Dirt + Seed Dispensing Gumball Machines = Garden

Everyone knows about the transformative power of seeds, but here's a new twist on the idea - old gumball machines turned into a seed dispenser. Created by Greenaid, these contraptions make gardening easier than ever!

While you're thinking about seeds, check out Dirt! The Movie to see what's under your feet and why it matters so much. Screened at Sundance and Environmental Film Festival in Washington D.C. this year, the film will also air on PBS the week of April 20th. Garden adventures await!

Get ready to get your hands in that dirt, too, with these upcoming classes!

Heirloom Tomatoes and Peppers

Saturday, April 17

10am - 11:30am

Leslie House

Leslie Science and Nature Center

1831 Traver Road, Ann Arbor

Instructors: Royer Held and Tom Scheper

Learn how to select, start, and grow tomatoes and hot peppers using organic cultivation methods.

Introduction to Composting

Saturday, April 24

10am - 12pm

Leslie House

Leslie Science and Nature Center

1831 Traver Road, Ann Arbor

Instructor: Geoffrey Kroepel

Explore composting basics perfect for any gardener as well as alternative methods and creative bins.

(Image courtesy of Greenaid.)

Seeds for Cold Weather Places

This post about seeds for a cold climate on Cold Climate Gardening is just terrific. The subsequent discussion in the comments section is also well worth a read. Some great seed sources are listed, as well as things to keep in mind while shopping for seeds.

Keep in mind that heirloom seeds have been chosen and saved for generations in an area or region not just for their fantastic flavors, but because they are well-adapted to that particular climate. Local heirlooms from Project Grow are available at the 2010 Annual Seed Swap on Saturday, February 13th, and can also be found at People's Food Coop, too.

Seed Savers Exchange specializes in heirlooms, and offers lots of good information about where they come from, how they grow, and the flavors they produce.

Garden Faerie also does a fun little seed swap, but you'll have to plan on participating next year. Check out her book - Fun with Winter Seed Sowing - to get a jump start on things, too!

2010 Annual Seed Swap

Saturday, February 13th

10am - 11:30am

Leslie Science and Nature Center

Seed Swap Coming Up!

One of the beautiful things about these early Spring days is the fact that the mailbox starts to fill with seed catalogs. One of the challenging things about all those seed catalogs is making choices. There are always the old favorites, and then there are those enticing new plants that are difficult to resist.

Add to the list of enticing things for this month Project Grow's Annual Seed Swap. Going for nearly ten years, the Seed Swap is offers a real-life seed catalog for perusing. The added bonus is that the grower and collector is on hand to answer any questions and talk about the pros and cons of a particular variety. There will also be a nice selection of Project Grow heirloom seeds available, too, and experienced gardeners to talk them over with, too.

Come on out to find a new favorite, talk with other gardening enthusiasts ranging from the newbie to the super-experienced, and get your garden off to a great start!

P.S. They make a great Valentine's Day gift, too!

Project Grow Annual Seed Swap

Saturday, February 13th

Leslie Science and Nature Center

10am - 11:30am

Affordable Organic Eats

The organic food movement is sweeping the nation, but sometimes it feels like it might be sweeping out wallets, too. Some good advice on how to eat organic and inexpensively came from Seattle chef Maria Hines, this year's winner of the James Beard Award. 

"I would definitely say cook food from scratch, using whole, organic foods; that will be cheaper than going out and purchasing it. And grow an organic garden," said Hines in an interview with Grist. 

Couldn't have said it better ourselves! We've got some great ideas about starting an organic garden, and you can find some of our seeds over at People's Food Coop, too. (It's not too late to start seeds of some of your favorites. Check out these seed starting tips and start the adventure.) We still have a few garden spaces available this year, so we'd be glad to hear from you and help as we can!

Seed Starting Thoughts

Spring is when those seed packets are the most irresistible. Even if one of those last snow showers obscures the view outside the window, the picture on the packet is enough to draw me in and on to summer's warmer shores. If you've got a bundle of seed packets and need to get them started on their way to the garden, here are some useful resources to help you both get there.

Seed to Shining Seed
How could we not start this list with a class led by our very own Royer Held and Tom Sheper? Two experienced gardeners will take you from start to finish sharing how they achieve success growing tomatoes and peppers from seed as well as harvesting. Join us Saturday, April 4th for this treasure trove of fun and information.

Seedstarting Made Easy
This comprehensive article from Gardener's Supply covers containers, different kinds of potting mixes along with what they are made of, good seeds for beginners, troubleshooting tips, and so much more.

Starting Seeds Indoors
Another good article from GardenGuides.com covers many of the same basics, but also has two handy charts covering seeds that need special attention like soaking or scarification. It also offers a handy list of those that prefer to germinate with or without light.

Ten Seed Starting Tips
Fine Gardening offers a nicely detailed article for starting seeds as well as saving them, too. An extra feature offered here are a series of videos as well as a reading list.

Jump-Start Your Garden Today
This blog post from Get Rich Slowly about seed starting is, again, comprehensive, but also offers lots of good photos illustrating different techniques. Check out their list of other useful posts for more gardening tips, too.

Local and Not Electronic Resources, Too!
Downtown Home and Garden offers a wide variety of seeds and seed starting materials, not to mention a friendly and knowledgeable staff.

The Ann Arbor Farmer's Market is simply chock full of folks who together comprise a veritable encyclopedia of gardening information. Plus, if your seeds don't quite pan out you could probably find a lovely seedling of your favorite tomato at one of their stalls along with sympathy and empathy for your plight!

Got other ideas? Send them along!

Electronic Garden Planning Tools

As spring wends its way the time to start garden planning is upon us! (Especially with that seed swap coming up on Saturday!)

Two sites offer some good electronic tools for planning a garden that let you play around with the arrangement of your flowers and vegetables and figure out when to start seeds, and when you should be able to harvest. 

The first is a tool offered at Eat Close to Home  - a good blog offering information on gardening, cooking, and other fun stuff. There you can drag and drop an assortment of vegetables into place. While the selection of things to grow is a bit limited, perhaps the best feature of this tool is the ability to click on a month and see how things will look at that time. This allows you to see how things expand or disappear (assuming you've harvested it to eat yourself versus a rabbit coming in to harvest for you) over the course of a season. 

The second tool is a Kitchen Garden Planner offered by Gardener's Supply. This planner has options for pre-planned gardens with titles like Cook's Choice and Salsa and Tomato Sauce as well as a design your own feature. You choose the plants from a limited list and plunk them in place. A nice feature here is that the plants are listed below with seed-starting information and instructions for general care. You can also email it to yourself to keep track of different ideas. 

Seed Starting for a Head Start

Organic Gardening published this great little seed starting chart that should help you figure out how to get a head start on this year's garden. They also have some useful tips on seed starting basics, and lots of information to help you get through the season.

For real life versus virtual help and advice, don't forget about these great Project Grow classes and events, too!

2009 Heirloom Seed Swap

Saturday, March 21st

10am - 12pm

Leslie Science Center

Enjoying and Preserving Heirloom Vegetable Varieties in Your Garden

Saturday, March 7th

10am

Leslie Science Center

Potato Seeds and Sweet Potato Slips

Saturday, March 21st

10am - 11am

Leslie Science Center

Tomatoes and Pepper from Seed to Shinging Seed

Saturday, April 4th

10am - 11am

Leslie Science Center

Seeds and More Seeds!

You know Spring is just around the corner when you start hearing news about Seed Swaps! Join Project Grow on Saturday, March 21st for our Annual Heirloom Seed Swap. 

Gathered from our Heirloom Garden, these seeds will inspire you from the moment you read their names to the last harvest. Find your favorite variety of tomato, and try a new variety of melon. Bring some of your own seeds and take away some a fellow gardener simply raves about, and have more fun than you thought could ever be possible in two hours.

2009 Heirloom Seed Swap

Saturday, March 21st

10am - 12pm

Leslie Science Center

1800 Traver Road

Ann Arbor, MI 

Five Ways to Say I Love You (and that Garden!)

Here are five nifty gardening ways to tell someone how much you care about them, or to give yourself a little hit of love!

1. Purchase seed packets of flowers you'd like to give that person.
Bouquets are beautiful, there is not a speck of doubt about that, but a packet of seeds ensures a full season of showing your affection. Everything from sunflower seeds to cosmos to daisies will make a bright spot in the garden for months to come. How about Grandpa Ott's Morning Glories or some edible flowers?

2. Offer a pot of forced spring bulbs like daffodils, tulips, crocuses or hyacinths.
While February is a beautiful month, it's also nice to see that spot of color on the desk or table to greet each day. Lots of local stores, like Downtown Home and Garden or Chelsea Flower Shop, have a terrific selection. And the bulbs can be planted outside to bloom again and again for years to come!

3. Take a gardening class together!
Project Grow offers a bundle of great classes covering everything from keeping your own bees in the backyard to the basics of organic gardening to landscaping with native plants. Local experts share their knowledge to get you and your garden off to a solid start.

4. Nothing says love like an heirloom tomato.
Ok, maybe that's just us, but those heirloom veggies are brilliant in color and taste. Imagine a Green Zebra or Hungarian Heart Valentine - unique coloring and so tasty you won't believe it! (Email us to find out about the Project Grow seed collection or take a class on heirloom vegetables!)

5. Garden together.
Imagine spending beautiful summer evenings working together in your Project Grow garden. Birds sing their final songs of the day while snacking on mosquitoes before they get to you, and the sky is a brilliant show of orange and purple as you pull the last weeds and load up on the harvest for dinner. Now, that sounds romantic...

The Joy of Seeds in Winter

Winter is not usually the time folks consider for puting out seeds, but the National Gardening Association suggests it is a great time for some cool season annuals like cosmos and lettuce. If this piques your interest, come along to our Winter Seed Sowing Class to get the scoop. Monica Miller, author of Fun with Winter Seed Sowing, will share some tricks of the trade and send participants home with a pot of their very own winter-sown seeds!

Winter Seed Sowing
Saturday, February 7th
1pm - 2pm
Leslie Science Center
1831 Traver Road, Ann Arbor

Garden Applications Now Available!

It's hard to believe with all that snow and cold, but it's time to start thinking about your Project Grow garden plot! Applications are now being accepted for the 2009 growing season, and we recommend settling in to get it filled out. Grab a hot cup of something, and ignore the snow outside for a moment while you peruse the maps and garden descriptions, read about the programs we offer, upcoming classes, and plan on joining us to grow all sorts of goodies.

Looking for inspiration on what to grow? Check out Project Grow's Flickr page, and some seed catalogs, too. Here's a few suggestions, but we'd love to add your favorites to our list, too! Just let us know.

Seed Savers Exchange - a wide variety of heirloom seeds and probably one of the best garlic selections going.

Renee's Garden - a good selection of mixes - including flowers and vegetable-flower trios - these seeds are also available around town at stores like Downtown Home and Garden

Kitchen Garden Seeds - another interesting selection of seeds, tools, and ideas.