WE'VE MADE IT!!!

January is behind us and spring is ahead!!

OK – OK – it’s not really spring yet – but we made it to 32 degrees today!  The first time in 20 days!!!  And there will be more days at or above freezing – speaking as someone who has farm animals and is tired to death with managing frozen water and cold animals – I’ll take it! – even if we go down again… and – kudos to all of you who are managing livestock wherever and however you are doing so! No one understands a winter more viscerally than someone who manages livestock when the weather really goes down…

It was even warm enough on Monday for me to go out and get a new selection of houseplants to add some much-needed new green to our houseplant collection…would be so nice to have a tropical greenhouse, but we do ok with humidity trays and bright LED lights!  And, let’s face it, that’s a much more typical batch of growing conditions than a tropical greenhouse!  We’ve even been experimenting with a light fertilizer program, and the plants are responding extremely well.  We’re using the Canna product called Terra Vega. I have to say, I’m pretty happy with the results.  Make sure you check the plants out, and let us know what you’re seeing as well.  The Canna fertilizers are an interesting series – developed in the Netherlands for top quality growing in a multitude of substrates (soils and hydroponics).  The Terra Vega series is developed for classic peat moss based potting mixes and that’s what most small tropicals are grown in.  Check here https://www.cannagardening.com/  if you’re curious – or stop in and ask questions!  That works too. 😊 

Now, back to our lead in – January is behind us and there are glimpses of spring.  The first real glimpse of spring is that the chick order list is ready for you to dream over!!  We have an excellent list, with all kinds of chickens (and even ducks at the end of the run – my personal favorites!).  You can check out the list on-line or come into the store – where there is a great book of pictures to prowl through.  Unlike some operations, we do not have a free for all, grab as you can approach to our chicks.  You order what you need, we bring them in, get them settled and started on Hydro-hen and quality chick starter with additional Azomite – and THEN call you to come pick them up!  This way, the baby birds have had at least a few hours to acclimate, drink and eat before you collect them.  We’ve lost less than 5 chicks in a 1000 (once they’ve reached us, and we’ve unpacked them) since we took over the store.  We think this is the best and most humane way to handle the baby birds…

The second glimpse of spring is that it’s time to get out of the house and get dirt under your fingernails again.  I rescheduled both the seed starting workshop and the terrarium workshop to 2/21 because the weather was too vile for the original schedule.  We don’t have great heat in the back of the store and people would have worried more about cold fingers than enjoying working with seeds and plants!  So -it’s time to have a good time with green things again!  Call the store – 978-632-0991 to reserve a spot for either workshop.

• 2/21 10:00-11:00am Seed Starting the Right Way:  Includes pots, inoculant, starter pots and 1 packet of seeds. Learn the steps to help your plants develop a viable external digestive system and get them off to a great start! Limit 10 ($30)

• 2/21 1:00-2:30p Terrarium Class: Join us for a fun creative class as you build a miniature fairy tale garden under glass. Class fee includes terrarium, potting mix, plants and decorations. Limit 10 ($49)

We’ve got other workshops coming up as well – and we’re going to be out at the NOFA Winter Conference at UMass as well.  Check below for the upcoming attractions

• 2/28 Find us at the NOFA Conference: Healthy Soils in Action There are two key speakers that I want to hear from (Dan Kittredge and James White)  and we want to introduce the Good Earth to more people.  Check us out in the marketplace if you make it to the conference. https://www.nofamass.org/home/nofa-events/winter-conference/

And back to our programs:

• 3/7 10:00-11:30 Developing Healthy Soils: And this is our version of the NOFA conference in miniature!  I personally love developing healthy soils and working with massively damaged soils (like most housing development soils!).  There are steps you can take to be successful regardless of the growing conditions you’re starting with – we can help! Limit 10 ($15)

• 3/14 1:00-2:30 Drought Resistant Gardening:  Technically, we’re still in drought – check here to see the base conditions for the area https://www.mass.gov/info-details/drought-status and you’ll see why I’m worried.  There are “tricks” for managing during a drought and ways to think about design, installation and maintenance to ensure success for plantings during drought – that could suddenly turn to flood!! This is our new normal… Limit 10 ($15)

• 3/21 1:00-2:30 How to Design a Productive Home Landscape: Fruits and vegetables and pollinating strips are HOT right now!! And there’s lots of information on all of these topics but how do you knit that together into a plan that works for you?  This is a class to help you organize your thoughts and create a reasonable plan of action for your specific needs Limit 10 ($15)

And then there’s the chicken weekend!!!

• 3/28 10:00-11:30 We’re starting with Decorating Eggs For Easter!  A classic holiday color fest that really brings the color – and the joy – of the upcoming spring in to focus.  Designed for kids but everyone can enjoy decorating eggs - $10.00 includes the eggs and the color!

• 3/28 1:00-2:30 And then we get to the growing of healthy chickens with Getting Chickens Started Right:  Nyki and Sarah are a great team!  They both love chickens and know a lot about getting them started right and growing them on strong for the bird’s health – and the healthiest eggs you’ve ever eaten. You’ll get a coupon for a bag of Poulin poultry grain. Limit 18 ($15)

So – that’s it for February and March – more workshops are scheduled for April (like pollinator gardens and raised beds!), but more on that in a later newsletter…

Now for the fun part of this newsletter (for me anyways!!).  It’s still winter so there’s a bit (I know – only a LITTLE bit!) of time for some deeper thoughts. There is so much chaos swirling around everyone at this point in time that it’s hard to find something to hold on to.  For me, that holding on has to do with the quality of the soils and lands that I’m responsible for and to, work with and support – and the people who help to do the same.  That’s how I see communities being built, how ecosystems are stabilized and quality and health prevails for all members of the community.

Let’s take a look at Carbon Sequestration for EVERYONE!

Together – we can make a difference J

What is carbon sequestration?  Carbon sequestration (CS) is the process of removing carbon atoms from the atmosphere and securing/ stabilizing those atoms in molecules that hold onto that carbon for an extended period of time.  Sounds esoteric doesn’t it??  Actually – this process has been going on for as long as there have been plants on planet Earth and land plants evolved on Earth about 700 million years ago. You know this process as photosynthesis.

The simple picture that most of us remember from high school –

            carbon dioxide (C2O)+ water (H20)

             >> with energy from sunlight >> 

            sugar (C6H12O6) and oxygen (O2)

 Why is carbon sequestration so important right now?   It’s generally accepted (I know – not by all – but realities on the ground must still be managed) that the burning of fossil fuels (stored carbon from long ago photosynthesis), creation of a carbon based chemical industry including plastics and pesticides (from that same stored carbon),  poor agricultural practices (erosion and poor soil management have burned out most of the originally stored carbon leading to shrinking soil depths and massive compaction) and deforestation (trees store lots of carbon in their woody structure and roots with fungal communities) have caused a rise in the global levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) that is creating global warming - the excess CO2 acts like a glass cover and traps heat inside – thereby heating the planet.

Global warming is leading to potential climate change.  100-year and 500-year weather events are now happening in 10-year cycles.  When the rains and winds come – they come and floods arrive and when they don’t –they don’t and drought arrives.  This flood/drought pattern is becoming a major factor in both food production and landscape management.  You might have noticed it yourself.  We’re in the pattern of two WET springs followed by two DRY summers and falls with drought continuing on through this current winter (even if we’re not “feeling” it personally).

OK –now you know that there’s a problem with excess CO2 in the atmosphere and you know that plants and photosynthesis might be part of the answer…

Here is a better picture of a more complex system.  The basics are the same of course, but it notes WHERE the carbon is tied up or “sequestered”.  Notice the amount of carbon caught up in the structure of the tree itself – roots, trunk, branches and leaves.  And then check out how much is caught up in the soil.  This is critical to the long-term goal of terrestrial carbon sequestration.

The next question is:  What can you do about it – and will it matter anyways?

The short answer is that intentional terrestrial carbon sequestration is absolutely doable (people are already doing it!) and that it matters if there are enough people who care to make it happen.  Interestingly – it was a whole lot of individual actions that created the situation over the last 150 years or so.  Granted that those decisions were made over a long period of time and often without knowledge of consequences but…it’s still up to individuals – us – to decide what (if anything) we are going to do. 

Participating in carbon harvest on your own land is a mixture of science and art, history and observation.  Feel proud!  If everyone contributes their best to storing carbon on and in their land, then we can make a real change in global warming.  And that’s good for the planet – and thereby good for us.  What’s even better is all of that stored carbon energy is ours and we can use it to grow great crops, trees and shrubs, suck down water and buffer drought.  That’s a lot to gain from some management choices you can make.

Here are some practical actions that you can take!

Every action you take is based on this: Healthy plants of all kinds will push between 30% and 70% of their captured carbon down into the soil through their roots.  This surge of energy – based on carbohydrates after all – supports the magnificently diverse soil food web that surrounds every healthy root and helps to provide the necessary soil structure (think chocolate cake crumbles) to support even more soil life.

First and foremost:  Learn how to grow as many kinds of plants to the best of your ability as interests you – Love lawn and turf?  Then grow it well without pesticides and carbon will be stored.  Cherish roses?  Ditto!  Love your vegetable garden?  Don’t till (breaks up fungi) and keep the soil covered, use all knowledge to grow strong plants and you’re storing some carbon. 

Expand your plant palette so that you can:

• Create plant diversity at every level: All kinds of roots pump different carbon compounds into the soil

• In the lawn – not just grass, add broad leaved perennials – you might know them as weeds!

• In the garden – not just marigolds – mix and match a kaleidoscope of flowering plants

• On the edges – not just Rhododendrons – add in some berry bushes – edible or not is ok

• Keep the soil covered – with anything!  Mulch, straw, hay, cardboard, newspaper – naked soil is dead soil

• Mix perennials into annuals and vice versa – totally different kinds of roots systems support different microbes

• Work woody debris into tree and shrub plantings.  Bury it ½ way if possible.  Fantastic food for fungi!

• Support fungi – everywhere in the soil – fungi produce glomalin (how’s that for a weird word!) that is made up of 30-40% carbon and helps to create those critical crumble structures

• Support healthy trees and shrubs – fungi love their roots.

• Manage compaction, add/feed earthworms, use diverse stock compost throughout your garden beds.

On this last note:  of all the points raised above – managing compaction in the soils that you manage is the BEST gift you can give your local eco-system.  Compaction is the “gift” (or curse!!) of modern life.  And modern is a really relative timeline!  Humans of all kinds and cultures have created true “oceans” of compaction.  Compaction limits a soil system’s ability to manage drought and flood, weakens all plants that cannot expand their root systems for long term nutritional support and thereby weakens all animal communities that depend on the plant community’s health.  So – if you have only one goal in mind for this year – learn to understand and manage compaction on your particular part of the planet. The planet will thank you!!

Ok – that’s enough of deep thinking for now!!  Thank you for reading through. 😊 We really can change the world one yard at a time!

Looking forward to seeing you at the store!