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Is your garden sustainable?Here we are, smack dab in the best part of spring. There are so many great topics that I could write about in the garden; what's blooming, what to fertilize with, what varieties to try - the options are endless. But I'm not going to. I can't stop thinking about the conference that I recently attended and how it relates to the backyard gardener or really any person who eats! The 20th anniversary of the SARE Conference was held in Kansas City, Missouri. SARE, or Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education is a new organization for me, but not to the more than 500 people that were in attendance. It was mentioned at one point during the week that when SARE was first named, some farmers responded with the thought of 'Why do we only want to sustain?" Shouldn't we reach for the new and cutting edge? They felt that sustainable farming was sort of just barely getting by. SARE is far from just barely getting by. There is a three-pronged approach to sustainability. Since 1988, the SARE program has helped advance farming systems that are profitable, environmentally sound and good for communities through a nationwide research and education grants program. While many of you gardeners may not consider yourself a farmer, you are a part of agriculture - we all are. One thing I began to think about was the source of the food we eat. Where do your groceries come from and how much do they cost? What would happen if we could no longer ship vegetables across the country from the mega farms? It is frightening, but some of these questions are not so bizarre. They are not by any means intended to raise panic, but rather some reflection on the way we live. There was a time, believe it or not, when people actually grew their own produce, or at least knew the farmer that was responsible for growing it. A great deal of the population is so far removed from agriculture, I wonder what would happen if the transportation lines were suddenly cut off and the grocery stores had to scrimp to find stock for the shelves. I can guarantee that the local farmers and producers would certainly be making some new friends. We are lucky in Oklahoma that the growing season is so long and well suited for a wide variety of vegetables. While at the conference I attended the High Tunnel tour. High tunnels are structures that are very similar to a hoop house, but different from a greenhouse. High tunnels are unheated greenhouses that can help market gardeners extend their growing season so that they can improve the profitability of their farms. This is such an underutilized practice in Oklahoma, and also a method that can be scaled down and applied to a home garden. Greens could be grown through almost the entire winter. The tunnels in KC already planted their tomato transplants around the first week of March. This allows them to begin bearing fruit long before other local field growers are even thinking about harvesting fruits. Many local farmers have the feeling that they already work so hard in the summer why on Earth would they want to work like that all year! The use of a tunnel structure not only can extend the season for a vegetable grower but even improve the quality and abundance of the crop and decrease the problems with pests and disease. The benefits are endless. If you would like to see more information about high tunnels visit HYPERLINK www.hightunnels.org and explore some of the details about this effective growing method. The OSU Extension Service is also available if you have questions about the techniques, 405-713-1125. There was so much covered at the SARE conference in such a short period of time that I feel like my head is still spinning; but in a good way. It is impossible to sum up the knowledge gained at the three day event. The workshops I attended ranged from pollinators to grafting heirloom tomatoes. By visiting HYPERLINK www.sare.org you can learn more about this organization that is working to improve the way we feed ourselves. There is a strong need for more local vegetable and fruit producers and an urgency to support the producers that are already working to change the communities in which we live. 4/7/08 Date: 4/1/08 Advertisement
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