Seed Swap in February!!!!

Attention all---

GroGreen will be co sponsoring a Seed Swap with CAAH!, Conserving Arkansas' Agricultural Heritage, sometime in February. If you would like to help with planning and organizing, please contact orgfarm@uark.edu.

Venue ideas include the Fayetteville Public Library, the Fayetteville Town Center, and the Botanical Gardens of the Ozarks.

Save your seeds and spread the word!

-Angela

Welcome back everyone!

Even though we have experienced unusually wet conditions this growing season, the community garden has stuck it out this summer and is overflowing with peppers right now. The Tomato plants are starting to dwindle and the Okra plants are growing to be taller than myself! There are a few watermelons out as well but I do not know if they will be ripe in time. If anyone is interested in helping out, please, let us know. We would love to see some more members getting out and reconnecting with gardens.

On a technical note, I recently checked up on the Facebook group today and for some reason I was unable to locate GroGreen through my profile account. Does anyone have access at all to the Facebook group? I don't know why it disappeared.

Anywho, the first club meeting will be held this Weds. September 2nd from 5pm to 6pm in Plant Sciences Bldg. room 007. Here is a map of campus buildings, look for bldg. PTSC B-2. Erin and I have an activity planned for everyone so bring empty egg cartons and we'll supply the soil and seeds! We will also discuss possible fall/winter cultivation, farmer's market, and where we would like to go from here.

Good luck to those who started school this week and I hope to see you all this coming Weds.!

-Angela

Hello all,

Just sending out meeting minutes for those who were unable to make it last Wedns. We had a great group come out and were able to discuss the issue of officer nominations and the transition into a summer garden and market.

There is a current patch of land is tilled up and ready for summer planting. Whenever the sun comes out and dries the soil we will plant tomatoes, herbs, cowpeas and peppers out in the community garden are. One of our fellow members, Chris Vincent, had a great idea to have the club designate a plot or a section of the garden in memory of Dr. Teddy Morelock and his work in vegetable breeding here at the UA Horticulture Department. We have two varieties of cowpeas, Ozark razorback and sugar cream pea, that we could use for this memorial and I will see if we can add some varieties that Dr. Morelock has researched as well. I'll keep you updated with a possible work day for the upcoming week.

So far the brassicas are doing well. We have extras transplants in the greenhouse if anyone is interested.

We still need to have an idea of how many club members will be in town this summer and are interested in helping out with garden and market duty. If you are interested please contact me with your name, email, phone number (optional) and what you would like to help out with and the hours you would be available. Also, let us know of any ideas or suggestions on cultivar selections or production methods you are interested in, they could become beneficial for the club and garden this growing season.

Lastly, market is held every Thursday evening from 4-7pm in the Miss District on Sixth and School. Come out and meet your local farmers and grogreen members!

April update

Hello all,

The plant sale last Saturday was a success! A big THANKS to everyone who helped out in the process. We generated around $800 with tomato plants to spare, extra tomato plants = an upcoming workday. The farm crew will be tilling up under the high tunnel tomorrow (weather permitting) so either Friday or Saturday we will establish raised beds and plant our tomato starts and cover crops. I'll keep you posted.

It's crunch time but don't forget our last meeting will be held next week, Wednesday the 29th at 5 pm in room PTSC 007. We will elect new officers (President and treasurer, any nominations???) and discuss summer plans for the garden, so please try your hardest to be present.

Also, in other news, there will be a hoop house construction workshop on May 2nd from 1-4:30pm at 1249 WEST CATO SPRINGS RD. All you have to do is send an RSVP to svallush@sbcglobal.net and bring work gloves and a chair to the site. I will most likely be attending so if you need a ride let me know.

Lastly, after the semester wraps up, the Fayetteville public library will be screening a new pre-released documentary, Food Inc., which discusses current commercial food production in the US. It is a free event and will be held May 11th (early notice) from 2-4pm. Here is a link to the trailer, check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mf4ZmfjyEvI.

Good luck with finals!

Angela

It's spring time!

Hello all,

There will be a plant sale workday next Friday April 17th at 4pm out at the greenhouses. We will be prepping and labeling the plants for the sale that will be help the following Saturday morning. Also, whatever does not sale Saturday morning will be planted out in the garden.

So a recap----Plant sale workday Friday at 4pm and garden workday Saturday at 12pm.

Moreover, if any one is interested in participating with our Farmer's Market booth, contact me either through facebook or email, asmoore@uark.edu. Market is held out at the Mill district (Corner of School and 6th street) Thursday evenings form 4pm-7pm. I have a class til 4:30 and I try to be out there by 5pm. Come out and chat with local farmers and community members over issues ranging from gardening to food politics, you never know what a bag of lettuce could lead to. More importantly, become active with the club!

WORKDAYYYY

Hey everyone,

Tomorrow and on April 17th there will be a workday out at the greenhouse starting at 4pm as well as a workday on the 18th after the plant sale. The plant sale is coming up and will be held on Saturday April 18th from 7am-12pm. We need a few volunteers to help out then, contact me if you are interested.

Tomorrow the workday will consist of replanting tomato starts, planting veggies and planning out the summer garden.

The april 17th workday will consist of preparing the starts for the sale, labeling and marketing overview. The workday on the 18th will be labor intensive, get ready to double dig!!!

Interested in taking an organic gardening class? The Botanical Gardens of the Ozarks is hosting a gardening workshop on the 5th from 1-3pm at the BGO. Costs are $8 for members and $10 for non members, however if you join the BGO that day the workshop is free (however to join you have to pay a fee).

Or how about constructing a high tunnel??? Their will be a high tunnel workshop on April 25th where you will be involved in the whole construction process of erecting a high tunnel. I'll send out more details as they come along, I believe this is a free event.

Also, there will be a final meeting on the 29th of April at 5:00pm, we will have officer elections and go over summer plans for the garden. If you would like to become an officer, positions available include President, Secretary, Treasurer, Farm Manager, Market Manager and website. If you have an idea for a new position go for it!

Directions to the greenhouses are available on the blogsite and facebook group.

See ya at the garden,

A

Seed List

The Seed list is completed however detailed information is not provided (color, determinate/indeterminate, direct sow/transplant, hybrid/heirloom). If anyone would like to contribute time to update details on the list that would be AMAZING! Just copy and save to your documents, revise and upload as necessary. Most of the seed descriptions can be found on Johnny seeds and Bakers Creek Heirloom seeds websites. I'll try to work on it as much as I can.
GroGreen%20Seed%20list.doc


Also, to maximize plant/soil health and yields in the garden we should pick a specific crop or gardening technique and compile research together instead of trampling through headaches later in the season. Erin Grantz and I were working on a landscaping and crop rotation plan this weekend and if anyone is interested and would like to meet up let me know via email-asmoore@uark.edu. Other items that can be researched include:

Broccoli/Cauliflower
Herbs
Leeks/Onions
Cabbage
Carrots
Radishes/Beets/Turnips
Greens
Eggplant
Summer/Winter Squash
Tomatoes
Peppers
Melons
Cucumbers
Okra
Beans/cowpeas
compost and other soil amendments
Raised beds, double digging, single digging
Flowers
Irrigation
Black and Blueberries

If interested, reply to the blog with the topic you want to claim. If there is enough collaboration we could all meet up, share what we find and plan the garden together. Let's see what kind of community we can create this season!

When researching, keep in mind the following:

Sun needs (does it grow well/poorly in shady/sunny spots)
timeline for zone 6/6b (planting, germination, harvesting etc.)
Soil Ph (acidity & any special needs)
Spacing of plants (and any ingenious ways to maximize space)
Companion planting (does it work well with any particular plants)

Keep it green
-A