The Friday Mulch

White yarrow, flowering

An evolutionary biologist interested in altruism decides to apply evolutionary theory to the society in which he lives. In doing so, he creates more playgrounds and parks, among many other projects he has undertaken. It doesn't matter to him that some members of his community don't even believe in evolution.

LATimes story on the rare wild Carpenteria rose.

The only community garden in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was razed by a bulldozer, courtesy of the local bank. I rate the rudeness factor of the bank sky high as it turns out the gardeners weren't even allowed to collect or save their plants. I'm not clear on what recourse is available to the organizing group. Still more publicity probably helps, which is why I posted the link to the story.

Tips on gardening with wildlife. Bet you all could do better.

The Friday Mulch

This sunny tomato flower comes from my Black Krim. No tomatoes yet, however.

Promising efforts in response to the high demand for community gardens in Santa Cruz County

Tips on avoiding injuries while gardening, to which I would add one thing: be sure to get your tetanus shot! I know that was the first thing I did when I got my garden plot.

Helps to know a bit about companion planting, a must especially in space-challenged plots like mine. I like to plant basil with tomatoes though my challenge is to make sure the basil is able to get enough sun. Tomatoes are such sun hungry beasts!

A site devoted to getting kids involved in gardening. I like it's developmental approach.

Two stories in one in this article on gardening in Canada: the first story is about how the First Nation gardened, the second about a couple in modern times.

Around The Blogs
Curbstone Valley announces the birth of their resident goldfinches and flycatchers. Lovely baby pix to be had for all to ooh and aah over.

Town Mouse spends quality time at Tassajara with photos for proof, which makes me want to go also one day. On my bucket list.

Mark's Veg Plot celebrates the first chili of the year and more.

Exquisite shots of May blooms at the garden-roof coop, complete with one very unusual (to me) wildflower called the Two-Flowered Cynthia 'Krigia biflora', a North American native.

Root Simple on Terrence McKenna's quote about creating your own culture. As I don't watch TV much, the exception being So You Think You Can Dance, I find the absence of TV leaves a vacuum easily filled with too many other activities: reading, cooking, crafting.

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White hollyhock in my garden. It stands about 8 feet tall.

Stink bug invasions in the news. Seems they are threatening stone fruit crops, even worse toasters. Now that's worrisome. There is even a stink bug trap, sold for $50.

Here are five vegetables being grown to help end hunger.

A community garden starts a bee club to educate people about the importance of bees

For tomato growers: some ideas on mulching and drip irrigation

At My Little Garden in Japan, how to make lemon balm and mint tea

Life on the Balcony wonders whether balcony gardening is illegal

Curbstone Valley Farm's site has a wonderful new look. Here's the latest update on their garden.

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Radish gone to seed but oh so pretty in purple.

Spring garden experiments to do with your child. I was surprised to see a genuine scientific bent to these projects.

A guerilla community garden in Malibu gets dismantled but there's hope.

News of a community garden dedicated to the developmentally disabled.

Have you heard of the exploding melons in China?  Apparently, this involved fields and fields of melons. How dangerous are they? Personally, I think this could be a good project for the Mythbusters.

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LA Times editorial on the trials and tribulations of the infamous South Central LA community garden which was dismantled a few years ago. Maddeningly, the lot has been left vacant for all these years.

A primer on how to start a community garden

The parents of a cancer victim in their quest to start a community garden in their daughter's name

A college student wins a $10,000 grant to start a community garden in Connecticutt

College and elementary students work to build community gardens

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An abandoned apple orchard is discovered, yielding heritage apple varieties. We need more discoveries like this.

A law student's goal is to convert vacant lots into community gardens. His community is very lucky to have him. Can we borrow him?

NYTimes on a community garden

Voice of America covers green spaces in New York.  This I didn't know: there are about 500 community gardens in the city of New York, under the Operation Green Thumb program, the largest community gardening program in the country.

Here's an idea: this city gives grants to groups in order to seed community gardens.

A great way to encourage self-help: this West Texas food bank opens a community garden, the plots free to anyone or any organization.

Surfin' the net

So what comes next after farm to table? some interesting new business models which includes collecting compost material from restaurants.

By any chance, you wouldn't be a container gardener artist? If you are, there's a contest for you: link at the Sunset magazine blog.

Boston Globe on their local community gardens

LA Times looks at the Long Beach gardens, worth reading because of the structure and rules involved in running their community garden.  Seems as though they have a lot of rules but I can see why they would do so.

Surfin' the net

For spring: eleven ways to dye eggs naturally, all sorts of colors.

Has anyone been to the Brooklyn Gardens?  It just hit paydirt, with a 7.5 million dollar donation.

I think something about community gardening sparks creative juices, especially in ways they connect with a community. Just this week, here are a few links in the news.

In Texas, the Houston Community Garden offers not only a place to garden but free tai chi .  If this was southern California, you can bet you'd have standing room only crowds.

I like getting kids involved in gardening. This one is a win-win situation: kids discharge extra energy for a good cause and the community benefits.

Another good idea: in exchange of garden space, you donate some of your produce to the local food bank.

Examples of how community gardens enrich the neighborhood abound in this LA Times piece about a new Long Beach community garden. One plot is sponsored by a neighbor just for the local kids. There is a community herbal garden, open to all.

Surfin' the net

Kewl: a community garden designed to use reclaimed water. Saves on water bills and helps some plants to grow better since the water has more nitrogen.

A glimpse of the future comes from the Dutch who are experimenting with multistory greenhouses while growing veggies without sun and rain. Saves on water as well.

Well, I didn't know Triscuit, the cracker company, is getting into community gardening. And another corporation, Miracle-Gro, also. So what is that all about?

The top ten cities with the most urban gardens, a slideshow. Kinda surprising, actually.