Category Archives: education

Happy Earth Day 2013

education, fellow gardeners, to do

According to the Earth Day Network, April 22nd (Earth Day) “marks the anniversary of what many consider the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970.” The newly founded holiday united people from both ends of the political and socioeconomic spectrum. It also led to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency in the United States.

This past Saturday, our city’s zoo held an Earth Day celebration. Though it was freezing and I could barely feel my fingers afterward, I really enjoyed chatting with the local organizations who where set up around the zoo. They had some great educational resources I can put to use on the Lot, and opportunities to fulfill the volunteer hours required for the Master Gardener Volunteer certification.

Wild Ones

This not-for-profit, national organization was founded in 1977 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Local chapters focus on sharing information with the community about landscaping with native plants. Their approach to gardening promotes “biodiversity and environmentally sound practices.” The local chapter for our community is the River City Wild Ones. More info about the national organization is available at www.wildones.org.

WMEAC

The West Michigan Environmental Action Council is a non-profit founded in 1968 and has since “provided West Michigan citizens a means to take action on behalf of the environment.” This group’s main focus is on “Building Sustainable Communities and Protecting Water Resources.” I have seen efforts of the WMEAC around the city in the form of rain barrel workshops and community garden projects. As I chatted with the lone, young woman manning this table, she told me the rest of her team was at the riverfront helping with sand bag efforts because of the flooding we have been having in our area. More info is at wmeac.org.

Grand Rapids Environmental Services

This is a department of our city, but I was pleased to see how much they were doing to integrate education of water quality into their everyday responsibilities. A direct mail program featuring environmental tips has been included in the city water billing system. Information about their efforts in building rain gardens to help manage storm water runoff is available on their website.

What I found most exciting is the new Adopt a Catch Basin program offered by Environmental Services. City residents can adopt a catch basin near their home, keeping it clean of leaves and debris, for award points through myGRCityPoints. The catch basin program educates city residents about stormwater runoff leading directly to the river and not passing through a treatment plant. This will be a definite addition to Lot gardening practices.

Blanford Nature Center

Last, but definitely not least, I stopped by the table for the Blanford Nature Center. I have visited the center several times before, along with what is becoming annual visits for the Garlic Mustard Pull. This place does a great job on providing children’s and community programs to teach good environmental stewardship. I enjoyed chatting about Toad Abodes, little shelters made from unused terracotta pots, with Kristin at this table. Another to-do for the Lot!

Education is the First Step

All of the programs reminded me we are a part of something larger and therefore have certain responsibilities to uphold when it comes to this planet’s ecosystem. When talking with all the various organizations, they stressed the importance of making educational materials available to the community. That way city residents can arm themselves with the knowledge and be empowered to make changes, even if small ones, to sustain the health of our environment for future generations.

Bees?

education, future plants, gardening sites

This past March, I was able to attend a Smart Gardening conference through the MSU Extensions office. Dr. Rufus Isaacs, small fruit entomologist and professor at MSU, gave a presentation about bees as important pollinators in orchards and gardens. He shared with us some ideas on why the little guys are so helpful and how we can make them feel more welcome in our gardens.

1. Feed Them

Bees pollinate 80% of plant species that provide us and other wildlife with food. Growing plants in the garden to feed the bees introduces biodiversity into the garden, improves crop productions, slows the bee population decline, and provides wildlife to observe and enjoy.

When selecting garden plants for bees, try first browsing through native plants. Also, Dr. Isaacs suggested to pick a variety of plants that bloom throughout the growing season so the bees always have a food source available. For Michigan, there are native plants resources provided free of cost at www.nativeplants.msu.edu. I used the site to look up some natives to fit in the Lot’s USDA Hardiness Zone 6a. Here are some I’m going to try:

  • Golden Alexanders (Zizia aurea) – blooms mid May-June
  • Culver’s Root (Veronicastrum virginicum) – blooms July-Sept
  • Great Blue Lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica) – blooms end of July into Oct
  • Smooth Aster (Symphyotrichum laeve (Aster laevis)) – blooms Sept-Oct

2. House Them

One thing I didn’t realize before the conference is bees are both hive and solitary creatures. I am most familiar with the Honey Bee brought over from Europe in the 1600s to provide wax and honey. Pooh Bear had taught me these bees live together in hives and produce delicious golden honey. But many types of bees are actually hard-working, single mothers. After mating, they build individual nests often located in the ground. The nest cells are stocked with pollen and are sealed to protect the bee larvae when it hatches. Here are a few ways to offer housing for the garden’s bees:

  • Within the garden, leave an area of bare ground available for nesting. An ideal place would be one that is out of the way of high foot traffic and can remain undisturbed.
  • Create a nesting tube or bee house. There are many instructional videos online for this. Just remember to not use treated lumber for construction.
  • Build a bee spiral (or herb spiral) into the landscape design. This gradually elevated bed provides soil and cracks between bricks or stones that are ideal for nesting. Bonus, it’s a type of modified garden bed, so you can use it grow plants pollinators enjoy.
  • Grow plants bees can use as nesting material.

3. Don’t Kill Them

Seems like a pretty obvious tip, right? However, some homeowners are afraid of bees and try to spray for them. Other gardeners go crazy with insecticides because a prized plant is being eaten by a pest. Always be cautious when spraying chemicals in the garden. Just because the insecticide is advertised to kill one type of harmful insect does not prevent it from also killing pollinators like bees and natural predators like other beneficial insects and birds. We try to avoid the use of insecticides, or any other type of pesticide, on the Lot.

Bees are not naturally aggressive and only sting when their nests are endangered or someone is actively trying to swat them from the sky. If a ground nest takes form near something like a swingset, a very simple solution is to move the swingset. If that is not possible, try making a much more attractive (and less traveled) area of the garden available for the bees.

Additional Info

More info on bees and other pollinators can be found at:
Pollinator Partnership
MSU Native Plants and Ecosystem Resources

2013 Smart Gardening Conference

compost, disease, education, gardening sites, pest control

MSU Smart Gardening

First a disclaimer: other than having gone through the Master Gardener Volunteer Program this past fall, I do not officially represent the MSU Extensions office. However, as a fledgling Master Gardener Volunteer, I am really excited about what I learned at the conference yesterday and feel it is important to share with anyone interested. Information about best practices in gardening is always changing so no matter how long one has been gardening, there is always more to learn.

What is “Smart Gardening?”

This year the extensions office has been repositioning to focus on Smart Gardening. The concept involves being informed before taking action; we can then put our knowledge of gardening to use with the least amount of negative impact on our environment. Before anyone flies into a rant about dirty hippies, know this approach to gardening is a nice compromise between having a beautiful garden/lawn, being considerate of the rest of us, and saving some $$$. If anything else, my fellow Americans should be happy about that last one.

A Few Key Concepts

We were given a ton of information at the conference spread out over the course of four presentations. The presenters included Joe Lamp’l (PBS’s ‘Joe Gardener’), Dr. Rufus Isaacs  and Dr. Dave Smitley (MSU’s Department of Entomology), and Rebecca Finneran (MSU Extension Consumer Horticulture Educator). I’ll record a lot of info on this blog during the next few weeks while waiting for spring. Here are just a few key points:

Water Management

  • Conserve water through the use of rain barrels.
  • Prevent runoff with rain gardens, green rooftops, and dry creek beds.
  • Reduce the need for watering with the use of mulch.
  • Catch “warm-up” water from within the house to use in the garden.

Compost

  • Reduce need for fertilizer by using compost.
  • 65% of landfill items are recyclable or compostable for backyard bins.
  • Reduce cost of yard waste removal by using grass clippings and leaves in the garden or compost bin.

Fertilizer & Pesticide Use

  • Understand plant requirements first: Right plant; right place.
  • Group plants with similar needs together.
  • Only 3% of insects are harmful; why spray the whole garden?
  • Plant bio-diversity to naturally attract beneficial insects / pollinators.

Smart Gardening Resources

The MSU Gardening in Michigan website is full of free literature on how to practice Smart Gardening at home. Many tips can be put into practice far beyond the Michigan growing zone. Before scalping the lawn, over-fertilizing the garden, or waging chemical warfare on possibly beneficial insects, give the site a look. In the case of a specific gardening question, Michigan residents can call the MSU Extensions Hotline at 1-888-678-3464.