Posts from — September 2009

1900-1914
Elizabeth Peabody House
Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Children gardening in the community vegetable garden at the corner of Charles and Poplar Street, near the Elizabeth Peabody House in Boston’s West End neighborhood.

Five more wonderful photos of the children on the next page.

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Joan Miró. The Vegetable Garden with Donkey. (Huerto con Asno) 1918
This picture depicts the rural landcape of Montroig.
Larger image here.

“Approximately in 1918 Joan Miro enters the so-called ‘detailistic phase’ (the term was introduced by Rofols, a fellow member of the Courbet group). Jacques Dupin, Miros biographer, called this period ‘poetic realism’. Landscapes, painted in Montroig, where the artist spent the summer at his parents’ farm, have deep perspectives which are full of methodically painted details.”

Photographer Brown Bros. New York,

1918 Cabbages and Queens
Women wearing bloomers, working in a vegetable garden.

Farmerettes of 1918, 100 years after birth of Mrs. Bloomer. In the early Victorian era, the American, Mrs. Amelia Jenks Bloomer (1818-1894), caused quite a stir when she wrote an article for her feminist publication ‘The Lily’. She tried to promote the idea of women abandoning their petticoats for a bi-furcated garment later known as the bloomer fashion. She suggested that woman would find trousers, like those worn by Turkish women, easier to wear than their voluminous heavy skirts.

Of Course I Can!

Image originally created for 1944 wartime use; used here for post-war famine prevention. (Original poster was titled, “Of Course I Can!”.

Creator: Williams, Dick.
United States. Dept. of Agriculture.
United States. President’s Famine Emergency Committee.
Advertising Council

Title: Waste Not Want Not: Prepare For Winter

Artist: Henderson, E.
Publisher: Canada Food Board, Ottawa
World War I — Canada Food Board;

The Gardens – Richmond BC Canada.

The Gardens, a housing development in Richmond, BC for 550 housing units, will include agricultural plots for food production, community and restaurant garden plots, orchard for food production, and rooftop gardens.

From Community Workshop 3

Edible landscape and other educational landscape features and displays could be incorporated into the gardens. The ponds could also serve the dual function of accommodating storm water retention. Community gardens and an orchard are provided for the surrounding community and residents to enjoy.

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The Food Project and Starbucks recently teamed up to produce a video highlighting youth and farms. Starbucks has been a supporter of the Food Project and source of volunteers for five years.

“In 2009 Starbucks awarded 50 Shared Planet Youth Action Grants totalling $842,000 to US non-profit organization to help support young people identify and address local needs. Starbucks is proud to support the work of all of these organizations including The Food Project in Boston, Massachusetts. The Food Project supports youth in producing healthy food for residents of the city and suburbs, provides youth leadership opportunities, and supports others to create change in their own communities.”

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Gardens at Hammersmith Allotments by Francis Dodd, 1929

The Good Life – 100 Years of Growing Your Own

6th October 2009 – 7th March 2010

2009 has been a year of ‘Growing Your Own’ – from allotments to balconies and window-boxes, people throughout Britain are growing their own and enjoying a slice of ‘The Good Life’.

Our winter exhibition traces the story of growing food in Britain over 100 years. Starting with the Allotment Act of 1908 and visiting key moments such as the Dig For Victory campaign of the Second World War and the Self-Sufficiency movement through the 1970s, paintings, photographs, personal memoirs and even the odd home-spun sweater will tell the story of why, how and what we have grown.

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Your place to trade, buy or sell local homegrown produce

“We believe a bonanza of fruits, vegetables, fresh herbs and more are found right in your own backyard—and your neighbors’ yard too.

“It’s local, affordable and sustainable, but we’ve noticed a lot of it goes to waste. You plant too many tomatoes, or your plum tree has a bumper crop, most of which is enjoyed by the sidewalk and the grass.

“Wish you could turn your excess plums into lemons, or maybe even a little cash? Use this site to find neighbors to swap with or sell your excess produce to.

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A trailer showing Zell and Krist growing, revitalizing, and transforming the Artan Garden into a Creative Cultural Centre in North Bay Ontario.

Artan Garden

Mr. and Mrs. Artan came to North Bay with their family over 35 years ago. Mr. Artan built a cottage at the end of Judge St. The foundation is still there in the back parking lot. Mr. Artan came with many skills; his talents in stone masonry, cement, and permacultural design came from his long career as a General Contractor, at the age of ten, Artan was laying ceramic shingles on Mediterranean homes. Artan Contracting was a thriving business and employed many in the community.

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By Bronwyn Smyth

My dad makes this juice every year from our small, Alberta grown purple grapes. We then freeze it. At Christmas time, we take it out and have it with Christmas dinner or at New Years. Sometimes, we add sparkling water, soda or ginger ale to it for fizz and flavour.

1. Place your grapes in a bucket and fill the bucket with water. Let your grapes stand for an hour, so that any insects and insect bodies will come floating to the surface. Skim these off, then remove your grapes.

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Location: Paris, MuCEM, Musée des Civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée

Potager du Roi

From Wikipedia

The Potager du Roi (fr: Kitchen Garden of the King), near the Palace of Versailles, produced fresh vegetables and fruits for the table of the court of Louis XIV. It was created between 1678 and 1783 by Jean-Baptiste de La Quintinie, the director of the royal fruit and vegetable gardens. Today it is run by the École Nationale Supérieure du Paysage, the high state school in France for the training of landscape architects. It is listed by the French Ministry of Culture as one of the Notable Gardens of France.

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Albert Johnson Photograph Collection, 1905-1917
Title: Residence and garden, First Avenue, Fairbanks, Alaska.
Hand-colored postcard.
Creator Johnson, Albert J.
Archives, University of Alaska, Fairbanks
Larger image here.

By Marca L. Woodhams,
Smithsonian Institution Libraries

The Smithsonian Institution Libraries have a unique trade catalog collection that includes about 10,000 seed and nursery catalogs dating from 1830 to the present. Many of the trade catalogs were part of the Burpee Collection donated to the Horticulture Services Division by Mrs. David Burpee in 1982. The collection includes both Burpee and their competitors’ catalogs.

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From the book: Marigold Garden

Pictures and Rhymes by Kate Greenaway
Engraved and printed by Edmund Evans, the first edition was published in 1885 by George Routledge and Sons, London & New York.

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Photographs of the New York city schools.
Schauffler, Alfred Theodore, 1839-1915 

Larger image here.

19th June 1942: Waitresses from the ‘Quality Inn’ restaurant in Regent Street, London, watering and gathering tomatoes that are growing in boxes on the pavement as part of the ‘Dig For Victory’ scheme. (Photo by Paget/Fox Photos/Getty Images)

Let us farm our garden

Artiste: Louisette Jaeger, 14 ans
Ecole Communale de la Rue Camou
Editeur: Comité national de prévoyance et d’économies
Union française
Date: approx. 1915-1918 Paris
Notes: Affiche produite par une écolìère française.

Larger poster image here.

Christoph Martens and Paul Hoepfner-Homme with the baby greens in one of their plots. The two hope to make food more local by using unused yards in and around Nelson.

“FARMING IN THE CITY XI (Nelson Urban Acres / Massachusetts Avenue Project)”

By Jon Steinman
Deconstructing Dinner
September 10, 2009

Nelson Urban Acres

Nelson Urban Acres is bringing fresh produce closer to home. They are a multi-plot urban farm in Nelson, British Columbia that launched into operation in 2009 based on the SPIN farming model. Co-founders Paul Hoepfner-Homme and Christoph Martens are working backyard gardens within the city using low-impact, organic farming techniques to grow fresh produce.

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