School Gardening

International Year of Soils: Raising Awareness of Soil’s Importance

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International Year of Soils

International Year of Soils: Raising Awareness of Soil's ImportanceThe United Nations General Assembly has declared 2015 the International Year of Soils.  With this initiative the UN hopes to raise appreciation of the importance of soil for human life, educate the public about the role soil plays in food security, and promote investment in sustainable soil management activities.  Basically, the UN wants to raise awareness about the importance of soil.

Their website states “Soil is where food begins! It is estimated that 95% of our food is directly and indirectly produced on our soils. Therefore, food availability relies on soils. Healthy and good quality food can only be produced if our soils are healthy. A healthy living soil is a crucial ally to food security and nutrition.”  As food growers we already know how important our soil is to the overall health of our plants.  Their website lists the following reasons that soil is important:

  • Soils are the basis for the production of food, fibers, fuel and medicinal products.
  • Soils absorb, store, alter, purify and release water, both for plant growth and water supply.
  • Soils interact with the atmosphere through absorption and emission of gases (e.g. carbon dioxide, methane, water vapour) and dust;
  • Soils make up the greatest pool of terrestrial organic carbon (over double the organic carbon stored in vegetation).
  • Soils regulate carbon, oxygen and plant nutrient cycles (N, P, K, Ca, Mg, etc.)
  • Soil is the habitat of several animals and organisms such as bacteria and fungi and thus sustain biological activity, diversity and productivity.
  • Soil is the habitat for seed dispersion and dissemination of the gene pool.
  • Soils buffer, filter and moderate the hydrological cycle.
  • Soils are the platform for urban settlement and are used as materials for construction.

International Year of Soils: Free Workshops

In conjunction with the International Year of Soils there are events all over the world scheduled to

International Year of Soils: Raising Awareness of Soil's Importance
Healthy soil means more nutrition for the plants, less incidence of disease, and less water input needed.

educate people about soil health.  Closer to home a collaboration effort in Atlanta, Georgia, is providing 30 free workshops on soil health and composting.  The collaborative partners are UGA Extension, Terra Nova Compost, Truly Living Well, Global Growers, The Atlanta Community Food Bank and Food Well Alliance.

The workshops start June 2nd and go through October 29, 2015.  To see if a workshop is near you or to register for one check here.

Happy Gardening!

Strawberries in the Georgia Community or School Garden? You bet!

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Strawberries can be a welcome addition to the Georgia community or school garden.  And, spring is the time to plant!

StrawberriesTraditionally in north Georgia strawberries are grown in a matted row system where initial plants are set two feet apart at spring planting.  That summer the runners are allowed to fill in the rest of the bed.  This set up is perfect for raised beds or bed plots.

Treat your strawberry bed as a perennial bed.  You will need an area that is in full sun and contains well drained soil.  Avoid planting where you have been growing peppers, tomatoes, or potatoes.  These plants are susceptible to verticillium wilt and so are strawberries. The UGA publication Home Garden Strawberries is a great resource.

Varieties of Strawberries

Varieties recommended for early fruiting for north and middle Georgia are Earliglow, Sweet Charlie, and Delmarva. For south Georgia look for Chandler, Camarosa, and Sweet Charlie.  Early season varieties are best for school gardens as you should get fruit before school lets out for the summer.  

For mid-season fruiting look for Allstar.  Purchase plants that appear to be disease-free from a reputable supplier.  This can be a local store or a mail order supplier.   You will probably have more varieties to choose from if you use a mail order supplier.

The placement of the plant crown is very important. Picture from Home Grown Strawberries by UGA.

Care of Strawberries

The most important part of planting strawberries is the placement of the crown.  The top of the crown needs to be above the soil line.  Otherwise, you will probably have rot.  Set the plants two feet from the bed edge and from each other.  Remember, runners will fill in.  Remove flowers the first year to encourage more blossoms, and fruit, next year.

Weeds are the number one problem with strawberry plants.  Mulch between plants and use hand pulling or hoeing to remove stubborn weeds.  Strawberries need 1 to 1 1/2 inches of water a week.

Birds and rodents love strawberries as much as we do.  Raised beds deter rodents.  Some gardeners use netting.  A problem with netting is birds and small animals getting caught in the net.   Some gardeners report success with loosely hanging aluminum pie pans around the beds to deter birds.  The best practice is to pick the fruit as soon as it is ripe, before other hungry eaters find it.

During the second spring, after you have picked all of your berries, get ready for next year.  By this point runners have filled in and if you don’t thin the bed you will have too many plants for that area.  You need to get rid of about two-thirds of the plants in order to have healthy plants for next year.  Pot up the extras and have a fund raising plant sale!

As always your local UGA Extension agent is a great resource for you.

Happy Gardening!

 

 

 

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