May I have a bit of Earth?

Horticulture always seems to be in the news.

Today (Tuesday, July 22), there are two stories in the local section of The Record that pertain to gardening.

The first, is a front page story (L1) on farmer's markets. The article, written by Elaine D'Aurizio and Jodi Weinberger, doesn't break much new ground. It focuses on how towns are looking at markets as a commercial benefit. It also offers up a list of where and when many of the markets are open.

The second story, is a bit more intriguing. The article (page L3), penned by Elizabeth Llorente, tells the story of a Cliffside Park resident who is being fined for spreading garbage around his garden ("vegetable debris"). The garbage he is spreading sounds like compost ingredients (egg shells, cucumber peels ... ), but apparently he does not have a compost pile. This sounds like a touchy situation, since often uncovered compost ingredients can bring insects, rodents and smell.

If you can not get to a hard copy of the paper (perhaps you are composting it already), here are the online links to both stories:

http://www.northjersey.com/education/brightideas/Producing_fresh_business.html

and

http://www.northjersey.com/environment/environmentnews/Is_veggie_patch_legit.html