Back in Action!

Hey All,

We’re back! Our semester is underway, and we’re excited about the gardening prospects that it will hold. We kicked off our first workshop of the semester last week, teaching everyone how to grow their own fresh sprouts right in their kitchen! The flavorful freshness proved beneficial to all in these never ending days of winter.

More good gardening news is to come with guest speaker Josh Slotnick coming on March 7th, and our March workshop of bread and butter making just around the corner! Stop by the Foodshed (516 N. Ave. E.) tomorrow, Tuesday, February 28th at 6:00p.m. to find out more about what’s new this semester and how you can get involved!

We’d love to see all of your lovely faces there!

Aspen and Ian

1,000 New Gardens

First Meeting of The New Year!

Gardeners one and all! Come join us for the first 1000 New Gardens Meeting in 2016! We will discuss who we are, what we want to do this spring and celebrate the new year with a 2 part meeting/potluck. You can bring a dish to share if you so desire.

Tuesday 2/2/16 4:56pm

The Food Shed 516 North Ave Missoula MT 59801

Let’s get growing. See you there!

Baby sprouts!

Stay Tuned… work zone!

We are currently updating the website! Please bear with us as work on it!

Between now and then, please feel free to contact us at 1000newgardens@gmail.com

CHANGE OF WEBSITE…REDIRECT YOURSELF TO GROW…

We’ve moved and would like to invite you to our new ning website.  It is loads classier, and more accessible! Check it out at 1000NEWGARDENS.NING.COM – if you see the banner below, you’re in the right place!  Peas, Max

You can also contact an organizer(s) directly depending on where you live …

 

In Missoula:
Emerald LaFortune & Kelli Roemer(208)301-0535
1000newgardens@gmail.com

In Bozeman:
Max Smith(406)214-6664
1000newgardensbozeman@gmail.com

Gardeners Don’t Hibernate in January

It’s cold and windy, the Montana environment is at its most formidable. For first-time and returning gardeners alike, the weather conditions couldn’t be more aligned with the Winter gardening tasks–curling up on a tea-stained couch at night with seed catalogs and a mock-diagram of your garden plot.

1,000 New Gardens cultivator, Geoff Badenoch (ie. Tiger Prawn) spied a neat, hopefully less intimidating website for new gardeners to peruse. He writes, “www.gardeners.com is obviously a commercial gardening source, but I thought this was an interesting way to picture and plan a garden.” For all practical purposes, it’s all there. The plot design function (dimensions and plant makeup) is worthy of any new gardeners’ attention. It’s ripened for you to start visualizing your space, especially if you’re considering companion planting or any sort of vegetable organization (read: control in the garden patch). If you’re in search of the ultimate resource for companion planting (or anything really, from ordering seeds to planting to preparing soil and harvesting) look no further than the local gardening expert Sandra Perrin’s book Organic Gardening in Cold Climates (pages 59-63). The Missoula Public and University of Montana Libraries are loaded with copies.

SEEDS–1kng organizers in Missoula have begun planning the 2nd Annual Seedluck (seed ordering potluck) to take place in late February or early March. Last year’s gathering at the public library was littered with great food and words from long-time Missoula  gardeners. We’d like to pack the room with new growers this year so stay in the loop for specific information on the winter feast!

HOPS–If you’d like to expand your repertoire this year or you’re something of an avid homebrewer, consider starting your own hop vines with rhizomes this spring. The illuminary brewery, Crannog Ales, which brews certified organic beer on-site published a free manual for beginners. It’s called “For a Small Scale & Organic Hops Production. Another mentionable is that last fall I got a tip that the local homebrew store within the Lolo Peak Winery gives away hop rhizomes (pruned from the owner’s plants) each spring–hopefully someone will send out the alert when the goin’ gets hoppy!

JANUARY DIY TIP written by our partners at the Missoula Urban Demonstration site:

Even the best-managed compost pile turns to ice in the winter. The secret to a compost pile that cooks all winter long is to surround it with earth’s natural insulation properties. The technique is called pit composting, and it retains heat in the soil to keep the pile from freezing. All you need are the following: large plastic garbage can, straw bales or bags of dry leaves, and a couple tools you can check out from the Tool Library – a saw or utility knife, drill, and shovel. Cut the bottom off of the garbage can, drill holes in the top 2/3rds of the can for ventilation, and set the can in a hole 6+ inches deep and as wide as the can. Surround it with the straw or leaves, but don’t block all the ventilation holes. Keep the lid on when you’re not adding kitchen scraps and other compostable material. The process is a little slower than composting in warm weather, but the pile shouldn’t freeze. For complete instructions, click the Organic Gardening magazine online link:

WORKSHOPS–Several MUD workshops are playing on channel 7 cable! Check out that link if you’re like me (no tv) and want to watch the instructions online!

–Basics of Beer Brewing workshop: January 8, 2010 from 9pm to 10:30pm & January 9, 2010 from 8:30pm to 10pm

–Electric Fencing For Gardens and Wildlife workshop: January 12, 2010 from 10pm to 11:45pm

–Sewing Basics (Sew Your Own Grocery Bag) workshop: January 15, 2010 from 4:30pm to 6pm

As always, MUD’s upcoming events are also online at http://mudproject.ning.com/events

Seed Saving Workshop: August 22, 2009

It’s about time to leave pea pods on their vines (so the seeds fully mature) and a few biennial carrots in the ground (until next year for them to flower). The Basics of Seed Saving Workshop is also just around the corner at the Missoula Urban Demonstration site. The cost is $10 for members and $20 for non-members–well worth picking up the skills you’ll need Peak Oil or when your peaking interest in hybrid seeds plunges. The workshop is scheduled for August 22 and lasts from 1-3 PM. Think of it this way–once you’ve harvested a sweet crop of seeds, you’ll be able to trade with other Missoulians at the Seed Saver Swap in late October (Date & Time TBA).

 

Another workshop that we highly recommend is the canning how-to on September 11.

 

Here’s how MUD describes the workshop: Rumor has it that last April Burpee’s sold out of all its seeds and had to put thousands of orders on backorder. Don’t let this happen to you! Yvonne will teach you how to collect and store your precious heirlooms for next season, and tell you which seeds are hybrids and which are sterile. Also, keep your eyes open for a Seed Saver Swap in late October! 

Cooking Workshop with Pearl Cash of the Pearl Cafe!

So you’ve seen the cucumber plants extending and the spinach starts are making a lot of noise in the green forest at the far end of the garden…you’ve proven yourself in the fields…now it may be time to get together with other high-spirited harvesters and get some more ideas about how to turn yer bounty into something new and tasty.

The Missoula Demonstration Project is putting on a great event next Saturday, July 18th at 11 PM. Here’s how it’s advertised–Learn how to choose the best seasonal ingredients and cook intuitively with Pearl Cash, owner/chef of the Pearl Café on East Front Street. It’s at The Senior’s Center at 705 S Higgins Avenue. Register ahead to guarantee your space by calling the MUD office 721-7513. $10 members/ $20 non-members.

I seriously hope to see you there!

Finding Our Niche

Yippee to every voter, email spreader, writer and every new gardener. Whether we win 10,000 smackers or not, we will continue to support Missoula’s burgeoning interest in all things Arugula, Chard, Pumpkin. The response has been overwhelming and it’s been an excellent week to talk to people about the project’s vision and how other people’s vegetable patches are fairing.

Polls end tonight (Tuesday), but the comments keep coming. This comment by rakasome may as well become our new gardener hoorah…

“And what a great way to bring the thread of community over the high fences between backyards. Mr. 1000Gardens, tear down this wall!”

Thank you’s go out to the NewWest‘s Amy Linn, jhwygirl at 4&20 Blackbirds, Michael Moore of the Missoulian, and all of the people who have new gardeners interested in becoming one of the 2010 greatest new gardens in the world! We’ll be organizing volunteers for you for the fall Dig Day. Oh, it’s going to be another post-modern event. To volunteer or stay in touch with the group’s growth, contact us at 1000newgardens@gmail.com.

And, OF COURSE, don’t forget to keep reading these excellent journal updates of this year’s new gardeners.

“Mom, I helped 1,000 New Gardens get $10,000 today!”

As we speak, 1,000 New Gardens volunteers are leading a campaign to mobilize Missoulians to support our vision. The word on the street (maybe you’ve heard it, maybe you should spread it, maybe you should open the window and yell it out loud) is that 1,000 New Gardens is one of eight ideas in the nation that could win $10,000.

Well, it’s true. And helping 1,000 New Gardens reach this goal is sooo stinking easy… Easier than picking out vegetable varieties to grow or simply picking a ripe cherry tomato. ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS VOTE HERE at the Ideablob homepage and let 10 friends know about this opportunity for Missoula to expand its nutritional capacity. Below you’ll find a sample email to send out to other aspiring gardeners!

Each project in the contest was told on Tuesday morning about all of the exciting ways to “Get Out The Vote” … about how some project organizers do not sleep during the voting period. We put our heads together and said together, “we can do this with sleep” and began brainstorming ideas for letting the community know about the vote. We’re hanging in there, but we need your help! Let’s encourage our neighbors to look over the fence at our project and provide a model for gardening together that other communities can employ.

Peas, 1kng Missoula

Sample Email

Hello!

Peas, 1000 New Gardens

1,000 New Gardens Missoula …

• Could win $10,000
• Is one of eight ideas in the nation accepted at ideablob.com
• The winner is chosen by online voters
• You can help us win, it’s as easy as voting online

HERE’S HOW:

1)Register at ideablob.com

2)You’ll receive a confirmation email

3)Vote on the homepage

4)Recycle this email—pass it on to friends, family, Missoulians!

THANKS FOR VOTING!!!!!!!!!!

What is 1,000 New Gardens Missoula?

We think it’s time to provide communities with a model for gardening together using the spirit of neighborhood potlucks, the Victory Garden Movement and Americorps. 1000 New Gardens is a volunteer-led project that aims to promote organic household vegetable gardening in Missoula, Montana, by sharing resources, techniques and information.

How will we use $10,000 if we win?

1000 New Gardens plans to focus grant money on community outreach and financially supporting the gardening ambition of low-income households. In order to create a community-based body of knowledge about local gardening, the group created and maintains a web-based interactive blog where local gardeners express ideas, questions and other information. If awarded the grant, 1,000 New Gardens will also use it to improve and increase content about gardening techniques and information. The group also understands the importance of face-to-face interaction. Part of the funding will propel “local agriculture” by establishing neighborhood tool and canning libraries, plot sharing, volunteer labor to start new gardens, seed-ordering and vegetable harvest potlucks, and garden workshops.

The group helped 12 new gardeners this year organize volunteers to remove sod, bring in manure from local farms, use tools from the MUD tool library, and reuse materials from Home Resource.

Would you like to be one of the 38 new greatest gardeners in the world in 2010?

Email us: 1000newgardens@gmail.com

And see what vegetables you’re getting into at the blogsite: https://1000newgardens.wordpress.com/

1,000 New Gardens Promo

Thank you, Greta Rybus, for putting so much work into this video of 1,000 New Gardens! From the banjo music to the Brady Bunch-style editing of 9 of the households that are in the network in 2009 to the many interviews you conducted…this is a work of art.

Check it out everyone!

Vodpod videos no longer available.

1kng at the Love Your Mother Earth Festival

Hola campesinos!

1,000 New Gardens hopes to see you at the Love Yer Mother Earth Festival this weekend at Lolo Hot Springs!

Shelby Gores at Earth Day

Amanda Lockwood, Jeremy Amo and Max Smith

This is the next installment of our “Get Out The Garden” efforts–our goal is to attract 10 new gardeners for 2010 to the network and have a little fun doing it. The plan at our table is to paint 1kng logos on top of reused political signs for the top 10 gardeners in the world, give out strawberry plants to little spuds (kids) because we’ve heard they’re companion plants, and work on sequestering able-bodies for the gardening con kids dates coming up in June and July and also the fall dig days. We’re also thinking about running a bit of an anti-lawn campaign at the festival to inform citizens about the wastefulness of lawns and the soul power that organic vegetable gardens bring into a front or backyard. Ya dig?

Get yer June on…

“The garden is an unhappy place for the perfectionist. Too much stands beyond our control here, and the only thing we can absolutely count on is eventual catastrophe. Success in the garden is the moment in time, that week in June when the perennials unanimously bloom and the border jells…it’s easy to get discouraged, unless, like the green thumb, you are happier to garden in time than in space; unless, that is, your heart is in the verb.”

–Michael Pollan, Second Nature

Howdy gardeners–it..is..time.

According to the Missoula County Extension Service’s G-calendar, a very helpful guide (http://missoulaeduplace.org/docs/Garden calender.pdf), May is a month for sowing carrot and cucumber seeds, onions, lettuce (plant every 10 days?), broccoli, potatoes, beans. But now soil temp is surpassing 60 degrees!, which is nice because we can begin to plant the type of veggies minds are attuned to hearing (namely tomatoes y corns).

The average last frost date for Missoula is May 23 so if yer an antsy, wormy or nematody Missoula gardener like I am, you will plant yer corn soon. Soon enough so that, depending on the variety, you’ll give them enough of a growing season to expel kernels while still avoiding the frost potential that atypical Montana seasons flex. My mother’s first attempt in 2009 to plant corn on Woodford Street was very unsuccessful. She put another batch of seeds in the ground this weekend. We lie in wait. The garden calendar also says “you can plant early tomatoes and cucumber transplants if you use a row cover fabric or wall-of-waters.”  Peas, Max

gardening at 201 chestnut

I’m writing the day after the first seeds were planted, a process which seemed to take a long time after the initial work day. I think i have had insemination anxiety, which has resulted in getting a lot of opinions before doing anything. And there a lot of opinions out there! For instance is there too much horse manure in there?  Maybe, maybe the soil is too acidic, so I worked a lot in and raked a lot off, storing it in the compost for next year. How about planting in rows, vs a cluster pattern. Rick pointed out that people don’t like to line up –it makes them feel vulnerable and bossed around –so why should make our vegetables do that?  How about the deer because the garden is so close to the park and the river?  Philip and I put extra high fencing and that brought me around to a good garden tip in harsh way –always wear goggles when cutting metal fencing that is wound up like a spring or a rat trap! I nearly lost my right eye to gardening yesterday when we cut a length of rolled up fencing with bolt cutters and it whipped out like a giant angry cat nearly clipping me eye into jelly!  Very lucky, and just little scarred.

And then some planting. I was amazed at how many seeds were actually in these little packets, and how small they were –directions like space eight inches or six inches or even one foot apart seemed impossible to accomplish. All my consultants said that they thinned after some successful plants came up.  Right now it just seems like a wilderness of possibility –I had to make another diagram as to what was planted where. Another tip I am following through with –don’t let the seeds dry out once they are sown–the soil should be lightly moist all through germination.

I saw some fellow gardeners with drip irrigation and they talked about kits ont he market that got them started with that. I went to Home Depot, Loewes and Quality Supply looking for such a thing, no luck. Ace has got pieces of home systems, but no starter kits. My consultants have offered ideas about it that seem specialized –that tomato plants don’t like their leaves wet, or that water that is aerated is SOMETIMES better than soaker hoses.

I think my advice needs a balance with more experience, but the seeds are sown!

joel

Creating a Space for Growth & Solitude

The amazing weekend of April 26th transformed my backyard from a green oasis to a thriving backyard farm. This newly created 300 sf area needed more than just dirt, horse manure and love, it needed its own space to grow (separate from the high energy dogs), and I needed my own solitude.

This solitude has been easily created, with the help of a very dear friend, by an amazing fence. This fence was made from reused materials of shower glass doors and old lumber. The opaque glass doors, taken out of their ugly hardware, were framed by the old lumber and adhered to fence posts. The gate, made of clear glass, gives the dogs a birds eye view of what they will be missing out on, while I work my green thumb magic.

While most gardeners have been focused on planting seeds, babying their newly sprouted plants and waiting for the right weather to transplant them, I have focused on creating a space for me to linger. So what happens now, I’m way behind on the planting or am I?

I will still plant some seeds (end of May), beans, snap peas, kale, chard, lettuce, squash, carrots, onions, garlic etc. However, I will aim my sights at the local farmers market for seedlings. The local farmers market is a great place to pick up the seedlings you need which leaves you time to create and make a space for that garden you’ve always wanted. There’s no reason to rush when you have the whole month of May to work out your space and visit the market for your seedling needs.

Interested in seeing this dear fence? 1000 Gardens and my dear fence will be hosted on homeWORDS’s sustainability tours, June 13th. Visit http://www.homeword.org for more information.

D-Day (1,000 New Gardens Dig Day)

On Saturday April 11th, 1,000 New Gardens’ volunteers will take the first step towards revitalizing Missoula’s legacy as the Garden City. We will remove sod and turn the soil over with compost/manure at 10 test plot gardens. After all of the hard work over the last two months, we will open our hands wide and plunge them into the soil, planting the vision of 1KNG. We graciously thank our 10 households for allowing their lawns to be modernized for the needs of the 21st century.

This is your chance to thread the needle of nature and society, finding your place between the two and ways to use nature without damaging it. It is important, now more than ever that we help make the ecstatic skin of the Earth flourish.

Of course the land is not easy to work, so WE NEED YOUR HELP. We are asking you to donate an hour, or 12, to help realize the goal of 1,000 new gardens in the Garden City. It is not going to happen over night–the soil took thousands of years to develop and it is not about to give up its nutrients to your chioggia beets without proper tending.

April 11 is our first chance to experience nature together as a community. Please join us by emailing 1000newgardens@gmail.com with any time slot you are available.