Grow

KENSINGTON — Resident Felicia Motherway was driving by the newly built Sawyer Park a couple of years ago when she saw "that stupid yellow sign" advising park users that pesticides were being applied to the sports fields. The yellow sign made Motherway see red.

"I realized that my kids — and thousands of other kids — would be using these fields. That it would be affecting the wetlands, the soil," she said.

It's harvest time in East Flatbush.

Back in February, the front yard at the High School for Public Service was mostly barren, with soggy grass and just a few trees.

Now, students have transformed it into a 10,000-square-foot vegetable farm that yields 500 pounds of organic produce each week.

Sixty varieties of vegetables grow in the garden at the old Wingate High School campus on Kingston Ave., including tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, peppers and corn.

July and August are months when organic gardeners should be enjoying the fruits of their labor. Unfortunately, high summer temperatures and drought conditions sometimes bring a premature end to the garden’s beauty. Renew the late summer garden’s vigor with these organic gardening tips.

In this interview, Harold Ostenson, the Organic Program Manager at Stemilt Growers, describes the challenges of producing fruit organically, and the creative solut

1. As a master gardener, I am slightly obsessed with compost! Why? Because it's filled with our pals, the earthworms and a plethora of microorganisms who go around 24/7 decomposing leaves, grass clippings, old plants and other organic material. This naturally occurring decayed material becomes compost -- free lunch for our plants! I don't buy fertilizers for my plants. I feed my entire yard with a layer of compost a few times a year.

In this clip, KVIE Public Television reports from Alemany Farm, a four acre organic paradise amidst the urban sprawl of one of San Francisco's worst crime areas.

To read the full article, click here.

Washington, D.C. - The spread of weeds resistant to Roundup herbicide is bringing new scrutiny to the government's regulation of biotech crops.

U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, a longtime critic of the biotech industry, said the U.S. Agriculture Department has been too quick to approve new varieties of herbicide-tolerant crops and other biotech products.

Farmers in the South started noticing the problem before anyone else. When they sprayed their fields with Roundup weed killer, weeds kept growing anyway. In some areas, fields became so choked with weeds that farmers abandoned them.

Starting an organic garden is a great way to contribute fresh fruit and vegetables to the family meals, as well as to make a positive environmental impact. Organic gardening offers many benefits to gardeners, and starting one is simple. Focusing on annual cycles of growth and harvest, preparing the garden beds properly and using high quality plants and organic fertilizer are the best things any organic gardener can do.

Organic gardening  at home is a very beneficial practice. Gardeners all over the world grow organic gardens for pleasure, profit and food, and there are significant benefits to growing an organic garden. An organic garden benefits both individuals and the general community in a number of ways. Each organic garden has the potential to benefit individuals financially, with regards to their health and improve the environment.