Explore Agriculture! Community Gardening at Oberlin

1. Explore Agriculture!Community Gardening at Oberlin

2. Pollan as Prerequisite • 13 calories of fossil energy to create one of food. • Our food travels an average of a thousand miles before it gets to us. • Food is the environmental imperative of where we live • Hyperlocavore?

3. Starting at Oberlin • How can it be coordinated? Local organizations +promo = Education, cause Seeds Soil Funding People doing their own starts. (Spring) In Oberlin: “Food Garden Resource Center” Eddie Miller – 440-935-5434 -- eddiemill@gmail.com http://Eddiemill.typepad.com/

4. The 5 Tenets of Local Food

5. A. Hoophouse, or “leisure greenhouse” • Started in Cuba, then Detroit • Usually constructed for commercial purposes • $3000 for your first one, $600 after that. • Expected return of $8-10,000 per year. In Oberlin: “Food Garden Resource Center” Eddie Miller – 440-935-5434 -- eddiemill@gmail.com http://Eddiemill.typepad.com/ For more information see: http://attra.ncat.org/ University of Michigan “The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil”

6. B. Community, and Backyard Gardening • Carl McDaniel: “Vegetables grown in a modest 10-by-70 foot space routinely provide most of our vegetables in the growing season, and we have tomatoes, broccoli, and Swiss chard into December or January.” • These gardens grew 45% of food during WWII. • Could you do that on a small scale..? • Community Space at Oberlin In Oberlin: “Food Garden Resource Center” Eddie Miller – 440-935-5434 -- eddiemill@gmail.com http://Eddiemill.typepad.com/ Carl N McDaniel, 2005. Lester Brown, Worldwatch Institute John Jeavons, “How to grow more vegetables..”

7. *On Clay Soils • Actually very good at holding nutrients, just poorly drained or difficult to work with. • Ammonium in conventional agriculture. • Rehabilitating clay soil is a long term process.. • First thing you’ll want to do is improve drainage. • Till or break up 18-24 inches, then mix in substrate • Or if you have the location, 4-6 inches of straw now? Spring topsoil over mulch. • Compost tea and a keyline plow (gasp)… “Gardening with Clay Soil.” Jean Lien, associatedcontent.com

8. C. Biochar/Compost What I’ve learned so far: • Cool, or icky • Start collecting scraps • It takes 6 wks+ for finished compost • Variety of harvesting methods In Oberlin: “Food Garden Resource Center” Eddie Miller – 440-935-5434 -- eddiemill@gmail.com http://Eddiemill.typepad.com/ A “worm hotel” - vermicompost

9. D. Carbon Farming + Holistic Management

10. E. Organic Farming • Local farming and organic farming make up the bulk of the local food chain. • Interestingly, can be done on any size piece of land... (unlike commercial agriculture) • Local Wholesale, or Retail it • “Sell to Joe”: Common Goods • Transition or buy normal farms J. R. Russo and Sons, Watertown MA. www.Russos.com/

11. The 5 Tenets of Local Food

12. Garden References for “the Middle Stuff”

13. Books • How to Grow More Vegetables… (and Fruits, Nuts, Berries, Grains, and Other Crops) Than You Ever Thought Possible on Less Land Than You Can Imagine. By John Jeavons.

14. Online References These are the best ones… http://www.Attra.ncat.org/ : national extension office http://www.Backyardgardener.com : FAQ’s and forums http://associatedcontent.com : Bloggers http://eddiemill.typepad.com/ http://younoodle.com/startups/oberlin_college_sustainability_project/