Citizen Science

Have you ever heard of the term citizen science? How about community science? No? Volunteer monitoring? Crowd-sourced science?  If you are like I was, you may be unfamiliar with these terms. In essence, citizen science is when scientific researchers use non-scientist, a.k.a. ordinary, everyday people, to help with their studies collecting data in quantities they could not do on their own.

It was in the most recent issue of Horticulture Magazine which introduced me and probably many others to the term 'citizen scientist' as part of their cover article, The Great Sunflower Project. This project focuses on pollinators by asking interested people to grow the same variety, specifically Lemon Queen. Once the flower has bloomed, scientist ask their citizen volunteers to simply sit for 5 minutes on three separate occasions and count the number of visiting pollinators to that one flower. 5 minutes, 3 separate times - a total of 15 minutes of your undivided attention towards a flower can tell researchers so much. The volunteer data comes from all over the country, helping scientists understand the number of pollinators that visits per hour, per flower, the same flower, all across the country.  Scientists and researchers would not have the money, time, or ability, let alone the manpower to record this type of data without the help of citizen scientists.

A Little History
Citizen science has been around actually for centuries. Before the late 19th century most scientists made a living some other way than science. Collaborations between researchers and scientists across the world has always been the norm way before the age of technology, as early as 17th century. It just took a lot longer for the things to happen.  Carl Linnaeus, the Swedish botanist who standardized the naming of organisms (binomial nomenclature) wouldn't have been possible if he hadn't collaborated with other amateur researchers helping him collect specimens.  Wine makers for centuries have kept records on grape harvests. Hunters and fisherman have equally recorded specific, valuable data about animals for generations.  All very important data to modern day scientists and researchers.  

How Can I Get Involved?
Today, anyone still can be a citizen scientist. If you're interested in gardening and nature, there are projects similar to the Great Sunflower Project, like the Hummingbirds At Home Project where people track, report and follow the spring hummingbird migration to better understand how climate change may be impacting hummingbirds.

What I've discovered about citizen science projects so far, is that whether it's a project being organized by the Appalachian Mountain Club, Smithsonian, SciStarter.com, Scientific America, Zooniverse, Crowd & Cloud or National Geographic, there is an opportunity to get involved in a project that directly relates to your world.  Projects vary in disciplines including the arts, biology, climate, history, language, literature, medicine, nature, physics, and more...

While checking out the Scientific America's citizen science website, I stumbled across a project called Small World of Words. The goal of the project is to help researchers discover how the meaning of words is stored in memory. All I had to do was take a 5 minute quiz where they give you a word and all you have to do is type the first two or three words that word makes you think of. No need to even leave the house to become a citizen scientist. Another project that caught my eye is the Folger Shakespeare Library, Zooniverse.org, Oxford English Dictionary collaborating on the project called Shakespeare's World which asks participants to "transcribe handwritten documents by Shakespeare’s contemporaries to help researchers understand his life and times". A fascinating study, you can pick from either transcribing letters or recipes depending on your own interests.  

Lemon Queen

However, the projects which most interest me are the ones that require you to go outside and simply watch what's going on in the world around you.  In today's world, disconnecting from technology can be impossible, so I welcome the chance to take a few moments to tune out the technology and focus on nature.  Sure, I'll be reporting back my finding using technology but a pad and pen will do fine for counting the amount of bees that visit my Lemon Queen sunflower or how many hummingbirds visit my feeder.  I wish I had known about citizen science programs when my kids were little. What a great way to encourage children to be observant and perhaps gain a better understanding, interest and love of science.

There are projects for people of all ages, so anyone can be a citizen scientist, if they are interested. Technology and the internet have bridged the gap between university researchers and scientists stuck in labs - linking them with ordinary people who have similar interests in their research.

For gardeners, there are plenty of projects to get involved with from the Great Sunflower Project to the Citizen Science Soil Collection Project , aimed to help scientists at the University of Oklahoma study microscopic life in soil samples in search of new drug compounds. Or the Lost Ladybug project aimed to help entomologists better understand ladybug distribution across North America. Another project involving sunflowers is Turing's Sunflower project where volunteers are asked to grow sunflowers and put mathematical theories of Alan Turing and other researchers to the test. As a gardener, I always include sunflowers in our garden since I love the majestic beauty sunflowers bring to the garden and can't think of a better way to help contribute in some small way than helping researchers compile some data from something I was doing anyway.

Technology has allowed us the ability to easily record our observations with the use of our cell phone cameras and apps. Whether it's Project Noah or Nature's Notebook, there are more and more platforms like these that allow ordinary people to join the citizen scientist movement and get involved. In a few weeks on April 18th we celebrate Citizen Science Day #citsciday, hopefully making more and more people aware of how they can get involved with citizen science and perhaps attend a scheduled event near them.  Check out this PSA

I believe in order for us to live a sustainable life, we need to make these seemingly small contributions of data to the scientific world. The more data collected will help researchers further their understanding of the world we live in and help us to take batter care of it and ourselves for generations to come.

A Bountiful Summer leads to Several Seeds to Save

"I have often thought that if heaven had given me choice of my position and calling, it should have been on a rich spot of earth, well watered and near a good market for the production of the garden. No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth, and no culture comparable to that of the garden. Such a variety of subjects someone always coming to perfection. The failure of one thing repaired by the success of another, and instead of one harvest a continued one throughout the year. Under a total want of demand except for our family table, I am still devoted to the garden. But though an old man, I am but a young gardener."

~Thomas Jefferson to Charles William peel Poplar Forest, August 20, 1811.         

It's hard to believe that we ushered in the fall of 2015 this week. Our business celebrated its third growing season and the busy season of that!

Mark working at a client's garden we revamped this season

One of the best things that I love about gardening is that each season brings something new and different. We began seeding early in March as the snow ebbed and as soon as we were able to work the top few inches of soil. The peas are always the first things we get into the raised beds. Temperatures remained cool throughout spring and into early summer. It took a while for things to finally heat up which is why I still have plenty of tomatoes, beans and peppers ripening in the garden right now.

I reviewed the data on AccuWeather the actual temperatures that we experience this growing season I wasn't too surprised to confirm what I thought was a cooler than normal season here in zone 6. This may seem contrary to report this being the "warmest summer on record" or the "summer of 2015 was earth hottest on record ". But explains why we still have plenty of green tomatoes and peppers growing in our garden right now couple that with less than average rainfall and you have a recipe for a slower than average season.

Highs and lows temperatures
March	0	57
April	23	75
May	37	84
June	41	84
July	51	91
August	51	90
September *	49	94

Number of days about 90 degrees
July	3
August	1
September*	2

  

Number of days temperature was above 80 degrees in New Canaan, CT
May	13
June	10
July	24
August	26
September *	14

Number of days temperature was 75 degrees or below
March	31
April	29
May	12
June	13
July	2
August	0
September *	4

 *up until the 24th

The slower season doesn't necessarily mean less productive however. We have had a tremendously productive season bringing pounds of tomatoes, eggplants, peppers and beans. 

  

The cucumbers keep coming in, we have had such a good season I was able to put a platter full to share with our neighbors. 

The Barnside sweet runner beans and Blauhilde beans, a beautiful purple being that turns green when cooked coming in so fast I have to freeze them since we can eat them fast enough.

 

September 23rd harvest

As the growing season winds down it's the time of year to start collecting seeds for next year. Ultimately one of the best seeds to use in our garden are the seeds harvested from your own plants.  It’s an age-old tradition that’s extremely rewarding on many levels.  Preserving your heirloom, open-pollinated varieties, you help plants adapt to your local conditions thus increasing yields

Heirloom tomatoes

Understanding the difference between Heirloom and F1 Hybrid seeds 

“ Heirlooms have naturally evolved over the years and have been passed down over the generations from gardener to gardener.

F1 hybrid plants are not genetically modified but have been developed by gardeners and farmers for centuries. By cross pollinating two related varieties, breeders strive to take the best of both worlds from most plants characteristics such as disease and pest resistance, high-yielding and greater taste.

For the seed collector, the drawback to F1 seeds is that they don't reproduce a true second generation. What this means is that the second-generation may not have the same characteristics as the first generation. 

It is for that reason that we do not collect seeds from F1 hybrid plants. F1 seeds have their place in the garden but when it comes to collecting seeds turn to your heirlooms. 

By collecting and preserving heirloom varieties, we help pass along to future generations delicious varieties that gardeners of shared with one another for over 50 years. Heirloom vegetables are open pollinated and remain stable in their characteristics from year-to-year.

 

A few do’s and don’t to remember when seed-saving

• “ Don’t save seeds from f1 hybrid plants.

• “ These seeds can be infertile or produce different traits from the original parent, which are less favorable

• “ Don’t save seeds from the squash family and sweet corn

• “ They can cross pollinate and hybridize, difficult to keep variety pure

• Tomatoes, peppers, beans and peas are the best seeds to start with

• They are easiest to harvest and require little attention before storage.

• Save your seeds from your strongest plants with the most delicious fruit
• To collect seeds from the vegetables simply look to take the seeds from a beautifully developed plant that is fully mature. Look for plants that have grown vigorously and have shown resistance to pests and diseases. 

• Store seeds in airtight containers or individual envelopes kept in a dry place

• Label clearly with name, variety, date collected

I prefer the airtight container since envelopes get wet and dirty in practice ultimately – hard to reseal – seeds fall out end up at the bottom of my purse…

When we save our seeds, it helps to preserve and promote genetic diversity. In turn this helps to strengthen and make more pest-resistant future generations that will thrive.

How-to collect seeds

1.    Slice open your vegetable to carefully remove the seeds with a spoon or a knife.

2.    Then place the seeds on cardboard or a piece of paper towel to dry out

a.    Tomato seeds are covered in the mucous membrane and it can be easier to use a cheesecloth

b.    Rinse the seeds out with water to release the membrane

c.     spread seeds out on a piece of cardboard to dry.

3.    place seeds in dry place

Have fun saving your seeds!

Time to Dream and Plan

It's 5 degrees out this morning here in our neck of the woods.  It's even colder where some of the kids are up at college like Burlington where it's -18 right now and 4 degrees in Ithaca feeling like minus 4.  In Boston where our other one is at it's 5 degrees but the winds up there are making it feel more like 10 below. Brrrr...it is cold out there today. It's around this time of year that we start to jones for one of our homegrown heirloom tomatoes. Thank god we made sauce at least. The garden is covered with a thick quilt of hard-packed snow about 20 inches deep burying our overwintering vegetables and Charlie the gnome.
The new year has brought us a new Sears Craftsman riding lawn tractor. We decided to get the snow blower attachment so we could us the things year round - mowing and mulching during the summer, snow blowing now.  We've already had the pleasure of clearing the driveway 6 times in the last month - quickly making back some money on our investment. Making me think we should have done this a long time ago.
Getting to know the ins and outs of snow blowing our own driveway has had it's ups and downs but nothing that hasn't been resolved quickly.  Day one, Mark threw a pin trying to clear a path to the garbage shed - not to self watch the  natural rock wall on the left hand side of the path.  Day two I'm clearing the front of the driveway by the mailbox when Ruby - yes we've named her - decides to stop throwing snow and emit a slight burnt rubber smell.  Thankfully, that too was fixable although not sure exactly why it happened - the belt to the auger seemed to have stretched or the cable did...regardless Mark was able to trouble shoot and we were back to throwing more snow in no time. According to the groundhog, we have 6 more weeks of winter so it will be a while before we get to take the snow thrower attachment off and put the lawn mower deck on the bottom.
On frigid cold days like these where Jack Frost is nipping more than just the nose; it's best to stay inside and grab one of the many seed catalogs that have been pouring into the mailbox last month.  I've been really busy preparing for a number of lectures on the schedule for February, just finishing the first one this past Wednesday.
I gave a Garden to Table presentation to the members of the New Canaan Beautification League at the New Canaan Nature Center.  There is a lot of material to cover when you want to paint a picture for an audience of why and how they can grown some of their own delicious food. So much material that the next programs I have coming up is actually a 4 part spring garden series where I can go more in depth to areas like composting, setting up polycultures, and container gardening.  The spring garden series will be hosted by the New Canaan Library which I am really excited to being working with. Our library has recently set up a new Seed Bank - so I am excited at the possibilities going forward that there is an increasing interest in edible gardening locally.
I've lived in my town for the last twenty years, raising my kids and working for my brother most of that time, but volunteering in my community is ways like coaching girls lacrosse. My fiance and business partner, Mark has been an EMT at our volunteer ambulance corp - NCVAC for past two years. The members of the Beautification League volunteer to their time to helping keep our pretty little village looking it's best via working with nature. Volunteering has always been a big part of my life. When I was a teenager. my mother was at one point the President of the YWCA of New York City. She had started at the Y as a volunteer coordinator and her work ethic and passion for the place propelled her to president at lightening speed. The woman knew how to make things happen.
Volunteering is a wonderful way to give back to a community or organization you feel passionate about. It's a great way to get out and meet like minded people who enjoy similar passions. I purposely use the word 'volunteering' as opposed to 'community service' because at some point in today's world, the legal system has dished out 'community service' to many making it sound more like a penalty than something that can be very rewarding for the volunteer, them-self. It's a shame that to a generation of children the words 'community service' doesn't sound like something you would want to do but have to do.
In the gardening world, 'volunteers' means something different than people giving of their time to do something for free. Instead when you hear a gardener refer to a 'volunteer' they are referring to a specific plant that wasn't purposely seeded but successfully growing where ever its seed lay.  Last summer we had a number of 'volunteers' come up in our backyard and not all in our raised beds.  We had a couple tomato plants come up over in wood chipped area and two more in the raised beds - one in my designated 3 Sister beds and the other in my cabbage bed.  The ones in the raised beds fared better than the wood chipped areas - most likely since we had composted the beds and perhaps the wood chips reduced the ph too much for the tomato plants to fruit. The two plants in the wood chip grew pretty big - one just flowered but didn't fruit, the other fruited but very late in the season and we only were able to take some of the cherry tomatoes off before they had a chance to ripen on the vine.  Conversely, the volunteers in the raised beds gave off a lot of fruit - both of those were also cherry tomato plants.

A beautiful snap pea begins to bloom

I'm reminded of all this when I was preparing my presentation and was scanning my hundreds of photos of our garden and our client's gardens.  The pictures get me thinking about the possibilities for this season.  What varieties should we plant this year?  Peas for certain will be among the first things, along with a variety of lettuce...The seed catalogs have sat untouched by me until just the other day.  I was afraid if I opened even one I would be too distracted to work on my Garden To Table presentation.  Later in the night, the day of the presentation, I finally cracked open my first bit of what we fondly refer to as garden porn.  Beautiful photographs of the most delicious looking fruits and vegetables are coupled with mouth-watering descriptions which causes you to have eyes bigger than your garden beds.
I was proud of myself, I didn't go seed crazy and deliberately focused on edible flowers in as I checked out Annie's Heirloom Seeds catalog and then also the strawberry starts - had to get those before they sell out like last year. Oh, then there is the potatoes - had to get some of Binje potatoes to try this year...Luckily I was exhausted form my day and that was all my tired eyes could handle at the time.
A few days have past since my seed binge and now we have these wicked cold temperatures outside, I think it's the perfect time to start breaking out the paper and pen and start listing what we want grow this season.  I'll need to check the cupboard where I keep our seed supply in neatly labeled plastic containers with pop-tops for one handed handling when out in the garden.  It took me a while to figure out the best way to save and keep seeds organized.  I like the plastic containers because they keep seeds dry and safe, whereas envelopes don't reseal always and get wet and then compromise the seeds. Or land up at the bottom of your pockets, purse, garden bag, truck...
February is the best time to plan your garden - remember to consider crop rotations into your plan. Crop rotation is the practice of growing related vegetable families in different areas in consecutive years.  There are four plant families that benefit from crop rotation: the cabbage family, the carrot family, the cucumber & squash family and lastly, the tomato & eggplant family. Rotating these vegetable families will help prevent soil borne disease from building up and help keep and provides a principle mechanism for building healthy soils and organically controls pests.
When you plan things out on paper first it makes it a lot easier for to take into account things like crop rotations and companion planting. This way you can also makes sure that the proper companion plants are not only coupled together but the plants which should be kept away from one another will always stay away from one another.
So grab your hot beverage of choice and that stack of seed catalogs and enjoy dreaming about what can be. Fresh delicious harvests that will inspire most every meal!
If you are just starting a new garden and would like some ideas, I highly suggest looking at organic seed websites perhaps with your laptop or iPad or other mobile device to see the different types of delicious food you possibly could be growing in your backyard, porch or balcony. If you are in the Fairfield County, Connecticut area and need help you getting your garden started, please reach out for us to help at info@homegrownharvest.com - that's what we do. Elsewhere, check your local listing for organic land care professionals that may help get you started. Here is the northeast we have NOFA - the Northeast Organic Farming Association but I am sure there are many regional organizations like NOFA which are committed to promoting and supporting organic land care practices.

August/September - Where did the summer go?

It's difficult to imagine that Labor Day weekend has already come and gone.  I have been negligent in writing a monthly blog entry this summer.  Once again the busy season whirled by us - selling gardens; installing gardens; going to events; talking to people about their gardens; helping people maintain their gardens.  The company's second growing season has kept us on our toes from March all the way through until the last days of August. September's arrival has us preparing for our next event at Live Green CT coming up September 13-14th. and we are working on a presentation about the health benefits of having a small vegetable garden which we will present at the season opening meeting of the National Charity League.
Most of August I spent time in our clients' and our own garden pruning back the tomato plants - particularly the wildly big cherry tomatoes we planted this year. There are many gardeners out there who don't prune their tomato plants at all. There is an old gardener's adage: if you do prune you will have less but larger fruit, than if you don't prune your plants. Towards the end of the summer, I like to prune our indeterminate plants because I believe that by pruning the unnecessary leaves the plants energy is diverted into the fruit and flowers instead of the foliage.  I also like to make sure the plant has plenty of airflow circulation to prevent disease from building up by clipping back the branches filled with leaves, which tend to catch the wind.  I have some plants in containers which if I don't trim them the leaves get so clustered together that it catches the wind and on a gusty day I have found my container on it's side!  A clear sign I needed to prune back the foliage so the air could cut through the branches giving plant healthy airflow.
Many times, early in the morning, as I am watching the dogs trot through the backyard I have considered that I should go over to my computer and write an entry about all the things we have been doing. But instead, I would head out to our garden with my camera and coffee in hand and try to capture beauty of the garden in the morning.  The cooler temperatures this season more often than not have forced me to put a robe on which did nothing for my bare feet on the cold grass from the wet morning dew.  I think we only had 3 or 4 days where the mercury rose to 90 degrees of above this summer. We have had to be patient waiting for the peppers to fully ripen to the various shades of red, orange and purple; I believe it takes a little more heat in order for them to fully flourish.  This Labor Day weekend was hot and steamy and it has continued to remain humid.  Hopefully the peppers will appreciate this little spell of hot weather.
Last week I felt the urgency to get my fall/winter garden seeded. With the way time flies the frosts of winter could be here before we know what hit us.  Particularly if the threat of the polar vortex making a possible early appearance in September topped with El Nino winter not too far behind.  About a month ago we put in another new raised bed, a beautiful cedar 4' x 8' raised bed from our friends down in North Carolina.  I had to drag out the dog fence so the pack wouldn't run around and mess it up like they had after the fresh compost was added days earlier.  I seeded a bunch of cole crops: arugula, kale, broccoli, cauliflower along with some carrots and onions. The carrots I selected for this garden were Autumn King, Giants of Colmar, Paris Market and Meridia. In our Maine Kitchen Garden bed between the tomato and pepper plants there was a bunch of space so I seeded Harris Model Parsnips, a few varieties of lettuce: Winter Density, Winter Brown and Marvel of 4 Seasons; as well as a couple of varieties of spinach: Palco and Winter Giant.  I look forward to the promise of what this autumn/winter garden could possibly provide my family. Just think of the salads, soups, sauces and sides we could enjoy!
So far we have managed to can 9 quarts of tomato sauce for the winter and with the looks of things in the garden we will be able to do a lot more canning before the season is through.  We filmed a video about canning which I need to edit first but once it's ready to go I will do a whole blog entry dedicated to canning. Smells trigger memories and standing over a simmering pot of tomato sauce can transport me back in to the garden with all its colors and fragrance even on the bleakest of winter days.  Every time we crack open a jar of our homegrown homemade sauce that we canned, we recapture tiny moments of summer which flew by all too fast at the time.