IN THE
BACKYARD
Local produce chart; community garden tour; training for new growers
By Deborah
Cavanaugh-Grant, University of Illinois Extension
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[July
19, 2013]
New local foods infographic
with seasonal calendar -- I know you all are savvy seasonal
shoppers, but I imagine there are still some fuzzy areas about what
exactly is in season when -- especially as more growers extend the
season with hoophouses and root cellars.
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That's one of the reasons
The Land Connection
put together a brand-new local food infographic, with a year-round
seasonal availability chart informed by local fruit and vegetable
growers. The chart starts with the earliest spring perennials such
as chives, sorrel and asparagus, moves through the high-summer
crops, into the autumn greens and roots, and finally the winter
storage crops, including roots, squashes and grains. It also shows
the "shoulder seasons" for crops commonly grown in hoophouses, which
can extend the season a month or more earlier and later than outdoor
field plantings. But this infographic is much more than a seasonal
produce calendar. It also presents facts and figures about nutrition
loss over time, where your food dollar goes and how our communities
would benefit if only 15 percent of consumer food purchases went to
local farmers. This is all illustrated in compelling ways.
But enough words already! To see this hot-off-the-press
infographic,
click here.
This infographic is part of the
Farm Fresh Now! series funded by a USDA Specialty Crop Grant
received through the Illinois Department of Agriculture.
Happy local shopping and eating!
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Roots to Rooftop Tour
The American
Community Gardening Association has a broad definition of what a
community garden entails. It can be urban, suburban or rural. It can
grow flowers, vegetables or community. It can be one community plot
or many individual plots. It can be at a school, hospital or in a
neighborhood. It can also be a series of plots dedicated to "urban
agriculture," where the produce is grown for a market.
Interested in learning more about community gardening in
Springfield? If so, then join an upcoming urban agriculture and
garden tour throughout the Springfield area on July 28 from 1 to 4
p.m. to visit a school garden, a rooftop garden, and other
neighborhood and community gardens. For more information, go to
http://web.extension.illinois.edu/units/
event.cfm?UnitID=629&EventID=62221.
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The Springfield area sites on the
tour include:
-
genHkids gardens at
Douglas School
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genHkids "Seeds of
Possibility" Community Garden
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Illinois Department
of Agriculture Community Garden
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Jefferson Park
Community Garden
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Maldaner's rooftop
garden
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The Neighborhood
Gardens
-
Springfield Community
Garden
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Suttill's Gardens
Along with U of I Extension, sponsors for this event are genHkids,
Illinois Department of Agriculture, Illinois Stewardship Alliance,
Illinois Times, Kumler Outreach, Maldaner's Restaurant and Slow Food
Springfield.
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Preparing a new generation of Illinois fruit and vegetable
farmers
Applications now open! Aspiring Illinois farmers, new growers
with less than five years' experience, commodity farmers interested
in diversifying to include fruit or vegetable production, and high
school and community college agriculture teachers are invited to
apply now for the next session of a free training program offered
through the University of Illinois crop sciences department. See
more at
http://news.aces.illinois.edu/news/
new-illinois-farmers-program-
acceptingapplications-second-session. Also see this article
about the first year of the program:
http://news.illinois.edu/ii/13/0620/newfarmers.html.
[By DEBORAH CAVANAUGH-GRANT,
University of
Illinois Extension]
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