Now‘s the time to plan and plant a vegetable garden in your yard. Growing your own vegetables saves money, tastes fresher, and ensures you know where your food comes from – plus, it’s easy! If you’re wondering how to get started, here are some resources and tips that can help.

• Know your planting zone. Atlanta is planting zone 7b with a last expected frost date of March 30 – April 30.
• Determine the best place. The garden should be located in an area that is fully exposed to the sun and has easy availability to the water supply.
• Contain your garden area.If you have limited space, learn how to build a raised vegetable garden from This Old House pros. Visit your local community garden to see examples of raised beds and get tips from fellow gardeners.
• Improve the soil. To know how much lime and fertilizer your soil needs for best growth of your garden, have your soil tested by the County Extension Service.
• Decide what vegetables to plant. Check the Georgia Organics seasonal planting calendar for best planting times for Georgia. Some vegetables are more cost effective to grow than others. For a list of the top six most budget-friendly vegetables to grow, go to Eartheasy.com.
• Plant seeds or seedlings. Starting from seeds is the cheapest approach, but starting with seedlings in compostable pots gives you a quick start on the growing process.
• Tend to monthly chores. Check Walter Reeves’ Seasonal Gardening calendar for the best times to plant, prune, fertilize, plus a wealth of more info.
• Enjoy your harvest!

For more information visit Greening Neighborhoods
http://greeningneighborhoods.com/category/save-money/buy-local-eat-local/
Jane

Second, Buy environmentally friendly coffee.
“USDA Organic” assures you that no pesticides or chemicals were used to grow the beans.
“Fair Trade Certified” means that the farmers and workers who grow the coffee were treated humanely and paid a fair day’s wage in safe working conditions.
“Shade Grown” certifies that the coffee was grown according to Smithsonian Institution guidelines to protect migrating birds.
“Rainforest Alliance Certified” coffee is another assurance that the beans were grown according to proper “green” standards.

Third, stop using paper & styrofoam cups and sip your morning brew from your own reuseable mug.  Bring your favorite mug to a coffee shop.  And if the mug becomes stained, soak with a little vinegar, lemon & water and it’s good as new.  You’ll help in saving many pounds of paper per year.

And last, compost your used coffee grounds (with or without filter) and in a short time, you’ll have high quality fertilizer for your garden.

Try one or all of these greening tips and start “Greening Your Caffeine”.

by Carolyn Newman

photo by sh0dan

4-15-10

Grow Your Own Fruits and Vegetables

There was a time, maybe sixty years ago, when nearly every home had a garden plot in the back yard.  The gardens were a way to save money on groceries and have fresh produce in season.  Today, home and community gardens still provide better tasting fresh produce, and reduce the quantity of produce that is shipped in from around the world to stock our super market shelves.

It is hard to argue that home grown produce is less expensive than store bought, but, as more than one community gardener told me, when you factor in the therapeutic value of gardening and the savings on psychiatric bills, home grown tomatoes are a bargain.

More and more community gardens have been organized in the last few years.  Georgia Organics has web site listing the ones in the Atlanta area at:

http://www.georgiaorganics.org/organic_directory/index.php?category=comgarden&submit=Go

Community gardens provide a good way to learn gardening, take advantage of fresh produce, make new friends and commune with nature.

Jerry in Backyard Garden

Kathleen in Community Garden

Jerry Matheny watering his backyard garden with collected rain water.

Kathleen Moriarty with neighbors at the community garden.

George

4-8-10

Eating Locally

Shopping at farmers markets offers you the freshest fruit, vegetables, meat, cheese, and other locally raised and produced foods. It reduces the number of miles the food travels to arrive at our tables and offers you a chance to meet the growers face to face.

An easy way to get started eating locally is to shop at one of the many seasonal farmers markets in the area.

• Peachtree Road Farmers Market, St. Philips Cathedral parking lot–Saturdays 8:30 am-12:30 pm, open April 10-Dec. 18. Close enough to walk or ride your bike!
• Morningside Farmers Market–Saturdays 8 am to 11:30 am, open year round
• Green Market at Piedmont Park–Saturdays 9 am-1 pm, open May 1-Dec.11
• Dunwoody Green Market–Wednesdays 8 am to noon, April-December

To find other area markets, go to http://www.localharvest.org/, select Farmers Markets on the right, and enter your ZIP code to see a full list.

Grocery stores such as Whole Foods make an effort to highlight locally sourced products. Encourage other chain stores to provide more local foods when seasonally available.

Eating local foods naturally results in eating seasonally, and fruits and vegetables in season generally cost less. Our local farmers benefit too – it’s estimated they keep 80 to 90 cents of each dollar spent at a market, which helps to support the regional economy.

More on why and where to buy locally

http://www.sustainabletable.org/issues/eatlocal/

http://www.georgiaorganics.org/organic_directory/

Jane

12-8-09

Neighbor Gillian Daugherty’s friend had this advice

“I was in Lowes the other day and just for the heck of it I was looking at the hose attachments. They were all made in China. The next day I was in Ace Hardware and I checked the hose attachments there. They were made in USA.
Start looking. In our current economic situation, every little thing we buy or do affects someone else – even their jobs.
This past weekend I was at Kroger. I needed 60W light bulbs. I was in the light bulb aisle, and right next to the GE brand I normally buy was an off-brand labeled, “Everyday Value..” I picked up both types of bulbs and compared the stats – they were the same except for the price. The GE bulbs were more money than the Everyday Value brand but the thing that surprised me the most was the fact that GE was made in MEXICO and the Everyday Value brand was made in – get ready for this – Cleveland, Ohio.
My challenge to you is to start reading the labels when you shop for everyday things and see what you can find that is made in the USA – the job you save may be your own or your neighbors!
If you accept the challenge, pass this on to others in your address book so we can all start buying American, one light bulb at a time!”

9-8-09

With the increased interest in local food, we now have more choices of products, labels, and places to shop, so many of us are left wondering where to start. Although changing where and how we shop can be stressful, the benefits of buying local can be great. The following list offers 10 reasons why you might want to consider buying and eating locally.

Top Reasons to Eat Locally

1. Freshness. Locally grown organic fruits and vegetables are usually harvested within 24 hours of being purchased by the consumer. Produce from California can’t be that fresh.
2. Taste. Produce picked and eaten at the height of freshness tastes better.
3. Nutrition. Nutritional value declines, often dramatically, as time passes after harvest. Because locally-grown produce is freshest, it is generally more nutritionally complete.
4. Purity. Eighty percent of American adults say they are concerned about the safety of the food they eat. They worry about residues of pesticides and fungicides. Many small local farmers grow organically and sustainably.
5. Regional Economic Health. Buying locally grown food keeps food dollars circulating in the state’s community. This contributes to the health of all sectors of the local economy, increasing the local quality of life.
6. Variety. Farmers selling locally are not limited to the few varieties that are bred for long-distance shipping, high yields, and shelf life. Often they raise and sell unusual varieties you don’t find on supermarket shelves.
7. Energy Conservation. Buying locally grown foods decreases dependence on petroleum, a non- renewable energy source. One fifth of all petroleum now used in the United States is used in agriculture. Buying from local producers conserves additional energy at the distribution level.
8. Environmental Protection. Soil erosion; pesticide contamination of soil, air, and water and elimination of biodiversity are some of the problems associated with today’s predominate farming methods. Small family farms generally use practices that protect soil, air, and water resources and promote biodiversity.
   1. Preservation of Open Space. As the value of locally grown food increases, selling farmland for development becomes less likely. That land will survive only as long as farms are financially viable.
   2. Local Food Is About the Future. By supporting local farmers today, you can help ensure that there will be farms in your community tomorrow.

Based on lists from Locavores and Georgia Organics.

Cost Considerations

Although it is often argued that buying locally grown food is costlier than shopping at the supermarket, consider the many benefits noted in the list above when you shop. Some additional cost considerations:

• Eating local naturally results in eating seasonally, and fruits and vegetables in season generally cost less.
• Try eating “very local” by growing food in your own yard or signing up for a plot at the neighborhood community garden. Now is the time to plant cool weather crops such as lettuce, spinach, and Asian greens.
• Selling at local farmers markets enables farmers to keep 80 to 90 cents of each dollar spent by consumers, which helps to support the regional economy.
• The cost to the environment that we all bear indirectly is minimized when we buy locally grown food and locally produced products. Conventional food processes don’t reflect the hidden costs of the environmental, health, and social consequences of predominate production practices.

1,500 miles: “The average number of miles each food item travels to arrive at our tables.”

1,100,000: “The number of barrels of oil that could be saved if everyone in the U.S. consumed one organic, locally produced meal per week.”

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver (2007)

Shop at Local Farmers Markets

An easy way to get started is to shop at one of the many local farmers markets in the area.

• Peachtree Road Farmers Market, St. Philips Cathedral parking lot–Saturdays 8:30 am-noon, April 4-December 19, 2009
• Morningside Farmers–Open year round Saturdays from 7:30 am to 11:30 am
• Green Market @Piedmont Park–Saturdays 9 am-1 pm through December 12, 2009

To find other area markets, go to http://www.localharvest.org/, select Farmers Markets, and enter your Zip code for a full list.

Grocery stores such as Whole Foods make an effort to highlight locally sourced products. Encourage other chain stores to provide more local food when seasonally available.

Share in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)

A CSA farm subscription is a great way to support local farmers. You get fresh food for your family, help eliminate the carbon footprint of food shipped around the globe, and give farmers a guaranteed market for their produce.

With a CSA, you purchase shares in the farm’s harvest and get a weekly allotment of vegetables and fruit. Many CSAs offer options for eggs, cheese, and meat as well. Full or half shares can be split with friends and neighbors if the weekly amount is too much for your household. Several local farms have pick-up locations convenient to Peachtree Hills (St. Philips Cathedral, Savor Speciality Foods). Check http://www.localharvest.org/, select CSA, and enter your Zip code for a full list.

More on why and where to buy locally

http://www.sustainabletable.org/issues/eatlocal/

http://www.localharvest.org/

http://www.georgiaorganics.org/organic_directory/