Indiana Organic Gardeners Association

IOGA members and potential IOGA members... Does anybody have some favorite organic location to meet?  We're looking for ideas for future locations to promote growing organically... Share your ideas!  Commercial, private, community or nature preserve... North, South, East or West share your ideas!

In August 2010 the Clarks' table was loaded with varied tomatoes. What better reward for the labors of spring and the chill of winter in Hoosierland?

 

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Hey, Active Members. As the current "article manager" in training of this site, we need your stories, your photos, your input. This is my maiden voyage at this job, so call this a test. But send to me and I will blog it in under your name, I promise!

 

Yes! Picked in January, but grown in August. What is better than a homegrown Hoosier tomato? "But, how does it taste?" folks ask. To my January tastebuds, delicious! We often say, "No amount of planning will ever replace dumb luck." And I guess that is how I would explain the extended season these tomatoes have brought. Wrapped in newspaper in a box in our basement, we used the larger, juicy cousins of these little ones in November and December. I had forgotten these, opened the box and found this surprise New Years gift.

 

Renee Sweany, speaker at the January meeting of IOGA, brought her high rise WORM RESORT, "WORMTOPIA,"  and a smaller worm MOTEL she had made from a plastic tub, as well as her delight in the worms, to the Greenwood Library. She began the program with an option asking if she had time "to tell the given names of all 2000 worms?" From there Renee's sparkling humor, along with solid information, revealed a deep respect for Earth processes. Those smart red worms receive a steady diet of kitchen waste. They can migrate to new food sources when she wants to harvest the brown gold they produce. How can they detect the new stuff?  Here is a reference Renee shared for affordable, local worm bins. www.castawaycompost.com. 

Today's meeting was abuzz with energy and answers for the many questions for Gardens 2011. 
To learn about the upcoming auction on April 16, please check back in early April for details.

 

 

Can you smell it?   It's beginning to feel, sound and smell like spring! The days are lengthening quickly, and on a day above freezing the wet leaves and the scent of soil let us know the earth is ready to awaken. The birds are anxious to beginning their mating and nesting and are beginning their vernal songs. It's officially seed starting and garden planning time!

This beautiful photo of crocus by Rosie Bishop will remind us that the beauty of spring cannot be enjoyed without winter's cold. Be patient ... it won't be long.

Winter gardens are just as enjoyable as spring and summer ones.