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  • From: "Nan Johnson" <nan AT olemiss.edu>
  • To: "Market Farming" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] gardening 101
  • Date: Wed, 25 May 2005 17:17:52 -0500

Having done a number of gardening 101 intro talks, I would also suggest as a reference Start with Soil by Grace Gershuny - it is a fantastic intro to organic/sustainable soil management for gardeners - the best I have seen in 13 years of reading. If out of print, I bet one could find it through internet used book stores.

If you are talking to folks who already garden and who want to try organic gardening, and it's a short talk, I simply make two points and then lots of illustrations:

1) If it is good for the earthworm, it's good for your garden (and the reverse).

2) Gardening with chemical fertilizers is like feeding a human thru an intravenous solution; gardening organically is like eating a meal of whole foods -which do you want? This gets into feeding the soil food web versus using 13-13-13 and no organic matter, etc. When extension used to say to me, "Hey a nitrogen molecule is a nitrogen molecule and the plant doesn't know the difference" then I pull out the ole soil food web and say, "But the earthworm sure does>" You know, "Feed the soil, not the plant" mantra.

Oh yes, and a third point, NEVER LEAVE YOUR SOIL BARE - always, always give a "blanket" (this brings in cover crops, green maures, mulch, sheet composting, even just newspapers, etc. - the whole organic matter thing!

It is a challenge to communicate that organic gardening is NOT just about using "organic" pesticides rather than "chemical" pesticides.

'nuff said.......nan at dancing goats farm, n. mississippi, zone 7b
----- Original Message ----- From: "Pat Meadows" <pat AT meadows.pair.com>
To: "Market Farming" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Wednesday, May 25, 2005 3:29 PM
Subject: Re: [Market-farming] gardening 101


On Wed, 25 May 2005 16:13:21 EDT, you wrote:

the importance of farming organically would be a great place to start


Add to that: the importance of eating *local* food and a
little bit about 'food miles', and how they use diminishing
oil resources plus contribute to global warming. I'd print
up the 'Ten Reasons to Eat Local Food' and give each student
a copy. It's in several places on the web, notably at the
Growing For Market site.....Eat local food, change the
world!

If I were giving a talk to beginners, I would advise them to
start SMALL. Better to have success the very first time and
come back for more then to feel like a failure and give it
up in disgust.

I'd also give out a reading list, for the (probably) few who
would actually read books about it. I would include Mel
Bartholomew's 'Square Foot Gardening', and Nancy Bubel's
'The New Seed Starter's Handbook'.

Pat


--
ContainerSeeds.com - vegetable, herb, fruit, and edible
flower seeds for successful container growing.
http://www.containerseeds.com
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