SPROUT Garden Update, week of June 17th

Broccoli

Greetings from the new SPROUT Garden! So far the season has been exciting. The plants, especially the broccoli and kale, have grown to be quite large. Even in the past few weeks alone we have seen a tremendous amount of growth. Sure, there are some pests that seem to be enjoying munching on a few leaves, but overall this hasn't stunted progress.


The season began with harvests of radishes, chinese cabbage, and lettuce, all of which sold out almost instantaneously at our harvest sales. Demand was much higher than expected. Even in the weeks following we sold nearly all our produce. Kale and more lettuce followed the first harvests, but again these sold out immediately. Since then, we've sold more lettuce mixes and cabbage, red lettuce, arugula, and some local hot sauce and hot pepper plants. But this is just the beginning!

In terms of what we have been growing thus far, much of it consists of spring lettuces, kale, and broccoli. (In the coming weeks we will be harvesting and selling a steady supply of lettuce and kale to indulge local interest.) Other than that, we have beets, carrots, peppers (both bell and extremely hot varieties), snap peas, bush beans, fall lettuces, sweet potatoes, squash, zucchini, cucumber, tomatoes, eggplants, sunflowers, and various herbs.

Snap Peas

As mentioned, the kale and broccoli have blown up quite nicely, as have the snap peas (which will be on sale next Tuesday!). The lettuces have also been thriving. Everything else seems to be in good condition aside from the various squashes we have planted. The entirety of the original squash, cucumber, and zucchini crops all died out early likely due to rapidly changing (and cold) weather conditions. We replaced them with young plants from a local nursery, but even those have been struggling to hang on. There are a multitude of factors that could be contributing to their suffering—we're keeping our eyes peeled. We're praying to the weather gods to be kind.

We will be keeping this blog up-to-date, detailing the garden's progress, throughout the summer, so make sure to follow and maintain interest! We duly appreciate the amount of support that faculty have given us in the first month so far. We will not disappoint!

...until next week!

Soup and Sustainability!

On Friday Sprout! hosted a Soup and Sustainability campus-wide dinner in Coffee Grounds with fresh soups and bread, salad and pies! Arthur Learner FRESH New London came to give a talk on sustainability and the importance of getting involved in the food security movement. Many of us are already getting involved by supporting the GMO labeling bill in Connecticut and by attending workdays at FRESH New London. The event was a huge success and we look forward to hosting more dinners in the future. As spring approaches, we will be starting our work days and getting outside to work in our new garden site! There is a potential plan for weekend Farmer's Market here at Conn this spring where we could sell our vegetables. Keep an eye out for a Farmer's Market on the Larabee Green this spring!

Our first meeting of the semester!

The first Sprout! meeting of the spring '13 semester took place tonight at 8:30 in Cro. Meeting will be held every monday at this time upstairs in Cro. We are already getting off to a great start! This sunday the plastic for the hoop house will be put up by students, and soon we will have solar panels to keep the hoop house warm all winter long. A group of Sproutees went to Groton last Wednesday to a meeting about GMO labeling that was led by Will from Food and Water Watch. The movement to require labeling of GMO foods should pass on the ballot this spring, but there is a campaign of letters, petitions, etc. further supporting the movement, and Sprout! has gotten involved in this very important movement.   We sets goals for the semester which include having more Sprout! events including a dinner which will be held in Coffee Grounds on Feb. 15th. Arthur Learner of New London FRESH will be there to give a talk. 

Sprout Harvest Celebration!

In Earth House this evening, Sprout celebrated the season's harvest with a wonderful meal and a discussion about farming and spirituality with local farmer, Bob Burns. Bob runs a local farm that produces just enough food to satify local buyers and break even. Bob places a huge emphasis on the spiritual connection between humans and the earth. He stressed that the most radical thing that someone can do is to have their own garden, and grow their own food. The meal consisted of locally harvested foods and homemade dishes including soups, salads and pie! It was a night filled with good food, great people, and inspiring conversation.

Sprout Gardeners Against Monsanto

On Friday September 7^th, Bob Burns, ex-marine turned Buddhist organic farmer and sustainability activist, came to Connecticut College to share his knowledge with the class of Cultivating Change, an Anthropology seminar taught by Professor Cole.  He invited the class, and anyone who wanted to come, to join him for a rally against Monsanto, a company selling genetically modified seeds around the world and doing their best to cover up their trail.

On Saturday September 15^th, members of the class and members of Sprout journeyed to the Monsanto headquarters in Mystic, CT to rally along side Bob and his crew of organic farmers, organic food vendors, and supporters of the fight against Monsanto.  The cry of the people was for truth.  Monsanto has been hiding the truth by not including the poisons they’re putting into our bodies on their labels.   We need to be informed about the food choices we’re making.  The group motto was: “Label today, ban tomorrow!”

There was an impressive turnout for the rally of up to 72 at its peak and about 40 steady.  The group consisted of people of all ages, including toddler organic farmers-to-be helping by coloring in the letters of signs (See photo above).   Bob pointed out that education of the next generation is what will make a difference in the future of farming.  A number of people, including Bob, spoke about the truth and what we can do to add to the fight.  According to Bob, “The most radical thing you can do is to start your own organic garden.”  Well Sprout is already on it!

An additional speaker was former congressman, Rob Simmons.  He observed that, “We label everything in this country.  We even label ourselves!  Why not label our food?  We deserve truth in advertising and the right to know what’s in our food so we can make the choice.”   He encouraged us to become “smiling pests” to government officials and the press and urged us to all write letters to the editors of local papers, then “There you go.  You’re an activist!”

After the rally, we were all invited to come back to Bob’s farm, Aiki Farms in Ledyard, CT, for a sprouting seminar, tour of the farm, a Zen tea ceremony and an organic feast.  What a gracious farmer!  After a reception in his living room, a beautiful open space with thick wooden beams and a swing in the center of the room, we headed down to the basement for a detailed demonstration of how to grow sprouts (See photo below).  We each got to bring home a sample of the pea sprouts, which are a delicious snack!

As we were thanking Bob, he expressed that he wants his connection with our Sprout Garden to be a permanent relationship.  He wants to help us in any way he can with sharing knowledge, supplies, and support.  He even said he would come double dig and plow our land!  We look forward to the growing relationship with Bob. 

Spinach Recipes

For those of you readers who are in New England, this is the time of year to enjoy fresh spinach from your garden or your local farmer's market.  Check out these easy and delicious spinach recipes by Mark Bittman in the New York Times.
Spinach Recipes

Quick Update: Early season crops

Yesterday (Sunday April 1st) Sprout members planted our early spring cold-tolerant crops, spinach, chamomile, mixed greens and potatoes.  We used the trench method to plant potatoes.  We dug a trench 12 feet long, four feet wide, and 1.5 feet deep.  Then we planted the seed potatoes at the bottom of the trench, under two inches of loose soil.  The seed potatoes used were blue potatoes saved from last year's harvest, and white potatoes from Maine that a sprout member kindly contributed.  We piled up the soil dug out of the trench along the sides of the trench.  As the potato plants grow, we will fill in the dirt to cover the stems of the potato plants.  When the stems are underground, they will become rhizomes which produce the potatoes.  The deeper the potato plants are buried, the longer the rhizomes become, and the more potatoes they produce. 

Potatoes can be planted when the forsythia bushes flower.  This is an example of phenology applied to gardening.  Phenology is the study of the timing of biological events.  For more about phenology, check out this document.