How are local growers doing?

 Have you been wondering how local growers (farmers, dairies, seed growers, and cooperatives) are doing?  Well those of us close to it wonder about it all the time.  We are constantly told that more and more people are "buying local" and want to raise their families knowing their farmer. There is a great site out there that allows you to search by location (zip code, city or state) to find farmers near you.  

Local Harvest:  www.localharvest.org

For those of you who sell your own agricultural products, this site also has a way for you to list items in a "store".  In all disclosure, Frog Pond Gardens has a store on Local Harvest, but I've found it a useful tool to find other farmers and growers near my home here in eastern Massachusetts.  It lists Farmers Markets and CSAs as well!

Helping others

I live across the street from a large church, which means I get to listen to a lot of great church bell ringing.  It has also changed my perspective on the cycles of life.  Almost every day, especially in the winter, there is a funeral that takes place in the morning.  Most are fairly small and low key, some have 100s of attendees and need police to block off the street as the procession leaves the church.  All of them end with the slow tolling of the bells.  Seeing funerals as a weekly if not daily occurance has given me a better perspective on death and how it affects everyone.  That doesn't make it any easier when we have to face it personally.  

It is hard to write about the importance of gardening when there is so much suffering in Haiti.  So today's post is to ask that you offer funds to a great aid organization, Mercy Corps.  Here is a link.

Deep snow and 31 in 31

Gardening sometimes seems far away this time of year here in Zone 6A. The garden beds are under lots of snow.  I'm reading Eliot Coleman's new book Winter Harvest Handbook:  Year-Round Vegetable Production Using Deep Organic Techniques and Unheated Greenhouses.  It is inspiring, especially as I snuggle under a blanket!

I'm a week into a month-long commitment to doing 31 yoga classes in 31 days - quite a challenge.  My favorite yoga studio Prana Power Yoga   has a challenge for its yogis to complete classes every day of the month in January.  I actually did this last year (to my amazement) and it was awesome.  I was so proud to be able to do it (if you miss a day, you can "double up" another day).  The classes are 60 to 90 minutes long in a room heated to about 100 degrees.  Strenuous - especially for us folks who are not in our 30s anymore.  Last year I realized that committing to do something so time intensive is a great gift for yourself.  It took cooperation from our whole household - and some shifting duties to accommodate getting to classes.  I think the kids, my husband, and even my mom (all are part of our large household) realized that doing yoga every day made me much more mellow! 

On a totally unrelated note, I am realizing how connected we are, or we can be.  After sending some yarn to a marvelous knitter MadForKnit, I found out that she is also a gardener and she posted the Frog Pond Gardens web site on her blog.  Then I went to a New Year's Day party in a city west of Boston with 7 villages and met another knitter who is a fan of Ravelry - a wonderful online knitting community.  We got started talking about knitting because I seem to take my knitting bag with me wherever I go - to get a chance to knit a bit here and a bit there.  My most recent finished project is a fun ski hat: 

Well, I need to sign off and get to the yoga studio! 

2010 - The year to go Organic

So you've made your new year's resolutions (mine is to be more patient, something I've already fallen down on), and you want to exercise more and eat better.  I have the solution!  Start your own garden and grow your own vegetables.  Whether you are in the city and grow in containers or create a 4' by 8' garden bed in your side yard - or something even bigger, you CAN grow seeds.  Here is a picture of some seeds in my planting area - a sunny south facing window.

Urban and suburban gardening is becoming hip, and there are lots of resources out there to help you.  One of my favorites is You Grow Girl.  If you want to buy seeds, there are a lot of great resources, my own little seed shop on Etsy Frog Pond Gardens or any of the EtsyPHAT team members (search etsyPHAT) have good, chemical free seeds that are "hand grown".  My web site is Frog Pond Gardens. 


There are also a ton of amazing commercial seed companies out there, including:

Territorial Seed specializing in seeds for the Pacific Northwest
High Mowing Seeds in Vermont
Johnny's Selected Seeds in Maine
Seed Saver Exchange in Iowa, THE leader in preserving heirloom varieties

To get started here are the simple steps:
1) buy seed, review the instructions for growing (should you start inside, or plant directly outside when soil is warm enough)
2) to start inside -
  a)    plant seeds in a container (can be as simple as a frozen food container, yogurt containers, or other small container);
  b)   cover with plastic wrap or plastic cover (try an empty plastic bottle with the bottom cut off) that will keep the seeds moist
  c)   watch them grow!
  d)   transplant into the garden when warm enough
3) Seeds commonly started inside include:  salad greens, swiss chard, tomatoes, greens, green and hot peppers, and many others.  Generally, plant inside one or two months ahead of planting time.  For example, if you plant in May, start seeds inside in early March.