National Community Gardening Week: August 23-29

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has declared August 23rd-29th to be "National Community Gardening Week"!

"Community gardens provide numerous benefits including opportunities for local food production, resource conservation, and neighborhood beautification," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

"But they also promote family and community interaction and enhance opportunities to eat healthy, nutritious foods. Each of these benefits is something we can and should strive for."

Videos:

• Growing hope: the Homeless Garden Project story


• Ours to decide: the story of a community, an alliance and a piece of land everybody wants

E-books:

• City bountiful: a century of community gardening in America
• Extension-sponsored community gardens in northeast Wisconsin: exploring "cultural differences in use"
  
• For hunger-proof cities: sustainable urban food systems

Books, documents & theses:

• Avant gardening: ecological struggle in the city & the world


• Belltown paradise, and, Making their own plans


• Building commons and community


• City bountiful: a century of community gardening in America


• Closing the food gap: resetting the table in the land of plenty


• Community garden book: new directions for creating and managing neighborhood food gardens in your town


• Community gardening organizations’ relationship to the public planning function: a story of shared goals


• Community gardens: a guide to organization and development


• Community voices: creating sustainable spaces


• Complete book of community gardening


• Growing a stronger community with community gardens, an action plan for Madison


• Growing together: community gardening and food security


• Growing with community gardening


• Handbook of community gardening


• Harvest of the suburbs: an environmental history of growing food in Australian cities


• Harvesting the city: community gardening in greater Madison, Wisconsin


• Loisaida: NYC community gardens


• Patch of Eden: America’s inner-city gardeners


• People power: what communities are doing to counter inflation


• Recreational community gardening: a guide to organization and development


• Starting a community garden


• To dwell is to garden: a history of Boston’s community gardens

Websites:

• American Community Gardening Association


• "People's Garden" - USDA headquarters, Washington, D.C.


• Wisconsin Master Gardener program

Bibliographies:

• Urban and community gardening, 1979-1987: 136 citations


• Urban and community gardening, January 1984-April 1990


• Urban community gardens

Wisconsin: Latest ag stats

The latest USDA Census of Agriculture was just released.

Wisconsin statistics:

• # of farms in 2007: 78,463 (#9 in U.S.A.)


• # of farms in 2002: 77,131


• # of acres in farms 2007: 15,190,804


• # of acres in farms 2002: 15,741,552


• Average # of acres per farm 2007: 194


• Average # of acres per farm 2002: 204


• Commodities raised and delivered under production contracts (vegetables, melons and potatoes) - 527 farms (#2 in USA)

Organic agriculture:

• 1,443 farms (#2 in USA)


• 147,120 acres (#4 in USA)


• $80,630,000 product sold (#4 in USA)

North American Industry Classification System:

• Oilseed and grain farming: 13,508 farms


• Vegetable and melon farming: 1,645 farms


• Fruit and tree nut farming: 1,320 farms


• Greenhouse, nursery, and floriculture operation: 2,147 farms


• Other crop farming: 22,081 farms (#5 in USA)


• Beef cattle ranching and farming: 11,593 farms


• Cattle feedlots: 2,485


• Dairy cattle and milk production: 13,081 farms (#1 in USA)


• Hog and pig farming: 989 farms


• Poultry and egg production: 2,297 farms


• Sheep and goat farming: 1,501 farms


• Animal aquaculture or other animal production: 5,816 farms - including 828 farms with colonies of bees

Specific crops:

• Asparagus - 244 acres (#6 in USA)


• Green lima beans - 3,435 acres (#3 in USA)


• Snap beans - 70,885 acres (#1 in USA)


• Beets - 2,784 acres (#1 in USA)


• Head cabbage - 5,990 acres (#6 in USA)


• Carrots - 3,988 acres (#4 in USA)


• Cucumbers and pickles - 6,084 acres (#8 in USA)


• Ginseng - 554 acres (#1 in USA)


• Peas, Chinese (sugar and snow) - 69 acres (#5 in USA)


• Green peas (excluding Southern) - 37,405 acres (#3 in USA)


• Potatoes - 63,933 acres (#4 in USA)


• Pumpkins - 3,600 acres (#8 in USA)


• Winter squash 823 acres (#8 in USA)


• Sweet corn - 91,218 acres (#3 in USA)


• Corn for grain - 437,174,706 bushels


• Corn for silage or greenchop - 11,645,140 tons (#2 in USA)


• Mint for oil, All (pounds) - 325,782 (#5 in USA)


• Oats for grain - 11,122,339 bushels


• Soybeans for beans - 54,701,222 bushels


• Sunflower seed - 4,449,621 pounds


• Apples - 6,406 acres (#7 in USA)


• Cherries - 2,567 acres (#3 in USA)


• Cranberries - 18,696 acres (#1 in USA)


• Currants - 11 acres (#4 in USA)


• Raspberries - 286 acres (#9 in USA)


• Aquatic plants - 1,342,175 dollars in sales (#7 in USA)


• Flower seeds - 1,718,916 dollars in sales (#4 in USA)


• Greenhouse fruits and berries - 28,927 dollars in sales (#4 in USA)


• Mushrooms - 2,057,661 dollars in sales (#4 in USA)


• Maple syrup - 108,108 gallons produced (#4 in USA)


• Forage - land used for all hay and all haylage, grass silage, and greenchop (tons, dry equivalent) - 8,528,063 (#3 in USA)


• Alfalfa hay (tons, dry) - 3,673,619 (#6 in USA)


• All haylage, grass silage, and greenchop - 8,446,369 green tons (#1 in USA)


• Hay, haylage, grass silage, and greenchop - 8,528,063 dry tons (#4 in USA)


• Haylage or greenchop from alfalfa or alfalfa mixtures (tons, green) - 7,931,573 (#1 in USA)


• Honey - 4,167,522 pounds collected

Inputs:

• Manure - 2,011,176 acres treated


• Commercial fertilizer, lime, and soil conditioners - 6,988,477 acres treated


• Chemicals to control weeds, grass, or brush - 5,227,166 acres treated


• Chemicals to control insects - 2,125,800 acres treated


• Chemicals to control diseases in crops and orchards - 251,421 acres treated


• Chemicals to control nematodes - 128,798 acres treated


• Chemicals to control growth, thin fruit, ripen, or defoliate - 67,308 acres treated

Science teachers: Entomology training program

USDA/Agricultural Research Service FUTURE SCIENTISTS Project

This nationally recognized professional development opportunity for science teachers (grades 7-12) is offering four, 2-day summer workshops in June 2009. The focus is on insect life cycles, environmental science and ecology.

Goals:

1. To infuse excitement about cutting edge scientific research into the classroom

2. To increase use of hands-on, inquiry-based science activities

3. To make USDA/ARS labs accessible as an educational resource

Dates:

• Parlier, CA: June 18-19, 2009
• Riverside, CA: June 15-16, 2009
• Tombstone, AZ: June 9-10, 2009
• Tucson, AZ: June 11-12, 2009

Participating teachers:

1. Should work in schools within commuting distance of the USDA/ARS lab site

2. Are paid a stipend of $300

3. Are provided free insects during the school year for student research

4. During the year, select 4 students to return with them to the USDA/ARS lab in May 2010 to present the school’s research findings at a Student Research Presentation Day

Download more information:
Teacher info letter: http://www.science.tamu.edu/files/doc/letterforminiinstitute2009.doc

Tombstone Application
Tucson Application
Riverside Application
Parlier Application

This is a collaborative project between:

• USDA/Hispanic Serving Institutions National Program (HSNINP)
• Center for Mathematics & Science Education (CMSE) within the College of Science at Texas A&M University
• USDA/ARS labs nationwide