"...nature can do so many things at once: feed insects and birds, snakes and deer, and offer them shelter; harvest, store, and purify water; renew and enrich the soil; clean the air and scent it with perfume; and on and on." Toby Hemenway from Gaia's Garden

Dear Organic Gardeners,

Spring is here and for many of us the gardening season begins in earnest. At long last, flats are being filled with soil and seeds are being sown. Here in Maine, the spring equinox finds us under a deep blanket of snow, but in New Mexico at our Research Farm, cover crops are showing growth and cool season varieties such as peas and radishes are being sown in the fields while the greenhouses are filling up with flats of seedlings for summer plantings.

You may have noticed our new, more informative seed-pack copy this year. Hopefully you'll find all the information you need for successful germination and growing of our varieties. If you'd like more information about seed starting, our Digging in the Dirt section has an extensive article on indoor propagation as well as one on preparing beds and sowing directly in the garden. You'll also find lots of other great information to help you throughout the growing season.

	Spinach In-depth look at one of our favorite spring greens from planting through harvest and seed saving... Read More >
	Brother Placid's Organic Gardening Tips Emily Gatch shares her visit with the Brother and his tips for beginning gardeners ... Read More >
	Seed-Borne Disease and Organics Micaela Colley reports on organic disease management techniques... Read More >

Along those lines, Emily Gatch, our greenhouse manager and the newest addition to our research team, has related some gardening wisdom from Brother Placid: Brother Placid has been growing food organically for many years at New Melleray, a Trappist monastery and certified organic beef cattle farm near Dubuque, Iowa, feeding thousands of people along the way. Emily comes to us from the University of Tennessee where she was a research assistant in Vegetable Production Systems. Previously, she received her M.S. in plant pathology from Iowa State University and a B.S. in Biology from Harvard. We are delighted to have Emily join our research team as the greenhouse coordinator, among other duties, and look forward to hearing from her as the season progresses.

You'll notice with this edition of the Cutting Edge that Robert Miner, also new on our staff, has taken over the Farm Report from Jordan Rainwater. Jordan has moved to Oregon to start her own organic farm with her husband Daryl. (Best of luck Jordan! We'll miss you!) Robert comes to us from Florida, where he was the Senior Horticulturist for Plantation Medicinals Inc. A graduate of Texas A&M University with a B.S. in Horticulture, Robert brings a wealth of experience in designing and implementing farming production systems. His input is already being seen at the farm as new irrigation systems are being installed and other systems are falling into place. We're all delighted to welcome Robert to the team.

There are a lot of changes under foot at our farm and we remain dedicated to providing you with comprehensive gardening information and keeping you abreast of developments in organic agriculture. And as always, we'd love to hear from you.

Happy Spring,
Scott Vlaun, Editor

Photo caption: Mixed cover crops emerging from a under a spring snow at the Research Farm.

Printable PDF Version:
eNewsletter #45
Text only, 52k, 7 pages.

Unable to open it?
You may need to download Adobe Acrobat Reader.