The Earth in Our Hands
Vegetable Garden by Presbyterian Homes : A Healing Sanctuary and Food Source
This blog is inspired by Jennifer Jewell’s new book “The Earth in Her Hands”, a collection of stories about 75 women working in the landscape, greenhouse and garden and floral industry; it’s a beautiful intersection of horticulture powerhouses. One of our favorite quotes is from Lorene Edwards Forkner, the editor of Pacific Horticulture, based in the U.S. corona virus ground zero of Seattle, Washington. Her quote seems prophetic of the times.
“Gardeners are everyday superheroes - addressing challenges posed by climate change, urbanization, exploited natural resources, and a growing remove from the natural world.”
In Minnesota, March is a time to start compost cooking again. If you have not been composting, get started. It’s a great place for coffee grounds, potato peels, apple cores and similar. You can buy a compost system on line, you can build one, or you can just cordon off an small area outside and deposit kitchen waste (no meats, fats, dog poo, etc). A good overview of online purchase options is described in this news article https://tinyurl.com/sweweqc while DIY instructions from Kris Bordessa, author of Attainable Sustainable, are available here https://tinyurl.com/y9vu3ppo.
March is also a great time to plan (not plant!) a vegetable garden. Even if you have minimal space, you can produce bountiful harvests. A great way to get an urban garden plan going is to think about what you like to eat! How about salsa? You can grow everything you need in containers (tomatoes, peppers, onions, garlic and cilantro) and small, manageable spaces. The Grow a Good Life website provides sound gardening practice and thoughtful tips for a salsa garden https://tinyurl.com/t9ddwwu .
Rummage around in these websites, then pull together your plan to get some earth in your hands. Remember, Minnesota-specific info is always available at U of MN Extension https://tinyurl.com/sqgnj2c
Now, get planning all you gardening superheroes!