FARMERS MARKET in the WEST END! June 12, 2010

West End Farmers Market is now accepting Vendor Applications for the 2010 Green Market Season!

This Community Collaboration will host the Open Air Market every 1st Friday from June 4th to October 1st from 3pm to 8pm outside of Space Atl Restaraunt 1310 White Street (behind Dunkin Donuts in the Historic West End)

Enjoy open mic performance, locally grown produce, art, hand crafted jewelry, and wholesome merchandise with a view of the BeltLine Park.

Please join us in encouraging sustainable communities and vendors looking for a new way to market reserve your SPACE NOW!

404-755-9441
sisloveu@bellsouth.net
www.spaceatlanta.com

SPACE Atlanta
1310 White Street
Atlanta Georgia 30310

Companion Planting (Potatoes) February 6, 2010

WHAT TO PLANT WITH POTATOES?

Companions for potatoes are bush bean, members of the cabbage family, carrot, celery, corn, dead nettle, flax, horseradish, marigold, peas, petunia, onion and Tagetes marigold. Protect them from scab by putting comfrey leaves in with your potato sets at planting time. Horseradish, planted at the corners of the potato patch, provides general protection. Don’t plant these around potatoes: asparagus, cucumber, kohlrabi, parsnip, pumpkin, rutabaga, squash family, sunflower, turnip and fennel. Keep potatoes and tomatoes apart as they both can get early and late blight contaminating each other.

STARTING YOUR SPRING GARDEN… January 29, 2010

Starting Your Spring Garden
FROM Truly Living Well (www.trulylivingwell.com)

A local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) managed by Mr. K. Rashid Nuri…

Mr. K. Rashid Nuri Now is the time to plan and build an organic spring garden at your home. What is the first step? Determine the best place for your garden. The garden should be located in an area that is fully exposed to the sun. You will pay more attention to your garden the nearer it is to the house. Make sure that water is readily available. The single most important factor in creating a successful garden is soil preparation. I call it dirt making. Get the soil right.  If you create good healthy soil, the plants which grow in that soil will also be healthy. Healthy plants are disease resistant. Begin soil preparation by gently turning the soil. If this is the first time the land is being used to grow food, a tiller may prove helpful. Too much tillage destroys soil structure. Subsequent soil preparation can be done with a spade or garden fork. After opening the soil add copious amounts of organic material such as compost, leaf mold, well rotted sawdust or decomposed animal manure. You can make your own compost or purchase it from most garden supply stores. Compost is the key to successful gardening. Compost added to gardens improves soil structure, texture, aeration, and water retention. When mixed with compost, clay soils are lightened, and sandy soils retain water better. Mixing compost with soil also contributes to erosion control, soil fertility, proper pH balance, and healthy root development in plants. Make beds in the garden that are separated by walkways. You do not want to walk in the area that you plant with vegetables. Walking on a vegetable bed compacts the soil and retards plant growth. Utilize the garden space wisely. Select crops you will eat and enjoy. You must like what you plant or the garden space and the food will both be wasted. Decide what you want to plant and where you will plant it. Know what you will plant after the spring season crop is finished. Southern exposure has the most light. Tall crops should be planted on the north and west side of the garden to prevent shading of smaller plants.

WEST END FALL FEST-October 24th! October 12, 2009

Brown Middle on Urban Garden TOUR! October 8, 2009

Park Pride’s Community Garden Tour

OCTOBER 10, 2009 NOON-5:00Pm

How does your garden grow? Year-round of course!

Join Pride Pride’s 2009 Community Garden Tour featuring six gardens

around the City of Atlanta. The tour will provide tips and tools on how you

can prepare your garden for the Fall & Winter months.

Cost:  $10 for individuals

$15 for couples

Children 12 and under are FREE!

Visit http://parkpride.kintera.org/gardentour2009 for details!

FALL SUMMIT ON URBAN FARMING + GARDENS August 28, 2009

This is super-exciting news:

A FALL FEST w/ a TWIST!

Friends of the West End Park , NPU-T’s Agriculture Committee, Rose Circle Garden, People’s Victory Garden, Truly Living Well (awaiting confirmation), Creating Vibrant Communities-Urban Farms along with other amazing urban agriculture enthusiasts will come together to plan our 2nd Annual Atlanta Fall Summit on Urban Farming + Gardens. This year, we’re adding a children’s track w/ workshops and activities specifically designed for our young ones. Last year, this event was a great success-people came from different parts of the city and other states to participate. This year we have more folks involved in the planning and we know it will be a huge success!

The tentative date is October 24, 2009 (Saturday). Location to be confirmed-Good Shepherd Community Church’s beautiful urban farm and West End Park.

Our next planning meeting will be either September 9th or 10th, Stephanie will confirm early next week. I’ll immediately post the confirmed date and location on the blog.

As part of the event there will be workshops on gardening, wellness, environment, art, composting and there will be craft/harvest vending so if you know anyone that may be interested in participating please contact me. We will also have garden tours, a “free market”+ bartering space and an informal seed swap. We look forward to an amazing event! If you have any questions or you’re interested in sponsoring this event (as a business or individual donor) please email me at yomara@9to5.org (your donation is tax-deductible). Other organizations are welcome to participate, if you’d like to become part of the planning committee contact stephanie.radbill@gmail.com. We welcome cross-community representation. : )

ART THAT MAKES SENSE… August 18, 2009

I was looking through Apartment Therapy today and came across these posters, artist Joe Wirtheim began making stuff in 2005 and lives in Portland Oregon. You can buy these + other lovely posters for $12 bucks on his etsy shop: The Victory Garden of Tomorrow (webisite: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5934570). Great inspiration!

source: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5934570

source: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5934570

source: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5934570

Taking Care of Bees… August 12, 2009

Keene wants to keep bees. I don’t think our neighbors would like the idea but with the number of bees declining every year-his idea might be right on. I’ve been looking into bee-keeping and came across the product below. Interestingly-in England they’re urging folks to keep bees on their roof-tops and gardens. I noted some of the websites below for those of you who are interested in learning more.

Source: http://www.physorg.com/news168683346.html

More info? Check out these links…

Product above: http://www.omlet.co.uk/shop/shop.php?cat=Beekeeping&sub=Beehaus&set=bees&step=confirm&action=wizard

Natural England: http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/about_us/news/2009/050809.aspx

Apartment Therapy: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com

MY TOMATO PLANT : ( July 25, 2009

Okay-I learned my lesson! I must start my pile of compost asap so I can improve my soil. Here are some pictures of the tomato plant-I believe it’s Fusarium wilt. If any of you can recognize what it is or have any ideas for treatment, please contact me or comment.

How many times have you seen one of these at Goodwill? July 23, 2009

SOURCE: http://www.designspongeonline.com-submitted by Chad Kelly