The Providential Gardener

Gleaners Wanted!

If you'd like to help the great folks at the Rhode Island Food Bank out, read on....

This is a cross reference to a post today (September 19, 2008) on the What Grows On in Rhode Island News Blog, a companion to the What Grows On in Rhode Island Calendar, the most comprehensive environment-related calendar in Little Rhody. The News Blog and Calendar are Providential Gardener projects.

Farm Fresh Rhode Island is looking for volunteer gleaners. Our local farms have produced more than the farmers can harvest, and they're looking for folks to volunteer to harvest some fresh food to be delivered to the Food Bank. The photo is from today's Farm Fresh RI email update ~ recommended weekly reading! See the News Blog post for details and contact information.

A bit about What Grows On in RI .... The Calendar has several subcalendars, including the Outdoors calendar, which lists lots of hikes, walks, paddles, and cruises led by Audubon, Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council, and the Appalachian Mountain Club among others. You can add events from this calendar to your own online calendar; change the views from day to month to map; search by categories such as farms, gardens, waste & pollution, and water; and limit the view by town or city. It's quite amazing what Rhode Islanders are doing for our environment, so check it out! There is a LOT "growing on" in Rhode Island!

However, even though it has more event listings than you'll find in any one place anywhere else, the Calendar still missing many activities. Anybody can submit event listings ~ it's free. And you can run segments of the Calendar on your website. For instance, if you'd like to let your readers know of cleanups & workdays, or children's events, or outdoor activities, contact me about making this happen on your website.

Taking Root and Other Films at RI International Film Festival

The RI International Film Festival has several films on "green" themes this year. Nobel Prize winner, Mangari Maathai, is the subject of Taking Root about the Green Belt Movement in Kenya that resulted in reforestation. This film is showing at Macmillan Hall on Sunday, August 10, at 5pm, along with Hidden in the Leaves, a film produced in RI about ticks.

Professor Maathai discovered her life's work by reconnecting with the rural women with whom she had grown up. They told her their lives had become intolerable: they were walking longer distances for firewood, clean water was scarce, the soil was disappearing, and their children were suffering from malnutrition. Maathai thought to herself, 'Well, why not plant trees?' A seemingly innocuous idea, Maathai soon discovered that tree planting had a ripple effect of empowering change.

Also note that a film about Denmark's wind farms, The View and the Vision, is also being shown at Bell St Chapel, Providence, 2:15pm on Saturday, August 9.

RI Spring Flower & Garden Show News!

I hear the roads are terrible in Little Compton this morning, but if and when you can safely travel to the RI Spring Flower & Garden Show you will have a very good time. Or take the bus!

The top photo is of the RI Wild Plant Society, which always does a remarkable exhibit. Their theme this year is the Legend of the Lady Slipper, one of Rhode Island's native orchids.

The theme of the whole show is fairy tales, and children will really enjoy seeing the big bad wolf, Little Red Riding Hood, and Humpty Dumpty. The Dr. Seuss exhibit was designed by Joseph F. Novak and Ecotope, a Division of CleanScapeLandscape Architects and Artisans. 

There are magicians and other activities for children as well. Check out the Show website, and also see What Grows On in Rhode Island for a Calendar view of all the special events, which include cooking demonstrations and speakers on container gardens and the particulars of growing things in Rhode Island ~ this last topic is presented by Barbara Gee, author of the Rhode Island Gardener's Companion.

I took these photos yesterday, but they don't do justice to the fine exhibits, and of course you can't smell spring in a weblog! I'm helping out with The Children's Garden Network (CGN), which aims to have a garden at every school in Rhode Island by 2010.  I hope you will drop by to see that vignette. I didn't get a good photo of the CGN display, but the bottom photo is of Whole Foods vignette, which is right next to Children's Garden Network! Everyone was admiring the tiles in the CGN display by Kurt van Dexter. There are many good design ideas, and I haven't been through the vendor area yet myself, so do get a breath of spring this week in Providence at the RI Spring Flower & Garden Show.

February 2008 School Vacation Week ~ Nature & Outdoor Activities in Rhode Island

Not only is there a LOT going on at the Flower Show, but this is also School Vacation Week.

For dozens of things to do with your children, see the Calendar. Soon you'll be able to view the Calendar in categories ~ separating the Children's Events from Gardening Events, for instance. You can see it will be really helpful ~ At the moment, the Calendar is listing about 20 activities for everybody to do on both Tuesday and Wednesday, but it's up to 37 total events on Thursday. All the Flower Show events begin with "RI Flower Show." But some Flower Show events are for children also.

Especially note that the first "Kids and Carnivores" program is Tuesday the 19th at Roger Williams Park Botanical Center (RWPBC) Mayor David N. Cicilline has announced that starting Monday, February 18, the first 100 kids (14 and under) who visit the Botanical Center will also receive their very own Venus Fly Trap!

All of these organizations have special children's activities during the School Vacation Week, and they also are generally great places to spend the morning or afternoon whenever you can go. Save the Bay does not seem to have specific activities for children, but its wonderful headquarters on the Bay is also open for exploring this week each day from 10am to 4pm.

You will find, in Agenda format (though you can change to Calendar formats if you like), children's events at:

• Audubon Society of RI (Bristol)
• Biomes (North Kingstown)
• Providence Children's Museum
• Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center (Mystic, CT)
• George Hail Library (Warren)
• Haffenreffer Museum (Bristol)
• Jamestown Philomenian Library
• Mashantucket Pequot Museum (CT)
• RI Spring Flower & Garden Show
• RWP Museum
• RWP Zoo
• RWP Botanical Center

There's surely no reason to leave any child inside at home this week!

What did I miss? There must be more! Send info to Providential Gardener ASAP if you know of other outdoor/nature/environment-related activities for children, large or small.

What's "Growing On" in Rhode Island ~ December 2007

During the last few months, I've been growing a Master Calendar of Green Events in Rhode Island. I want to make it easy for anyone to find "green" activities that will interest them. You'd be amazed how much is happening in our small state, things you never thought about, but once you hear about them, you really might want to go to some of these things.

It may be getting colder, but The Providential Gardener still notes there's a lot Growing On in Rhode Island during the winter months. Of course there are the various holiday sales by such groups as Audubon Society of Rhode Island (they also have a second event going on this weekend in Smithfield) and the URI Master Gardeners (a great poinsettia sale this Saturday, December 1). And our farms are more festive than ever this year, with activities and locally grown and made decorations. All of this and more is listed in The Providential Gardener Calendar and What Grows On in Rhode Island.

Professional meetings are another set of events in December, and they will surely pick up momentum after the December holidays. For instance, there's the New England Vegetable & Fruit Conference and Trade Show December 11-13, and another conference, Growing and Marketing Greener: Greenhouse Growers and Retailers ~ December 14, 2007.

And then there are the ongoing planning meetings. Especially note that Wednesday, November 28, RISD students and faculty are presenting their work on a project called “Bay City.” 

The team has evaluated the existing conditions of the Providence waterfront and has looked at examples from across the country and around the world of various waterfront locations and conditions.  Next Wednesday, November 28th, the team will present the findings from their research so far.  We would like to gather a group of key stakeholders to hear the presentation, and have the opportunity to ask questions.

In February, the Planning Department will be sponsoring a waterfront charrette which will include extensive outreach to the public and include a much broader scope.  The purpose of the meeting next week is to introduce questions and concepts to begin thinking about the issues, and prime the pump for the waterfront charrette.

Never a dull moment for Providential Gardeners! Sign up for the Newsletters and be part of What's Growing On in Rhode Island.

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What Grows On in Rhode Island

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See what's "growing on" locally and do your part!

What Grows On in Rhode Island ~ Mid October 2007

Don't forget to check What Grows On in Rhode Island ~ a sister blog to Providential Gardener that is a kind of newswire service, publishing press releases and meeting announcements I receive of upcoming events. You can send environmental event notices to postinfo@providentialgardener.com for that blog.
It really helps if you send announcements ahead of time. I cannot always get last minute notices onto the blog fast enough. Three days or more is good. I posted twelve new announcements today (October 11, 2007) of events scheduled in the next few weeks.

Also, see The Providential Gardener Calendar, which organizes these announcements and even more events by hour, day, month. On Saturday, for instance, there's trail planning, a teacher workshop on bay animals, bird carving, tree pruning, and a sustainability volunteer work day, to say nothing of all the farmers' markets that are still going strong with the warm weather we've been having. And it's still Coastweeks, I think. So enjoy your weekend!

A Long Weekend for Enjoying the Outdoors ~ October 5-8, 2007

The Providential Gardener Calendar has more than 15 activities for Saturday, including the Farmers' Markets, of course. But you can also tour some nifty green buildings, learn about herbs, and get in some recreational tree climbing, among many other pursuits. The Rhode Island Begonia Society is meeting, and Waterfire will be a-burning as well. You can subscribe to this calendar and add events to your own online calendar, such as Outlook.

There are so many things growing on in this state and they are scattered around many calendars. See these as well.

Other RI Events Lists

• Audubon Society of RI
• Blithewold Mansion, Gardens & Arboretum
• Farm Fresh RI - Events
• Healthy Landscapes
• Master Gardeners Event List
• Natural News Network Calendar
• Norman Bird Sanctuary Calendar
• ProJo Environmental Journal
• RI DEM - Events Calendar
• RI Farmers' Market Schedule
• RI Farmways Calendar
• RI Federation of Garden Clubs Events
• RI Rivers Month 2007
• RI Tree Programs
• RIWPS Events & Education
• Rose Society Meetings
• URI Environmental Calendar
• URI Master Gardener Community Events
• URI Office of Marine Programs

How about Moving U.S. Agriculture back East?

Katherine Brown of Southside Community Land Trust sent the Providential Gardener the link to a September 22, 2007, article, "Let the East Bloom Again," which argues that the Eastern United States is much more suited to agriculture than the West because of the abundance of water here. An excerpt:

...Until the middle of the 1900s, much of our country’s food and fiber was produced east of the Mississippi River. Maine led the nation in potato production in 1940, and New York wasn’t far behind. The South, including Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi, dominated cotton. Large amounts of corn were grown in almost every state for consumption by the local livestock and poultry. Regional vegetable markets, especially in the mid-Atlantic states, served the population centers of the East.

...Through irrigation, Western farmers were spared the occasional droughts that had plagued Eastern farmers, but the specialized Western system came with a price. Water projects dried up the area’s rivers. Salmon runs disappeared. Soils were poisoned from the salt in irrigated water that is left behind after evaporation....

The key is to invest in irrigation systems that make the most of the East's winter rains that currently run into the sea. Having been in Colorado recently, I can tell you that water is in short supply there and it's a contentious issue. This is an interesting article that gives broad, national, and also historical perspective to our local farming initiatives ~ well worth serious consideration. If we don't deal intelligently with the West's limitations there are consequences:

...If the United States does not expand agriculture in the East, the nation’s food production will move offshore, to developing countries that may not manage herbicides, pesticides and health safety as well as our country does.

Is this what we want?

The authors of the article are Richard T. McNider and John R. Christy, professors of atmospheric science at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Here are some links to reports they have written:

• Developing Opportunities: Feasibility of Large Scale                       Irrigated Assisted Rain-fed Agriculture in Alabama (2003)
• Bringing Agriculture back to Water: A Sustainable Solution for the 21st Century (2005) [Also, link at the American Meteorological Society to this paper, and recorded presentation.]
  

What Grows On ~ September 13 ~ 16

How to Keep up With What's Growing On...

1. Remember to check What Grows On in Rhode Island regularly for press releases and detailed  announcements about upcoming environmental events in Rhode Island. Announcements are posted as they are received.
2. Zip over often to The Providential Gardener Calendar for a listing of day-by-day environmental events in Rhode Island.
3. But I'm surely not listing everything yet, although it is my goal for The Providential Gardener Calendar. You will also find great things to do outdoors in Rhode Island as well as other news and information at Natural News.