Just a couple of the “props” we’ll be bringing on Saturday, June 1st, to the Harvest Farm Community Garden for the class on Portable Kitchen Gardens. Presented by, Yours truly.
What better way to spend a Saturday with the family than at Georgia’s largest (and most beautiful) community garden, in Suwanee?!
The new flyer I’ll be handing out on June 1st for the Portable Kitchen Garden Class at Harvest Farm Community Garden: Organic Edible Flowers suitable for container gardens.
The Portable Kitchen Container Garden: class on Saturday, June 1, 2013 at 10:00 a.m., Harvest Farm Community Garden, Suwanee, GA. Yes, there’s a big, beautiful red barn on the premises, and an amazing butterfly walkway! Address: 752 White Street, Suwanee, GA 30024. Map and driving directions, here.
Come and visit this lovely, local community garden … and while you’re there, I’ll show you how to put together a portable kitchen container garden. Find out what organic fertilizer I use (and why all organic fertilizers are NOT created equal). I’ll also be talking about edible flowers you can harvest from herbs, vegetables, and other landscape plants, with some easy recipe ideas. Summer is just getting started, so come on over and learn what you can grow in a small space, with limited time, on a budget, using local ingredients - organically. I’ve prepared an Organic Edible Flowers brochure that I’ll be handing out, while supplies last.
The class is free, and you do not have to be a member of the garden to attend. Even better … I’ll be giving away some of my favorite garden goodies: organic compost tea, garden markers, and more!
Learn more about Wallace Gardens, a Suwanee-based garden design business, on Facebook.
I’m not sure if it is, but this looks like a Cherokee Rose, the state flower of Georgia, Rosa laevigata. In any event, it’s a lovely capture from herbanlife.
Chioanthus virginicus (Fringetree or Grancy Gray Beard) is a native to the Southeastern United States. The tree is a prolific bloomer, with fragrant, fringe-like flowers appearing in April on both male and female plants. It is best utilized as an understory tree, where it can be protected from harsh afternoon sun ~ it is the perfect specimen tree for a woodland garden. Trees tend to be multi-stemmed, with a broad rounded head. Suitable for wetland areas, stream banks, or creek beds.
Berries appear on female plants only, ripening in August and September. (A male plant must be in the vicinity for fruit to set.) The berries are eaten by bluebirds, thrashers, finches, and many others. Don’t forget: February is National Bird Feeding month!
Arbor Day in Georgia is the 3rd Friday in February, an ideal time for tree installations. (National Arbor Day is the 3rd Friday in April, but it is too warm that time of year for tree planting in Georgia.) What better way to celebrate Georgia Arbor Day, than by planting a tree native to the Southeast? This one is a show-stopper!
UPDATE: Well, that was fast. I received a very nice phone call from the owner of Jungle Growth. He’s arranged for me to pick up the soil directly from him - any time I want, any amount I need, at a mutually convenient location.
I love small businesses, like Jungle Growth!
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10-17-2012: I’d like you to meet my favorite soil: Jungle Growth. It is made in Statham (Barrow County), Georgia, not too far from where I do business. I used to be able to purchase it at Lowe’s in Suwanee, Georgia, until last spring, when for reasons unknown to me, it became unavailable.
Like many consumers, I try to use as many locally made and/or grown materials as possible. Jungle Growth is a superior product, I am able to produce amazing results with it, and have been an avid user for years. No other product can compete. I use several hundred bags of this soil every year….and now it takes an Act of Congress to get my hands on a pallet, even though it is made right here in my own state. It’s very frustrating.
Yes, Wal-Mart carries this product. No, I don’t do business with Wal-Mart (but I won’t go into detail). Lowe’s has been a great place for me to do business as far as “big box” supply stores go. However, the other products Lowe’s offers as a replacement soil are inferior and I don’t use them - because that would compromise the quality of my work.
Remember the pictures of container gardens that I post here on tumblr, on facebook, on twitter, on pinterest, on scoop.it - and all those flowering trees and shrubs? They’ve all been planted in Jungle Growth. No, Jungle Growth isn’t paying me to write this. They don’t even answer their phone. They just make good dirt. It’s that simple.
Another really great thing about Jungle Growth? They’ll tell you why:
Southern September Showcase: Magnolia grandiflora, lemon-scented blossom and seed pod, Georgia native.
Blue Moon over Georgia. August 31, 2012.
Mirror Lake, by Dana Oliver, rural southeast Georgia, Okefenokee Swamp.
Garden in Savannah, Georgia. Photos: Daisy Cottage.
