Are you growing your own tomatoes this year? Whether you are an experienced tomato grower or a blossoming gardener, come check out our first Tomato Care workshop of the season.  Come with questions, or come share your wisdom.

Join us at our Patchwork Garden @ 320 Northampton (near the corner of Jefferson) Saturday, June 12th at 10:00am, where we will demonstrate different methods for growing tomatoes, and discuss seeds, soil, feeding, companion plants, staking, pests, and plant disease.  This is a free workshop.  We hope to see you Saturday!

Planting, feeding, and staking tomatoes — a workshop to demonstrate different methods for growing tomatoes and important things to consider and address throughout the season. We’ll discuss starting seeds, amending soil for tomatoes, other plants that are good companions for tomatoes, planting, staking techniques, fertilizers, feeding, and …blight.

So our adventures in the world of compost are continuing, and we have begun experimenting with “Active Compost.” Previously, we explained the process and benefits of making and using passive tea–and have since been diluting it and using it in our garden beds.

To take our operation to the next level, we purchased a few supplies (and salvaged a few others) to begin the active tea brewing process. Here is our supply checklist:

1. A vessel to hold the tea (we used an old garbage can)
2. Garden compost
3. Aquarium air pump (ours is rated for 60 gallons)
4. Air tube for pump (10 – 15 feet is the absolute most you’ll need)
5. Air stones (to diffuse oxygen, placed at end of air tubes)
6. T shaped line splitter
7. Sugary food scraps (think rotten banana, apple core)

The supplies we needed cost about $30 new at a local pet store, but you could also find them at a garage sale, thrift store, or in your basement/attic . . . just gotta look for them.

Once you have your materials together, find yourself a good spot to brew the tea. It won’t take too long

(3-5 days), but your pump will need to be running consistently throughout the brew process, so make sure you have a safe location to plug it in if you’re doing it outdoors. We have ours working in the basement, and there is little if any odor at all.

The active compost tea is similar to passive tea in that it is a method of pulling beneficial minerals, fungi, microorganisms, etc. from compost and into water so that it can be quickly applied to and absorbed into the soil and thus, the plants in our gardens. Active tea differs in the way the beneficial microbes grow, but it’s essentially the same science project (just done a bit faster, and with slightly better results, we’re hoping). How? Why? We’re using the aquarium pump and stones to aerate the water, and some sugar from food scraps to feed the microorganisms, so that they can grow and multiply quickly (via more oxygen and food).

The only setup is the air pump system, which is very simple. This includes the pump, tubes, and air stones. Carefully cut your tube so there is 3 feet or so running from your pump out to your tea vessel. Our pump has two connections, so we cut two 3 foot pieces to reach the can.

At the end of the tubes we attached a line splitter and cut two short pieces of tube to connect the diffusers (Air Stones). Upon completing our pump system, we have a pump, two tubes running out, a splitter on each tube, and an air stone after each split. The only thing left to do is add the water and compost, and the brewing can commence. Don’t forget some food for your microbes–if you have some partially decomposed food scraps in your pile that should

work, but if you want to be safe, add an apple core or two, or perhaps a rotten banana and its peel.

We used 3 parts water to 1 part compost. First we put in the water, then we added the compost, stirred with a shovel, and finally dropped the airstones into the bucket. Every day, pull out the tubes and give the bucket a good stir.

Give your active tea about 3 days to brew, and it should be ready. Unlike the passive tea, this method doesn’t use a bag to filter the compost, so it’ll need to be screened / decanted to separate the liquid from solid. And when applying to your garden, make sure to dilute to avoid potential burning on your plants. You won’t need much more than a few tablespoons per gallon of water (preferably rain water, as chlorine, etc. in municipal water will kill your precious little microbes).

Join Us for Food Matters: A Four Film Series

Film has become a powerful medium when exploring controversial topics or when making a point about a particular subject. For the last several years those concerned with the state of our food supply in this country have done well in exploring, exposing, and initiating dialogue on this critical subject. The Lexington Cooperative Market and Edible Buffalo have joined together to present Food Matters: A Four Film Series. The films selected for the series are some of the most critically acclaimed on the topic of food production, food supply and the overall state of our food economy. The series includes the following films; King Corn, The Real Dirt on Farmer John, Dirt! The Movie, and FRESH. Each screening will take place at Hallwalls ContemporaryArt Center in Buffalo.

King Corn was first released in 2007 and explores the tenuous topic of corn production in the United States. As America’s most subsidized crop, this film follows to young gentleman as they try to follow their corn crop as it enters our food system. What they learn is both troubling and eye-opening as it raises many questions about how we eat and how we farm. As more and more industrial food companies are coming under fire for their prevalent use of high fructose corn syrup in their products, this film continues to be timely and relevant. The screening date for this film is May 27, 2010 at HallwallsContemporaryArtCenter at 341 Delaware Avenue, Buffalo. Doors open at 6:30pm with the film beginning promptly at 7pm.
The Real Dirt on Farmer John is the true story of third-generation Illinois farmer John Peterson and how he struggles to stay afloat as family farms decline. His story is one that parallels the history of American farming. His family farm eventually hits rock bottom but Peterson is able to turn things around and become one of the leaders in the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) movement as head of Angelic Organics. The screening date for this film is June 30, 2010 at HallwallsContemporaryArtCenter at 341 Delaware Avenue, Buffalo. Doors open at 6:30pm with the film beginning promptly at 7pm.
Dirt! The Movie takes on the unlikely subject of soil. This film tells the story of Earth’s most valuable and underappreciated resource. Through modern industrial pursuits and the clamoring for both profit and natural resources, our human connection to dirt has been disrupted. The film makes the case that drought, climate change, even war all directly related to how we are treating our soils. The only remedy is to reconnect with this precious natural resource. The screening date for this film is July 28, 2010 at HallwallsContemporaryArtCenter at 341 Delaware Avenue, Buffalo. Doors open at 6:30pm with the film beginning promptly at 7pm.
The Food Matters film series concludes with an encore screening of FRESH. As films like Food Inc. and Super Size Me expose the pitfalls and wrong doings of our industrial food system, FRESH goes in the direction of looking at solutions to our ailing food supply by celebrating the farmers, thinkers and business people across America who are re-inventing our food system. Among several main characters, FRESH features urban farmer and activist, Will Allen, a 2008 MacArthur’s “Genius Award” fellow; sustainable farmer and entrepreneur, Joel Salatin, made famous by Michael Pollan’s book, the Omnivore’s Dilemma; and supermarket owner, David Ball, who is creating a new market model for our family farmers. FRESH’s focus on these inspiring individuals and their initiatives around the US provides the audience with actionable solutions. The screening date for this film is September 30, 2010 at HallwallsContemporaryArtCenter at 341 Delaware Avenue, Buffalo. Doors open at 6:30pm with the film beginning promptly at 7pm.

Each film is approximately 85 minutes in length and will be followed by an audience discussion. Tickets for each film are $8.00 for general admission and $6.00 for Lexington Cooperative Market members, Edible Buffalo subscribers, seniors and students. There is also a series pass available for $20.00 which provides you admission to all four films. Tickets are available at the Lexington Cooperative Market at 807 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo or online at www.ediblebuffalo.com. The net proceeds from the film series will benefit Field & Fork Network, a non-profit organization dedicated to connecting local consumers and food industry professionals with area farmers and artisan food producers.

Ladies and gentlemen, the future of compost is here. The Greenspaces team at Buffalo ReUse is currently experimenting with several different methods of brewing compost tea, and will be sharing our results with you as the season goes on. The murky water that is produced from brewing this tea has the power to fertilize and improve the health of your garden’s plants, while actively deterring pests and introducing beneficial microorganisms to your soil. With a little bit of compost and a few things you would find in your shed or your garden, you can easily set up your own tank to brew your own compost tea–and watch the difference it makes for your plants.

There are several approaches that one can take to prepare compost tea:

–The most simple, straightforward form of compost tea preparation is called “Passive Brewing.” This method is somewhat archaic, and dates back centuries, but needs only a few things: A vessel to hold the water (i.e. a rain barrel), water (preferably rainwater as it does not have additives that municipal water treatment plants will add), a “tea bag” to steep the compost in the water, something to suspend it in the water, and some compost.

–Fill your “tea bag” with garden compost, suspend it so it doesn’t sit at the bottom of the barrel, and lift it or stir it once a day for aeration. Do this for 7 – 10 days. When your tea is ready, decant by pouring through cheesecloth or pantyhose (if you prefer), or just pull out your tea bags and dunk your watering can right in. And the compost can go right back in your pile when your tea is all done.

–We used and old burlap sack for one barrel and mesh bags from onion sets for another. The bags hold and steep the compost, making it easier to remove the solid matter after the brewing is complete. We used an old tree stake to suspend the tea bags in the water, and use them to lift the bags out when we aerate the barrels each day.

–If you use tap water or from a garden hose, make sure to let the water sit in your barrel for at least a day, to let the chlorine and other additives evaporate as much they can. As your tea brews, microorganisms and bacteria grow, and will die if chlorine is present

We are also experimenting with a newer, more intensive approach to brewing tea is called “Active Brewing.” This involves the same materials as a passive barrel, but with some added technology: electricity, an air pump, and food for the growing microorganisms. What sets an active compost tea apart from passive is the addition of oxygen and food to the mix, making a more ideal environment for those microbes to thrive. Using an air pump, you can increase oxygen in the water, and by providing a food source like molasses, kelp, or humic acid, you can greatly increase the number of beneficial organisms growing inside your barrel. And an active brew can be done over the course of 2 or 3 days, way quicker than a passive brew.

Try it out, and let us know how it works for you! There is a good amount of reliable information on the web regarding compost tea, and it can’t hurt to experiment! Good luck, and happy gardening!!!

This Wednesday (4/28) and Friday (4/30) we will be transplanting many of the seedlings that we’ve started in our basement and hardened off in coldframes in our backyard. We germinated seeds and distributed seedlings to support several community gardens, made them available to fellow gardeners at our Seedling Swap last Saturday, and still have some left to put into our own gardens and share with our Patchwork Neighbors who have adopted a bed.

Come out to our gardens at 326 Northampton on Wednesday from 2pm – 5pm to help us with transplanting our seedlings and other garden chores (and we’ll be there Friday too–but call ahead because we also have to go pick up trees). If you have adopted a bed and want to transplant a few into your garden, you can do that too! We are running out of adoptable beds; hurry if you want one–contact us at greenspaces {at} buffaloreuse(.)org or come out on Wednesday.

And whether you’ve adopted a bed or not, we can always use your help with garden chores during weekly Workday hours:

-Wednesdays from 2pm – 5pm

-Fridays from 9am – Noon

Just in case you didn’t catch the last blog about garden workdays, they are beginning next week!!!

Excited? So are we. To show you just how excited we are, we are going to be kicking the season off with a fun and eventful workday that will help us get the ball rolling. On Wednesday 3/24, we will be constructing cold frames to keep our young and tender plants comfy as we harden them off before freeing them out into the cruel and cold world outside of our basement. Come spend some time with us and lend a hand. We’ll meet at the store at 2pm (every Wednesday), and will wrap up our projects by 5pm at the latest.

Cold frames are an excellent way to extend the growing season (both forward and backward), and are very popular and easy to use. Many of the cold frames that we build will make their way into our gardens, and most of the rest will be available for purchase at the Store on Northampton street. There will be various shapes and sizes of cold frames available, and thus the price will vary, you can expect somewhere between $30 and $45.

We are also taking orders for custom cold frames. Prices will vary depending on dimension and materials needed, but if you have something in mind that isn’t what you see at the store, ask us.

We hope to see you on Wednesday!!!

Getting ready for Gardening

Wednesday Workdays – 2pm – 5pm @ Buffalo ReUse Gardens on Northampton Street.

Adopt a raised bed + Beautify your neighborhood + Meet people + Work in your own little garden + Grow and eat your own fresh vegetables + Improve the environment + Support our mission

Now that the snow has melted and the birds are chirping, it is time to start preparing our gardens for the fast approaching season. Raised beds in our Patchwork Garden on Northampton Street are still available for adoption, where you can have your own 4 x 8 bed to grow vegetables and flowers with the company of neighbors and friends. We are holding Garden Workdays every Wednesday from 2pm to 5pm beginning March 24th and throughout the growing season. Come together with friends and neighbors and spend some time in your garden. There will also be open workdays on Saturdays all season long, in case you can’t make it on a Wednesday to take care of the weeding or watering or other chores in your garden. The list of garden tasks is growing, and it is important to be ready for the season, so make sure you sign up to adopt a bed and head over to the gardens to get them ready for growing! If you are interested in adopting a bed or would like to get more involved with our programs, contact us at greenspaces {at} buffaloreuse(.)org

What needs to be done?

We have already begun cool season crops from seed (onions, leeks, broccoli, cabbage, collards, brussels, etc.) on our custom-built, heated germination house in the basement. This ensures that we will have enough starts to fill our gardens, share with our Patchwork Gardeners, and trade with fellow Buffalo gardeners at the upcoming seedling swaps (April 24 + May 22). Most important in preparing garden beds is ensuring a healthy place for the transplants to go–the soil. On Saturday March 27th we will be hosting a raised bed soil preparation workshop at 1pm. Here we will address amendments, fertilizers, structure, compost, and as much else we can regarding soil and preparing it for growing vegetables and flowers in raised beds like those in our Patchwork Garden. We moved this workshop to 1pm (our printed calendar said 2pm) to make room for Urban Roots’ “Urban Flocks Workshop”, being held at 2pm the same day.

Other important tasks that are on deck include:

• Building cold frames to harden-off young seedlings
• Garden cleanups (trash, debris, organic material)
• Turning and maintaining compost
• Preparing rain barrels for irrigation
• Building more raised beds
• Plotting the gardens
• Spreading mulch
• Edging sidewalks
• Starting warm-season crops from seed

Many of these tasks will be ongoing throughout the season, and we can use all of the help we can get. If you’re interested in gardening and becoming active in your neighborhood and community, this is a great place to get your hands dirty. Come adopt a raised bed, take part in our workshops, get your bed ready to put plants in it, and soon you’ll be enjoying your own freshly grown food.

The UB Green Team is continuing its climate talks, a dialogue on contemporary and local environmental issues. The Spring 2010 series will introduce the campus community to issues such as waste reduction, community gardens and sustainable transportation. All of the Climate Talks begin at 7pm in the Allen Hall Theatre on the UB South Campus, across from Walgreens on Main Street

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2009 7pm Allen Hall Theatre, South Campus: Less is More: Promoting Recycling and Waste Reduction in Western New York

We hope to see you there!!!

Where: University of Buffalo Center for Fine Arts, Room 232

When: Tuesday, Feb. 23 @ 6PM (see poster below for future dates)

Be there for the launch of the Food and Emerging Media Speaker Series, and hear the opening speaker, David Szanto, give a talk entitled “Towards Intelligent Gastronomy: Equilibrating Human Food Systems.