Farming

25 Tips for Urban Gardening

By Nicole Caldwell for Stacker

Ancient civilizations thrived in relation to their proximity to food sources thousands of years before the global food trade our world relies on today. Eridu (present-day Tell Abu Shahrain in Iraq), founded in Mesopotamia along the Fertile Crescent’s Euphrates River around 5400 B.C., was believed by the Sumerians to be the first city in the world, and integrated urban farming into the city’s design itself. Examples throughout history show the rise of new civilizations in direct proportion to food and water sources.

As trade routes opened up around the world, farmers could specialize in raising specific foods to trade with other specialists in different regions. The Industrial Revolution in the 18th and 19th centuries further bifurcated cities and food sources by automating farming processes, dramatically increasing production, and making the international transportation of fresh foods a reality.

Since then in American history, proximity to food sources has fluctuated. During World War II, private residents started Victory Gardens that by 1944 accounted for 40% of U.S. produce. The country’s community gardens—neighborhood plots where people work together to raise food—have spiked in the past decade, with a 44% jump in city garden plots between 2012 and 2018. Community gardens springing up in empty lots in cities across the country offer inspiration for fresh approaches to urban revitalization in places like Detroit, where 23,000 residents participate in urban gardens, 1,500 residents have private gardens, and 16.75% of the city’s land is considered vacant.

Urban gardens can provide nutritious resources for residents who otherwise live in food deserts (areas without convenient access to fresh, whole foods, usually because of a lack of grocery stores and farmers markets, often in impoverished parts of cities or remote locations), provide children and adults with an education in self-sufficiency, and reduce food costs for individuals and families.

For those interested in getting into urban gardening, Stacker used a variety of agriculture and gardening resources to compile a list of 25 tips to get you started—from plant selection and garden location to essential tools for the job.

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Redwood Happenings: April 11, 2018

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By Nicole Caldwell for The Thousand Islands Sun

After several months of working almost exclusively on writing and editing projects, padding around the farmhouse in pajamas and slippers, and enjoying some much-needed vacation time, safe to say the seasons have shifted at Better Farm.

Spring has brought with it a fresh crop of visitors from all over the world to repopulate the farmhouse over the course of the next half-year. Sun up to sun down is once again a peppering of farm tours and projects, maintaining the property, setting up rooms for overnight guests, and planning curriculum for students. At breakfast, the 12-foot long dining table is mostly filled with folks discussing environmental issues, books, politics and ideas.

All the hubbub is a gift to be sure, not that I feel entirely ready for it yet. For one, it’s still so chilly out. And two, I so enjoy the natural ebb of intensity winter brings. Where I lived in relative quiet, in that soft space with my partner where words aren’t always necessary and formalities scarce and I could quilt, embroider or do nothing at all, I am now surrounded by curious visitors and excited travelers. It’s a bit like walking out of a very calm, dark room into a brilliantly sunny day.

It’s a surreal experience to live where you work. On a daily recurrence this home is transformed into a stopping place for people I’ve never met before and won’t again. My backyard becomes a living lab for people to study sustainability, art, environmentalism, organic gardening and animal care. Every day—sometimes every few hours—I watch the space transform in and on top of itself again. Residence to inn. Homestead to petting zoo. Private to public.

I have to remember to change out of my pajamas before I leave my bedroom. I brush up on my stock answers for what exactly I’m doing here, and what inspired such a strange place to come into being. I recite home tours and crack the same jokes.

Also though, I relish the daily reminder that what is happening here is something unique and dear. That the stars you can see in the sky in this part of the world are absolutely spectacular, and that living in an area like this with all these dips and valleys and forests and yes all this water is an unbelievable privilege. I am so thankful for all these travelers curious about the world, and students hellbent on making it better.

I couldn’t be more grateful for those reminders. And for the swift kick in the butt it gives me to gear up for a spring and summer season even busier than the last, which was busier than the one before it. There are so many things just out ahead over the horizon.

Until next time, better be.

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Redwood Happenings: April 4, 2018

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By Nicole Caldwell for the Thousand Islands Sun

I was outside checking on our beehive this morning when the drumming started.

Somewhere ahead of me, through the feathered edge of young forest running along the east property line at Better Farm, came the unmistakable thud-thud-thud of a lawnmower or small motorcycle starting up somewhere in the woods.

It took me a second to realize what the noise actually was. Every winter, I forget some of the sounds from the seasons before. I had a small laugh at my expense when I realized what I was actually listening to.

The source of this steady rhythm was a chubby, round creature barely bigger than a pigeon who suffices to beat his wings together for a few seconds at a time, over and over, in order to find a girlfriend. All the while this little cherub is thumping his feathered arms together, his bird-brained friends bother with the silly nonsense of calling in their mates with song.

The coloring of ruffed grouse makes them blend seamlessly into their surroundings. The birds are all shades of neutral browns, greys and tans, with a spiky little hairdo that makes them appear permanently alert—if you can find them, that is. Their elusiveness is part of their charming, notorious drumming. These guys seem to come from nowhere, even though ruffed grouse often select the same stump or log upon which to stand while thundering their wings together year after year, for upwards of a decade. They live in New York State throughout the seasons, waiting (mostly) quietly for the freeze to break, savoring winter for its still silence.

Spring is for singing. Chirping. And drumming to one’s heart’s content.

I have no ambivalence about my love of spring sounds, not the least of which being bird calls. I’m a terrible birder, but have through the years acquired the unimpressive ability to discern between an owl and whip-poor-will, chickadee and golden-winged warbler. Generally, I just enjoy hearing the symphony outside. But there’s something about that drumming that evokes a sense of restlessness. The sound, once you hear it, surpasses all other sounds of nature in my backyard.

Neuroscience research confirms that talented drummers have clear, anatomical differences from the rest of the herd; namely, an intuitive understanding of rhythms and patterns happening all around us. That intuition gives human drummers a leg up when it comes to analytical thinking, perception, and logic.

The purpose of drumming, at its essence, is communication. That’s true whether you’re a ruffed grouse or part of a marching band. The drum has been central for all time to dance, sporting events, ceremonies and religious rites, and even as a lead-up to war. Each of these is a method for communication, necessary or frivolous. Their universal use has allowed drums to firmly plant their flags in every culture on earth. All this is to say, you can’t separate the drum from our experience as human beings—or as animals.

In nature, we’re designed to seek out rhythms. The noises you hear on a warm night outside might collectively present as a disorganized jumble of high and low notes. But as you suss out the separate sounds therein, you find unmistakable rhythms and measures. Bird songs, frog croaks, bat calls, and those lovable cicadas. We’re hardwired to appreciate the repetition of a steady beat.

Which must be why I lingered in that chilly morning air, looking out toward the woods and waiting for the next lick of buh-buh-buh-buh-buh-buh to sound.

It did. I smiled.

Until next time, better be.

Nicole Caldwell is an author, journalist and editor in Redwood. She is also co-founder and CEO of Better Farm, a sustainability campus, artist colony, animal sanctuary and organic farm. Learn more about Caldwell at www.nicolecaldwellwrites.com.