Digging in the Dirt - Archives

My guest today on Digging in the Dirt is Monique Bosch. Monique has designed and built over 40 edible school and community gardens and farms throughout New England, including a 2-acre urban farm in Bridgeport CT. She works with CT. NOFA as a Soil Health Technician as well. She has founded and run… for profit and non-profit entities, including Green Village Initiative (GVI) and Wiggle Room LLC. Monique teaches ‘How to Grow Your Own Food’ classes and speaks on healthy soil and community gardening, sharing her knowledge of regenerative agriculture practices, and community building. I invited her here today to talk about what we can do now… here in the fall, to better our soil so we can have successful results next spring and summer.

My guest on this segment of “Digging in the Dirt” is Chairman of the Westport Community Gardens for 20 years. He has been Director of Long Lots Preserve for the last 18 months. A Sixth grade science teacher for 20 years, has run programs in New York City for recycling and alternative fuels for transit buses. He is here to discuss the apparent existential threat to the Westport Community Garden.

My guest this afternoon is Save the sounds Soundkeeper Bill Lucey. Bill is a fish and wildlife biologist with more than two decades of experience studying and conserving marine life. He is also an experienced commercial fisherman and environmental educator.
As your on-the-water watchdog, Bill upholds Save the Sound’s mission to protect and restore Long Island Sound. Bill is backed by Save the Sound’s expert legal team and water monitoring program to help identify polluters and hold them accountable.
The Soundkeeper is your eyes and ears on Long Island Sound.

Long Island sound

My guest this afternoon is Samuel Goldenberg. Samuel is a Grandfather, Gardener and most importantly for me a tomato grower.
For 20 years, he has saved the seeds and grown them every year. They are very big Roma tomatoes and are tremendous. He even supplies some Italian restaurants in New Haven (Skappo, L'Orcio) with plants to grow ever season.

My guest this episode of DITD is Vice-President of Novamont N.A. Dan Martens. Not only are Dan and Novamont great friends of WPKN
Novamont is a leader in the world of bioplastics and a long time supporter of WPKN radio. Novamont promotes a new model of bioeconomy in the logic of the circular economy, not only based on efficiency and sustainable use of renewable resources, but also as a factor for territorial regeneration.

My next guest Joe Magazzi small business man here in CT would be helpful to everyone looking to do the right thing by our gardens organically. Joe is a good friend of mine and WPKN. Joe owns and operates Green earth Ag and turf up in Branford Ct. and he’s on line at Grow it naturally. Com. Where his company sells Proven & Easy Organic Products for Plants, Turf & Trees. I personally rely on Green earth to get quality products for my own garden.

My guests on DITD today are Robert Peck and students Kimberly and DJ. Robert manages Green Village Initiatives Youth Leadership Program, which has a summer employment program in which they employ Bridgeport High School students to work and learn about how to operate an urban farm. Participants spend 8 weeks through the summer at Reservoir Community Farm learning in workshops and thru hands-on experience on the farm. , Kimberly, and Dejhanae are 2 students who are in the program under Robert.
Green Village Initiative’s mission is to grow food, knowledge, leadership and community, through urban gardening and farming, and to create a more just food system.

My guest this afternoon is Mark Ridsdill Smith who wrote The Vertical Veg Guide to Container Gardening on Chelsea Green Press. Mark has a website and Facebook page that inspires and supports people to grow food in small urban spaces. He has appear on many television shows and written for the Guardian’s Live better campaign. I'm pleased to have him here today to help us grow more food ourselves even in the tiny cramped spaces of the city.

My guest on this show is Linley Dixon back to DITD. Linley serves as a Farmer representative and Co-Director of the Real Organic Project. Linley owns a vegetable farm (marketing through a CSA, farm to school, and at farmers markets) in Durango, Colorado, with her husband and daughter. She holds a Ph.D. in Plant Pathology from the University of Florida.

MY Guest this afternoon on DITD is Mark Haubner.  Mark is currently president of the North Fork Environmental Council.
With a few other thoughtful people he has started a Food Waste to Compost and a Zero Waste Initiative for the eastern communities of Long Island and that's why I asked him to be here today. The Food waste to compost pilot program has been deemed a success in 2022 and now there is a community effort to expand the project with the goal of turning 100% of the table scraps on the East end of Long Island into compost.
Mark also serves as co-chairperson of the Riverhead Town Environmental Advisory Committee And he is on the Steering Committee of Drawdown East End. Mark has been environmentally conscious his whole life and over the last 15 years has been immersed in implementing sets of solutions to our problem of Planetary Overheating.