Depression-era gardening

Bailout or no bailout, the latest economic shenanigans have hit most of us squarely in the pocketbook. Values in our 401Ks have plunged. Real estate trusts and other investments, likewise, have ticked down. Serious doom-and-gloomers whisper that we could be headed for the next Great Depression. No matter how all of this shakes out, I'm reminded of a little rhyme my grandmother -- herself profoundly influenced by the Great Depression -- taught me many years back: "Use it up. Wear it out. Make it do, or do without."

That old saw applies especially well to gardening. Grandma never purported to be an environmentalist, but, thanks to necessity and hardship, she became one of the earliest "green" gardeners around. Wasting nothing, she drank a pot of coffee a day and always scattered the spent grounds around her vegetable plants. Turns out the grounds are a valuable soil amendment. Further, she composted her used coffee filters. The cardboard inserts from toilet paper rolls went in, too, along with every last fruit rind and vegetable scrap, no matter how small. Religiously, she turned the compost pile with a pitchfork, ensuring that all of that organic matter would decompose quickly, and it did.

She didn't need one of those fancy, plastic bins to do it, either. Hers was an open compost pile, tucked away near a storage barn. Mine, too, is more open than most, fashioned from free, wooden pallets and some repurposed chicken wire. As you might expect, it isn't pretty, but it works. To block what might otherwise be an unsightly view for my neighbors, I've installed native perennial flowers on three sides of my improvised bin. And, like Grandma, I didn't run out to buy the plants I wanted. Instead, I root my own cuttings or swap seeds and starts with friends. I also use newsprint and cardboard instead of expensive weed barrier fabric. Newspaper is handy for fashioning seedling pots as well, and that means money saved on plastic pots or seedling packs. Lucky for all of the newly cash-strapped, when it comes to making things "do" or doing without in the garden, the possibilities are nearly limitless.

Hill Country home builder wins Platinum LEED honor

The U.S. Green Building Council has presented Sierra Homes with the company’s first platinum-LEED designation.

The Platinum LEED status — which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design — was presented to the home builder for a custom home it built in Mountain Home, a city nestled in the Texas Hill Country. Sierra Homes is based in Fredericksburg, Texas.

Platinum LEED is the highest environmental standard a residential project can earn. LEED is a rating system that certifies that a “green” home uses less energy, water and natural resources and creates less waste than a conventional home, according to the U.S. Green Building Council.

Sierra built the custom home for Rick and Stephanie Ertel for $600,000. The 2,045-square-foot home has been built to have a minimal impact on the environment, says Teresa Fransik, who owns Sierra with her husband David Fransik.

The home receives no outside electricity or water from a utility company and the new homeowners do not have any sewer service. The bathrooms by design have special toilets that do not require water for flushing. The waste is composted. Food is cooked on wood stoves and there is no air conditioning. There is an outdoor kitchen and outdoor showers for the days the heat might be unbearable, Teresa Fransik says.

The home has been fitted with photo voltaic cells that harness the power of the sun for lighting and heating. The home also has a 15,000-gallon rainwater-collection tank that supplies the house with fresh water for drinking and showering. Sierra built the home for the couple on family-owned land just northwest of Kerrville.

Sierra completed the home in November. The Ertels recently occupied the home and have opened it up for tours. In fact, the Hunt Garden Club in Hunt, Texas, will be taking a tour of the home this weekend. The couple will also enter their home in the Texas Star Green Awards competition later this year.

The Fransiks founded Sierra Homes seven years ago after relocating from Dallas. Teresa Fransik is a retired veterinarian. David Fransik has worked in the home-building industry for 20 years.

Sierra Homes is a small, three-person operation. All facets of construction are contracted out. The company only builds custom homes and Sierra works to incorporate some green features into every project.

Even though the company has built about 25 homes in its seven-year history, Teresa Fransik says they have never completed a custom project quite like the Ertels’ home before.

Typically, the Fransiks complete between two or three custom homes a year.

Care and Share opens larger facility on city's east side

The new Care and Share Food Bank for Southern Colorado facility, at 2605 Preamble Point, on the city's east side, could not have come at a better time.

"Demand for food (to feed needy people) has gone up about 35 percent this year," said Suzanne Lee, director of communication for Care and Share. "Care and Share usually supplies about 7 1/2 million pounds of food each year. Last year, we supplied 11.3 million pounds of food."

The increased demand is a product of the sagging economy and the rise in food prices.

"One in eight people in the U.S. struggle with hunger, and we are not talking just about street people," said Janie Gianotsos, director of marketing for the Food Bank of The Rockies in Denver. "One-half of those are children, and one-half of the hungry have jobs. They are the working poor."

Melissa Marts, director of agency development for Care and Share, added, "Care and Share is seeing a changing demographic of folks seeking supplemental food. These folks now include those with higher incomes and who have had work but been laid off for three months or more. On the eastern plains, we see ranching families and folks who are elderly coming to the food banks."

There are five Food Banks of America in Colorado. Care and Share is one of those banks, and the new facility that opened in January doubled its capacity for gathering, storing and distributing food in southern Colorado.

"Our original space was about 26,000 square feet, and the new warehouse is 50,000 square feet," Lee said. "The biggest feature for us is cooler and freezer space. We now have 9,000 square feet of space to keep produce, milk and frozen foods."

To keep the food bank full of food, they get commodities from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and from the network of Feeding America, as well as donations from restaurants including Pizza Hut and Red Lobster. They also count on donations and raise money to buy food.

"We can provide 5 1/2 meals for a dollar donation," Lee said. "Typically, a meal represents pounds of food, like 1.28 pounds of food makes up a meal. We strive to provide a variety of nutritious food. We can't control what is given to us, so we supplement by buying nutritious foods."

Care and Share partners with about 430 member agencies throughout southern Colorado that pick up food from the food bank. Care and Share will make deliveries to soup kitchens and other community pantries where the hungry can get food.

When it comes to getting the job done, Care and Share relies heavily on volunteers.

"Volunteers are the backbone of our agency," Lee said. "Last year, more than 3,000 volunteers logged more than 20,000 hours helping us."

With the new Care and Share warehouse came open land around it in which to plant gardens to help fill the bank with fresh produce. That means, of course, that volunteer gardeners are wanted.

Care and Share also works closely with Pikes Peak Urban Gardens to find neighborhood plots where people on limited incomes can do garden internships and also reap a harvest.

"We are actively reaching out to neighbors in need of food who would like to explore growing their own," Marts said. "We also are coordinating efforts for Pikes Peak Urban Gardens and home gardeners to have opportunities to donate extra produce. Of course, Bear Creek Community Garden continues to grow an entire plot on behalf of Care and Share."

Save money in tough economy by growing your own fruits and vegetables

Lawton_You can trim your budget in lots of areas in this down economy, but it's hard to cut down on food. That's why more of us are growing our own fruits and vegetables right in our own back yards. 7NEWS found one of those "modern day victory gardens" in Lawton and it actually belongs to Skywarn 7 Meteorologist Chris Conoan. Like others he has decided to save money and grow his own vegetables at home.

Although it doesn't look like much now in a few weeks it will be a different story. Tomatoes, okra, onions you name it. You can grow it all yourself. "I just love the taste of fresh grown...home grown fruits and veggies," said Conoan.

The Lawton Garden Store is just one place to start. "We've got them coming in everyday more and more. They are buying the seeds the pre-potted plants," said Steve Mynear who works at the Garden Store.

In fact, since March they have sold over 5,200 packs of those veggies. "The price of everything is going up. So by creating your own tomatoes, your own veggies, it's quite the savings and fun to do," said Mynear.

Conoan planted his garden just last week. "I am pretty strict with my budget. Food prices are going up obviously it costs money to ship it in and why not just grow it locally? It's a lot cheaper," said Conoan.

Not to mention healthier. "There's no chemicals put on them that you are not aware of. You can determine what chemicals are used on them." And it also keeps you occupied for a while. "This is a project and you are going to enjoy doing it and you are going to feel really good when you pick your own veggies. It really gives you a thrill," said Conoan.

You will need to buy a few supplies to get started, but for Chris, it's well worth it. "You can't beat a fresh tomato right out of a garden, put it right on your sandwich. It's awesome."

In his garden there are peppers, tomatoes and even cucumbers so in the next few weeks he can avoid the grocery store all together and come right here in his backyard to get some healthy food.

"Victory gardens" first became popular during the First World War and was revived during the second when the country faced food shortages. By the end of the war, citizens grew 40-percent of the nation's vegetables.

Mission garden will feed the needy

Right now, it’s a large patch of dirt.

But this summer, scrumptious, vibrantly-colored vegetables will gleam from a sea of green.

Or so the city of Mission hopes.

The small town has broken ground for a new community garden at the corner of Foxridge and Lamar, on a vacant portion of the Johnson County wastewater’s treatment property.

The garden is the city’s way of addressing sustainability and poverty.

Produce from the garden will be donated to Mission families who qualify as special needs, based on their income level.

Excess produce will be given to local food banks.

City officials also hope the garden will educate the public on the benefits of home-grown produce and teach valuable skills.

“I’ve seen farms during car drives but never made a connection to the actual farmland,” said Josh Rauch, the city’s administrative intern. “This project is a great learning experience for people like me who simply go to grocery stores and don’t know the process behind where the food came from.”

Rauch started organizing the volunteer-run project last summer, when someone brought up the idea at a city meeting.

For the past year, he has immersed himself in learning every aspect of the gardening world. He started a gardening committee for the city. He even got help from local experts, such as Chelsey Wasem, a Johnson County extension agent specializing in horticulture.

She has been helping Mission with the behind-the-scenes aspect of the garden, such as vegetable preparation, tips on planting, and training volunteers on maintenance.

In past years, Wasem has helped other cities, including Lenexa and Olathe, create similar community gardens. After attending several recent garden committee meetings with Rauch, she’s already impressed with Mission’s ambitious spirit.

“Hopefully, this garden will set an example for other areas, such as businesses or homes, with idle pieces of land,” she said. “It could really boost the local economy if people just go straight to their own backyards for fresh produce.”

The garden expert would also like to see families who benefit from the community garden’s produce come out and help with the maintenance. She thinks it would be a fun learning experience for organizations, such as Boy and Girl Scout troops, schools, and churches.

Before people get their hands dirty, however, she warns them of the hard work necessary behind the commitment.

“It’s always fun to get started, but come July, when there are 100 tomatoes to be harvested and weeds everywhere, it can get intimidating for some people,” Wasem said. “I prepare the volunteers for what goes into taking care of a garden and encourage them every step of the way. I’m kind of like their cheerleader.”

She’s also pleased that Mission wants to start out slowly, instead of rushing into a huge, elaborate ordeal.

Approximately 1,060 square feet of planting space will hold vegetables, such as beans, peas, carrots, peppers, lettuce, and tomatoes. It’s a modest endeavor for the city, Wasem pointed out.

Rauch agrees.

“We want to start out simple — nothing too exotic for our first time,” he said. “This garden is a learning process for the city, so we don’t want to promise too much. We just want to see how it goes.”

Both he and Wasem are optimistic the garden will grow even bigger next year, once the city gets its feet wet.

The city is looking for volunteers interested to help with the planting, weeding, watering, and harvesting in the garden.

Keeping Austin thumbs green

Crouching between leafy spinach sprouts and blossoming bundles of broccoli, Latin American studies senior Jacob Bintliff plucked a few pesky blades of grass before harvesting some chard and herbs to cook for dinner.

Freshly grown herbs and vegetables have been a staple in Bintliff’s diet since he began cultivating his own garden in 2007. Located in the backyard of his North Campus home, the 12-by-4-foot plot is now teeming with greens and providing a steady supply of produce for Bintliff and his roommates.

“It is extremely relaxing and therapeutic,” said Bintliff, co-director of the Campus Environmental Center. “It’s just very soothing to be around living things and to be tending things. Some people have pets; some people have gardens. Either way, you’re helping something grow and sustain life.”

Bintliff is one of many Americans who have traded grocery stores’ produce bags for sacks of organic compost and started growing their own gardens. According to a National Gardening Association survey, members of 7 million more U.S. households plan to grow their own fruits, vegetables or herbs in 2009 than in 2008.

In Austin, at least 14 community gardens provide planting spaces where hundreds of Austinites grow a wide variety of produce, herbs and flowers, said Jessica Guffey, the director of Grow Local, a branch of the Sustainable Food Center. The center works closely with community gardens to educate citizens about the ins and outs of gardening and how to start a community garden.

“At this point in my life, I would love to have a garden, but I’m not at a place where I can own a house,” said Natalie London, the Alamo Community Garden’s new-member coordinator. “It’s really nice to have one location where you can build [a garden] and have those benefits and those long-term commitments of a garden.”

The Alamo garden has 25 plots where more than 40 people grow everything from cucumbers and green beans to rosemary and oregano. A full 20-by-20 growing area costs $50 per year to rent and a half-plot costs $30 per year.

The Campus Environmental Center is working with the UT administration to start a vegetable garden on campus. The group maintains a native plants garden, rose garden and planter near the Harry Ransom Center, where it grows rosemary and agave, said chemical engineering senior Stacey Louie, co-chairwoman of the gardening committee.

Louie said many students have approached the environmental group about starting an edible garden but that the bug sprays and pesticides used on campus would make the food dangerous to eat.

The environmental group is pushing for control over two gardens that will be planted around the new Student Activity Center, which is currently under construction, Bintliff said.
Bintliff said the biggest barrier for students who want to start a garden is space. Because many students live in dormitories or apartments, an on-campus garden could provide the only opportunity to grow their own food.

Sam Moore, assistant manager at Shoal Creek Nursery, said that limited space should not prevent students from experimenting with home growing. For about $25, Moore said, students could grow tomatoes, oregano, peppers, eggplant and herbs in basic pots on their apartment balconies.

Moore said the nursery has seen a 10 to 15 percent increase in herb and vegetable sales since this time last year.

Natural Gardener manager Lyda Guz said her gardening center has doubled its seed and compost from last year.

Guz said a 4-by-4 garden would cost about $60 to start, including the compost, soil additives and seeds. She suggested making compost by throwing kitchen scraps, leaves and plant clippings in a pile for about two months, stirring it weekly and keeping it moist.

“The best compost in the world is what you make at home,” Guz said.

More than veggies grow

Candace Wormsbecker was tending her carrots in a community garden when an elderly Chinese woman appeared at her side. With smiles and gestures, the woman demonstrated her own technique for thinning the rows and replanting the carrots that Wormsbecker had been throwing on the compost heap.

"She couldn’t speak English, but showed me what to do."

It’s that mixing of cultures and know-how that Wormsbecker likes best about community gardens.

She promotes such gardens for the non-profit group Opportunities Waterloo Region and is a member of the University of Waterloo Community Garden, located on university-owned land.

There, individual gardeners have their own small plots and communal gardeners work together on a larger piece of land.

"Our group is diverse. There are university professors, students, new immigrants, an overwhelming number of computer science people," says Wormsbecker.

Already this spring, the communal group has planted flats with seeds for peppers, tomatoes, eggplants, basil, squash, Mexican poblanos, a type of green chili pepper — all of which won’t go outside until they’re safe from frost.

In many areas, groups like Wormsbecker’s are starting to stir now that the earth is thawing. They’re surveying their little plots of borrowed earth, often tucked away in parts of parks, church grounds and private property. Soon, they’ll be growing, learning and maybe making a friend or two.

"To me, that garden is a little piece of heaven," says Violet Grimm of the Rosemount Millennium Community Garden. The garden, located beside its sponsor, Reformation Lutheran Church in Kitchener, donates some of the food it grows to charities.

"It’s in the city, but you feel like you’re in a different world," Grimm says.

There are at least 40 community gardens across Waterloo Region and in the Guelph area, some with clever names such as the Peace and Carrots Labyrinth and Community Garden. Another is called Weed’um and Reap.

In Guelph, about four community gardens have been started by neighbourhood groups on private lands. Another garden, the Guelph Enabling Garden in Riverside Park, has raised beds and other features to make it accessible to people of differing abilities.

There’s interest in doing more in Guelph. A new food roundtable in the city is to discuss community gardens and other food issues.

"There’s a lot of interest in community gardens right now and we’ve been hearing from a lot of residents who would like community gardens in various places," said Kelly Guthrie, community engagement co-ordinator with the City of Guelph.

As more people commit themselves to the environment, locally grown food and food security, interest in community gardens is gaining momentum.

Already, some Waterloo Region gardens have waiting lists. There’s interest in adding 15 more.

And at least four people have called the City of Kitchener to ask about its offer to provide up to $1,000 in money and in-kind services to help people wanting to start a community garden.

The benefits of community gardens go well beyond the produce, Wormsbecker says. Such gardens draw people of all ages, cultures, incomes and education levels outside to work. They have rules of conduct and schedules for sharing jobs. They make people appreciate their food and labour.

Community gardens make neighbourhoods safer, says Heather McDiarmid, co-ordinator of Victoria Hills Multicultural Community Garden in Kitchener.

She and her family have a garden at home, but also have plots at the community garden.

"We want to connect with people, with our neighbours," McDiarmid said. "When you know your neighbour, you feel more secure. It’s easier to trust."

At the Christopher Champlain Cultivating Community Garden in Cambridge, socializing is every bit as important as growing food and residents hope the 11-plot garden brings people of all generations together.

"We want food, but we really need the community to come together and not be isolated," said Joe-Ann McComb, executive director of Christopher Champlain Community Centre.

’To me, that garden is a little piece of heaven. It’s in the city, but you feel like you’re in a different world.’
VIOLET GRIMMRosemount Millennium Community Garden

AG Secretary Discusses Opportunities to Grow Own Food Through Gardening

HARRISBURG, Pa., April 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolff discussed the importance of home gardening and consumers growing their own food today as families face tighter budgets as he helped open a new community garden in Selinsgrove, Snyder County.


"Recently, there has been an increased interest in home gardening as consumers are trying to stretch their dollars," said Wolff. "Growing your own food is a great way to cut costs and local gardens decrease the distance food travels from farm to fork reducing carbon emissions and providing a nutrient-rich source of fresh fruits and vegetables.


"We also encourage gardeners to share their bounty by planting an extra row to donate to those with limited access to fresh produce through a local food bank."


Because not everyone has the space to plant a garden, community gardens are becoming more popular and widely available, particularly in urban and suburban areas.


"Thanks to community gardens, consumers are learning about agriculture, Pennsylvania's number one industry, by being in closer touch with where their food comes from," said Wolff.


The new gardening effort Wolff helped launch today -- the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture/Selinsgrove Community Gardens -- is on a seven-acre parcel of the department's 223-acre farm. The project is a partnership between the department, Penn State Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners, the Susquehanna River Coalition, and Susquehanna and Bucknell universities.

The USDA People’s Garden Expansion

Last December during the transition, President Obama made it clear that he was interested in planting a garden on the White House grounds to provide healthy food for the First Family.

In February, Secretary Vilsack jackhammered pavement and brought in truckloads of topsoil to add a small vegetable and flower patch to the existing garden at the USDA Jamie L. Whitten Building, on the National Mall. Suspicious of Vilsack’s background as governor of Iowa, home to King Corn, some critics in the food world looked upon his small initiative as a publicity stunt, but little did they know.

Last week, about a month after the First Lady brought in local school children and assistant White House chef Sam Kass to break ground for an organic garden on the South Lawn, Vilsack announced plans to dramatically expand his “People’s Garden” vision to the entire Whitten Building complex.

While he was in Iowa, celebrating Earth Day with President Obama, Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan, a leading advocate of organic agriculture, was joined by Joe Brings Plenty, chairman of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, to celebrate the contribution of Native Americans to American agriculture in the first phase of Vilsack’s big vision: a Three Sisters Garden of squash, beans, and Mandan-Hidatsa corn from the upper Missouri River.

According to staff, the Secretary has challenged all USDA facilities to plant their own People’s Gardens, but it may take the sprawling bureaucracy a while to implement his wish. Several Farm Service Administration state offices we contacted sheepishly admitted that they hadn’t yet gotten the memo. And Iowa FSA Acting State Executive Director Dennis Olson said, “We’ve been working so hard on the budget, we’ve got our hands full.” Olson might be permitted an indulgence: Farmers in his state have their hands full planting 13 million acres of corn this week.

Meanwhile, since Congress removed a provision from the stimulus package to clean up the Mall and plant new grass, there’s a lot of fertile land right outside Vilsack’s window. Both he and Michelle Obama might well be thinking: What better place for a farm?

Learn how to grow your own food May 2-3 at the Edible Plant Sale

Whether you're a master gardener, an enthusiastic novice or somewhere in between the two on the green thumb continuum, check out Seattle Tilth's Edible Plant Sale, May 2 and 3 at Wallingford's Meridian Park.

With First Lady Michelle Obama digging up the White House lawn to plant an organic garden, there's renewed enthusiasm around the country for growing food at home. Personally speaking, I find gardening -- along with the twinge of pride at the results -- one of the world's best stress relievers.

"People want to grow their own food because it gives them a feeling of accomplishment with tangible rewards, like fresh greens for your salad," says Seattle Tilth executive director Andrea Platt Dwyer.

"If you learn some gardening basics about what plants need and how to build healthy soil, then you can actually save money in your food budget, too. Plus, you tend to eat better."

According to Seattle Tilth's Liza Burke, the Edible Plant Sale offers one of the largest selections of organically and sustainably grown vegetable plants with an eye toward those that thrive in our mild maritime climate.

"We hand-select locally grown plants that will perform well in the Pacific Northwest," she says. "This includes over 50 varieties of tomatoes and 20 varieties of peppers, rare and heirloom veggie varieties, and an extensive selection of culinary herbs and edible flowers."

Gardening experts will be on hand to provide free presentations and compost demonstrations. Other highlights include children's activities, a Q&A booth and several fee-based classes, including "1, 2, 3 Grow a Garden" and "Container Veggie Gardening."

Private sanctuaries go public for the Colleyville Garden Club fundraiser

Special to the Star-Telegram

People were always stopping to look at the flowers along Mid-Cities Boulevard, a block west of Precinct Line Road. Sometimes they’d get out of their car to look. Sometimes they’d poke around hoping to find the owners to ask if they could check out the rest of the yard. It happened so often that Michael Makens, who runs a business from his home, finally had to put up a "Private Drive" sign at the foot of his entranceway.

But this weekend, Michael and Kik Makens’ yard will be open to the public for exploring.

It’s one of four residential gardens that will be on display for Promenade, the Colleyville Garden Club’s annual garden-tour fundraising event. The garden club uses the income for public-property beautification projects, as you would expect, but also for special projects such as gardening-therapy workshops for seniors in assisted living and Victory Garden boxes, which are sent to U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan to distribute to the local people as a goodwill gesture. Victory Garden boxes include items like spades, shovels, vegetable seeds and flower seeds, and this year the club sent 350 boxes to Kabul.

"People know about our tour, and a lot of people look forward to it. We have members stationed throughout the gardens who can answer general gardening questions. The homeowners are usually there to answer questions about the specific gardens," says Carol Wollin, club president. "Afterward, the nurseries are just crowded with people coming in asking for specific plants that they saw."

The garden:

301 Covington Way, Colleyville

The green thumbs: Karyn and Bruce Marshall, with the frequent assistance of sons Spencer and Alex

Grow and tell: The Marshalls have been gardening for 30 years, but two years ago, Karyn decided to switch to 100 percent organic gardening and took a series of classes. The result of the change in methods: The garden is lusher than ever.

Gone are chemical fertilizers and herbicides. In their place are organic products such as John’s Recipe and a microbial growth-encouraging compost tea, which Karyn purchases from a woman who makes it locally. It has to be a "living" tea to work, Karyn Marshall explains.

She uses companion plants that attract bugs away from more delicate plants as a way to deal with pests (which is why you’ll find a tomato plant among the roses).

Their yard is also now a certified wildlife habitat.

"In an organic environment, you create through the nutrients you put in your soil a very comfortable environment for your plants to grow. I get more butterflies now. I get hummingbirds galore. The amount of wildlife I have in my garden has increased significantly," Karyn Marshall says.

Words to grow on: "When you use chemicals, you’re creating an environment that you have to be on top of all the time."

Bloomin’ bonus: Colleyville Garden Club members will be manning education exhibits on tree-planting and composting at the Marshall’s house.

The garden:

308 Timberline Drive South, Colleyville

The green thumbs: Linda Larkin and Ken Owens

Grow and tell: The couple live on a large lot that used to be a pasture, which they’ve converted into multiple garden zones with a gazebo, a pergola, several decks and lots of seating areas.

"Our garden is kind of a working garden," Larkin says. "We’ve got 10 grandchildren, so it has to be very kid-friendly." With grandchildren in mind, there’s an area of the yard left open for throwing around a ball or playing croquet.

Larkin is an avid vegetable grower, and during the summer almost all of their vegetables are homegrown. This year she put in brussels sprouts, kale, several kinds of lettuce, spinach, cilantro, parsley, peppers, squash and tomatoes.

But beauty is the real payoff for Larkin, and she’s rapturous about roses. Linda got interested in Earth Kind roses about five years ago but since then has branched out to others. "The Earth Kind roses, other than the Knock Out roses, to me aren’t that pretty. If you’re going to put in that much work, you want it to look nice."

Linda says the garden "kind of spills all over itself."

Words to grow on: "Living in Texas is definitely different from living in Pennsylvania. You have to use a lot of mulch down here; you’ve got to be waterwise down here. And I don’t mean 2 inches of mulch, I mean 6 inches."

Bloomin’ bonus: The garden club is holding a plant sale at the Larkin/Owens yard, with the kinds of plants, perennials in particular, that you won’t usually find at big-box garden stores.

The garden:

8713 Cardinal Lane, North Richland Hills

The green thumbs: Michael and Kik Makens

Grow and tell: Although he grew up in Texas, Michael Makens developed an interest in native-plant gardening while going to school in Australia, hence the name of his landscape company: Walkabout Landscape.

He believes that the hard structure of the garden comes first, then the living elements. His large yard includes gravel walks, a dry-stack stone wall, stone seats, a windmill, a meditation pavilion, a stone bridge, an outdoor kitchen and a two-level outdoor room. A large rubber duck strikes a humorous note in a stream.

The vegetation includes lots of grasses. There are showy plants as well, such as antique and David Austin roses and California poppies.

Michael likes to use pecan shells as mulch. Another trick is annuals that will reseed themselves.

Wife Kik moved to America from Thailand five years ago, and her influence is seen in the herb garden, where she coaxes lemongrass, Thai basil, Thai chiles and other herbs to life. Kik gives Thai cooking classes in the outdoor kitchen using her homegrown herbs and vegetables.

Words to grow on: "Design, absolutely, is always first and foremost. I was telling the master gardeners a few weeks ago, 'Don’t talk to me about plants; talk to me about design.’ "

The garden:

2802 Summertree Lane, Colleyville

The green thumbs: Sheila and Jim Birth (with lots of help from Michael Makens)

Grow and tell: The Births are not expert gardeners, they will be the first to tell you. But they enjoy the outdoors and wanted a beautiful, low-maintenance yard in which to entertain or just escape from the world.

Five years ago they hired Walkabout Landscape to transform their yard from a traditional suburban grass-and-begonias yard into a low-maintenance "sanctuary." "As time progressed, they kept wanting to do more," Makens says. "We ended up tearing up all the typical foundational plantings, which is more like English-cottage, with a big emphasis on stonework. There are big stone columns with a wrought-iron entry."

While the front yard was full sun, the back yard "was part-shade to full-shade, with an existing canopy of trees." It now also includes a gravel path, a pergola, a dry creek bed, a fire pit and lots of shade-loving plants, both in the ground and hanging from baskets.

What it doesn’t contain is grass for Jim or Sheila to mow.

Words to grow on: Michael Makens says he designed the Births’ yard with the philosophy: "If you have to sit out here and baby it, forget it."

Bloomin’ bonus: The garden club will be selling raffle tickets at the Births’ house.

What's this flower doing in my food?

Frills have no place in home-cooked meals. These are intimate occasions where bones are meant to linger in stockpots and sustenance trumps style every time, where the offerings should facilitate lively chatter and encourage second helpings. So would edible flowers ever make it into the nightly repertoire? I don't think so.

But then the memory of a salad full of nasturtiums and borage springs to mind. On a chilly evening, the flowers made an ordinary green salad uncommon and an entire meal memorable. While charming, the edible flowers weren't merely ornamental. The nasturtiums were peppery and billowing and the sweet blue borage mild and cool. Colorful additions, they ultimately made us eat differently, slower and more deliberately. An ingredient with such effect surely has a place at table.

As a bounty of flowers is now in bloom, it seems the ideal time to explore their culinary value. In my garden at the Montalvo Arts Center in Saratoga, the nasturtium and borage plants are bright and full, and the lavender is perky. While broccoli went to seed a while back, its bright yellow flowers continue to make their way into our meals, holding their own particularly well with pasta, olive oil, pepper and Parmesan. Soon there will be flowers of thyme, sage, basil and rosemary.

Lots to play with — but how? I'm familiar with rose petal jam, elderberry fritters and stuffed squash blossom, but these feel somewhat fussy. How do restaurant chefs use these delicate offerings?


I didn't need to look far: Manresa, just down the road in Los Gatos, regularly incorporates edible flowers in its seasonal menus. Its signature dish Into the Vegetable Garden is a striking composition of flowers, herbs and greens that pays homage to the impeccable produce of its supplier, Love Apple Farms. In addition to a vast and exotic array of fruits and vegetables, Love Apple pays close attention to flavorful flowers. After all, as proprietor Cynthia Sandberg explains, Manresa Chef David Kinch loves them.

Tucked into the Santa Cruz Mountains, Love Apple is meticulously well kept, with patches of herbs and of wildflowers. To satisfy the restaurant's floral appetite, they also harvest from the vegetable crops on occasion. No precious petal is safe.

On the guided tour given to me one warm afternoon by Sara Lieber, an apprentice Love Apple farmer, we began with favas and worked our way down the vegetable plot. Favas grow as a cover crop on the farm, so sacrificing a flower was of little consequence. "We have more than enough favas," Lieber said, plucking off a sweet-looking, white-and-black flower. Its mild green flavor tasted of ... well, fava beans. Vegetable and herb flowers often taste of the plant's vegetable, though sometimes a milder version.

Next, there were pea flowers; they packed a surprisingly sweet punch and tasted of fresh raw peas. Their full, clean flavor lingered as we continued onto arugula. Love Apple grows arugula for its leaves, but once it goes to seed, it produces flowers that are sharp and peppery.

"Sometimes the restaurant uses these, but they're strong," Lieber said. Agreed, but they were wonderfully forceful little things.

In the herb patch, we went straight to the chervil and cilantro flowers to sample the delicate, intensely flavored umbels. "At the moment," Lieber said, "these are very popular with the cooks."

Next up, mild calendula petals, prized for their scent and bright orange color. Then there was borage, and theirs was different then any I'd had. A gorgeous fuchsia, it initially tasted of cucumber but ended with a spearmint note. There were violas, violets, pansies and roses, too. I was in sensory overload and eager to get cooking.

Returning to Montalvo, I was determined to create a three-course floral feast. With scents and flavors fresh in mind, I let fancy take hold and began with lavender, a favorite but pungent herb. It's an easy addition to poached fruits or syrups, but I'd never used it as a rub and wondered how it would pair with meat. Nicely, it turns out, especially with gamy duck and dried apricots. I've learned to use lavender cautiously, but the apricot and duck met lavender's lemony notes at a balanced halfway point.

Since duck was to be the main course, we'd start with something light. A flower salad with favas and ricotta? Why not? Nasturtiums and borage overflow in the garden. Tossed with Love Apple's beautiful pea shoots and flowers, they made a gorgeous salad mix. A gentle dressing of light olive oil, a sprinkle of fresh favas and sliced fresh ricotta would round it out.

For dessert, I played with Arabian jasmine, a favorite flower and fortunately edible — some jasmine varieties aren't. Often dried and used in teas, its honeydew scent seemed the perfect match for silky pot de crème. I threw jasmine flowers into the scalding cream and let it infuse off the heat for 30 minutes. Then I reheated the mixture and made the pot de crème as usual.

It was the most fun cooking I'd done in a while. How did it taste? Well, it encouraged lively chatter and second helpings.

Cooking with culinary herbs makes your dishes sing

There is nothing like fresh basil on a pizza, the aroma of a chicken roasting with sprigs of rosemary, or delicate chive blossoms decorating a summer salad. If you’ve never grown culinary herbs before, there are plenty of reasons you should. They are some of the easiest edible plants to grow, you will save money, and perhaps most importantly, your cooking will take on a whole new dimension.

“If you are new to herb gardening, a good way to begin learning about herbs is to think of fresh herbs as a kind of palette of paints to work with in the kitchen,” writes Rosalind Creasy in her book, “The Edible Herb Garden.” Fresh herbs provide maximum flavor with minimum effort. Herbs also make fabulous, aromatic garnish. So take a few minutes to think about how Mother Nature’s herbal treasures could spice up your cooking.
Planning your herb garden

Before you make a trip to the garden store, take some time to plan out your herb garden. First, consider your culinary tastes.

“Take a look in your spice rack to see what you are always running out of,” says Joanne Lopata, a Master Gardener with Washington State University Spokane County Extension Service. Which herbs would you like to experiment with? How much time do you have to spend in the garden? Lopata advises beginners to start small.

“Spokane is a challenging climate,” she says, referring to our short growing season and unpredictable weather.

Lopata recommends selecting three or four herbs, perhaps grouping them in tasteful combinations. A “spaghetti herb box” would include herbs that could be added to tomato sauce or olive oil such as sweet basil, Greek oregano, parsley and rosemary. Toss garden fresh sauce with pasta and dinner is ready.

If you are a tea lover, consider planting a “tea time box” with lemon verbena, lemon balm, chamomile, and cinnamon basil. A pizza lover’s herb garden might include anise, chives, oregano and cherry tomatoes. By thinking about which dishes you like to cook, you’ll be able to follow Lopata’s advice of “use the herbs you grow and grow the herbs you’ll use.”
Growing

Once you’ve decided which herbs you’d like to grow, it’s time to select a location for your garden. Keep in mind that many herbs are Mediterranean in origin and like six to eight hours of sun a day. Try to select a sunny location as close to your kitchen as possible.

Herbs can be planted in a bed of their own, or as part of a vegetable or flower garden. “You’ll want to amend the soil with organic material to provide good nutrients and drainage,” Lopata says.

Keeping in mind that the average last day of frost is May 15, think about starting your herb garden in mid-May or early June. Test the soil by grabbing a handful. If it clumps together, it’s too wet.

If you have limited space, you might want to consider a container herb garden. Herbs will grow in just about any kind of container, from a rusty old wheelbarrow to a collection of pots and metal pails. Just make sure to drill some holes in the bottom for drainage, and use only potting soil in your containers. Chives, parsley, rosemary, dill and basil grow well in containers.

You can start your herbs by planting seeds directly in the ground, or by planting starts. While starting herbs indoors gives you a jump on our short growing season, some herbs such as fennel don’t transplant well. Anise, basil, chamomile, dill, borage, calendula, chives, chervil, parsley and sage are among some of the herbs that grow well from direct seeding. Follow the instructions on the seed packet, but “don’t plant the whole seed packet in case of crop failure,” Lopata says. By reserving some seeds, you will be able to re-seed if something doesn’t go quite right.

Lopata prefers to seed her herbs directly into the garden. “I don’t start mine inside. I’ve had too many failures,” she says. If you are transplanting starts into your garden, remember to harden them off by putting the plants out for a few hours a day and bringing them in at night.
Cooking with herbs

In “The Edible Herb Garden,” Creasy likens her experience of cooking with herbs to “cooking in full color and stereo” as opposed to black and white. She loves the added flavor herbs provide, and notes that “another incentive is that cooking with herbs can be a very healthful way to add excitement to meals,” without added salt and fat.

The best time to harvest herbs is in the early morning. Don’t wash the herbs until you are ready to use them. Pick a variety of herbs and keep the bouquet in a jar of water, either on your kitchen counter or in the refrigerator, Creasy suggests.

If you’re not used to cooking with fresh herbs, start with a small amount. They will change the texture and taste of your cooking pretty significantly and you don’t want to overwhelm the dish you’re making or your audience.

For hot dishes, add the herbs in the last few minutes of cooking, as the flavor of fresh herbs is lost by extended cooking. For cold foods, such as marinades and dips, add the herbs several hours ahead of time, allowing the flavors to develop in the refrigerator.

Fresh herbs can replace dried herbs in just about any recipe, but remember that dried herbs have a stronger flavor. If your recipe calls for one teaspoon of dried herbs, you will need to use two or three teaspoons of the fresh herb as an equivalent.
Herbal beverages

Making your own tea from homegrown herbs can be satisfying, soothing and much cheaper than buying it at the grocery store. Popular herbs for tea include chamomile, mint, lemon verbena, cinnamon basil and lemon balm. Rinse your teapot with hot water and add one handful of fresh herbs, followed by a quart of boiling water. Allow the tea to steep for 3 to 5 minutes (do not over-steep or the tea could be bitter). Strain into cups and serve with lemon, sugar or honey. For a refreshing iced tea, double the amount of herbs and pour the tea over ice after brewing.

If you fancy something a little stronger than tea, try an herb martini: two ounces of vodka, a splash of dry vermouth and a handful of Italian herbs. Fill a martini shaker with crushed ice, add the herbs and muddle well. Add the vodka and dry vermouth, shake, and then strain into a martini glass.

You can also make flavored vodka by adding one to two tablespoons of coarsely chopped fresh lavender, mint or rosemary to two cups of high quality vodka and letting it sit a room temperature for a day or two. “Drinking flavored vodkas, like using flavored vinegars and oils, is a way to enjoy the fresh taste of some of humanity’s favorite herb flavors,” Creasy writes.
Preserving herbs

Lopata says drying herbs is the most common method of preserving them. Do not dry herbs in direct sunlight, she says, they will lose flavor and may become discolored. Instead, find a warm, dark room with good air circulation, perhaps a laundry room.

Either tie the herbs in bunches and hang them up, or lay them flat on a tray. It will take about a week to dry, depending on the herb. You will know they are properly dried when the leaves are crackly. For the best flavor, try to keep the leaves in tact and crumble the herbs into the dish when you are cooking.

“Sage, thyme, savory, dill and parsley dry well in the microwave,” Lopata says. Put several stems of herbs on a double layer of paper towel, cover with a single layer of paper towel and microwave on high for two to three minutes. You might need to experiment with your microwave and each specific herb. Make sure to label the herbs as you go, as you might not recognize them after they dry. Store dried herbs in glass jars and plan to use within one year.

“Although dried herbs maintain good color and flavor, freezing fresh herbs offers the most success for fresh flavor,” Lopata says. It is also the quickest method of preserving them for later use. Herbs that freeze well include basil, parsley, sweet marjoram, fennel, dill, chervil, thyme, chives, tarragon and mint. Although the color and texture will change, the herbs will still be full of flavor and suitable for cooking. Lopata suggests washing the herbs and shaking them dry, removing the leaves from the stem (chop large leaves if desired), and placing the herbs in tightly sealed freezer bags.

Another way to freeze fresh herbs is to place chopped herbs into ice cube trays filled with water, or put them in a blender with a little olive oil and pour into ice cube trays. You can also blend chopped herbs into softened butter, freeze in ice cube trays and use the thawed herb butter cubes on vegetables. The herbs frozen in water are perfect to add to soups or stews. Plan to use frozen herbs within six months.
Herb vinegars

“Preserving in vinegar is one of the best ways to keep the flavor of basil over the winter. Use a wide-mouth jar to make it easy to add the herbs” Creasy writes.

She recommends using white wine or rice wine vinegar for milder herbs, and red wine vinegar for more pungent herbs such as oregano and rosemary. You can use flavored vinegars in salads, marinades or any recipe that calls for vinegar.

To make herb vinegar, use about ½ cup of fresh herbs for each pint of vinegar. Place the herbs in a clear glass bottle, add the vinegar and close with a tight fitting lid. Place in a sunny window for two weeks, turning frequently. At the end of two weeks, strain the vinegar and return to the bottle, adding a fresh sprig of herb for decoration.

Here are some recipes to try with your first harvest.
Classic Pesto

From “The Edible Herb Garden,” by Rosalind Creasy, who recommends serving this pesto over fettucine and adding cooked snap green beans with the noodles.

3 garlic cloves

2 cups fresh basil leaves

¼ cup pine nuts or walnuts

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

¾ cup extra virgin olive oil

½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

In a blender or food processor, combine the garlic, basil leaves, nuts, salt, pepper and half the oil. Puree, slowly adding the remaining oil.

Transfer the mixture to a bowl and add the grated cheese, mixing thoroughly. Use immediately or cover with plastic wrap, as basil pesto turns brown if exposed to air. If you are going to serve this pesto over pasta, you might need to add a few tablespoons of cooking water to the pesto to make it the right consistency for the pasta.

Yield: About 1 ¼ cups.
Herb Baked Chicken

Courtesy of WSU Spokane County Extension

2 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken breast

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

¼ teaspoon dried oregano

¼ teaspoon dried ground rosemary

¼ teaspoon dried ground marjoram

3 tablespoons oil

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Place the chicken pieces in a baking dish sprayed with nonstick spray. Mix salt, pepper and herbs in a small bowl. Brush chicken with oil and sprinkle with seasoning mix. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes.

Yield: 6 to 7 servings.
Couscous with Grilled Summer Vegetables and Herbs

From “The Naked Chef Takes Off,” by Jaime Oliver. The couscous in this recipe is not boiled or steamed, but soaked in water, giving it a slight bite and an interesting texture.

9 ounces couscous

1 1/3 cups cold water

3 red bell peppers

1 handful of asparagus, trimmed and peeled if necessary

2 or 3 small firm zucchini or patty pan squash, sliced

1 small bunch of scallions, trimmed and finely sliced

2-4 fresh red chilies, seeded and finely sliced

3 good handfuls of mixed fresh herbs (basil, cilantro, mint, flat-leaf parsley)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Red wine vinegar

Olive oil and lemon juice dressing:

10 tablespoons olive oil

4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Place the couscous in a bowl with the cold water. This will start to soften the couscous and the water will disappear. While the couscous softens, blacken the peppers by placing them directly on a gas flame or under the broiler. Turn the peppers so all sides are blackened. Place the blackened peppers in a sandwich bag or in a covered bowl for 5 minutes to make the peppers easier to peel. Remove the skins and seeds and roughly chop.

On a very hot skillet, lightly char the asparagus and squash on both sides, then toss them into the bowl of couscous with the peppers, scallions, chilies, and torn herbs. Mix well.

Add the olive oil and lemon juice dressing and toss well. Finally, taste and season with salt and pepper and a couple of dribbles of red wine vinegar.

Yield: 4 servings.
Savory Mashed Potatoes with Garden Herbs

From “The Edible Herb Garden.”

2 to 2 1/2 pounds Yukon Gold or Russet-type potatoes (approximately 4 large potatoes), peeled and cut into quarters

2 garlic cloves

1/2 cup milk

1/3 cup heavy cream

4 tablespoons butter

1 1/2 teaspoons finely snipped fresh chives

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley

1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh tarragon

Dash of nutmeg

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a large saucepan, cover the potatoes and garlic with water and boil for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. Be careful not to overcook them. Drain off the water.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, heat the milk and cream. When the mixture is hot but not boiling, add the butter and continue heating until the butter has melted. Force the potatoes and garlic through a ricer or mash in a bowl until smooth. Place the potatoes in a large saucepan and over medium heat. Slowly stir in the warm milk mixture with a spoon until it has a creamy texture. Fold in the herbs. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Yield: 4 servings.
Yogurt Herb Dip

Courtesy of WSU Spokane County Extension

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1 tablespoon snipped fresh dill

1 tablespoon snipped fresh chives

1 tablespoon snipped fresh parsley

1 large clove garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Vegetable dippers, such as carrot and celery sticks, cauliflower and broccoli florets

In a small bowl, stir together the yogurt, dill, chives, parsley, garlic, salt and pepper. Cover and chill for one to 24 hours. Serve with the vegetable dippers. You can add a bit of low-fat sour cream or mayonnaise for a less tangy taste.

Blogosphere abloom about gardens

With the economy still struggling, an old trend is making a comeback: vegetable gardens. Consumers are reading up on gardening practices, buying tools and planting seeds in hopes of reaping the bounty early this fall, and saving money on groceries. BuzzLogic took a look at the social Web to see what kinds of gardening topics are being discussed.

• Because of the news buzz around the White House's new vegetable garden, BuzzLogic took a look at conversations about “Obama” and “garden.” Thirty-three percent of the influencers mention Michelle Obama, the driving force behind the White House garden, while another 30% mention “garden grants”, which are being offered to youth organizations and schools by the National Gardening Association. The influential blogs for the White House garden conversation include Treehugger, Re-Nest, and The Kitchn. Influence is determined by more than a dozen criteria, including linking activity.

• Looking at conversations around “organic gardening” BuzzLogic found that three of the top 10 most influential blog posts referred to the White House garden. Forty percent of influencers talk about organic vegetables, while 10% use the term “just for hippies” in their posts. We know it's not just hippies growing organic vegetables today, and the practice is gaining steam. Influential blogs on this topic include: Like Cool, Take Part, and Apartment Therapy.

• The phrase “backyard garden” is a very popular string in the social Web now as consumers plan the contents of their gardens. Among the conversations around “backyard garden,” 75% of influencers discussed two types of gardens: “victory garden,” a term used during the first two World Wars by the US government to encourage Americans to plant gardens in support of the war efforts and “pizza gardens,” a popular garden plan which includes oregano, basil, parsley, tomatoes, peppers, and onions. Regardless of the type of garden consumers are planning, we are definitely in the midst of an old trend becoming hot again.

• BuzzLogic also looked at conversations that included the terms “garden,” “home,” and “vegetables” to see if we could get more clarity around the hot veggies for the summer. What BuzzLogic found was that 25% of the influencers are talking about food prices, a driving force behind the trend of home gardens. BuzzLogic also found that 23% are talking about canning vegetables, another tradition of years gone by that has picked up steam as consumers look to cut food costs in this down economy.

• In conversations about “garden” and “tools,” 21% of the influencers are discussing the very important “hand tools” and 8% are discussing how to clean the tools. Discovery's PlanetGreen blog has the most influential post on the subject, listing the five most essential tools for organic gardening.

Consumers continue to find ways to save money, especially on necessities like food, and are searching for advice and ideas on the Web. PR and marketing executives have a unique opportunity to target consumers on the sites where they are searching for gardening advice, and can tailor messages accordingly. Understanding how consumer behavior is changing in this economy, in addition to the new activities consumers are adopting, can help hone messages to speak to current consumer behaviors and more effectively target the audience.

Going green isn't easy for greenhorns

This is why the pickings are both slim and remarkable at the first few farmers markets in May.

Brian and Kelly Smith had hoped to have a van full of beets, baby bok choy, lettuces and fresh flowers ready for Saturday, the first day of the 2009 Village Pointe Farmers Market.

They'd hoped to have a full roost of heritage breed chickens at home by now, laying enough eggs at least for the family.

They'd hoped to have enough mature flowers to sell bouquets by Mother's Day.

They ordered seed. They planted early. They kept the greenhouse above 30 degrees. They sent for chicks when there was still snow on the ground.

Ah, but nature has other plans -- especially for those new to this whole farming thing.

This quirky, earth-conscious 30-something couple -- he's 32, she's 31 -- grew up in Omaha, a few miles from vast commodities farms and at least two generations removed from diversified farming.

The closest Brian got to a farm as a kid was a visit to Boys Town. Kelly's grandparents ran a nursery and she has loved flowers since she was young, but she didn't know or really care where her food came from until she and Brian had a family. They began to worry about all the sugar, corn syrup and chemicals their kids were eating.

The family switched to mostly organic foods in the fall of 2005 and began growing vegetables in their backyard. After volunteering at the Village Pointe Farmers Market one summer and supplying their own farmers market booth last year, they traded their house in Benson for a rented farm in northwestern Douglas County in October.

What they call Black Sheep Farms is based on 76 acres near Bennington that has been farmed in some fashion for a century.

They have one Foursquare house cluttered with toys, a weathered barn and granary full of implements they don't know how to use, a chicken coop, a gasheated greenhouse, a small orchard and about a quarter of an acre of gardens they will sow and work by hand. They'll have help from three sons, one dog, two cats -- and 17 investor families who will share the risk and the harvest of their new CSA (community supported agriculture) business.

They didn't quit their day jobs. (He manages the Web site for an Omaha-based Hawaiian shirt company called Mad Gringo and runs a marketing and consulting business that had him driving a "monster'' car to promote a touring Broadway musical this spring. She was, until funding cutbacks in February, communications coordinator for the Nebraska Recycling Association. She still volunteers with the Green Omaha Coalition and home-schools their three inquisitive, ink-haired boys: 9-year-old Sam, 7-year-old Jackson and 3-year-old Comet.)

They took copious notes during their first run at the farmers market last year. And they have access to what they call the "Bob Steffen Library.'' (The late Steffen was their farm's former owner, a founding member of the Nebraska Sustainable Agriculture Society, a longtime steward of the farm at Boys Town and a local pioneer in organic farming whose books remain in the house.)

But they're learning as they go. Boy, are they learning.

For example:

Vegetable and flower seeds that haven't been genetically modified do not just fall from the sky. Brian soon finds there's an entangled web of seed sellers: A vegetable catalog might entice with its pretty gourmet varieties but get its supplies from Burpee, which gets some seed from Seminis which is owned by Monsanto. If you want non-genetically-modified seeds and to avoid supporting Monsanto, a giant in the world of genetically engineered seed, you will have to dig quite a lot before you do any actual digging.

Said seeds also do not sprout on their own in the middle of winter. Or in early spring, when the ground is alternately waterlogged or frozen. Or even in a greenhouse with a planting zone the Smiths have yet to determine.

Ants eat some -- like the beets that Kelly has planted three times now or those Mother's Day flowers. The bugs happily hibernated all winter in the chemicalfree greenhouse.

The cinnamon a fellow gardener suggested made the greenhouse smell good but didn't deter the beady little buggers. The ground fossilized seashells she got from a local garden center didn't stick to the ants' skin and shred them as hoped. The greenhouse's lone frog and Kelly's overworked smashing thumb didn't seem to make a dent in the ant army. Nor did putting the most ant-ridden seed flats outside during a frost.

And every time Kelly waters, the seashell stuff turns to chalky gunk.

So she keeps replanting and putting the seed packs atop the warm greenhouse water barrels, which the ants don't like for some reason.

Lost seedlings are one thing; baby chicks are another.

They ordered 33 chickens -- Phoenix, Cuckoo Marans, Red Leghorns, White Wyandottes and others. Despite heat lamps and a makeshift "chicken hospital'' in the living room, half died within two days. So did two-thirds of the replacement order.

The kids weren't as upset as Kelly.

"This one's dead, too,'' Comet, the precocious 3-year-old, said almost nonchalantly as the days and deaths wore on.

By the time an overnight marauder (possibly a weasel) got eight, a daytime marauder (definitely a weasel) snagged two and the Smiths' golden retriever chomped on two more, the Smiths were left with 16 chickens, including one featherlegged Black Brahma they call Legwarmers. Kelly's learned to put the dog on the leash during "chicken recess'' -- when the chickens leave the coop to peck at the grass, the grubs and the wild purple violas and give themselves dust baths.

The hens are still a few months from laying eggs. And though some fellow poultry farmers tell the Smiths they could start butchering the males now, they still seem too small.

The Smiths are not sure how many of the ordered breeds they ultimately got. A handful of unidentified white extras, with red marker on their heads, were tucked in their delivery box "for extra warmth.''

What they do know is that roosters don't automatically know how to crow -- and they don't rehearse just in the early morning.

"I always thought it was just at dawn,'' says Kelly. "But they take turns off and on throughout the day.''

Jackson has taken to imitating the roosters.

Even the outdoor "tomcat'' they got from friends in the city surprised them. They thought Hardy was a boy -- until "he'' had a litter of kittens last week.

This is not easy or certain work even for skilled gardeners and farmers.

It is harder still for two city slickers learning the ropes while raising three children.

Barring pests and pestilence, they think -- hope? -- they'll have some cut tulips, a few bedding plants (tomatoes and flowers the ants didn't get), and some assorted greens ready in time for Saturday's market.

Their first winter and early spring on the farm have been filled with second-guessing: Did we plant enough flowers? Is there enough mache for our family to both eat and sell? How many CSA shares can we really support? Will we have enough to get a good-sized box of produce and flowers to investors each week? Should we fence the chickens? Will pumpkins grow on the other side of the creek? Where on earth will we put all these seedlings as the outdoor garden space fills up? Have we done the right thing?

These first few months also have involved great whiffs of freedom and a sense of carpe diem.

They can work in the greenhouse at their leisure, whenever they need a little warmth, or late in the evening after the kids are in bed. They live somewhat by the weather: They can sleep in on a rainy day, but they have to take advantage of a break in the clouds for outdoor planting and

trellis-building. They can sit on the back porch and listen for the woodpecker or the pheasant. They can take complete joy in the first green onion and garlic tops poking through the soil.

And when they've done all the planning and sowing and watering and ant-squashing they can do, they have only to wait and hope and watch the kids grow while the plants try to do the same.

Grow a pizza garden

Connecting the land to the food that we eat is one of the reasons that Jo Wurl and Penny Murphy decided to present a class at the Maud Preston Palenske Memorial Library in St. Joseph about growing a pizza garden.

Wurl, who is the children's librarian there, had read several books about pizza and pizza gardens.

"I know Penny," she says about Murphy, who owns Ma's Organics, an organic farm on Benton Center Road. "And I know she's done some programs for adults at the library, so I asked her to do one on growing a pizza garden."

Using the book "Grow Your Own Pizza! Gardening Plants and Recipes for Kids" by Constance Hardesty, which is available at the library, the class, which was for both adults and children, included Wurl reading books about pizzas such as "Rocky Bobocky the Pizza Man" by Emily Ellison and doing a flannel board story on the book "Cheese Pizza."

Then the families began planting seeds in egg cartons filled with soil.

"Everything we put on pizzas we put in their little gardens," says Murphy, "including oregano, basil, onions, tomatoes, sweet peppers and broccoli. We also gave them some chive plants to take home."

Because Ma's is an organic farm, all the seedlings and soil were organic.

"At this point, whether they stay organic depends on how they choose to treat them," says Murphy, noting that she learned about organic farming from her grandmother.

"My grandmother didn't know the word organic from squat, but she knew that the new stuff couldn't be good for you," says Murphy, who started selling produce from her organic farmstead seven years ago. "We had this piece of ground that was just going to waste, so we decided to do something with it. So for three years we planted cover crops and turned them down to build the soil. Then we started growing, and we had a lot, so we decided to see if the garden could pay for itself, and, by golly, the first year it did, with a tiny little profit, and every year it's gotten better with more customers and more people finding find us."

Both Wurl and Murphy think that it's important for children to learn about growing and how fresh grown impacts the flavor of the foods we eat, and that's why designing an edible landscape is so important. It also teaches them how to cook and gives them the joy of bring food from the garden to the kitchen table.

In her book, "Grow Your Own Pizza! Gardening Plants and Recipes for Kids," Constance Hardesty writes that pizza is one of those foods that always taste great.

"This recipe makes 12 pieces, so invite some friends to a pizza party from your own pizza garden," she says. She offers the following recipe, tools and ingredients needed to get going.

Tools needed: vegetable brush, paper towels, paring knife and cutting board, several bowls (cereal bowls are good), scissors, cookie sheet, mixing spoon, can opener, table knife and pot holder.

Ingredients from your garden:

3 small tomatoes or 1 large one

1 clove of garlic

12 basil leaves

(Whatever else you grew: 4 oregano leaves, 1 sprig parsley, 1 sweet red pepper, 2 small onions and as much as you like of other favorites)

From the market:

1 pizza crust (packaged in a roll in the refrigerated section of the market)

8-ounce can tomato sauce

2 cups mozzarella cheese

Wash and dry all the veggies and herbs.

Cut out the button on the top of each tomato. Cut the tomatoes in half from top to bottom, then hold them, cut side down, over the sink and squeeze gently until most of the seeds fall out. Chop the tomatoes into small pieces, and put them in a bowl.

Using scissors, cut the herbs into small pieces. Toss the snipped herbs with your fingers to mix them.

Chop the veggies into small pieces. Put each veggie in a different bowl.

Spread the pizza crust in a pan according to the instructions on the package.

Put one clove of garlic on the cutting board and crush it with the back of the spoon. Pick off the papery pieces and set them aside.

Pick up the smashed pieces of garlic and rub them over the whole pizza crust.

Spread a thin layer of tomato sauce all over the pizza crust.

Using the table knife, draw lines in the tomato sauce to mark off 12 equal-size pieces.

Put different pizza toppings in each square. Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese on top.

Bake the pizza at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.

"'Grow Your Own Pizza' shows you how to grow great-tasting food the natural way, without chemicals," explains Hardesty. Though the book is designed as an activity resource book for school children, www.farmersmarketonlin.com explains that the text is also a handy guide for adult gardeners and family cooks. The gardening advice is well grounded and the recipes are simple, but interesting.

Information in the book includes the mapping out of nearly two dozen garden plots, with varietal recommendations and cultivation tips included. The plans are organized into sections as Easy, Medium or Advanced to match the development and gardening interest level of each youngster. To make things even easier, no large garden plots are required for any of these plans; most can be grown in containers, flower beds or small garden plots. Basic gardening tools, such as a shovel and rake, are sufficient. Hardesty, who is an instructor at the Denver Botanic Gardens, also provides tips for gardens and kitchens which make gardening and cooking fun for any age group.

MassHort presents Wednesday evening series

Beginning in April and continuing through June, the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, better known as MassHort, will offer a weekly series of talks and workshops aimed at the home gardener and amateur horticulturalist. The series, ‘Wednesday Evenings at Elm Bank’ will bring experts from fields as diverse as container gardening and designing habitats that attract butterflies.

All talks will be held at Elm Bank and begin at 6 p.m. The entrance to Elm Bank is on the Natick/Wellesley line on Route 16.

“It’s an opportunity for the home gardener to brush up their skills or to learn some new ones,” said Holly Perry, who is coordinating the event for MassHort. “We’ve gathered a group of experts who are all first-rate presenters who also have an extraordinary depth of knowledge of their subject matter. Anyone who wants to be a better gardener will find this series very valuable.”

On April 29, MassHort’s Joe Kunkel will talk about growing and using herbs. Kunkel spent several decades in the commercial nursery business and will offer very valuable advice on choosing and growing herbs in eastern Massachusetts’ fickle climate.

On May 6, Kerry Ann Mendez brings her program, “Three Seasons of Color in the Garden,” to Elm Bank. Mendez, a garden designer from upstate New York, will share her tricks of the trade for putting a “wow” factor into your home garden month after month. She’ll also discuss smart plant selection, design tips and surefire maintenance shortcuts. This program begins at 7 p.m.

On May 13, Master Gardener Betty Sanders will provide timely advice on vegetable gardening with her popular program, “Planning, Preparing and Planting the Vegetable Garden.” Sanders will show why it’s worth thinking through a garden before rushing out to buy seeds and plants.

Other programs will follow each week, and will explore container gardening, using bulbs in a mixed border, and creating floral bouquets using the blooms from you own garden. The Massachusetts Horticultural Society’s Web site, www.masshort.org, provides a complete list of topics and dates.

The early evening is also a terrific time to explore Elm Bank’s gardens as they evolve from late spring into their summer richness. MassHort invites seminar attendees to come early.

Individual sessions are $10 for MassHort members and $15 for nonmembers.

The First Lady's First 100 Days

If, as the West Wing correctly contends, the first 100 days of a new Administration is not an accurate gauge by which to judge a new president's abilities and success, it is a grossly unfair way to assess a First Lady. That said, only the most rigid of traditionalists or activists could assess Michelle Obama with anything less than an "A" grade as the new First Lady.

Everything about Michelle Obama stems from her authenticity. Anyone thrust into global celebrity status has to figure out how much of who they really are as a private person they are willing to put out there as a public persona. The less distance there is between person and persona, the less internal conflict. That relaxes an individual and gives them a confidence not to be confused with arrogance or egotism. Lifestyle editors with lipstick and hair dye to market can fixate all they want on Michelle Obama's sweaters or necklaces, but the trademark that genuinely defines her is so simple as to have seemingly evaporated from public life: she doesn't perceive herself as any less important or any more important than anyone else.

No one day of the first one-hundred better illustrated this than April 1, when she met the Queen of England in the morning and a London school of largely immigrant, working-class girl students in the afternoon. At the first event, Michelle reciprocated a universal sign of warmth. As the Queen spontaneously slipped her arm behind the First Lady's back to pat her, the latter did the same to the former. How absurd our cartoon celebrity world has become that it took such a small, unconscious gesture to stun the world back into remembering that despite the labels they wear (and I don't mean clothes), these two people are first and foremost human beings who eat, sleep and respond.

The morning at Buckingham Palace, however, can't be fully appreciated without considering her afternoon speech at an Islington, England girl's school with 90 percent of the student body from ethnic minorities. It may not have been the first time she strove to impress on kids from backgrounds devoid of privilege how they can, in fact, alter their fate by focusing on their education, specifically, and develop themselves, generally, but it was the way she said it that had full force. Looking into the faces of the students, she recognized the emotional impact her visit was having on them -- while, simultaneously, it so affected her that her voice quavered and cracked. It may have been the moment when she had proof of just how much influence she can flex. Her remarks, in part:

All of you are jewels, you are precious and you touch my heart. And it is important for the world to know that there are wonderful girls like you all over the world...It doesn't matter whether you come from a consulate state or a country estate, we need strong, smart confident young women to stand up and take the reins. I want you to know we have very much in common. For nothing in my life's path would have predicted that I'd be standing here as the first African-American First Lady of the United States of America. I wasn't raised with wealth or resources or any social standing to speak of....You too can control your own destiny. Please remember that. If you want to know the reason why I'm standing here, it's because of education....The men in my life taught me some important things as well. They taught me about what a respectful relationship should look like between men and women, they taught me about what a strong marriage feels like.

What she did at these events globally, she'd already been doing for weeks domestically -- providing a palpable sense of accessibility to the public. Michelle Obama appears to understand what working-class people who strive towards the meritocracy encounter along the way simply because she's one of them. Shared values and burdensome experiences connect the public to its leaders and it has provoked the groundswell of support for Michelle Obama. It matters less that the huge debt she lived with for years was a result of Ivy League college and law school educations, and more that she knows what those sleepless nights of fear worrying how to pay it of are like. There's an analogous example of how, during the Depression, Eleanor Roosevelt served meals that cost only two cents per guest and publicly disseminating the recipes, and during World War II instituted the same food rationings for the First Family that every family adhered to. The fact that she came from wealth and privilege seemed moot. Besides being "of the people" Michelle Obama has hit the right balance point in not only fulfilling traditional obligations like accepting the annual congressional wives luncheon invitation (which she attends tomorrow) or presiding over ceremonies like the 131-year old Easter Egg Roll, conveying not only gusto but as much regality as democracy allows.

The most immediate way of striking a balance between "Queen and commoner" is turning the palace where she lives over to the people who own it. Pat Nixon, for example, opened the grounds to the public twice a year, ordered the holiday-decorated mansion open at night for those who worked during the day, and instituted the first public tours for those who were disabled, deaf, blind, and did not speak English. Michelle Obama has sought to build a bridge between the White House and the various urban communities that comprise the District of Columbia. Several times in the last one-hundred days she's sought out local public school groups to come to the White House, inviting cooking classes into the kitchen as the first large dinner hosted by the Administration was being prepared, grammar school kids in for an African-American History Month presentation, and another to help her launch the vegetable garden on the South Lawn.

In her first days as First Lady, Michelle Obama stated her intentions of raising attention to and grappling with solutions for problems facing military families, a balance between work and family obligations of women, and encouraging public service. However, her efforts to inspire and encourage a sense of commitment to educational excellence in the Washington public schools may also prove to be the kernel of another project. Lady Bird Johnson focused her initial "beautification" efforts in Washington, D.C. with urban renewal, landscaping, summer jobs programs and renovating schoolyards and city park projects; it served as a pilot for which different cities later adapted aspects that addressed their unique deficiencies. Similarly, Michelle Obama's inspiring and leading local schoolchildren towards a new perception of he value of education may somehow encourage similar efforts under her sponsorship in places like Detroit, Miami, Los Angeles and Boston.

The unusual level of political experience among Mrs. Obama's East Wing staff also suggests that other facts may also be hard at work these last one-hundred days and many more to come. Before a First Lady can wisely announce a specific agenda or goal, her staff needs to explore the best ways of achieving it -- whether as a part of forthcoming proposed administration legislation, or through a private foundation established under the First Lady's sponsorship. There may also be an ad-hoc network already in existence throughout the country with the same objectives that might be pulled together to work in tandem with her. The worst thing Michelle Obama could do would be to prematurely announce under media pressure some specific goal without a realistic blueprint for achieving it. Given her cautious, rational approach to resolving issues, that seems unlikely.

It may not be unreasonable, however, to find Michelle Obama taking on more issues soon enough. Perhaps just after Labor Day, when her children are in school after summer vacation and some time has passed to begin assessing the impact of the President's stimulus package, it is likely we may see the First Lady adopt some aspects of his domestic agenda that especially speak to her and perhaps serve as a spokesperson or advocate, maybe even testifying before Congress as have Laura Bush, Hillary Clinton, Rosalynn Carter, Eleanor Roosevelt and, as former First Ladies, Betty Ford and Nancy Reagan. It may also prove that she will draw on some of her varied professional experiences (remember, she eagerly left a law career for one in community service) to help shepherd some component of an administration domestic agenda. Consider her effectiveness as a University of Chicago Hospital official in getting its doctors and other medical professionals to staff local clinics which served those un-insured and under-insured local residents who'd come to rely on the hospital's emergency room for basic medical care. In some measure, large or small, symbolic or substantive, she could help foster part of the health care reform solutions.

***

That Michelle Obama has already earned the status of a global role model within her first one-hundred days as First Lady may not only be her greatest achievement to date but is all the more astounding when you more closely examine how little time she really has had to prepare for her position.

A president has at least a year before his Inauguration to parse and inform his views, propose policy he'll promise to enact, even assemble a basic brain trust of advisors to take to the White House. He's ready -- and expected to be -- on day one as chief executive.

Were Michelle Obama or Cindy McCain, during the 2008 campaign, to have expended time articulating what issues they'd address as First Lady instead of advancing their spouses' candidacies, they'd be labeled as presumptuously arrogant. In truth, few do focus on what they'd do -- the first goal is getting the husband elected. But if a presidential transition involves getting the personnel and policy pieces in place to be up and running on January 21, a First Lady's transition is just about catching up so they can both make the move.

For First Ladies it means quitting their jobs and handing their professional responsibilities over to a successor (before the modern working-wives Obama and Clinton there was teacher Eleanor Roosevelt and newspaper manager Florence Harding) or turning family finance and real estate management over to a blind trust (which, interestingly, has often been the responsibility not of presidents but their wives, examples including Mamie Eisenhower, Lady Bird Johnson, and Rosalynn Carter).

There's the closing up of their household, selling or renting a house, or if using it as a getaway -- what to take to Washington, what to leave and what to put in storage, and what White House rooms and areas they will use to eat, sleep, cook, relax, study and entertain. In rare instances like that of Michelle Obama (Carter and Clinton being the most recent other examples), as the mother of pre-teenage children, there is the immediate need to find a new school for them and ensure their emotional security throughout such a radical move.

Then there's are the public and media expectations -- print and broadcast interviews with the president-elect and on their own, approving official Inaugural events, committing to which ones they'd attend and what designer and what clothes they'll wear to all of these. Perhaps more important than anything is going through the process of assembling a professional staff consisting of a chief of staff, and heads of press, scheduling, projects, correspondence divisions. In between all of this are the holidays -- Thanksgiving just three weeks after election day and New Year's just three weeks before the Inauguration.

Michelle Obama not only dealt with all of this with crisp efficiently (certainly her mother helped enormously behind-the-scenes) but flowed smoothly into the First Lady position. She ranks among the very few who strode without stumbling into the impossible maze of expectations and responsibilities that a First Lady faces on January 21. Eleanor Roosevelt did this, not only as an emergency mode response to those citizens destroyed by the Great Depression but with a pro-activism prompted by her fearful first-hand recollection of the role's imposition on her aunt Edith Roosevelt, wife of her uncle Teddy. Jackie Kennedy knew what to expect and launched her historic restoration project as a result of an interest in the White House starting in childhood and her brief career as a columnist, much of her coverage focused on then-incumbent First Lady Mamie Eisenhower. Barbara Bush -- who maintained enormously-high approval ratings throughout her tenure that were greater than her husband's -- had eight long years as Second Lady to observe the media attacks on First Lady Nancy Reagan while simultaneously fine-tuning her own agenda to counteract adult illiteracy. She was up and running on day one.

In Michelle Obama one discerns what can only be characterized as an acute conscientiousness in her embracing of the First Lady mantle, an effort requiring as much mental and emotional organization as it is a practical one. Sure, a First Lady doesn't have a president's level of responsibility, but he fought hard to inherit his stress. A First Lady's role is derivative and yet she gets hit with the full cultural head trip about just what the idealized American woman should symbolize. Somehow, it hasn't daunted Mrs. Obama in these first one-hundred days.

The vital element that permeates all of a First Lady's roles (diplomat, parent, spouse, political advocate, hostess, role model) Michelle Obama inherently grasps -- just how potent a symbol the First Lady really is and the power she has to change thinking. Understanding that -- especially right away -- is all the more impressive for a spouse who spent almost no previous time in the Washington culture. Several factors seem to account for this.

One, a review of Mrs. Obama's biography shows a pattern of her investing tremendous intellectual focus on any task before her and ignoring the conventional odds in her path -- getting into a magnet high school, Princeton, law school, changing careers from law to public service.

Two, she's sought out some advice. We know she's consulted with Hillary Clinton. She let it slip at one point that she was reading some of her predecessors' biographies. A week before the 2008 election, Laura Bush admitted to reporters that her great regret was not realizing as soon as possible just how much influence a First Lady can have. She likely shared this with Michelle Obama or, at the least, the latter read about it.

Finally, throughout the 2008 campaign, Michelle Obama was infused by the media and the public with greater symbolic significance than most presidential candidates' spouses owing to her status as history's first potential first African-American First Lady. She implicitly recognized that she was a role model to people of all ages and races, but most especially to young girls of color. She still is, but with the status of First Lady of the United States, her constituency, so to speak, has expanded beyond those who share her racial and gender demographic.

Conscious of the intense media focus on her every word and deed, Michelle Obama has assiduously avoided being drawn into any politically contentious issues. She and her staff seem to recognize that were she to start advocating for even a modestly-funded federal program, the level of media attention to it would likely be proportionately compared to the president's stimulus and bailout packages, raising it a distorted level of equal importance. Instead, it seems she'll steer clear of anything directly related to policy until after all of the President's major pieces of legislation have passed and are in place.

Thus, her public activities can be classified as traditional and domestic. Yet even these carry significant symbolism. Consider two. First Families are traditionally appropriated federal funds to refurbish their private living quarters. At a time when many American families have lost their homes, spending their taxes to redo the grand, old rooms would show insensitivity worthy of a king and queen. Instead, Michelle Obama decided that not only would refuse public funds but also private contributions (the latter had the potential of raising conflict-of-interest issues and potentially defy the President's intended ethics code for his staff). They'd pay for it themselves. Creating a White House vegetable garden with the effort of local schoolchildren was feature news yet naturally touched on several contemporary public issues: alarming obesity rates in American children can be counter-acted with a routine of physical exercise and healthier eating; if enacted by large numbers of people, growing one's own vegetables or buying those that are "locally-grown" can begin a significant shift in reducing trucking costs and environmental impact. Michelle Obama isn't implying that by her planting carrots she can keep Antarctica from melting, but there is no denying that she has captured the attention of the world -- for all the right reasons.

Pioneer Park field day will honor volunteer

Neil Seiffert would have enjoyed the old-fashioned field planting at Minnesota Pioneer Park the afternoon of Saturday, May 9, his son Aaron says.

He and his pair of Belgians, who gave rides at the park for many years, would have fit right in with the teams of draft horses that will plant the park's four-acre field that day using old-time equipment and horse power.

Instead, Seiffert, who died unexpectedly last October, will be there in spirit. Organizers have decided to name the occasion in honor of the faithful volunteer.

From 10 a.m. until the field is planted, everyone is invited to enjoy the first annual Neil Seiffert Field Day Event.

"We wanted to recognize him for all those years that he selflessly came out and gave rides at the park, said organizer Chanda Knoof. "He never asked for anything; he was just happy to progress the park."

"If he were still alive, he and his horses would probably be out there in that field too."

Knoof expects four to six teams and their volunteer drivers to show up that day to plant the entire field with corn seed donated from Centra Sota Co-op in Buffalo. At the end of the season, the field will be made into a maze and opened to the public, she said.

The land, which the park has owned for many years, used to be rented out to a farmer, but recently board members starting thinking about ways they could use it to further promote and teach its visitors about pioneer history.

"We really wanted to put a new twist and a new energy into the park with this event," Knoof said. "This says what the park represents."

People who stop by May 9 will see how farming has progressed from hand work to horses and then to tractors.

After watching the volunteers pick rocks, drag the field and then plant it, all by hand and horse power, they can check out the park's display of old tractors to really see how farming has changed.

According to Knoof, planting a field in the pioneer days was a big job that required friends and neighbors to help each other out. After the planting was done they usually celebrated with a big meal.

At Pioneer Park, visitors won't have to wait until the planting is finished to eat. Volunteers will be selling sloppy joes and the park's foot-long hotdogs throughout the day.

There will also be vegetables for sale, most of them heirloom, which were started earlier this season in the greenhouses of Webers Folly in Annandale and Fairhaven Farm.

Kim Mooney, who goes by the name of "The Plant Lady's Daughter," will also be there selling plants.

Meanwhile, Knoof and others will be putting in the vegetable garden that has become a common sight alongside the Sorenson Cabin where she spends many of her days in the summer re-enacting history.

The park received more than 500 packs of free heirloom vegetable seeds from an Iowa company called Seed Savers Exchange to get the garden going.

A special section of the garden this year will be dedicated to students at Bendix Elementary School, Knoof said. Earlier this spring, Kristi Anderson's third-grade class started vegetable seeds in their classroom.

On May 9, they will have the chance to plant them in a special plot of land set aside just for them.

Throughout the summer they will be invited to come and tend to them as they grow.

Knoof uses the vegetables from the garden in her demonstrations throughout the summer. Last year she made salsa, homemade tomato soup and canned tomatoes among other things.

Park representatives will also be selling vegetables at the Farmer's Market in Annandale. Any vegetables that remain at the end of the season will be donated to the food shelf, Knoof said.

For the kids, there will be horse-drawn wagon rides courtesy of Lois Handle of Whips and Wheels, and baby animals to coo over and pet.

When the day is done, visitors can look forward to returning in September for the park's first annual Harvest Festival to see how the crop turned out and stroll through the corn maze.

"We think this is going to be an exciting year," Knoof said, "and we hope the town will come out and support us."

Between now and Saturday, Sept. 26, the day of the Harvest Festival, history lovers will still be able to enjoy the park's regular events including the annual Old Fashioned Fourth of July and Fiddlers Festival. The park is also open most days for visitors to tour the buildings.

For more information on the field day and other events, visit www.pioneerpark.org.

If the weather is bad May 9, a rain day will be announced.