The Rain Can't Stop Us

Today we went to the Bethel Garden Fair and learned a lot about the importance of pollinators in gardens. Everyone that was working there was so friendly and eager to share their knowledge with us. We even came back with some goodies of our own, borage and cat mint, which will be planted in the garden this week. One of the highlights of the garden fair was seeing a monarch butterfly in its larva, chrysalis and adult stage. It's amazing how beneficial they are and hopefully our new plants will help attract some more butterflies and bees.

July is right around the corner so that means more planting! This week we are planting our squash row and next week we will sow our carrot, beet, swiss chard, kale seeds. And don't forget! Lunch in the Garden is this Thursday, July 2, at 12pm, so grab your lunches and come join us outside!

Ready, Set, GROW

It was a busy, yet successful week in the garden. We started off the week by setting up the irrigation lines on the hill and in the beds. We use an irrigation system once plants are established instead of hand watering because it is more efficient. Using a drip method waters the plant directly at its root which minimizes water loss from wind, runoff, etc.

The tarps were also laid down and the tomato one has its holes cut and seeds planted. There will be 77 tomato plants this season ranging from Sungold, Black Cherry, Lucky Tiger, Blush and Jasper tomatoes. The other tarp will be used for squash plants which will be planted in mid-July. We also planted our cover crop bed, hot peppers, cabbage, and a variety of perennials so stop by the garden to check it out!

On Thursday, we had our first Lunch in the Garden of the season and it was an awesome turnout. 11 people showed up to eat lunch outside and see what the garden crew is up to this year. Garden-grown chamomile tea was served and people were also able to take home some garlic scapes and lettuce. Lunch in the Gardens are every Thursday this summer at noon so come take a break from the office or from school and meet us outdoors for lunch and a tasty treat!

This week we also donated 15lbs of lettuce and 2lbs of chives to our local food bank!

Catch up! Blog Posts from Emma Bryant'15 for Summer of 2013

Hello all!

As previously mentioned, other blogs by interns from the past two years have been used to talk about life in the garden. Below, we will link to their pages so that y'all can catch up on the happenings for 2013. For this post, we will be highlighting former intern and new alumna Emma Bryant'15. We will add that Emma has actually graduated from Fairfield earlier today! Congratulations to her!

Emma took an interesting approach in promoting the garden. She decided to make several recipes out of the produce straight from the garden along with her reflections about the garden. I hope y'all are inspired to make something of your own, and better yet, grow the produce yourselves or help grow them in the garden! Enjoy!:

June 5th, 2013

Chamomile Iced Tea

June 17th, 2013

Vegan Swiss Chard Dip with Garlic Scapes

June 26th, 2013

Herb-Infused Olive Oil

June 26th, 2013

"Organic," "Locally Grown" & "Plant-Based Diet"

July 2, 2013

Kale Chips

August 1st, 2013

Tomato Salad

August 5th, 2013
Sweet Kale and Onion Salad

As always, to get the most updated information, always feel free to follow us on Facebook or Twitter!

~ jesusnunezx

Catch Up! Blog Posts from Hillary Maxson'14 for Summer of 2013

Hello all!

As previously mentioned, other blogs by interns from the past two years have been used to talk about life in the garden. Below, we will link to their pages so that y'all can catch up on the happenings. For this post, we will be highlighting former intern and alumna Hillary Maxson'14, enjoy!:

May 7th, 2013
First Day at Work!

June 4th, 2013
Back in the Garden and Right Back to Work!

June 5th, 2013
How to Make Your Own Organic Chamomile Tea

June 10th, 2013
A Week of Harvesting and Sprouting

June 13th, 2013
Animals in the Garden

June 13th, 2013
Week of Rain and Research

June 20th, 2013

Animals in the Garden: Slugs

June 20th, 2013

Week 4: Sunshine, Scapes, and Stakes

July 12th, 2013
Week 6 and 7: My California Adventure and a Week of Planting

To get the most updated information, always feel free to follow us on Facebook or Twitter!

~ jesusnunezx

Genetically Modified Organisms

GMOs were most likely in the food you ate today. And yesterday. But hopefully not tomorrow.

Over 70% of North American packaged foods contain GMOs, and according to the ISAAA (International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications), there are approximately 1.2 billion acres of genetically modified crops worldwide. The most common GMO obsessed crops grow soybeans, corn, cotton, and canola. So we at the Fairfield Garden feel it is important to elaborate exactly on what GMOs are, and why we make it a point to not have them in our own garden, since they are so pervasive in our society.

The acronym GMO stands for Genetically Modified Organisms. They are organisms whose genetic make up has been altered in an unnatural manner. GMOs can be seen as plastic surgery, buy for your food. While the end result (hopefully) looks beautiful, what's in the inside can potentially be ugly. GMOs were created to help reduce the amount of pesticides used by having the plane produce their own pesticide genetically, have a higher tolerance to the use of herbicides, and have added virus defenses.

The problem is that modifying the genetics of an organism has potential environmental and public health impacts. Not enough research has been conducted to see how GMOs effect on us. Additionally, the qualities of some GMO products favor the use of pesticides and herbicides and increase the amount of those products.Furthermore, most GMOs are a patented intellectual property by the agricultural super giant Monsanto. What this means is that if a farmer were to have this GMOs in the farm without having paid Monsanto, a law suit can ensue. Because plants like corn pollinate via the air, the genetic modification is spreading to non-GMO farms thus, resulting in law suits and contaminated produce.

Unfortunately the U.S. government does not require GMO foods to be labeled. But, don’t you feel you have the right to know what’s in your food? The USDA National Organic Standards prohibit the use of GMOS. Popular grocery store chain Whole Foods Market carries foods for pro-organic consumers. In March of 2013, Whole Foods Market announced that by the year 2018 they would label all products in their US stores to indicate whether they contain GMOS. This way, you’ll know you are eating organically.

Organic foods are non GMO foods. Organic agriculture utilizes renewable resources and promotes the conservation of soil and water to enhance environmental quality. Eating organically means you won’t have to worry if your foods were persistently treated with toxic chemicals. It also means your food was sustainably grown, preventing many types of chemicals from getting into the air, earth, and water that sustain us. Eating organically means you are protecting and conserving the earth and your body. Buying organic products promotes a healthy ecosystem, mind, and body.

Make the switch to natural foods for a healthier lifestyle. Try an organic meal and consider how it makes you feel. Knowing your facts about the foods you consume can be life changing for you initially, but coming to a realization can eventually change the people you interact with as well.

This post was made by Liana Moncayo'14 and edited by Jesus Nunez'14 as a part of the CO201 course persuasion to help promote the garden and the consumption of organic foods.

Back From Hiatus & Marketing Campaign

Hello all!

So our little garden blog has taken quite a break. For those who have exclusively been reading our blog, know that the garden is still running. What happened was other blogs were utilized to update people on the garden this past summer. Two new garden interns were hired for this past summer and they each had their own unique blogs.. Below are their names and blogs:

Emma Bryant'15

http://eatingwithemma.tumblr.com

Hillary Maxson'14

http://harvesthillary.wordpress.com

Emma and Hillary did a wonderful job at working at the garden. To bring attention to their hard work, students from the communication course CO201: Persuasion will be working on a marketing campaign for the garden. They will be using theories learned in class to be applied in a practical way for our garden. This is just another academic project that benefits both student and our organization.

So be on the look out for things made by this course. Part of what they will be doing is assisting us in advertising, specifically the creation of posters and a brochure - things sorely needed for our little garden. Meanwhile, please also be on the look out for an e-mail about our upcoming garlic planting!

~ jesusnunezx

Hiving the Bees

Hello all!

So we finally have been able to install our bees! Hiving the bees was an interesting process and one that I will never ever ever forget!



They came all the way from Hampton, CT and were driven down to Fairfield, CT on May 11th, 2012 by my bee mentor, Tess Brown. About 10,000 or so bees came in the box seen above. The bees surround a tin can of sugar syrup that has holes on them. That is what they feed off of during their trip.



The Queen comes in a separate compartment like the one shown above. There is a thing of sugar blocking the entrance. Over the course of a few days, the Queen will eat through this block of sugar. Spending time in this cell by herself allows the other worker bees, who aren't biologically related to her, get acquainted to her and the pheromones she puts out. The reason why the Queen isn't related to the other bees is because the two are bought separately. Breeding Queen bees is it's own process in the current beekeeping system (a controversial topic for some).



Once the package arrives to campus, we had to have all of our materials ready. Our site area was set. Notice we have cement blocks to lift the hive above ground so that bugs won't crawl in as easily, and the hive opening isn't covered by mud. The next step we took was to put in powdered sugar into the bee package. This would make them groom themselves and remove any dirt or mites that they may be carrying.



We then open the box and shake the bees into the hive. Their is chaos everywhere! Hundreds and hundreds of bees are flying everywhere, it was almost like being in some kind of 90's SciFi killer bee movie! At this point, it is important to be calm to avoid any unnecessary agitation from the bees. However, I got stung somewhere somehow and something was still crawling up my leg so being calm was very hard to do. I had to walk away from the scene a few meters away and get over the pain and mysterious crawling up my leg!

The next few things were foggy. I do remember for sure that we placed in a sugar syrup feeder illustrated above. We didn't have an actual feeder in yet from Mann Lake so we fashioned one from a half-gallon tub. We punctured holes on the container and placed it upside down on top of the frames.

Finally, calmly but swiftly, we covered the box with its roof. We packed up our tools, and left. For future inspections, I need to remember to be very prepared since there was obviously an opening somewhere in my suit. Make swift aggressive movements only makes things worse. I feel that once I get more comfortable, inspections should be easy and painless. Hopefully that time will come sooner rather than later.

~ jesusnunezx