Just a few days ago, USDA agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack announced several new initiatives to assure the safety and quality of food purchased by USDA for the National School Lunch Program, stating, “Nothing is more important than the health and well-being of our Nation’s school children”.   Glad to hear it. This announcement came just two months after a scathing USA Today article declaring that fast food standards for meat are far superior to those the USDA has for meat in your children’s school lunch.  The USDA was sending chicken slated as compost or pet food to our school cafeterias!  Alarming to say the least.

President Barack Obama signs a memorandum on childhood obesity in the Oval Office. From left are, Education Secretary Arne Duncan, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, First Lady Michelle Obama, and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar February 9, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Samantha Appleton)

One of Michelle Obama’s biggest supporters is her husband and President, Barack Obama.  President Obama signed a memorandum February 9, 2010 that establishes a task force on childhood obesity to address this growing health epidemic. The new task force is charged with developing an inter-agency action plan to solve the problem of obesity among our Nation’s children.  Within 90 days, the task force is to develop and submit to the President a comprehensive inter-agency plan that details a coordinated strategy, identifies key benchmarks, and outlines an action plan. Members of the task force include: the Secretary of the Interior; the Secretary of Agriculture; Secretary of Health and Human Services; Secretary of Education; Director of the Office of Management and Budget; Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff to the First Lady; Assistant to the President for Economic Policy; and heads of other executive departments, agencies, or offices as the Chair may designate.

I’ll be sure to keep you updated on our First Lady’s work.  We’ve been tickled from the beginning that she was carrying a torch for ‘growing your own’.  This kind of campaign is exactly in line with our own efforts here at Surf City Growers and our new organic curriculum for preK-3rd graders.  The direct link between growing wholesome food, education, exercise and nutrition for children in order to create lifelong habits of health for our nation is at stake.  Some of us argue that it’s a national health crisis of proportions we cannot fathom.

Let’s join together to stop it in its tracks.

Visit Michelle Obama’s website at LETSMOVE.GOV

Equally impressive is the stump grinding effort put in by CLC members Pastor Dale Sollom-Brotherton, Austin Pruitt, and Gene Sanden. You can see from the photo that Pastor Dale was having a little too much fun with the stump grinder.

Pastor Dale

The garden project received its first grant for $500.00 from the Rotary Club of Santa Cruz, Sunrise. We have numerous expenses coming up, including a pump for the irrigation system, as well as the irrigation materials for getting the water to the garden plots.  We are in need of cash donations, if you would like to help.

Be sure to MARK YOUR CALENDAR for the grand opening celebration: Earth Day: Thursday, April 22, 2010. Everyone is invited for food, music, meeting our Board Members, individual and business donors, and the people who will be using the garden!

The Aptos Community Garden Board met for the first time on Dec.16, 2009. Board members include: Trent and Linda McNair, Rose Marie McNair, Pastor Dale Sollom-Brotherton, Gene Sanden, Michael Olson, Treesa Rodgerson, and Melanie Larson. We went over our mission statement and the Terms of Agreement and Waiver forms prepared pro bono by the law firm: Hoge, Fenton, Jones, & Appel, Inc., Attorneys at Law. We also discussed grant writing, the opening day ceremonies (save April 22, 2010: The 40th anniversay of Earth Day!), organic garden guidelines, and other issues pertaining to getting the garden ready for the public.  We are very thankful to all of these individuals for agreeing to be on the Board and volunteering their time.

$27,800 donated

We have received more than $27,800.00 in donations for materials, labor, and services from the local businesses listed below. The council was pleased to learn that four plots have been requested with no publicity.  If you are interested in getting a plot, be sure to sign up with Pastor Dale. Registration forms will be available Jan. 4, 2010 at Christ Lutheran Church, Aptos.

Once again, we thank these very generous businesses for their donations:

Earth Works, Jeff Talmadge Construction, Rotary Clubs of Santa Cruz, Sunrise and Aptos/Capitola, Surf City Growers, Lakeside Organic Gardens, Las Animas Concrete, Monument Lumber, Sand Channel Greens, Santa Cruz Concrete Pumping, Warren Gilbert, Architect, Ecology by Design, Dirt Works Earth Engineering, and Hoge, Fenton, Jones, and Appel, Inc.
More updates coming in January!

We love our chickens!

How did we get involved with our community garden? We met Jeff and Adele Talmadge, owners of Talmadge Construction, at our city’s annual Shortest Parade in the World and Pancake Breakfast on the 4th of July this year. We were introduced by our dear friends, Kim and Pete Mansfield. Kim used to watch their son when he was little, and she mentioned that they are a family of black belts. We told them about enrolling our six year old, and how Trent was considering joining the Dojo. They gave us great advice about the  journey of martial arts, and as we continued to get to know one another, they found out about the organic nursery.

Jeff said he was a member of the local CASA, which stands for Court Appointed Special Advocates, and was thinking about donating some of his land to create a community garden for the kids. We went crazy about the idea, and we’ve been friends since. It so happens that Jeff and Adele live around the corner from us.

I have to stop the story for a minute to provide a quick brief about this amazing organization: “CASA volunteers are appointed by judges to watch over and advocate for abused and neglected children, to make sure they don’t get lost in the overburdened legal and social service system or languish in an inappropriate group or foster home.  They stay with each case until it is closed and the child is placed in a safe, permanent home. For many abused children, their CASA volunteer will be the one constant adult presence—the one adult who cares only for them.” If you have the time to sponsor one of these kids in your area, please go to CASA’s website to find a local chapter to volunteer.

We kept in touch with the Talmadges throughout the summer and then were introduced to Melanie Larson, another CASA member, who approached her church about the idea of utilizing unused land in front of it for a community garden. It would be offered to local families who didn’t have the ability to grow their own food or simply couldn’t afford the cost of fresh produce. CASA kids could also help these families and learn about agriculture, life skills that could be utilized in their future.

We were thrilled to be part of it for all of those reasons. But we also knew that we could actually help these kids and families adopt healthier eating habits, become environmental stewards and build a sense of community.

In October 2009, we met with Melanie; the new pastor, Dale Sollom-Brotherton; and fellow church member, Gene Sanden to offer our help. We’re now members of the Aptos Community Garden Board, and are proud to offer these families their vegetable and fruit starts, and our knowledge. But we’re also here to document the progress of the garden so that you will be inspired to start your own.

On that note, here are the first photos of the area that will be known as the Aptos Community Garden. The big takeaways from this post: an area that was not being utilized will now be able to feed over 80 households and all it takes is the inspiration from one person to make it happen.

Food What?! Youth Dig In

A big reason why more of us don’t buy organic food is because of the price. Of course, growing your own sustainable garden is an inexpensive option. The National Gardening Association’s recent study “The Impact of Home and Community Gardening in America” cites that a well-maintained food garden can yield an estimated 1/2 pound of produce per square foot of garden area over the course of the growing season. At in-season market prices, this produce is worth $2.00 a pound. That means the average 600 square-foot garden that costs an average of $70 can produce an estimated 300 pounds of fresh produce worth $600!

This is great news for those of us who have yard space for a garden, but many of us don’t. And while container gardening is an option, patio space — and the amount of sun exposure it gets — might limit the bounty to just a few plants.

Thanks to the resurgence of community gardens,  sustainable food is becoming accessible to those who don’t have the space to grow their own or simply can’t afford it.

We’re excited and proud to announce the ground breaking of one in our town — the Aptos Community Garden. Hosted by Christ Lutheran Church, a bunch of volunteers are donating their time and money to make it a reality. Trent and I will sit on the Board, donate the starts, and document its progress.

But we’re not doing write-ups to toot our horn. By telling the story as it unfolds, we hope it inspires every community in America to roll one out, too — at a school or somewhere in the neighborhood. Why? Other than enabling the satisfying experience of growing and harvesting fresh food, community and school gardens encourages healthier eating habits. It brings our neighborhoods together and reconnects us to the source of our food — nature itself. It also encourages environmental stewardship, self-reliance and confidence in the safety of our food. According to the American Community Garden Association, it can even reduce crime!

We live in Santa Cruz County; if you don’t know, we’re very big on environmental issues and natural foods. I have to point out a few great local programs that are community gardens, but not in the traditional sense. Food What? educates youth and is driven by our friends at Life Lab. The second is the Homeless Garden Project, an amazing nonprofit organization that gives purpose and financial support to those less fortunate. These are a few innovative examples of the power of community gardens; consider these aspects when building yours. How can we get our youth involved? How can we give back?

I did some research on the history of community gardens. The study I found cited their importance during and after both World Wars, providing increased food supplies which required minimal transporting. During the Great Depression, city lands were made available to the unemployed and impoverished by the Work Projects Administration (WPA); nearly 5,000 gardens on 700 acres were cultivated in New York City alone through this program. During WWII, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that national health as well as personal well-being were dependent on the consumption of fresh vegetables, which led to the Victory Gardens Program and the production of approximately 40% of the fresh vegetables consumed in the U.S. from an estimated 20 million gardens.

WHAT?! Did I read this correctly? What happened to us? Now, our food travels an average 1,500 miles. Only 1 out of five fresh fruits and vegetables are grown in the Unites States. And NO U.S. state is meeting national objectives for consumption of two fruits and three vegetables a day.

I guess we shouldn’t be surprised that Americans are battling obesity and Type II diabetes at an alarming rate. Did you know that 1 out of 3 kids in the US are considered overweight or obese? Folks, these health risks are caused by poor dietary patterns and sedentary lifestyles.  In other words, they are reversible.

Ah, yet another benefit of gardening — physical exercise. How many calories can we burn? I just went to Internet Fitness and found out that personally, I can burn 307 calories an hour doing general gardening activities!

Readers, I hope you’re motivated to get a garden going — at home, at your kids’ school, or in your community. Do it for your health and that of your family, community and planet! And if you need help, check out how we did it here in Aptos.

A Green Thumb for Everyone!

We’re so excited!  Linda and I have worked so hard on our children’s book, and after months of hard work we just received our first copy.  And, despite sounding vainglorious, it is really beautiful! The book was something we decided to write to supplement the Classroom Bundle and Homeschool Bundle that we have just launched.  But it soon took on a life all it’s own.  We imagined My First Organics seed starting kits to be a great way to educate kids and families about gardening.  As our experience grew, we saw an even better way:  Get the kits into the classroom and design a whole curriculum around organic, sustainable gardening.  And what better way to kick off a lesson than with a beautiful storybook designed to engage and inspire children to grow food.  As we did more research into the different messages about gardening, we realized that the story needed to include facts about the environment, nutrition, and community as well.

“How a Garden Saves the Earth“  is a bold endeavor, designed to encourage kids to ask “Why do we do it that way?”.  Written by my wife, Linda McNair and Myself, illustrated by Jeff Petersen (The Whitby Witches, Waves), and colored by yours truly (Yes, I am an artist as well.  Go figure).

Great for children up to third grade, it is dedicated to helping parents, teachers and homeschoolers educate kids about the importance of locally grown, sustainable food and how it is connected to their health and that of the planet. This 26-page book introduces fun facts to children on every page!

By the end of the book, our two main characters meet and learn the importance of sharing

We self-published out book through Lulu.com, and although you can purchase it through them,  and soon, Amazon, we are offering the book at the lowest price at this time – and until December 31st, you can purchase it here for 10% off using promo code ECOFARE

Just 12 years ago a survey showed that the average age of Farmers was 54.6. The link between this statistic and our ever-shrinking local food system and small, family farm operations cannot be ignored.  Perhaps this article is another inclination that the public’s view of Farmers being a second-class citizens deserving of little or no repute (or respect) is shrinking rapidly.  In a world where food supply cannot keep up with population growth, this is a frightening statistic.

Hat’s off to these brave young men and women.

Everthing that is left over from this batch will go to a local CSA

The tomatoes are really tasty, too.  Combined with the jalapenos that I grew I made some amazing salsa and plan on making more.

So far the garden has cost us about $400 in materials and water (mostly water).  We have consumed at least 400 lbs of produce between my family and our friends Michael and Lisa, who also have two young boys.  If I just break even this year I’ll be very happy, especially when I think that so much healthy food was eaten by us straight out of our organic garden rather than purchased at a grocery store.

Although we grew many other things, the tomatoes were really the only ‘cash crop’ we grew.  Everything else was just for our own consumption.

Another first for us was growing dried beans – a fantastic source of protein, bean soups are one of my favorites to make for the family.  We have a fantastic buckeye bean that I have yet to cook, but I will post that experience and a recipe when I do.

In the garden with beans and a cat!

Here a few reasons why everyone is talking about Growing Your Own:

• 43 million households will do it this year.
• The Obamas already are.
• Michael Pollan said it’s the “single greenest thing you can do” on Oprah’s Earth Day Special.
• Two summer movies – Food, Inc. and Fresh The Movie — are talking about it. (Get inspired. Watch the trailers, at least!)
• You get up to 17 times return on your investment.
• It’s a fun family activity that saves you money and gets your kids off the couch.

Thankfully, American society is becoming more environmentally conscious every day and is looking for ways to eat better. Plus, the economy is forcing households to cut variable costs. Growing your own is proving to be an inexpensive way for families to spend time together outside, being active in nature and away from the distraction of cell phones, video games, and television. Families that invest a day in the garden a week save hundreds of dollars in groceries, travel and entertainment expenses a month!

In fact, the USDA estimates that every $100 spent on vegetable gardening yields $1,000-$1,700 worth of produce.  Each My First Organics seed starting kit harvests up to $250 worth of produce.

Check out these carrots!

Even the most symbolic home of all – The White House – broke ground on a sustainable organic garden last month, the first since Eleanor Roosevelt’s victory garden during World War II.

COME ON! What other activity can you do with your kids under $20 that is this fun, educational and delicious? (Check out our six year old’s demo on YouTube!) Grow together and eat healthier!

And take advantage of our 20% discount today! Just type in SUMMER as your Discount Code during checkout (good until August 31, 2009).

Dating back to 1967 when Alan Chadwick broke ground on the campus for what would be it’s 25 acre living, breathing nucleus of sustainability and organic gardening, it has endured and to this day.  Countless apprentices have come for decades to eat, drink, and even dream sustainabilty.  And I do mean dream.  During these years an apprentice in the program was expected to sleep on the farm.  Beginning as teepees, then as tents, students lived on the Earth that they cultivated, rising with the sun to work, and embracing it again at days end.  But this Summer, that is all about to change.

This Summer session marks the end of the tents.  No longer will the apprentice program be under the stars.  Housing will have to be made available.  And to make enough money to support the new roof over their dreams they have embarked on raising $250,000 in the effort.  With only $25,000 remaining, it couldn’t come too soon.

So this is a shout out to all of those who follow the path of sustainability and all those that are to come!  And if you would like to help them achieve their goal, please visit www.growafarmer.org