From an Overlook

By Jami Scholl | January 18, 2012 | 12:48 am | Comments (0) | Share

Overlook on the way to Yosemite.

In my previous post I listed instructions for what to do at this time of year… and those things are still true! If you have not done so, figure out what you eat, how much of that you want to grow, then pull out your seed and nursery catalogues to make your order lists’. While your doing that, a cup of warm beverage of your choice may be sitting at your side as you sink into the pillows. Pull up a lap blanket and get cozy. This is some of the best time of the year for thinking, for planning, for dozing into dreams.

One reason I like gardens and the study of gardens is because the topic is so diverse. The study of gardens includes topics from scholarly articles about the improvement of the individual human in philosophy, to cultural perceptions throughout time in regard to design and plants grown to thinking about the future of city planning and edible farm garden design for community food security.

One of my dreams included a cross-country drive with my daughter. For a few days the western part of America was our playground, and we had fun! Watching the stars, seeing wild horses and driving off road in a national forest to camp wherever we wanted. Loved it. During that trip I wrote the poem, below.

from an overlook on the drive to Yosemite from Sacramento

clouds point to a land that stretches holiness thickly

like melting butter oozes into crevices upon fresh

oven hot bread, honey drizzle glisten white, moist as just licked lips

open to swallow tossing nights in a yawn of sacred day.

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Seed Catalogues

By Jami Scholl | January 6, 2012 | 2:25 pm | Comments (0) | Share

Garden Planning in Paris!

Greetings my friends;

This is a reminder that now is the time to start not only the garden planning process, but the seed selection process! There is no better way to do this than to support genetic diversity of our seed supply, support local and regional businesses and to establish a relationship with those with knowledge and a supply of what will grow best where you live. A few of my national favorites include Johnny’s Selected Seeds, Seed Saver Exchange, and Territorial Seed Company, all of which are national.

I do have local favorite seed and nursery companies as well: Natures Crossroads, Brambleberry Farm and The Chile Woman. I am sure you will find wonderful local options. Vote with you dollars, vote local!

And because I have been struggling with winter illnesses and don’t have the non-sleepy strength to pull all this together for seed companies, I am going to link you up to my good friends, teachers and colleagues at the Permaculture Activist. Keith keeps this listing as up-to-date as possible, having local options grouped by state. If you have suggestions which are not on this list, please let us all know through the comment section below this post.

Click here for a listing of catalogues by country and state or province.

While you are beginning the planning process, don’t forget to check out “The Shop” for a Gardeners Planting Calendar and A Gardeners Guide to the Productive Potager: A Collection of Essential Charts.

For “newbie” friends, here is an article I wrote in 2010 for Natures Crossroads blog. Oh, but before I sign off, I want to let you know that you are not alone! I am available for consulting via phone or onsite (if you live near Bloomington). Think that option may be too expensive or that you don’t want to “go it alone”? Completely understandable. I have given many presentations and classes which cuts the per person cost down considerably and brings together a group of like minded souls for garden buddies. And now, time for a cup of tea, and a comfy chair!

“Planning Your Garden”

By Jami Scholl

November 1^st, 2010

January was the time that all those requests for seed catalogues made back in November and December would fill my mailbox. Many great pleasurable evenings were stacked one on top the other as I read each plant description in each and every catalogue. My eyes scanned the pages, filled with photos of possibility of this food and that. I learned that one variety of carrot could have a much shorter growing season than another. Different varieties also had different harvest times; the shapes ranged from almost completely round like a large orange marble to short with a stubby end to long with pointed end. Colours of carrots in the photos ranged from pale yellow to bright orange to purple. (Imagine that, a purple carrot!) Shorter stubby carrots, such as the round Parmex, are not only fashionable, but will grow in heavier soils. The shorter varieties need less time to grow to maturity, too!

Reading carrot entry after carrot entry I also learned that some carrots contain more of certain nutrients than do other carrots. Some store better. Some are better for juicing. This is not something learned while standing in front of the vegetable case at the supermarket looking at the two or three choices of carrots…all orange. The choice became short or long, both packaged in plastic bags. Sometimes there was a lucky third choice – carrots held in a rubber-banded bunch of about 6; limp leafy green tops verified that they were actually plants and not manufactured to look that way.  Really now, who wants a bendable carrot that acts as if it were silicone baking forms? Not me! I’d prefer the crunchy nutrition rich orange, purple, yellow, round, stubby pointy ones that have flavour. So what to do now?

Plan.

Sounds simple. But where to start?

The best way to begin planning a garden is by answering these questions:

1)What do you like to eat? (Prioritize what you eat the most of.)

2) How much growing space do you have?

3) Is this just for fresh eating or preservation?

4) Do you want to harvest through as much of the year as possible?

5) Do you have sun or is the available space shady?

6) What are your temperatures?

7) In what condition is your soil?

I’ll use an example of a small space since this is the best place to begin learning about gardening. And perhaps this space has an area of 10 feet by 5 feet? Do you have enough sun and the right temperatures to grow what you’d like to eat fresh? Some things are not meant to grow in small spaces, such as corn. Care should be taken in selecting favourites for the amount of space the plant requires. I find graph paper helpful in laying out the details of my garden, no matter the size. With list of veggies and measured out space I do a little research – I need to know how much space each plant requires, and the number of days to harvest. If you really want to be detailed, you can make both an overhead view as well as one that illustrates height.

On the back of seed packets, books about vegetable gardening and online resources can inform you about how much space is required between plants and rows. I personally plant in blocks; in this way I utilize the spacing between plants which allows for more to be planted in a smaller area. Jon Jeavons has a wonderful diagram and explanation in his books talking about bio-intensive growing. Bio is in reference to biodynamic growing developed by Rudolf Steiner. Intensive growing was used in Parisian market gardens at the turn of the 19th century, when small farms of only a few acres size fed the city of Paris beautifully and efficiently.

Some things, such as lettuces and spinach, can be planted in early spring as they thrive in cooler weather. After the last spring frost, less hardy plants can be added, such as tomatoes and basil. Spinach and lettuce will bolt (go to seed) as the weather heats up, so these can be pulled out, placed in the compost, and another plant sowed in its place, such as beans. Once the beans are harvested, then carrots, onion, cold hardy lettuce or spinach can be planted. Replacing one type of plant with another through the growing season is known as succession planting.

Knowing harvest times of each plant allows for keeping a garden producing for much of the year. I have developed a Gardener’s Planting Calendar which makes succession planting much easier, as all that would need to be done is assess the size of available growing space, then look on the calendar for what can be planted for that particular month. I am working now to create versions of the 2011 calendar to be used in climate zones 5, 6, and 7. They will be available no later than February for March planting. A unique feature is that the year will begin March 2011, and go to February 2012 in order to coincide when most folks begin the growing season.

Something I have experimented with is planting later in the season and harvesting later… if the ground is kept from freezing then carrots can be harvested in January. Straw has wonderful insulative properties which can prolong root vegetables life in the soil – cold temperatures sweeten the carrot for a taste children enjoy!  Spinach planted in fall, if protected, can grow very, very slowly through the winter, and then will have a head start for early spring harvest.

Starting in a small space is beneficial to the new gardener, as knowledge and experience can be built upon year after year. Planning the garden is also about planning how much you have time to learn each year, each season, when “mistakes” are lessons learned. Garden planning is a process, a journey into a wealth of knowledge which can combine the intellect with hands-on experience that touches elemental emotions ranging from hopefulness to frustration to joy. To begin with a large space without background knowledge may become an overwhelming experience wrought with frustration and disappointment. It is at this point that gardening becomes a chore rather than a joy. And it is during these moments that those silicone plastic carrots begin to look tempting!

November is a good time to explore and prepare. If you will not be building raised beds or already have a garden, then a soil test is useful at this time of year. Think about what you need in regard to tools, and reference books. Perhaps explore garden classes and organized groups during the winter months. Make a list of all the things you eat each week in order to have the information you need to create a seed or plant list. November is a wonderful time to dream of the good food that can be grown in your own garden. Bon Appetit!

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Introducing the Garden Guide to the Productive Potager!

By Jami Scholl | December 24, 2011 | 10:01 am | Comments (0) | Share

Happy Holidays!

Just in time for Christmas Eve and last minute gifting for the gardener is the Garden Guide to the Productive Potager: A Collection of Essential Charts. With beautiful photos, short concise explanations and charts… lots of charts! Succession planting, container growing, planting amounts per person for fresh eating and for storage, slug proof plants, crop rotation and much more is in this downloadable 20 page book!

Also new for My Edible Eden is offering packaged deals or bundles! Now you can purchase the Garden Guide to the Productive Potager: A Collection of Essential Charts along with a Planting Calendar specifically for your climate zone. With the purchase of a Garden Guide bundle the planting calendar is half off! This is a very affordable deal costing less than $2.00 every month. This package will help you get a jump start to a healthful productive garden!

Wishing you the best during this holiday season!

jami

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Climate Zones & A Gardeners Planting Calendar

By Jami Scholl | November 29, 2011 | 6:48 pm | Comments (0) | Share

Arbor Day Foundation map of climate zones.

Greetings! As you begin to think about planting, a topic that will eventually arise regards climate zones. Unbeknownst to much of the population, the climate zone maps have been a political hot topic. A new one had been released by the USDA but then retracted almost immediately by the Bush administration. The Arbor Day Foundation put out their own in 2006, which is the one that I reference here. Thank you goes to the Arbor Foundation for allowing me the use of this map in the production of the Gardeners Planting Calendar!

The USDA map has been updated, but not before many avid gardeners caught on to the fact that something was amiss with growing conditions changing and the USDA map remaining the same. My short brush with fame, meeting Michael Pollan in Indianapolis included him asking me if I was on the committee which was addressing this issue. I had to graciously say that I was not, but was very aware through my own experiences  how important is the recognition of climate change for our food supply. During World War II home gardens produced approximately 40% of all food grown for our nation. Home gardens and the blooming of the urban agriculture movement can accomplish this, and more, again.

I hope that this calendar provides you with the beginning steps into the world of beautiful and healthful food!

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Planting… Ideas

By Jami Scholl | November 22, 2011 | 4:35 pm | Comments (0) | Share

An Urban Farm Fresh Breakfast!

Start-up weekend, Bloomington, November 2011.

My idea was one of ten chosen to be worked on from concept to start-up. I had a small team working on the idea to turn it into reality. The original pitch was for a cell phone app which morphed into an online community built around easily accessible knowledge utilizing video instruction, added to both locally and on topics’ completely focused on gardening. And with a gaming component. (Way to go guys, love it!)

It was a Grande, sublime, stressful and an amazing weekend. A team member, Grant, experienced in writing polls took the time to create one which will prove valuable for quite a long time to come. This online poll returned information which countered my take on traditional business thought in regard to demographics. Avram provided needed business knowledge and set up the slides, Nick did the wireframes, which is like a programmed line drawing. He then populated it with information, colour, fonts, and many other cool things for the presentation and judging on Sunday night.

This was a stressful element to me. One of two stressful topics, the other was monetization. But for this question, I needed to know who you are, the person who will be reading, purchasing, interacting with gardening and with a hunger for garden knowledge. This was what I was told:

“You need to have a certain person in mind, a profile, client avatar, whatever you want to call it, so that you know who to market to.”

I called a friend, Jeff, whose childhood was that of growing up in the family business. He is a successful businessman and leader in the local community. This is what he said:

“We don’t market to one type of person, although it might appeal to them. We try to differentiate ourselves instead.”

How Jeff approaches marketing is what I will need to do, because the information from the poll shows that more than 90% of you are involved in using social media, more than 60% of you want to grow your own food but don’t know how and do not know where to garden… no land. Your ages range pretty evenly from 18-50. I must admit that once the polling data began rolling in I felt pretty good. The claims that I was hesitating in making a decision about choosing a market faded. And it was very interesting talking to a judge after the competition who said she thought that I was categorizing the market of gardening was too small and should include farmers!

Gardeners are NOT a small market – there are 35 million of you, 5 million garden organically, creating a market which spends $3 billion dollars annually.

Let me say this – gardening is not a small group of people. We matter. A lot. And we need YOU to join our ranks if you have not yet done so! The best way to do this is to download the 2012 Gardeners Planting Calendar to go on sale after Thanksgiving. If you have other questions, there is a contact form on my website where I would love to hear from you!

Watch for notifications for when the Gardeners Planting Calendar is ready to help you get growing. Happy Holidays!

Jami

ps. I just thought I’d let you know I now have a column in GoodVeg magazine on Squidoo! If you like what you read, “like” it on Facebook , tweet and forward it to your friends! You can find it here: http://goodveg.squidoo.com/columns

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Quipol for DD or Print!

By Jami Scholl | November 10, 2011 | 2:26 am | Comments (4) | Share

The cover for a Gardeners Planting Calendar.

The past few days I have been immersed in research and design of the 2012 edition of a Gardeners Planting Calendar… and I need your opinion with a serious business decision.

The decision is this:

Should I sell A Gardeners Planting Calendar in download only or would you, my customer, purchase it only in print?

Perhaps this does not sound like a serious dilemma to you, but to me it translates into many more hours of design (different set-up for printing on large sheets of paper which gets folded, then stapled at a professional printer) as well as looking for a printer who is set-up and willing to do a custom job such as this one. I’ve yet to find a print on demand option at all. And then there is the cost of printing that I must pay for before they are even sold. Anything not sold is written off. If I calculate the numbers wrong, which has happened, then I’ve not made money but lost money. That’s not good business. Actually, that means there will be no business and no calendar, which is not supportive of the business mission of education… unless I am teaching you that I am not a good at business!

Here is an example… for those of you who don’t know much about wholesale and retail, this may be quite an education. I promise you, it was for me, too!

This is a sample page from a Gardeners Planting Calendar zone 4.

I have to order a certain lot, say 50 calendars. Then I pay for them and then hope that folks find me online and that I sell some in local retail stores, that is if they choose to carry the calendar. Even then, if they choose to stock them there is a choice of whether they want to purchase them outright or sell on consignment. Where is the calendar going to be if on consignment – in the back of the shop or near a major walkway for it to be seen. If selling on consignment I take the risk that if any products are stolen I loose money, not the retailer. If I sell locally in a retail shop I get 1/4 or less return on

the price you pay for it. From my online shop I get about 3/4 of the selling price, but then I need to pay the shop (DPD) and all of the time and overhead of holding and shipping the products.

In contrast, if you purchase a download you may print it on your own printer, save it onto a thumb drive and then take it to a copy shop to have printed on your choice of paper and bound in the manner you would most like to have it. (I think of 3-hole punch with a few hooks in a board hung prettily on the wall – this way they could be taken down after the year is over then placed in a binder to to be kept as a journal.) In regards to design time – I can design this in half the time  or less as the print version.

I will also say that the current design is minimalist. The look is cleaner and easier to use, the numbers larger for those with difficulty seeing, and the photo is small and on the same page as the actual calendar. This saves on paper. In this redesign I was able to cut the paper needed for printing by half. That’s twice as many trees I’ll leave standing to clean the air. I like that. But I also know the value of beautiful photography, so I am looking for suggestions in how you would like to use the photos – greeting cards? 8 1/2 x 11 inch prints for the wall next to the computer or in the kitchen?

Would you like them digital or print?!?

So now on to something new – Quipol. Try it out then speak your mind!

http://quipol.com/qctif3g7

All my best,

jami

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“Farmville” – Growing Real Food

By Jami Scholl | October 21, 2011 | 4:49 am | Comments (2) | Share

Sierra and Fancy

I gave my first public Open Pitch tonight at the kick-off event for The Combine, a place for techies, creatives, bloggers and community that is happening here in Bloomington this weekend. It’s the first “elevator pitch” I have ever given, and yes, I was nervous.

I was the last to pitch, and the only girl,too. I didn’t win the award, which would have been REALLY cool to possibly work with the folks at SproutBox, but did do quite well in the voting, none-the-less. Because of the favorable outcome, I decided to give you all a little peek at a developing idea.

If, after reading about it you are interested in partnering in the development or know of someone who might be, then give me a shout via email, tweet, FB or whatever other means of communication you prefer. Meeting for tea is an option, too, if you are near to B-town!

Tomorrow is a full-day of speakers, and I am really looking forward to meeting more cool people doing some really cool stuff!

And now without further ado, get ready to catch – the pitch!

America is running out of farmers.

Fewer than 1% of Americans claim farming as an occupation; 40% of those are 55 years old or older. Even as the number of farmers has declined, local food markets are growing. The market for food sold directly to consumers by growers reached $1.2 billion in 2007. Ten years before, it was half that.

Meanwhile, many people have access to places where they can garden. Even very small spaces can be put to practical use, growing anything from food to medicinal herbs to wildlife habitat.

I propose the creation of a massively-multiplayer online game that uses quests and missions to teach basic food cultivation and organic farming skills, including management of soil, diseases, and insects; animal husbandry; and orcharding. The game will enable players to make connections with peers and mentors. It will also create local markets where players can distribute or sell their excess produce, and get credit for it online.

The data compiled by the game would be useful to city planners, food policy councils, and non-profit organizations for planning, while at the same time reconnecting kids and adults to nature in a very practical way. The diversification of communities’ knowledge bases will increase their resiliency in the face of change.

In other words, I propose an online game that helps people grow actual food, and helps communities increase the amount of food produced locally. The game would incentivize the acquisition of farm-based skills and knowledge with timely feedback for the player. This project addresses a growing market, and a growing social need, with social media.  Think Farmville — with real food.

I’ve prepared a pilot program in Bloomington called “Garden the City 2012,” involving 10 themed food gardens, which can be used as a “lab.” I have the knowledge of growing; I’m looking for game developers to get the online component off the ground. Thank you.

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It’s NOT too Late!

By Jami Scholl | September 30, 2011 | 1:23 pm | Comments (0) | Share

It’s a grey blustery day outside letting us here in the Midwest know that autumn is here. Although spring has past and summer leaves are waving sunset goodbyes, there are still things that you can plant in the garden, and here they are:

Beets

Corn salad

Leaf lettuce

Radish

Spinach

Turnips

Garlic

This weekend will be the last few days that you may be successful in planting beets, lettuce, radish and spinach so best to get them in quickly!

In regard to harvest, remember that even if your peas are not yet producing pods, the leaves and stems make a lovely addition to salads, and root veggies can be stored in placed for most of the winter with a good covering of straw.

Be sure to look for Garden the City 2012 (GtC2012) updates and happenings around Bloomington. I am very excited to take My Edible Eden into uncharted territory by including a yearly community sponsored food security/gardening project beginning with GtC2012. There will be opportunities for you to be involved in this project, so keep an eye out for updates, and Happy Gardening!

Smiles,

jami

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Progress Skips, Jumps & Creeps

By Jami Scholl | September 21, 2011 | 3:25 pm | Comment (1) | Share

Hermes caught in the act of shucking corn.

It’s 10:19am Wednesday.

My new border collie puppy sleeps in front of the rolling file cart. Deep breathing then silence. The past 4 weeks with him has been one of adjustment, a change of lifestyle. A morning run is absolutely necessary for him to not be using my ankles and toes as teething ring. This little guy, Hermes, is kicking my butt into shape.

Good thing he is, as I need the extra stamina and boosted brain power that exercise provides for what I have going on! Here is an update on current projects:

1)      Garden the City 2012: A city grant deadline is fast approaching on October 1^st at 5pm for an amount that I hope will cover a larger portion of the funds needed for this project. Community partner garden locations now include: The Venue Fine Arts and Gifts, Crosstown Cleaners, FARMbloomington, WonderLab, Thrive, Sublime Design, Patricia’s Wellness Arts Cafe (in final negotiations), Computer Repair Now and Bloomingfoods near west side. Dialogue continues with Rhino’s to have teens involved in public art as publicity, and with Stone Belt Center to provide some garden art.  Other details for a project of this magnitude include defining sponsorships, planning a kickstarter video and brainstorming how to bring in other community members who may not usually participate in art or gardening.

2)      Weekly subscription eMail service, (And yes, I like the capital “M” lowercase “e.”)  This will eventually be for 3 different levels of expertise. The manner in which I currently think of them is garden (annual and limited perennial vegetables and fruits), potager (the previous + fruit trees, shrubs and brambles with possibly poultry), and homestead (the previous +wild edibles and small farm animals). Excel has been my organizational friend in compiling details needed to produce such a service… and I never thought I would have as much need for organization as is needed for this project.

3)      Local political in regards to urban agriculture.  Things are heating up and cooling down. City council and the mayor have been in debate about a large (car centric) round-about for the south-eastern part of the city where limited development has happened. I could go into more detail about this project, but will say instead that budget hearings are lingering while time is quickly moving with new council members to take seats January 1^st. What does this mean? Mobilization and vocalization must happen should there be any hope of at the very least changing the chicken ordinance so that one need not get permission from every contiguous neighbour in order to have chickens. If you or you know of others who want to allow for this change, NOW is the time to write to your city council representative. I am particularly interested in having folks from District 1 being proactive. Anyone in the city can inform At Large members such as Susan Sandberg of your stance for looser regulations in support of chickens as well as any other urban agriculture you would like to see approved for Bloomington to enhance our food security beyond the 1-2 days of food now stocked on grocery shelves. http://bloomington.in.gov/council

4)      Illustrations. Although not a project of My Edible Eden, the illustrations I have been working on for Peter Bane’s soon to be released book is something that I am honoured to be involved in that support my ideals in Permaculture design and which fulfills a dream to illustrate a book. The Permaculture Handbook: Garden Farming for Town and Country is much how I see a potager and homestead Permaculture style. For most people, the definition of a farm and a garden are very defined and differentiated, although this need not be the case. I define what I do as garden farming. Some of this differentiation has to do with scale, some with land use, but rarely has this and the discussion of land tenureship been in the forefront of discussions, especially in regard to urban farming.

Between these four projects I have felt time move quickly, then slow down. I have felt elation with each new community partner for Garden the City 2012 like a jump forward. I have felt the eMail subscription service creep into existence. And I have skipped and danced around with the challenges these projects pose.

If someone were to come along and tell me they would make my life easier, I’d say no thanks. My life isn’t perfect, my house isn’t always clean and tidy, nor the bills easy to pay, but what I do have are dreams and goals where I see I am making a difference in the world. And I think that you can, too, whether supporting urban agriculture by writing a counsel member, attending a city council meeting to speak your thoughts or by getting involved in Garden the City 2012. And then there is the eMail news letters. They need names and I am taking suggestions. Have one?

If so then leave a suggestion in the comment section. Thanks!

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Tomfoodery @ 3rd Street Park Saturday!

By Jami Scholl | September 16, 2011 | 3:51 am | Comments (0) | Share

Sierra with freshly gathered eggs.

I have just returned home after listening and speaking with Mark Winne, and many other friends and fellow foodie activists… it was a lovely evening!

Lifelong Learning Week: Food for Thought is wrapping up. I am tired from all the planning and promotion, but enthusiastic about the event My Edible Eden is co-sponsoring this Saturday with Bloomington Parks and Rec at 3rd Street Park. The details are below.

This is a family friendly FUN hands-on event!

September 17^th, 2011

“Tomfoodery @ 3^rd St. Park”

1pm-3pm

Games: Egg on a Spoon Race, Sack Race, Egg Toss, Team Build Competition

1p           sign-up (sign-up continues throughout event if spaces are available)

115p      Team Build Competition begins!

130p      Egg on a Spoon Race

145p      Sack Race round #1

2p           Sack Race round #2

215p      Egg Toss Round #1

230p      Egg Toss Round #2

245p      Team Build Competition review

3pm       Compost Clean-up

Looking forward to seeing you ALL there if you are in the Bloomington area on Saturday. Oh, I should remind you to dress appropriately!

Smiles,

jami

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