Raising Funds for Reforestation

Brendan Chareoncharutkun, one of the Public Health Garden's own, has been studying Permaculture at Tacome Pai Organic Farm in Thailand this summer and touched base with us from "the land of smiles" to see if we could help promote the fundraising campaign for Tacome Pai's sister project: The New Land.

We said: "ABSOLUTELY!!"

They've got until September 30th to raise the remainder of the $5,200 fundraising goal. With that funding, they aim to revitalize 72,000 square meters of deforested and degraded land by applying Permaculture design principles. The long-term mission of the project is to demonstrate and reintroduce sustainable living techniques to the locals and to create a prototype for reforestation and sustainable livelihood projects all over the world. Read more here and please join us in making a pledge.

HIllside Garden Looking Great!

If you haven't had a chance to peek down the hillside and see what the Public Health Garden student group has been building and maintaining, stop by soon! The cukes are climbing, the tomatoes are staked and irrigated, the apples are filling out, the bio-retention area is flourishing, and all the seeded and transplanted flowers are in bloom.

Drip Irrigation on the Hillside

Thanks to dedicated garden planner Phil Capon, the tomatoes, okra, peppers, cukes and squash on the hillside are easy to water and happy as can be! To find out what else is new in the garden, check out our facebook and flickr pages.

Meet Kohl-Robin

Our most loyal and precocious feathered friend named after one of our favorite spring veggies.  Kohl-Robin gets a little shy when the camera comes out but for the most part frolics right alongside our hillside cultivators.

Garlic Harvest

While our new garden planner, Phil Capon, was planning and planting plots on the hillside, our new garden manager, Nathan Lim, harvested about 70 heads of garlic from the half-built bed on the terrace. The cloves were planted during the First Annual Harvest Festival in October 2011 and despite the less-than-ideal soil and nutrients available at the start, months of careful nurturing with soil amendments (like composted lobster shells and organic fish fertilizer) appear to have paid off.

Want to see what happens next? How garlic is cured? Stored? Used in cooking? Follow the story of our garlic on Allie and Deb's new website Compost2theMoon.com - scheduled to go live next week!

Adventitious Roots

After a lovely and productive meeting with students, faculty, staff and advisers associated with the Public Health Garden past, present and future, we spent an equally productive afternoon doing maintenance on the hillside. We managed to squeeze a few dozen more Zinnias, Bachelors Buttons and Four O'Clocks into our flower patch, find and clear soil space for eggplant, cucumber and squash transplants, and start implementing the vision of our new community garden planner, Phil Capon. We also had an opportunity to share extra plants with gardeners, friends and supporters in the College of Agricultural and Natural Resources.

During our time on site we noticed this fantastic example of adventitious roots on one of the Institute of Applied Agriculture's container-planted tomatoes and the stabilizing qualities of these roots beg a comparison of the future of the garden itself.

Adventitious roots arise from different parts of the plant - like the stem and branches - than traditionally develop from the primary root (apical meristem). In the case of tomatoes, adventitious root growth can be encouraged by burying a few inches of the stem beneath the soil during a transplant and will strengthen the plant by giving it a wider foundation for support.

The Public Health Garden began as a seed - an idea and a grant - that with the right mix of sunshine, soil, water and attention turned into a strong, lively, and quickly-growing plant with supportive adventitious roots popping our all over the place! As those roots have taken hold across campus in Facilities Management, the Student Club, the Institute of Applied Agriculture, the School of Public Health, Campus Recreation, the Wellness Coalition, the Office of Sustainability, the Arboretum Outreach Center, the dream of the garden continues to grow stronger and more sustainable each and every day.

On The Hill Again

While the teaching, demonstration and community space on the top patio is looking fabulously green and exploding with happy plants, the hillside could use a little TLC in the next couple of weeks.

While we have intentionally allowed many cover crops to go to flower and attract beneficial insects, we have been keeping a close eye on pests and pulling invasive and problem vegetation with a quickness. Last week, we discovered a few rogue tomato plants and cosmos that had self seeded and popped up through the vetch and grasses. Since we've got a few months before formal construction on the next phases of the garden, we're going to go ahead and plant a few things in the flattest areas. So far we've put in a flat of pumpkins (courtesy of our friends at the St. Mary's Garden Club) and some Sungold Cherry tomatoes.

The areas of the hillside just below the top patio are growing dense with parsley and sprinkled with a few happy apple trees. Closer to the base of the hill, we've got some strong strawberry plants and berry bushes. All these hidden treasures could use a little help in terms of clearing weeds from the immediate areas around them so if you are hanging out this summer and looking to break a sweat, stay tuned to the blog for additional volunteer sessions and plantings. Right now we are looking at getting an early start this Thursday May 31st at 2:00pm.

Harlequin Bug = Pest

While we appreciate biodiversity and interesting insects, this particular one - the Harlequin Bug, Murgantia histrionica - is one of the top pests in our area. Bad news bug. So if you  happen to pass through the garden and see an adult (pictured), eggs or nymphs (visible on the Grow It Eat It site here) please feel free to relocate them to the farthest dumpster! 

Summer Hours?

Hooray summertime! For those of you who will remain in the College Park area during the summer months, we would love to continue hosting volunteer hours to keep on growing the garden. Last summer we had so much work to do, we met twice a week. This summer we may be able to manage with just one session. What works best for you guys? Weekday evenings? Or weekend mornings? Sticking to the same Thursday hours?

Good luck on finals!

It sure has been a beautiful spring semester at the garden! We'd like to wish all of our volunteers good luck on finals this week and thank you again for your regular support, hard work, and time contributions that helped the garden grow into what it is today. The project and plants flourish because of the nurturing spirits of College Park students like you!

Thursday Volunteer Hours

We have a lot of work to do during our Thursday (May 10th) work hours this week but we've also got a lot of ripe strawberries for our hard-working volunteers to pick and eat! Come on over between 4:00-6:00 pm to help us weed the rain garden, stake tomatoes, snuggle praying mantises and prepare a bed, and then enjoy a little spring harvest with us. We've got dill, chard and cilantro to share too.

First Praying Mantis Sighting of 2012

Square Foot Gardening

Source: http://frugaldad.com/

Beneficials Wage War on Aphid Army

After losing nearly our entire squash crop to a blanket of squash bugs in the summer of 2011, we here at the Public Health Garden always keep an eye out for "bad bugs" and work to manage their populations quickly and carefully by hand.

We've learned that the sooner you see these little buggers, which at this time of year in our garden are mainly aphids, the better chance you have at keeping them under control. We've also learned that we have quite a few allies in the war against aphids.

One is our dear friend Jon Traunfeld, State Master Gardener Coordinator, Director of the Home and Garden Information Center and Extension Specialist. When we sent him some photos of our aphids, he shared his expert advice on how to cope with the infestation and put up this informational blog post.  

Another ally in the management of aphids are the beneficial beetles commonly known as Ladybugs (Coccinellidae). The Grow It Eat It blog recently posted a few interesting factoids regarding the Lady Bird Beetle, one of our most beneficial insects. During their larvae stage they are very focused on gobbling up aphids! See one in action in the photo above.

So how do you get beneficial insects in your garden? For starters, if you have aphids, they will come! According to Traunfeld (and our own observations at the garden) the ladybugs will find their own way:

"Several species of lady bird beetles are native to MD. There is no need to buy them; they will come find your aphids. Plus, purchased beetles often disperse from your garden instead of making it their new home. Adults and larvae eat aphids but adults also feed on nectar and pollen so plant a bed of some of these beautiful flowering plants to attract and conserve the lady bird beetles in your area: mountain mint, anise hyssop, thyme, oregano, basil, dill, yarrow, aster, marigold, zinnia, alyssum, phlox, bee balm, milkweeds, borage, salvias."

Read the full post here. And come on down during volunteer hours, every Thursday from 4:00-6:00pm to witness this exciting battle of the bugs!

Beautiful Maryland Day

Words can't describe how lovely it was to celebrate Maryland Day 2012, marking one year since the Public Health Garden project officially broke ground - with Eco-Goat hooves in 2011. We had a incredible number of visitors return from last year to see progress and share in our admiration of how far the space has come. Special thanks to everyone who has contributed to the ongoing success of this project.

Throughout the day, we harvested radishes with our younger visitors and experienced the joy of witnessing/encouraging some of them to try the bright red, spicy veggies for the first time ever. One of our visitors, Jessica Lucas (pictured with shovel) of Liberty Christian School, expressed such a strong interest in gardening, she helped us ready the compacted section of soil for the soon-to-be-planted Three Sisters garden. Thanks, Jessica!

In addition to on-site fun, more than one hundred small basil, tomato and fish pepper plants were sent home to flourish in the gardens of Maryland alumni, staff, and local and regional residents.

Check out more pics on our Facebook and Flickr pages.

Spotted: The Grazing Groundhog

Work Hours Inside Today

Due to the weather, the Public Health Garden gang will be setting up in the transplant room of the greenhouse today and focusing our attention on nurturing out seedlings rather than cleaning up the site for Maryland Day. Outdoor clean-up hours will take place tomorrow, Friday April 27th, from 12:00pm until completion instead.

If you would like to help out at the greenhouse today, please text or email deborahdramby@gmail.com 410.925.4807 for more information.

Maryland Day: Saturday April 28th

Visit the Public Health Garden on Maryland Day 2012 to check out all the amazing progress we've made in a single year (and all the other exciting, free, educational, agricultural, conservationist, delicious, etc - things happening on campus). We hope you will still be able to stop by and celebrate the success of this project with us!

The university has a great Plan Your Day feature

 on the Maryland Day website that you can visit in order to narrow down which activities you don't want to miss and print out your own itinerary. The Public Health Garden is listed under the football icon "Sports and Rec Row."

Parking is free anywhere on campus all day and events run from 10:00am - 4:00pm. And remember, the earlier you come, the better chance you have at snagging one of our plant giveaways :-) 

Thursday Volunteer Hours Today 4:00-6:00pm

Last week we planted tomatoes, peppers and a few other odds and ends from the greenhouse while hanging out with Eco-Goat Napoleon, nurturing some nutrient deficient garlic plants AND mulching the new bio-retention area at the base of the hillside. Thanks to our dedicated and productive volunteers we were able to do all of that in less than two hours! Today, we've got some marigolds to companion plant next to the tomatoes and a few basil plants to add to the herd bed. With Maryland Day right around the corner, we've got some event planning to discuss as well but it should be a fairly light work day so we're looking forward to taking it slow and admiring all that has been accomplished in the space throughout the last year. See you soon!

Spring Sign Ups and Events

It has been very busy at the Public Health Garden this spring. We have three exciting events coming up that we need your help for.

• Event: UMD Earth Day Celebration 2012!
   (click the link to see the Facebook event!)
• Date: Friday, April 20
• Duration: 10AM - 3PM, set up at 9:30AM
• Location: Hornbake Plaza 
• Event: Maryland Day
• Date: Sat., April 28
• Duration: 10 am - 4 pm, set up at 9:30
• Location: Public Health Garden and Hornbake Plaza
• Event: UMD's Farmers' Market (We are so excited that the market is starting! It will be producer-only and held weekly!)
• Date: Wed., May 2
• Duration: 12 to 4pm 
• Location: Outside Cole Field House

Can you come help us celebrate these events and promote the Public Health Garden?  We will have an informational table at the specified events, as well as other projects, giveaways, and other fun!  

Please send the hours you are available to work any of these events to publichealthgarden@gmail.com. Any time you can dedicate and volunteer would be wonderful. It is much more fun to participate in these events as a group. 

Share these events widely and bring friends to help us table, spread the word about the Public Health Garden, and celebrate the season!  

Urban Agriculture Station Seminar

The Plant Sciences and Landscape Architecture department and the University of Maryland Extension are teaming up on a design competition for a proposed urban agriculture center at the Greenbelt Metro Station. They are hosting an Urban Agriculture Station Seminar this Friday (4/13) on campus with some great guest speakers.

Insterested in learning more? Contact Christie Balch, University of Maryland Extension Program Coordinator, at cbalch@umd.edu.

Picture Day: Thursday April 12th

Okay... Everyone look this way and say "Peas!" Thursday is picture day at the PHG!

The Office of Sustainability will be at the garden to take a group photo for the 2012 Campus Sustainability Report this Thursday during our regular work hours from 4-6:00pm. We'd love to fill the patio with our smiling volunteer force so come on over and get your gloves dirty with us for the picture.

Happy Thursday!

Hope everyone had a lovely Maryland Arbor Day yesterday! We will be on site today from 4-6:00pm for volunteer hours and hope to see lots of familiar and new faces.

Since several awesome groups on campus came out over the weekend to install a bio-retention rain garden and build the arbor, AND we are feeling pretty successful in our battle with the "aphid army," we will be doing pretty light work this evening.

In case you aren't able to come and admire all the beautiful garden progress in person, we've posted lots of new pictures on our Facebook and Flickr pages. Check 'em out!

Gardening is Good For You!

Since 1995, the American Public Health Association has coordinated National Public Health Week - a campaign during the first week in April that serves to educate the public, policymakers and practitioners about issues related to the chosen theme. This year's theme, A Healthier America Begins Today: Join the Movement, was designed to encourage more Americans and their communities to take preventative measures to help improve their lives.

And what's our favorite example of a community-based, life-improving, healthy activity? Getting the community together to grow local produce, of course!

Two of our founding hillside farmers, Lauren Messina and Rachel Rosenberg, PhD students in the School of Public Health, will be discussing the connections between gardening and public health on Monday April 2, from 3:30-4:00pm. Following their talk and tour, everyone is invited to get their hands dirty in the garden and assist Rachel and Lauren in some weeding and planting in the garden until 5:30pm. Please find additional details about the event here.

This event is part of National Public Health Week and co-sponsored by the Public Health Garden, Delta Omega (the Public Health Honor Society), and the Maryland Council on Family Relations (MCFR).

This Sunday, 10 am: Arbor Build

In addition to the rain garden construction with the PGMS group on Saturday we will also be constructing an arbor at the top of the garden on Sunday! All the materials have been delivered and we should have enough tools. Construction shouldn't take more than 3-4 hours. So I would like to start around 10am and hopefully finish up no later than 2pm. Lunch and drinks will be provided, so come ready to work!

Here is the vision: