The days are getting shorter, and the nights are getting colder. School shopping is well underway. But urban farming is only rounding the corner into 3rd period! Use this fall crop list to help you make the most of the growing season this fall.
It’s hard to overstate the importance of good soil. Tomatoes with rotten bottoms, plants with yellow leaves, and stunted growth are all symptoms of nutrient-deprived soil. Fortunately, with the right organic fertilizers these problems can be easily remedied. What is more troublesome are the soil problems that don’t affect the appearance of the plant. Some chemicals can accumulate inside plants without any visible side effects, posing a health risk to uninformed urban farmers.
It seems every week there is a new high profile article touting the benefits of eating ‘farm to school’ local produce and planting school gardens. The New York Times, The Boston Globe, Mother Earth News and more have reported on the growth of school gardens across the country. From the White House lawn garden to the wealth of urban farming and school garden projects happening in the Boston area, the movement seems to be on the rise.
... Of lettuce? As counter-intuitive as it may feel, thinning is an extremely important step in urban farming and will actually improve yield when working in small spaces. Less really is more!
In recent years, programs promoting more nutrional lunch programs such as Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools have worked to make salad bars available at cafeterias around the country. However, the Boston Globe recently reported that several Boston-area schools shut down their salad bars, claiming they were too expensive to maintain. While a $3.6 million deficit is significant, many advocates of the salad bars claim it is not enough of a reason to deny students access to fresh vegetables.
