Tag Archives: symposium

Rooting DC 2016: What a Blast!

rdc-tagline-logoThis past Saturday, February 27, I attended Rooting DC for the first time although it has been in existence for 9 years. It was so fun and informative that I should have started attending 9 years ago. Rooting DC is a free, day-long gardening forum to provide education about gardening, especially edible gardening, and to provide education and resources about local, urban food production and consumption. It is a wonderful opportunity to meet and network with people involved in the Washington DC area gardening/food production landscape. This annual event is a collaborative, volunteer effort planned by members from the Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food and Agriculture, City Blossoms, Common Good City Farm, FRESHFARM Market, Love & Carrots, and Three Part Harmony Farm. Hosted by DC Greens, a non-profit dedicated to connecting communities to healthy food in the Nation’s capital; Rooting DC took place at the Woodrow Wilson High School, 3950 Chesapeake Street, NW; next to the Tenleytown-AU metro station.

The presentations were organized into four modules, each an hour long, starting at 10:00 am and ending at 4:00 with a break for lunch. Each module was either a one-hour presentation, i.e., one topic, or a “7 x 7,”seven presentations, each lasting 7 minutes. The Rooting DC website listed the schedule, which I printed to plan my visit in advance, but I also received a booklet when I arrived with the schedule, descriptions of the presentations, and all the organizations attending that day. I spent the day attending presentations on:

  • using compost
  • growing mighty microgreens
  • gardening with raised beds
  • planning and planting for a continuous harvest
  • farming using the veganic method
  • learning simple building skills
  • employing companion planting in the garden

In addition to the lectures, over 60 non-profit and for profit green businesses, local government agencies, and educational institutions provided information and samples at tables strategically placed in the school’s atrium. This was the opportunity to meet Sandy Farber Bandier, DC Master Gardener Coordinator, to learn about the Master Gardener program; meet with Meredith Sheperd, owner of Love & Carrots, to learn how her business creates edible gardens; view the gardening tools and books Purple Mountain Organics had for sale; obtain a compost sample from Veteran Compost; pick up the Franciscan Monastery Garden Guild’s postcard to remind me of their April plant/herb sale; and obtain Southern Exposure Seed Exchange’s seed catalog. I was sorely tempted to purchase the 2016 calendar of edible flowers from Marcella Kriebel Art + Illustration – it was a beautifully illustrated poster — and I would have loved to come home with one of those brown T-shirts from Urban Farm Plans.

This year, the Chas C. Hart seed company donated boxes of vegetable and herb seeds to the event.  Each table received a box so while I talked with representatives, I flipped through the packets of seeds, looking for the more unusual ones. I found a few gems I had never heard of before such as cicoria (Italian dandelion), pepperoncini (hot pepper), ‘Riesentraube’ grape tomato, and purple-podded snow peas!

Rooting DC took place in an excellent forum: the Woodrow Wilson High School was spacious and within walking distance of metro, which was next to a Panera Bread and Whole Foods Market. Coffee was available in the school cafeteria and food trucks were parked outside during lunch.

One can register to attend Rooting DC in advance or just walk in. I registered in advance and printed the ticket, which I presented at the door. I was there early enough to visit the tables before the presentations began, which turned out to be a good thing because the seed packets were gone by lunch time. Although the event is free, the Rooting DC website, http://www.rootingdc.org, asks for a $10 donation when registering. The website itself has plenty of information on local gardening and food production. As of this posting, the booklet with the schedule and presenters is still online and several presenters have posted their presentations, which serve as resources themselves to people who could not attend but are interested in gardening. Check out the visitors’ tweets to see photos and comments at #rootingdc and #RDC16. Be sure you put this event on your calendar for next year — Rooting DC will be celebrating its 10th year!

You Can Grow That: Hardy Geranium ‘Biokovo’

Biokovo

Early May Biokovo blossoms in my garden

Because June is Perennial Gardening Month, this month’s You Can Grow That plant on my web site is Geranium x cantabrigiense ‘Biokovo.’ A hardy geranium, Biokovo has thrived in my Northern Virginia garden for 10 years. In April and May, the small, white/pink flowers, reminiscent of apple flowers, appear but what gives them away as hardy geraniums are the unusually long, pink stamens. Eventually, these flowers will create an elongated seed pod, similar to a crane’s bill, hence the common name, cranesbills.

Spreading by underground stems called rhizomes, these plants are easy to divide and give to friends or plant elsewhere in the garden. If given optimum conditions such as good soil and partial sun, they may spread but mine are in poor soil and full sun which tends to limit growth. After they bloom in the spring, the green leaves are low enough to serve as a groundcover or border plant. In the fall, the leaves turn red/bronze and most remain during the winter months. I like the fact that the leaves remain above ground over winter so you don’t have as much of a bare spot in the garden. By winter, the leaves are red and very low to the ground. In early March, as new green leaves appear; the plant puffs up a bit, giving it volume and height so the spring flowers appear about 6 to 8 inches above ground.

Biokovo (2)

reddish Biokovo leaves in March in my garden

 

Biokovo is the 2015 Perennial Plant of the Year, sponsored by the Perennial Plant Association (PPA). The PPA will be hosting its 33rd Symposium in Baltimore on July 27 to August 1, open to members of PPA as well as non-members.  Because Biokovo is the 2015 Perennial Plant of the year, the PPA website has more information on Biokovo and is selling T-shirts with pictures of the plant.

Click on “You Can Grow That!” for more gardening related posts. You Can Grow That! is a collaborative effort by gardeners around the world to encourage others to grow something. Gardeners usually post articles on their blog on the fourth day of the month.

Youcangrowthat