KERNEL

Every Friday morning we post a list of vendors who are slated to be at the market that day along with our scheduled musician and demo activity.

But we know that seems like short notice to some folks. So for those (like us) who live and die by what’s been blocked off in their calendar well in advance, here’s a list of confirmed upcoming activities we’ll be hosting at the market throughout July.

July 3: There’s no scheduled demo because of all the Independence Day activities, but we will have a limited number of dump passes available for Emerson-Garfield residents. That means anyone who lives in E-G can get a $20 credit the next time they need to dispose of construction waste or garage/attic/alley/yard clutter. That’s usually enough to cover most loads.

July 10 – Garden photography: Want to put your best flower forward when showing off your home garden on Instagram or Facebook? Chris Wooley of Head and Tails Photo (you might know him from his photography for the Civic Theatre) is going to show all budding shutterbugs how to get the best shots of their home garden. He’ll go over macro settings, bokeh, filters, and other ways to capture the natural beauty of, well, natural beauty. Bring your preferred D-SLR or smartphone for hands-on tips.

Also starting July 10, the Kids Eating Right: Nutrition and Exercise for Life (KERNEL) pilot program will be launching at our market. Organized by Catholic Charities’ Food for All initiative, this is a weekly kid-friendly activity that focuses on healthy eating and exercise. It will involve games, crafts, or light physical activity such as yoga. Participants will get a reward for completing the activities. It’s safe, free and lots of fun, so bring your children and grandchildren!

The first KERNEL activity focuses on gardening. Kids will get to transplant a zucchini and learn how to care for and harvest it when the time comes.

July 17 – Compost tea: No, you can’t drink it, but it’s like rocket fuel for your plants. Master Composter and Master Gardener Ryan Herring will demonstrate the process for making both compost extract and compost tea and explain uses of each in the home garden.

The second week of KERNEL deals with companion planting. Here kids will take part in hands-on learning about how to pair certain plants (like tomatoes and basil) to deter garden pests or avoid competition for soil nutrients.

July 24 – Vermiculture: That is, worm cultivation. Worms are the best friends your soil can have. Jim Wood of Marlé Worm Growers will show how to set up a bin for worm cultivation, how to “harvest” the worm castings and how to use them in your home garden.

KERNEL’s third week looks at composting. This will tie in with the vermiculture demo, and our younger participants will be able to get their hands dirty by making super soil with the help of their wriggly friends.

July 31 – Pickling and canning: One of our longtime vendors, Lois Musser of The Farm Yard, will show you how to can and pickle all those veggies that you buy at the market or that are growing in your home garden. Pickling expertise runs in the Musser family — Lois’ son Dave was interviewed by The Inlander last year on the subject.

The fourth week of KERNEL will tests kids’ knowledge of fruit and veggies. Sure, they can tell a carrot from a tomato, but do they know their zucchini from their cucumber? They’ll learn about all the visual and nutritional differences in this activity.