The connection between gardening and energy might seem weak at first glance, but growing your own food can cut the energy needed for food production and transportation, especially if the food comes from far away.
From a news brief in the Onalaska-Holmen Life-Courier:
Get Sustainable Trempealeau County will present “Starting From Seed: Everything You Need to Know to Begin Your Spring Garden Now” on Thursday, Jan. 29, at 7 p.m. at the Trempealeau Village Hall, 24455 Third St.
“Starting From Seed” is the first Talking Sustainability Forum of 2009, with several more to come. The program will feature area gardener Mary Graziano, who will demonstrate simple ways to start this year’s vegetables and other plants indoors.
The workshop will cover everything people need to know for starting their own garden seeds including:
+ Equipment and lighting;
+ Correct soil conditions;
+ Temperature;
+ Types of seeds (including heirloom varieties);
+ Caring for seedlings;
+ Other resources for finding seeds and equipment.
Graziano has been gardening for more than 30 years and has been starting her own plants for 15. She has a solar-heated, all-season greenhouse where she starts plants for her garden and to sell locally.
In the past five years, Graziano has begun growing heirloom varieties and also has grown native prairie plants and grasses.