cooking: herbs. If you do not want a separate herb garden, then plan the herbs of your choice in areas where you have empty space. While doing this, keep in mind the requirement for caring for herbs is full-sun and well-drained soils. Herbs make good companion plants that contribute to the health and flavor of other plants as well as repel insects.

Once your herbs are planted, keep cutting them frequently in the first stage of their growth called the leaf stage. Harvesting herbs at the right stage is very important with a few exceptions. Picking your herbs at the leaf stage gives you the opportunity to capture optimal flavors. If you wait until the second stage of growth, the flowering stage, the leaves slow down or stop growing. Once the leaves slow, the taste changes and they can yellow. The tastes can change to grassy, woody and bitter. Who would want to eat herbs at this point? Flowers do have their purpose. At the flowering stage, some herbs are used as fragrant garnishes for salads or deserts.

What can herbs do for you besides add flavor to your food? Herbs are a natural food. Food that has nutrients, enzymes, proteins, vitamins and minerals which your body uses. Eat well and you have a better chance of staying well. So why not add herbs to your garden for fragrance and to enhance the flavor of the foods you love and add nutrients to your diet from a fresh food.

What herbs should you add to your garden? The kitchen herbs are the basic essential herbs for cooking. There are eight essential kitchens or culinary herbs: basil, coriander/cilantro, mint, oregano, rosemary, sage, tarragon and thyme. Basil, cilantro and rosemary are all annuals. Mint, oregano, sage, tarragon and thyme are perennials.

Basil is an annual which you can easily reseed in the garden each year. It is a very aromatic herb which can be used as a culinary herb, condiment or spice. The best way to use basil is fresh, or if not fresh, then dried. During the growing season, it is important to keep basil watered on a regular basis. Basil is intolerant of water stress. It is also best to keep cutting basil. The first main cuts should remove up to half the stem. And keep pruning to keep the basil bushy. If you wish to plant basil in the vegetable garden, it will improve the flavor and growth of tomato plants. Repelling thrips, flies and mosquitoes, basil is also beneficial for peppers, oregano, asparagus and even petunias.

Coriander aka Chinese Parsley is often mistaken for parsley and easily reseeds itself each year in the garden. With this herb, Cilantro refers to the leaves and Coriander refers to the seeds of the plant. The leaves are best used fresh, added to the dish before serving. When the leaves are dried or frozen they spoil rapidly. The seeds are used in cooking as well. As a member of the carrot family, coriander using this in the vegetable garden to repel aphids, spider mites and potato beetles.

Mint is a perennial herb which can be very aggressive in the garden. Create an underground barrier or place the mint in an area where it can go wild. Some of the mints are hardy, such as peppermint which can grow in zone 3. Spearmint, on the other hand, tolerates the heat best in zone 11. Mint can be used in teas, with lamb, added to fruits such as berries and melons, and even vegetables such as beans, carrots, potatoes and peas. If you wish to use mint in the vegetable garden, you can use cuttings of the plant around any member of the brassica family which would be cabbage, cauliflower and kale. Mint deters a number of pests including cabbage moths, ants, rodents, flea beetles, fleas, aphids and improves the health of tomatoes and cabbage. The flowers of mint attract hover flies and predatory wasps.

Oregano is a perennial which can seed itself in your garden. The ideal soil is well-drained and slightly alkaline with full-sun exposure. Oregano is a slow grower. It is good to keep the soil free of weeds around the plant to help oregano get established. Like Basil, keeping the plants pruned will keep them bushy and full. If you wish to plant oregano amongst your vegetables, it is very versatile. It can be beneficial for most all crops, especially cabbage.

Rosemary is difficult to start from seed. It is best to take cuttings of this every year to keep inside for the winter. Rosemary will not tolerate our cold winter temperatures. A temperature of 30 degrees Fahrenheit is about the lowest temperature before the plants are damaged. Rosemary can be used to enhance any food. The key words are any food. Rosemary is often added to meats, but is equally great with salads and desserts. So add rosemary to lamb, veal, rabbit, poultry, fish, eggs, pickles, fruits, jellies, jams and cookies. If you wish to use rosemary in amongst your vegetable plants, they deter cabbage moths, bean beetles, and carrot flies. So place your rosemary next to cabbage, carrots, and beans.

Sage is another strongly flavored herb that is a perennial which requires slightly alkaline, well-drained soil and full-sun. Every spring sage needs to be pruned back. Take away half of each stem. This way it will retain a bushy habit. For its culinary uses, sage can be used in salads and omelets. Since sage is a rather strong flavored herb like rosemary, the best way to use it is lightly, if you have no experience with it. To use sage lightly, we need to use the younger leaves and sometimes you may want to use only 1/3 of the leaf. For those with experience in using sage, using the older leaves will bring its strongest flavor out in cooking. If you wish to plant it in the vegetable garden, sage deters cabbage moths, flea beetles, beetles and carrot flies. So plant it next to broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and carrots.

Tarragon is a perennial herb with an aromatic smell similar to anise. It is an herb that is difficult to grow from seed. It is best grown from a root division. If tarragon is not divided regularly, the roots can choke the itself out. Besides that, it thrives on neglect. Our climate of hot and dry in the summer is what tarragon prefers. Tarragon is one of the basic herbs used by the French in their cooking. Tarragon is used with chicken, fish, lasagna and eggs. The most interesting characteristic of tarragon is its scent and taste. Insects dislike both, so tarragon is used as a companion plant. Tarragon has the ability to enhance both flavor and growth of nearby vegetables in the garden.

Thyme is a perennial herb that can be picked at any time of the year, but as one of the exceptions, the best time is when it is in bloom. It prefers full-sun and well-drained soil. It can be easily started from seed, stem cuttings or division. Thyme is used in soups, sauces, poultry stuffing, fish and other meats. Thyme can be dried or frozen without damaging the quality of the herb. Thyme is said to deter cabbage worms, if you choose to use it as a companion with cabbage in the vegetable garden.

Heirloom Seed Saving

Do you save heirloom seed? Once upon a time, families saved seed because it was a way of life. Without doing so, the family would starve. There were no major seed companies distributing seed before industrialization came along. During the Dust Bowl, Russian immigrants came from their homeland with seeds sown in the lining of their clothes. Varieties from their country were grown here. They brought a wheat variety called Turkey Red Wheat. This is a hardy variety that is planted in the fall and harvested in the spring.

Today seed is grown and then saved in governmental and non-governmental seed banks throughout the world. Among the 1,460 seed banks in the world, one of the largest seed banks is Seed Savers Exchange in Decorah, Iowa. From 13,000 members, they have 1 million varieties of seed. They have varieties of apples from the early 1900's. Since that day, we have lost in cultivation about 80% of the older varieties.


In Longyearbyen, Norway, deep in the Arctic Circle constructed beneath the permafrost sits the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. It is designed to withstand earthquakes and even a nuclear strike. It currently houses more than half a million seeds, many of which may survive as long as 2,000 years at the -18C temperature. It is operated like a safety deposit box, seeds are only available to be withdrawn by the country or institution that provided them.

U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Center for Genetic Resource Preservation in Fort Collins has their own seed bank ranked one of the top in the world. This seed bank houses the parents of all the hybridized seed of modern times. Additionally, there are about 40,000 new varieties added each year. Even native seeds are placed here from the Center for Plant Conservation from St. Louis, Missouri.

Why save the seed in the first place? Seed-physiology scientists believe that climatic changes due to global warming will wipe out about 40% the world's crops. The scientists will be able to pull from this huge seed bank to help breeders and researchers as they have in the past when a disease or drought or some other catastrophic issue destroyed a crop.

If you wish to learn more about saving your own seed from heirloom crops, Colorado State University Extension has an on-line fact sheet titled Seed Saving, numbered 7.602.

When saving seed from heirloom crops, here are some common sense tips:

Pick mature and disease free vegetables.
Dry at room temperature. Do not dry the seeds in or on paper towels.
Store in a cool, dry place. Temperatures are best kept below 50 degrees Fahrenheit but above freezing.
Store in a glass container or a white envelope.
Don't forget to date and label the envelope using pencil or permanent ink.
Keep good records of your seed saving.

Happy seed saving!

Labyrinths

What kind of a tool is a labyrinth? A labyrinth is a circuitous pathway. You enter and exit from the same point. The design of a labyrinth combines that of a circle and spiral. Throughout the ages, the labyrinth has been used for centering, healing and meditation.

There are many classical patterns of labyrinths. Read about the many different patterns by going The Labyrinth Society on-line to see photos and find more in-depth information.

Labyrinths serve to help with right and left brain functions. A labyrinth focuses on right brain tasks of intuition, creativity, imagery and solutions to problems. As the left brain functions focus on logical thinking and analysis.

While walking a classical labyrinth the movements required mediate the functions of the left and right brain and bring them into balance. One does not over-power the other. The left brain does not over analyze and the right brain does not get too emotional or over imaginative.

Many different people have used a labyrinth for grief, loss and letting go, morale building, team building, healing anger, violence, illness and lastly, celebration. What is it about this type of tool that can transform one's life? In the physical walking of these labyrinth patterns, it takes our minds out of ego into a relaxed state for both left and right brain. So overall, the two hemispheres of the brain work together. That is a true state of balance. When we become focused while walking through a labyrinth we come into present moment. At that point, our energy is focused and we begin to see things clearer in our objectivity. It is this objectivity that helps us gain balance.

Enjoy learning and creating your labyrinth.

Get Rid of Kitchen Waste: Vermicompost

Worms need food too. Want to get rid of your kitchen waste? The preferred worm for composting your entire kitchen waste is a brandling worm, Eisena foetida or a red wiggler Lumbricus rubellus.

Why not earthworms? Earthworms, Allolobophora caliginosa, like garden soil and spend their time at the bottom of compost pile, so they would not be the best benefit for composting. According to New Mexico University Extension, there can be up to 500,000 earthworms in an acre of land. These earthworms can recycle 5 tons of soil or more a year. That is what they do best.

Brandling and red wiggler worms eat compost and manure. This passes through their bodies and is excreted as castings or worm manure. These castings are organic material rich in nutrients.

How do you get started? You can use wood or plastic recycled containers or spend lots of money and get something fancy for the kitchen. The trick is that compost bins for kitchen waster should be no deeper than 8 to 12 inches. Red wigglers are surface feeders. When you go to add bedding and food wastes it packs down in bins which are deeper. This forces air out and creates an anaerobic condition which causes the bin to smell. You always want to keep it an aerobic condition with lots of air.

How big to make the bin? This is determined by the number of people in your family and how much food waste is produced every week. So the rule of thumb is to provide one square foot of surface area per pound of waste.

What types of materials can be used for a bin? Plastic or wood are good. Both have advantages and disadvantages. Wood is a better insulator if you are keeping the bin outside. Do not use redwood or other aromatic woods because they kill the worms.

Plastic can keep the compost too moist. It has no insulating properties. Plastic is easier to keep clean. It is also easy to create drainage and air holes in plastic as well as wood.

The air and drainage holes should be ¼ to ½ inch in diameter on the bottom and sides of the bin. Rest the bin on cinder blocks, brick or gravel in a tray underneath the bin to catch the drainage. You can purchase special plastic worm bins that have several layers with the bottom layer having a faucet that allows drainage into a container. The liquid being drained at first is excess water and compost tea, later as the food waste is being composted. This compost tea can be used on indoor plants or to fertilize any plants in your landscaping.

What can you use for bedding materials?

Shredded newspapers, envelopes, but remove the plastic windows, computer paper, or cardboard, shredded leaves, straw, hay or dead plants, sawdust, peat moss, compost or aged composted manure. Bedding material high in cellulose is best to use. These materials include plants and paper. These materials help aerate the environment for the worms.

How many worms do you need to add to the bin?

Two pounds of worms can recycle a pound of food waste in 24 hours. Just add the worms to the top of the prepared bin and they will make their way into the bedding. Cover the bin with a lid or burlap because worms do not like the light. They become paralyzed and can die.

What can I add to the bin for waste?

The worms can compost any type of shredded yard waste and many kinds of food: pulverized egg shells, coffee grounds, tea bags, vegetable and fruit waste, grass clippings, manure and sewage sludge.

Do not add chemicals or insecticides of any kind. Do not add raw meat, bones, dairy products, garlic, onion or spicy foods. Do not add too much citric fruit as well.

It is best to use a food processor to break the food into smaller pieces and speed up the composting. Do not add food to the same place in the bin. Add food to different areas of the bin so it does not accumulate in one spot. In about 2 to 3 months the bedding material will be composted. At that time separate the composted material from any new material still in the bin. Move the composted material to one side, add fresh bedding material and wait until the worms move over to the new material then collect the composted material. Do make sure that food is covered over in the bedding material each time you add it. Otherwise, it will attract other insects and pests. Again, covering the bin with burlap and straw will help deter any pests.

What is the optimal temperature at which to keep the bin?

Bedding temperatures between 55 and 77 degrees Fahrenheit are the best. Keep the worms from freezing. Keep the worms from getting soaked by the rain if the bin is stored outside. The worms will drown. Covering the bin with straw in the winter or even in the summer is best to prevent the bedding material from drying out. If placing your bin in the garage or basement remember to keep it between those critical temperatures of 55 and 77 degrees Fahrenheit year-round.

How much will I reduce my family’s garbage by using a worm bin?

The Environmental Protection Agency states that on average most families throw away about 1.3 pounds daily. The challenge is to see how much you can reduce the garbage each week. Can your family get the garbage down to half a bag of trash? The biggest challenge will be what to do with all the plastic packaging. About 1/3 of all our packaging is plastic. If what you are throwing away is just all non recyclable plastic, you are doing a great job recycling and composting which in turn reduces your environmental footprint.

The National Gardening Bureau

The National Gardening Bureau was the brain child of James H. Burdett who envisioned an increasing suburban lifestyle. During World War II the NGB placed their emphasis on Victory Gardens. Later after WWII, the emphasis of NGB changed to encompass community beautification. Today, the NGB is a non-profit organization with memberships from various seed companies, growers, corporations and individuals who are all about selling, producing or breeding plants.

The mission of the National Garden Bureau is to disseminate basic instructions for backyard gardeners. If you go to the website: www.ngb.org you will have access to new varieties, articles and companies. Most of the companies are within the United States.

There are 95 new varieties to preview with pictures and information and a click away from the retailers and wholesalers where they are available for purchase.

Their gardening links to the web are fabulous. They have a wide selection of reliable sources of information from lots of horticulture/gardening magazines, blogs, associations, directories of public gardens and extension websites across the United States and more. It is almost overwhelming. But it puts together a lot of information at your fingertips especially for the backyard gardener. It is an on-line library of information on horticulture. If you don't know about the National Gardening Bureau, get acquainted with it.

As a tradition, the National Garden Bureau selects one vegetable and one flower which is their choice for the season. In 2012, NGB is selecting one vegetable, one flower and one perennial. The vegetable is herbs; the annual is geranium; the perennial is coral bells. So go to their site and enjoy viewing the selections during the winter.

What is an All-American Selection?

In 1932 W. Ray Hastings who was president of the Southern Seedsmen's Association of Atlanta, Georgia proposed the idea of an All-American Selection. This was a way of helping home gardeners which new varieties are truly improved and assist garden consumer editors a way of getting reliable information. In the 1920's the information was misleading from time to time.

Thanks to W. Ray Hastings there is a national network of trial grounds throughout North American climates. The seed trials accept only unsold varieties. Since 1933, there have been AAS Winners introduced each year. The AAS is the oldest, most established international testing organization in North America. There are many other breeders from Japan and Europe that also flood the market with new varieties each year. But North America can rely on unsold tested varieties from various test gardens in North America.

Each year a panel of judges award two awards each year. The two awards are: 1) AAS Gold Metal Award for a breeding breakthrough and is given about once or twice a decade; 2) for a flower or vegetable with the achievement of being superior to all others on the market.

Since the AAS does not advertise the new winners, their public relations department informs gardeners each September about winners. The AAS depends on extension agents as well as magazines to introduce the winners to the general public.

For 2012 the following are AAS Winners:

Ornamental Pepper 'Black Olive' has an attractive purple foliage which endured the heat in the southern trial gardens.

Salvia 'Summer Jewel Pink' the blooms appear two weeks earlier than other pink salvias is prolific throughout the summer.

Pepper 'Cayennetta' F1 it required no staking on this well branched plant that produced bigger yields. It has an excellent mild spicy taste and was easy to grow for beginner gardeners. It also has good cold tolerance and handled extreme heat as well.

Watermelon 'Faerie' F1 the vines spread to only 11' with prolific fruit set, general disease and insect tolerance. The fruit has a high sugar content with a crispy texture. The outside of the melon is creamy yellow with thin stripes.

Give these All-American Selections a try. Let your local greenhouse know that you are interested in growing these plants this season. Remember: consumers drive the market.

Proven Winners for Your Landscape

What is a Proven Winner? Plants that have this brand are considered to be the best annuals, perennials and shrubs in the world. These plants are chosen as top performers because they survived extensive trials and tests to prove they are disease-resistant and easy to grow while producing long-lasting color. In addition, these plants are tolerant of heat and humidity. All the plants chosen to be a Proven Winner go through a three year selection process. This sounds like an Olympics for plants. The greatest benefit of all is that because these plants perform so well, they reduce the need for chemical usage in your garden.

How did all these new plants happen? A man named Ushio Sakazaki was in Brazil raising grapes. While failing at the grape business during his stay there, he came upon a plant that was growing in the Rain Forest. This plant was a wild species of petunia with thousands of flowers on one plant that spread like a carpet. He brought the seed back to Japan. He applied state-of-the-art-gene technology and came up with a plant that resulted in a cross between the wild and domestic petunia called: Surfinia. And from there the technique is applied to other plants. The Superbena is a cross between the wild and domestic verbenas. The Rockapulco is a cross between the wild and domestic impatient plants.

Every year there are plants added to the ever growing list of Proven Winners.

For 2012 here is a list of annuals for your containers and landscape gardens:

Superbells®Cherry Star

This cherry pink bloom has a golden yellow star radiating from its center. All the Superbells Family has bountiful blooms, great color and easy maintenance.

Superbells®Sweet Tart

This has a soft pink flower with a large lemon yellow eye. This annual will bounce back after a rain or dry spell looking fresh and vigorous.

Supertunia®White Russian

This has antique white petals with dark veins and a dark eye. It is a striking plant. Want attention? This plant will get it.

Rockapulco®Coral Reef

Bright coral pink blooms are large and rose-shaped. The Rockapulco is the most floriferous of this series to date.

Superbena®Royal Peachy Keen

This flower has fragrant clusters with great color and vigorous growth. The blooms are a rich salmon and turn to a blush peach hue as they age. This is low maintenance, heat-tolerant and grows to 6-10 inches tall and blooms all season long. What more could you ask for?

For more information or photos go to www.provenwinner.com . More information coming soon on new shrubs and top perennials for 2012.