Mujeres Unidas Mark Walden

Squash, Squash, Squash

The squash are on the move and there is nothing more exciting for some of our first time gardeners than to witness the prolific nature of summer squash. Everyone is excited and are sharing with friends and family. Soon will come the time when folks will not answer the front door for fear of someone dropping of more crooknecks and zucchini! The trick will be to just set it at the back door and run!!
All kidding aside summer and winter squash have been an absolute staple in the diets of people of the Americas for thousands of years and cultivated to many of its current varieties by native Americans. There are as many ways to prepare squash as there are varieties of squash. Summer squash is great for a fresh raw meal or sauteed with onions and garlic. Easy to preserve with the use of a deep freeze, just slice it, blanch it, lay it out on a flat surface in the freezer overnight; the next day put it in a freezer container of your choice and your done. Winter squash is and has been a reliable way for folks to have "fresh" vegetables in the dead of winter. If picked at maturity (or close to it) winter squash easily last for 4-6 months in a cool dark area like a basement or root cellar. If you do not have a basement or cellar try a spare room in the house that you don't necessarily need to heat as much as your main living area. So no matter how you feel about squash please make sure that you are encouraging others to plant squash; because there are few/if any other annuals that produce more food per foot than squash.

Personal message from Mark Walden of Mujeres Unidas outreach program

Good Morning,
Saturday June 9th I attended the Shine For Scott 3rd annual benefit concert in Augusta, Ga. The concert is an effort to create awareness about Colon Cancer and its possible emergence in those under the age of 50. The Shine for Scott organization uses donations to help with living expenses and screennings for individuals who are currentlly undergoing cancer treatments or may be at risk.

Scott Walden is my brother- he died in June of 2010 he was 40 years old. He was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer when he was 38 when he otherwise seemed to be in great health. He is greatly missed.

At the benefit concert there were blueberries on every table along with a long list of facts about the benefits of healthy organic produce.

This reminded me of some of the core reasons we at Grow Appalachia are helping folks regain their knowledge of organic gardening. We are not here just to grow vegetables but to also emphasize and educate individuals of the true health benefits of a local organic food system. We are not just helping with grocery bills but also medical bills, mental health, and all around quality of life. I believe the consumption of fresh chemical free produce is the first step to properly defend against many of the ailments that so many people in our communities are dealing with on a daily basis.

  So please eat fresh, eat local, and remember to EAT YOUR GREENS they may save your life!


Thanks,
Mark Walden

Mujeres Unidas Hispanic Outreach Garden Project Update

It has been a beautiful week in Richmond Ky. We have had the opportunity to enjoy some fresh vegetables from the garden and folks are getting more and more excited about the wonderful summer vegetables soon to come. We have been enjoying kale, lettuce, swiss chard, Onion flowers, collards, spinach, mustards, and also a few beets. Warm weather has the squash running wide open and I believe we will have some squash from one or two of our families very soon with others right behind.

Winter Squash from last year still so delicious!!!!!!


Along with the squash the weeds are coming on strong too! We have been pulling, and mulching, and scuffling trying to stay in front of those persistent agitators. Pull them small or smother them!

Happy weeding.

Mujeres Unidas “Planting Seeds Of Hope” Garden Project

Well what a beautiful week of weather. Its been nice tilling warm dry earth but what does that mean for the summer, who knows! I decided to teach myself a lesson a few weeks ago and went against my own recommendations to everyone else and put out 6 tomato plants. You will never guess what happened; THAT'S RIGHT THE FROST CAME. The frost didn't even seem to care about my plastic jugs i put over the tender tomatoes. So what did I learn- follow your extension office publications- the safe planting dates in those publications are based on years of research and years of people like me learning lessons the hard way. Fortunately it was my personal plants and garden.

 I have included some pictures of the raised beds we decided to build because of the shallow buried utilities we encountered. Also a picture of the community garden group getting together before a demonstration planting.

Warm Wet Spring

Mujeres Unidas Hispanic Outreach “Planting Seeds Of Hope” Garden Project is off to a good start. The dynamics of the new community garden have been interesting and uplifting. It is wonderful to have so many families that have a need and desire for fresh, clean, and nutritional food. The start of the season has been a little challenging - chasing dry enough soil to work in is an art we have yet to perfect- but come summer I doubt I will be complaining about wet soil!

Good fortune and Great harvest to you all.

Grow Appalachia Site Coordinators Meeting 2012

         For all of you Grow Appalachia coordinators this blog post will be old news but we thought it would be nice for all our participants and other blog readers if we recapped the site coordinators meeting that we had in Berea this week. David Cooke was gracious enough to heed all our requests to have a get together of all the site coordinators, and this past Tuesday and Wednesday we did just that. It was really great to put faces with names and get to meet all the coordinators and hear what each site has in mind for the upcoming season. This year there will be 15 sites representing 4 states; Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, and Tennessee, participating in Grow Appalachia. These include Red Bird Mission, Henderson Settlement, Pine Mountain Settlement School, Laurel County African American Heritage Center, Lincoln Memorial University, St. Vincent Mission, High Rocks for Girls, Appalachia-Science in the Public Interest, Appalachian Sustainable Development, Bluegrass Domestic Violence Program, Cowan Creek Community Center, Mujeres Unidas (KY River Foothills Development Council), Project Worth, Step by Step, and Scott Christian Care Center. Representatives from each of these sites were present at the meeting and we were all able to get to know one another and learn about what Grow Appalachia at each site looks like.

            We had the opportunity to learn all about high tunnels, what they can be used for, how they can be constructed on a budget, and some growing techniques that are necessary when growing in high tunnels. This Information may be very useful in the future for many of the Grow Appalachia sites, as we look at ways to grow more and to start our own plants for our participants. We also had the wonderful opportunity to hear from Janet Meyer, Berea College’s greenhouse and farm manager. Berea has a certified organic farm that produces much of the food that is used on campus and Janet was able to provide us with wonderful information about organic growing practices and practical tips for our gardening programs.

            Several additional topics that we discussed were budgeting, tool choices, ordering seed, various marketing and distribution plans, and the possibility of new directions for the program. We also discussed the goals of grow Appalachia which are based on the following mission statement:

o    Grow Appalachia is dedicated to helping mountain families plant a healthy future for themselves and their communities by:

·         Providing them with skills and resources to grow sustainable, nutritious food.

·         Teaching them how to prepare and preserve food in a healthy way.

·         Empowering them to share their knowledge in the community.

·         Creating programs to provide food to elderly and disabled residents in need.

Through these smaller steps, we as Grow Appalachia Coordinators hope to inspire long term independence such that gardeners and small farmers in Appalachia are able to provide food for themselves and their families and even support their families through the marketing of their produce.

  I feel that this year’s group of coordinators is highly knowledgeable and quite inspiring; I’m looking forward to a great year collaborating with all of you and figuring out just how this program is going to make an impact and hopefully change food systems and lives in Appalachia.