Rhode Island Feeds

Our exhibit at the Flower and Garden Marquee at Mid Devon Show was a great success. Keeping with the theme of the show, Meadow and Grasslands, we put together a stunning exhibit, even if I say so myself!

The stars being a collection of meadow flowers grown by Peter Billing and a pretty garden border of traditional cottage garden flowers grown by Ann Crawford.

Rachel Hart, Mary Smith, Janet Billing, Jean & John Bennett all gathered plants in pots, cut greenery and mechanics to build up the scene. Pictures of sheep from Watermans, turf kindly supplied by Edenvale Turf together with plastic wood pidgeons made by Janet sat on Rachel's house gate.

The Marquee was rewarded by winning the Leisure section for the best marquee, so congratulations to Marquee organiser/co-ordinator, Mary Tucker and the other exhibitors.

Thank you to all who made this exhibit possible. You did the Club proud. Thank you also to all stewards on the day of show.

Benary's Giants

Back in April, I told you about my fondness for zinnias. I started two cultivars from seed – Cut and Come Again, and the newer Benary’s Giants. I promised to tell you how I liked the Benary’s, so here’s my review:

I planted the seedlings along my front stairs, and they began flowering (in a horrendous heat wave with no rain) about a month ago. They’re about 24 inches high, and sturdy, despite repeated attacks by earwigs and other various insects.

What I like best about them is their strong, jewel-like colors, which really stand out against the green of the lawn. The hummingbirds seem to enjoy browsing the flowers,  zooming in after a stop at the feeder, and I often see butterflies feeding on them, too.  To make things more interesting, I planted a container of bachelor’s buttons (Centaurea cyanus) nearby. I really like the way all the colors work together.

Love this

The Cut and Come Agains are doing well – vigorous and blooming strongly. They just don’t have the pop of the Benary’s, though, and their colors seem a little muddy by comparison.

Cut and Come Again

So the results of my very un-scientific zinnia trial are these: Benary’s Giants are awesome and worth the extra $.50 of whatever per seed packet. I think they’ll be my default zinnias for the foreseeable future – or at least until something better comes along.

Looks like our weather today will be fine so we WILL have our market after all.  See you at Davis Park 11-2pm.

July's garden visit was to the National Trust's Hidecote Manor Garden in Gloucester.

From what I have heard the roses were magnificent. Hopefully I will get some photos to show at some point.

The National Trust's Website describes the garden:
"The twisting lanes of the Cotswold countryside lead to one of the most inventive and influential gardens of the 20th century. Hidcote Manor Garden, with its structure of outdoor 'rooms', linked by vistas and furnished with all sorts of topiary, recalls both the English garden style and the European connections of its creator Major Lawrence Johnston. Laid out over 70 years ago an astonishing variety of effects have been created. Hedges, walls, water and paving were all combined to create a garden that has its origins in the Arts and Crafts movement. Profuse and 'jungly' planting, rich colour and texture, contrast with areas left deliberately plain to give calm and restful intinterludes, so increasing the impact of the garden's lavish and exciting progression."

The first time I saw this plant.. I thought it had to be some unsightly tiny ferns that I had never seen before. 5.12.10 Then I took a long, second look at the low-growing plant with such unusual colors and...

We may decide to cancel tomorrow’s market due to the forecast of possible thunderstorms with high winds.  Will let you know soon!

Beginning and seasoned gardeners will enjoy workshops on gardens and herbs. Call for workshop details. Hi-On-A-Hill, 836 Old Smithfield Road, North Smithfield, RI

Location: North smithfield, RI

From Hannah:

Just wanted to let you know that all the summer squash plants are infested with the squash vine borer. I pulled a dozen or so of the nasty little buggers out yesterday by slicing the main stem vertically and removing them with a knife. It is very important that the damaged stems stay covered with moist soil to encourage re-roooting. I think we might lose 1 or 2 plants unfortunately, but they might stand a chance if they stay properly watered and covered. If you could spread the word for people to pay closer attention it will help out a lot! Fingers crossed.

I always allow some milkweed to grow in my vegetable garden. I don’t let it take over, but I want to provide a hospitable place for monarch butterflies. In case you didn’t already know, milkweed is the ONLY thing monarch larvae eat. I feel they have enough to contend with, and this is the least I can do. It is obvious that monarch larvae have been munching on these leaves. Good! I was hopeful I might actually catch some of them in the act.

Some serious munching going on here

I didn’t see any eating, but when I was harvesting my string beans, I saw a monarch caterpillar – more or less out in the open -  about to pupate. I had always assumed they did this on the undersides of milkweed leaves, but I guess I was wrong. This one was attached to the fence the beans climb on, about three feet high.

Pupating among the beans

After taking a few photos, I left the house for about two hours. As soon as I came home, I went outside to check on the caterpillar, and I found this. That sure didn’t take long!

The chrysalis

My next step was to go online to try and learn more about this stage in the monarch’s development. The first thing I found out is that unlike moths, monarchs do not spin cocoons. A monarch during this pupa stage is properly called a chrysalis, and the chrysalis is found under the skin of the larva when the last layer splits and falls away.

So, how long will it be before a butterfly emerges from the chrysalis? It seems temperature can affect the speed of the metamorphosis. The hotter the days and nights, the faster it happens. I figure it’ll be between a week and two weeks before this one emerges. It would be great to catch the big event, but I can’t camp out with the beans until it happens. I’ll just have to check on it every day – and of course I’ll keep you posted.

One week ago today, we added a new member to the family. This is Cooper. Cooper was born on May 20th at Tonmar Kennels in Pomfret, CT. He is related to the current Job Supervisor, Tucker, who is our 12... Layanee DeMerchant

Before leaving on vacation, Gail didn’t write much of a to-do list for us. As she bolted out the door on the way to the beach she said only, “Just try to keep up with the gardens!” It is a daunting task. The combination of steamy tropical heat and a couple of stormy downpours have [...]

False Queen Anne's lace is new to my garden. They were not whole-heartedly welcome initially, but now all three plants have grown on me. I must admit that the more and the closer I look at them, the more I...

Click on photo to enlarge Layanee DeMerchant

The Community Growers Collaborative – a business cooperative of 8 of SCLT’s Community Gardeners – is at it again! These talented food growers are pooling their harvest to sell fruits and veggies at the Broad Street Farmers’ Market.

Visit these gardeners every Saturday from 9am – 12pm on Broad Street and Laura Street, in front of the Algonquin House. You can buy a wide variety of delicious, hyper-local food – zucchini, squash blossoms, thai basil, lemongrass, carrots, bok choi, lettuce, beans, tomatoes, bitter melon, and more.

Community Growers’ Collaborative at Broad Street Farmers’ Market

Every Saturday from 9am – 12pm, Broad and Laura Street in South Providence

’til the end of October!

Each Summer, SCLT welcomes interns and volunteers of all ages to learn about growing food at City Farm.

This year, City Farm Steward Rich Pederson and City Farm Apprentice Sean O’Brien are working with two interns from local high schools, and two college interns from around the Northeast. Our high school interns, Princess and Eugenio are working about 10 hours per week. Princess is a student at Providence Career and Technical School in the West End, and Eugenio is a student at the Met School in South Providence.

Two college interns, Sondra and Patricia, are working about 25-30 hours per week, and both are getting school credit for their time at the farm.

All of City Farm’s interns are learning how to make healthy compost, methods for integrated pest management, and planting and harvesting.

Welcome to our class of 2010!

This summer, 200 gardeners from the Providence Community Garden Network pooled their money to make a bulk purchase of Fish Emulsion – lovingly referred to as “Fish Emo” – to use as organic fertilizer.

SCLT’s Community Garden Network Coordinator is delivering the bulk-sized Fish Emo containers to the gardens, where gardeners have agreed to share the fertilizer throughout the season. The gardeners were able to save money and educate one another on the benefits of this organic fertilizer.

Fish Emo is a superstar organic fertilizer used by many of SCLT’s farmers and gardeners. It is made from unused fish waste that has been tried to kill any living microorganisms. Fish Emo is full of the nutrients plants need to grow healthy and strong. It can be used a number of ways. Most commonly, it is diluted with water in a spray bottle and sprayed all over the plant, or it is diluted into a watering can and poured into the roots of plants.

You can purchase a bottle of Fish Emo from the City Farm stand at the Hope Street Farmers’ Market on Saturdays, or the Parade Street Farmers’ Market on Thursdays.

from Leo @ scclt:

Hello friends of urban chickens,

I just wanted to bring everyone up to speed on where we are, what’s
coming down the pipeline this week, and how we are planning on moving
forward

Last Thursday, Katherine, Nicole, and I went to the City Council
meeting to try to speak with the Ordinance Committee members before
the Council meeting and gauge whether they would be likely to support
the ordinance change. We spoke with Councilmen Narducci, Solomon,
Hassett, and Yurdin (Cliff Wood was late, but he’s also the sponsor of
the ordinance change). All seemed very supportive of the ordinance
change, but emphasized similar concerns: that we make sure the
ordinance language is “done right.” I would assume that this is
connected to the concerns that we’ve already anticipated (smell,
noise, rats, predators, humane treatment, etc.), but this is important
to keep in mind.

At the Council meeting, the request for the ordinance change was sent
straight to the Ordinance Committee, as we expected. The Ordinance
Committee meets this Thursday, 7/22, at 5:30 pm at City Hall
(Committee Room A, I believe?). We would like to have as many people
there as possible in the room to show support for the ordinance, but
we’ve been told that it would be best if only 4-5 people spoke to the
Ordinance Committee. We don’t want to irritate the members by
dragging the meeting on and on, but please invite friends, family, and
chicken-loving strangers alike to show up on Thursday at 5:30. If we
have a huge turnout in numbers, that will help us show the Ordinance
Committee that there are a lot of people in Providence who support
having backyard hens! Kate has been working on getting a chicken
design made so that everyone at the Ordinance meeting can wear a
Providence Chicken sticker and show what ward you live in. Kate, do
you want to email that to this list?

Here’s who we have lined up to speak already: Christie Moulton (Farm
Fresh), Christine Chitnis, Leo Pollock (SCLT). If you are interested
in speaking, please email me directly and we can figure out the
details. But once again, we will be better off if we have a room full
of people in support, but a very small number of people to speak so
that we keep the meeting short and sweet.

I’ve attached the most updated version of our Chicken Packet, which we
have been and will be handing out to all of the Council members. Hope
to see many of you Thursday!

Yours in the chicken revolution,
Leo

Dwarf perennial blue plumbago (Ceratostigma plumbaginoides) has been part of my garden landscape for several years. 8.19.08 Starting out as one small plant, the blue plumbago has continued to grow, multiply, expand and even become somewhat invasive at the border...

It’s been several weeks now since our latest community garden buildout, but we did want to send a welcome to over 40 families in South Providence who are now members of the Cadillac Drive Park Community Garden.

On May 22nd and 23rd, SCLT partnered with the Providence Parks and Recreation Department, Providence City Councilman Miguel Luna, McCauley Village and Community Works RI to build a new garden at Cadillac Drive Park. Dozens of new gardeners and community members worked together to build new raised beds and fill the beds with soil. Now that the garden is up and running, the gardeners are working together to plan garden days and a summer harvest celebration!

Many thanks to the Providence Parks and Recreation Department for providing the fencing, the water, and the soil for the raised beds.

Click MORE to look at more photos from the garden buildout in May.

Hal Morpeth welcomes student volunteers. photo courtesy of CELS News

This is a story about a university, its faculty, staff and students, the State of Rhode Island, some Master Gardeners, and a food bank. It’s also about testing new vegetable cultivars, and bringing many diverse interests together to grow good food, and lots of it.

For the past several years, University of Rhode Island Plant Sciences professor Dr. Rebecca Brown and research associate Carl Sawyer, with help from some URI students, have been growing fresh produce for the Rhode Island Food Bank. This year, the project has undergone a significant expansion. Dr. Brown needed more help, and a team of volunteers headed by Master Gardeners Hal Morpeth  and Charlie Samson got involved. With help from some URI and other student volunteers, they made the transition from “gardening” to “farming,” planting hundreds of cucumbers, lettuces, peppers, cabbages, carrots, potatoes, and onions.

volunteers getting down and dirty. photo courtesy of CELS News

Vegetable trials are also part of the project. One of these, partially funded by the RI Department of Environmental management, is testing blight-resistant tomatoes.

Bringing so many diverse groups together seems to benefit everyone. The trials will produce research data, the volunteers – including Master Gardeners – gain valuable experience, and the Food Bank gets the fresh produce. Sounds good to me.