| JULY 7, 2014 -- After enjoying a salad of fresh greens and other vegetables from Hillstown Grange members' gardens, talk at the group's recent meeting turned to the benefits of growing your own food and the best methods for doing so. The Hillstown Grange 87 in East Hartford hosted a "Garden Show-and-Tell" on June 26, led by longtime gardener Curt Upton. The program was the first of a series, with the next one tentatively focusing on canning and preserving, at the end of the summer.
Grange Master Frank Forrest asked members to look for canning jars (which will get new sealed lids) at tag sales and flea markets to "stockpile" them for a workshop. Forrest also talked about the grange's two gardening contests now underway: who can grow the longest cucumber, and who can grow the tallest plume of this year's featured plant, amaranth. Potted seedlings of this ancient grain were available at the talk.
Forrest would also like to see the Hillstown Grange compete with other state granges in a contest to see who can grow and donate the most produce. Since this would be their first shot at it, Forrest said, Hillstown Grange could set a goal of 2,000 pounds. Last year, one grange donated two tons, he said.
Forrest and Grange Steward Deb Dubitsky encouraged others to grow at least one unfamiliar vegetable each season. For example, Forrest is growing Armenian cucumbers – which aren't actually cucumbers, but can grow as long as 36 inches. As for amaranth, once the staple food of the Aztecs, Forrest said this ended up in his garden as a "happy accident," given to him in a packet of unlabeled seeds.
In response to questions about the pros and cons of growing in raised beds or containers versus straight into a tilled garden, Upton said, "I'm too lazy. I don't want to go to the effort of a raised bed."
Dubitsky replied, "I'm lazy in a different way. I don't want to bend down to the ground – I'd rather harvest up here [indicating waist level]."
Gardens can be planted in all kinds of containers, she added, and without spending a lot of money. For example, a (clean) oil drum cut in half lengthwise makes a good container, she said.
Asked if soil in raised beds needs to be changed each season, Dubitsky said all that's needed is addition of more enriched material, such as composted manure.
Upton added that people often think they need to plant a huge garden in order to grow enough food to preserve for the rest of the year. "My garden is 10 by 16 feet. I grow 12 feet of lettuce, as well as spinach, radishes, onions, potatoes, tomatoes, peas, green beans, beets, zucchini, cucumbers and even celery," he said. Upton said that homegrown vegetables are usually much more flavorful than what's commonly sold in stores.
Upton also shared a tip on growing potatoes from the ones you've neglected in the pantry. "A 'seed potato' is any potato with sprouting 'eyes.' Don't cut it up into more than halves because the potato is the food for the new plants," he said.
The Hillstown Grange welcomes new members. To learn more about upcoming events, contact Frank Forrest at at 860-690-2845 or hillstowngrange@aol.com.
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