The plant box with sedum was beginning to look a little bit shabby. The leaves on the plant looked like they had a good case of a blotchy rash.
And unfortunately the blotchy rash was spreading. Never having seen this I requested a consult from Phil The Gardener. Though Phil's in California and I'm in Texas, through the connection of Skype (a no charge Internet video and audio phone service) and a webcam Phil was able to do his consult.
Seems the sedum had caught some sort of fungus. Phil suggested a milk spray.
Milk Recipe For Fungus Treatment: You mix milk half and half with water. And spray every day for 4 days.
Well it's been a week. There's new growth on the sedum. And the new leaves are blotch free.
Consults in gardening come from all different places. That's what I really enjoy about the sharing part of Blotanical. You can learn more, get great answers and feedback from an active group of gardeners.
And you also get to see what's going on in other parts of the country and even the world. There are some very talented gardeners who also use photography to show their gardening efforts.
I enjoy reading the blogs and seeing the pictures. The photography on these gardening blogs is nothing short of amazing. (Note: I'm still working on my gardening and photography skills.) If you're a gardener consider joining or at least taking a look.
All in a gardener's day,
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Filed under Container Gardening, urban gardening by 
Milwaukee and Chicago's inner city is probably the last place you'd expect to see a working farm. But Will Allen is a man with a dream and a plan. In 1993 he bought one of the last surviving farms in the city of Milwaukee.
Since then he has grown the farm into a successful example of urban gardening. He uses composts food scraps and then adds worms to enrich and build the soil.
Mr. Allen brings many years of experience to this project, he grew up on a family farm. But as he says, family farms like he grew up with don't exist anymore. His vision is to use inner city lots to grow fresh food for residents who only have access to either fast food or corner store processed food.
Mr. Allen has taken Growing Power his non-profit organization and turned it into a successful business. He sells the produce to local co ops and to area restaurants.
With his attention to good growing techniques he's developed an excellent reputation with chefs in the area. It ends up a win win for all. The chefs and their restaurants get high quality produce and Mr. Allen is able to grow his Growing Power even more. This lets him spread his message and techniques to more people every day.
His more than three dozen full time employees and thousands of volunteers help keep Growing Power going and growing spreading the message of urban gardening and feeding people.
Plants are just one part of the Growing Power business. There are goats, ducks, chickens and beehives, and even fishponds for tilapia and perch.
But Mr. Allen has also set up a research lab studying the way to turn food waste into fertilizer and methane gas into energy. According to the US Department of Agriculture 96 billion pounds of food is wasted every year. This breaks out into:
- 263,013,699 pounds of food wasted each day…
- 10,958,904 pounds wasted each hour…
- 182,648 pounds wasted each minute…
- 3,044 pounds of food wasted in America each second! (Source: End Hunger)
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation have recognized Will Allen's contribution and message with one of its Genius grants of $500,000. Mr. Allen said he learned it all from his parents. “We’re having to go back to when people shared things and started taking care of each other,” he said. “That’s the only way we will survive.” Source: NY Times
Here's Will Allen describing his program.
Just goes to show what determination, dirt and gardening knowledge will get. Congratulations to Mr. Allen and Growing Power. Thanks to the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation for recognizing the importance of urban gardening for now and the future.
All in a gardener's day,
Thanks to PSFK for the heads up on the story, the NY Times, and End Hunger.org.
Filed under Food Growing News, adaptive gardening, urban gardening by
I always smile when my neighbor talks about her lantana. Emily loves the little orange and yellow flowers on these plants. As she describes it, "These flowers just aren't as temperamental as my roses. They just grow." Lantana like many other wildflowers grow because they are native to an area.
So as a group these plants have learned to adapt to the sun, the wind, sometimes even snow. Too often when we garden we pick blooming plants and other plants because we saw them in a gardening magazine not necessarily our planting zone.
I'm as guilty as everyone else. I miss the spring bulbs blooming in the early spring (which is why I'm forcing some this year).
But if we can step back and take a look at some of our native plants we may be pleasantly surprised with the color and variety available. With natives there's fewer pesticides needed as the plants are not quite so picky about their homes.
In the Texas fall and elsewhere in the country fall is the time to sow wildflower seeds. As I read many of newspapers and blogs from around the country, whether New England, California, or Colorado now is the time to start planting those wildflowers.
The Texas Legacy: A Lady Bird's Dream
Now if you ever have the opportunity to drive any of the major Texas highways including interstates in Texas from spring to late fall you'll catch the legacy of Lady Bird Johnson, former First Lady. This past weekend was the fall plant sale at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center outside of Austin.
Texas has always been a combination of farming and ranching. Both endeavors require having good soil to use. Wildflowers hold an important function in the stabilization of the soil.
With the many storms that come from the Gulf of Mexico or down from the Rockies, quick storms with their accompanying flash floods tear away the soil leaving huge gullies.
Wildflowers serve to stabilize and at the same time beautify an area. But wildflowers don't have to be planted just along roadsides.
These native flowering plants can be an addition to your yard and garden bringing butterflies, hummingbirds and other nectar hunters. These native plants can also be added to plant containers ready to sprout and bloom when the warmth of spring awakens them.
By their very nature wildflowers require less care than other plants. This makes them perfect when you want to make an accessible garden or an enabled garden. By their very nature wildflowers and native plants are adaptable gardening at its best.
Wildflowers require minimal care which makes them a perfect choice for container gardening. When planted in a potting container they will require some additional assistance as their roots can only go so deep.
If you are using container gardening to plant your flowers make sure you have drainage holes on the bottom. Unless you are planting bog or swamp flowers, wildflowers do not like wet feet.
Texas Wildflower Seed Grants
If you're a Texas teacher or volunteer in Texas schools you may want to consider the seed grant program. The Center funds a partnership with Texas schools K-12 to "increase the sustainable use and conservation of native wildflowers, plants and landscapes." The purpose of the seed grants, is to "sow the future, one seed at a time." To get an application form and learn more go to http://wildflowers.org
Not A Texan?
Now I know not everyone is lucky enough to live in Texas, but the Wildflower Center took everyone in North America into consideration If you're unsure what wildflowers grow in your area? The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center maintains a database of North American native plants. If you'd like a little bit of Texas, I found this website which has screensavers of Texas wildflowers.
You can choose plant varieties by amount of sunlight, time of year and color of plant. Contact your local extension service or provincial government offices to find locations selling wildflower seeds native to your area.
Consider adding wildflowers to your gardening mix whether you want an adaptive garden, enabled garden or just want some gorgeous color in your life.
All in a gardener's day,
Photo courtesy of Clinton & Charles Robertson
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Filed under Container Gardening, accessible gardening, adaptive gardening, enabled gardening by
