If your soil is dodgy, if your space is tight, raised beds offer a great way to grow—for lettuce, peppers, and other vegetables, to be sure, and also for herbs and flowers. You can get how-to tips from CFAES experts on what to grow and how to do it in A Complete Approach to Raised Bed Gardening (28 pp., $7.50), available from OSU Extension Publications.
gardening
Gonna help their garden grow
4-H Project Green Teacher, a school gardening series for educators, Master Gardener volunteers, and others interested in school gardening, returns to Ohio State’s Columbus campus June 6–10. (Photo: Getty Images.)
Be strong to the finich by eating your …
Got fresh spinach? See what you can do with it in the video above, courtesy of OSU Extension’s Tim McDermott and Jenny Lobb.
CFAES sustainability news, April 5, 2021
Ohio victory garden program to offer free vegetable seeds to gardeners
Columbus Dispatch, March 28, subscription required; featuring Mike Hogan, OSU Extension, Franklin County
OSU Extension Pike County partners with OSU Office of Student Life to distribute 27,216 meals to county residents
Pike County News Watchman, March 25
Grow an Ohio Victory Garden: 25 counties where you can get free seeds
The Ohio Department of Agriculture and OSU Extension, CFAES’ outreach arm, have kicked off the second year of their Victory Gardens Program, with the program having been expanding this year from 10 to 25 counties because of high demand. Some 8,300 seed packets are available free of charge to the public.
Read the full story, and see which counties are now included.
CFAES sustainability news, March 22, 2021
As millions go hungry, here’s how to reduce food waste in PA
Patch, March 19; research by Danyi Qi and Brian Roe, Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics, cited
Free gardening webinar series geared toward plant lovers with physical limitations
Wooster Daily Record, March 18; featuring Laura Akgerman and Pam Bennett, OSU Extension
CFAES sustainability news, Feb. 1, 2021
Educator tackles food insecurity in county
Youngstown Vindicator, Jan. 31; featuring Robin Adams, OSU Extension, Mahoning County
Improved soil health linked to nitrogen fertilizer efficiency
Ohio’s County Journal, Jan. 28; by Jordan Wade, Steve Culman, Cassandra Brown, OSU Extension
Gardening: By giving soil proper care, gardeners can enjoy the fruits of their labor
Columbus Dispatch, Jan. 31; by Mike Hogan, OSU Extension, Franklin County
Global pandemic doesn’t stop water quality research
Ohio’s Country Journal, Jan. 21; featuring Chris Winslow, Ohio Sea Grant, Stone Laboratory
What to do with a Christmas tree after Christmas? A quick Q&A with 3 experts from CFAES
Sales of real Christmas trees “are booming as pandemic-weary Americans seek solace,” said a recent headline in the New York Times.
That’s good news for Christmas tree growers, like these in Ohio. But in the interest of recycling and reducing solid waste, what are some good green options to do with a Christmas tree after Christmas?
Here are suggestions from three CFAES experts.
O-H, tannenbaum! CFAES expert shows you how to plant your own live Christmas tree
Here’s a pro tip: If you’re planning to decorate and later plant a live balled-and-burlapped Christmas tree, dig the hole ahead of time before the ground freezes hard. That means, in Ohio, you can do that as soon as right now.
Another option: Make a pile of leaves or straw in the spot where you want to plant your tree. Doing that can keep the ground from freezing—and the hole from filling with water—before you plant.
Want more pro tips? Watch this video by Paul Snyder of CFAES’ Secrest Arboretum. It’s an easy-to-follow 10-minute how-to on what to do.
Continue reading O-H, tannenbaum! CFAES expert shows you how to plant your own live Christmas tree
Take 1:55 to learn to make your own kale chips
Got lots of leafy green kale? Discover a good, simple way you can eat it in the new CFAES video above.
“Kale is a healthy fall vegetable that can keep growing deep into cold weather,” says Tim McDermott, who produced the video with Jenny Lobb. Both of them work for OSU Extension, CFAES’ outreach arm.
“Kale chips are a crunchy snack that are easy to make, are full of vitamins, calcium, iron, and fiber, and are a delicious way to enjoy your harvest.”
Read more on growing food in fall in a previous post with McDermott.