. Greetings!It's been a busy couple of months for Grow Gainesville. Since our initial meetings at which over 100 people contributed their thoughts and expressed interest, we've been growing. A few really key folks need to be recognized for their diligence in keeping this network fueled. In no particular order: Julie Garrett, Julia Showalter, Travis Mitchell, Gary Hankins, Maura Brady, Melissa DeSa, Jenny Seitz, Sean McLendon and Donna Wainwright.
 We've got two workshops coming up in June to keep you in the "growing food mood" over the hot Florida summer. We're also planning (hopefully) a summer perennial garden tour.
This is the second of three newsletters that will be distributed for free. We request that you become a member of Grow Gainesville to show your support.
Please contribute your feedback, comments, suggestions, tips, etc. for any Grow Gainesville initiatives. We want to hear from you! Write to growgai...@gmail.com.
See you soon!
~ the Steering Committee at Grow Gainesville
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Grow Gainesville Progress
Facebook
 In addition, Grow Gainesville has a lively Facebook group. Membership is open, so add yourself and your gardening friends! We'll try to pull some of the discussion highlights for those who don't Facebook. We'll start with this compilation of the discussions about dealing with squirrels, fire ants and armadillos.
Committees The Education, Events and Steering committees have merged for now. Our next meeting is 7 p.m. Thursday, July 7 at Volta Coffee downtown. We welcome your feedback!
Contact Us For general Grow Gainesville inquiries, email Travis Mitchell or Melissa DeSa at growgai...@gmail.com. If you're interested in school gardens, contact Jasmine Angelini-Knoll at jasmin...@gmail.com or subscribe to the school gardens' Google Group.
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Grow Gainesville's Mission is to increase our community's ability to produce and share food grown in urban gardens by facilitating the networking of gardeners, resources and information in a way that is easily affordable and accessible to all.
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Gardening Events
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Grow Gainesville Potluck at the Downtown Farmers Garden in May
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Re: listing events in Grow Gainesville's new Google calendar -- If you are going to be posting regularly, we can give you access to the calendar so you can make changes. If, however, you just want to post one event, Julia will be happy to post it.
- It's Not Too Hot to Garden GG Workshop - Join us as we discuss summer crops, cover cropping, seed saving, solarization and much much more for your summer garden. Bring a plant or bug sample if you have questions and want us to help you ID it. We'll meet at 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 15 at the Downtown Farmers Garden, 12 SE 1st St. Refreshments provided but please bring your own water bottle, as well as a notebook to scribble notes. Please RSVP to growgai...@gmail.com.
- Compost the Most GG Workshop and Demo - Join us at the UF Organic Garden Cooperative to learn about composting and view a successful community garden compost system in action. Next stop on the compost tour will be the UF Ethnoecology Garden for another look at a compost system. Find us at the UF Garden at 9 a.m. Saturday, June 18. (Directions at their website. This garden is on SW 23rd Terrace; it is not the garden next to the UF Bat House. It's on the northern end of 23rd Terrace between Archer and Williston Roads.) Bring a chair if you like and your own notebook to scribble notes. Please RSVP to growgai...@gmail.com.
- High Springs Seed Savers Club - This local gardening group meets on the last Tuesday of every month with a different topic each time. Upcoming meetings: June 28, July 6, and Aug. 6 at 7 p.m. at the High Springs Public Library, 135 NW 1st Ave., High Springs, FL 32643. Contact Nancy Montgomery, 386-462-1828 or monty...@gmail.com.
- Canning Demonstration - Melissa Mazurkewicz will demonstrate the art of canning and how to preserve locally grown ingredients. Find us at the EBT green tent at the center of the Union Street Farmers Market from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 29.
- Grow Gainesville Steering Committee Meeting - Share your input at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 7 at Volta Coffee.
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Membership
 Grow Gainesville is open to all as a member-driven organization supported by affordable annual membership dues. These dues help cover the costs of operating the network and ensure active participation from members. Members receive resources, including seeds and access to tools, and will be part of a growing network of gardeners and advocates working to promote and encourage urban agriculture in Gainesville and a thriving local food system. For more information, visit http://www.foginfo.org where you can
download the membership application.
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School Garden Report Card:
Kanapaha Middle School
by teachers Meg Boyagian and Sarah Byrd
Our organic garden has blossomed into a sanctuary for students and teachers alike as we've watched the garden grow from nothing but hard-packed sand two years ago.
We now have a productive 25-by-30 foot vegetable bed that sees multiple seasons in a school year, and an orchard complete with fruit trees, blackberries, blueberries and grapes. Remarkably, the majority of the work has been done by a small group of preteens, with tremendous help from our resident master gardener Susan Nugent. Susan is there every Wednesday to help us teach students, weed, and nurture our plot. And, we couldn't have done it without the help of our wonderful families and friends, and our supportive administration.
It has become clear to us that garden-based learning/ recreation/therapy is particularly relevant for teens today. We have seen first-hand that once they have an opportunity to take ownership of a garden, and to see their seeds grow into vibrant plants, they're hooked, and are willing to forgo the DS system or smart phone for a little while. No video game can compete with the excitement and joy of growing and then eating vegetables.
In the words of Jenny Miranda, sixth grade student and Garden Club member, "My favorite part is when the plants are big, they look gloriously awesome and you want to eat them."
 Eating and cooking the food we've grown is a major component of what our club is all about. The kids truly enjoy cooking their produce, using real knives and a camp stove to get the job done. We are a family when we sit and eat together. It's truly fulfilling for all involved.
It is enormously rewarding to see students willingly abandon the screen for the exploration of the outdoors. The garden is an ideal platform for teaching an array of concepts that allow for synthesis in the minds of learners. A large part of what we do together is to observe the intricate natural processes at work, and marvel at it all. We also focus on teaching science concepts, promoting local food systems, emphasizing environmental stewardship, and teaching about nutrition.
Angie Deleon, seventh grader, says,"I like to see plants not dying. And I like harvesting. My Loquat tree, Iggy Bacon, is awesome!"
This is the students' garden, where the plants all have names!
Our garden story should be an inspiration for all who want to be gardeners! We were both novices when we started, and were really flying by the seat of our pants and made it happen. If we can do it, so can you!
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Cool Veggies to Grow
in the Heat of Summer
by Julia Showalter
With days reaching the high 90s, a lot of the veggies in our spring gardens aren't looking as hot as they did a few months ago. Understandable. Some afternoons I feel a little wilted, too. But the good news is there are some plants that seem to do alright in the heat. There are the good old standbys such as okra and eggplant, but also others that are lesser known and can make great green additions to the dog days of summer. Here are a few of my favorites.
 Yardlong beans (Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis) - These beans are totally magic in my book. They grow at amazing speeds up any sort of trellis they're given. They then flower and before you know it (about 60 days after sowing), thin, shoelace-like beans appear. It only takes them a few days for the beans to grow several feet long and you have to pick them daily to keep up! It's okay to leave a couple to keep growing -- they get about 2 ½ feet long and then dry up and you have beans to plant for the next round!
 Cassava (Manihot esculenta) - Otherwise known as yuca, or manioc, this awesome tuber is the major starch in much of Central and South America and parts of Africa. The tuber is peeled and can be cooked similar to potatoes. You may have had yuca chips at Mi Apa -- delicious! This plant is easy to grow and care for even in the heat of summer. All you need is a cassava stake to put in the ground. Soon it will have leaves and be forming tubers! You can cut more stakes from this plant and soon you'll have a cassava forest! Other pluses of this awesome plant are its gorgeous leaves and elegant form. Before the first frost, cut the stakes and keep them in a warm, dry place for planting next year. Most of the time the plants will also over winter, especially if you mound them with mulch.
 Chayote (Sechium edule) - This is an interesting, little green squash that curls in on one side. The plant grows like a monster (it's good to have a trellis) and is perennial if you mound it. One plant can produce hundreds of squashes! It hasn't been planted much in this area because usually the flowering and fruiting of the plant is dependent on the length of the day. This is a problem because it will start fruiting in the late fall when a freeze is likely. Luckily, there is now a day length, neutral variety in Gainesville. This means that it will start fruiting in the summer and will continue through the fall!
These are just a few of the awesome, heat-loving plants you can grow in the summer. It's true that they are not your average veggies and you may be wondering where to find them. Try asking the folks at Abundant Edible Landscapes or the Edible Plant Project. They may have the plants or seeds, and, if not, they will have information on where to find them. Good luck with planting something new and interesting for the summer!
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Favorite Web Resources
Golden Harvest Organics has loads of great information on companion planting, critter and disease trouble, and more.
Gardens Alive! has a great archived A-Z index of many gardening topics from ants to weeds and everything in between.
The Summer Vegetable Garden has gardening topics (among other things). Careful, you'll get lost in all the information.
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FOG, AEL and the City of Gainesville Team Up to Add
More Edible Landscaping
Florida Organic Growers (FOG) continued its work toward the goal of increasing food security in Gainesville during a Memorial Day GIFT Garden installation at Gainesville's City Hall in cooperation with Abundant Edible Landscapes.
"On behalf of the City Commission, I welcome this opportunity to add a GIFT Garden to the public space at City Hall. It reaffirms our city's commitment to increasing
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| Left to right: Marty Mesh, Craig Lowe, Steve Phillips, Ryan Brouillard |
food security for everyone in our community," said Gainesville Mayor Craig Lowe.
Gainesville will join the likes of cities such as San Francisco and Portland that have made their City Halls visible examples of their local government's commitment to urban food production.
The garden will contain a host of edible landscaping including avocados, persimmons, pears, figs, blueberries and other perennial herbs and vegetables.
Read more about the project, here.
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Reflections on Gardening:
The Garden Path and the Middle Way
by Mary Zukowski
 Many of us garden because we love fresh food or flowers as well as being in contact with Earth in an expression of creation. Others may pursue gardening as right and simple livelihood, providing nourishment for the community and enjoyment of the fresh air, Earth and sentient beings. It seems so simple and even romantic or idyllic. But once fully engaged and committed to gardening, we find ourselves in a very challenging and sometimes spiritual process requiring a great deal of mindfulness, presence and letting go.
Watering by hand, I establish a rhythm of breathing and mindfulness. It helps me to collect myself with calmness and equanimity for what I might discover in each of the beds: deer destruction, armadillo damage, harmful insect presence, and diseased plants, which when found, are immediately unsatisfactory and disheartening. I react severely, worried that my efforts have gone for naught, so why not just give up gardening. Looking more deeply, I discover I'm afraid that I have been wasting my time and I won't have enough.
Looking carefully at what is true in the present, I see I have more than enough beans, cucumbers, and yellow squash to eat, freeze and give away, even amongst the devastating destruction. I relax and smile to myself. I see that I was getting attached to some idea of perfection. Now seeing it, I can let go. The thought of having wasted my time dissipates.
Somewhat free of false ideas, I continue this love of gardening more joyfully, making room for and including the sentient beings also drawn to enjoy the co-creation. In addition to requesting that they leave some for me, I will continue to hang bath soap, spread human hair and dried blood to deter deer. I will spray Neem for virus, bacteria and insects, Bt for caterpillars, and seaweed extract to strengthen resistance. And, I will set up barriers to minimize armadillo destruction. This for me, is The Middle Way.
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Recipes from the Garden: Chilled Cuke Soup
by Cynthia Barnett
I adapted this from Cooking Light years ago and make it throughout the summer. Best cucumber soup ever, and beautiful topped with halved cherry tomatoes.
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 1/4 cup chopped onion
- 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
- 1/4 cup fat-free buttermilk
- 1/4 cup low-fat sour cream
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 5 cucumbers peeled and course-chopped
- 1/2 or 1 jalapeño pepper, depending on its spiciness, seeded and chopped (start with HALF and taste, and if it's not quite spicy enough, add the other half)
I use a hand-immersion blender in a bowl, but if you have a food processor, even easier. Just blend until smooth. Chill until it's time to serve. Top each serving with a little mound of halved cherry tomatoes.
Even my 9-year-old son, Will (pictured above with one of his "planetary cherry" tomatoes) eats the cuke soup. His favorite things to cook and to eat are all veggie- or fruit-based, I like to think from his gardening experiences at home, at his dad's garden on campus, and at his all-time favorite garden -- Morningside Nature Center's. Then again, his sister loves to garden too but doesn't share Will's love for eating all that's green!
 Cynthia Barnett is a senior writer for Florida Trend magazine and the author of "Blue Revolution: Unmaking America's Water Crisis" and "Mirage: Florida and the Vanishing Water of the Eastern U.S."
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How to Cook It?
For more local and seasonal recipes, menus and more, check out our friend Stefanie Samara Hamblen's Hogtown Homegrown newsletter and website.
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COMMUNITY MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
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21st Century American Gothic:
Melissa and her husband Mike
(click photo for a larger view)
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Melissa DeSa
My parents had a garden when I was growing up, although admittedly I didn't help out much. I remember them both proudly posing for photos next to 6-foot tomato plants (I lived in Canada, where you can grow giant tomatoes), and our dog running around the yard with old corn husks.
I've always loved nature and plants, so when I finally had my own little piece of ground to play with in Gainesville I gave it a shot, just throwing stuff in the ground and learning by trial and error and lots of reading (which I still do!). Six years later, my garden has grown from a small experimental square to taking up a significant portion of both my front and back yard.
I don't think I could be happy without a garden to tend; it keeps me fit, gets me outdoors, stimulates learning, hides my white Canadian skin under a tan, keeps me in tune with the rhythms of the Earth, and in the end I am rewarded with nourishing food.
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WHAT TO PLANT NOW Summer vegetables include bell and hot peppers, cassava, eggplant, Malabar spinach, basil, black-eyed peas, long beans, chayote, bitter melon, sweet potatoes, okra, seminole pumpkin, peanuts, and loofah, among others. For a list of summer greens, see below.
Check out IFAS' summer gardening guide.
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GARDENING TIP
 Keep a garden journal. You might think you'll remember what you've done to repeat (or not) the following season, but chances are you won't recall with enough precision to make the best decisions next time around.
Record everything, and when it's time to begin another season or you have to troubleshoot something, your journal will be invaluable. A traditional pen and paper journal might serve you well, or you can keep a spreadsheet.
Some suggestions of what to jot down: dates you planted, fertilized, harvested, picked off caterpillars, noticed disease etc. Also record varieties you planted or what you planted them next to, if the plants ended up being too crowded, too sparse, if they provided a good yield etc.
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COMPOST THE MOST
by Jeff Klugh, Alachua County Office of Waste Alternatives
 Backyard composting is a great way to keep organics out of landfills while producing organic fertilizer for your garden. Getting your own compost bin started is quick and easy, but there are some guidelines to remember if you want the best possible compost.
Be sure to keep a balance of green and brown materials in your compost. For example: when putting kitchen scraps into the bin, add some dry leaves or similar material in equal quantities.
Try to avoid putting the following items in your compost: meat and dairy products, citrus, pine straw, and pet waste. These materials can affect the quality of the finished compost.
Finally, keep your compost moist (like a well wrung sponge) and stir occasionally for the best possible results.
For more information on composting, or for a free wire compost bin, please call 352-374-5245.
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GARDENING RESOURCES
Trace Minerals ~ Recently on Facebook, someone asked about glacial rock dust. What he was after was a source of trace minerals. Just like the human body needs trace amounts of vitamins and minerals for optimum health, so do plants that acquire their nutrition from the soil. Trace minerals can be found in glacial rock dust, granite dust, greensand, azomite and lenardite. Find one or more of these products at the following local businesses:
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PEST OF THE MONTH: SQUASH VINE BORER
by Melissa DeSa
Does this sound familiar? You wake up one morning to a horrifying sight in your garden: Your squash plants that were huge and healthy yesterday are now wilted to the ground, literally overnight.
Chances are, the squash vine borer has struck, a pest that loves summer squashes and pumpkins. The good news is that it can be prevented by early detection and treatment, and it rarely bothers butternut squash, cucumbers or melons.
The culprit is a wasp-like moth that lays her eggs at the base of young squash plants. When the eggs hatch the new larvae begin to eat their way inside the vine, working slowly upward. For about six weeks they feast on your squash plants, slowly disrupting the tissues that allow it to transport water and nutrients. A threshold is reached, at which point the plant can no longer keep itself alive, and the vine suddenly collapses. Here in the south, there may be two full generations of these pests to expect.
What to do: Inspect each vine every day for holes, with frass (bug poop) oozing out. It looks like yellowish goo (see photo above). You should also look for reddish brown eggs laid near the base of the plant or on the undersides of leaves. Remove eggs immediately.
Plant early. In Florida timing is everything; the challenge is to get your harvest before the bugs do. This means having sturdy transplants in the ground by March, which you may have to protect in the event of a freeze. Fertilizing well will encourage them to grow faster, which might bring them to fruiting stage before the pests become a real problem.
Row covers can prevent the moth from laying her eggs, but be sure to remove once flowering begins because pollination is required.
 If you see evidence of the borers, inject with Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis), a bacteria specific to caterpillars. You can buy a small con tainer at any one of our feed or garden stores which will last you and your neighbors awhile. Get a syringe (some garden stores carry them, or sneak one home if you work in the medical field) and carefully inject the base of the stems with Bt. The nice thing about this localized method, is there is no way any other non-target caterpillars can be affected.
If it's too late and the damage is done, cut open the vine and feed the juicy buggers to your chickens if you have them. If there are no chickens to take them off your hands, be sure to kill the caterpillars so they can't pupate, turn into moths and repeat the cycle.
For pest and disease trouble shooting, I highly recommend this book: "Rodales' Vegetable Garden Problem Solver," by Fern Marshall Bradley. Get it!
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SUMMER GREENS
by Michael Adler
In my work with the Edible Plant Project, I have been introduced to a number of nutritious leaf vegetables that grow well in Gainesville's hot summers. They are all as easy to grow as a collard green, so we have no excuse for avoiding greens during the summer. The list below provides only a brief snapshot of annual and perennial greens. For the full description, click here. Contact the Edible Plant Project at www.edibleplantproject.org and Abundant Edible Landscapes at www.ediblelandscapers.com to get your hands on some of these plants.
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| India lettuce is examined by some pullets |
Annuals
These grow from seeds, flower, and then die, which is what most of our vegetable gardens do. Some return reliably from dropped seeds, but collecting is a good idea so you can select superior plants for the next generation, control spacing, and mulch to control competing weeds.
Lamb's quarter
Chenopodium giganteum
(Amaranthaceae)
The leaves and growing tips can be eaten raw or cooked. Needs fertile garden soil, plenty of water, and full sun.
Callaloo/Amaranth
Amaranthus sp.
(Amaranthacea)
Leaves and stems are very spinach-like when cooked, generally not eaten raw. Prefers enriched soil, but will grow okay in last year's soil with no additional amendments. Will tolerate mild droughts; needs full sun.
Quailgrass
Celosia argentea
(Amaranthaceae)
A soft spinach-like plant that must be cooked. Needs plenty of water and partial sun.
India lettuce
Lactuca indica
(Asteraceae)
A lettuce relatively similar tasting but a little tougher than the winter varieties we're used to. It can be eaten raw or cooked -- stems too. Needs plenty of water and filtered sun.
Malabar Spinach
Basella alba and rubra
(Basellacea)
A fast-growing vine unrelated to spinach with thick and mucilaginous leaves high in vitamins A and C, iron and calcium.The leaves and soft shoots are eaten raw or cooked.It likes heat, full sun, rich garden soil, and plenty of water.
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GET DIRTY!
Downtown Farmers Garden - Come lend a hand at the living classroom gardens located in the heart of downtown Gainesville at the Alachua County Administration Building, 12 SE 1st St., every Thursday at 4 p.m. Contact Travis Mitchell; tra...@foginfo.org
or Sean Mclendon;
smcl...@alachuacounty.us
UF Ethnoecology Garden - Learn about a variety of perennial and annual plants while experimenting with the application of different sustainable farming practices every Friday at 5 p.m. Garden is located at the UF campus on Museum Road, on the east side of Lake Alice. Contact
Julia Showalter at 304-276-7615. Also check out the Facebook page "Ethnoecology Society"
or join the list-serv:
ethnoe...@gmail.com.
Highlands Community Gardens - Good company and garden work fun, every Sunday from noon-2 p.m., 1001 NE 16th Ave. Future plans include an edible food forest as well as a composting site, both of which will be used to educate on the basics of gardening and permaculture practices. Contact Bryan Konrad at ibk...@gmail.com.
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GAINESVILLE FARM FRESH
Check out Gainesville Farm Fresh, where Grow Gainesville has an onllne presence and you'll also find information about local farmer's markets and gardener's resources. GFF is your online resource for local, sustainable food. Our appreciation to James Steele, who has generously volunteered to share his site and to maintain our information. Thanks! |
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We Want to Hear from YOU!
Send us your gardening tips, favorite varieties, techniques, must-have books, websites and photos for upcoming issues. Email growgai...@gmail.com. |
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