If you’re anything like me, this warm weather and sunshine has got you
thinking about the coming garden season! While tomatoes and peppers might seem like a long way off, February is the time to start ordering your seeds and getting cold season seedlings started indoors.
Our friends at the Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture and Sustainable Farms and Communities Inc. have just received grants to promote locally grown food. Read about it in the Missourian.
The USDA has just released a new map of plant hardiness zones, the first since 1990, and Mid-Missouri has been moved from zone 5b to 6a. The zones are defined by the average annual minimum temperature, with zone 6a meaning winter lows are -10 to -5˚ on average.
The Boonville Daily News recently reported on a new urban farm getting underway this year in Boonville, a project of CGC partner Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture. This should help provide more affordable, fresh food to Boonville residents in years to come.
Update: They also have a beautiful new website today!
This winter while your own garden is cold and unproductive, don’t forget that you can still get locally grown vegetables, cheese from nearby goats and meat from area farmers at the Columbia indoor farmer’s market, every Saturday morning at Parkade Plaza, 9 a.m. to noon.
School gardens have been popping up locally and nationally in recent years as an effort to help children learn where food comes from and interest them in the simple and nutritious food available from a garden. Despite these efforts, many times the kind of food available in a small plot outside the school has very little in common with what’s served in the cafeteria. This Thursday night at Ragtag, watch the movie Lunch Line to get some background and perspective on the National School Lunch Program. It’s free!
When the Broadway Christian Church decided to start a public community garden four years ago, Don Day volunteered to coordinate it. Under his guidance, the garden has expanded to 96 plots with over 60 families from all over the city tending them. Day says his absolute favorite part of the program is working with the many refugee families that have plots there. (The Columbia Refugee Garden currently adjoins the community garden at Broadway Christian Church.)
