From The Streets (page 3)

Baker Creek Fall Garden Show, in early August was great again, as per usual, with old friends there, new ones made, a booming free enterprise system, barter, and a sharing about all the old great heirloom seeds and the flavors they can produce, tastes not to be found in most markets these days. The Tomato Tasting Contest was a hit, though it was so hot that many agreed that the tomatoes were somewhat "overcooked" this year. Could this be a sign of global warming? Well, the heirloom gardening people probably had some really good sized tomatoes this season, did you? We at UP think that heirlooms are far more likely to survive global climate change and indoor growing conditions that either hybrids or GMO varieties of the industrialist food production system, so those agribusiness people had better start taking notice, or their stores may be devoid of decent marketable produce more and more as the century of the Phoenix rolls on. 

On another note, I got some zucchini squash from local heirloom growers that were so big I thought they were gourds at first sight of them! And the herbs I got looked like they were on steroids. It seems that as cosmic radiation grows stronger on Earth due to pollution and ozone depletion, heirloom varieties mutate and grow as if they were in the rich, fertile Matuska Valley in Alaska. And the soil's quality is everything, isn't it? We can have all the best seeds, appropriate tech, raised beds, greenhouses, etc... we want, but without good soil, what have we to grow in? Not much.

For those of you who are having soil or pest problems, have you realized that vermiculture is the secret to turning waste and kitchen scraps and old papers into rich topsoil full of worm castings, before you germinate or sprout your seeds in the garden? Feed your worms, and soon you will have the soil in your garden or beds that most dryland farmers only dream about in their wildest dreams.

Here is their answer to my email:

Date: Friday August 25, 2006 
Time: 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm 
Location: Grant Beach Park 
Description: Contact: Pauletta Dunn (417-831-2895) or Margaret Blakey (417-869-8493)