WISEWOMAN PLANT, GROW, HARVEST, SELL, REPEAT.

Transcription

1 WISEWOMAN PLANT, GROW, HARVEST, SELL, REPEAT.

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4 Broccoli, Eggs and an Economic Stream Working at the farm, growing my own food, doing taxes, selling my chickens and eggs it s all a part of how I m creating an economic stream for myself, said Penny Lund, a second year WISEWOMAN gardener from Merritt, Michigan. Penny grew up downstate. My family left Pontiac when I was young and moved to the country. But growing up we never gardened. When she was eighteen, Penny moved to Knoxville, Tennessee. I rototilled a small spot but it wasn t very successful. She tried again fifteen years ago when she moved to her current house. But her 20 x 50 plot didn t do well either. Then she started down a gardening path that landed her where she is today. First she got connected with Transitions Cadillac, an initiative dedicated to creating new ways of living that are more nourishing, fulfilling and ecologically sustainable. Next she attended a WISEWOMAN tour of a local farmer who uses regenerative farming practices. I really got inspired. After that, it was a WISEWOMAN nutrition education class where she met Anne Gothard, another WISEWOMAN gardener, Annie mentioned her farm. Another WISEWOMAN Shirley was also there. Shirley and I started helping at the farm, building greenhouses, watering, planting. It s been over a year and we re still there.

5 Trading work hours for food means I m able to eat fresh food I could never afford. I now do the farm s books, said Penny, who got a B.S. in Business Administration in I can t tell you how much I use what I learned on the farm. Everything from building relationships with Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) clients, to how you handle yourself with partners. I use my degree every single day. I love the business aspect of farming. This year Penny grew tomatoes for 3rd Day on her own land. 322 plants to be exact! I broke even, but I learned a lot about the soil and how to improve it. The peerto-peer mentoring I got will help me understand the soil wherever I go. I m actually not very comfortable selling, so I do what I do best and let 3rd Day do my sales. It works beautifully. Next year Penny plans to raise meat chickens and sell them at 3rd Day. Last year I got chickens. The idea was to get a test batch of twelve. When I got to the store it was the last day of a ½ price chicken sale. I left with 30 of them! She has also planted 6 x 100 feet rows with cover crop. I ll be growing butternut squash to keep down weeds. She also plans to grow things she s never grown before on a larger scale. Like four 36 foot rows of broccoli. Without WISEWOMAN and all that I ve learned I d probably still be growing but without the relationships and knowledge that I carry today. Gardening is my solace, my peace. It s physical and mental good health. It s food. There s no piece that isn t healthy. I ve worked office jobs and just kept getting wider. I keep coming back to nature to get healthy.

6 This Bud Loves Bugs Rosemary Bud Storey is all about the bugs. At 3rd Day Farm, where she works as part of the WISEWOMAN gardening team, she has become the bug expert. I love looking for the bug s larva or their nests or their eggs, she said. I plan to use my WISEWOMAN money to buy plenty of books on bugs! Although she worked her parents gardens growing up near Flint, Bud, a second year gardener with the WISEWOMAN Entrepreneurial Gardening Program, didn t pick up a trowel again until 2011 when she started volunteering at a community garden near her home. I fell in love with it, said Bud. That s where she connected with the folks from 3rd Day Farm. I was working full time, one on one, with at risk children with autism. Then my husband was diagnosed with a serious illness. I knew it was time for a change. When the folks at 3rd Day asked me to join their team, I knew I had found my place. Each one of us brings something different to the table. That s what drew me there and keeps me there. The camaraderie is amazing. There s just a lot of caring and sharing. Although she works at 3rd Day Farm, Bud also gardens at home. I planted Tansy to deter the white cabbage moths and haven t had one since. I ve learned so much about beneficial plants. Like planting

7 garlic to deter June beetles. When asked about her favorite aspect of gardening, Bud is quick to answer. Weeding! I weed by hand or use a stirrup hoe. It s so relaxing and satisfying. I m really excited about the coming year, said Bud. In addition to expanding her home garden, Bud plans to help staff the farmers market starting up at 3rd Day Farm. She and other members of the WISEWOMAN team at 3rd Day will grow additional plants at their home gardens to sell at the market. I want to start raspberries, blueberries and strawberries. I d really like to do jams and jellies to sell. Her advice for new WISEWOMAN Gardeners? Start out small. Look around your property and see what would work best. And take advantage of the WISEWOMAN mentoring program. Mentoring from other WISEWOMAN gardeners is key. It s great to know there s someone there so you don t get overwhelmed.

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10 Smells, Tastes and Side Conversations First year gardeners in the WISEWOMAN Entrepreneurial Gardening Program are required to complete the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP-Ed) nutrition education series. Taught by Michigan State University Extension (MSUE) Educators, SNAP- Ed (from the US Department of Agriculture) provides education on basic nutrition, food safety and how to save food dollars on a small budget. Hearing the gardeners were interested in learning how to can food correctly, MSUE Educator and WISEWOMAN Gardening Coordinator, Helen Deflorio worked with MSUE Food Safety expert Karen Fifield to offer a canning class for WISEWOMAN gardeners. The women were especially interested in pressure canning, said Helen. The women had expressed some fears about canning and doing it safely. The handson class allows the women to gain confidence and develop skills they can take home with them, said Karen Fifield. For some the class is a refresher. For others it was their first time canning. It s exciting to gather around the stove and watch the women share their tips and tricks with one another, said Fifield. The daylong class was held at a fitness center in Ogemaw County. In addition to an all-woman workout facility, the center offers spinning and yoga as well as a certified kitchen. The morning portion

11 of the class focused on canning using the water bath method. In the afternoon the women made spaghetti sauce using the pressure canning method. It s so wonderful to get everyone together, said one of the women. To share all the possibilities for new meals for our families, said another. We throw out ideas and watch it boil, said a woman with a grin as she stood over a pot of boiling water. As part of the class the women were able to take home cans of peaches and spaghetti sauce as well as recipes for using what they had canned. Every participant also received a copy of the book So Easy to Preserve, said DeFlorio. It s a great book that will expand their ability to preserve what they grow by freezing, pickling or making jams and jellies. The class also covered using herbs. They learned the proper way to cut fresh herbs and made ice cubes with them. We really emphasize not using much salt, said Fifield. Although some of the ingredients and supplies for the class were local, the plan is to source more produce locally in the future. We hope to place pre-orders with some of the WISEWOMAN gardeners and purchase directly from them, said Fifield. As the steam from the canning pots subsided and the women gathered up their cans of peaches and spaghetti sauce there were plenty of hugs and parting words. I m so excited to go home and get started, said a woman, a grocery bag in each arm. I absolutely loved it! said another holding her can of peaches high overhead.

12 It s Never too Late to Learn Linda Palmer and her husband Gary both grew up in and around Iosco County and both grew up gardening. But it was the WISEWOMAN Entrepreneurial Gardening Program and a visit to 3rd Day Farm (a WISEWOMAN supported cooperative farm and education center) that grew their gardening efforts. Linda was part of the first WISEWOMAN gardening class at 3rd Day Farm. It was my first year with the WISEWOMAN Program, said Linda. I learned so much! About seed saving, how to win against all the pests and critters and about all the different varieties of fruits and vegetables I didn t even know about like green striped tomatoes. One day they made a salad. It had all kinds of different things I would have never thought to put in a one. It was so good. I ll be making salads very differently from now on. During the classes at 3rd Day, Linda seeded her own plants in soil blocks. 3rd Day tended the plants for the class participants and when they returned for the second class they had starter plants. The tomato and cucumber seeds I planted had become good size plants, said Linda. I just couldn t believe how beautiful they were. This year Linda s 50 square foot garden also produced horseradish, corn, onions, watermelon, squash, pumpkins, green beans, beets, cabbage, cauliflower and

13 broccoli. I ve never grown such a variety. One of Linda s favorite culinary adventures in the gardening program was a canning class. It was such a cool class. Although she had canned in the past, Linda was pleased to learn about the new and different canning guidelines. They gave us a book that covers freezing and pickling. I can t wait to try that, she said. Linda also attended the WISEWOMAN annual gardening conference held this past year in Roscommon. I especially liked the session on container gardeners. For the first time I got herbs to grow in containers and to come up the next year. With the help of her husband and grandson, Linda s garden produced plenty of extra. I like to take stuff from the garden to work. The cardiac rehab patients I give it to are so grateful. But her favorite way to share her extra bounty is with family. It feels good to be able give my family things I know will help them be healthy. Next year s plans include fencing and a hoophouse. All the information and help from WISEWOMAN has been wonderful. Just wish I had known about it sooner, when I was younger.

14 The WISEWOMAN Entrepreneurial Gardening Project began in 2008 as a way for economically-challenged women to get more physical activity, eat more fresh fruits and vegetables, and earn extra money selling their produce at local farmers markets, farm stands or other retail outlets. The WISEWOMAN Entrepreneurial Gardening Project has a variety of statewide partners who teach nutrition education and gardening basics. On the entrepreneurial side, participants learn how to grow produce for market, how to sell at a farmer s market, and business planning. The women gardeners are certified to accept Project FRESH and Senior Market FRESH coupons (Project FRESH and Senior Market FRESH are Michigan s USDA Farmer s Market Nutrition Program). The WISEWOMAN Entrepreneurial Gardening Project benefits local communities by: increasing access and availability of fresh produce developing new outlets in which to buy and sell fresh produce increasing the nutrition knowledge of gardeners allowing them to educate their customers about the health benefits of fresh produce The WISEWOMAN Entrepreneurial Gardening Project benefits the participants by: providing opportunities for physical activity and improved nutrition expanding their opportunities as small farmers and entrepreneurs increasing yields through the use of hoophouses and other season extending tools increasing their income allowing them to purchase other healthy food options PHOTOGRAPHY & LAYOUT DESIGN GANNON BURGETT This publication was supported by Cooperative Agreement Number 5NU58DP from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.