DC Urban Gardeners

Germination!

Where did March go? After a bitterly cold February, gardeners are checking their planting schedules and finding that time is quickly passing for those early spring vegetables. But after just a few days of watering, the radishes are well on their way, along with many varieties of lettuce and of course the perenniel French sorrel is already being harvested for salads and sauces.

In my own garden, I also have collards and a couple varieties of kale that overwintered and now are thriving. Ditto the tat soi and some leaf lettuces that I planted late last fall. And the garlic looks mighty impressive, standing tall in its straw mulch.

All of which just goes to show that you can grow fine food crops right here in the District of Columbia. In my front yard in the Columbia Heights Neighborhood, I am usually havesting something almost year-round. In addition to the aforementioned greens, we've also planted peas, carrots, mustard greens, arugula radicchio, frisee, Swiss chard, broccoli, beets, potatoes, strawberries, rhubarb. Soon we'll be planting tomatoes, cucumbers, Italian summer squash, pole beans, lima beans.

Before you plant anyting, you should have your soil tested, not only for any definciencies in nutrients you might need to address, but also for toxins such as arsenic and lead. Lead is a common problem in urban areas, not only from car exhaust but also from paint that sloughs off of buildings. Lead has since been removed as a gasoline additive and a paint ingredient, but it remains in the soil, especially close to roadways and near building structures. Contact a reputable laboratory, such as A&l Eastern Laboratories in Richmond, VA , located here.

Your second mission should be to improve your soil with compost. Check the  resources section of our website for excellent information about compost. If you have a group of gardeners interested in composting, we can arrange a speaking engagement. There are also some valuable clinics on urban vegetable gardening in town coming up.

Tomorrow night, March 28, two experts from the Washington Youth Garden, located at the National Arboretum, will be speaking at the Chevy Chase Community Center, located at Connecticut Avenue and McKinley Street NW, at 7:15. April 6-8, the 7th Street Garden organization is holding an introductory course in urban vegetable gardening. See their website for details. And if you are interested in starting or improving a school garden, D.C. Schoolyard Greening also is holding clinics in April. Details can be fround  here.

Posted by Ed Bruske

In my own garden, I also have collards and a couple varieties of kale that overwintered and now are thriving. Ditto the tat soi and some leaf lettuces that I planted late last fall. And the garlic looks mighty impressive, standing tall in its straw mulch.

All of which just goes to show that you can grow fine food crops right here in the District of Columbia. In my front yard in the Columbia Heights Neighborhood, I am usually havesting something almost year-round. In addition to the aforementioned greens, we've also planted peas, carrots, mustard greens, arugula radicchio, frisee, Swiss chard, broccoli, beets, potatoes, strawberries, rhubarb. Soon we'll be planting tomatoes, cucumbers, Italian summer squash, pole beans, lima beans.

Before you plant anyting, you should have your soil tested, not only for any definciencies in nutrients you might need to address, but also for toxins such as arsenic and lead. Lead is a common problem in urban areas, not only from car exhaust but also from paint that sloughs off of buildings. Lead has since been removed as a gasoline additive and a paint ingredient, but it remains in the soil, especially close to roadways and near building structures. Contact a reputable laboratory, such as A&l Eastern Laboratories in Richmond, VA , located here.

Your second mission should be to improve your soil with compost. Check the  resources section of our website for excellent information about compost. If you have a group of gardeners interested in composting, we can arrange a speaking engagement. There are also some valuable clinics on urban vegetable gardening in town coming up.

Tomorrow night, March 28, two experts from the Washington Youth Garden, located at the National Arboretum, will be speaking at the Chevy Chase Community Center, located at Connecticut Avenue and McKinley Street NW, at 7:15. April 6-8, the 7th Street Garden organization is holding an introductory course in urban vegetable gardening. See their website for details. And if you are interested in starting or improving a school garden, D.C. Schoolyard Greening also is holding clinics in April. Details can be fround  here.

DC Garden Photo Contest Winners

Washington Gardener Magazine's First Annual DC Garden Photo Contest was a huge hit and kudos are in order for:  Editor Kathy Jentz, Judge Joshua Taylor, and some fabulous local shutterbugs.  Kathy reminds us that it's not too early to start snapping your potential winners for next year's contest.  The categories next year will be Garden Views, Small Wonders, and Garden Creatures.  All photos have to be taken within the Washington, D.C. area.  (Kathy's all about LOCAL.) This year's winning photos are on display from now through May 25 in the lobby of the Adams Bank on Georgia Avenue in downtown Silver Spring.

Here's just a sampling.  This field of tulips by Iris Posner won an Honorable Mention, but I should add that Iris also won the Grand Prize for a photo I don't have (sorry!)  She spotted these tulips at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, MD.

Next, on the right, won Second Place in the Garden Views Category.   Melissa Clark eyed these cool gloves at the Children's Garden at Green Springs in Alexandria, VA.

This wonderful tulip+funky old building shot was taken by my Takoma Park neighbor Rob Rudick.  He spotted it while on a ritzy garden tour in Upperville, VA. So while most tour-goers were madly photographing every fuschia azalea in sight, Rob was looking for a bit of character, and found lots of it.

Last (and I hope not least - Kathy, can I use some more?) reminds us of
what we love about winter.  Patricia Deege of Vienna, VA calls it "Meadowlark Snow Bridge."

This last photo was quite a stand-out in the Small Wonders category.  It's by Evelyn Jacob and because she's an old friend, maybe she'll tell me how she did it because I'm dying to know.*

Judge Joshua Taylor is a terrific photography teacher and is a huge hit on the garden club circuit.

[*This just in from Evelyn: "The butterfly was resting on the salvia and was stationary (they are more likely to do this early in the morning before their bodies warm up). I used a tripod and a macro lens on my digital SLR camera; macro lenses allow you to take closeup shots. I took the photo in the Brookside Gardens Conservatory during their butterfly show last year. I had signed up (and paid) for a program that allows a limited number of  photographers to use tripods and come in two hours before the conservatory opens to the public."  Thanks!]

Posted by Susan Harris

Washington Gardener Magazine's First Annual DC Garden Photo Contest was a huge hit and kudos are in order for:  Editor Kathy Jentz, Judge Joshua Taylor, and some fabulous local shutterbugs.  Kathy reminds us that it's not too early to start snapping your potential winners for next year's contest.  The categories next year will be Garden Views, Small Wonders, and Garden Creatures.  All photos have to be taken within the Washington, D.C. area.  (Kathy's all about LOCAL.) This year's winning photos are on display from now through May 25 in the lobby of the Adams Bank on Georgia Avenue in downtown Silver Spring.

Here's just a sampling.  This field of tulips by Iris Posner won an Honorable Mention, but I should add that Iris also won the Grand Prize for a photo I don't have (sorry!)  She spotted these tulips at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, MD.

Next, on the right, won Second Place in the Garden Views Category.   Melissa Clark eyed these cool gloves at the Children's Garden at Green Springs in Alexandria, VA.

This wonderful tulip+funky old building shot was taken by my Takoma Park neighbor Rob Rudick.  He spotted it while on a ritzy garden tour in Upperville, VA. So while most tour-goers were madly photographing every fuschia azalea in sight, Rob was looking for a bit of character, and found lots of it.

Last (and I hope not least - Kathy, can I use some more?) reminds us of
what we love about winter.  Patricia Deege of Vienna, VA calls it "Meadowlark Snow Bridge."

This last photo was quite a stand-out in the Small Wonders category.  It's by Evelyn Jacob and because she's an old friend, maybe she'll tell me how she did it because I'm dying to know.*

Judge Joshua Taylor is a terrific photography teacher and is a huge hit on the garden club circuit.

[*This just in from Evelyn: "The butterfly was resting on the salvia and was stationary (they are more likely to do this early in the morning before their bodies warm up). I used a tripod and a macro lens on my digital SLR camera; macro lenses allow you to take closeup shots. I took the photo in the Brookside Gardens Conservatory during their butterfly show last year. I had signed up (and paid) for a program that allows a limited number of  photographers to use tripods and come in two hours before the conservatory opens to the public."  Thanks!]

Posted by Susan Harris

Washington Gardener Magazine's First Annual DC Garden Photo Contest was a huge hit and kudos are in order for:  Editor Kathy Jentz, Judge Joshua Taylor, and some fabulous local shutterbugs.  Kathy reminds us that it's not too early to start snapping your potential winners for next year's contest.  The categories next year will be Garden Views, Small Wonders, and Garden Creatures.  All photos have to be taken within the Washington, D.C. area.  (Kathy's all about LOCAL.) This year's winning photos are on display from now through May 25 in the lobby of the Adams Bank on Georgia Avenue in downtown Silver Spring.

Here's just a sampling.  This field of tulips by Iris Posner won an Honorable Mention, but I should add that Iris also won the Grand Prize for a photo I don't have (sorry!)  She spotted these tulips at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, MD.

Next, on the right, won Second Place in the Garden Views Category.   Melissa Clark eyed these cool gloves at the Children's Garden at Green Springs in Alexandria, VA.

This wonderful tulip+funky old building shot was taken by my Takoma Park neighbor Rob Rudick.  He spotted it while on a ritzy garden tour in Upperville, VA. So while most tour-goers were madly photographing every fuschia azalea in sight, Rob was looking for a bit of character, and found lots of it.

Last (and I hope not least - Kathy, can I use some more?) reminds us of
what we love about winter.  Patricia Deege of Vienna, VA calls it "Meadowlark Snow Bridge."

This last photo was quite a stand-out in the Small Wonders category.  It's by Evelyn Jacob and because she's an old friend, maybe she'll tell me how she did it because I'm dying to know.*

Judge Joshua Taylor is a terrific photography teacher and is a huge hit on the garden club circuit.

[*This just in from Evelyn: "The butterfly was resting on the salvia and was stationary (they are more likely to do this early in the morning before their bodies warm up). I used a tripod and a macro lens on my digital SLR camera; macro lenses allow you to take closeup shots. I took the photo in the Brookside Gardens Conservatory during their butterfly show last year. I had signed up (and paid) for a program that allows a limited number of  photographers to use tripods and come in two hours before the conservatory opens to the public."  Thanks!]

Posted by Susan Harris

The Story of Studio City Garden

DC Urban Gardener President Ed Bruske is appearing on the national gardenblog GardenRant today recounting the story of the Studio Charter School's garden.  It's a good one, especially with Ed telling  it.

Posted by Susan Harris

Posted by Susan Harris

Princeton Elms Available at Home Depot

So I was listening to the Q&A following the showing of a movie about American elms, part of DC's Environmental Film Festival. A panel of professional treehuggers was answering questions from the crowd, a couple of hundred more treehuggers.  Having been impressed by the film's high praise for the disease-resistant Princeton elm and eager to buy one, an audience member asks:  Where can a homeowner buy one?  Hearing another audience member yell out "Home Depot", the questioner continues, "No, seriously.  I really want to buy one."

Then it got kinda interesting.  The person blurting out "Home Depot" represents River Edge Farm in Georgia, which happens to be a major grower of American elms, and he further declared that he's recently delivered 12,000 of the prized, hard-to-get Princeton elms to Home Depots along the East Coast.  "And they're really promoting them," he tells us, by featuring them prominently in the stores.  Another audience member pipes up to say "Buy 'em quick before they kill 'em," which elicited a knowing laugh from the crowd.

So why DOES Home Depot kill its plants by giving them no care at all?  Like not watering them, even after they've placed them in the blazing sun.  Well, the blogging nurseryman at The Golden Gecko in California explains that it's because Home Depot and other mass merchant stores like Lowes only pay for the plants when they're sold, so they have no financial incentive to keep them alive.  When they kill 'em by neglect, it's the grower who suffers.  So growers are banding together to hire their own plant care staff to drive around to the plant-killing big boxes and water their plants.  Amazing what terms you can negotiate when you have all the power.

So though I'm usually in a camp of those complaining about Home Depot, just this once I'm suggesting you high-tail it over to your nearest HD and pick up a Princeton elm - quick.

Posted by Susan Harris

So I was listening to the Q&A following the showing of a movie about American elms, part of DC's Environmental Film Festival. A panel of professional treehuggers was answering questions from the crowd, a couple of hundred more treehuggers.  Having been impressed by the film's high praise for the disease-resistant Princeton elm and eager to buy one, an audience member asks:  Where can a homeowner buy one?  Hearing another audience member yell out "Home Depot", the questioner continues, "No, seriously.  I really want to buy one."

Then it got kinda interesting.  The person blurting out "Home Depot" represents River Edge Farm in Georgia, which happens to be a major grower of American elms, and he further declared that he's recently delivered 12,000 of the prized, hard-to-get Princeton elms to Home Depots along the East Coast.  "And they're really promoting them," he tells us, by featuring them prominently in the stores.  Another audience member pipes up to say "Buy 'em quick before they kill 'em," which elicited a knowing laugh from the crowd.

So why DOES Home Depot kill its plants by giving them no care at all?  Like not watering them, even after they've placed them in the blazing sun.  Well, the blogging nurseryman at The Golden Gecko in California explains that it's because Home Depot and other mass merchant stores like Lowes only pay for the plants when they're sold, so they have no financial incentive to keep them alive.  When they kill 'em by neglect, it's the grower who suffers.  So growers are banding together to hire their own plant care staff to drive around to the plant-killing big boxes and water their plants.  Amazing what terms you can negotiate when you have all the power.

So though I'm usually in a camp of those complaining about Home Depot, just this once I'm suggesting you high-tail it over to your nearest HD and pick up a Princeton elm - quick.

Posted by Susan Harris

So I was listening to the Q&A following the showing of a movie about American elms, part of DC's Environmental Film Festival. A panel of professional treehuggers was answering questions from the crowd, a couple of hundred more treehuggers.  Having been impressed by the film's high praise for the disease-resistant Princeton elm and eager to buy one, an audience member asks:  Where can a homeowner buy one?  Hearing another audience member yell out "Home Depot", the questioner continues, "No, seriously.  I really want to buy one."

Then it got kinda interesting.  The person blurting out "Home Depot" represents River Edge Farm in Georgia, which happens to be a major grower of American elms, and he further declared that he's recently delivered 12,000 of the prized, hard-to-get Princeton elms to Home Depots along the East Coast.  "And they're really promoting them," he tells us, by featuring them prominently in the stores.  Another audience member pipes up to say "Buy 'em quick before they kill 'em," which elicited a knowing laugh from the crowd.

So why DOES Home Depot kill its plants by giving them no care at all?  Like not watering them, even after they've placed them in the blazing sun.  Well, the blogging nurseryman at The Golden Gecko in California explains that it's because Home Depot and other mass merchant stores like Lowes only pay for the plants when they're sold, so they have no financial incentive to keep them alive.  When they kill 'em by neglect, it's the grower who suffers.  So growers are banding together to hire their own plant care staff to drive around to the plant-killing big boxes and water their plants.  Amazing what terms you can negotiate when you have all the power.

So though I'm usually in a camp of those complaining about Home Depot, just this once I'm suggesting you high-tail it over to your nearest HD and pick up a Princeton elm - quick.

Posted by Susan Harris

Community Gardens, How Can We Help?

Hill East Community Gardeners held their Annual Meeting/Potluck Dinner and invited DC Urban Gardeners Ed Bruske and myself to attend.  Okay, they didn't know we exist yet (how could they?) but their invited guest - Lorin O'Toole of D.C.'s Department of Environment, invited Ed and me to tag along and maybe answer some questions about pests.  So here's what we learned and a little about what they might have learned from us (more coming soon, we hope.)

• Community gardens are HAPPENING, very cool in a community-building, get-to-know-your-neighbor sort of way.  And as a lifelong by-myself gardener who spends waay too much time talking to myself in my own back yard, I'm totally jealous.  The photo shows board member Rochelle Woodard speaking to the group.
• The Hill East garden started in 2002 and the first year and a half was spent just clearing the space of debris, including whole cars.  So somebody sure had vision, to look at a dump site and see the potential for growing food.  And with who-knows-what-all in the soil under all that crap, they wisely decided to build raised beds. 
• Hill Easters were guided by a nearby experienced community gardener - Pat Taylor of the King's Court Garden.  Pat's also a mover/shaker in the Capitol Hill Garden Club.
• Gardeners at Hill East pay $50 a year, plus a one-time $100 initiation fee (which includes orientation).  All 36 of its 12x4 plots are occupied now and there's a waiting list to join. 
• Hill East is an all-organic, which is a particular challenge for community gardens, where scores of different gardeners are making their plant choices independently and exercising different degrees of garden clean-up. 

Pests?
You bet, and the most-hated insects here are cucumber beetles and harlequin beetles. So what's an organic gardener to do?  Ed offered suggestions about the macro solutions, like soil amendments (compost, compost, compost), using pest-resistant varieties, and giving giving up on growing pest-prone vegetables altogether.  Or how about attracting more beneficial insects?   I recommended the Maryland Home and Garden Center as the best local source of information for gardeners - here's the link to their science-based publications, including several about Integrated Pest Management and the best varieties of vegetable to grow in this area.  Even Virginia Master Gardeners recommend this excellent site, which is produced by the University of Maryland Cooperative Extension Service.

(Later, D.C. Master Gardener Barbara Baldwin did a little research and sent me this bad news about cucumber beetles:  there's no real organic control; only row covers offer a bit of protection and picking off the insects, along with cleaning up the area in the fall and in the spring.  Sorry!)

Ornamentals
Here's a photo of Hill East at its worst, I'm sure, and if somebody has a photo in season, send it along and I'll post it instead.  What it would surely show are lots of color and beauty in the garden's 2-foot-wide perimeter plantings, including drought-tolerant perennials like sedum and daylilies.  Asked to suggest others, we threw out ideas like butterfly bush, crapemyrtle, salvia, and for evergreen color, tall but narrow junipers.

How can we help?
If Ed or I had anything helpful to offer Hill Easters we're pleased as punch but really, we were there to find out how to help.  So now that there's a volunteer gardener group in D.C., how can we help its 30-some community gardens?

• What should we add to our website?  How about a separate page about starting, managing and growing in community gardens?
• We learned that Hill Easters have their own Yahoo group - an important resource for any group - but would you like a way to communicate with community gardeners citywide?
• When Lorin talked about the TWO hazardous waste collection events yearly in all of D.C., it was obvious that more are needed.  And the ONE event this spring is April 21 at Carter Barron Ampitheater on upper 16th Street - nowhere near Capitol Hill.  These collection events are for your unused pesticides, fertilizers, lead paint, florescent lights, and dead electronics.
• And how about free compost and mulch from the city's leaf collection activities?  We agree that's a huge need and we're on it!  A full report is coming soon to this blog and will be posted permenantly on our site.

Hill Easters, it was great meeting you and seeing your garden, and invite us back soon!

Posted by Susan Harris

Hill East Community Gardeners held their Annual Meeting/Potluck Dinner and invited DC Urban Gardeners Ed Bruske and myself to attend.  Okay, they didn't know we exist yet (how could they?) but their invited guest - Lorin O'Toole of D.C.'s Department of Environment, invited Ed and me to tag along and maybe answer some questions about pests.  So here's what we learned and a little about what they might have learned from us (more coming soon, we hope.)

• Community gardens are HAPPENING, very cool in a community-building, get-to-know-your-neighbor sort of way.  And as a lifelong by-myself gardener who spends waay too much time talking to myself in my own back yard, I'm totally jealous.  The photo shows board member Rochelle Woodard speaking to the group.
• The Hill East garden started in 2002 and the first year and a half was spent just clearing the space of debris, including whole cars.  So somebody sure had vision, to look at a dump site and see the potential for growing food.  And with who-knows-what-all in the soil under all that crap, they wisely decided to build raised beds. 
• Hill Easters were guided by a nearby experienced community gardener - Pat Taylor of the King's Court Garden.  Pat's also a mover/shaker in the Capitol Hill Garden Club.
• Gardeners at Hill East pay $50 a year, plus a one-time $100 initiation fee (which includes orientation).  All 36 of its 12x4 plots are occupied now and there's a waiting list to join. 
• Hill East is an all-organic, which is a particular challenge for community gardens, where scores of different gardeners are making their plant choices independently and exercising different degrees of garden clean-up. 

Pests?
You bet, and the most-hated insects here are cucumber beetles and harlequin beetles. So what's an organic gardener to do?  Ed offered suggestions about the macro solutions, like soil amendments (compost, compost, compost), using pest-resistant varieties, and giving giving up on growing pest-prone vegetables altogether.  Or how about attracting more beneficial insects?   I recommended the Maryland Home and Garden Center as the best local source of information for gardeners - here's the link to their science-based publications, including several about Integrated Pest Management and the best varieties of vegetable to grow in this area.  Even Virginia Master Gardeners recommend this excellent site, which is produced by the University of Maryland Cooperative Extension Service.

(Later, D.C. Master Gardener Barbara Baldwin did a little research and sent me this bad news about cucumber beetles:  there's no real organic control; only row covers offer a bit of protection and picking off the insects, along with cleaning up the area in the fall and in the spring.  Sorry!)

Ornamentals
Here's a photo of Hill East at its worst, I'm sure, and if somebody has a photo in season, send it along and I'll post it instead.  What it would surely show are lots of color and beauty in the garden's 2-foot-wide perimeter plantings, including drought-tolerant perennials like sedum and daylilies.  Asked to suggest others, we threw out ideas like butterfly bush, crapemyrtle, salvia, and for evergreen color, tall but narrow junipers.

How can we help?
If Ed or I had anything helpful to offer Hill Easters we're pleased as punch but really, we were there to find out how to help.  So now that there's a volunteer gardener group in D.C., how can we help its 30-some community gardens?

• What should we add to our website?  How about a separate page about starting, managing and growing in community gardens?
• We learned that Hill Easters have their own Yahoo group - an important resource for any group - but would you like a way to communicate with community gardeners citywide?
• When Lorin talked about the TWO hazardous waste collection events yearly in all of D.C., it was obvious that more are needed.  And the ONE event this spring is April 21 at Carter Barron Ampitheater on upper 16th Street - nowhere near Capitol Hill.  These collection events are for your unused pesticides, fertilizers, lead paint, florescent lights, and dead electronics.
• And how about free compost and mulch from the city's leaf collection activities?  We agree that's a huge need and we're on it!  A full report is coming soon to this blog and will be posted permenantly on our site.

Hill Easters, it was great meeting you and seeing your garden, and invite us back soon!

Posted by Susan Harris

Urban Composting

After months of preparation, I finally gave my composting presentation to the Capitol Hill Garden Club this week. I only had an hour, so this was not the kind of venue where you get into a hands-on demonstration of how to contruct a compost heap. I decided to assemble a Powerpoint slide show about what fascinates me most about compost, which is the backstory: How in the world did we arrive at a place where people think fertility is something you buy in a bag at Home Depot, while feeding the soil naturally with compost falls to hippies and tree-huggers?

To recap: humans for thousands of years were fertilizing their fields with compost and manure. (Even the Greeks talk about how to build a compost pile). Darwin was convinced that earthworms ruled the world (or at least the underworld). But the 19th Century saw a parade of German chemists who were convinced that the only thing plants really need to grow is nitrogen. It was only a matter of finding an industrial method of turning gaseous nitrogen into something you could spread on your fields and there'd soon be enough food to feed an exploding world population. Voila, the age of chemistry was born. Now we use around 2 percent of our natural gas to manufacture nitrogen, which does nothing for the health of our soils--in fact, is a factor in the destruction of our soils--and is helping to create huge dead zones in the Chesapeake Bay and Gulf of Mexico.

I could turn this into a polemic. The point is, I received a warm reception at the Capitol HIll Garden Club, one of the most venerable in our area. People really want to know how they can compost in their back yards. Especially their urban back yards, where they may not have so much space. They have tons of questions. They are worried about space. They are worried about pests. They are worried about costs. They are worried about what their neighbors will think. And there are no easy answers. There are so many different ways to compost, every gardener has to fashion a solution that fits best.

But we should be working on solutions. We should be identifying backyard composting bins that really work in an urban setting. We should be identifying systems for storing all your compost materials when your bin is full. We should be doing more to help spread this information across the city so that everyone can do more to recyle wastes that can easily be turned into a valuable amendment for our soil.

And where is the city in all this? I am on the hunt for our city's leaf czar. I feel like Michael Moore, tracking down the head of GM. Somewhere, there's a city employee who's in charge of collecting all the leaves the District generates each fall and deciding what should be done with them. I've been told there is a place where you can go and collect city-generated compost (they give it away in Takoma Park), but that this compost may not be the greatest because of all the bits of trash that get caught in the leaf stream. Where is this place? I am determined to find out.

And if you have any tips on what style of composting works best for you, please pass them along. This is a continuing journey, a journey of mutual discovery and assistance. Compost should be at the top of our priority list. Every gardener should be involved with compost. We certainly are.

Meanwhile, check out these websites for an eyefull about compost. One of them links to the urban agriculture program in Vancouver, Canada. Sorry to report, folks, the Canadians are light years ahead of us. We could be taking a few cues from them.

My favorite part of the presentation at the Capitol Hill Garden Club came at the end, as I was packing up to leave. An elderly woman on crutches approached me.

"You know, I've been gardening for more than 35 years," she said. "And when I started, my soil was awful. But every year I'd take the leaves that fell in my yard and spread them around the garden. I just kept doing that. And you know what? I now have the best soil you've ever seen."

You go on with your bad mulching self, girl!

Sometimes the simplest solutions are indeed the best.

http://www.cityfarmer.org/

http://www.compostguide.com/

posted by Ed Bruske

After months of preparation, I finally gave my composting presentation to the Capitol Hill Garden Club this week. I only had an hour, so this was not the kind of venue where you get into a hands-on demonstration of how to contruct a compost heap. I decided to assemble a Powerpoint slide show about what fascinates me most about compost, which is the backstory: How in the world did we arrive at a place where people think fertility is something you buy in a bag at Home Depot, while feeding the soil naturally with compost falls to hippies and tree-huggers?

To recap: humans for thousands of years were fertilizing their fields with compost and manure. (Even the Greeks talk about how to build a compost pile). Darwin was convinced that earthworms ruled the world (or at least the underworld). But the 19th Century saw a parade of German chemists who were convinced that the only thing plants really need to grow is nitrogen. It was only a matter of finding an industrial method of turning gaseous nitrogen into something you could spread on your fields and there'd soon be enough food to feed an exploding world population. Voila, the age of chemistry was born. Now we use around 2 percent of our natural gas to manufacture nitrogen, which does nothing for the health of our soils--in fact, is a factor in the destruction of our soils--and is helping to create huge dead zones in the Chesapeake Bay and Gulf of Mexico.

I could turn this into a polemic. The point is, I received a warm reception at the Capitol HIll Garden Club, one of the most venerable in our area. People really want to know how they can compost in their back yards. Especially their urban back yards, where they may not have so much space. They have tons of questions. They are worried about space. They are worried about pests. They are worried about costs. They are worried about what their neighbors will think. And there are no easy answers. There are so many different ways to compost, every gardener has to fashion a solution that fits best.

But we should be working on solutions. We should be identifying backyard composting bins that really work in an urban setting. We should be identifying systems for storing all your compost materials when your bin is full. We should be doing more to help spread this information across the city so that everyone can do more to recyle wastes that can easily be turned into a valuable amendment for our soil.

And where is the city in all this? I am on the hunt for our city's leaf czar. I feel like Michael Moore, tracking down the head of GM. Somewhere, there's a city employee who's in charge of collecting all the leaves the District generates each fall and deciding what should be done with them. I've been told there is a place where you can go and collect city-generated compost (they give it away in Takoma Park), but that this compost may not be the greatest because of all the bits of trash that get caught in the leaf stream. Where is this place? I am determined to find out.

And if you have any tips on what style of composting works best for you, please pass them along. This is a continuing journey, a journey of mutual discovery and assistance. Compost should be at the top of our priority list. Every gardener should be involved with compost. We certainly are.

Meanwhile, check out these websites for an eyefull about compost. One of them links to the urban agriculture program in Vancouver, Canada. Sorry to report, folks, the Canadians are light years ahead of us. We could be taking a few cues from them.

My favorite part of the presentation at the Capitol Hill Garden Club came at the end, as I was packing up to leave. An elderly woman on crutches approached me.

"You know, I've been gardening for more than 35 years," she said. "And when I started, my soil was awful. But every year I'd take the leaves that fell in my yard and spread them around the garden. I just kept doing that. And you know what? I now have the best soil you've ever seen."

You go on with your bad mulching self, girl!

Sometimes the simplest solutions are indeed the best.

http://www.cityfarmer.org/

http://www.compostguide.com/

posted by Ed Bruske

The Truth about Tree Boxes

By Ed Bruske

Now that tree planting time has arrived, I just finished two Citizen Forester classes at Casey Trees and came away with this startling revelation: Our city’s tree boxes are all wrong.

We pass tree boxes everyday, everywhere. They are those rectangular spaces between the curb and the sidewalk where typically a tree has been planted and typically some neighbor has boxed in the box with 4 x 4s or 2 x 6s, poured in more soil and tried to grow a bumper crop of pansies or irises or even sunflowers. Sometimes the barriers are more elaborate: wrought iron, say, or decorative metal posts with black chains strung in between. And sometimes the plantings include exotic grasses or ivies or, in many cases, just a tall bunch of weeds.

Truth is all of that stuff is bad for the trees and bad for the city. I’ll explain why in a moment. Suffice to say, the best thing we could do with those tree boxes is simply apply a layer of quality mulch to hold in moisture and inhibit weeds. Then water the tree on a regular basis and leave it alone.

You’ve all wondered, I’m sure, who keeps planting all these trees and why many of them seem to wither and die. Well, as we learned in Citizen Forester class, that strip between the curb and sidewalk that exists just about everywhere in the city is the domain of a small agency called the D.C. Urban Forestry Administration. This agency used to be under the Department of Public Works.  But it was moved to the Transportation Department, enabling the city to use federal highway funds to plant trees.

As you know, the city has lost much of its tree canopy in recent decades. Trees are vitally important to create shade in the summer, provide habitat for wildlife and turn the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide into oxygen we can breathe. Trees also transpire moisture into the air that later becomes rain. Mature trees lining a street or avenue even have a calming affect on traffic.

Almost all of the trees planted in tree boxes are the responsibility of the Urban Forestry Administration (UFA). Except the city doesn’t plant all the trees. That is the job of one contractor hired by the UFA. 

Many of the trees don’t survive.  Sometimes, explained Urban Forester Duff McCully, that’s because the tree was planted improperly. Sometimes mulch is piled up like a volcano around the base of the tree, starving the tree of water or making a home for disease. Some trees are run over by cars or destroyed by rough-housing kids. Sometimes trees are killed by people who just hate trees. (Hard to believe, but McCully insists that not everyone is a tree lover.)

Mostly, though, newly planted trees fail to survive the critical first two years because people don't water them, and are doing all kinds of wacky “gardening” things to the tree boxes. (You thought the city was responsible for watering those young trees? Think again.)

For instance, any barrier, whether wood or metal, that is placed around the tree box prevents water from running off the sidewalk and into the box. Not only does this deprive the young tree of water it needs to survive, it means more water running into the storm drains, carrying pollution into the watershed. These days, we need all the open soil we can get so that water finds its way back into the earth rather than carrying pollutants into the Chesapeake Bay.

Often after a would-be gardener builds his box around the tree box he then piles in more soil to create a place to plant flowers or shrubs. But the extra soil starves the young tree roots of air and water and creates a perfect environment for disease to attack the tree. In addition, plantings such as most perennials, grasses and ivies create a matt of roots that further restrict the flow of air and water to the tree's roots.

The final irony: the stuff the gardener plants in the tree box often dies from neglect. How often do you run a hose out to your curb? Then after everything in the tree box is dead, the box becomes a perfect receptacle for beer bottles and other garbage.

If planting anything at all in a tree box, the best choice is some small annuals around the edge of the box. Otherwise, the ideal approach for a young tree is to cover the area with a 1-inch layer of mulch, such as cured hardwood chips or bark. Don’t mound the mulch in the middle. Mound it around the edges to create a saucer shape so that water runs from the outside of the box toward the tree.

Water the tree regularly, especially during hot weather when trees are transpiring like mad. 

Casey Trees is working on a more perfect tree box design. D.C. Urban Gardeners will be doing what it can to get this message out to the public and help save our young trees. Do your part by not trying to create a garden in your tree box. And give your tree the water it needs .

To be continued...

By Ed Bruske

Now that tree planting time has arrived, I just finished two Citizen Forester classes at Casey Trees and came away with this startling revelation: Our city’s tree boxes are all wrong.

We pass tree boxes everyday, everywhere. They are those rectangular spaces between the curb and the sidewalk where typically a tree has been planted and typically some neighbor has boxed in the box with 4 x 4s or 2 x 6s, poured in more soil and tried to grow a bumper crop of pansies or irises or even sunflowers. Sometimes the barriers are more elaborate: wrought iron, say, or decorative metal posts with black chains strung in between. And sometimes the plantings include exotic grasses or ivies or, in many cases, just a tall bunch of weeds.

Truth is all of that stuff is bad for the trees and bad for the city. I’ll explain why in a moment. Suffice to say, the best thing we could do with those tree boxes is simply apply a layer of quality mulch to hold in moisture and inhibit weeds. Then water the tree on a regular basis and leave it alone.

You’ve all wondered, I’m sure, who keeps planting all these trees and why many of them seem to wither and die. Well, as we learned in Citizen Forester class, that strip between the curb and sidewalk that exists just about everywhere in the city is the domain of a small agency called the D.C. Urban Forestry Administration. This agency used to be under the Department of Public Works.  But it was moved to the Transportation Department, enabling the city to use federal highway funds to plant trees.

As you know, the city has lost much of its tree canopy in recent decades. Trees are vitally important to create shade in the summer, provide habitat for wildlife and turn the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide into oxygen we can breathe. Trees also transpire moisture into the air that later becomes rain. Mature trees lining a street or avenue even have a calming affect on traffic.

Almost all of the trees planted in tree boxes are the responsibility of the Urban Forestry Administration (UFA). Except the city doesn’t plant all the trees. That is the job of one contractor hired by the UFA. 

Many of the trees don’t survive.  Sometimes, explained Urban Forester Duff McCully, that’s because the tree was planted improperly. Sometimes mulch is piled up like a volcano around the base of the tree, starving the tree of water or making a home for disease. Some trees are run over by cars or destroyed by rough-housing kids. Sometimes trees are killed by people who just hate trees. (Hard to believe, but McCully insists that not everyone is a tree lover.)

Mostly, though, newly planted trees fail to survive the critical first two years because people don't water them, and are doing all kinds of wacky “gardening” things to the tree boxes. (You thought the city was responsible for watering those young trees? Think again.)

For instance, any barrier, whether wood or metal, that is placed around the tree box prevents water from running off the sidewalk and into the box. Not only does this deprive the young tree of water it needs to survive, it means more water running into the storm drains, carrying pollution into the watershed. These days, we need all the open soil we can get so that water finds its way back into the earth rather than carrying pollutants into the Chesapeake Bay.

Often after a would-be gardener builds his box around the tree box he then piles in more soil to create a place to plant flowers or shrubs. But the extra soil starves the young tree roots of air and water and creates a perfect environment for disease to attack the tree. In addition, plantings such as most perennials, grasses and ivies create a matt of roots that further restrict the flow of air and water to the tree's roots.

The final irony: the stuff the gardener plants in the tree box often dies from neglect. How often do you run a hose out to your curb? Then after everything in the tree box is dead, the box becomes a perfect receptacle for beer bottles and other garbage.

If planting anything at all in a tree box, the best choice is some small annuals around the edge of the box. Otherwise, the ideal approach for a young tree is to cover the area with a 1-inch layer of mulch, such as cured hardwood chips or bark. Don’t mound the mulch in the middle. Mound it around the edges to create a saucer shape so that water runs from the outside of the box toward the tree.

Water the tree regularly, especially during hot weather when trees are transpiring like mad. 

Casey Trees is working on a more perfect tree box design. D.C. Urban Gardeners will be doing what it can to get this message out to the public and help save our young trees. Do your part by not trying to create a garden in your tree box. And give your tree the water it needs .

To be continued...

Greening of the Capitol

From Congressional  Quarterly comes this welcome news, an article called "At the Capitol: It Ain’t Easy Being Green, But the Effort Has Begun"

Not to be upstaged by the “green” advocacy work of former Vice President Al Gore, House Democratic leaders revealed last week that they are starting their own green program at the Capitol, a program aimed at improving energy conservation and efficiency. 

Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., announced March 2 that she has asked the chamber’s newly appointed chief administrative officer, Daniel P. Beard,to come up with a plan to make the Capitol more environmentally friendly.  Beard has been asked to submit a preliminary report by April 30 on what kinds of improvements should be made, with final recommendations two months later. A letter signed by Pelosi, Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, D-Md., and House Administration Chairwoman Juanita Millender-Mcdonald, D-Calif., instructs Beard to take steps that reflect “the most up-to-date industry and government standards for green building and green operating procedures.” 

The leaders’ “Green the Capitol” initiative could end up a bit lopsided, however. Beard’s authority extends only to the House side of the Capitol. There’s no word yet on whether the Senate intends to follow the House lead.

Posted by Susan Harris

From Congressional  Quarterly comes this welcome news, an article called "At the Capitol: It Ain’t Easy Being Green, But the Effort Has Begun"

Not to be upstaged by the “green” advocacy work of former Vice President Al Gore, House Democratic leaders revealed last week that they are starting their own green program at the Capitol, a program aimed at improving energy conservation and efficiency. 

Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., announced March 2 that she has asked the chamber’s newly appointed chief administrative officer, Daniel P. Beard,to come up with a plan to make the Capitol more environmentally friendly.  Beard has been asked to submit a preliminary report by April 30 on what kinds of improvements should be made, with final recommendations two months later. A letter signed by Pelosi, Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, D-Md., and House Administration Chairwoman Juanita Millender-Mcdonald, D-Calif., instructs Beard to take steps that reflect “the most up-to-date industry and government standards for green building and green operating procedures.” 

The leaders’ “Green the Capitol” initiative could end up a bit lopsided, however. Beard’s authority extends only to the House side of the Capitol. There’s no word yet on whether the Senate intends to follow the House lead.

Posted by Susan Harris

Planting for a Community

It may have been freezing the last couple of weeks, but anyone with an eye on the calendar knows it's time to start seedlings for transplanting in the spring. The three women on the left are doing just that, and with even bigger things in mind. Their plan is to help provide food for the neighborhood around 7th and Q Streets NW by reviving a vegetable garden in a large open space there. Calling themselves The 7th Street Garden, the group hopes to work closely with the surrounding community to get the project up and running by spring. Pictured here, from left to right, is Liz Falk, one of the project coordinators, along with volunteers Sabrina Sideres and Rebeca Bell. Not pictured are three other project coordinators, Liz Tylander, Lara Sheets and Susan Ellsworth.

The 7th Street Garden is collaborating with Bread for the City and Shaw Ecovillage. At a recent brown-bag lunch at Casey Trees, Falk and Tylander explained that the purpose of the venture is to teach neighorhood residents how to grow their own food and provide a place to do it. The group envisions garden and nutrition education programs, a community kitchen, school garden, cafeteria and learning center, all centering around pesticide-free, permaculture principles. Many details have yet to be worked out. The group plans to use existing raised beds while amending the soil elsewhere on the lot. They are looking for donations of topsoil, compost, mulch, tools and lumber and welcome volunteers. You can reach the 7th Street Garden at 7thstreetgarden@gmail.com.

And no, Ms. Falk did not bring a mighty big thirst to her seedling planting. We just happened to catch her in front of a few cases of tea donated by Guayaki.com.  Thanks, Guayaki.  You are supporting a very worthy cause.

Posted by Ed Bruske, photos by Susan Harris

It may have been freezing the last couple of weeks, but anyone with an eye on the calendar knows it's time to start seedlings for transplanting in the spring. The three women on the left are doing just that, and with even bigger things in mind. Their plan is to help provide food for the neighborhood around 7th and Q Streets NW by reviving a vegetable garden in a large open space there. Calling themselves The 7th Street Garden, the group hopes to work closely with the surrounding community to get the project up and running by spring. Pictured here, from left to right, is Liz Falk, one of the project coordinators, along with volunteers Sabrina Sideres and Rebeca Bell. Not pictured are three other project coordinators, Liz Tylander, Lara Sheets and Susan Ellsworth.

The 7th Street Garden is collaborating with Bread for the City and Shaw Ecovillage. At a recent brown-bag lunch at Casey Trees, Falk and Tylander explained that the purpose of the venture is to teach neighorhood residents how to grow their own food and provide a place to do it. The group envisions garden and nutrition education programs, a community kitchen, school garden, cafeteria and learning center, all centering around pesticide-free, permaculture principles. Many details have yet to be worked out. The group plans to use existing raised beds while amending the soil elsewhere on the lot. They are looking for donations of topsoil, compost, mulch, tools and lumber and welcome volunteers. You can reach the 7th Street Garden at 7thstreetgarden@gmail.com.

And no, Ms. Falk did not bring a mighty big thirst to her seedling planting. We just happened to catch her in front of a few cases of tea donated by Guayaki.com.  Thanks, Guayaki.  You are supporting a very worthy cause.

Posted by Ed Bruske, photos by Susan Harris