Category Archives: Plants

Schedule changes for South Georgia Growing Local 2014

Four talks have moved locations or times:

Jerald Larson needed an earlier slot, so Grow Your Own Organic Small Fruits has moved to 11:30 AM in Room 1.

Composting needs a room with a tile floor, so Composting: Red Wigglers and Soldier Flies by John Horton has moved to 3:15 PM in Commons.

A Walk with Dairy Goats: a lesson in humor and humility by Julia Shewchuk has moved to 3:15 PM in Commons.

From Fabulous Natural Fibers to Flamboyant Fabric: the craft and art of hand spinning and weaving by Amy Brown has moved to 11:30 AM in Room 2.

All these changes are in the revised schedule.

-jsq

Speaker Schedule –South Georgia Growing Local 2014

Hello again,

We are now nearly at the conference and I can hardly tell you how excited I am. I had a final walk through of Pine Grove Middle School and Farm this week and got all the details for accessing their technologies and the Internet.

Friday Farm Tours

Farm Tours will be Friday, January 24th, including produce at Raisin’ Cane, door yard citrus at Loch Laurel Nursery, olive oil and trees at Georgia Olive Farms, and Katahdin sheep at Hound River Farm.

Saturday Talks

Conference talks will be Saturday, January 25th, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Doors open at 8 a.m.) at Pine Grove Middle School, 4159 River Rd, Valdosta, GA 31605. We will be able to tour the hydroponic green houses at the school that day! The preliminary schedule is posted.

Lodging

Most of our speakers are local (how lucky are we that we have this wealth of talent in our community) and a couple from out of the have indicated that they need a room. We have arranged a discounted rate at two local hotels.

Registration

There is still plenty of room, so by all means, please continue to invite those that you think will be interested in attending. The Pine Grove Middle School is a lovely facility and we are lucky to be able to use it.

Don’t forget to register!

-Gretchen

Door Yard Citrus at Loch Laurel Nursery

Update 2 Feb 2014: Citrus Resources.

In addition to many camelias, Loch Laurel Nursery has Door Yard Citrus:

Many gardners are not aware of the wonderful citrus that can be grown in North Florida and South Georgia. Loch Laurel Nursery is proud to offer varieties that are cold hardy and produce tasty fruit you would assume could only be grown in semi-tropical climates. In fact, many of our varieties that are well-suited to our region (USDA Zone 8b), produce inferior fruit in Central Florida.

Satsumas
—Mandarine Orange, The fruit is easily peeled and contains loose segments that are easily separated. They are sweet and a bright orange color when ripe and nearly seedless. Satsumas are believed to be native to southern China and are widely grown along the gulf coast of the US. Satsuma trees grow 10 to 15 feet tall. The most popular variety is Owari that ripens in mid to late November. Hardy to 20°F. The variety Miho, developed in Texas is much earlier ripening in early to mid-October. Grafted on trifoliate orange, (Poncirus trifoliata) for improved cold hardiness.

That same Loch Laurel Nursery web page also lists Continue reading →

Eulogy for Jane Smith Kuntz – delivered September 18, 2013

We are here today because either we love Jane, or we love someone that loves Jane.

And I suppose that love sums up what Jane was all about.

Over the last few days, our family assembled a list of some of the qualities that might be used to describe Jane.

Perhaps you recognize some of them: Continue reading →

Janisse Ray wins Sustainable Literature Award

The Seed Underground: A Growing Revolution to Save Food, won the prize for Agriculture in the Sustainable Literature Awards, according to the Santa Monica Mirror, 11 September 2013.

From the book:

“If you haven’t heard what’s happening with seeds, let me tell you. They’re disappearing, about like every damn thing else. . . . But I’m not going to talk about anything that’s going to make us feel hopeless, or despairing, because there’s no despair in a seed.”

Other awards for The Seed Underground:

Gold Award of Achievement for Best Book Writing from the Garden Writers Association
Nautilus Book Awards Gold Winner: Green Living
Booklist’s Top Ten Crafts and Gardening Books of 2012
American Society of Journalists and Authors Arlene Eisenberg Award for Writing that Makes a Difference
American Horticultural Society Book Award
Silver Award of Achievement from the Garden Writers Association