Baltimore Herb Festival - Baltimore, Maryland

Baltimore Herb Festival, May 23, 2009 from 10am - 3p
@ Leakin Park

Herb and plant vendors from five states will gather for the
Herb Festival on Saturday May 23rd. In addition to plant
and garden related sales, entertainment will include two bands,
Art of Meaning and Durham Station Bluegrass, free rides on
real miniature steam trains, attending herb and gardening lectures,
touring the historic Crimea Mansion and walking in scenic Leakin Park.
Lunch with an herbal twist is also available.

To get to Leakin Park, take Exit 16 (Rt. 70) off the Beltway
(Rt. 695) toward Baltimore. Turn off on Security Blvd.
Right at first light onto Forest Park Ave. Right at next light
onto Windsor Mill Rd. You’re at the Festival! Follow signs for parking.

Drought and Food Ravages Future Food Costs

Did anyone see the national news on ABC on March 28, 2009?
They did a story about the 3-year drought in California causing drops in crops. Last year the drop was noticeable, a loss of 100,00 acres in Central Valley in 2008. But this year the acreage planted is dropping by as much of 450,000 (in Central Valley alone), there will be a loss of as many as 40,000 jobs, and a lose of as much as 1.5 billion dollars in revenues. Current unemployment in Central Valley is at 35%.

How that translates to you…food costs are going to rise, swiftly! The cost of fresh California produce will go out the ceiling this year. Frozen vegetables and fruits, and canned products based on California produce will skyrocket as well.

You saw the stories on the Fargo, North Dakota floods, on the late winter blizzards over the plains states as far south as Oklahoma in late March, and the flooding all the way through the Gulf Coast of Mississippi all these coupled with drought in California will cause massive impacts on your food budget. Did I say budget? Forget a budget, just to eat you will have to increase your outlay for food by gargantuan amounts.

Now add into the above natural disasters the increase again in gas costs occurring, and then you swell the energy and transportation costs as well. Add all this up and you spell disaster on a grand scale for the simple American just trying to support their families with just the basics.

All of the above news supports the concept of returning to the Victory Garden. Plan and plant a garden this season. If you have never done it, now is the time to start! If you have had a garden in the past, consider enlarging it, so that you grow enough for the year, and maybe have some to share. Learn to freeze, can, and dehydrate your foods for storage. Learn about safe storage practices! Prepare, prepare prepare!

I cannot emphasize enough the importance of planning for your families needs. Buy what you think you will need of the staples that you cannot grow, in advance of the rising costs. Flour and sugar, rice and oatmeal, toilet paper and other paper goods can be gotten and stored for future use while the costs are still down.

If you live in an apartment the issues become more difficult. There is virtually no room to grown food in and very little extra storage space in an apartment. But here are a few ideas people have utilized for many years: use the patio or balcony for potted and hanging plants, store food in plastic containers under beds, behind the sofa against the wall, and buy locally! Buying locally grown food cuts all the shipping costs out, keeps the food fresher and healthier, and keeps the economy stronger in your area. Try finding Community Garden spaces; some people will even rent out an area on their property so that others may garden.

Victory Gardens - An Old Idea Revisited

During World War II when food and so much else was rationed, people made their ration stamps for food go further by growing Victory Gardens. Today when there is so much pressure on us all to cut back our family budgets, going back in time and revisiting the Victory Garden seems a wise idea. If we just shuffle through our memories from last summer we would dredge up the salmonella scare on fresh fruits and vegetables. By growing our own, we eliminate that threat to our families. Two very good reasons to plan a garden now…. plant it…. tend it…. and harvest it.

It is time to stop complaining about rising food costs and try and do something for our own benefit for a change. It is time to stop looking to the government and big brother for the next fix. Our new president is doing everything in his power to help the American people come through this economic crisis. They are even planting a garden on the White House grounds this season…If the Obamas can do it, why can’t you?

An idea I was toying with was encouraging everyone to write Mr. President, request him to remind people about the Victory Gardens of the WWII era, and ask him to encourage the American people to follow his lead in just that effort. The rest of us can go to our local Town Councils and ask for Community Garden Space to be made available. We can grow more than we need, and knock on the single mothers door down the street, or the aged guy in the apartment complex where your elderly mother lives (you know the kind of people I mean!) and share your produce. Some food banks even accept produce that is locally grown, call, and find out if your excess can feed someone else this year. Someday you may need the same help!

Many of us have already cut expenses to the bone…. we own no credits cards, no loans, drive as little as possible, cut the car insurance back to state legal limits, have cut off cable or satellite TV, and have started our own Victory Garden…. We are making the effort to conserve…how about joining us?

Three Sisters Gardening

In late spring, we plant the corn and beans and squash. They're not just plants- we call them the three sisters. We plant them together, three kinds of seeds in one hole. They want to be together with each other, just as we Indians want to be together with each other. So long as the three sisters are with us we know we will never starve. The Creator sends them to us each year. We celebrate them now. We thank Him for the gift He gives us today and every day.
Chief Louis Farmer (Onondaga)

For more years than the people have counted, the Three Sisters, have been planted together. These three plants were the vegetable base for native diets, they provided balance. When the Staving moons were here, and meat was scarce it saved many from death. Many eastern seaboard tribes have claimed the origination of this planting method. The Haudenosaunee (hah-dee-no-show-nee), or "People of the Long house" are just one of many.

These three plants were so important in the lives of the Native American that many rituals revolved around them. Among the Cherokee they were: In late June or July was the Green Corn Ceremony, the dates scheduled for the celebration depended upon the time the first corn ripened. It was performed when the new corn was ripe enough to eat. New corn was not to be eaten until after the ceremony took place. In August or September came the Ripe Corn Ceremony, it celebrated the maturing of the corn crop and is one of the few ancient ceremonies to last into the 21st century

Myths among the people also reflected this importance of these three plants, especially corn. Among the Cherokee there is the story of Kanati and Selu (corn). Among the Sioux we find the myth of The Forgotten Ear of Corn and The Hermit, The Origin of Corn. Among the Abenaki we find The Strange Origin of Corn.

The traditional Three Sisters garden forms an ecosystem by creating a community of plants and animals. This system creates a beneficial relationship between the three plants- each plant helps the others grow. This is a form of companion planting. Corn provides support for beans. Beans, like other legumes, have bacteria living on their roots that help them absorb nitrogen from the air and convert it to a form that plants can use. (Corn, which requires a lot of nitrogen to grow, benefits most.) The large, prickly squash leaves shade the soil, preventing weed growth, and deter animal pests. The three sisters also complement each other nutritionally.

To plant the Three Sisters wait until the soil warms in spring. Make a mound of dirt about one foot high and two foot in diameter. In the center of the mound plant 5 or 6 corn kernels, tamp down the ground well. Space the mound approximately 4 feet apart, remember you will be dodging squash vines to cultivate and harvest.

When the corn sprouts and reaches about 5 or 6 inches high it is time to plant the bean seeds, make sure they are the climbing variety. You will want to plant 6 to eight of them around the top of the mound. You do not have to plant just green beans, grow some kidney beans, or pinto beans if you like.

About 1 week later, after the beans emerge from the ground, plant the squash seeds on the flat ground around each mound. You can plant all the way around or choose to plant just two opposite sides of the mound, to possibly control some of the rambeling that the vines do. If you plant all the way around 6 to 8 plants are sufficient. If just on opposing sides then 2 or 3 per side is fine. Also consider planting diferent types of squash to make a more varied diet.

Good companions to plant either interspersed thoughout the garden or making a border around the Three Sisters are: Marigolds, to keep bean beetles away; Sage, to encourage bees; Nasturiam, to discourage squash borers; Catnip, to discourage been beetles; Summer Savory, discourages the Mexican bean beetles; Dill, French Tarragon and Basil lure bees.

To keep up tradition, plant more than you plan to consume…..first for the wild critters…..seconly, considering todays economic situation, it will give you produce to share with family, friends, less fortunate people or food banks.