Hello Listeners, this is a concise episode devoted to encouraging our listeners to establish a fall vegetable garden Longer episodes will begin in September 2024 where we will discuss myriad food literacy and wellness issues as well as follow up on fall vegetable gardening methods.

I am having a hard time believing that it is August but alas it is! But it is fall garden and crop time, personally because of early season illness the fall season will be crucial for us as we will be planting many cool weather crops. Also, I have had several conversations with growers of all types and there is a lot of interest in growing at least a fall crop. It is the beginning of August and in terms of the traditional garden season here in Chicago is about 70 days left before the first frost date of around Oct. 15th some estimates that I have seen suggest that it may be pushed back to Nov 1st.

You never know but early frost is not a problem for many crops such as green leafy vegetables like turnip, mustard and collard greens, kale, spinach, etc. There are a lot of wonderful sites for information but one I recommend is Harvest to Table with their wealth of information. Check the show notes for more information about crops to grow in August.

On that note, we are distributing seeds for fall crops to many of our partners as part of the African Diaspora Crop Project. We are contemplating changing the name to the Ancestral Crop Project as we will be adding seeds from around the world to the distribution for 2025 to integrate our friends and neighbors from various ethnicities. Are you South Asian, Latinx, or any other ethnic background please give us recommendations for next years project. This year’s pilot program is a success, and I will be discussing how it went and changes for 2025 in an upcoming episode.

Here are a couple of videos about fall gardening Growfully with Jenna and Chicago Gardener. There are advantages to growing a fall garden such as cooler days and reduced pest pressure to name a couple. Embrace the fall and extended gardening opportunities.

We have talked about it before and will cover season extension in more detail in the September episode. Season extension will lengthen your growing season making it possible to grow into the winter and even in some cases next spring.

Bonus: The Gardening Channel with James Prigioni and the same site...

Orrin Williams contact: orrinw@uic.edu

The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speaker’s own and do not represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of the University of Illinois at Chicago, the OCEAN-HP, or the CPHP. The material and information presented here are for general information purposes only. While the podcast is designed to promote the development of healthy communities through food literacy, we offer no health advice and encourage our listeners to seek guidance from their healthcare providers.

The Food Literacy podcast resumes after a hiatus. I am better now and returning to the microphone with the July 2024 Food Literacy Podcast. This is probably more accurately described as a shortcast but we will cover some gardening topics for July and a few Food as Medicine items in the show notes. I hope you enjoy the episode!

I have commissioned carpenter friends Mike Reynolds and Rudy Taylor to design and build garden tables to enhance the gardening experience for elders and those with mobility challenges, that can be included in the home garden kits distributed by the CGF coalition.

Check out the videos included in the show notes. Remember there is plenty left of this season with things you can start in July and a selection of crops appropriate for the upcoming cool season. According to the tool at Almanac.com, the first frost date is predicted to be November 1, 2024, and our growing season is 197 days which may be increased with season extension and appropriate crop selection strategies.

Check out the Gardening Channel with James Prigioni for ideas about what to plant in July and July garden tasks. Near us in Michigan check out the MI Gardener video with suggestions for July, it is a little long so fast forward a bit. Remember you still have about 100 days of growing season left if you choose wisely. Reach out to Chicago Grows Food for technical support regarding what to plant in July and for fall, cool weather crops.

Check out this episode from Hollis and Nancy and Nancy’s Homestead about container gardening that inspired our decision to create an elevated table system for home gardening solutions or elders and those with limited mobility.

On the Food as Medicine front check out the Guardian article on how healthy childhood diets may mitigate cognitive problems as we age underscoring the importance of providing nutritious food and diets to our children.

However, it is not too late as a study reviewed in Eureka Alert suggests that eating well in your 40s is a boost to healthy aging influencing your life at and into your 70s. Here is more information about the NUTRITION 2024 conference held in Chicago, which is the source for the Eureka Alert article.

Stay tuned for the August 2024 Food Literacy podcast, happy warm season growing!

The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speaker’s own and do not represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of the University of Illinois at Chicago, the OCEAN-HP, or the CPHP. The material and information presented here are for general information purposes only. While the podcast is designed to promote the development of healthy communities through food literacy, we offer no health advice and encourage our listeners to seek guidance from their healthcare providers.

Let's get going on the upcoming garden season for 2024!

Bill of Health Food is Medicine Approaches to Address Diet-Related Health Conditions.

Take a look for yourself and study how your food choices may be good for you and the environmental health of the planet. Some cities while not banning meat, want to encourage us to eat more plants and have signed on to the Plant Based Treaty, see information about the treaty.

The Gardening Channel Seed Starting, MIGardener seed starting. Chicago Gardener March Tasks. Chicago Gardener flower variety for containers to start seeds for now.

MIGardener starting potatoes in containers. Search the keywords, “seed potatoes for sale” for vendors for seed potatoes.

See the Chicago Grows Food website to register for the monthly Lunch and Grow program at noon, the second Wednesday of the month.

The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speaker’s own and do not represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of the University of Illinois at Chicago, the OCEAN-HP, or the CPHP. The material and information presented here are for general information purposes only. While the podcast is designed to promote the development of healthy communities through food literacy, we offer no health advice and encourage our listeners to seek guidance from their healthcare providers.