Cow(poop)pots

By Luci Beachdell | Friday, February 5, 2010, 08:05 AM

Although I generally steer away from recommendations for purchasing a product, these silly “cowpots” are at least worth looking at, whether or not you’d want to use them to start or transplant seedlings into. They’re made with “100% renewable composted cow manure”, and are a fascinating sort of byproduct of agriculture as we know it, in which manure can become an excessive, unwieldy byproduct. As with any gardening product (even though I couldn’t get the little “buy this here” arrow off the picture), please do your homework before purchasing anything!

You may have seen these biodegradable pots before - I hadn’t but immediately wanted to share this information. Here’s a link to the history of the cowpots - and how the farm’s inventors ended up with weed-free, composting manure that they then turned into pots. It’s kind of nifty, actually, featuring a methane digester from which they harvest gas, then separate the remaining solids for composting and liquids as fertilizer on the fields.

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OSU Extension - Gardening & Bee Keeping

By Luci Beachdell | Wednesday, February 3, 2010, 08:00 AM

OSU Extension has upcoming education opportunities which may be of great interest to gardeners and people who want to learn more about gardening or beekeeping. (There are more that I haven’t listed! Please visit their website for more information.) Also - take a look at the new, exciting Miami Valley Extension Education & Research Area Regional Calendar. This is divided up into the following categories: Agricultural & Natural Resources, Commercial Horticulture, Home Gardening, Master Gardeners & Naturalists.

These programs have deadlines for registration! Please contact OSU Extension (at the links below) right away for more information!

March 2 - May 5 (deadline has been extended to Feb 4!). Master Gardener Volunteer Training. Contact the Montgomery County OSU Extension office for more details.

March 5 & 6. The 32nd Annual Spring Beekeeping Workshop, Wooster, OH.

March 27 (deadline March 1). SouthWest Beekeeper School. Loveland, OH.

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UD Rainwater Harvest Designs

By Luci Beachdell | Tuesday, February 2, 2010, 07:30 PM

Last semester, a class of first-year Civil Engineering students from the University of Dayton designed 6 different rainwater harvesting systems. Their cost for materials was $250 or less. Here are their final designs - if anyone would like further information, please contact me at lucille.beachdell@metroparks.org.

Thank you! to Kenya Crosson, PhD, UD Assistant Professor, and to the teams of students who designed these rainwater collection systems! I hope to build and test some of these designs this year.

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New School Gardens NYC

By Luci Beachdell | Friday, January 29, 2010, 08:00 AM

An elementary school in New York City will soon be building an Edible Schoolyard program (the first New York affiliate). It will occupy 1/4 acre of previous parking lot, includes a kitchen classroom, compost, chicken coop, outdoor pizza oven, movable greenhouse, and, of course a garden. The price tag is about 1.6 million.

This project was detailed in a recent New York Times article, 1/20/2010, “School Adds Weeding to Reading and Writing” by Kim Severson. I can’t for the life of me figure out how to get access to the article - each time I find it, it disappears again. This link to the article may or may not work!

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U Cinci free sustainability series

By Luci Beachdell | Wednesday, January 27, 2010, 08:00 AM

The University of Cincinnati is hosting a Sustainability Series this winter.

Last Tuesday & this Tuesday (1/19 & 1/26), at 5 pm at the Catskeller, UC hosts a free Intro to Permaculture talk.

Other events include Vermicomposting, Rainwater Harvesting, Vertical Gardens, etc.

Register by emailing green@uc.edu

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Greenhouses & Patio Doors

By Luci Beachdell | Monday, January 25, 2010, 01:29 PM

Last week, someone sent out an email asking if anyone needed old patio doors for making a greenhouse. If you’re interested, email me and I’ll forward the message to the door donor - he only had a limited amount available!

Here are some nifty pics of what Mike Malone did with his patio doors:

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MSWCD Tree & Plant Program

By Luci Beachdell | Tuesday, January 19, 2010, 04:10 PM

Montgomery County Soil & Water Conservation District has begun accepting orders for its 2010 Tree & Plant Program. For the order form and list of plants, go to pages 2-5 of the January MCSWCD newsletter.

Am. Persimmon

Each year, deciduous trees, flowering trees and shrubs, rain garden plants, nut trees, ground covers, ornamental grasses, evergreens, potted wildflowers and native plants are offered as a low-cost source of conservation plant materials which provide food and cover for wildlife.

Sisyrinchium

Many, though not all of the plants available are natives. Quantities of some plants are limited, so the sooner you put your order in, the more likely you are to get what you want! Order forms (and check or money order) must be turned in by March 12, 2010. Packets (of plants) must be picked up either April 15 or 16, 2010, between 8 am and 5 pm.

For the exceptionally thrifty amongst you - keep your eyes peeled for “Springtime at the Market”, at the Second Street Market. Kristie Fisher, of Rush Creek Gardens CSA has worked with her mother for many years to bring LOTS of free bare-root saplings to the market each year to give away! This is ordinarily sometime in April. I’ll post this once I know the date and the Kristie has indeed secured trees!

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