Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: A change of climate for gardening too
As we talk climate change in the midst of our polar vortex with temperatures that even closed bars in Wisconsin and shut down the US Postal Service, there’s a change of climate in the gardening world.
I talked last week about the dying trees in a MN State Park, how other areas are measuring changes. Anecdotally, climate change is changing the way we see trees and the planting of them.
Greg Ina, Vice President at The Davey Institute in Kent, Ohio are going beyond beautification, to natural functions like pollution and wellness. Trees clean our outdoor air.
Additionally, not all that long ago, organic gardening was considered a bunch of hippies growing some produce. U.S. farms and ranches sold $7.6 billion in certified organic commodities in 2016, up 23 percent from $6.2 billion the year before. Of 2016 sales, 56 percent was for crops ($4.2 billion), 44 percent for livestock, poultry, and related products ($3.4 billion).
Wisconsin has over a thousand certified organic farms while Minnesota is lagging with 545. California ranks highest with over 2700. Certified organic corn acreage increased 29 percent from the previous year and organic soybean acreage was up 31 percent.
CSA’s have exploded with local nurseries now growing vegetables and a local organic farm is now offering chicken CSA. Hydroponics is a growing industry, pun intended, in both Minnesota and Wisconsin. I have more information on gardenbite dot com. What kinds of changes in gardening have YOU seen over the years? I would love to hear from you. Email me at tkgardenbite@gmail.com