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Victory Garden and Back to Eden Gardening Class

Amanda taught an amazing class on gardening. Many people expressed interest, so here are some notes.

 Victory garden - a garden to cut food costs, improve nutrients, no chemical sprays, decrease your dependence on medicines by growing your own herbs, etc. More variety means more balanced diet with a home garden.

We have lost our ability to forage with confidence. Older generations used to "know" the land and take their cues to harvest from nature itself....not a timeline of how long it takes to truck a product to a store. Learn how to read the weather.

Lawns are a show of status that originate back to England. This "lawn" space could be used for a better purpose of growing food.

Planning your garden: www.farmersalmanac.com - put in your zip code.

Bee butts and flowers - www.pollinators.org to find local pollinators near you.

Tom's self pollinate - gently shake the flowers to germinate plants.

Tom Wessle's Companion Planting - some plants can help protect other plants from certain pests. So plant them together. We discussed how some plants pull complimentary nutrients from the soil, crop rotation, soil conditioning and more.

Attract bees with sweet smelling flowers and watering basins: pie tins with marbles and little pieces of yellow sponges cut up - shallow so they don't drowned.

Attract butterflies with citrus peels

Soil: pick it up, get it wet, squeeze it in your hand, open your hand. If it crumbles (too sandy); if it stays (too much clay); if you poke it and it crumbles (perfect loamy). 

These were just a few notes from her presentation. See the attached document for MORE info.

SECOND SPEAKER: Julie from McKerracher Farm in Athol. Here are some notes from her presentation.

They do No-Till Intensive Vegetable Culture (pesticide free, restoring soil, nutrient rich). Use a broad fork tool - more gentle to the living soil; earthworm friendly.

Soil is a living organism VS Dirt hold up plants.

Pastured Poultry book by Joel Salatin - must read if you want pastured poultry.

Commercial chickens are given 10-15 chlorine baths due to things like their intestines bursting during the butchering process - due to stress from the inhumane way they are butchered.  Pastured poultry can be butchered in a peaceful setting with low stress to the animal.

Use insect netting for berries; get seed varieties that produce in less than 50 days where possible; 30" wide rows; use caterpillar tunnels from "Farmer's Friend" website to protect from frost which can occur at least one time each month from June to September. These tunnels can be taken up or down easily for that last minute "frost" alert.  Can use cattle panels spaced 4' apart to create a greenhouse with plastic hoops. 

They do home school tours and interns - see website or call Julie for more details. 

Don't plant green beans before June 1st here.

Please do not reproduce her presentation attached without Amanda's authorization.