Rhode Island Feeds

It is Day 3 of rain, but just a little drizzle, not a wash-out. I went outside periodically to deadhead the flowers and trim off the branches of cosmos, hardy hibiscus, hydrangeas and few other flowering plants weighted down...

I came across this blog today from a group of landscape designers. It’s a rather long read, but well worth it: http://apld.posterous.com/greenwashing-part-2-advent-of-a-new-ecorealis.

Are you a bicyclists interested in community gardens? Take a bicycle tour of six community gardens this Saturday, August 28th!

Recycle-a-Bike, a local non-profit, will be providing a guided bike tour of Open Garden Day. Interested cyclists can meet at The Steel Yard, 27 Sims Ave at 2:45 pm. Then stay at Potters Avenue Park and Garden for a Harvest Potluck!

The August 25th “Food Preservation” Workshop has been postponed.

We are working to reschedule the workshop, and will keep you informed as we decide on a new date.

Thank you for your patience! We’ll do our best to make sure you have guidance and support as you preserve your harvest.

Please visit www.plantprovidence.org or call (401) 273-9419 ext. 32 for more up-to-date information.

Brett Perry launched a new line of “holistic” garden products named Vaccinate and Triffid at the Independent Garden Center Show in Chicago last week.

THESE ARE, NO MATTER how you look at it, heady times for the organic lawn and garden movement. Unlike any other fluctuation in market forces for the past 50 years, this time organics are here — to stay.

That is, from almost any angle, a major victory that can be claimed simultaneously by the environment, environmental activists and every child, pet and parent who would otherwise be negatively affected by a continued onslaught of chemical pesticides and fertilizers.

Under those circumstances, we ought to be doing collective cartwheels in the aisles of trade shows like the Independent Garden Center Show that was held last week on Navy Pier in Chicago. Every third booth was touting something “organic,” or “sustainable,” or “eco-” or “earth-friendly.” If you were even looking for a straight chemical solution, you’d almost have to ask directions or scour deeply into the show program.

That is, however, if you didn’t bump squarely into the show’s two largest vendor booths in the center of the cavernous room. Scotts Miracle Gro and Bayer Advanced were practically EVERYWHERE at the IGC Show, which has become the must-attend horticultural event in the United States in its remarkably short four-year history.

And therein lies the primary hindrance to a major organic celebration: two elephants basically suck the air out of a room filled with ants. Or, in other words, it is absolutely going to be an organic world in lawn and garden in the years ahead, but the business landscape will likely not change one iota. Scotts Miracle Gro will dominate; Bayer will take most of what’s left and every other company with honorable intentions will scramble for the share of the marketplace that simply finds those two companies distasteful.

WOLVES IN SHEEPS’ CLOTHING?

That Scotts and Bayer are both making major unprecedented forays into organics is unmistakable. The Scotts organic line of pesticides launched two years ago, Ortho EcoSense, seems poised to gobble up even more shelf space in the near term. And the organic fertilizer and soils brand that Scotts once purchased just to kill — Whitney Farms — is back with a newfound vengeance. Remarkably, a quick glance at the front of the Whitney Farms packaging didn’t have any mention of its owner, Scotts Miracle Gro.

Bayer, likewise, has undergone a stunning image makeover with its launch of the green labeled Natria products. A massive banner two stories tall announced the products’ arrival on the scene in Chicago, as did a prodigious exhibit in the main hallway where more than 6,000 garden center owners and employees entered.

As I said, the mere fact that these two giants of the industry are making this kind of investment into natural lines of products is ultimately a victory. That doesn’t mean, however, a massive amount of teeth gnashing won’t go into this transition — for us, and them. It’s rather like the Titanic trying to change engines as it simultaneously tries to change course with the iceberg just ahead. Will it make the turn, or will it crash, and where will that leave all the tiny boats in its wake?

Oh, and don’t think Bayer and Scotts can’t sense the iceberg. They know where Europe and France have already headed with regard to organics in gardening and they’ve watched from the loser’s side of the courtroom and town hall time after time in Canada as the lawn pesticide bans have swept across that nation. They have fought, and lost, recent battles in New York and New Jersey about no-phosphorus fertilizers and erosion control. And Florida has all but killed the long-term prospects of its chemical lawn fertilizer industry with its seasonal bans on nitrogen applications and strong water conservation campaigns.

The guess from this perspective is that Scotts and Bayer will eventually figure it out. They’ve got the cashflow and the research programs to develop, or purchase, the best new earth friendly technology on the planet. The full transition will take time — five to 10 years is a good estimate — and that leaves a narrow window for all the other players to make their move.

About 100 of my conversations in Chicago centered around what Scotts’ and Bayer’s new sales pitch must sound like. They can’t and won’t openly damn their synthetic chemical lines, which still represent about 90 percent of their business. That makes it really difficult to justify organics to the consumer — especially the vast majority of people in the United States who still don’t comprehend or trust the inherent value proposition of organic products.

Right now Scotts and Bayer are simply saying they have “natural alternatives for the customers who want them.” At some point, though, they’re going to have to come out with some of the obvious negatives that are giving companies like the upstart EcoSmart Technologies such a jumpstart today. “Now There is a Safe and Effective Alternative to Synthetic Pesticides,” says the advertisements for EcoSmart, which can already be found at many local supermarkets, superstores and garden centers.

The dilemma is especially difficult for a company like Neudorff of Germany, a research-only firm which licenses its inventions to other companies. Neudorff recently launched Fiesta, the most exciting new product of the young Millennium — a naturally occurring selective herbicide that allows grass to grow while killing many weeds including dandelions.

Neudorff’s fortunes should be shooting the moon already, except for one inescapable fact: Scotts and Bayer control the market. Until those two companies are willing to tell the truth about the toxicity associated with 2,4-D and other synthetic chemical weed killers, they’re not going to sell much of Neudorff’s new invention. It just doesn’t make any sense for the average consumer to pay more for a safer weed control product if no one is telling them their regular weed ’n feed is dangerous as hell.

Neudorff’s Fiesta, by the way, is sold under the brands of Ortho EcoSense and, in 2011, in Bayer’s new Natria line. No other companies are in line to license the product, according to sources at the Chicago show.

SO WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?

If you’ve ever been in a body of water with a large boat turning, you know the attenuating ripples are vast. The nuances of the impact are felt differently on every shore, just as the Scotts and Bayer shift to natural products will have different impacts at various points in our nation. In some markets, existing organic brands have a foothold and will be difficult to dislodge — and will therefore be targets for buyouts by the giants. In other massive areas, Scotts and Bayer, with their Whitney Farms and Natria brands, will literally be the only choices on the shelves.

The ants need to behave like ants, banding together for the most efficient protection and production. When the water calms, whether it’s five or 10 years from now, or maybe a bit longer, we need to have done our work by staking our claim and protecting it.

It is Scotts CEO Jim Hagedorn himself who likes to equate business with war. In his view, if you garden or grow a lawn, then you’re on his turf — whether you use his stuff or not. If you don’t want to emerge from this battle with your gardening and lawncare choices and dollars all being dominated by the same two players, it’s more important than ever to seek out and support other quality, independent companies.

As the booths in Chicago and so many other trade shows demonstrate, the number of choices in safer, natural products has never, ever been greater. It’s our job — us as the advocates and you as the consumers — to make sure those choices remain intact. Let’s enjoy our victory, but not feel the least bit comfortable in any false laurels.

This summer, I have been experimenting with new cultivars – both ornamental and vegetable.  Below are my reviews of one of each:

Achillea Paprika:

Paprika. Nice and red.

This was purchased to attract hummingbirds. I planted it in a large, tall planter on our deck, along with some dwarf white cosmos and a new salvia cultivar, which I will review in another post.

The descriptions I read before buying it were enticing ( aren’t they all?): “large clusters of bright red flowers”  “ruby red flowers”   ” irresistible to butterflies.”  At first, the color was indeed bright red. Finally, a yarrow that wasn’t muddy!

Paprika, one month later. Not so red anymore.

But alas, as the summer progressed, even with regular deadheading the flowers went from red to rust – a shade I am definitely not fond of. So in the fall, I will move it to the perennial bed at the side of the house. Maybe it will be redder there.

Tomato Orange Russian:

Orange Russian: big, beautiful and tasty!

I bought this plant at a spring plant sale. As I said, I do love experimenting, and I have found most of the Russian cultivars I have tried in the past to be both interesting and absolutely delicious. I harvested the first fruit a couple of weeks ago, and is it ever different-looking! It’s large and orange and heart-shaped, with red radiating from the tip up toward the stem. The flesh is mostly orangey-yellow, and it is meaty, juicy and succulent. I am only able to eat half of one for lunch at a time. That’s how big and heavy these tomatoes are. I like this plant a lot, and might even grow it again next year, if I can get my hands on it.

Though this won’t come as any news to long-time followers of SafeLawns.org, another study released late last week connected childhood exposures to pesticides to increased rates of ADHD: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/life/health/certain-pesticides-linked-to-attention-problems-in-young-kids-study–101055084.html.

Though neighboring New Jersey has seen more than 30 towns ban pesticides on public property, New York municipalities have been reluctant to jump on the bandwagon. Perhaps that will change with one of the larger towns on Long Island’s latest action: http://westislip.patch.com/articles/town-board-meeting-pesticide-use-banned-in-local-parks

In case you missed it: http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/forum/2010-08-17-column17_ST_N.htm

It is too wet to go out in the garden to do any weeding. 8.22.10 I will not have to think about turning on and moving the sprinklers around. I love looking at raindrops on petals of any flowers and...

August is not the peak bloom for these gardens and with little rain in the past month, the only thing to look forward to are garden vegetables and visits from friends even though apologies are profuse given the wilting and... Layanee DeMerchant

A dried, wilted African daisy plant with several dead flowers/leaves, 3 forlorn-looking flowers and a few buds in a 4-inch container was given to me by the owner of a local nursery just yesterday afternoon. It was quickly planted in...

Please join the Providence Community Gardens Network and Southside Community Land Trust for the 2nd Annual Open Garden Day and Harvest Potluck!

From 3pm to 5pm, visit six community gardens in South Providence and the West End. Community Gardeners will be on hand to give tours, answer questions, and provide gardening tips.

From 5 to 7pm, come to Potters Avenue Park and Community Garden for a Celebration with food, music, and beautiful surroundings.

Contact Erika Rumbley at gardennetwork[at]southsideclt.org for more information.

Friends of SCLT – We need you next Tuesday, August 24th for our 20th Annual CITY FEST celebration at City Farm!

If you have some free time, please join us and volunteer for this fun event to celebrate the Children’s Garden Program. We need help with:

Set-up from 12pm – 2pm

Activity and Food Stations from 2pm – 5pm

Clean-up from 5pm – 7pm

Contact Chris, Childrens Garden Coordinator, at fiecoat[at]gmail.com, to sign up for a shift! Thank you!

I dug up some of my onions recently, and I’d honestly forgotten I’d planted cipollini onions. But these are so beautiful, I had to share.

Red Marble Cipollini Onion

The color is just jewel-like. These small, flat onions are Italian in origin, and this variety is called Red Marble. I got the seed from Johnny’s Seeds in Maine. More later when I find some good ways to cook these. For now, I’m just enjoying the sight of them.

Layanee DeMerchant

I was outside a few days ago working in my vegetable garden, and bumble bees were hovering nearby.  Those bees  got me thinking about honeybees, and I realized that I hadn’t seen many honeybees this season. Then I read in our local paper  that Colony Collapse Disorder, or “CCD” has been attributed to more disastrous bee die-offs over last winter. The USDA estimates that 1/3 of all the colonies were lost!

Bumble, not honey

We should remember that our honeybees are not native to North America. They were brought here by European settlers, and displaced many of our indigenous wild pollinators. But rely on them we most certainly do, for pollinating crops from apples to broccoli.

Here in Rhode Island, beekeepers have also suffered major losses. CCD continues to affect colonies across the United States and Canada, and the scary thing is no one has been able to pinpoint a single cause of this disease. Researchers suspect a combination of pathogens, pesticides, malnutrition and parasites such as the varroa mite, but the bottom line is, they still don’t know why honeybees suddenly desert their colonies and disappear forever. One French study says that bees stay healthier if they can collect pollen from many different sources. Makes sense, doesn’t it? Unfortunately, today’s agriculture usually involves the mass production of single crops.

Bee with varroa mite - photo: USDA

Those who are studying  CCD  agree on one thing: there isn’t nearly enough funding for research into this problem, especially considering what is at stake. Dennis vanEngelsdorp, the Pennsylvania state apiarist argues that if one of every three cows was dying “they’d call out the National Guard.”

As fellow gardeners, I’m sure you are already aware of the importance of bees as pollinators – in our own gardens, and in the pollination of important food crops. While there’s not much we can do about CCD other than stay informed, we can help bees where we live. If you haven’t done so already, add some plants to your garden that are superior nectar sources. These include: Monarda (Bee Balm), and Eupatorium, (Joe-Pye Weed). Plant in clusters, or drifts – not isolated single plantings. Buy local honey. This supports your local beekeepers and the bees. Finally, if you absolutely must spray pesticides, (and the bees wish you wouldn’t) please don’t spray at mid-day, when the bees are out foraging.

Half a dozen mixed toad lilies were planted in my front garden in the spring (around the same time as the coral drops); but unfortunately only one came up. 8.1.10 Toad lilies belong in the Liliaceae family. Their leaves are...

The truth is not too pretty here in Rhode Island as we are in a water deficit. The best bloomers are those in containers since they get the benefit of daily watering. I have, like many others, been dragging the... Layanee DeMerchant

A New England gardener recently told me that gardening is his obsession and he gardens in all four seasons. I can relate although I have not added blankets to the outdoor seating as he has done. For so many of... Layanee DeMerchant