Rhode Island Feeds

No, I am not boycotting February. Sometimes work gets in the way of blogging and sharing the latest gardening items with fellow bloggers is always a pleasure. What is new for 2010? I didn't see too much in evidence at... Layanee DeMerchant

Early last summer, I was helping a designer in her client’s garden. I was wearing gloves, but I still developed a weird rash on my finger. Then it occurred to me that the previous year, I had gotten a rash on the same finger while working in the same garden, but that rash had gone away, and this one was still there, months later.

I finally got to the dermatologist, who did a culture and determined that it was a simple case of eczema. But the experience got me thinking about the stuff you can catch while you’re gardening. I am not going to get into plants like poison ivy here. This series of posts focuses on other, more obscure  nasties.

A sporotrichosis infection

One of the most common infections is Sporotrichosis, caused by the fungus Sporothrix schenckii. It is more commonly known as”rose thorn disease,” because you can catch it when you handle thorny plants. But you can also get it from sphagnum moss (always wear gloves when you work with sphagnum!)  and hay. The fungus enters the skin through small cuts or punctures. You can also get a lung infection if you inhale it.

Sprotrichosis usually first appears as a small bump on the skin, but it can develop into open sores that won’t heal.  Obviously, it’s a good idea to get yourself to a dermatologist for this and all such rashes.

Treating this fungus is fairly straightforward, once the doctor has done a culture. You can prevent infections altogether by wearing long sleeves and thick gloves while handling thorny plants, and by wearing gloves whenever you are using sphagnum moss.

Next post: when caterpillars attack!

Parlor palm (Chamaedora elegans) is a popular, slow-growing house plant that is known to have been passed from generation to generation. Mine is a first-generation parlor palm, practically hidden away among dracaenas and the arrow head plant in the mixed...

Herbdoc again, with more tips on gardens for kids:

If you’re looking for some unusual seeds or plants that will spark your children’s curiosity and enthusiasm, here’s a short list of some that I’ve had great success with:

Eggplant: Pumpkin-on-a-Stick (Solanum aethiopicum)- I’m told this is used as a culinary vegetable in Asia, but we grow it      as   an ornamental.  When the fruit turns orange, remove all the leaves and you’ll have many little “pumpkins-on-a-stick!”

Twinkle Hybrid – harvest 2” eggplants; plant grows about 24” and is spineless.

Tomatoes:  Cherry: Riesentraube – In German the name means “Giant Bunch of Grapes”; it’s very appropriate.

Black Pearl – Tastes like a tomato right off the vine, but if chilled, has a Concord grape flavor.

Peacevine – Tresses of small red tomatoes; high Vitamin C content

Pumpkin – Most standard pumpkins will take up too much room so try Baby Bear (5-6” across and 3-4 “ tall) or Jack Be Little (3”x2”)

Squash (winter) – Try Galeux D’ Eysines – salmon colored flesh with wonderful warts!

Lettuce: Green – Two Star; leaf; slow to bolt

Red – Red Sails; leaf; slow to bolt; crisp not bitter

Hungarian Broom Corn (Sorghum bicolor var. technicum) – fills with red seeds at maturity.  Children can make brooms with a few stalks, used them in dried flower arrangements, or leave as forage for the birds.

Sunflowers – Most children love sunflowers, but they are too large for a small bed.  Try Sunflower Elf (14-16”)

Beans – These have large seeds that sprout quickly.  A teepee of stakes will allow you to grow the pole type (Scarlet Runner) or try the bush variety, Beananza, which produces for a long time as long as it is regularly picked.

Radishes – Fast growers; almost any seed will do, but I like Cherry Belle and Cherry Bomb II hybrids for their color and taste.

Herbs - Children love to pinch and smell the fragrance of lemon balm, parsley, basil, anise-hyssop, chives and mint. (Grow the mint in a pot so it doesn’t overwhelm the plot!)  They are also fascinated by texture, so try the soft, fuzzy leaves of lamb’s ears.

Flowers – Try the old-fashioned or unusual types like Mimulus (Monkey Flower), Cottage Red Marigold, Balsam, Cosmos Cosmic Orange or single dahlias.

As you all know, this past Tuesday was the Feast of the Presentation of the Prophet Phil. I celebrated and paid homage as usual but I think I might be losing faith in The Groundhog. The sun was shining in Punxutawney, PA and Phil saw his shadow. According to tradition that means we’ll have 6 more [...]

I have had common kalanchoes, the ones with 4-petal flowers... 3.21.03 ...and calandiva, with double flowers, at various times in the past, but have not been able to get either one to bloom again until this winter. 2.2.10 Kalanchoe is...

The chart above shows EBT (aka Food Stamps aka SNAP) sales at our farmers markets for every month of the year between 2007, 2008 and 2009. Not counted in the graph is an additional $11,000 in 2009 from the Bonus Bucks program described below, bringing the 2009 total to over $32,000.

Fresh for All is the theme of this year’s Local Food Forum. At a time when our local farms are growing and the local food economy is enjoying great success, we are taking this day to examine how to make sure every Rhode Islander is able to participate in our (Rhode Is)land of plenty.

If we look back, one of the reasons why agriculture stagnated for so many decades is because farms and fresh food became increasingly irrelevant to people’s lives. So, going forward, how can we ensure that RI agriculture reaches every Rhode Islander? How can we ensure that every Rhode Islander feels invested in our farms and our food, and likewise that Rhode Island farmers have a stake in our cities and towns?

Farmers markets are one way that rural and urban Rhode Island can connect. By running farmers markets in Providence, Pawtucket and Woonsocket, Farm Fresh RI provides ways for city folks to participate in local agriculture, and for local agriculture to play a role in the city. These markets provide an important source of fresh fruits and vegetables in many neighborhoods and a key source of income for many farms. This win-win is helped by innovative programs that make these foods even more affordable at a time when a record number of Rhode Islanders are using SNAP, the new name for Food Stamps.

In 2007, we began accepting SNAP at our farmers markets and in summer 2009, we partnered with the Wholesome Wave Foundation to offer Bonus Bucks to SNAP customers at our markets. Every SNAP customer could receive up to $10 extra to shop at the market per day. The Bonus Bucks program allows people to stretch their food budgets farther and still provide healthy foods for their family. The Bonus Bucks program also increases the buying power of communities that may be otherwise be perceived by farmers as less lucrative. Farmers, after all, have to make a buck too.

Bonus Bucks was a runaway success, so much so that SNAP customer participation in the 2009 markets increased seven-fold vs. 2008. We’re excited to announce that we’re able to extend the program to the 2010 Wintertime Farmers Market thanks to generous funding from The Rhode Island Foundation. (If you’d like to help get the word out, there’s a double-sided flier you can print out and pass around.)

The keynote speaker at this year’s Local Food Forum is Gus Schumacher, chairman of the Wholesome Wave Foundation. Before tackling Bonus Bucks for SNAP, Gus pioneered the WIC Farmers Market Nutrition Program, which is a federal program providing low-income mothers and children with $15 coupons each year for farmers market produce. The program has brought fresh foods within reach for hundreds of thousands and has provided millions of dollars for thousands of family farms. Now Bonus Bucks, which is operating as a pilot in over a dozen cities across the country, has the potential to do the same for thousands more in Rhode Island, and millions of Americans.

What other Fresh for All ideas are out there? Among them, the incredible farm-to-school work of KidsFirst; our Healthy Foods, Healthy Families nutrition education program at neighborhood farmers markets and similar programs from URI and Johnson & Wales; CSAs and farmers markets that accept SNAP; the community gardens of Southside Community Land Trust; the school gardens of the Children’s Garden Network; school trips to orchards and working farms; and in 2010, the WIC program will expand to offer mothers monthly coupons for fruits and veggies.

We look forward to continuing the conversation at the Local Food Forum!

Raise your hand if your houseplants don’t have scale. Anyone, anyone? If they don’t, I’m willing to bet that either Mother Nature loves lucky-you especially (though she may have another plague in store, beware); you have only four houseplants, all begonias; or your plants have been infested with scale insects in the past and you [...]

Here’s HerbDoc with some great tips on gardening with your kids:

When I was growing up, my parents owned a cottage not far from the ocean.  I was so envious of the neighborhood children across the street as each of them had his/her own vegetable garden to tend.

Their mother kept a gorgeous yard with a very large vegetable garden but had listened to their requests to have their own small patches.  She took them out to the yard to look for suitable spaces for their plots and discussed what their seeds/plants would need to grow.  Two small areas, perhaps no bigger than 8 X 10 feet, were chosen, and since they were in an expanse of lawn, their dad was enlisted to get them ready.

Mom then went about gathering catalogs and finding out what the children wanted to grow.  She explained that every seed does not grow into a plant.  Seeds were ordered and were planted in various containers on the windowsills.

When late spring arrived the seedlings were hardened off and planted in the beds.  Additional trips were made to local nurseries for supplemental flower and vegetable packs.

All summer these children tended their little gardens.  They learned about the growth of plants and how weather and insects impacted their harvests.  In late summer they made a scarecrow to sit between their plots.

Many years later when I was an adult, the mother told me that her children were delighted to eat the fresh vegetables they grew, and that she felt that they had learned valuable lessons about the environment and responsibility while being physically active outdoors.  When I had my own children, I took her advice to heart and found that indulging my little ones’ natural curiosity and boundless energy encouraged budding green thumbs that still enjoy gardening today.

For some great resources for a first garden, read The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle with your children and visit My First Garden on the web: http://urbanext.illinois.edu/firstgarden.

"What the shamrock is to Ireland the rubber plant is to the dweller in flats and furnished rooms..." - The Rubber Plant's Story by O. Henry ( William Sidney Porter, 1862 - 1910) Rubber plant (Ficus elastica), a cultivated, ornamental...

Who was it who said 'What a difference a day makes'? We have gone from mild temperatures to the big chill and high winds. The high today was 18 F and the wind is blowing steadily giving the wind chill... Layanee DeMerchant

Urban Edge Farm's greenhouse is getting ready...

Support your local farm and sign up for a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) share! The CSA model is one where individuals and families invest financially in their local farm in exchange for a share of that farm’s seasonal harvest.

Benefits of CSA include: supporting your local economy, supporting your farming neighbor, eating hyper-fresh produce of nutritionally-dense proportions for a fraction of the cost found in a given “organic” supermarket (produce that’s oftentimes bussed in from California factory farms), new opportunities to pal-around in the kitchen with crazy experimental crops (purple cauliflower? bitter melons?), CSA pick-up tailgaters (‘Otter Summer Ale incl.) and much, much more.

If the aforementioned sounds like your kind of mind/body/soul party, check out Providence Journal’s article, “Now’s the time to sign up for farm-fresh food,” which includes a list of all the farms in Rhode Island currently offering CSAs. SCLT’s Urban Edge farmers also made the list – hooray!

There is no way I’m going back outside today. Nope. I’m staying in no matter how many colors there are. They can name themselves today. It’s cold! Maybe our little thaw has made me soft. Or maybe I’m a zone 8. It’s only 14° out there and the wind is gusting to 35mph making it [...]

My renewed interest in prayer plants began a few weeks ago when I embarked on the series of "Getting to know my house plants". I had prayer plants years ago, before my gardening venture, when I hardly knew any plant's...

Arrowhead plant ( Syngonium podophyllum) is known to be very popular among the non-flowering house plants for their easy care and attractive, light green leaves with white or cream-colored markings. 1.1.10 Arrowhead plant, a native of South America, is in...

Do you think they're listening?

I know I’ve written to my houseplants before, but I believe that communication is the key to a long and successful relationship. So, I am writing to them again, because I feel like it.

Good morning everyone. Those extra minutes of daylight seem to be working their magic, don’t they?

Orchids, you are torturing me with those spikes. Yes, yes, I know it’ll be worth it when you finally flower, but darlings, I grow impatient! Almost every one of you is about to burst forth, and I simply cannot wait. As usual, however, there are a couple of exceptions. Oncidium, is that new growth going to result in a flower spike, or are you teasing me? If that’s the case, please remember that the last plant to tease me wound up in the compost pile with the other slackers. And you mini phals: not even a nubbin of a spike on either one of you. Take a look at the “spikeage” going on all around you and take the hint, will ya? Zygopetalum, I’ve given you the extra water you’ve been asking for, and now I see you’re putting out some new growth. Are you teasing me like your pal Oncidium, or if there a flower spike in your future?

Dear cyclamen, always in bloom. You are a true joy, and you never cause a minute of trouble. Likewise,  my precious oxalis. Don’t you ever get tired?

And I would be remiss if I did not give a most honorable mention to my lemon tree. In my last letter, I lamented your stagnation and general lack of enthusiasm.  I was actually thinking of giving you away to HerbDoc, who said she would try to “persuade” you to grow. Well, imagine my surprise when I peered down at you recently, and there they were: little buds at each node. It looks like you’re going to flower – and rather soon! Good going, and you are most welcome for the chelated iron.

Yours Truly,

Your Caregiver

My lemon tree. Check out those buds!

The January thaw lasted one full day with torrential rain, wind, and temperatures in the fifties. The garden was snow covered until Monday. Now it has just one patch of snow and the rest has receded. I am not fooled... Layanee DeMerchant

Silver lace fern is my first indoor fern. I picked it up a few days ago for $6.99 in 4-inch pot. The fronds are very attractive and quite unusual, with multiple variegated leaflets in silvery white and slightly ruffled,...

The annual January thaw always fools me – and maybe the wrens too – into thinking that spring must be right around the corner. After yesterday’s warm rain deluge, the snow is a memory, the ground gives and squishes like a soaked sponge and there is so much variety in the shades of green and [...]

Here’s HerbDoc with some thoughts on where our food comes from:

I read an interesting quote the other day which made me reflect on what we buy and from whom.  The quote said:  “Living sustainably isn’t only about what you use, but what you fail to use.”

How many times have you purchased fresh produce at the supermarket only to have it spoil before it can be used?  Most produce in the US is picked 4 to 7 days in advance and travels some 1500 miles before it ends up on the market shelves. Distances are of course increased when we buy imports from South America, Mexico, Asia and the like.  Did you know that 90% of all produce is the US is shipped by truck and that this contributes to about 1% of all the emissions generated by trucking?

In addition to the poor quality of food and pollution of the air by freight trucking, large agri-businesses use enormous amounts of fertilizers and pesticides to get crops to market.  These contribute to the destruction of our soils and water and generate health scares every year such as e-Coli and GMO contamination.

We can all help by buying locally grown food whenever possible.  Farmers’ markets have sprouted up all over Rhode Island, and some are now open year round.  The nearest farmers’ market to my home is less than a 10 minute drive, and on any given Saturday from 10 AM to 2 PM offers fresh vegetables, beef, shellfish, pastries and breads, cornmeal, honey, jam and whatever else is in season.  The aroma of johnnycakes hot off the griddle and that fresh bread is irresistible!

photo: Farm Fresh RI

When we purchase produce at a large supermarket only 18 cents of every dollar goes to the grower while the other 82 cents goes to various middlemen.  Let’s cut out those middlemen, buy our food directly from a local grower, and keep the business and dollars in our own communities!