March 24, 2006 at 11:40 PM
Today we celebrated one month since arriving in Armenia! With snow finally almost gone the garden is drying out, and we’ll be preparing beds in the next few days. The big news is that the greenhouse will be finished tomorrow – just in time for us to transplant about 40 flats of tomatoes, broccoli, cabbage, […]
March 18, 2006 at 11:41 PM
It’s rare in our experience to have metal the preferred material for building a greenhouse! In the Shirak region of Armenia wood is so scarce, and the winters so cold, that any available wood gets taken and cut up for firewood to keep the people alive. Even their manure is saved and burned in the […]
March 17, 2006 at 11:42 PM
The Gardening Training Course students have had an intense week! One older fellow couldn’t handle the physical requirements and didn’t return after his first day, but the others seem to be enjoying the learning and the work. In the two hours of classroom instruction, we include videos, book “larnin”, demonstrations, and discussions – sometimes heated, […]
March 13, 2006 at 11:44 PM
We are excited at the prospects for our Mittleider gardening training success in Armenia, because we are surely starting small! It is so sad that some of those who promised to come don’t even have the $4 per week for transportation to the training site! And attending deprives them of the dollar or two they […]
March 12, 2006 at 11:45 PM
The property at Getk is presentable, with a training room set to accommodate 20 or more students, a greenhouse structure built, four thousand vegetable plants emerging in flats, a home to live in, and a staff plus facilities to feed and house students. In 11 hours we’ll find out if anyone cares. I feel good […]
March 9, 2006 at 11:47 PM
Today we had a recruiting seminar. We showed prospective students many pictorial examples of wonderful gardens all around the world, including several right here in Armenia, and taught them what makes Mittleider gardens unique and better than others. We also invited Ceda, a participant in the Mittleider Method of gardening for the past two years, […]
March 8, 2006 at 11:49 PM
Yesterday Araksya fielded visits and calls from prospective students, while I drove to the Capital city of Yerevan to visit with possible funding sources (no encouragement there). We spent the afternoon and early evening visiting with a few of the 2005 Project participants, and invited them to attend the Training Course. Some of the best […]
March 6, 2006 at 11:51 PM
Most family gardeners can’t justify a greenhouse, so how can we teach and demonstrate growing healthy seedlings to them? We will build and plant a cold-frame/hotbed! There are several designs, and the Garden Master CD has a good one you can use if you’re interested. It’s available in the Store section of this website. In […]
March 4, 2006 at 11:52 PM
On March 3, between 3 and 10 P.M. all 4 TV stations broadcasting to the Shirak Region of Armenia carried very good coverage of the press conference we conducted yesterday. And again this morning, March 4 at 9 A.M. at least one station repeated their coverage. We owe a debt of gratitude to a great […]
March 3, 2006 at 11:54 PM
It’s a week since we arrived in Armenia! Time goes too fast!! We are busy purchasing materials and supplies for the training project. Everything takes much longer than in the USA, where you can drive to your choice of stores for anything imaginable. We need heaters for the Getk training facility. It’s still cold, with […]
