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Remember this?  Taken 1/2/2009

 


We often hear that “organic cannot feed the world.”

Or, “nothing new under the sun.”

Pam Larsen 2012

 

I’ve been reading some texts over 100 years old that described French market gardens of the 1800s in the suburbs of Paris.  Practices of these gardens were brought to the US by a Brit, Alan Chadwick in the 1960s.  He instituted them in the relaxed environment of UC Santa Cruz.  (Chadwick was a man who didn’t accept labels but I’d describe him as a “back-to-the-land,” hippie-type- guy.)  Being more of a demonstrator (similar to what we see in Paul Gautsche here and now), he didn’t write a detailed manual of his practices.  This became the province of one of his students, John Jeavons of How to Grow More Vegetables *than you ever thought possible on less land than you can imagine, fame .  He originally published this work in 1974; it’s currently in its 8th printing (2012), a testament to the veracity of the French practices begun in the 1500s.

But getting , to organic not being able to feed the world, here’s a little of what organic was doing in the mid-1800s in France.—It’s of interest to note that Paris (48° 5’ N) is at virtually the same latitude as Sequim (48° 4’ N.), though it’s likely they have far more sun than our coastal clime. (My guess is that using the same techniques east of the cascades could produce similar or perhaps better results.)

Mid-19th century market gardener practices, on a total of 2125 acres, and less than 2 people per acre, produced over  250,000 pounds of food, enough food for 2 million Parisians, with the surplus going to London and fetching fine prices.  The methods involved cold frames (or covering plants with bell jars) and intensive planting in several inches of manure.  Trees formed a windbreak on the north and growing was year-round.  Here are some specific results.[1]

·        20,000+ pounds  of carrots

·        20,000+ pounds of vegetables sold by weight, including things like onions and radishes

·        6,000 heads of cabbage

·        3,000 heads of cauliflower

·        5,000 baskets of tomatoes

·        60,000 pieces of fruit

·        154,000 heads of salad

 

Here’s a quote that’s off-topic but from the same publication; it relates fraud, similar to what we see in organic today but occurring over 160 years ago.   (For example, a couple of years ago a manufacturer, in California I think, was found to be adding synthetic nitrogen to “organic” amendments sold to organic farmers who were very impressed with the growth they were getting.)

It is obvious that at present, when fraud and adulteration are exercised on such an immense scale in the manufacture of artificial manure, and the manufacture of manure is considered as a chemical process, while it ought to be considered as a physiological one, the gardener prefers to spend an unimaginable amount of labour rather than risk his crop by the use of a pompously labeled and unworthy drug.  


 

[1] Fields, Factories, and Workshops  By Prince Kropotkin, 1901 G. P.Putnam & Sons New York & London,  Pg. 65.

 


 

Be sure to see Wendy Macnaughton's Web site

 


Click on the image above, for a large panorama of the garden
taken on 8-30-2011


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The concept of a community garden is that a group of potential gardeners come together to operate a parcel of land as a garden, with each person having a small plot (say 10 foot by 10 foot for starters). Tools, knowledge and work are shared and community gardens typically build citizenship as well as community spirit. Friends of the Fields (FOF) was brought along first, because of its initial contact with the students, but then also because of the fact that people who get accustomed to eating good tasting, wholesome local foods from their own garden were likely to want to buy that same kind of food from local farmers, thereby increasing the opportunity and income of our farmers. FOF agreed to serve as an umbrella non-profit organization, enabling donations to the community garden to be tax deductible. In addition, FOF will be able to handle the liability concerns of the garden under its own insurance program.

The group wanted to locate the garden in the heart of Sequim because of the desire to be able to serve apartment dwellers and students, special needs children and the elderly, all of whom might have some difficulty using a garden at some more remote site. St. Luke's Episcopal Church on N. 5th Street in Sequim was able to handle the location question. They owned a parcel of land bordering on West Fir St. just west of 5th Avenue that they had coincidentally thought that one day, it might be a garden site. The lot is within a few blocks of the Boys and Girls Club, Helen Haller Middle school, and Sequim High School.

It has been named the Community Organic Garden of Sequim or COGS for short. Having a location is not the same as having a garden. The advisory committee governing the effort is already starting to work.

If you are willing to help, and/or can donate any needed items, Please contact Liz Harper at 683-7698 if you would like to help or to obtain more information. Come grow with us!


Click on the thumbnail, above, for a very large
panorama of the COGs garden, taken 8-30-2010
[Use view menu item or scroll wheel to resize large panorama of garden.]

LINKS TO OUR FRIENDS, SPONSORS, ETC. :
Businesses and organizations that support
the Community Organic Garden of Sequim

This is not just a garden for the community; its existence is a
function of the generosity of the community.

These businesses and organizations have been joined by countless individuals who have donated money and items that helped start the garden:

Lazy J Tree Farm kindly donated compost.

WSU Clallam County Extension
http://county.wsu.edu/clallam/Pages/default.aspx

Irish Eyes Garden Seeds:  http://www.irisheyesgardenseeds.com/

Friends of the Fields provides the non-profit umbrella under which we function. http://www.friendsofthefields.org 

Friends of Water:  friendsofwater.com - Sells the chlorine removal filters used in our garden.

St. Luke’s Episcopal Church provides the land and space for our classes and potluck banquets. http://www.stlukesparish.net 

Sound Community Bank provided our initial grant to help get the early infrastructure in place. http://www.soundcb.com/home/home 

Sequim First also provided us with a grant. This funding went to getting accessible paths around our elevated growing beds and the initial cedar paths. http://sequimfirst.net/ 

First Federal provided us with our grant to get accessible paths throughout the garden , an additional elevated bed, and filters to eliminate chlorine from the Garden’s water. https://www.ourfirstfed.com 

Sunrise Rotary donated the cedar for the Garden’s beautiful cedar fence and the labor to install it. http://www.sequimsunriserotary.org Thomas Building Center provided Rotary with a discount on the lumber. www.thomasbuildingcenter.com

Sears, Sequim donated all our water hoses. http://www.superpages.com/bp/Sequim-WA/Sears-L0118173613.htm

Northwest Structures owner, Matt Freed, donated his labor and built the beautiful pergola. 683-2677 

Real Wood owners Conn O'neil and Frank Lemcke donated the cedar and built our elevated beds. 460-0630

Sequim’s Home Depot gave the garden a large discount on the garden shed. http://local.yahoo.com/info-30932476-home-depot-sequim 

Clallam Co-op Farm and Garden donated our hydrants and provides organic fertilizers throughout the season. http://www.theco-opfarmandgarden.com 

McComb Gardens has been an ongoing provider of organic compost since the Garden opened. http://mccombgardens.com 

Dave’s Small Tractor Service has donated the tilling for the garden and subsequent tractor work on the accessible path. 683-1179 

Thomas Pitre Associates, Sequim, has provided web hosting, digital photography and web site maintenance since this site went on line last year.  http://sequim-web.net - http://tpitre.nikola.com


Contributing to COGS

The Community Organic Garden of Sequim is a project of Friends of the Fields, a Non-Profit 501(c)(3). As such, contributions to COGS are tax deductible to the full extent authorized by law. We would greatly appreciate any help you wish to provide as we get this garden up and running and look to other sites for new, potential gardens.

Please make donations by check payable to Friends of the Fields. In the memo line of your check, cite “COGS”. If you wish to make donations of gardening tools or garden supplies, drop them by the garden, or call our Chairperson, Liz Harper at 683-7698


Links; Related. Gardening, Growing, Etc.

HOW TO MAKE A WORM BIN
From Seattle Tilth:
.pdf file
<here>


Organic Consumers:
http://www.organicconsumers.org/

Julia Scott writes to mention: ForFarmers.com at: http://www.forfarmers.com/
ForFarmers.com is a marketplace for buying and selling various breeds of garden, food, forestry, wood, trees, nursery, landscape, fruits,
horticulture, flowers, plants, seeds, crops, vegetables as well as agricultural jobs and a wide range of services.


Sequim Gazette
Article about COGS: GazetteArticlebyOden.pdf

Sequim Locally Grown Mercantile http://sequim.locallygrown.net/

Local Growers: http://sequim.locallygrown.net/growers

Greens Guide at Nobel Hills Farm: http://www.noblefoodsfarm.com/GreensGuide/index.htm

Grows on You - Grows on You is a friendly gardening community where you can...
* ask your gardening questions
* store ALL your gardening photos
* start a gardening BLOG
* get ideas from others' gardens
* and much much more... http://growsonyou.com


Tips for gardeners who use wheelchairs: http://agrability.missouri.edu/gardenweb/Wheelchair.html

http://www.gonegardening.com/xq/ASP/group_id.22/article_id.114/referer./qx/gg_shop/article.htm

http://www.bupa.co.uk/health_information/html/healthy_living/senior/gardening/adapted.html

Use Google search string:  "accessible gardening" for more links.

 

 

Where are we located?

Map showing location of garden on Fir, West of N. Fifth Avenue behind St. Luke's Church


Satellite View of COGS

 

THE SMALL PRINT

Site hosted by:
Logo of The Cascadian - host of the COGS site.
publisher/editor
THOMAS PITRE, THOMAS PITRE ASSOCIATES, SEQUIM
I am responsible for ALL original content here. My comments, opinions, and
editorializing have nothing to do with COGS, sponsors, benefactors, gardeners,
The City of Sequim, Friends of the Fields, St. Luke's, Clallam County, or the grand poobah. -tp
Thomas Pitre also publishes
The Sequim Community Web
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Page edited: 12/23/2012 - Announcement and new satellite view of garden
Photos and original content and commentary:  © 2008-12, Thomas Pitre, Sequim, WA

Cascadian Logo - Jessica Burroughs, Sequim

 

 

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