Categories
News

U.N. Sets Biodiversity Goals

Agricultural biodiversity
The U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity set goals to preserve diversity of all kinds, including agricultural diversity.

Biodiversity rests in the minds of small-scale farmers as they face everyday challenges to produce healthy food in a sustainable way. And yet the Earth’s biodiversity—which is the key to its ability to renew soil fertility, purify water, recycle nutrients and pollinate plants—is diminishing at an alarming rate.

Current trends indicate that 34,000 plant and 5,200 animal species face extinction. Many crop varieties are disappearing because of commercial agriculture’s preference for monoculture crops and up to 30 percent farm animal breeds are currently at high risk. According to the Global Biodiversity Outlook report issued in May 2010, farm and other species worldwide are disappearing at up to 1,000 times their expected natural rate.

Responding to the alarm, the United Nations Convention on Biodiversity met for two weeks at the end of October in Nagoya, Japan, to develop a plan for stopping biodiversity loss.

Representatives from countries around the world put their heads together to develop a 10-year strategic plan to guide governments in preserving biodiversity. The convention drafted the Aichi Target, which includes 20 headline targets that address underlying causes of biodiversity loss, reducing pressures on biodiversity and a strategy to obtain needed funds. It also has provisions to protect and enhance the benefits derived by biodiversity.

“History will recall that it was here in Nagoya that a new era of living in harmony was born and new global alliance to protect life on Earth was established,” says Ahmed Djoghlaf, the biodiversity convention’s executive secretary.

The Convention on Biological Diversity, along with the Convention on Climate Change, was born at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (Earth Summit) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992. It is the first global agreement to support the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity, and 192 countries and the European Union participate.

The convention has three main goals:

  • conserving biodiversity
  • using components of biodiversity sustainably
  • sharing the benefits arising from commercial and other utilization of genetic resources in a fair and equitable way

The convention recognizes the conservation of biodiversity as a common concern worldwide. Its scope includes all ecosystems, species and genetic resources, including biotechnology. It calls for economic development rooted in sustainable practices. Each participating country is legally obligated to uphold the convention and must submit a report detailing how its mission and goals are being carried out.

What Can Farmers Do?
While the convention is doing important work by recommending, planning and educating, the ultimate decision to promote biodiversity has to be made by individual farmers. Be encouraged. Every time you raise heritage-breed animals, plant heirloom seeds and compost your waste, you are doing your part to preserve the rich diversity of planet Earth.

Categories
Urban Farming

Aeroponics Shapes Future of Urban Ag

AeroFarms arugula

Courtesy AeroFarms

Aerofarms uses aeroponic technology to commercially grow leafy greens, such as arugula.

Commercial farming has met its urban match. AeroFarms, a company in Ithaca, N.Y., provides aeroponic technology and business expertise to help grow and sell leafy greens in urban buildings on a commercial level. The aeroponic system is a type of hydroponic technology that sprays a mist directly onto the roots with the nutrients, hydration and oxygen the plants need, allowing the plants to be grown in buildings without soil or sunlight throughout the year. 

Ed Harwood, CEO of AeroFarms, became familiar with aeroponics while researching cutting-edge technologies in agriculture for the Cornell University Cooperative Extension. He discovered aeroponics is the most efficient means of growing leafy greens.

“Leafy greens are the best things for us to eat in our diet. But they have a very short shelf life out of all of the veggies,” Harwood explains. “By growing them locally, the shelf life is longer and better. And without sunlight and soil, there’s little chance for contamination or disease.”

In 2002, Harwood successfully created an aeroponic prototype system to grow leafy greens. He scaled the prototype into a commercial growing system, where he grew and sold greens commercially for several years under the name GreatVeggies.

Harwood says customers’ responses to the fresher taste, the longer shelf life and the innovative mixes of the greens were extremely positive. He heard stories of people requesting the greens at restaurants with no dressing and students asking for more “green candy.”

Aeroponic technology

Courtesy AeroFarms

The aeroponic growing systems uses artificial light, cloth fabric as a growing medium and nutrient spray inserted into a soil chamber in order to grow leafy greens in any area, including abandoned warehouses.

In 2009, Harwood switched his focus to developing and selling the growing systems to farmers and entrepreneurs. Harwood renamed the company Aero Farm Systems LLC with support from 21Ventures, a technology venture capital fund, to commercialize the aeroponic technology.

AeroFarms is now a full-service provider of aeroponic growing systems that helps entrepreneurs learn to use the growing system and profit from it.

“You really have to hold your customer’s hand through this process,” Harwood says. “I view it as a partnership—it’s a strong, shared learning experience between the farmer and us. They learn from my successes, and I learn from theirs.”

AeroFarms’ first paying customer was a group of Wall Street investors who wanted to start an urban farm as part of an effort to revitalize Newark, N.J. AeroFarms installed the aeroponic farm system at St. Phillips Academy, a school that provides private education for disadvantaged youth. The growing system allows the kids to grow leafy-green vegetables, which are used in the school kitchen to prepare healthy and nutritious organic meals for the kids.

The Technology

The AeroFarms growing system uses a cloth conveyor instead of soil as the growing medium. Because one piece of cloth can last up to five years, the cloth is cost-effective and environmentally friendly. Nutrients are applied directly to the plants’ roots, which requires less water compared to soil-based methods. LED lighting provides the plants with the most ideal amount and variety of lighting.

AeroFarms growing system is designed for old or vacant warehouse-type buildings, and therefore doesn’t waste land space. The AeroFarms growing system is modular and vertically stackable, which can turn 10,000 square feet of facility floor space into nearly 30,000 square feet of growing space.

Harwood hopes this technology will eventually become mainstream.

“We need to think about the next generation in terms of better health and better food,” he says. “I want more people participating in growing good food. I want this technology to be in reach of people to set up businesses and provide better foods for people.”

Visit the AeroFarms website to learn how to set up your own commercial growing system.

 

Categories
Urban Farming

Flowers in the Vegetable Garden

Marigolds

Photo by Rick Gush

I’m starting to incorporate more flowers, like these marigolds, in to my garden for a splash of color and plant diversity.

The flowers in the garden look pretty nice this week. We’ve had cold nights but very sunny days, so not only are all the broccoli growing really well, all the fall blooming flowers have started their show, too. The big splashes of color are particularly welcome at this time of year, when the crop plantings are no so spectacular yet.

Another reason I like the flowers is because they’re good for cutting. We like to have fresh bouquets of flowers on our table, and I think it’s a great luxury to be able to go out whenever I wish and harvest a big handful of colorful blooms. My mother-in-law is also appreciative, and we often take bouquets when we go visit friends.

Impatiens

Photo by Rick Gush

I’m separating a lot of my flowers into different parts of the garden so I don’t have to buy new flowers.

One thing that is sort of odd here is that Chrysanthemums are used just for the cemeteries. Lots of farmers and gardeners grow a patch of Chrysanthemums to take to the cemeteries during the last week of October. Instead of growing our Chrysanthemums in a flat bed, I’ve got them wegded in here and there on the slopes, in such a way that the plants can sort of cascade down the slope. The effect is nice, and I’m forgiven for growing so many Chrysanthemums. (Everybody assumes we’re growing them to decorate our relative’s graves.)

We grew some very nice long-stemmed white and red mums this year, and a big bunch of them has already made a trip to the cemetery, so I suppose we are following local traditions.

In the past years, I worked mostly on building up the fruit- and vegetable-planting areas of the garden, but lately I have had the time to push for more flowers. They add to the mix of plant species and help attract both predator insects and bees to the garden.

Although the photos I posted today are of annuals, I think the perrenials and self-seeding annuals give the most bang for the buck. The Euryops are in full bloom now, and in another month, the Tritoma spectacular will begin. I separated a lot of plants last spring from my one big clump of flowers, and I now have six healthy clumps spread across the garden. Can’t wait to see the flowers this year!

In general, my strategy is to propagate and spread the plant species that I already have growing well in the garden, instead of buying a lot of new species. I used to have one of this and one of that, but now the the Euryops, chrysanthemums, hollyhocks, Tritoma, Gazania, alyssum, marigolds,  violets, poppies and rosemary have all been propagated from seeds or cuttings, and these species are now scattered across the garden. I think the results will be impressive in another year or so.

Read more of Rick’s Favorite Crops »

Categories
Crops & Gardening

Tried-and-true Fall Flowers

Venus mums
Photo by Jessica Walliser
Venus mums are a beautiful and hardy addition to my fall garden.

I can’t believe how many things I still have blooming in the garden—the most beautiful of which are my Venus mums.

These are not the hardy mums you find at the nursery each autumn (which are never actually “hardy” in my garden, so I’m not sure how they managed to earn the name) but rather they are true perennial mums. And they are tough. Mine have bloomed every year all the way up to Thanksgiving through several frosts and even sometimes beyond.  One year, I made a bouquet of them on Christmas Eve.  Now that is one stalwart plant!

Venus mums have beautiful, soft-pink petals with bright-yellow centers, and each blossom measures a good inch and a half across. The plant is loaded with flowers even though I picked some for my son’s preschool teacher. (It’s never too early to brown-nose, is it?) It looks terrific next to the Purple Dome asters that finished blooming last week.

Black-eyed Susan
Photo by Jessica Walliser
This unique black-eyed Susan is one of my favorite new flowers … if only I could remember the cultivar.

Another stand-out late-season bloomer this year is my toad lily. I got a division of this plantfrom a friend several years ago, so I don’t know the variety. They’re lavender with purple splotches and stand nearly 4 feet tall! The flowers are just starting to drop off so I may only have them for another week. 

And, last but not least, one of my favorite new plants is still cranking it out: A friend gave me a curious black-eyed Susan this spring. It has bright-yellow petals that resemble miniature spoons and a rich, brown center. The plant is almost 5 feet tall, and its flowers have lasted for several months. I just love it.  I swore I would remember the cultivar, but of course, I’ve forgotten. That’s what I get for not writing it down immediately. Someday I’ll do a little research to figure it out, but for now I’m just going to enjoy it while I can.  

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Categories
Homesteading

My Favorite (Fall) Things

Calendula
Photo by Cherie Langlois
My calendulas are one of my favorite autumn delights.

Today was one of those perfect autumn days that takes my breath away: cool, crisp air; pale-golden beams of sunlight slanting through the firs; the scent of damp alder leaves wafting up as I raked them into piles to toss on the vegetable garden. With October already turned to November, I have a sneaking suspicion that winter will be here before we know it, so I decided to list the top five things I love best about fall—just because. 

1 . Calendula 
Of all the flowers in my garden, easy-to-grow Calendula seems to put on the longest and brightest autumn show. Just seeing those cheery, golden-and-orange blooms each day lifts my spirits—especially when the weather turns gloomy. Did you know that Calendula, also known as Pot Marigold, has been used medicinally for centuries and that the petals are edible? I’m planning to toss some in an arugula salad tonight. 

Woolly bear
Photo by Cherie Langlois
It’s my mission this fall to save as many woolly bears (on of my favorite fall things) as possible from roadside squashes.

2. Woolly Bears 
I always look forward to seeing these pretty, black-and-orange caterpillars appear each fall as they go in search of places to hibernate. Sadly, the nonpest larvae of the Isabella Tiger moth often come to squishy ends while crossing roads, so my friend Trish and I have made it our autumn mission to rescue as many as possible on our morning walks. 

3. Vine Maples and Bigleaf Maples 
I love changing foliage of all kinds, but these two beautiful Northwest-native trees are my hands-down favorites. In good years, our Vine maples flame scarlet and the Bigleaf maples become gilded in gold. 

4. Pumpkins and Pumpkin Pie
Fields full of big, bright pumpkins and excited kids running about trying to pick the perfect one … or two … or three. The heavenly scent and spiced-sweet taste of pumpkin pie. These are definitely a few of my favorite fall things. What isn’t:  When not a single one of my own homegrown pumpkins turns orange!

5. Fall Crafting Season
Although I love long, fine summer days spent out of doors until the sun sets, I also enjoy this time of year, when darkness descends and nudges us inside at an earlier (but not too early) hour.  With the holidays fast approaching at the same time, it gives me the perfect excuse to break out my knitting, rug hooking or some other crafty indoor pursuit and channel my creative side.      

So, what are your favorite fall things?

~ Cherie

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Categories
Equipment

Bench Hooks

I stopped by the Bad Axe Tool Works website to browse its handcrafted saws. The saws are truly beautiful works of art for the shop-inclined. 

Also for sale at the site was a bench hook, something no workbench should be without. I call it a third hand. The Bad Axe bench hook was also a thing of beauty, and if you have an extra $49.95, I encourage you to visit the website and order one. If not, you can build one for yourself if you have a saw, some screws and a couple of board feet of hardwood. It may not be as pretty, but it will do the job.

A bench hook at its simple best is a piece of board with a block of wood attached at either end but on opposing sides. Set the board down flat with one end hanging over the edge of the workbench and the other end facing up. You now have a third hand for any saw work you might have to do. Set the piece to be cut against the upturned end and hold it with one hand while you cut with the other. Once you have used a bench hook, you won’t want to be without it. It works as well for using a hacksaw on a piece of pipe as it does backsaw on a board.

If you buy a Bad Axe bench hook, you get one that is pre cut like a miter box with a 90-degree cut and two 45-degree angles. Of course, you could do that yourself as well. Before attaching the end block intended to face up, slip it in a miter box and carefully make the guide cuts through it. Screw it in place, and your third hand just became a miter box too.

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Categories
News

Weed Dating: The Farm Social Frontier?

Weeds
Courtesy NOFA Vermont
Weeding is the inspiration behind NOFA Vermont’s on-farm social.

As any hobby farmer knows, a farmer’s work is never done. So forget making time to squeeze in a social life. For young, single farmers or those new to the area, meeting new people can be problematic.

Wendy Palthey of Tunbridge Hill Farm in Tunbridge, Vt., and two of her 25-year-old farm workers—one single and one new to town—pondered this dilemma as they worked together to weed some of the farm’s fields.

“We were all trying to figure out who we knew in the area who was of similar interests,” she says. “No one. So we started to joke about how you really got to know someone after weeding a bed with them—all sorts of conversations flow naturally.”

That’s when the idea for weed dating, the on-farm version of speed-dating, was born.

After Palthey flippantly shared the idea with Jean Hamilton from Vermont’s chapter of the Northeast Organic Farming Association, the joke soon became a reality. The organization hosted the first of four weed-dating events in the pilot program at none other than Tunbridge Hill Farm.

Weed dating unfolds pretty much how you would imagine. Weeders are paired up along farm rows, the timer is set for five to seven minutes, and the pair dives into conversation. Once the buzzer sounds, the weeders switch partners. Pretty soon, the farm’s rows are weed-free and everyone is familiar with one another.

“Some folks are a lot more comfortable and themselves when they are working as opposed to dancing or sitting around, wondering what to say to someone,” says Palthey. “Just the fact that someone shows up at one of these events shows that they are doers, not just talkers or posers.”

As an added bonus, she points out, choosing attire for the event is easy—you know you are going to get dirty.

Is Weed Dating Really Dating?
While weed dating could potentially be the new dating service for rural folks, NOFA Vermont, an organization that focuses on building community around local agriculture, wanted to make it an event anyone could attend.

“We talked a lot about how romance-oriented we wanted it to be and whether to hold events for different demographics,” Hamilton says. “We decided to have an event that focused on community-building instead.”

Four weed-dating events were held in 2010 at various farms as part of the program’s pilot year. A variety of participants of all ages showed up, from farmers to people with other careers. In addition to meeting like-minded folks, the weed-daters had the opportunity to take farm tours to learn about the area’s agriculture.

“Good weather days were more fun for people, but bad weather days brought out the hearty souls,” says Hamilton.

In general, the atmosphere was fun and casual, she says, though not particularly strategic in regards to matchmaking.

The Future of Weed Dating
NOFA Vermont is still reviewing the first year of its weed-dating program. While the events were successful in many ways, says Hamilton, the concept doesn’t necessarily fall in line with NOFA’s mission. For the future, it’s considering partnering with an organization that specializes in matchmaking.

However, the concept seems to be catching on elsewhere. Students at Central Carolina Community College in Pittsboro, N.C., contacted Palthey about how they can start a weed-dating program on their campus.

“College students are known to do crazy things to attract a partner,” says Palthey. “Maybe that crazy thing would be weeding.”

Categories
Urban Farming

Free Backyard Chickens Webinar

Backyard chicken

Courtesy Stock.XCHNG

Learn about backyard chicken biosecurity in “The Word on Healthy Birds” webinar.

This week, Nov. 1 to 7, 2010, the USDA’s Biosecurity for Birds campaign will celebrate Bird Health Awareness Week to promote awareness about the diseases that threaten poultry health and the ways to prevent the spread of infectious poultry diseases.

Highlighting the week’s events, the USDA will host a free webinar, “The Word on Healthy Birds,” on Friday, Nov. 5, 2010, from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. EST. The webinar will feature radio personality Andy Schneider (aka the Chicken Whisperer) and Martin Smeltzer, DVM a USDA poultry veterinarian, who will discuss issues facing chicken owners, including:

  • The biggest threats to backyard chicken health and safety
  • Symptoms of chicken illness
  • How to get started raising chicken

Raising backyard poultry is growing more popular as many Americans seek a direct connection to their food.  As the number of backyard chickens increases, so does the need for owners to learn about keeping their flocks healthy.

Schneider has become a leading expert in the fast-growing backyard-poultry movement and is a spokesman for the Biosecurity for Birds campaign. Based in Atlanta, Ga., he’s helped countless people start their own backyard flocks. He’s the founder of the Atlanta Backyard Poultry Meetup group, which boasts nearly 900 members. 

Smeltzer is with the USDA Veterinary Service offices in Georgia.  He’s worked in the poultry industry since 1984 in multiple positions, from a poultry breeder to a diagnostician with a state poultry diagnostic system and as a USDA regional poultry epidemiologist.  

Space at the webinar is limited, so reserve your spot as soon as possible. After registering, participants will receive a confirmation email containing information about the webinar.

In addition to this week’s webinar, the USDA’s Biosecurity for Birds program offers tips to owners on its website about how to keep chickens healthy and free of disease.

Categories
Animals

Hey, Hay!

Sheep and hay feeder
Photo by Sue Weaver
Louie the sheep nibbles hay from the feeder attached to the baby rams’ fence.

Dad gets mad when we goats and sheep pull hay out of conventional feeders, then fling it around, dropping most of it on the ground. Once feed hits the ground, it’s automatically dirty, and we won’t eat it—yuck! Sometimes Mom picks it up and puts it back in the feeder, but we aren’t fooled. Goats and sheep are smart! Then she rakes it up while muttering about “expensive, perfectly clean hay,” and she gives it to the horses, who scarf it down. Horses aren’t gourmets, I guess.

So, Dad invented a cheap, easy-to-make hay feeder that works for all kinds of livestock—even goats—as long as your fences are made of woven wire or cattle panels. Here’s how to make one if you want to.

  1. Find or buy a piece of cattle panel with openings, then decide how big your feeder should be. Dad made one two whole panels long across the front of the Boer goats’ paddock but used bolt cutters to snip the third panel into pieces for smaller groups.
  2. Then he used carabiner clips to fasten the panel to the outside of the fence. (If you put it on the inside, horned animals could get stuck in the open end.) He placed carabiners at the top, middle, and bottom of each side and one (or more if the panel is really long) at the bottom. He started with cheap aluminum carabiners from the dollar store, but they wear out too fast, so as they break, he’s replacing them with heavy-duty carabiners.
  3. Finally, Dad pulled the panel just far enough away from the fence to stuff it full of hay one flake thick. The panel holds the hay firmly in place, so we can’t fling it around and wastes it. The animals in the pen eat through the fence and anybody on the outside can eat through the piece of panel.

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