Tag: gardening

2024 Organic Vegetable Gardening Series

Advanced Certified Master Gardener Rachel Ziesk will return to Neighborhood Housing Services of New Haven as the series instructor. This class series includes 6 sessions, and all classes are hybrid. Classes will be held on 2/3, 2/10, 2/17, 2/24, 3/2 and 3/9 (Saturdays) from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Gardeners of all experience levels are welcome.

  • Soils and Composting – 2/3/24
  • Cool Weather Crops – 2/10/24
  • Warm Weather Crops – 2/17/24
  • Garden Pests and Diseases – 2/24/24
  • Seed Starting, When and Where to Plant – 3/2/24
  • Essential Flowers & Herbs – 3/9/24

A Green Gift for the Gardener in Your Life: $35 for individual classes, $98 for all 6 classes.
We offer the classes to community gardeners for free with code “honor.”

Register via link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2024-nhs-of-new-haven-organic-vegetable-gardening-tickets-774407121547?aff=oddtdtcreator.

For more information, https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2024-nhs-of-new-haven-organic-vegetable-gardening-tickets-774407121547?aff=oddtdtcreator, or contact me: Junyi Wang (she/her/hers), Marketing Communications Manager, 203-562-0598 Ext. 212;  [email protected].

Wanted: New Home For Compost Trailblazer

by Allan Appel, New Haven Independent, May 5, 2023

“Now I feel I’m more like a waste hauler than a visionary composter,” said New Haven’s pioneering organic-scraps-repurposer and eco-idealist Domingo Medina.

That’s because Medina now has to find a new place to make mulch thanks to the pending sale of the Fair Haven farm site that he and his pedal-powered composting colleagues have long called home.

Medina’s Peels & Wheels Composting charges subscribers $7.50 per week to help them divert food waste from the landfill and the incinerator and repurpose it as nutrient-rich soil.

He expressed that sober yet still optimistic assessment on a crystalline bright Wednesday morning as he surveyed the Phoenix Press Farm site, at the end of James Street across from Criscuolo Park. Medina, who founded his composting business in 2014, is now in final preparations to leave that site as the press is in the concluding stages of selling the property.

Eco-idealist Domingo Medina of Peels & Wheels, photo: Thomas Breen

Although Peels & Wheels is thriving now and will continue, Medina is able to process into mulch only two of the four tons of organic scraps he and his fast-pedaling employees collect from 470 customers every week.

For growth to continue, however, and for Medina’s vision of a kind of perfect circle of environmental development and environmental justice to evolve, he urgently needs to find a new site to accelerate his capacity.

“I spend more time in the truck,” he lamented, as he pointed to his grey pick-up, hauling the waste to a composting site at the Common Ground High School (which operation he was instrumental in developing); to West Haven’s com-posting operation (on which he also consulted); and, soon to the transfer station in Hamden, where the load will then be transported to an anaerobic digester in Southington.

“So my cost is doubled to take care of moving this material out of the city and every week I have to rent a trailer. That goes counter to my model of recycling within our community. I don’t know where it’s [ultimately] going, and I have to pay tipping fees [for it to get there],” he said.

The problem is that for the past year or so Medina has not been able to find a permanent site where he can invest in equipment and increase his own capacity.

Read the article in its entirety at https://www.newhavenindependent.org/article/composting_visonary_eyes_new_haven

Native Plants from Seed: On-Site Workshops

Hamden Public Library

Growing native plants from seed makes it easy to provide important habitat for pollinators while adding color and variety to your garden and landscape.

In January, Hamden Public Library will be offering on-site workshops at all three library locations where we will demonstrate an easy and effective way to propagate many types of native plants, most of which come from seeds that need a period of cold “stratification” in order to germinate. During the workshop you will learn about the importance of native plants to our region, and can start a pollinator haven of your own by sowing seeds in a do-it-yourself mini-greenhouse.

Please register below for one of the workshops. Because attendance is limited, please sign up for only one session. Most materials are provided, including seeds, but please bring a clear gallon milk jug if you have one.

Hamden Public Library’s seed library offers a variety of native and other seeds on request during the winter months. Seeds suitable for winter sowing will be available for pick-up at the library branches in January and February. A list of available seeds (including several CT Ecotypes) and how to request them will be available in early January.

From February through June, we will put out a selection of garden seeds for you to browse and use. Do plan early, as we may well run out of seeds before June’s end. This year the bins were empty before mid-June. We ask that you limit your selections to five types of seed, and only take what you need (plus a little bit more).

We want to thank Diane Dynia, an intern through UConn’s Master Gardener program, who produced an informative brochure of pleasing design to give the seed library more reach in the community. Look at the Seed Library page here: hamdenlibrary.org/seed-library/

Info: [email protected], 203-287-2680.

2022 Organic Vegetable Gardening Series

Junyi Wang, Communications Specialist, Neighborhood Housing Services

Are you or a loved one a gardener who can’t wait for the ground to thaw? Prepare for Spring with our 6-class organic vegetable gardening series taught by Advanced Certified Master Gardener Rachel Ziesk! All classes are virtual and take place on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.

For many New Haven residents, food security is elusive. We like to do our part in helping neighbors grow fresh, healthy organic produce, in soil that’s been tested for lead and other contaminants. That’s why every year we offer this series for free to New Haven community gardeners, and we offer a help-a-neighbor rate for those who would like to help us make additional scholarships available.

February 12: Soils and Composting – The most important component for a successful garden is soil health. Learn how to make your own compost and everything else you need to keep your soil healthy for the most productive garden.

February 19: Garden Planning & Season Extenders – Ensure a long and productive growing year with row covers, organ-ic mulch, cold frames and more! Get the most out of even a small garden space.

February 26: Cool Weather Crops – Start your garden as soon as the soil thaws, even in mid-March! This class covers how and when to plant cool weather crops and manage their pests and diseases.

March 5: Warm Weather Crops – Learn how to make the best of our growing season including which warm-weather crops are best started indoors, which can be direct-seeded, what conditions and fertilizers each crop prefers and how to fight their pests and diseases organically.

March 12: Seed Starting – Start your own seedlings! Learn about when to start indoor seedlings, watering, using lights, and dealing with common problems. We will also review which crops can be planted directly outdoors and when.

March 19: Essential Flowers & Herbs for Vegetable Gardens — Flowers and herbs attract pollinators and beneficial insects to help keep your garden healthy and productive. Learn about the best flowers and herbs for your garden, how to plant them and the conditions they need to help you in your garden. Register at Virtual Gardening Series 2022, NHS of New Haven Tickets, Multiple Dates | Eventbrite

Any questions? Contact Kathy Fay, (203) 562-0598 ext. 225, [email protected].

Community Sustainability/ Free Organic Vegetable Gardening Virtual Workshops

by Tebben Lopez, Neighborhood Housing Services

Considering the circumstances we are in and the exacerbated concerns around food security, we are offering this year’s classes free of charge for everyone. The series will be virtual to ensure everyone’s safety.

Are you or a loved one a gardener who can’t wait for the ground to thaw? Prepare for Spring with our 6-class organic vegetable gardening series taught by Advanced Certified Master Gardener Rachel Ziesk! All classes are virtual and take place on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.

February 6: Soils and Composting – The most important component for a successful garden is soil health. Learn how to make your own compost and everything else you need to keep your soil healthy for the most productive garden.

February 13: Garden Planning & Season Extenders – Ensure a long and productive growing year with row covers, organic mulch, cold frames and more! Get the most out of even a small garden space.

February 20: Cool Weather Crops – Start your garden as soon as the soil thaws, even in mid-March! This class covers how and when to plant cool weather crops and manage their pests and diseases.

February 27: Warm Weather Crops – Learn how to make the best of our growing season including which warm-weather crops are best started indoors, which can be direct-seeded, what conditions and fertilizers each crop prefers, and how to fight their pests and diseases organically.

March 6: Seed Starting – Start your own seedlings! Learn about when to start indoor seedlings, watering, using lights, and dealing with common problems. We will also review which crops can be planted directly outdoors and when.

March 13: Weeds: the Good, the Bad, and the Tasty – Some “weeds” are actually native wildflowers benefitting your vegetable garden’s pollinators. Some are invasive horrors with plans to take over your garden. And some are edible, delicious little morsels that can be harvested and enjoyed.
For more information, please contact Kathy Fay, (203) 562-0598 ext. 225, [email protected].

Let It Grow! Let It Grow! Let It Grow! Winter Garden Workshop

by Tebben Lopez, NHS

The snow doesn’t have to keep you down. You’d be surprised with how soon in the year you can get started in your garden!

By January, most gardeners start to get an itch to throw their gardening gloves back on. But what they may not know is they can start much sooner than they think!

Neighborhood Housing Services of New Haven organizes an opportunity for everyone – gardener and hopeful alike – to get a jump-start on the growing season. NHS helps to increase access to fresh, healthy food by offering the classes for a low-cost and free rate to community gardeners.

Advanced Certified Master Gardener Rachel Ziesk teaches six classes that are as accessible as they are informative. A seasoned teacher, who has worked with the UConn master gardening program & Yale University among others, Rachel specializes in organic vegetable gardening.

More information and tickets are available at NHSWinterWorkshops2020.EventBrite.com. NHS wants everyone to have access to these classes and encourages those with means to consider taking them at a help-a-neighbor rate.

The first workshop on soil and composting will be held Saturday, Jan. 25, 10 a.m.-noon at NHS, Building 3, 333 Sherman Ave. (203) 562-0598, Ext. 226.