Health knowledge made personal
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2. Waste not, want not. From the Kitchen to the Composter from Pattie Baker on Vimeo . The average American throws out 4.6 pounds of trash per day (that's per person in a family). Here are ways to slash that number by 75% or more. (And, yes, I know the oven needs cleaning, and yes, the birds have been tearing at my screens to use for nests.) Since we grow food to feed folks in need, there is no such thing as closing up the garden for the winter. Instead, we expanded our Team Food Pantry to make sure all 16 of our grow spaces for the food pantry at the community garden are cultivated and tended, we raised enough money in three days from our community (and beyond) to install a completely new garden right at the church where the food pantry takes place each Wednesday ( see the story here ), we are adding up to three greens-growing tables like this one managed by esteemed professional farmer and new community garden board member, Rod Pittman, to the soon-to-be-restored greenhouse in the park where our community garden is, and we are exploring other strategies to keep things growing--and people eating--every day of the year.   4. When the student is ready, the teachers appear.I've never grown food in a greenhouse. I've never built a hoop house. Yet, somehow, we must, and soon (since Hunger Never Takes a Holiday). And so, I can't say I was surprised, since things like this keep happening lately, but it did take my breath away a little when, seemingly out of the heavens, a man I've never met before named John Herron appeared yesterday. Bob Lundsten, Robert Wittenstein and I were thinning arugula, and suddenly John was looming there, saying things like, "Hi. I've heard about this organic community garden . . ." Turns out John had little-to-no food-growing experience just recently. He then decided he wanted to learn. Did he plant a garden, read books, visit community gardens? No. He went directly to Milwaukee, Wisconsin and took an intensive three-day workshop with the MacArthur Foundation "Genius Grant" recipient Will Allen of Growing Power . And he walked into our community garden yesterday morning and waxed poetic about the potential growing power of greenhouses. John took a trowel and joined us, and frankly, it was all we could do to not tie him up in the corner and never let him leave. He actually had to call home at one point to let his wife know he had not been taken hostage. Just like Rebecca Barria appeared from nowhere to lead this community garden a little over a year ago, so did John to help take us to the next level. He emanates passion, and if there is one thing that is always welcome in our garden, it's passion. In fact, I don't think a community garden can truly be successful without it. As we like to say, John, welcome to our rabbit hole. What's more, do you think it is a coincidence that the next Crop Mob Atlanta event is to build a hoop house at the farm where I took my Organic Farming course ? There are no coincidences. And yes, we're already signed up. Oh, Bob and John, did I tell you about that? Robert, you want in, too? C'mon--it'll be fun! 5. More is possible. Learning how other people grow food in the community garden and around the country and world flings my mind open to realize how much is possible. I ran the numbers for our projects--perhaps these will be helpful to you as points of comparison wherever you may live: The Dunwoody Community Garden * 60 4' x 8' plots (plus an ever-expanding number of perimeter plantings, but they are not included in these numbers) * 1,920 square feet of grow space (8,000 s.f total area, by the way) * 2 pounds of food per square foot per year (an often-quoted study in Ohio indicates the raised bed potential at about 1.24 pounds per square foot, and Cuban gardens yield about 4 pounds per square foot, so, based on our climate, I see 2 pounds per square foot as very realistic) would yield 3,840 pounds of food (If you are not getting 64 pounds of food/$320 worth of food value per year from your bed, you are under-utilizing the potential of your gardening bed!) * $5 value per pound of food (this takes into account the wide range of organic crop values, from a buck or two per pound for some crops to $2.99 per 2 ounces for herbs to $5 per pound for heirloom tomatoes to $4 per 5 ounces for microgreens) equals $19,200 worth of food per year on a previously unused, unloved piece of land The New 5-Bed Food Pantry Garden * Budget: $2500 (all donated within three days by people close to home and around the country), to include professional building (long-lasting 2" thick cedar) and installation (including grading and leveling); top-quality soil, compost and perfectly-matched organic fertilizer (Farmer D brand products: FYI, here is a whole boatload of stuff about Farmer D ) to maximize how quickly we can start donating; and a year's worth of plants, seeds, and soil amendments, plus some ancillary purchases such as watering cans, trowels, compost bins and a hose nozzle. * 5 4' x 8' beds=160 square feet of grow space= 320 potential pounds of food per year (64 pounds per bed) at $5 per pound = $1,600 in potential donated food value per year, so we'd have a break-even for start-up costs in about a year or so on this garden. I'm off to dig at Garden Isaiah later. I hear Roy's back . That's good news. Roy would like John Herron. Roy went to a Growing Power workshop, too, but in Chicago because his son, David, interned for Will Allen one summer at the Growing Power location in that city. Here's a story about how David started a community garden for the homeless while still in college. I love this picture of Roy and David. I hope my daughters always stand next to me with their arms so lovingly across my shoulders like that. I hope I have learned how to plant the seeds that sustain that. |
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Kicking Off National Vegetarian Month from Pattie Baker on Vimeo .
Interested in going meat-free, even if just one day a week or just for National Vegetarian Month (which is now)? It was one of the easiest things I ever did (I'm at three and half years now). Here is a quick, three-post snapshot of my first year (start at the bottom post and work up). And, as always, apologies about the camera work in the video!