Ch-ch-changes: RW&G's Big Move

I've decided to move RW&G to Wordpress, leaving this blog as an archive.

The new address is: www.redwhiteandgrew.com.

I'm still working on how to transfer the RSS feed and Google Friend stuff. Before I do that, however, I want to transfer a few favorites from the old blog to the new site.

Update: I've updated the new URL on Networked Blogs. The new RSS feed can be found here. Now onward to Google Friend Connect.

A Little Garden News for the Solstice

From Roots of Change:

The White House and assistant chef, Sam Kass, have released a video of the winter garden happenings. In a partnership with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the White House garden will use hoop houses, also known as high tunnels. The goal: grow melt-in-your-mouth winter crops. (Read More)

Thanks to Eve over at WorldFoodGarden.org for the link.

Everything Old, New Again

For all the interest in elementary school gardens, I personally think that college/university gardens are the most fertile ground for expanding the number of America's public gardens. Up in Pennsylvania, one school has a jump start:

Gardening and an interest in horticulture and agriculture have always been a part of Haverford College and a Quaker education, and a remnant of this tradition can be seen in the gardens near the Facilities Management Complex.

The gardens began as Victory Gardens in the 1930s in response to a need to supplement the diets of faculty, staff, and students during World War II, and continued to flourish after the war. The remaining gardens are now rented during the summer to interested faculty, staff, and surrounding community members. [Read more]

Oh, and in case you missed it last week, the First Harvest was collected last week in Washington. According to AP, the garden produced 960 pounds of food during 2009. Go, Mrs. Obama!

The Botany of Desire on PBS Tonight!

Foodies and gardeners... check your local listings and crank up the DVR! Sneak preview:

Looking Ahead

There's a new video up by Kitchen Gardener's International about what we should all do next now that we've got a White House garden. Basically the video reveals how KGI is moving on from Eat The View to Crush Hunger.

I've been pondering the same theme for several months--what's next for the RW&G blog? After a year of blogging daily, long-time readers will have noted that my posting has trailed off markedly. I think once the White House garden was planted and the recession got people out diggin', I lost the sense of urgency to post daily. At the same time, my posting on Twitter went up and my garden went dry thanks to the drought here.

2009 has been interesting.

Looking forward, I envision continuing to post here periodically as part of my commitment to documenting the evolution of the grassroots revival. And I'll keep promoting the idea of home gardens on Twitter via my @redwhiteandgrew. At the same time, I hope to rev up my writing in 2010 on Dig for Texas and on a couple of other sites.

In other words, I'm refocusing my energy more locally than before. This seems like a natural progression, doesn't it? The writer who supported local foods wants to take an even closer look at her own area and region and write about them. As I make the transition, I hope you'll take a look at some of my other projects while still regarding RW&G as the online chronicle of a movement that I intended it to be.

KGI/Eat the View Need Your Help Today

From Roger Doiron:

The Eat the View campaign to plant a garden at the White House was a project of the nonprofit group Kitchen Gardeners International. We're running a new campaign called "Crush Hunger" whose goal is to leverage a $50,000 grant which we'll use to help gardeners and gardening projects all over the world.

The competition also gives out daily prizes for the most donations collected in a 24 hour period and we're very close to securing a $500 grant if we can manage to bring in a few more donations between now and 3pm (Eastern).

I just gave, in honor of Roger's efforts. Will you join me? Will you ask others to join you?

Bo Knows Roses: A Tour of the WH, Thanks to Today

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

I found this at Obamafoodorama.com.

San Francisco Goes (Com)post-al

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

A Nobel for Victory Gardening?

Not exactly... but I did learn this week from Katie Workman's National Examiner blog that Elinor Ostrom just received a Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for research inspired by World War II victory gardens.

From what I've gleaned online about her research, Ostrom was essential in shattering the myth that people can't manage shared resources effectively as a commons. Ask any community gardener or yardshare fan, and they'll back up Ostrom on the idea that people really can work together.

David Bollier on Forbes.com notes that:

At a moment when the mysteries of environmental sustainability remain elusive, Ostrom's scholarship has much to say. For example, if traditional government regulation is too blunt and unresponsive to local circumstances, Ostrom has proposed "limited-purpose governmental enterprises" that let participants work out the rules themselves, subject to certain overarching design principles (clear boundaries to the commons, participation by everyone affected, monitoring, etc.). Such approaches let people devise governance regimes that are tailored to the peculiarities of the local resource and can draw upon the commoners' personal familiarity with it.

That's all nice... but I'd like to think that the simple fact Ostrom was inspired by victory gardening will increase awareness about them and give us what a bunch of us really want and need: more home and community gardens!

(Incidentally, Ostrom is the first woman to receive a Nobel in this category, and she shares it with Oliver E. Williamson. Read more on Yahoo.com)

UPDATE: A bit more information about Ostrom's rich life and work can be found on her PubMed profile.

Image credit: Indiana University

Grab Your Seeds, Elmo

From Reuters:

U.S. first lady Michelle Obama is to kick off the 40th anniversary season of the children's TV show "Sesame Street" with a segment encouraging kids to plant gardens and eathealthy food.

Obama, who is planting a fruit and vegetable garden on the grounds of the White House, will appear in the November10 season debut of "Sesame Street" -- the educational show for kids that is broadcast in more than 120 countries around the world.

Producers said on Tuesday that Obama will teach the furry "residents" of Sesame Street about the benefits of growing a garden and healthy living, and will show children how to plant tomato, cucumber and lettuce seeds. [MORE]

Too bad that Tater Tot is on a "No Sesame" streak.