March 2015

Yesterday's inaugural seed exchange went well, and the enthusiasm of the exchangers was truly amazing!

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR COMING AND SUPPORTING THIS EVENT!!!

Also, thank you to the Waukee YMCA for letting us use their Community Room.

There were TONS of seeds!  Many flower seeds, purely ornamental as well as edible flowers, were brought in.  Three tables were filled with seeds for vegetables, fruits and even trees.  Everything from new and leftover store bought packages to smaller and expertly labeled packets from area seed savers.  Guests stayed and talked about all sorts of topics ranging from homestead planning, fruit tree grafting, rainwater collection and guerrilla gardening.

Congratulations to our prize winners - Jessica, Willow, Bailey and Cory!!! ...and I'm glad the sprinkler timer went to the one who wanted it most! 

I had a lot of fun myself.  Even better, this event taught me what worked and how to make an event like this better, and gave some ideas for similar gatherings and even more.



We have another event planned for this weekend!  Friday night, I will be giving a talk on gardening and edible landscaping projects at the Area 515 Maker Space in downtown Des Moines.  For more information, go to the events page or to the Facebook event page.

Spring will finally arrive this month, but don't grab your trowels just yet.  Our average last frost is between April 20-30.  For help determining when to plant your seeds you can follow this link to the Old Farmer's Almanac.  I've got bell peppers started, onions just germinating, and some tomatoes and jalapeños I picked up at the exchange just planted today.

Other odds and ends:
Although I'm not a fan, don't forget to set your clocks ahead when you go to bed this coming Saturday night for the beginning of Daylight Savings Time.

Here's a new video from the USDA-NRCS that I enjoyed.  It highlights the holistic or systems approach to agriculture, versus the symptom and cure style we often find ourselves in.

It still talks about herbicide usage, but if we could get most of the growers in the US to adopt these practices we would be so far ahead of where we are now.  I know that's not the end goal, but its a start!  Vector changes...

Have a great week!