Garden Journal

Posted on by Cecil Bothwell

Classes for the masses: The 14th annual Organic Growers School will be held at Blue Ridge Community College on Saturday, March 10, from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The school offers a full day of workshops in all aspects of private and commercial growing. This year there are 69 different sessions, with topics as diverse as: Beginning Gardening; Livestock in the City; Stonescaping Your Yard; Medicinal Herb Production; and Biodiesel, Solar and Wind Energy Systems. Participants can select up to four classes, or sign up for half-day hands-on workshops. At this writing, the event hasn’t sold out. For more information or to register, visit organicgrowersschool.org. To request a registration form, e-mail info@organicgrowersschool.org or call 342-5333.

Mulch ado about something: Buncombe County residents can get free mulch from the county landfill. The mulch is composed of chipped wood and ground-up leaves. The landfill is located at 85 Panther Branch Road in Alexander. Hours are Monday to Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Saturday, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Call first, at 645-5311, to make sure that a loader is available.

Just can’t get enough of that sweet stuff: As spring flowering bulbs begin to send up shoots, it’s a good time to dose them with compost tea, rotted manure or other organic fertilizer. Flowering plants love the extra shot of phosphorus available in bone meal (0-10-0), or, for vegan gardeners, rock phosphate (0-3-0).

[Send your gardening news, warnings, tips and comments to cbothwell@mountainx.com.]

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About Cecil Bothwell
A writer for Mountain Xpress since three years before there WAS an MX--back in the days of GreenLine. Former managing editor of the paper, founding editor of the Warren Wilson College environmental journal, Heartstone, member of the national editorial board of the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies, publisher of Brave Ulysses Books, radio host of "Blows Against the Empire" on WPVM-LP 103.5 FM, co-author of the best selling guide Finding your way in Asheville. Lives with three cats, macs and cacti. His other car is a canoe. Paints, plays music and for the past five years has been researching and soon to publish a critical biography--Billy Graham: Prince of War:
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