Seed Starting Workshop

We will host a seed starting workshop, "Grow Your Own Organic Food," by master gardener volunteer Brett Thompson on Thursday, February 11, from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm here at our store, F.W. Horch Sustainable Goods and Supplies, 56 Maine St., Brunswick, Maine. The class is free and open to the public.

"We'll show you how to grow an indoor salad and at last have real baby greens!" says Brett, a leader in Maine's master gardener volunteer program.

Attendees will learn how to start garden seeds and build a light stand for under $11 in parts. Including shop lights, the total cost is under $40. With this stand one can start seedlings of organic vegetables, fruits and flowers. Class participants will also learn how to plant seeds directly in trays or in paper pots that home gardeners can make themselves.

Space for the class is limited, so those interested in attending are encouraged to call the store at 729-4050 to reserve a seat.

This class is part of the F.W. Horch series on sustainable living. Each monthly talk is held at the F.W. Horch Sustainable Goods & Supplies store, 56 Maine Street, Brunswick, Maine, on the second Thursday of the month.

For more information, please call 729-4050.

Solar Powered Salad

April's Sustainable Living Tip

Make the switch to a solar-powered salad by growing your own organic vegetable garden: instead of depending on petroleum to fertilize, transport, and refrigerate your produce, tap into the sun's energy to produce healthy, fresh food for you and your family.

More Facts About "Solar Salads"

1. Fifty years ago, most salad ingredients came from home gardens and farms within 50 miles of the eater; nowadays, most salad ingredients eaten in the United States come from California, Florida, Canada or Mexico.
2. Studies show that the nutritional value of conventionally-grown fruits and vegetables has declined over the last 50 years. Organically-grown heirloom varieties are not suffering from this nutritional decline. Scientists are trying to understand why conventional crops are now providing less nutritional value compared to organic crops.
3. Commercial varieties of lettuce, carrots, tomatoes and other vegetables are now bred for appearance, ability to survive long-distance shipping, and uniform ripening, so an entire crop can be harvested at the same time and sent to market.
4. Heirloom varieties are bred primarily for taste and staggered ripening, to provide fresh vegetables throughout the growing season.
5. Crops grown for salads are mostly water, so you could view our current large-scale agriculture and supermarket system as a very expensive and unsustainable way to transport water across the continent.
6. In cold months, salads consisting of root vegetables are a way to harness solar energy that has been collected by plants and stored for months without any need for batteries or high-tech equipment.
7. Plants create wealth literally out of thin air: during the growing season plants use solar energy to combine carbon from carbon dioxide gas in the air with hydrogen from water to create complex carbohydrates. One tomato seed worth a few pennies can create several dollars worth of tomatoes.
8. Picking fresh food from your own garden eliminates the waste of transportation, storage and refrigeration caused by supermarket produce.
9. Fertilizing your soil with home-made compost avoids dependence on fertilizers synthesized from natural gas and other fossil fuels. Healthy soils require nourishment. A sustainable source of that nourishment is compost you make yourself from food scraps you would otherwise send to the landfill, incinerate, or wash down the garbage disposal.
10. Leafy greens are one of the best crops you can grow to save money, protect your family's health, and improve the nutritional value of your meals. They are also a very flexible plant to grow: you can grow greens in flats indoors, in a container on a porch, in raised beds, or in conventional rows in the ground. Any way you do it, you'll be protecting our country's water supply, cutting down on the number of trucks on the highway, reducing the electricity demand of your local supermarket, and providing your family with affordable nutritional value.
11. Although scientific understanding of human health and nutrition is still in its infancy, there is evidence that omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids are essential to normal growth and development. Leafy green vegetables and whole grains are the most sustainable dietary source of these nutrients. Fish get omega fatty acids from algae and concentrate them in their tissues, but unfortunately fish oil also concentrates heavy metals such as mercury, which is now a pervasive environmental pollutant from coal-burning power plants. A diet high in leafy greens is a safer alternative to fish oil for omega fatty acids because leafy greens do not contain concentrations of heavy metals.
12. Have young children who won't eat their spinach? Try chopping it and mixing it in with spaghetti sauce or adding it to meatballs if your family eats meat. You'll be surprised how much healthy food you can sneak past your picky eaters!
13. Another fun strategy to encourage your family to eat their veggies is to involve them in planting seeds. While they might not have the patience to help with all the weeding, young kids do like to plant seeds and watch them grow. Try a variety of different kinds of lettuces to pique their interest. Which grow fastest? Which will taste the best? They'll be naturally curious to try eating what they've started. Plus, by the time the harvest is ready they'll have a much better understanding of where their food actually comes from.

Gardeners of the Spirit

Here at our store, F.W. Horch Sustainable Goods and Supplies, 56 Maine Street, Brunswick, we will host a showing of "Gardeners of the Spirit," followed by a discussion led by Brunswick filmmaker Eric Herter on Thursday, April 9, at 7:00 pm. The event is free and open to the public.

"An Arizona-based group working to install school and community gardens asked us to talk with them about a documentary on their projects," said Herter. "Out of these talks came the idea that the film should cover the works of 'gardeners of the spirit' across the US, as they build community through the collaborative creation of peaceful, beautiful green sanctuaries in cities, schools, hospitals and prisons."

Starting in Maine, Boston, the Bronx and North Philadelphia, Brunswick residents Eric and Hoa Herter began shooting "Gardeners of the Spirit." They then moved by rent-a-car (daughter and all) from Minneapolis to Des Moines, St. Louis, Fort Worth, Phoenix, LA and the Bay Area, seeing vibrant gardens in ruined city-scapes, and recording meetings with remarkable people. "Gardeners of the Spirit" attempts to convey some of the spirit of the gardens and their creators.

Eric will be on hand to discuss his experiences making the film and share information about the proposed Brunswick Park and Gardens. He worked for years as a magazine writer/ photographer/ editor before starting to produce independent TV films for film festivals and local PBS affiliates. In the mid-'90s he became the producer for Associated Press Television in Hanoi, Vietnam, making videos for worldwide broadcast on Vietnamese human-interest and environmental topics. While with AP, he met and married Tran Thi Hoa, a photographer doing photo assignments for non-governmental organizations (NGOs). After their daughter was born in the late '90s, Hoa and Eric teamed up to produce video documentaries for the UN, international broadcast networks, and NGOs doing development and environmental work in Vietnam . Several of their environmental films are re-broadcast regularly in Vietnam.

Space is limited, so those interested in attending are encouraged to call the store at 729-4050 to reserve a seat.

This event is part of the F.W. Horch series on sustainable living. Each monthly event is held at the F.W. Horch Sustainable Goods & Supplies store, 56 Maine Street, Brunswick on the second Thursday of the month.

For more information, please call 729-4050 or visit www.FWHorch.com.

Featured Products for March 2009

Organic Seeds from Fedco

Grow your own organic garden with MOFGA certified organic seeds from Fedco Seeds. We have 56 varieties of their most popular vegetables, herbs and flowers, all heirloom and certified organic. Seed-starting season is here!

Organic Seeds Packet $1.95

Learn more »

Ordering on your own from Fedco? Put your order in with ours and save on shipping and handling. We'll be placing our next order TOMORROW (Thursday, March 5) to beat their March 6 backorder deadline. After March 6, Fedco seed orders are filled from stock on hand.

Worm Castings

Have you tried adding worm castings to your seed starting mix? If you have, you know what an incredible head start these give your little plants! For ensuring plant health and vigor naturally, nothing beats worm castings.

One pound $1.29

Learn more »

Kitchen Compost Pail

Do you compost? Our stainless steel compost pail is a stylish way to collect your food scraps for the compost pile or bin. Beautiful enough to leave on the kitchen counter. Easy to carry and clean. Carbon filters in lid contain odors. Replacement filters available. Holds about a gallon.

Pail and filters $34.95

Learn more »

Home Composting Made Easy

Easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions for composting in your own backyard. Instead of overburdening your local landfill, learn how to turn kitchen scraps, yard trimmings and paper scraps into "black gold" for your lawn and garden.

Booklet $2.95

Learn more »

Can O Worms

Conveniently compost your kitchen scraps all year round with the help of hundreds of hungry red wigglers. Having trouble finding the compost pile under the snow drifts? Why not bring the action inside with your very own worm colony? Start now and by summer you'll have a nice supply of worm castings, the very best fertilizer you can make.

Can O Worms bin $125 (worms sold separately)

Learn more »

Composting Worms

Need to start a worm bin? Get a Chinese take out box of red wigglers (Eisenia foetida), including a healthy dose of food for the worms to work on while your worm bin is getting started plus the mini-ecosystem of creatures that help the worms break down food into castings. When you get your starter package, add the worms and the active compost they are living in to your worm bin. Feed them small amounts several times a week. Within a few weeks you'll have hundreds of worms!

Starter pack of worms $6

Learn more »

Wiggle Room Worm Bin

Let worms eat your garbage with the Wiggle Room worm bin. Stocked with Maine-grown red worms in leaves or shredded paper bedding, this is your basic vermiculture system. Push aside the bedding to feed your worms, and add more shredded paper when necessary. Pop the cork to collect worm tea, a great liquid fertilizer. Everything you need to get started right away (including worms).
NOTE: Available for pick up in store only.

Wiggle Room bin $39.95 (including worms)

Learn more »

Organic Gardening Workshop

On Thursday, March 12, from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm, our store will host a gardening workshop, "Starting an Organic Vegetable Garden," by Master Gardener Volunteer Brett Thompson. The workshop is free and open to the public.

"We'll help you get started growing your own organic vegetables," says Brett Thompson, a Master Gardener Volunteer and F.W. Horch manager. "Our workshop will emphasize organic and sustainable methods of gardening because that's just the way we are."

Topics will include the pros and cons of raised beds, how to reduce weeding and watering by using mulches, and methods of improving your soil. No prior gardening knowledge is assumed or required. Time will be provided for questions and answers.

Space for the workshop is limited, so those interested in attending are encouraged to call the store at 729-4050 to reserve a seat.

This workshop is part of the F.W. Horch series on sustainable living. Each monthly talk is held at the F.W. Horch Sustainable Goods & Supplies store, 56 Maine Street, Brunswick on the second Thursday of the month.

Seed Starting Class

We will host a seed starting class, "Grow Your Own Organic Food," by master gardener volunteer Brett Thompson on Thursday, January 8, from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm here at our store, F.W. Horch Sustainable Goods and Supplies, 56 Maine St., Brunswick, Maine. The talk is free and open to the public.

"We'll show you how to grow an indoor salad and at last have real baby greens!" says Brett Thompson, a master gardener volunteer and F.W. Horch manager.

Attendees will learn how to start garden seeds and build a light stand for under $11 in parts. Including shop lights, the total cost is under $40. With this stand one can start seedlings of organic vegetables, fruits and flowers. Class participants will also learn how to plant seeds directly in trays or in paper pots that home gardeners can make themselves.

Space for the class is limited, so those interested in attending are encouraged to call the store at 729-4050 to reserve a seat.

This class is part of the F.W. Horch series on sustainable living. Each monthly talk is held at the F.W. Horch Sustainable Goods & Supplies store, 56 Maine Street, Brunswick, Maine, on the second Thursday of the month. February's talk will feature Bob Garver of Wicked Joe's, speaking on the topic of sustainable coffee.

For more information, please call 729-4050.

Crafty Local Eating

Join us for "Crafty Local Eating," a talk by Amy and Jeff Burchstead of the horse-powered Buckwheat Blossom Farm. This free event will be from 7 to 8:30 pm on Thursdy, May 8, at our store, 56 Maine Street, in downtown Brunswick, Maine.

"Come learn how to eat locally and economically year-round," says Amy Burchstead, who with her husband Jeff has a small, organic, horse-powered farm in Wiscasset. "We’ll explore the ins and outs of farmers’ markets and CSAs and cover the basics of the easiest and most economical crops to grow and store yourself - from container gardening to the kitchen garden."

By some estimates, the average meal in Maine has traveled 1,800 miles before it reaches the dinner table. Only about 20% of the calories Mainers eat come from food grown in state. At their talk, the Burchsteads will discuss the hidden costs of buying out-of-season food that must be transported long distances. Attendees will learn about several options for eating locally-grown food around the year in Maine, including community supported agriculture (CSAs), farmers' markets, and farm stands.

The Burchsteads will also introduce aspiring gardeners to the easiest and most economical crops to grow yourself. The basic steps of testing and improving soil, planting, controlling weeds and pests, watering, and harvesting will be covered. Helpful techniques such as container gardening and lasagna gardening will be described. In addition, the Burchsteads will explain how to plan for winter by storing root crops, freezing and fermenting garden produce, and over wintering crops in the garden.

Other topics that will be covered at the talk are the definitions of "local" and "organic", the importance of knowing your farmer, and the "dirty dozen" conventional crops to avoid.

Free informational handouts will be provided. Seating is limited, so those interested in attending are encouraged to call the store at 729-4050 to reserve a seat.

The talk is part of the F.W. Horch series on sustainable living. Each monthly talk is held at the F.W. Horch Sustainable Goods & Supplies store, 56 Maine Street, Brunswick on the second Thursday of the month. June's talk will feature the chance to test drive electric cars from Maine Electric Vehicles.

For more information, please call 729-4050.