Categories
Animals

Ticked Off – Part 1

Lone star tick
Courtesy the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Lone star ticks carry diseases that can make you very sick. Make sure you always check for ticks on you and your animals.

Lots of lone star ticks live on our farm. Sometimes they get on us animals and on our Mom and Dad. Mom says ticks are part of living in the country. But they’re dangerous, too!

Last week, Dad thought he had flu. Really bad flu that gave him a blinding headache, horrible muscle pains and chills. (He slept with three wool blankets on the bed one night) After three days of that, Mom insisted he go see his doctor. She was worried because Dad was so weak. The doctor took his temperature (102.8 degrees F) and some blood tests and sent him straight to the hospital where they put him in the intensive care unit. The hospital doctors said he got there just in time before his vital organs started shutting down.

Dad has a tick-borne illness, either ehrlichiosis or Rocky Mountain spotted fever; they don’t know which because his blood work isn’t back. The good thing is that all tick-borne diseases found in North America like ehrlichiosis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, STARI (southern tick-associated rash illness), bebesiosis, tularemia  and Lyme disease are treated with the same drugs, so they could treat Dad without knowing exactly what he had.

This was really scary, so we want to tell you this: If you live in tick country (and that’s most of the United States) and you have serious “flu” symptoms for more than a day or two, go see your doctor right away! Mom and Dad have picked off thousands, maybe millions of attached ticks over the years, so they’ve become kind of complacent. Don’t do that! We animals need our Moms and Dad to take care of us and we don’t want anything to happen to you. Dad is going to be OK, but only because he got treatment in time. He almost died!

We’ll talk more about ticks next week but for now, be careful and watch out for ticks. Fall is one of the times they’re really active. Please don’t become a near-statistic like our dad!

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Categories
Urban Farming

Rooster Chivalry

Rooster and hen

Courtesy Audrey Pavia

Mr. Mabel the rooster escorts one of his hens around the urban farm.

Whoever said chivalry is dead never spent any time around roosters. Sometimes I just can’t get over how gracious and doting roosters are with their hens.

At my urban farm, Mr. Mabel is the top roo (beating out his brother Mr. Molly, at least this year). Mr. Mabel deserves to be the guy in charge because nothing is as important to that rooster as his five hens.

Mr. Mabel spends much of his day looking for good stuff to eat. Not for himself, mind you, but for his girls. If he comes upon some grubs in the dirt or if I toss out a piece of fruit on the lawn, he summons the ladies like only a rooster can: by dipping his head and making a distinct clucking sound that is only used for such an occasion. The hens know exactly what this means, and they come running from every direction to see what their man has found for them.

This ritual is particularly impressive on the rare occasions when I bring home a container of mealworms. I sit down on the ground and call Mr. Mabel, who runs over, sees that a mealworm feast is about to occur, and begins to call his harem. When they come running, he feeds them, taking each mealworm from my hand and placing it in front of a hen. What’s so amazing is that he will hand out at least 10 mealworms to the girls before eating one himself. And I know how much he loves mealworms. But the ladies come first.

Mr. Mabel is also a guy you can count on in times of trouble. If I disturb one of the hens as she attempts to hatch an egg in the coop (not allowed—we don’t need any more chickens), the loud squawk of objection quickly gets the attention of Mr. Mabel. He comes running as fast as he can to see what is going on, and gets in my space. He doesn’t know what it is I’m doing to upset his lady, but it doesn’t matter. She’s in distress and he’s the man on the job.

Of course, all this gallant behavior comes with a price. When Mr. Mabel is in the mood for love, “no” is not an acceptable answer. The hens have learned that if they want first dibs at the mealworms and someone to rescue them when times are tough, they need to make it worth his while. And they do, with rarely a complaint.

Read more of City Stock »

Categories
News

Website Provides Pesticide Stewardship Information

Garden pests
Courtesy Stock.XCHNG
A new website provides information on controlling unwanted insects on your crops.

A new Pesticide Environmental Stewardship website, recently launched by the Center for Integrated Pest Management, was designed to assist people who apply, sell, store or dispose of pesticides; provide advice or training on pesticide use; or are involved in pesticide stewardship or regulation.

“Our ultimate goal is to cover the basic tenets that apply regardless of who you are, where you live or the pest you’re trying to control,” says Wayne Buhler of North Carolina State University, PES national coordinator and a Pesticide Safety Education Program coordinator for North Carolina. “There are fundamental principles and practices to be aware of, whether you are protecting agricultural crops, homegrown vegetables, a lawn or golf course. We hope that whenever the choice is made to use a pesticide, good stewardship practices will be followed.” 

The new website complements the work of county extension agents and state-level pesticide safety education programs. It covers a wide variety of stewardship topics, ranging from pesticide storage, handling and disposal to how to avoid drift, runoff and leaching during and after the pesticide application. Homeowners and those interested in integrated pest management can go straight to sections geared to their needs. 

“We know there is a wealth of expertise in the public and private sector regarding pesticide stewardship,” observes Ron Gardner of Cornell University, who helped develop the PES website.  “We look forward to a growing list of partners who will help us add value to current and future topics on the site.”

A pesticide resistance management topic is currently under development for the website. Future plans also include educational quizzes to reinforce important pesticide stewardship concepts and self-assessment tools to evaluate personal pesticide stewardship practices.

“Search the web for phrases like ‘pesticide stewardship and drift’ and you will get thousands of results,” says Carol Somody, senior stewardship manager for Syngenta Crop Protection and PES industry coordinator. “It can be quite overwhelming to someone who wants to start with the basics, and teaching the basics is the purpose of PES. It provides a much-needed entry point to essential pesticide-stewardship information.”

10 Tips from the Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Website

The amount of information on the website may be overwhelming at first glance. Use these 10 tips as a warm up to entering a pesticide stewardship plan.

  1. Read the label before buying the pesticide.
  2. Buy only the amount of pesticide needed for one season.
  3. As a general rule of thumb, the temperature inside the pesticide storage area should be between 40 degrees F and 100 degrees F.
  4. Calibrate equipment carefully to assure that the pesticide is applied at labeled rates. 
  5. Be aware of the current and probable future weather conditions in order to make the best pesticide application decisions to prevent drift.
  6. Locate the mixing and loading site away from wells, streams and lakes. 
  7. Never leave a tank while it is being filled and pay constant attention during filling to prevent overfilling and spilling of the pesticide on the ground.
  8. When you empty a container, allow it to drain into the spray tank for 10 seconds after it begins to drip.
  9. Remember that exceeding the label rate of pesticide application is a violation of the law.
  10. Follow the label each time you mix and use the pesticide, and follow the label when storing or disposing of the pesticide. Do not trust your memory.

Buhler’s colleagues in the Pesticide Safety Education Program from across the United States were instrumental in the development of PES, including Ron Gardner of Cornell University, Carol Ramsay of Washington State University, Jim Wilson of South Dakota State University and Fred Whitford of Purdue University. Other scientists in academia, extension, government and industry partnered with CIPM on the project, including members of the Weed Science Society of America, the Entomological Society of America and the American Phytopathological Society.  

 

Categories
Urban Farming

Building Environmental Literacy

Urban Farm

Courtesy Ben Laterell

Students in Portland, Ore., get to learn about installing gardens, cooking organically and selling at farmers’ markets thanks to a Classroom Earth grant.

Teachers across the country face similar challenges on a day-to-day basis, but what do teachers Remy Dou of Miami, Fla., James Lorenz of Minneapolis, and Tom McKenna of Portland, Ore., in particular, have in common?

All three are 2010 recipients of the National Environmental Education Foundation’s Classroom Earth National High School Challenge Grants.

Overall, 10 high school teachers across the country received the $4,000 grants to implement creative, thought-provoking lesson plans to increase environmental literacy for students in grades 9 through 12. These three urban educators are using their funds to explore topics such as aeroponic gardening, native ecology and gardening with a focus on the politics of food.
 
Classroom Earth, a five-year partnership between the NEEF and the Weather Channel, focuses on providing resources for educators to use in the classroom and empowering them to teach environmental education beyond middle school.

“Ultimately we want to improve the environmental literacy of students,” explains Bobby Cato, senior education project manager with NEEF. “In addition to the grants, we created a companion social network where high school students can apply for grants of their own, explore college programs focused on sustainability and apply for green jobs. At PlanetConnect.org, students can post their own videos and articles.”

Student-supported Agriculture

Founded in 1995, Oregon’s Portland YouthBuilders program supports low-income men and women ages 18 to 24 who have not completed high school. Students receive education, vocational training and leadership development. The organization supports youth who are committed to changing their lives to become self-sufficient, contributing members of the workforce and their community.

“With our Classroom Earth funding, we are planting a garden on the school grounds while involving the entire student population across all disciplines in learning about foods, techniques of organic gardening and composting,” explains McKenna, a PYB teacher.

Sid Klein, sustainability manager at PYB, says they began to develop a plan to apply for the grant after considering how the school could expose its student population to food in ways students have never considered.

“For most, food is an issue of survival,” Klein says. “Their experience is wondering where they will buy their next meal. They have a heavy dependence on food stamps and face food insecurity every day. We wanted to address food insecurity and to encourage deeper thinking about where their food comes from beyond the local gas station or food pantry.”

Lessons focus on where foods come from, the implications of how far food travels and who students are supporting through food-purchase decisions. Classes will also consider food production—the impact of how food is produced, the impact on who produces it and the impact on the environment.

Students will be engaged in the garden installation by figuring the garden’s dimensions, determining how space will be used and preparing the garden for planting. Students will be responsible for tending the garden and writing about their food experiences as the garden grows and matures.

Local chefs will be teaching PYB students to prepare organic meals, and students will create healthy meals, sharing recipes with one another and teaching one another about organic foods.

A cohort of students from PYB has already been working at urban farms in the Portland area. Each weekend, the students attend two area farmers’ markets, working with vendors and fielding shopper questions. At the end of each market day, they glean excess produce and bring it back to the school, where it is distributed among the students.

“Basically, we are running a free CSA,” Klein says. The installation of their own on-site garden will enable students to grow their own vegetables to supplement farmers’ market gleanings and provide abundant, fresh, organic produce for students and their families.

Applying for the Grant

NEEF anticipates launching the 2011 grant cycle this fall. To learn more about the grants, see grant awards and read past project descriptions, visit ClassroomEarth.org.

 

Categories
Urban Farming

The Crunchy Grape Harvest

Grapevine

Photo by Rick Gush

The grapes on my American Concord grapevine aren’t quite ripe yet.

We’ve been eating the first few grapes in the last week, but the big harvest is still a week or two away, and the rainy days we’ve been getting in Liguria lately aren’t speeding things up. I suppose I could cut away a lot of the leaves, but I’m lazy and the year that I did run around and trim all the shading growth, the grapes didn’t really seem to be any better.

The vine is loaded with small bunches of grapes, but the vast majority are still not completely ripe. The slightly unripe grapes taste fine, sort of like a crunchy table grape, but once the grapes mature fully they become really sweet and the skunky flavor that I like becomes delightfully strong.

The grape is an American Concord, which is very common in this part of Italy. I get a kick out of the fact that this variety is often called French Dwarf around here, despite the fact that it is neither French nor dwarf. Our vine is perhaps 30 years old and sprawls across the lower part of the garden cliff.

I cut the grapevine’s spread down about 50 percent last fall, but it’s still quite vigorous. I estimate we’ll harvest about 500 small to medium bunches this year. Two years ago we had a huge grape harvest. We collected around 1,000 bunches, and some of those were really big.

The grape harvest will last about a month, during which we will eat grapes with just about every meal.  We’ll also give away a fair amount to friends and family. This is another crop with which I get to score points with my mother-in-law, as these are the same variety she remembers from her rustic childhood.

I have a friend who has a lot of this variety among his vineyards, and he mixes it with the other more classic wine grapes when he makes his wine.  His wine is pretty good and it doesn’t taste anything like the Concord grape wines I’ve tasted.

These grapes do have a lot of seeds. My wife often spits out the seeds when she eats them, but I just crunch the whole grapes seeds and all. I am sort of a goat, and don’t peel apples, kiwi or peaches when I eat them, but my wife always does.

In fact, I often make some raisins from our grapes. It’s not hot enough here to sun-dry the raisins, so I do it in the oven. With the oven at the lowest possible heat, I shuffle plates full of grapes in and out of the oven, leaving each plate inside for about 10 or 15 minutes. Then I let it cool for a half hour. In two days I can make 10 to 15 plates full of nice raisins. 

The last time I made grapes I produced almost two kilos. The flavor of these raisins is really sweet and strong, and I eat them like candy. Of course, the seeds are still in them, so most people say “Uh, these are sort of crunchy.” But being the goat that I am, I think they’re just swell. I really like to put them in with my granola, and there, the crunch just adds to the mix.

Read more of Rick’s Favorite Crops »

Categories
Crops & Gardening Urban Farming

Container Garden Ideas

Umbrella Garden Container
Photo by Jessica Walliser
Umbrella garden container

I was lucky enough last weekend to spend a day at the Cleveland Botanical Garden with my mother and a group of gardening friends. I have never been there before but was completely impressed with the gardens, especially the Children’s Garden and the Herb Garden. They have 10 acres there and make good use of incorporating plenty of useful ideas for homeowners looking to jazz up their landscape in a practical and accessible way. 

Boot garden container
Photo by Jessica Walliser
Boot garden container

I was bummed, though, that there was no dedicated Vegetable Garden there.  I would think that with the rising popularity of veggie gardens, among young and old alike, that they would somehow figure out a way to incorporate one. Perhaps it’s in the future plans. Despite not being introduced to some new veggie growing techniques and varieties, I did greatly enjoy the rest of the space, including their huge conservatory. 

Boot garden container
Photo by Jessica Walliser
Toilet garden container

The container plantings were by far my favorite aspect of the garden. They were gaudy and bold when they needed to be and subtle and soft when they didn’t. I got a lot of great ideas for unusual container plantings and even for unusual containers.  The photos I’ve posted are of some of the funky containers they use in their Children’s Garden. The umbrella just made me laugh and I have seen the boot idea done before but not with a colorful rain boot. The toilet, though, was a bit over the top! I do have one friend that has a very whimsical garden and has wanted a potty planter for a few years now. I’ll have to show him the picture to see exactly how over-whimsical it can be.

I also found the woodland garden to be lovely and peaceful.  Not a lot of color in it this time of year, but the plant selection was quite nice and the paths were meandering in all the right ways. Their hosta collection is superb, and I saw several plants that were completely new to me—and that’s always a good thing.    

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Categories
Homesteading

Wild Country Discovery

Cherie Langlois trek
Courtesy Trish Kinkelaar
Brett and I got a rainy start to our ill-fated Wonderland hike.

I’m sorry to have been out of touch for so long, but several weeks ago my husband and I decided to unplug from our computers, TV and coffee-maker (oh, the agony) to embark on an off-farm backpacking adventure. Our plan was this: spend 12 days hiking the 90-mile Wonderland Trail encircling Mount Rainier, a once-in-a-lifetime experience that would include trekking through sun-kissed alpine meadows, too beautiful to believe; communing with marmots, pikas and maybe even mountain goats; and pausing for peaceful rests (and some trail mix) beside crystalline streams under moss-draped trees. At last, refreshed and renewed, we would arrive at our trail’s end in triumph—and in the best shape of our lives.

Cherie Langlois trek
Photo by Cherie Langlois
Brett and Pippin admiring the view along the Pacific Crest Trail.

Sadly, reality served us the following instead: a day-long, 10-mile slog through escalating downpour and deepening trail puddles that drenched us and most of our gear; wildlife sightings that consisted primarily of banana slugs (though we did see a pure white slug—cool!); and a damp, dark, chilly night spent next to a river that roared louder as the hours passed. The next day—another 10 miles, one scary river crossing and one slightly less scary landslide traverse later—we trudged into the nearest ranger station, tired and disappointed, but also happy to be alive. 

Waiting for our rescue ride, Brett and I mulled over what we’d done wrong (i.e. using overly heavy gear, which got much heavier as it became wetter) and what we’d done right (i.e. packed our sleeping bags and emergency clothing in dry bags), and came to the painful conclusion that neither we nor our gear were ready for a long “through hike” in cold, wet conditions. So home we went to dry off, sleep in a warm bed, and figure out what to do with the remainder of our vacation. Farm projects probably, starting with the little greenhouse project we’d been planning all summer.

Cherie Langlois trek
Courtesy Brett Langlois
Pippin, our Coonhound mix, and I enjoy a sunnier trip to Sheep Lake.

By day 3, however, the sun had returned and, despite sore muscles, so had our longing for adventure—even if it were just a little one. We repacked our packs and headed to the sunnier side of the mountain, to one of our favorite sites a mere 2 miles in from the trail head but with miles of mountain trail to explore beyond. And here’s what we found:

  1. Sun-kissed alpine meadows and peaks, too beautiful to believe. 
  2. Pikas, marmots and even mountain goats.
  3. A crystalline lake surrounded by fragrant firs.
  4. Paradise. 

We returned home refreshed and renewed … and ready to start on that greenhouse.

What have you been up to these past few weeks?

~ Cherie

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Categories
Urban Farming

A Fig Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Fig celebration organizers

Courtesy Reverend DeVanie Jackson

Chef Noah Sheetz with Reverends Robert and DeVanie Jackson organized the fig jam in Brooklyn.

A tree grows in Brooklyn — a fig tree, that is, and in Bedford Stuyvesant, no less. In 2004, when the Rev. Robert Jackson and the Rev. DeVanie Jackson had finally trudged through the red tape and organized to clear the debris and overgrowth from a neglected lot behind the Brooklyn Rescue Mission and an adjacent lot, Robert Jackson recognized something from his time spent on a farm as a child — a scrawny twig that looked like the beginnings of a fig tree. Now the 20-foot-high, healthy tree, which is protected from winter cold by the buildings on either side, is the center of a fig jam: the kind Noah Sheetz, executive chef at the New York Governor’s Mansion, glazes lamb chops with and a community celebration.

From the start, the Jacksons wanted to provide fresh, local produce for the Mission’s food pantry and put neighborhood kids to work on a project they could be proud of. Now, the Bed Stuy Farm grows 7,000 pounds of fresh produce a year that help feed 3,000 people a month. A community youth program tends the garden and runs the Malcolm X farmers’ market on Saturdays with the farm surplus. Senior CSA members in the neighborhood come to the garden to pick their own share of produce as well, bringing youth and age together.

Like the sheltering and thriving fig tree, the Bed Stuy Farm has grown to offer programs in nutrition and farming, and draws visiting schoolchildren, food activists and chefs. For the brunch, Chefs Sheetz, Tree Williams (a chef who has worked with the Jacksons on past events) and Nicci Cagan (co-founder of a youth and garden organization in Marbletown, N.Y., called “From the Ground Up”) prepared a fig feast, including not only the fig-glazed lamb chops, but also jerked local chicken with fig chutney, coconut crusted figs, arugula, local goat cheese and fig salad, local flounder with fig-infused balsamic vinegar and olive oil, and a fig mascarpone tart.

Other contributions were kale and collards from the three gardens at the Governor’s Mansion in Albany, potatoes from Chef Sheetz’s home garden, arugula from The Produce Project (Capital District Community Gardens in Albany) and wines from the Hudson Valley, which complemented the meal.

Because of land title issues, the farm has been threatened. Negotiations continue as the bountiful 2010 season moves into autumn. Let’s hope heartfelt, delicious efforts such as this can survive in unlikely circumstances, like the fig tree that supplied the figs for Chef Sheetz’s recipe below.

Coconut Crusted Figs

Ingredients

  • 8 figs, cut into 1/8-inche rounds
  • 1 cup flour
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 1 cup finely shredded, unsweetened coconut
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil

Preparation
Dip the fig slices into the flour and shake off the excess. Dip them into the eggs, and then the coconut. Heat the oil in a sauté pan. When the oil is hot, add the coated fig slices and sauté until golden, about one minute per side. Drain on paper towel.

Read more of The Hungry Locavore »

Categories
News

Peace Corps Recruits Small Farmers

African farmers and Peace Corps volunteer
Courtesy Peace Corps
A Peace Corps agriculture volunteer in Malawi, Africa, helps the local farmers build an irrigation system for their soy crops.

Grow a Better World
As farmers, you know you have a significant impact on your local environment and community. But did you know you can use your growing skills to help farmers in developing countries and make a real contribution to world peace? 

Peace Corps Mission
In 1960, Senator John F. Kennedy challenged students at the University of Michigan to serve and promote peace by working in developing countries. The seed was planted and later grew into the Peace Corps, an agency of the United States government focused on world peace and friendship. To date, the Peace Corps has sent nearly 200,000 volunteers to 139 host countries.

The Peace Corps’ mission has three simple goals:

  1. Help people of interested countries meet their need for trained men and women.
  2. Promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served.
  3. Promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.

Currently, the Peace Corps is growing rapidly with plans to increase the number of people in the field by 1,000 every year through 2012.

Why Farmers?
The world is experiencing a serious strain on the food supply:

  • Russia, the third-largest wheat supplier, has had 25 percent of its wheat crop destroyed by fire and drought this year, causing an embargo on exports.
  • Twenty percent of Pakistan’s cropland has been destroyed by floods.
  • The winter-grain sowing in the Ukraine, the world’s largest barley exporter, is threatened because of drought.

All of these things, combined with the subsequent increase in grain prices, make it hard for developing countries to feed their people. Frank Higdon, the agriculture and environment recruitment specialist for the Peace Corps, says that although the need for people with farming experience is increasing, the number of farmers is shrinking.

“U.S. industrial farming is not transferable to the developing world. There is a mismatch of skills. Urban and small farmers have those skills,” Higdon says.

Farming Skills to Share
Peace Corps volunteers serve for 27 months overseas and work closely with local farmers to accomplish projects across the entire spectrum of farming. Some of the projects may include:

  • Introducing effective cropping and soil-conservation techniques
  • Promoting agro-forestry techniques, such as integrating timber and fruit trees on the farm
  • Conducting field trials to increase crop production
  • Teaching intensive gardening techniques
  • Promoting small-animal husbandry
  • Developing small business projects to increase market opportunities

Farm Lessons Abroad
Maggie Donovan was a manager of a community-supported-agriculture operation in Mauritania, West Africa, from 2003 to 2005. She came back to her home in New Hampshire inspired to continue farming with an understanding of the struggles of farmers around the globe. 

“One of the most valuable lessons I brought home was a much deeper appreciation for the daily struggle of farmers in Africa,” she says. “I learned first-hand how interconnected the world is and how U.S. foreign policies and the Farm Bill really impact people at the village level in Africa. A lot needs to happen to make agriculture more sustainable both in Africa and in the U.S.”

Maggie is now the owner of her own CSA and thinks back to her experiences in Africa when things get tough on the farm.

“Despite the many challenges of making a living as a small farmer here, my challenges are insignificant compared to what Africans face.”

Joining the Peace Corps
Higdon stresses that there is no upper age limit to being involved in the Peace Corps. People with life and work experience—with or without a college education—are often the most successful. He cautions that the Peace Corps is not a “boutique-style” volunteer experience, so don’t expect to be able to select where you want to serve. But that’s just part of the intrigue: travelling to a place that you never thought of, or even knew existed, to make a lasting impact in the lives of other small-scale farmers.

To join the Peace Corps, you must be at least 18 years old and a U.S. citizen. Noncitizens who are seeking citizenship can apply, but they must be naturalized citizens to be nominated for the program. The application process requires six to nine months to obtain the necessary medical and security clearances.

For more information and to complete an application, visit the Peace Corps website.

 

Categories
Recipes

Scottish Shortbreads

Make your own Scottish Shortbreads with Hobby Farms

Ingredients

  • 2 cups flour
  • 1/4 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • 1 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Preparation
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, beat butter with electric mixer. Add sugar gradually, followed by flour, beating well after each addition. To use cookie cutters, roll out dough on lightly floured surface, to about 1/3-inch thick. Cut out and place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until lightly golden.

Makes about 24 rolled cookies.