Extension News: May 2009 Archives

Join the University of New Hampshire Marine Docents this summer for a day cruise aboard the university’s research vessel, the R/V Gulf Challenger. Find out what UNH researchers are learning about the marine and estuarine environments, and get up close and personal with coastal creatures and local history.

The Shoals Cruise Learn about the history of New Hampshire’s seacoast, hike around Appledore Island and tour the Shoals Marine Lab. Cost is $40 and the cruise runs from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Or choose the Great Bay Discovery Cruise, which travels up the Piscataqua River into Little Bay/Great Bay Estuary. Marine Docents will lead activities such as catching plankton and testing water quality. The Great Bay Cruise also stops for a tour of the UNH Jackson Estuarine Laboratory. The cost is $25 and it runs from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 pm.

Cruises depart from the UNH pier in New Castle. Children ages 10 and older are welcome with an adult. Space is limited. Reserve your cruise now, or learn more about the available dates.

Dates and availability are subject to change. Discovery Cruises are sponsored by UNH Cooperative Extension and N.H. Sea Grant.

We are stardust, we are golden
We are ten billion year old carbon
And we got to get ourselves back to the garden.

Woodstock, Joni Mitchell

Survey research from the National Gardening Association indicates an explosion of interest in home food gardening this year:

• 43 million American households will plant food gardens in 2009--seven million more than last year.
• 11 percent of veteran gardeners say they plan to expand the size of their gardens this summer and the variety of crops they grow.
• 5 million households will seek space in a community garden.

Here in New Hampshire

Hope Lennon, who places seed orders and arranges educational seminars for gardeners at Blue Seal Feeds & Needs in Bow, says, "Stuff is flying off the shelves; our vegetable seeds have already sold out."

"We've already sold 45 percent more vegetable seedlings than last year and had to place another order," says Lennon. "We've sold twice as many seed potatoes this year, and people are still coming for them from as far away from Maine. We've had an increase in sales of organic products, and we've noticed a big rise in interest in container gardening."

During other crisis points in our history, Americans turned to backyard and community gardening in a big way

In 1918, more than 5.2 million World-War-1 Liberty Gardens yielded 528.5 million pounds of produce.

• From 1933-1936, the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) distributed more than three billion dollars to pay Depression Relief Gardeners for their food production.
• Victory Gardens of World War II produced more than 40 percent of the nation's fruits and vegetables.
• And during the Oil Embargo of the mid-1970s, more than half of American households tended vegetable gardens.

They think it tastes better (58 percent)! Saving money (54 percent), enjoying better-quality produce (51 percent) and having safe food (48 percent) fall close behind. Forty percent of food gardeners say they garden to "feel more productive."

Beyond a patch of good dirt (or a few containers of potting soil), hand tools, and seeds, home food producers don't need much by way of fancy equipment to raise fruits and vegetables. A plot managed with intensive techniques can easily yield 10 times the produce of a more conventional garden.

Visit our new Home & Community Food Gardening Web pages

They'll help you learn everything you need to know for success, from site selection and preparation to conditioning the soil, planting, finding space and time, caring for growing crops, managing problems, gardening with children, organizing or locating a community garden in New Hampshire.

We think of this site as a scaffold onto which we'll keep building. So, bookmark this section of our site for frequent reference. And help us keep building it by offering your suggestions for online information resources we haven't provided here.

Walk, bike, or carpool: Take the challenge!

Building on the success of past bike-or-walk-to-work days, the New Hampshire Bike-Walk Alliance has expanded the annual event to an entire week this year, from May 11 through May 15.

The project challenges Granite Staters to use human power to get around as much as possible during the week.

In keeping with the "green" theme, organizers note that transportation is responsible for an estimated 40 percent of New England's carbon dioxide emissions, and encourage folks who can't walk or bike to carpool or take public transportation.

Check out the local events

Communities around the state have planned celebratory events, which range from meet-and-greet breakfasts to free fares on public transportation.

All participants can also qualify for raffle prizes, including the grand giveaway of a one-night stay and breakfast for two at the Mount Washington Hotel. To qualify, you must fill in the online form.

Learn more

NH Bike maps Getting from here to there by bike.

Commuting by bicycle Lots of links to online information for cyclists and bike commuters.

Need a reason to buy a bike? Fitness, weight maintenance, energy savings, experiences in the natural world; plus tips for bike commuters.

Can't shower at work? Hygiene tips for self-powered commuters.

Program for Alternative Transportation and Health (PATH) Learn more about this Concord-area program promoting human power, carpooling and public transportation to save energy, protect the environment, and improve health.