Healthy soil and sustainable growing

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Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack Holds Summer Gardening Workshops at The
People's Garden
Thursday, June 25, 2009

http://obamafoodorama.blogspot.com/2009/06/agriculture-secretary-tom-vilsack
.html

Ob Fo's favorite urban(e) gardener, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, is
taking the USDA's People's Garden to the next level by holding a series of
Friday gardening workshops on the National Mall. The first workshop is
tomorrow at noon, and the weekly workshops will cover a variety of topics
intended to show how to grow a successful garden in any size set-up, with
interactive demonstrations. USDA staff will lead the sessions. The People's
Garden is the ultimate concept garden, and includes mini versions of an
organic veggie garden, a potager pollinator garden, a transition field
plot, a bioswale and rain garden, urban wood steps and plank planters, a
container garden, a Three Sisters garden that highlights Native American
crops, and a raised planter section.

Secretary Vilsack has really been encouraging gardening since taking
office, with visits to help plant at the White House Kitchen Garden with
First Lady Michelle Obama, as well as encouraging school garden and
community garden projects--and helping plant these, too. He's also been
terrific at pointing out the connections between small food production and
larger environmental policy issues:

"...USDA's 'People's Garden'...is showing how small steps can mean
important gains in mitigating global warming and producing a safe,
sustainable and nutritious food supply," Secretary Vilsack said in a
presser. "The garden concepts...can be your contribution to providing
healthy food, air, and water for people and communities across the
country."

For those who will be in the DC area, the workshops will be held every
Friday from noon to 12:30 from June 26 to September 25. It's a terrific way
to work in a little responsible eco-tourism if you're visiting town, too!
"The People’s Garden" is located at 12th Street and Jefferson Drive, at
the USDA Building. The workshops:

•June 26 - Gardening From the Ground Up: Improving Your Soil
•July 3 - Watering Your Lawn and Garden
•July 10 - Make-Up Day #1
•July 17 - Container Gardening and Window Boxes
•July 24 - Weeding and Removing Invasive Plants
•July 31 - Installing and Using Rain Barrels
•August 7 - Make-Up Day #2
•August 14 - Attracting Pollinators: Friends of Healthy Gardens
•August 21 - Inviting Wildlife with Bat Boxes and Other Backyard Habitats
•August 28 - Maximizing Your Harvest
•September 4 - Make-Up Day #3
•September 11 - Making and Using Compost
•September 18 - Choosing and Using Fertilizers
•September 25 - Fall Maintenance: Preparing Your Garden for Next Season

*More info from USDA is here.

*Related posts: Sec. V chats about the White House Kitchen Garden here; and
he helps plant a school garden at DC's SEED School, here.