Join us for an organic yard care and gardening fair. You will have the opportunity to visit several tables full of information and staffed by local, experienced and seasoned gardeners from area organizations and our annual garden tour – all using safe, organic gardening practices. And, meet other gardeners, both new and seasoned – a great way to swap ideas and learn something new!
Saturday, March 7, 2015
2 – 4 PM
Belmont Public Library, Assembly Room
Presentations include:
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Starting Seeds Indoors, Kathy Martin (Belmont Victory Gardens Coordinator)
Starting seeds indoors is a way to bring a bit of spring to the last dreary weeks of winter. Kathy has grown vegetables for many years raising virtually all her plants from seed. She will describe her seed starting process covering saving and organizing seeds, making a calendar of planting and transplanting dates, pot sizes, shelves and plant lights.
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Small Fruit Horticulture, Stephen Pinkerton (Belmont Food Collaborative’s Pomona Project)
Growing perennial “edible ornamentals,” such as blueberries, blackberries and figs, can be challenging, especially in northern climates, but the annual reward is a fruit-laden delight. Stephen will share planting and pruning tips to give small fruit seedlings a healthy start and coax greater yields from mature plants.
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Front Yard Gardening, Martha Cohen (Green Belmont Garden
Tour)Want to strike a balance in your small urban yard? See how Martha integrates edibles with traditional landscaping perennials, including container planting and annuals.
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Companion Planting, Emma Thurston (Damnation Alley Distillery)
Gardening is second nature for Emma and her family. They grow all year round, raise chickens and use produce for their distillery.
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Dirt for Kids!, Kate Bowen (Sustainable Belmont)
It all starts on the ground and at a young age – kids love dirt! Stop by to feel and learn about dirt’s parts and how you can make your own by composting at home. Information on soil testing will be available, too.
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Late Blight Resistant Tomato Varieties, Amelia Fannin (Belmont Victory Gardens)
Using hybrid Tomato varieties and organic growing techniques to beat Late Blight and other common tomato diseases, Amelia helps coordinate the Late Blight Resistance Project at the Rock Meadow Victory Garden. The three year old project has successfully limited the effects of late blight in the gardens by growing and distributing genetically resistant tomato seedlings, educating gardeners about organic fungicide options, and encouraging good cultivation practices.
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Straw Bale Gardens, Sarah Keniston (Belmont Victory Gardens)
Straw bale gardening is a great way to grow vegetables if you are short on space or have poor soil. It even works on patios or paved drive ways.
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Aquaponics, Jason Iler Keniston (Middle School Student!!)
Aquaponics may well be the most eco friendly way to grow food. It uses less than 3% of the water it takes to grow vegetable in dirt. Jason Iler Keniston will demonstrate how to grow vegetable year round with nothing more than a a few fish, some tubing and a pump.
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Compost, Lucia Gates (Green Belmont Garden Tour)
Lucia has been composting in her yard for decades without issues and with great success. Always well-attended on the tour, come trouble-shoot and learn how you can compost at home and avoid sending TONS of food waste to waste.
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Topic TBA, Sandra Curro (Underwood Greenhouses)
Just around the corner from the Underwood Pool and down the road from Wellington, the Underwood Greenhouses specialize in locally grown annuals, perennials, herbs, heirloom tomatoes and more.
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Meadowscaping, Barbara Passero and Jean Devine (Meadowscaping for Biodiversity)
“Garden as if life depended on it.” (Doug Tallamy, Gardening for Life) Passero will shared the work of their three-season outdoor environmental education program for youth. Using a custom-created curriculum that emphasizes experiential, inquiry-based learning, students are charged with repurposing an area of nonproductive turf grass into a meadow filled with native flowers, grasses, and shrubs. One program goal is for the students to create a productive habitat for pollinators, other insects, and wildlife such as birds; a second goal is to help the soil reclaim its natural ability to absorb carbon. Students learn why biodiversity is vital to life on earth.
Sponsored by The Belmont Food Collaborative – the parent organization of The Belmont Farmer’s Market (belmontfood.org), Sustainable Belmont (sustainablebelmont.net), and the Belmont Victory Gardens.