We hope everyone is having a great week, and we’re looking
forward to seeing our loyal patrons and new shoppers at our Pathfinder Produce
markets this week, on Thursday, 1 to 5 p.m. in Edmeston at the Pathfinder
Village Commons, and on Friday, Noon to 5 p.m. in Morris at the UMC on Church
Street.
Our markets are staffed by our volunteers from our Adult Day
Services Program, community volunteers, and members of the Pathfinder staff.
Everyone pitches in to help with the markets, as they know how important
it is for area families to have access to yummy, fresh and nutritious produce.
Plus it’s a great way to catch up with our friends and neighbors.
We hope to see you this week at our markets!
***
These past few weeks, the members of our Adult Day Services
Program have been thinking about gardening and getting things moving for the
planting season to come at Pathfinder’s three high tunnel hoop houses.
Along with some herb seeds they’ve planted in the Button Greenhouse,
they’re experimenting with planting roots from previously used veggies.
The gang started off with some sprouted potatoes, which actually
is the tried and true method for growing spuds. I’ve also planted them
myself that way, using traditional methods, as described in “Farmer Boy” by Laura
Ingalls Wilder. I remember my dad growing potatoes in hay bales (no dirt
means no fuss when it comes time to peeling or baking potatoes). You also
can use trash barrels to grow
potatoes, and there are stackable bins, in which
you build up the sides and add soil as the plants grow. At harvest
time, you take off the sides to expose the new potatoes. (Caution, don’t
use pressure treated lumber for any gardening bin project.)
My friends also used root scraps to replant some celery and red
onions, and they are going to try replanting Romaine lettuce too. There’s
a comprehensive guide to planting food scraps for new crops at the Food Revolution Network website.
More foods, like sweet potatoes, nuts and fruits, are covered at DIY & Crafts. During
these days of great variations in temperatures, we’re also using some
additional temporary pvc and sheet plastic cold frames to help
keep the young plants at more constant temperatures.
I really like this idea of relying on resources we have at hand
and extending the lives of things we use … it harkens back to the adage, “Use it up, wear it out,
make it do or do without.” This saying apparently was a
favorite of Calvin Coolidge, old
“Silent Cal,” a Vermonter who became the 30th president after the unexpected
death in 1923 of the scandal-ridden 29th president, Warren Harding. Although
he was a lawyer by training, Mr. Coolidge’s reputation for not speaking in
social situations was such that an oft-told story went:
A matron, seated
next to him at a dinner, said to him, "I made a bet today that I could get more than two words out of you."
He replied, "You lose.”
He replied, "You lose.”
Regrowing
roots is a form of “upcycling,” which is growing in popularity lately.
While not all upcycling ideas I see are practical, they’re interesting nonetheless. I think
this interest of mine probably goes back to the stories from my grandparents --
all farmers in the hardscrabble Catskills -- who “made it do” during the Great
Depression through self-reliance, repurposing, and penny-pinching habits.
My one grandma would make aprons and all sorts of things from feed sacks; the
other made colorful and hard wearing rag rugs. My dad’s dad was
fastidious about taking great care of his farm machinery, knowing it would last
longer if it was treated well. He kept a 1920s steel-wheeled Fordson
tractor so impeccably that it was added to the collections of a local
historical museum after his death.
Let me know if you have any great ways to
jumpstart your growing season through repurposed scraps, or any other great
upcycling ideas you’ve tried. Until next time, repurpose, think
creatively, and be well.
Lori
