There's a print my Mom always keeps around..

"When life doth fail to satisfy, there is always the garden!"

Jason and others might be interested in this ......

http://farmtocafeteriaconference.com/

I can't comment for Jason, but the "off season" for school is a problem - but it is a problem that can be solved.

I love this key post - it demonstrates the Baby Steps we need to take to make our communities less dependent on outside sources of food.

As for the criticisms down thread:

1. Is this a "Farm" or "Garden" ??? Who Cares. It's a START. I think Jason and company are doing the best they can with what they have available at the moment.

2. Labor availability (volunteer or paid). At first, many people love the idea, but lose interest when it is time to do the work... So plan on this and adjust for it. You migh have to start smaller, or recruit more people than you realized. Or find a better community to work with (this may involve the inconvenience of relocating, but hey, that's better than being on the menu later when your present dimbulb and lazy community is starving).

3. Use of fossil fuel-powered equipment... Get the garden/farm started, then try to wean yourself off of fossil fuels and onto animal (including human) power as time permits. There are a few people out there besides the Amish who still know how to hook up a mule or horse to a plow - find them and learn from them.

4. Interpersonal issues (e.g. late returns of tools; the inevitable, "it's MY WAY (Airdale's way) or the Highway" attitudes of volunteers/paid help), etc, etc. This is an issue on the farm or in the office... get used to it.

Over time hopefully you weed out the malcontents and egos and end up with a group of reasonably helpful, good-natured people and a few odd balls you can all learn to tolerate.

I haven't seen a great amount of student involvement, especially in the summer. A school staff person is working on developing a "Kids Garden" within the farm site and that should increase student activity.

The students return to school the 3rd week of August so there's plenty of activity for them to see. The district didn't want the farm unmanaged during the summer, but since the farm mostly pays its own way by selling CSA shares I am there during the summer most days.

Take your meds.

You say you're sorry, but the tone of your post suggests otherwise and is further not really in the spirit of the campfire. If you want to point out that some tilling and mechanic work is a necessary part of medium-scale gardening, by all means, do so. But couldn't that have been done without dragging this personal stuff into it? Couldn't you have contacted Jason in some other means?

Jason- kudos. I know of several people in my own neck of the north looking to start similar projects and I can't tell you how helpful it is to have examples to point to.

Wow. Really embarrassing (and not to Jason).

Hi Todd,

I'd like to try something, namely, "translating" what I hear you saying, into a "model" that is designed to facilitate people hearing each other's feelings and needs, without shame or blame. (References and further explanations at www.cnvc.org, www.newconversations.net, www.gordontraining.com).

There's a lot to it, and I'm not all that experienced. May I use your post as an example?

I'd welcome your feedback on specifics. Like...are any of my "translations" accurate? And are the "requests" meaningful and would they satisfy you?

Here goes:

"I hate to call bullshit on this..."

When I read this post and saw no mention of Harry’s equipment and his other contributions, I felt dismayed, and perhaps a little helpless. Dismayed, because I value the contribution of my friend Harry, and a little helpless, because I don’t know of any way to give voice to my feelings and concerns that is both authentic and, at the same time, conveys the strength of my feelings and values. ; i.e., I have a need for emotional safety in our conversations and a need for authenticity, both of them together.

Jason, I’m wondering if you’d be willing to write up an additional section that describes the contribution Harry made?

Second, I have a need for honesty and completeness when we relate topics of agriculture to fossil fuel use. I again felt - dismay, and a little bit of (anger – as a “sign of unmet need”).

So, I guess what I'd like to see at this point is – would you be willing to write up an account of the way that equipment and fossil fuels were important to this project? I’d like it to include perhaps an account of the total FF use, and, perhaps, if you have an idea, of how many “machine-hours” were required to bring the project to completion.

This would help me because it would give a more complete account of the ways we currently depend on FF, and thus it would ease my concern that people would think this could be done just as easily in a time of FF constraint. This last point is a real concern to me. I have such concern for the well being of people who are unfamiliar with “peak oil”. I’d like to help, and for me, this means, giving as complete an account as we can manage.

Finally, I feel that I also contributed, in a small way and I’d like to have acknowledgment for this.

And, one more thing – Harry told me about your not returning equipment at a time (according to him) you’d agreed upon. I didn't think of saying this to him at the time, but I’m wondering if you’d be willing to perhaps take initiative and talk to Harry about it directly?

Todd, it's not clear what your real complaint is, other than equipment not being returned at specific times. It seems there are other issues at play here. This kind of post detracts from the example you have been trying to set; I'll assume you had a particularly bad day.

If you are aware of Jason's use of fossil fuel powered cultivation and harvesting equipment, and petroleum fertilizers/herbicides/pesticides, then perhaps you should explain. The use of a tiller to break tough sod is appropriate in my view, and doesn't in any way detract from the generally low use of fossil fuels for the other aspects of the gardening endeavor.

Jason, you might mention how your approach reduces the amount of fossil fuel normally used in industrial agriculture. The use of local draft horses might be just the thing to really garner attention.

When the farm broke ground we used a tractor that one of the school board members, Bob Harper, borrowed from a friend.

Since the site is full of some kind of fescue, the grass came back strong. The local rental center let us borrow a rototiller for a weekend and we went over it all again.

The grass came right back. We removed the now weakened sod by hand from there and made a big pile near the back stop. This goes into compost heaps but is still significant. We used a Glaser wheel hoe for that job and broke it repeatedly. I eventually got a strained shoulder and poor Chris took on more than a fair share.

The next season begins and we are still clearing grass by hand with the Glaser hoe. We have learned not to let the Glaser hoe go up against the fescue and use an adze for the clumps of it. Now Chris is the one with the strained shoulder, so we borrow Harry's tiller, which is an extremely good walk behind and use it for a while to till about half the site.

I didn't know he was upset by that. I called and asked him if he needed it back right away as the job was taking longer than expected. It was extremely useful. We went through a few gallons of gasoline with it.

This winter I had a small tractor come in and disc about half the annual cultivation area. Mike Curry did this job and I paid him $60 for it. Then I broadcasted cover crop seeds. These were seeds we grew out last year, then harvested and cleaned by hand.

Now everyone knows how many times mechanical, fossil-fuel powered tillage has occurred. I do this work right under the eye of the whole school, so there are no secrets and while I certainly would like to "get off the sauce" completely it is quite true that I have not yet done so.

Options for clearing out that perennial sod are limited. I have tried all non-herbicide ways I can think of.

"Another idea related to rain catchment might be to use this water to wash the salt out of Sargassum weed and other algae that washes up on our local beaches to then process this in a compost pile for fertilizer".

When I lived on the sub-tropical coast of eastern Australia, I used bullweed that was washed up on the shore on my mandala permaculture garden. Dragged it home off the beach, soaked it for about a day in fresh water, then rinsed it, and applied it on the garden. Has lots of nutrient goodies, especially iodine. Also served as a long lasting mulch cover.

I never tried composting it. I thought that the tough cell structure might take too long to break down in the heap. I am not familiar with sargassum, so I won't comment on it's composting suitability.

Not to let Cally get all the Laudits, Portland Maine is in the house, too!

http://blog.portcitystudios.com/2008/07/02/the-most-beautiful-community-...
The Most Beautiful Community Garden in the Country

The expansion also included a pretty sizable school garden for the East End Community School across the street (in the background of the photos below- you can just make out the solar panels on the top of the building), and a small orchard of apple and pear trees- a pet project for Jeff Tarling, the City’s Chief Arborist and one of my heroes here in Portland.

(The Solar Panels are on this school as well, and they have applied for a Wind Turbine permit. Apparently, the big-block apartment building that is the eyesore of the Eastern Prom has been the only opponent, citing that they don't want to have to look at such a monstrosity.)

Wow! What an opportunity. I'd love to connect with you. Email me at the campfire at theoildrum.com address please.

Hi Len
I like your peas and oats combination. A friend of mine routinely grows his oats this way. Of course oats like buckwheat help to make phosphorous bio-available to plants. Since 95% of all nutrients have to go into the plant in a phosphate form. Phosphorous is crucial.


As I have been learning, phosphorous above a ph of 7 binds with calcium (calphos) another reason why the ideal ph for most crops is 6.5. The slightly acidic environment helps minerals to break down.


As Eric Blair said:

"But science has this to say on the topic:


Fungi obtains sugar from the plants roots and the fungi breaks down Phosphate rocks into P for the plant. The fungi also helps bring water to the plant (the fungi acts like an extension to the root system) When one has "free" P to the plant, the plants don't need the fungi and that disrupts the soil food web.


So yes, there is a difference."

The operative fungi are known as mycorrhizal fungal organisms. Sir Albert Howard in his Agricultural testiment was keen on composting systems working in order to feed those symbiots. mycorrhizal fungi when planted with trees will dramatically increase the survivability of little trees. And it is clear to my way of seeing things that mycorrhizal fungal organisms should be understood as intrinsic to the definition of 'humus'.


The problem with 'chemical' or synthetic chemical fertilizers (as I understand it)is that whether its the salt formation or the fact that it burns up the organic matter (read 'humus') is that for the short term there is a great boon to growth and quality. The problem is the medium to long term -organic matter levels fall and once they drop below 3% then disease and other problems like insects start showing up (they are trying to save us). If you are feeling up for a challenge I would suggest that as few as 2 crops grown with 19 19 19 will throw your potassium levels so high that you will have a wonderful time playing a game of tug and war with broadleaf weeds that want to re-balance the soil. Fertilizers come first then comes the 'cides' (herbicide/pesticide)as Dan Skow from International Ag labs has been teaching (source Acres U.S.A. Read up on the joys of toxic rescue chemistry)


I think I could find more than a few agronomists that would take issue with the notion that chemical fertilizers are identical to compost or manure in their effect in the soil and for the health of the plants. In fact a quick test of how you should feel about chemical fertilizer is to note how your lettuce turns brown and rots in 3 days. Food should for the most part de-hydrate not rot (calcium absorption helps to dictate storability). If you are planning on a root cellar then if you want to use 'miracle grow' you will find it to be a miracle if any of your produce keeps versus spoiling. One could, however; on say, virgin soil ( a forest now cut down) grow high quality high yielding crops using chemical fertilizers. The problem however is that this is not sustainable over anything but the short term. As the orchard growers of yesteryear found out but didn't immeadiately see the connection between the initial boon to their harvests and the later connection with insect predation (about 10 years)the result of the attack and consequent diminishing of the organic matter in the soil from the chemical fertilizers. The salts formed by the consequence of irrigation and chemical fertilizer use are now coming into the plants. Thomas Pawlick in his book: 'The End of Food' records that tests done in the U.K., Canada and by the U.S.D.A. show that sodium levels in tomatoes have risen about 200%.


Routine use of chemical fertilizers leads to phosphorous run off into the streams and then into rivers or lakes where many cities source their water. The phosphorous binds with the fluoride (added to help your teeth) a dominant halogen. According to an article in Acres U.S.A. this will interfere with your thyroids ability to produce thyroxin which we need to metabolize sugar.


Nutritionally you can test and show nutritional superiority to 'organic' produce. Use your taste buds a higher brix is evidence of phosphorous functioning properly and of minerals being assimilated into the produce/fruit.


Unfortunately 'organic' has become a toxic word with certifying shenanigans, in the attempt to help out the food monster machine that is destroying the planet. By defining organic in terms of 'inputs'.


What many people fail to understand, no doubt due to poor reporting, is that organic is more than the u.s.d.a. definition. It is about the cultural (agri-'culture') practices. Ccpo draws a distinction between how the crops were grown and this is a great point. Len I use horses and horse drawn equipment (as well as modern) and agree with you about this. In fact with the advent of hydraulics many newer very efficient horse powered machines are possible.

I am not sure where anyone gets the idea that I don't listen to older farmers. In fact, much of what I do is listen to a local master gardener who is 64. I also get visits and hand written letters from a local farmer who is probably in his 70s.

Ideally a vegetable farm like this is connected to land with animals on it and can take advantage of them is many ways. I am constrained by the social context around me as much as anything. Neighboring land is fallow, or used for soccer, or has lonely riding horses on it.

Anyone who thinks "organic" fertilizer chemistry is magically superior to pure industrially produced fertilizer chemistry is mistaken

Sure, because magic does not exist.

But science has this to say on the topic:

Fungi obtains sugar from the plants roots and the fungi breaks down Phosphate rocks into P for the plant. The fungi also helps bring water to the plant (the fungi acts like an extension to the root system) When one has "free" P to the plant, the plants don't need the fungi and that disrupts the soil food web.

So yes, there is a difference.

Without chemical fertilizers several billion of the population would not exist. Africa is a good example. Africa’s soils are depleted, similar to what the rest of the world was like before chemical fertilizers.

It is hard to recycle all crop, human and animal waste, and importantly, all bones. Not doing so is going to be the end of the human era, probably within two centuries as deposits of phosphate are exhausted.

Phosphate rock is used by some “organic” farmers; however, it contains harmful cadmium and uranium. Ordinary chemical phosphate fertilizers contain fewer contaminants than phosphate rock, but are still not contaminant free.

Chemically purified fertilizers are available from several suppliers such as Hafia and Scotts; however, you need to get a product sheet on each particular fertilizer. Most of the water soluble fertilizers like Miracle Grow are pure. Scotts Champion is available in 25 lb bags form nursery supply companies and is more affordable than the small quantities of Miracle Grow, etc. I regularly use Hafia mono-potassium phosphate in 50 lb. bags and potassium nitrate also in 50 lbs. (A few bags of each make an excellent long term survival kit.)

The purity of fertilizers can be checked at web sites run by the states of Washington and Oregon:
http://agr.wa.gov/PestFert/fertilizers/ProductDatabase.aspx
http://oda.state.or.us/dbs/heavy_metal/search.lasso

High levels of phosphorous in the soil encourage growth of all kinds of organisms, including those that fix nitrogen.

damn, your crystal ball is clear today.

What about all the electric pumps required for hydroponics? I assume your enclosed buildings have transparent roofs to let in the sun? My little hydroponic tomatoes need fresh water nearly every day...I'm not sure how I could reclaim that at all.

Is there in fact a clear demarcation between a large garden and a small farm? Sometimes when I think about these issues, and the kind of activity I'd like to get involved in, I don't know whether I should be talking about "gardening" or "farming".

Airdale fumed:

I am not that easy to get along with

No! Really?

Good luck with your project!
Here it's pretty much a standard part of the curriculum and the teachers have to teach "in the field" as it were. I think they don't mind. Everyone seems to like a chance to get out of the boring classrooms....

The point is that everyone can really learn from the experience. The kids talk about what is going on in the fields. Discussions get going and awareness is increased.

Some people who get exposure to farming (or gardening!!!) at school (whether they're volunteers or students or teachers or parents) will learn and some may choose to do it on a larger scale privately somewhere else later. Also they may need to do so. The experience they gain is something that may be a real help to them later. It is just a start but it is a great place to start.

The parents aren't involved here in the school gardening-farming effort except some families volunteer to do watering over the sunmmer vacation. I would like to be more involved but the school's fields are so small that there is just enough work for the kids and the teachers. Anyway, I have my own little veggie patch that keeps me busy.

Hi Y. I hear what you're saying and do sympathsize. Regarding "Howto learn", I sympathsize. Honestly, I'm no good at it myself, especially the very exotic (and difficult) skills involved in animal care excellence. I can organize a crop planting and harvest, do the economic calculations required to determine optimum tradeoffs regarding field crops, but haven't a clue how my older brother is able to recall the lifetime breeding history of every ewe in a hundred head herd, who its parents were and their strengths and weaknesses, how well its lambs performed three years ago and any medical ailments it may have ever had and how to optimally treat it. He's continued on successfully farming to now being retired with just a 200 head herd of brood cows which he keeps in/near the Alberta foothills as simply a hobby along with a half-section kitchen garden in the prized heavy loam south of Calgary. I'm sure he knows the names and parentages of every one of those 200 cows. Arggg. I can't do it, so took a scholarship to honours math and physics and haven't gone back, though in many ways I really miss it, the sense of accomplishment each day, personal control and responsibility.

Could we (myself or my brother) go back to near-subsistence on a pre-fossil farm? Sure, we know all the issues, what works, what doesn't and why. Labour efficiency tradeoffs of various crop options etc. How to bring a set of farm animals through a 7 month winter where temperatures can drop to minus 40 for weeks at a time, etc. (You haven't lived untill you've been asigned to draw water by hand from a hand-pump well for a herd of 50 cattle through a northern Canadian winte. Bring your axe) I wouldn't starve (probably), he'd thrive.

Don't know for sure, but I do know that the knowledge my brother carries is what it used to take to survive and succeed, and I don't have very much of it.

A while ago a Canadian cable TV channel ran a season series based on the concept of two selected volunteer couples pioneering for a summer on a homestead in Manitoba, a bit north of Winnipeg. Rich flat land, enough trees to provide fuel and building material. An ideal setup. The selected couples were chosen for their survival skills, knowledge of subsistence and pioneer period ag. techniques, authenticity etc. A very good process I thought. They were provided a spring start in an area with a fair bit or clear land and some woodlot, provided the same sort of basic startup materials which new settlers could have expected if they'd planned well, and a video camera to record with. No other contact.

Basically, they chose to plant potatoes the first summer to make up the buk of their winter food. They hand-dug the planting, but were caught by an unusually cool wet summer. The potatoe crop completely failed and one of the two men on the team had to be evacuated to an emergency ward with heart failure. They just didn't have the skills. Wouldn't have survived the following winter in a real situation.

Another item that occurs to me is how great a contribution our mother made to the farming team. She was a walking repository of critical botanical information, identifying diseases and pests, how to counteract them with resources at hand. Mom and Dad seemed to have their particular areas of speciality, and would easily refer questions from one to the other depending on their understanding of the knowledge base involved. And both, in their prime, could out-work anyone else though mom is a slight pretty english girl who likes to dress up for church (she'll be 90 next month). She fed the family winter and summer with all vegetables and fruit from the gardens she operated near the house (except for the staple potatoes which dad grew in a few acre field for our own use and for barter). An excellent and creative cook who might begin a desert preparation by assigning one of us to hand-crank the cream separator to provide the fresh unpasteurized cream base for her wild strawberry sauce over white cake specialty which I still think I haven't seen surpassed. Raspberries, currant bush rows, wild blueberries. Carrots, beets, beans, peas, every sort of vegetable, carefully preserved for winter using only a wood stove and a pressure cooker. Homemade soap. Homemade bread, always fresh and delicious. We used to make our own tallow candles. Hand-driven washing machine for clothes. Mom occasionally provided wine with a special dinner, wines she'd made herself from locally natural fruits. She knew how to collect salad greens from a wide variety of locally indigenous plants and serve them skillfully. She could produce a splendid meal from whatever was on hand t a moment's notice, because Dad, being very gregarious, was always inviting other families over and travel being so difficult, whenever anyone arrived it was inevitably unannounced (no telephones) and they were certain to stay for at least one meal. Just a wonderful irreplaceable resource.

On hand tools, we even used a hand-cranked sheep shear to collect the wool from the sheep herd. That was a bicep builder, though I haven't kept them (the biceps). Had a stand with a crank and flywheel, and a mechanical driveshaft with three universal joints going out to a cutter head on the clipper.

One additional point. One of the greatest difficulties of that lifestyle is dealing with cereal grains as food. Prior to mechanization we really had no way of preparing cereal grains wither for ourselves or for animal feed. Feeding even oats or barley uncrushed to cattle, horses or pigs amounts to a great waste, they'll often simply excrete it unchanged. Makes chicken feed. One we got our first tractor, we immediately got a grain crusher, essentially a steel-plate grinder. I experimented several times with collecting flour from it and getting mom to bake bread with it. That worked fine, though it was course and not up to mom's standards so she'd use purchased flour. This is a niche problem which subsistence planners should deal with.

How to farm asks Wyoming.

A good question and the resulting reply from me at least would be more of a sort of Chautauqua(sp) or long country store. Too long for a comment post to go into too much detail.

But the flavor of it is something perhaps I can impart. I'll give that a shot and leave out a lot of details.

The first thing one is aware of is your kinfolks. In the case of kids its your cousins. They played a tremendous role in my farm life. Then my uncles and aunts who were still on that farm. But mostly my grandfather and grandmother. I know now that my grandfather was maybe half or quarter Cherokee Indian and the rest Slovenian. My grandmothers ancestors fought in the Rev. War,a Captain and a Colonel. Another fought with D. Boone in Ky. Another who came here to this county was given a military land grant of 1,000 acres for fighting in the War of 1812.

My Grandfather,he knew how to do things that were beyond my comphrension even now. Make a boat paddle with a pole and piece of broken glass. Weave a bullwhip. Catch fish easily. Plow all day with a mule or a drawn sickle bar mower. I loved the old man but he never showed much open affection in return.

What he did was show us the way to do things. We were almost totally self-sufficient then. No autos. No tractors. No ice. No electric. Three mules and the implements and a wagon. He had 7 sons and hired them out when others asked. Usually hired means 'traded out work' and sometimes staples. Money I never saw. Also had 7 daughters.

But we lived as I saw it very very good. Work was hard but if you didn't know 'lazy' then you thought it was normal.

We had chickens,geese,sheep,cattle,mules and hogs. We raised corn and a huge garden. Cut and pitchforked hay and stored in the loft. Put potatoes under lime in the corner of the barn. Along with the corn on the ear and in the shuck. Raised tobacco sometimes as well.

I would visit with my kinfolks and play with my cousins. The roads were shaded by massive trees. Honeysuckle grew rampant. The air was like perfume. We would pick berries. Play childs games. Eat well. Sleep well. Grow strong. Some Sundays everyone would come and visit and sit around. You never worked on Sunday if you could help it.

Now I live a few miles from that old farm. In the county I was born and raised in. I can go over these roads and recall much of my youth. I can still visit many cousins and laugh with them. Talk about old times. Go visit them when the go to the hospital.

I am kin to many people here. My ancestors came here around 1820 and thats on all sides.Cherokee Indian, Irish, French Flanders and Slovenia. My mother is full Irish. I am I guess maybe 1/4 or 1/8 Native American depending on some research I haven't completed as yet. Lots of folks here have some Native American blood. Some Choctaw. Most Cherokee.

We have IMO some of the best soil anywhere. Copious water. Perfect climate. Lots of lakes and creeks and rivers. Four rivers meet nearby. Tennessee,Cumberland,Ohio and Mississippi. This is called the Jackson Purchase as General/President Jackson got it from the Native Americans who had it and decided to move on.Sometime after the massive earthquake of 1812-1814.

Life on the farms that I knew was very good.

Can I tell you or anyone 'how to farm'? No. Its all in the doing of it. Not in the telling of it. But I hope I have given you a view of how it was for me. Even during WWII and the end of the Great Depression. It was always good.

I am a very healthy person due to that environment and lifestyle.

I never look back with sorrow or regret. I hear of others who had misery or hardtimes on farms way back. I never saw that. Perhaps it was our soil and climate and other factors.

Since the men , like my father , were all gone off to the war, my models were the oldtimers. My grandfather,grandmother and all the rest around here. I learned to live by 'Their Code'. Your word needed to be true. You were judged by that. You need'nt to lie. You just told it the way it was.

This is the way I lived all my life. I took a lot of heat for it. I had many career appraisials when my mgrs told me I had to be a 'team player'. Yet when someone had to fly off to a corporation somewhere to fix their mainframe, I was usually picked. The rest of the 'team players' weaseled out. The reason I went was I had 10 years of field experience in customer accounts.

But I retired and sold my small horse farm in Lexington ,Ky and moved back to this one to live out my life. And try to return to what I knew and loved.

I am sucessfully doing exactly what I want to do. Each and every day. All I own is paid off. I only have one CC acct that I owe on.

This is the way I see it and this is the way I do it. I do have a lot of electronic toys though. This was my profession. I can let them go though but while they are still working then I use them. I also repair and consult on others equipment. I can do that as I wish or not. My choice.I have a homestead exemption on my place so I pay no property taxes. I pay some Federal but no State since pensions are not taxed here.

One last thing. Around here if you get sick and bedridden you can expect the women around here to bring you a lot of covered dishes. There is still some of that type of lifestyle going on. We are fond of our churches and a lot of social life goes on there. Dinners and so forth. Lots of good singing and preaching. We are not like the big city church people. We are quite insular. I don't go anymore as much as I used to and not as much as I should. But one varies on that and no one hounds you about it. Your reputation is what you must preserve. Its sometimes makes a lot of difference.

Airdale

Community gardens are very popular in Boulder - you can google "Growing Gardens" and see how they summarize their mission. I garden there (2 plots, total 400 sq ft) because my HOA won't allow fences (see below) and we have deer and rabbits. Also, there isn't a spare sunny 400 sq ft around my home. What I have enjoyed is the chance to share culture, knowledge, and the fruits of my efforts with my "garden neighbors". Somehow, many of the people who garden near me are also known to me from other parts of my life, such as my street, my kids' school, etc... In addition, Growing Gardens promotes many programs to empower marginalized groups, with disabled gardens, youth groups growing and selling produce at the Farmer's Market, a Peace Garden for children, and educational programs concerning compost, beekeeping, and many others.

They are places where kids can putter around and see food growing. There are limitations to this, for example - I am not sure whether it's Boulder or community gardens as a whole - there sure are a lot of rules here, from keeping your kids within your own (fences not allowed here either) plot, or the recurrent "weedy warnings" some people get, where they threaten to take your plot away if you don't pull your weeds by a certain date. Still, on balance, It satisfies my need to learn a little about growing food; to grow some affordable roses, zinnia, organic strawberries, garlic, better peas, beans and carrots than I can find at the market, and some corn my kids can eat right off the plant.

1) In a small town you get to know people. I used personal relationships backed by common interests and simply asked. I don't recall the details. It was "a big deal" that came naturally.

2) I wrote a letter that had official looking letter head, showing this was a non-profit type service project. Then I went into stores and offices and asked for donations. Many local business people have school kids so they loved the idea.

3) The school newsletter had a questionaire for parents. No objections came in. All 60 odd responses were positive. I presented at a PTO meeting. All teachers signed a letter of support that I had circulated. I'd go out to coffee with the principal and we'd talk it all over. I wrote a rather lengthy report, got draft comments and rewrote with their questions addressed specifically. Just a lot of common sense leg work. Everyone seems thrilled to have bees around. They visit the clover in the lawn, the flowers by the bus stop, the Madrone trees on campus, etc. We may get an observation hive next year.

4) We make sure to demonstrate quality in all our work. Top notch fencing, gates, and other infrastructure. This is a public site and so we try to keep it looking good. We want the kids to see what quality looks and tastes like.

Little resistance yes. Lot's of support. It was truly a no brainer. The biggest issue is convincing the powers that be that you won't drop a big mess in their lap. By the time I did this project I was known at the school and around town as a dedicated community volunteer.

This is a really under appreciated area of research. I used it during my discussions with the school board. Growing food in great, live soil should produce excellent nutritional quality and density.

Are there any "Sustainable Organic Farmers" ?

What if the states occupational programs started to train folks to be farmers ?

A lot of politics in the school system ...

Young adults are mostly not into becoming a farmer

you can imagine what an ongoing battle this is .....

http://www.corninghs.org/88610510203754793/site/default.asp

I don't do a lot of work with the kids directly as the school has a garden educator. But they do come out to the farm and say "Hi Farmer Jason" in unison. I walk over and talk to them, pick stuff up and do a show and tell. I planted a lot of aromatic plants and they seem to really appreciate sampling these, some pledging to save in their pockets for their parents to enjoy.

I wish teachers would understand how much this kind of experience can help with learning. The human brain needs nature rich stimulation for proper development.

Neighborhood farming is another great way to go.

Since we are sharing videos, here's a Peak Moment production about Brookside Farm: http://globalpublicmedia.com/peak_moment_brookside_farm_growing_food_gro...