Snow is melting! Spring is on the way! Let's talk gardening!

As our snow begins to melt, and the days get noticeably longer, thoughts turn to gardening again. Well actually for most gardeners, we've been thinking about this year's garden since we started planting last year's! My leek seeds that I planted last weekend are mostly up; warmed through the window in my dining room by the couple of days of sun we received this week. I'm still waiting for the shallot seeds that I also planted to appear. In the next few weeks, more seeds will get planted - lettuce and kale for sure.

My seeds are all here. This year we mostly ordered from FEDCO. For our seed potatoes and onions we ordered from Johnny's and Seeds of Change. We also ordered a selection of cherry trees and some Sansa apples from Cummins Nursery. And we have an Asian pear and 4 varieties of currants coming from Stark Brothers.

Earlier today, I had the pleasure of attending a Homer Community Gardens "Garden Chat" where several of us gathered together in the home of Elaine Norris to share good food, gardening resources, and garden knowledge. The eclectic discussions included an update on the Homer Community Gardens project, some school gardening projects, folks sharing where they get their local foods, discussing ways people keep pests away from their gardens, ideas for materials to use for raised beds, offering to share worms for vermiculture, and lots of other great topics.

Please check out their blog (Homer Community Gardens) to see when they are having events and for local gardening tips.

The 8th Annual Cortland Educators’ Conference Goes Green

On Saturday March 14, 2009, I attended the 8th annual educators conference sponsored by area teacher centers held at Homer High School. This conference for area educators with the theme, “It’s Easy Being Green”, was planned by Bonnie Calzolaio (Cortland/McGraw/Homer Teacher Center), Bobbi Krout (Dryden Teacher Center) and Pat Rice (Cincinnatus Teacher Center). I'd like to thank them for putting together a great opportunity for area educators.

I just thought I’d highlight a few of the sessions to share what “green things” area teachers are doing and some of what they learned about by attending the conference.

The conference kicked off with a keynote “Its Imperative to Go Green!” by Kurt Schmidt, Cincinnatus High School Science Teacher. Kurt has been awarded the New York State Environmental Educator of the Year, and is well known in the area.

Below are a few of the green workshops the area teachers attended:
- Kurt Schmidt, Cincinnatus HS Science Teacher - “You Can’t Spell SUSTAINABLE without US”
- Penny James: Doctoral Candidate, North Carolina State University - “The Changing Nature of Childhood”
- John Steedle, Homer HS architecture teacher - “Schools of the Future: What a Green School Might Look Like”
- Karl Klein, Onondaga Community College – “Green Jobs for the 21st Century”
- Beth Klein, SUNY Cortland, and John Pinto NYSERDA Teacher Trainer – “Reducing your Carbon Footprint, What You, Your Students and School Can Do!”
- Jennifer Fee, Cornell Lab of Ornithology – “Going Global: Exploring Biodiversity on your School Yard and Beyond”
- Jeanne Stevens & Karen Shirley, Reading Teachers – From Truffula Trees to Kapok Trees”
- Elaine Norris, Master Gardener volunteer with Cornell Cooperative Extension, had a display on school gardening and provided information about the assistance she and the Cornell Cooperative can offer schools.