I had such a fun time at last year’s Rooting DC, a day-long free event for DC’s gardening community. There were panels on all sorts of topics, from ornamental herb gardens to vegetable companion planting. Plus there was a big free-for-all of donated seed packets (yes, they were leftovers from the previous year, but lots of seeds have long shelf lives). The radishes I grew last spring, for instance, were from seeds I got at the Rooting DC forum.
This year’s Rooting DC has just been announced (see the press release reproduced below). If you’re planning on attending, let me know. It would be great to make it a meetup of sorts for DC’s garden bloggers.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 3, 2010
Press contact: Katie Rehwaldt
202 638 1649
Katie@america-the-beautiful.org
Rooting DC Cultivates Urban Agriculture in the District
Washington, DC – The third annual Rooting DC urban gardening conference will take place on Saturday, February 20. This event, which is free to the public, will bring together an anticipated audience of three hundred over the issues of food production and food access in the District of Columbia.
Keynote speakers include Joe Nasr (an international urban agriculture advocate and academic) Robert Egger (founder of DC Central Kitchen), Dr. James Allen and Yao Afantchao (ethnic crops researchers at UDC), and Tony Cohen (a local agricultural historian). The day long program will also include interactive workshops, cooking and preserving demonstrations, an informational fair, a film about DC community gardens, and panel discussions featuring leaders of the local food justice and urban agriculture movement.
“Concerns about access to healthy food, limiting our environmental impact, and supporting local economies are coming together to create a powerful new interest in growing your own food here in the District,” says event co-coordinator, Bea Trickett of the Neighborhood Farm Initiative.
The aim of Rooting DC is to respond to this enthusiasm by educating the public, especially those in food insecure communities, on the production, distribution, preparation, and preservation of fresh produce that is grown locally and sustainably.
This event, which will run from 9:30am until 4pm at the Historical Society of Washington (801 K Street NW), is sponsored by DC’s Field to Fork Network, a collaboration of dozens of local non-profits and agencies organized by America the Beautiful Fund.
Participants can find more information at www.rootingdc.org. English speakers who wish to attend the forum should call (202) 638-1649 to register; Spanish speakers should call (301) 891-7244 to register.
Gradually Greener 
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