Shady Gardening

Many aspects of a smaller scale garden can be adjusted to meet the needs of plants. If your space has low soil nutrients you can add compost, manure or other fertilizers. If there is a drought you can simply water your garden with a hose. One limitation that is harder to remediate is shady areas. Buildings are unlikely to disappear and neighbors are often unwilling to cut down their trees (nor should they be asked to). Growing up, my family used to always grow a garden with a variety of fruits and vegetables including corn, strawberries, melons, broccoli, squash and much more. Overtime the neighboring trees grew taller and out gardening space was reduced to partial sunlight. The garden was no as successful and eventually my parents gave up on it completely. Now they usually only plant tomatoes and zucchini in the last remaining full sun areas of our yard. The once garden is now just an empty space covered in wood chips. In hopes of revitalizing the area, I have looked into plants that do well in shady conditions. Leafy vegetables are the most shade tolerant. This includes delicious lettuce, spinach and arugula. Herb gardens are also perfect fillers a shady spot. Leafy greens and herbs are wonderful plants to have on hand because they can be picked and enjoyed at almost any stage of their life, they don't need to ripen. These leafy plants can struggle in the heat of the summer, so planting them in the shade is important for their summer success. Root vegetables can be productive with partial sun. Fruits and vegetables that would not be well suited for this space are ones whose fruits come from a flower. These varieties require full sun. http://www.colostate.edu/Dept/CoopExt/4dmg/VegFruit/vegsshady.htm

A global food crisis?

Farmers respond to increased prices for cotton, planting less corn and soy:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/29/business/29cotton.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha25

Common Everday Grocery Store Shopper's Worst Nightmare

Several Environmental and Food Safety activists have filed a lawsuit over the USDA allowing for unrestricted growing of a genetically modified alfalfa engineered by none other than, that's right Monsanto. Why is this a big deal? Alfalfa is one of the key parts of the domestic cow's diet, and with the effects of wind and cross pollination eventually almost all alfalfa will contain at least some amounts of genetically modified material. This could put an end potentially to the organic dairy industry as no food or drink can be labeled "organic" if it contains any traces of genetically modified material. This decision will also cause an increase in the use of herbicide. While alfalfa is not normally treated with herbicide, this new Monsanto breed can withstand a large amount of their brand of herbicide, leading to more potential use of the toxic chemicals. Yet this may not even be the biggest issue. As your Common Everday Grocery Store Shopper, this is my worst nightmare. As if shopping at a grocery store and determining what exactly is in my food wasn't already tough, with the implementation of this USDA plan it will be all but impossible....

Getting closer

So things are moving along in the garden. Its been a ton of work. But things are starting to come in. Fritz and I drove up to north charleston and picked up a load of manure compost for free from the horse shed on the weapons base. Its so rich and dark, the plants will be very happy.

So far we have lots of veggies so we decided to mix it up a bit so we put in 25 strawberry plants last week:

And last night we put in the corn and beans next to it. ( on the left)/ We decided to plant squash at the base of the corn. it will act as a mulch and help keep the weeds down. it also allows us to produce more calories in a smaller amount of space and with less water. This is the kind of arrangements that permacultre are made of.



Are seedlings are coming along well, so well in fact that we have had to move the lights up a few inches to accommodate the new growth. We have started leaving the marigolds outside now to harden them. Marigolds are very good insect repellent and with all the gnats and mosquitoes in the garden, we sure need it.

We are just now starting to see our first sprouts from the species weve planted outside. So far we've got beets, kohlrabi,carrots, spinach, green onions, radishes, peas and strawberries as well a few common herbs. Here is some of the 4 varieties of mint that we are growing:

The peas are coming up quickly and will soon need something to grow on. I found some 1inch stakes in the construction dumpster around the corner and will be putting them up with some twine for the peas and beans to grow on. Weve also used an organic compound that helps fix nitrogen for the beans.

So next we are putting in the melons, but we have to wait a bit. I feel that a lot of this is a waiting game. But it should be well worth the wait.

First Lady's Book

Michelle Obama is planning to write a book with the subject matter of her organic garden on the South Lawn of the White House. The garden was began in 2009 with the help of local elementary school students. The last vegetable garden at the White House was Eleanor Roosevelt’s garden during World War II. The untitled book is scheduled for release in spring 2012. First Lady Obama will donate the proceeds to charity, undetermined now. Her anti-obesity campaign, “Let’s Move!”, which was launched in February 2010, offers five initiatives:

1. Creating a healthy start for children
2. Empowering parents and caregivers
3. Providing healthy food in schools
4. Improving access to healthy, affordable foods
5. Increasing physical activity

All of these aspects are expected to be included in her book in addition to urban, community gardens and even family recipes. Since First Lady Obama is a highly respected woman perhaps the publication of this book will have more people aware, concerned, educated and involved in food issues, including other political leaders and policy makers.

-M

http://www.suntimes.com/news/nation/4357483-418/first-lady-writing--book-about-garden.html
http://www.letsmove.gov

Killing 2 Birds with 1 Stoner: Marijuana Legalization Could Repair the Economy and our Environment

At the risk of sounding like a studious stoner, I would like to expound on the marijuana/cannabis/hemp situation we discussed in class. Yes, I have lumped “hemp” and “marijuana” together because -- although they are genetically and functionally distinguished -- the US government puts both under Schedule I of the most dangerous controlled substances known to man (Thank you feds for making it possible to describe the two simultaneously.). After completing a 50 page thesis on the topic last year (entitled Fiscal Fuel: Marijuana Legalization and the United States Economy), I feel I can add some useful new knowledge to what Katz wrote about. In the end, prohibition of this plant is concurrently an environmental and economic burden.

Basically, I’m going to list some facts...the syllogism is implicit:

1. fossil fuel dependence and consumption are the leading sources of political turmoil abroad, foreign manipulation of our domestic economy, and GHGs that facilitate global warming; forests are the number one source of photosynthesis that helps to counter these greenhouse gases [GHGs] that enhance global warming
2. the paper industry is the number one cause of deforestation, which in turn is the number one cause of habitat loss worldwide
3. the paper industry is also the number one source of sulfites, sulfides, and sulfates in the atmosphere, which in turn are the number one cause of acid rain
4. acid rain pollutes water systems and soil, ultimately being biomagnified and incorporated into future plants and trees
5. 1 acre of hemp yields as much paper as 4 acres of trees in the same amount of time
6. the sulfur concentration needed to process hemp pulp into paper is MUCH less than that needed for tree pulp
7. Biofuel (or fuels derived from plant biomass) is derived from plant cellulose, which is why corn is a good candidate (relatively high cellulose)...hemp has the highest known average cellulose composition of any plant, upwards of 6X that of corn
8. In a horticultural sense, hemp is superior to cotton in terms of required pesticides, upkeep, rotation, and soil damage (This is why it’s called “weed”--it can grow in virtually any environment on earth!). In a textile sense, hemp has proven superiority to cotton in terms of potential softness, durability, thermal quality, and ventilation
9. the USDA owns some 90 million acres of vacant and arable land in the continental United States called the “Soil Bank”

What about pollution associated with biofuel combustion?

If we grew enough plants to ultimately satisfy our thirst for fuel, the sheer amount of photosynthesis would theoretically surpass that of pollution

What about algae for biofuel? After all, it is even easier to cultivate and convert to fuel...

Cannabis/marijuana/hemp is still the winner in an economic (and arguably environmental) sense; can we clothe the world in algae? Does algae reduce air pollution to the same extent? Can we make algae paper? Would “highly efficient” algae demand the creation of as many farming jobs? Finally, can you get high off algae and tax it as a legal intoxicant?

Did you know that non-biodegradable plastics and polymers are also from petroleum and could instead be made by natural hemp cellulose, just like with fuel (=implications in the plastic industry)? That the hempseed is one of the highest known sources of crucial Omega 3, 6, and 9 fatty acids (=implications in the food industry)? That oil from cannabis (due to the three omega’s) actually penetrates and hydrates human skin whereas modern toiletries and cosmetics at large merely coat the skin(=implications in the cosmetics industry)?

Some sociopolitical things to ponder...

The US jails proportionately more of its own citizens than any other country in the world. Roughly 70% of those are there solely on drug charges, the majority of which are from marijuana. In essence, we pay tax money to support institutions that often mentally and physically devolve “criminals” into even less productive and therefore more costly citizens if/when released; we pay money to lose money. If decriminalized or legalized, more law enforcement resources would go toward violent crime and we’d be paying less tax money to do a better job at containing the particularly harmful criminals.

Not only do our marijuana laws affect us domestically, but there are severe foreign implications as well. To finish my rant, our marijuana laws hurt other countries (namely Mexico) which in turn hurt us. The best way I can describe the situation is by recapping a conversation I had with my friend Greg last week...

Me: If we regulated or decriminalized or legalized marijuana, significant funding of the cartel-infused Mexican government would be eliminated and the crime problem in Mexico (and the crime that spills over here i.e. kidnapping) would be assuaged. By eliminating or reducing government corruption in Mexico, we would also be reducing a driving force behind illegal immigration (they wouldn’t need to immigrate in the first place if our laws didn’t inherently support the black markets that fund their corrupt government).

Greg: Yeah, but it would be easier if we just sent some troops down there to kick some ass and enforce legitimacy and democracy. It would take too long for us to change laws and let the change slowly happen.

Me: But why do we fund these cartels in the first place?

Greg: Because Americans love weed.

Me: Won’t they still want it after the cartels who supply it are gone?

Greg: Sure, they’ll just find it somewhere else or grow even more here.

Me: But marijuana would still be illegal, so--given the fact that drug demand is inelastic and that the rest of the supply would be moved to the US if we cut off foreign suppliers--crime rates would drastically rise in the United States.

Greg: So we’d legalize it and the criminals wouldn’t have the chance to grow from it.

Me: So why don’t we skip all that crap before and legalize it to begin with, like I said?

Greg: Oh.

Basically y’all, prohibition is ignorant and regulation is realistic. Like communism, prohibition works only in theory; it fails in practice because it clashes with human nature, the laws of supply and demand.

Google Powermeter! A creative step to reduce energy...

Google is working on a prototype system called the Google Powermeter to help energy consumers monitor and track their energy consumption. It would require something called a 'smart meter', a new method that utility companies are upgrading to, and Google's prototype product, the Google Powermeter. This would save the utility company from sending a worker to read your power meter every month. Instead, your power reading would be sent over a secure wireless signal to the utility company... AND, the service would be free!

Google hopes to work with utility companies to provide a service to energy consumers who want to view a break down of their electricity usage. If you know what, when, and how you are consuming energy (as seen on the picture above) , you are likely to save 5%-15% on your energy bill every month. Google claims that if the entire United States were to really utilize a program like the one they are implementing, the energy savings would amount to the equivalent of removing 50 million cars off of the road!

...Take a look: http://www.google.com/powermeter/about/index.html

Important!

This article is significant for many reasons. It details an extreme case of abuse, so be mindful when reading, but also keep in mind- there is light at the end of the tunnel. It is important to be aware.

Immigration issues are highly political, but we can probably all agree that everyone deserves the right to live a dignified life: http://www.gourmet.com/magazine/2000s/2009/03/politics-of-the-plate-the-price-of-tomatoes?currentPage=1

GM Alfalfa Approved

Here's what Whole Foods has to say:
http://blog.wholefoodsmarket.com/2011/01/no-regulations-ge-alfalfa/

And here's another blog that neatly sums up the impacts:
http://www.chewswise.com/chews/2011/01/vilsack-gm-alfalfa.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ChewsWise+%28Chews+Wise%29

Micro farmin!

Ok so heres another update on our micro farm were building:

We decided to line the edges of the beds to make the place look a little nicer. So I call Rebecca over at the sustainability warehouse and set up a trade. Three hours of my labor in exchange for 200 board feet of lumber and some scraps. The wood came from an old house about to be torn down in west ashley. now its found a new home and new function in our garden...





There was even enough lumber left over to allow me to build some new clothes lines to replace the sad parachute cord we had hung up from the power pole before :(

the seedlings are coming along well, and have sprouted earlier than I expected:





I have been talking to my grandfather, who has always had a very prolific garden since i was a boy, about placement and timing and other tips. We were originally discussing growing a three sisters garden (corn, beans and squash in the same bed, the beans grow on the corn and the squash acts as mulch) but have decided against it as beans will choke out sweet corn but not field corn (which we arent interested in). We will now be planting strawberries and beans and watermellons in their place. Here is a seed map of our current lay out:




Thats all we have for now, this weekend end we will be tilling the beds under and prepairing rows and planing the earlier veggies. Soon we should be eating from the garden and not from the super market....

I want to eat heathy too!!

I recently did some research on the the use of food stamps or EBT for local grown food and found there are not many options for those in low income families. More than one in seven households rely on food stamps and studies show that the less money you make the more likely you become overweight. It seems like eating healthy is only for the elite or privileged people in our society. The businesses that do except EBT are fast food restaurants like KFC, Domino's, and of course the food know as "Government Food". Fortunately, the Vegatable Bin in downtown Charleston do allow EBT in there establishment. Also the government has recently placed a ban on sugar filled soft drinks bought wit food stamps to help reduce weight health problems.There are some websites that helps you maximize the worth of your food stamps like .........
http://healthychild.org/blog/comments/can_you_eat_organic_on_food_stamps/
http://www.hotcouponworld.com/
http://www.citylimits.org/conversations/114/do-food-stamps-and-fanta-mix#

Healthy Eating Friends ......