Facebook
X (Twitter)
Reddit
Pinterest
Tumblr
Delicious
LinkedIn
StumbleUpon
Posts Tagged: greens
Wreath Workshop 2012
The Wreath Workshop is a month away and Solano County Master Gardeners have been gearing up for this event since September. Ribbon has been purchased in assorted colors and spray paint that will blend and match has been chosen. Wreath forms and paddle wire have been ordered. The date is December 1st from 1PM to 4PM at the Carriage House on the Buck Mansion Estate in Vacaville, (225 Buck Avenue). Sign-ups are happening now.
A spray day was held to color dried items such as agapanthus, hydrangeas, seeds, pods and pine cones. These items will be available at the workshop to place in wreaths as decorations. Fruits such as lemons, limes, oranges, and quince will be dried to use as unique additions. Those making wreaths can bring their own decorations from home to personalize their wreath. There will be a table set-up and supported by Master Gardeners, who will be creating bows in assorted sizes and colors. If any participant needs assistance with their wreath, a Master Gardener will be available to help or give suggestions.
By the time the workshop arrives, the Master Gardeners have spent several days cutting and collecting greenery so the public will be able to create their own wreath. The greens will be packed into “banana boxes” and each participant will have a full box, a wreath frame and paddle wire. The decoration table will hold an assortment of dried flowers, fruits, and pods ready for embellishing. The “bow table” will have ready-made bows and custom-made bows will be available.
The kitchen will be filled with holiday goodies and drinks, providing lunch for all. Master Gardeners are known for their delicious appetizers and Christmas treats.
Master Gardeners will be showing up at the Carriage House at 10AM to set up and prepare for this yearly event. The wreath workshop of 2012 promises to be a fun-filled, fantastic event for all as it kicks off the 2012 holiday season.
MGs prepping the greens. (photos by Jennifer Baumbach)
A wreath with breath of heaven, redwood and sage.
Heavenly bamboo, redwood, Calamagrostis flowers, artichoke flower wreath.
A wreath maker with her finished product.
Lasagna Gardening
Lasagna gardening? ‘Sounds crazy even when you know what that means. Crazier still, it’s a gardening technique that really works.
A little like diets that promise you’ll lose 20 pounds a month and never feel hungry, lasagna gardening sounds improbable, exaggerated and a waste of time. Better to stick with tried and true methods that reward hard work, sacrifice and the results of long-term commitment.
So I thought, but much like those diets I can’t resist, it sounded so simple I was willing give it a try.
First of all the old garden bed does not require tilling. Just cover weeds and all with a layer of cardboard or 3-5 layers of newspaper. Be sure to cover everything well to eliminate little peeks of sun nourishing future weeds. Soak the layers to keep them in place.
Voilà! Decomposition begins in the dark under those layers, earthworms begin to happily tunnel through the dark moist area and the soil begins to loosen up. The grass or weeds break down fairly quickly because they are in the dark under the paper.
Top off the lasagna with alternating layers of “browns” such as fall leaves, shredded newspaper, peat, and pine needles with layers of “greens” such as vegetable scraps, garden trimmings, and grass clippings, just as in a compost pile. Sprinkle it now and then.
Fall is the perfect time to start the process. Just leave it alone until spring, then start planting!
Food safety input collected in Monterey Co.
Food safety authorities were in Monterey County earlier this week gathering information from farmers, conservationists and scientists about new rules regulating the fresh produce industry, according to a story in the San Francisco Chronicle.
UC Cooperative Extension was represented by the director of Monterey County's UC Cooperative Extension office, Sonya Varea-Hammond. She is pictured at the meeting with the director of the Food Safety Project, Jim O'Hara, in the The Packer.
The Monterey forum was the fifth in a series offered by the Food Safety Project to gather comments and input to send to the FDA in May. The Packer story said the Food Safety Project "worked with the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources during the forums."
The new rules being considered at the meeting, according to the Chron, are separate from food safety legislation now being considered by the Senate. However, they are similarly a reaction to a growing number of fruit and vegetable related food-borne illnesses.The article, written by Stacy Finz, says one of the fears expressed at the meeting is that the FDA will adopt regulations without regard for farm size, the type of crop grown and risk levels.
"A lot of what they're talking about seems too expensive to me," the story quoted Kevin McEnnis, owner of a 20-acre Santa Rosa farm. "I'm concerned that they're not as interested in our interests. We just don't have a lot of clout."
The safety of fresh produce the subject of Monterey County forum.
New food safety law could hurt small farmers
A behind-the-scenes battle is raging in the Senate over how to regulate small and organic growers without ruining them - and still protect consumers from contaminated food, according to a story published yesterday in the San Francisco Chronicle.
The crux of the legislation gives the Food and Drug Administration greater authority to regulate how products are grown, stored, transported, inspected, traced from farm to table and recalled when needed.
"When you create microbial vacuums, they can be even more easily taken over by pathogenic organisms," Willey was quoted. "In organic agriculture, we depend tremendously on a cooperative effort with beneficial microorganisms. My whole soil fertility system is based on that. Actually, soil fertility planetwide is based on that."
The story noted that a UC Davis study last year by Shermain Hardesty and Yoko Kusunose found strict food safety regulations can put smaller growers at a disadvantage because their compliance costs are spread over fewer acres, the article reported. Hardesty said costs may be as high as $100 an acre.
Last summer, the House of Representatives passed stringent food safety legislation. Efforts to modify proposed rules to make compliance easier for small farms have been more successful in the Senate.
Ferd Hoefner, the policy director for the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, said the House bill would be a "complete disaster" for small farms.
If two versions of the law pass, Congress would work to merge them.
Small-scale producers may face compliance with tough laws.
UC scientist reacts to consumer group's salad report
UC Davis Cooperative Extension specialist Trevor Suslow wrote an opinion piece for Food Safety News saying a recent Consumers Union study - which questioned the safety of prewashed salad greens - has caused a flurry of concern and confusion.
An article in the March 2010 issue of Consumer Reports magazine said its study of packaged leafy greens found nearly 40 percent of samples contained bacteria that are common indicators of poor sanitation and fecal contamination, according to a news release distributed on PR Newswire.Suslow wrote that he thinks it is "grossly unfair" to raise fears beyond what is supported by science and everyday shared experiences with salad greens.
"What I rely on for my personal confidence in regularly consuming lettuces, spring mix, and spinach salads is that there are billions and billions of servings of these items consumed every year in the U.S. alone and the predominant experience we have is of safe consumption," Suslow wrote.
The CR news release said FDA should increase the specificity of its guidance and regulations for packaged leafy greens. In the meantime, the writers suggested consumers buy packages as long as possible before their use-by date and wash the greens at home, even if the packages say "prewashed" or "triplewashed."
Suslow agrees customers should look for use-by dates on packaged leafy greens. He goes further to suggest consumers note that packages in grocery stores are refrigerated vertical in a row, not laid one on top of the other in stacks.
Suslow said he checks the temperature of the greens' display case with his hand and confirms that the bags are very cool to the touch. (Perhaps one day there will be a cell phone ap for that, Suslow suggests.)
But he doesn't recommend consumers wash packaged salads at home.
"I do not support or believe that re-washing packaged salads should be a recommendation for the home consumer," Suslow wrote. "A large and diverse panel of experts published a comprehensive article in 2007 detailing the scientific evidence for the lack of benefit and the greater risk of cross-contamination in the home."
Packaged leafy greens.
