{"id":5699,"date":"2022-06-29T13:14:23","date_gmt":"2022-06-29T17:14:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/?p=5699"},"modified":"2024-05-20T12:42:37","modified_gmt":"2024-05-20T16:42:37","slug":"umes-extension-aims-to-demonstrate-that-people-can-grow-to-feed-themselves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/connections\/june-2022\/umes-extension-aims-to-demonstrate-that-people-can-grow-to-feed-themselves\/","title":{"rendered":"UMES Extension aims to demonstrate that people can grow to feed themselves"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A step inside one of the hoop tunnels at the UMES Research and Education Farm revealed an oasis of lush vegetation beneath which hid over-sized vegetables growing in raised beds, containers, hay bales and vertical aeroponic systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe grow like this to reduce the workload by eliminating weeding as well as to attract and inspire new beginning farmers,\u201d Dr. Nadine Burton<\/strong>, (at left<\/em>), an alternative crop specialist with UMES Extension, pointed out.  \u201cOur goal is to educate people who want to start growing their own food, but don\u2019t know how and to show that agriculture can be easy, attractive and not labor intensive. We can even provide some plants to help people get started.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I was growing up (in Jamaica) we grew most of what we ate,\u201d she said.  \u201cWe want to show people that they can feed themselves even if they don\u2019t have a large amount of land.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This greenhouse boasting traditional vegetables, features several varieties of tomatoes, beets, carrots, onions, shallots, potatoes, Swiss chard, three types of cabbages, collard greens, kale, and three varieties of beans-Royal Burgundy, Blue Lake Bush and Cherokee Wax. A high tunnel this size (30’x50′), Burton said, can run a small Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) operation of between 10-15 clients with low labor input, providing them with a weekly supply of fresh produce.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cFrom three tiny 1’x13′ rows, we got 170 pounds of onions last year,\u201d Burton gushed. “To date, we have harvested over 70 pounds of kale for our 3’x13′ beds.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This season, she said, she has incorporated an insect netting technique to reduce insect damage and the need for chemicals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople can adapt the methods we are demonstrating here to grow in simple bags and containers or in high tunnels, each with the potential for producing high yields,\u201d she said.  \u201cWhen it comes to food security, the fight is for all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gail Stephens, agricultural communications and media associate, School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, 410-621-3850,<\/em> gcstephens@umes.edu.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photos by Todd Dudek, agricultural communications photographer\/videographer, School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, <\/em>tdudek@umes.edu<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A step inside one of the hoop tunnels at the UMES Research and Education Farm revealed an oasis of lush vegetation beneath which hid over-sized vegetables growing in raised beds, containers, hay bales and vertical aeroponic systems. \u201cWe grow like this to reduce the workload by eliminating weeding as well as to attract and inspire…Read more UMES Extension aims to demonstrate that people can grow to feed themselves<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1168,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","wds_primary_category":81,"footnotes":""},"categories":[81],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-5699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-june-2022"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5699","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1168"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5699"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5699\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5699"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=5699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}