Category Archives: recycling

Gardening And The Environment – If it saves energy it must be good.

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So Fall is falling, and much of your garden is either dead, bolted or in weeds. It is September and your thoughts turn to hunting or downhill skiing. If it is your first garden and you are tired, wash, sharpen and stow your tools. Store your seeds in a dark dry place and enjoy the fruits of your labor.

www.eugenehomeshow.com

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www.uwex.edu/…/hort/GardeningTidbits.html

Fall Checklist
 •Clean and lightly oil your shovels and spades to prevent rust.
•Sharpen your hoes, pruning equipment and saws.
•Drain your watering equipment.
•Clean and service your lawn mower and tiller.

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http://www.ehow.com/how_10814_clean-store-gardening.html&usg

How to Clean and

Store Gardening Tools for the Winter

By eHow Home & Garden Editor

Putting garden tools away properly for the winter can add years to the life of your equipment. Your tools will be protected from rust and wear, and better yet, they’ll be ready to go the moment spring fever hits on that first balmy day next year.

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But if you ARE a vegitarian:

http://bizarrocomic.blogspot.com/

OR you really got into the gardening experience:

http://www.rejoicerejoice.com

Then it is time for fall or late season Gardening. Almost everything that you planted in the Spring you can plant in the fall:

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/hil/hil-8001.html

Growing a Fall Vegetable GardenRevised 1/99 — Author Reviewed 2/99 HIL-8100
Erv Evans, Extension Horticultural Specialist
Department of Horticultural Science

Many vegetables are well adapted to planting in the summer for fall harvest. Planting a fall garden will extend the gardening season so you can continue to harvest fresh produce after earlier crops have finished. The fall harvest can be extended even further by providing protection from early frosts or by planting in cold frames or hotbeds.

Many cool-season vegetables, such as carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts, produce their best flavor and quality when they mature during cool weather. In North Carolina, the spring temperatures often heat up quickly. Vegetables, such as lettuce and spinach, tend to bolt or develop bitter flavor when they mature during hot summer weather.

Growing a productive fall vegetable garden requires thoughtful planning and good cultural practices. July and August are the main planting times for the fall garden. Table 1 provides recommended planting dates. Vegetables that have a 60 to 80 day maturity cycle should be planted around August 1 in the piedmont. Planting of quick maturing vegetables, such as turnips and leafy greens, can be delayed until September. Keep in mind that the planting dates can be as much as 7 to 10 days earlier in western North Carolina and 7 to 10 days later in the eastern North Carolina. Be sure to adjust the planting dates for your specific location. For a more accurate planting schedule, consult Figure 1 to determine the average date of the first killing frost in the fall. Count backwards from the frost date, using the number of days to maturity to determine the best time to plant in your area.

http://www.lowescreativeideas.com/idea-library/articles/Vegetable_Gardens_0908.aspx

Know Your Season

Vegetable plants can be classified as either cool- or warm-season crops, named for whether they prefer cool or warm weather. Examples of cool-season crops are lettuce, greens, peas, onions, broccoli, brussels sprouts, beets, carrots, and potatoes. Most cool-season vegetables can withstand a light frost, and some, such as collards and kale, can tolerate 20° Fahrenheit temperatures. Types of warm-season crops include beans, melons, peppers, tomatoes, okra, eggplants, squash, and corn. These are very sensitive to cold and must be planted in the spring after all danger of frost has passed. Their harvest will come to an end with the first frost of fall.
Depending on where you live and the length of your growing season, you will either have lots of warm-season vegetables or lots of cool-season vegetables, but either way, you’ll have lots of veggies. Your local Lowe’s Garden Center will sell plants at the appropriate planting time. Warm-season veggies are available in spring, cool-season veggies generally in early spring. In southernmost areas where winters are mild enough to allow a cool-season garden in the fall, cool-season veggies are available in late summer and fall.

Sketch a Plan

When designing your garden this fall, map out the location of cool-season crops first because you will be starting with these. Consider where your spring crops will grow as well. Place the tallest plants on the northern side of your vegetable garden so that they don’t shadow other plants. Practice succession planting: As a cool-season crop finishes, pull it, and plant a warm-season crop in its place. Or surround one crop with another that you’ll harvest first, as long as their growth habits don’t choke each other out. For example, plant bush beans in a 3-foot-diameter circle around tomato plants. You’ll harvest the beans as the taller tomato vines fill out. You also can practice succession planting with any crop that has a limited harvest season. For instance, plant bush beans, radishes, beets, corn, or carrots every two weeks during the appropriate growing season.

Consider Irrigation

Vegetables are about 90 percent water, so it’s vital to water crops. An overhead sprinkler does an effective job, as long as you water very early in the morning. This will allow leaves to dry early, in the same way that dew dries. Keeping leaves dry overnight will help prevent diseases.

Soaker hoses and drip irrigation efficiently deliver water directly to soil and plant roots. In municipalities with watering restrictions, opt for soaker hoses or drip-irrigation methods, which are regulated differently from overhead watering.

In very warm zones, such as Florida and California, irrigation is the secret to wonderful fall harvests. In all zones, mulch crops to conserve soil moisture. Use straw or pine straw, and it will add organic matter as it breaks down.

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Finally when it gets too cold, Dig up what you got and Bring it inside. I believe that tomatoes cooked in a big pot, and placed in a freezer will last all winter. I intend to find out later this year:

http://www.container-gardens.com/

Container Gardens as a place to Meditate

Benefits of Gardening in Containers: Do you live in an apartment complex where digging up a little sod is out of the question? Or, maybe you just don’t have the physical ability to tend a large garden, but still want the benefits and rewards of having one. like having a spiritual retreat for meditation? Techniques for meditating vary, but there is no better place to meditate than your own garden. Have you considered container gardening?

Container gardening is simply growing your garden in – you guessed it – containers! It was born of a strong desire, and in some cases a need, to produce herbs, vegetables, and flowers within a limited amount of space and/or poor soil conditions, all which can be controlled by gardening in containers.

Container gardening can be beneficial for many individuals and situations:

• The disabled and the elderly – container gardening offers easy access.
• Problem soil – containers allow you to control your own high-quality soil.
• Space – Container Gardens utilize minimal space.
• Apartments/Condos – addresses limited access to garden plots.
• Gourmet cooking – easily grow fresh herbs and vegetables for cooking.
• Plant enthusiasts – for those who just can’t get enough gardening!
• Mobility – container gardens are easy to move around as needed.
• Convenience. Keeps your flowers, vegetables, or herbs close at hand.

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Energy Efficient Gardening – To blanch or not to blanch that is the question

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I put everything I want to preserve in the freezer. Yes that is correct. I have two 5 gallon freezer bags full of tomatoes left in the freezer from last year. Many Earth minded friends are unsure how to take that. It is a small horizontal, maybe 3 x 3 x 2 ft. freezer in my basement. It uses energy, not a lot but more than it would take to dry them or maybe even can them. Though the jury is out on green beans, corn and other sweet starchy vegetables. You have to cook them a loooong time to get them to keep. Yes it is true that canned goods last a much longer time and can be much more easily transported. It is true that we even have a pressure canner that we use periodically, mostly for fruit and quick jams :} :} UMMMM good. Our winters are only 6 months long at the most. Global warming will make that even shorter so I am back out in the garden before we run out. Frankly there are enough squash to drowned in and yes I end up throwing some out. I am just not in survivalist mode right now. Freezing is easy. So to cook before or not? Everything should be thoroughly washed and dry as possible. Anthrax and botulism occur naturally and in most locals so this is really important.

But what happens next is well up to you. Thousands of people have their own opinions too. This lady is a cooker:

http://www.gardenguides.com/how-to/tipstechniques/vegetables/freezing.asp

Artichoke, Globe Remove outer leaves. Wash and trim stalks. Remove “chokes” and blanch, a few at a time, for 7 minutes. Cool in iced water for 7 minutes. Drain. Pack in freezer bags, seal and label. Keeps up to 6 months.
Artichoke, Jerusalem Peel and slice. Place in cold water with the juice of a lemon to prevent discoloration. Blanch for 2 minutes in boiling water. Cool in iced water for 2 minutes. Drain and place on tray in a single layer. Freeze for 30 minutes. Transfer to freezer bags, remove air, label and seal. Keeps for 6 months.
Asparagus Wash and remove woody portions and scales of spears. Cut into 6 inch lengths and blanch in boiling water for 3 minutes. Cool in iced water for 3 minutes. Drain. Place on trays in a single layer and freeze for 30 minutes. Pack into suitable containers, seal and label. Keeps up to 6 months.
Beans, Broad Shell and wash. Blanch in boiling water for 1½ minutes. Cool in iced water for 1-2 minutes. Place on tray in a single layer and freeze for 30 minutes. Pack into freezer bags, remove air, seal and label. Keeps up to 6 months.

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This site lists 46  different vegetables and some herbs. No green beans though. Much as everyone loves them. Preserving them is not for the faint of heart. For one thing they are going to be mushy. Cook them with green unions and bell peppers and then freeze them. They are going to be mushy. Tasty but mushy. Can them with small unions (and a big nonono a tiny little bit of bacon) mild banana peppers and delicate slices of pimento or tomato. They will be tasty. But they will be mushy. I just used about a quart of them in a green bean casserole and they were not bad. I personally think that finding green bean recipes that cook the heck out of them are best like for stews and hearty soups. This the only real solution cause the only way to have crisp sweet green beans, unfortunately, is to pick them and eat them. If you are in survival mode that ain’t even a question. This lady is a cooker too:

http://southernfood.about.com/od/freezingfood/a/aa082101.htm

Blanching and packing vegetables for the freezer

Preparation and Blanching Times for Specific Vegetables

If you’re lucky enough to have freezer space, most vegetables freeze quite well. Some vegetable varieties do freeze better than others, and it’s almost always best to use the youngest and most tender of your crop. Here are some basic instructions, along with preparation and freezing instructions for individual vegetables. Blanching
Blanching is an important step. The enzymes which cause vegetables to lose color and flavor will continue even after the vegetables are frozen. Blanching stops these enzymes. Most vegetables are blanched in boiling water, but steam works well with a few. There are exceptions; some vegetables must be fully cooked and a few can be frozen raw and unblanched.

Blanching in Boiling Water

Fill a large kettle with 1 gallon of water or more; bring water to a brisk boil. Blanch no more than 1 pound of vegetables per 1 gallon of water at a time. Use a basket, strainer or cheesecloth (bundle a pound or less of vegetables in the cheesecloth) to submerge vegetables in the boiling water. If the water doesn’t return to a boil in about 1 minute, use a smaller amount the next batch. Cover the pot and boil for the specified time (see individual vegetables, below) then remove quickly and submerge a large bowl or deep pot of water and ice to cool quickly and stop the cooking. When vegetables are thoroughly chilled, remove, drain and pat dry. Keep chilled in the refrigerator if they will not be packed immediately.

Blanching in Steam

Use a large kettle with a rack. It should hold the vegetables over about 1 1/2 to 2 inches of water. Bring the water to a boil, put vegetables in the basket in a single layer. Cover the kettle and keep the heat high for the specified amount of time. Remove to ice water immediately; chill thoroughly, drain and pat dry. Keep chilled in the refrigerator if they will not be packed immediately.

Packing

You can pack the chilled vegetables right in the containers, but dry packing will help to prevent clumping and make it easier to use small amounts from containers. Arrange blanched, chilled vegetables on a baking sheet or tray in a single layer. Freeze at -20° F., or as quickly as your freezer will allow. Once frozen, pack in freezer containers or bags.

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Finally this lady is pretty complete too:

http://www.helpwithcooking.com/food-storage/freezing-vegetables.html

But you know me. I love the equipment. So what does a really efficient horizontal stand alone freezer look like?
http://www.buildinggreen.com/auth/productsByCsiSection.cfm?SubBuilderCategoryID=6919

Green Product Sub-category:

Residential Refrigerators and Freezers

The energy efficiency of refrigerators has improved dramatically in the last several decades. National standards have helped reduce the energy use of refrigerators to less than one-third that of pre-1973 models; and since 2001, the energy use of conventional refrigerators has dropped by 40%. Developments in refrigerator design, including increased insulation, tighter door seals, and more efficient compressors, are continuing that trend. Different options and freezer compartment configurations affect energy use. A side-by-side refrigerator-freezer with such amenities as through-the-door ice service and automatic defrost may use nearly 40% more energy than a top-freezer, manual-defrost, basic model. On a per-volume basis (cubic feet of interior space), compact refrigerators typically use significantly more energy than their larger counterparts. Energy Star qualified refrigerators and freezers exceed the current federal minimum standard by at least 20% and 10%, respectively, but the minimum standard varies by size and feature, so two Energy Star-qualified refrigerators can have dramatically different energy consumption and per-volume efficiency. Because models change rapidly, the best way to find a top-efficiency product is to (1) figure out how large a model and which features are really needed, (2) look for the Energy Star logo on models that satisfy user needs, and (3) use the yellow EnergyGuide label to compare the kWh per year consumption of models meeting user needs and choose the model with the lowest energy use. One large appliance is almost always more efficient than two smaller ones, and if getting a new larger refrigerator leads to unplugging a partly full old refrigerator or freezer, the benefit is even greater.

Product lines listed here are from companies with numerous models that exceed Energy Star requirements by at least a few percentage points; these brands are a good place to start when seeking out efficient products from retail outlets. Also included are super-efficient refrigerators that are usually sold for use in off-grid houses; these generally haven’t qualified for Energy Star because the companies are too small or their markets too small to justify their submitting products for testing.

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It may not be the Sears Tower anymore but they still make great stuff:

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/c_10153_12605_Appliances_Freezers+%26+Ice+Makers?psid=21769120&sid=ISx20070515x00001a

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Kenmore 5.0 cu. ft. Manual Defrost Chest…

Reg Price: $209.99

Savings: $31.50

You Pay: $178.49

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Energy Saving Gardening – What a lot of work

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Here is where we separate the real gardeners from those with a passing interest. This one word scares the bejesus out of most people who are unfamiliar with the process. CANNING. But modern appliances and some shortcuts have made it a lot easier to do.

http://www.homecanning.com/

www.pickyourown.org/allaboutcanning.htm

foodsafety.psu.edu/canningguide.html

http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/general.html

There are BOATLOADS of places that push canning and other cooking methods of food prep for long term storage. This takes energy, and your bills will reflect it. But when you add up those bills and compare them to what you save on your food bills, you will save a ton of money. Plus you are not drinking oil. IT’s healthy. But it is hot and it is a lot of work.

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General Canning Information

How Canning Preserves Foods

The high percentage of water in most fresh foods makes them very perishable. They spoil or lose their quality for several reasons:

  • growth of undesirable microorganisms-bacteria, molds, and yeasts,
  • activity of food enzymes,
  • reactions with oxygen,
  • moisture loss.

Microorganisms live and multiply quickly on the surfaces of fresh food and on the inside of bruised, insect-damaged, and diseased food. Oxygen and enzymes are present throughout fresh food tissues.

Proper canning practices include:

  • carefully selecting and washing fresh food,
  • peeling some fresh foods,
  • hot packing many foods,
  • adding acids (lemon juice or vinegar) to some foods,
  • using acceptable jars and self-sealing lids,
  • processing jars in a boiling-water or pressure canner for the correct period of time.

Collectively, these practices remove oxygen; destroy enzymes; prevent the growth of undesirable bacteria, yeasts, and molds; and help form a high vacuum in jars. Good vacuums form tight seals which keep liquid in and air and microorganisms out.

OK, I need a canner?  Why types are there?

Equipment for heat-processing home-canned food is of two main types–boiling-water canners and pressure canners. There are many other types which are NOT recommended by the authorities (see this page for more about obsolete and unsafe canning methods)

Most are designed to hold seven quart jars or eight to nine pints. Small pressure canners hold four quart jars; some large pressure canners hold 18 pint jars in two layers, but hold only seven quart jars. Pressure saucepans with smaller volume capacities are not recommended for use in canning. Small capacity pressure canners are treated in a similar manner as standard larger canners, and should be vented using the typical venting procedures.

Low-acid foods must be processed in a pressure canner to be free of botulism risks.  This is because botulism-producing bacteria produce spores that can survive boiling water temperatures, but are destroyed using a pressure canner with the appropriate time and pressure, which reaches temperatures between 240 and 250 degrees F.  Low-acid foods include meats, dairy, sea food, poultry, all vegetables (except tomatoes) and many fruits (notably figs).  Be sure to see this page for a detailed list of the  Acid content of common fruits and vegetables.

 Higher acid foods (and those which have been acidified and tested) that may be safely canned in a boiling water bath canner include jams, jellies, pickles, applesauce, apple butter, peaches, peach butter, pears, pear butter, spaghetti sauce without meat, tomatoes, ketchup and tomatoes.

Which Type of Canner Should I Get

There are advantages and disadvantages of Pressure and Boiling Water Bath Canners.  Which is best for you depends upon what you want to can and your budget.

Water bath canners are faster for higher acid foods

Although pressure canners may also be used for processing higher acid foods, boiling-water canners are recommended for this purpose because they are faster. A pressure canner would require from 55 to 100 minutes to process a load of jars; while the total time for processing most acid foods in boiling water varies from 25 to 60 minutes. A boiling-water canner loaded with filled jars requires about 20 to 30 minutes of heating before its water begins to boil.

A loaded pressure canner requires about

  • 12 to 15 minutes of heating before it begins to vent;
  • another 10 minutes to vent the canner;
  • another 5 minutes to pressurize the canner;
  • another 8 to 10 minutes to process the acid food; and, finally,
  • another 20 to 60 minutes to cool the canner before removing jars.

But Water Bath Canners cannot be used for meats, dairy, sea food, poultry, vegetables and many fruits.

And the food quality and storage time is better with a pressure canner.  Because they get hotter (240F vs 180F-212F) pressure canners result in a better flavor and the ability for to store for a longer time.

A pressure canner can be used as a boiling water bath canner, just remove the gauge and weight.  That way you have 2 canners in one!

Conclusion: Pressure canners cost more to buy, but ultimately, you can “can” more foods in them, store the foods longer, and use the same canner as a pressure canner or without sealing the lid, as a boiling water bath canner.

See this page for a selection of pressure canners at excellent prices, and this link for boiling water bath canners

You can also find free information about canners from the USDA in this PDF file (it will take a while to load!) about selecting and using canners here!

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One of the few get to it guides:

http://www-podunk.com/home-canning-guide.html

Sugar and Salt

Sugar helps retain the color, shape and texture of canned fruits. Sugar is usually added as a syrup. To make syrup, pour 4 cups of water into a saucepan and add:

  • 2 cups of sugar to make 5 cups of thin syrup or
  • 3 cups of sugar to make 5 ý cups of medium syrup or
  • 4 1/4 cups of sugar to make 6 ý cups of heavy syrup.

    •

Heat until the sugar dissolves. Make 1 to 1 ý cups of syrup for each quart of fruit. Up to half the sugar used in making syrup can be replaced with light corn syrup or mild-flavored honey. Fruits also can be safely canned without sugar. Pack the fruit in extracted juice, in juice from another fruit (such as bottled apple juice, pineapple juice, or white grape juice) or in water.Salt may be added to vegetables and tomatoes before canning. Since its only function is flavor, it can safely be omitted. Canning fruits and vegetables without adding sugar or salt does not affect processing times or microbiological safety.

Packing Instructions

The two methods of packing, food into canning jars are raw pack and hot pack. Raw pack is packing raw, prepared food into clean, hot jars and then adding hot liquid. Fruits and most vegetables need to be packed tightly because they will shrink during processing. However, raw corn, lima beans, and peas should be packed loosely, as they will expand. For hot pack, heat prepared food to boiling, or partially cook it. It should be packed loosely boiling, hot into clean, hot jars. Hot pack takes more time but has been found to result in higher quality canned foods. For either packing, method, pack acid foods including tomatoes and acidified figs to within ý-inch of the top of the jar. Low acid foods to within 1 inch of the top of the jar. After food is packed into jars, wipe the jar rims clean. Put on the lid with the sealing compound next to the jar rim. Screw the band down firmly so that it is hand-tight. Do not use a far wrench to tighten screw bands. There must be enough “give” for air to escape from the jars during, processing. Process food promptly after packing it into jars and adjusting lids. Processing times are given for pints and quarts. If you are using half pint jars, use processing times for pints. For one-and-one-half pint jars, use processing times for quarts. Fruit juices are the only product that may be canned in half gallon jars.

Processing in a Water-Bath Canner

Use a water bath canner to process acidified tomatoes, acidified figs and all other fruits. A pressure canner can be used to process acid foods but the quality will not be as good.

  1. Fill the canner half full with water; then cover and heat. For raw-packed food, have the water hot but not boiling. For hot-packed food, have the water boiling
  2. Using a far lifter, place jars filled with food on the rack in the canner. If necessary, add boiling water to brine, water 1 to 2 inches over the tops of the jars. Do not pour boiling, water directly on jars. Cover.
  3. When water comes to a rolling boil, start counting the processing time. Keep water at a boil for the entire processing time. Add more boiling water to keep water I to 2 inches above jars.
  4. As soon as the processing time is up, use a jar lifter to remove jars from canner. If liquid boiled out of the jars during processing, do not open them to add more. Do not retighten screw bands, even if they are noticeably loose.

    5.

Processing in a Pressure Canner

If you live at an altitude of 0-1000 feet you can process foods in a weighted gauge pressure canner at 10 pounds pressure. If you are using, a dial gauge pressure canner, use 11 pounds pressure. If you live at an altitude more than 2,000 feet you need to increase the pounds pressure at which you process foods. These increases are not given in this bulletin. Contact your county extension center to get this information. If tomato products are acidified, they can be safely processed in a water bath canner. If not, they must be processed in a pressure canner.

Here are some pointers for using a pressure canner:

  1. Pour 2 or 3 inches of water in the bottom of the canner and heat to boiling.
  2. Set jars on the rack in the canner. If you have two layers of jars in the canner, use a rack between them and stagger the second layer.
  3. Fasten the canner cover securely so steam cannot escape except through the vent.
  4. Once steam pours steadily from vent, let it escape for 10 minutes to drive all air from the canner. During, processing, the canner must be filled with steam, not air, since it is steam that reaches the desired temperature of 240’F.
  5. If the canner has a weighted gauge, start counting the processing time when it jiggles or rocks. The target pressure for this type of canner is 10 pounds pressure. Adjust heat so that gauge jiggles 2 or 3 times a minute or maintains a slow, steady , rocking motion.
  6. If the canner has a dial gauge, bring pressure up quickly to 8 pounds, then adjust the heat to maintain 11 pounds pressure. Start counting the processing times when the gauge registers 11 pounds pressure.
  7. When the processing time is up, turn off the burner. (If you are using, a coal or wood stove, remove canner from heat.) Let the pressure in the canner drop to zero by itself. This may take 45 minutes in a 16-quart canner filled with jars and almost an hour in a 22-quart canner. If the vent is opened before the pressure drops to zero or if the cooling is rushed by running, cold water over the canner, liquid will be lost from the jars.
  8. When the pressure has dropped to zero, open the vent or remove the weighted gauge. (With a weighted gauge canner, pressure is completely reduced if no steam escapes when the gauge is nudged or tilted. If steam spurts out, pressure is not yet down.)
  9. Remove canner cover carefully, tilting it away from your face so that the rising steam cannot burn your face or hands.
  10. Remove jars from canner. If liquid boiled out of jars during processing, do not open jars to add more liquid. Do not retighten screw bands, even if they are noticeably loose.
  11. Place hot jars upright to cool on a towel or rack. Leave space between them so air can circulate. Keep jars our of drafts.

Check Seals

Vacuum seals form as the jars cool. When jars are cool (12 to 24 hours after processing), check the seals. If the lid is depressed or concave and will not move when pressed, it is sealed. If sealed, carefully remove screw bands. If a band sticks, loosen it by covering, it for a moment with a hot, damp cloth. Bands left on jars during storage may rust, making later removal difficult. If you find an unsealed jar, do one of the following:

  • Refrigerate the food and use it within 2 to 3 days.
  • Freeze the food. (Drain vegetables before freezing.)
  • Reprocess the food. Remove lids, empty the contents in to a pan, heat to boiling, pack into clean, hot jars, and put on new lids. Process again for the full time. The eating quality of twice-processed food may be poor. If more than 24 hours have gone by since processing, throw out the food. It might be unsafe to eat.

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I live in growing zone 5 which will not mean much to nongardeners. Draw a line from New Jersey to Central California. Draw another line from Georgia to Somewhere in mid Salinas Valley California and you just about have it. I bring this up because corporate foodies will say that when the garden harvest comes in, it comes in at the same time. So you will have thousands of canners firing up at the same time. This is a waste and they can do it “au masse” cheaper, faster and more efficiently. Of course then they have to transport it….AHHH they don’t really have an answer for that because shipping is not their cost. It is an externallity. Which is why corporate america should be kept away from our food supply. Very Far From Our Food Supply.

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Gardening To Save The Planet – It’s not just what you grow, it is what you do with it

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Every gardener gets to the point where the produce is overwhelming. I am not even talking about having more garden than you need. I mean I DO have more garden than I need BUT even one zucchini plant can fill a bushel basket towards the end of the season. Even a few tomato plants can leave you with a pile every week. It is the damnedest thing too, you can’t give them away because everyone else has the same problem…well you caaaan give them away but more about that later because it is kinda beside the point.

We are planting this garden to save energy. That is because corporate america has forced a food system down our throats that literally has us drinking oil (processing and transportation) for inferior food products. The additives alone consume enough energy to power America for years. What does that have to do with my produce? Fall will fall and winter will set in and then where are you going to get your produce from? That’s right the freedom from the corporate foodchain evaporates as you trudge back to the store dreaming of those green beans you gave to your mom. Who love’s yah now baby?  So we need a way to store this produce until we need it. Basically we have to combat rot:

rot.jpg rot1.jpgrot2.jpg

www.hubcap.clemson.edu

www.ipm.iastate.edu

 www.caf.wvu.edu

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Yes that is right just like poop, rot is stinky stuff that is hard work. But rot is our friend when it comes to poop on the garden and our compost pile. Rot here is bad though. There are many ways to combat food rot, that is to preserve the food until you need it later. You can dry, cook, or chill your food and that will slow down the mold and bacterial processes that degrade your food. Basically what we are talking about is securing the nutrients.

The Oldest method of preserving food is to dry it. This was brought home to me when my wife went mushroom hunting last spring. She took one of my string bags with her. Months later I used the bag for something else and this cute little morel fell out and hit the floor. It was perfectly preserved and hard as a rock. I guarantee that if I put it in water it would reconstitute a mushroom fit for cooking. The fancy  pants phrase for taking the water out is dehydrating and the 37$ phrase for putting the water back is reconstituting or re-hydrating even worse. I prefer solar drying. The ingenuity of this is it is solar inputs (growing the food) and solar outputs (preserving the food). Not a drop of oil is spilled.There is a loss of nutritional value and taste/palatability in this or any preservation process, though there are some herbs that are actually better dried.

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http://www.budget101.com/dehydrated_foods.htm

Drying is the oldest method of preserving food. The early American settlers dried foods such as corn, apple slices, currants, grapes, and meat. Compared with other methods, drying is quite simple. In fact, you may already have most of the equipment on hand. Dried foods keep well because the moisture content is so low that spoilage organisms cannot grow.

Drying will never replace canning and freezing because these methods do a better job of retaining the taste, appearance, and nutritive value of fresh food. But drying is an excellent way to preserve foods that can add variety to meals and provide delicious, nutritious snacks. One of the biggest advantages of dried foods is that they take much less storage space than canned or frozen foods.

Recommended methods for canning and freezing have been determined by research and widespread experience. Home drying, however, does not have firmly established procedures. Food can be dried several ways, for example, by the sun if the air is hot and dry enough, or in an oven or dryer if the climate is humid.

With the renewed interest in gardening and natural foods and because of the high cost of commercially dried products, drying foods at home is becoming popular again. Drying is not difficult, but it does take time and a lot of attention. Although there are different drying methods, the guidelines remain the same.

Although solar drying is a popular and very inexpensive method, Illinois does not have a suitable climate for it. Dependable solar dehydration of foods requires 3 to 5 consecutive days when the temperature is 95 degrees F. and the humidity is very low. The average relative humidity in central Illinois on days with 95 degrees F. temperatures is usually 86 percent. Solar drying is thus not feasible.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/2003-06-01/Choosing-a-Food-Dehydrator.aspx

DAVID CAVAGNARO

Home-food dehydrators fall into two categories: those with stackable trays, and those constructed of a rigid box with removable shelves. Size is a factor; most fit on a countertop, but larger models are free-standing and require more space. Some models have base-mounted fans that move hot air vertically; one has a rear-mounted fan for moving air horizontally; yet another uses convection drying, with no fan at all.

I put these four different models through their paces during the peak of the humid harvest season here in Iowa. Each dehydrator dried lots of herbs and vegetables with comparable ease, but the fleshy crops, like tomatoes and peaches, put the dehydrators to the ultimate test, determining their maximum capacity, efficiency and overall effectiveness.

(dotdotdot)

All of the dehydrators I tested have their appropriate applications, and all performed well under most conditions. Determine your needs, space limitations and budget before you buy. When it comes down to preserving food flavors and quickly drying fruits, vegetables and meats, especially when fully loaded and under humid conditions, the Excalibur Large Garden model won my highest praise. Its rear-mounted fan, in my experience, simply did the best job.

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There are some special concerns with fruit:

Food Drying Principles

Dehydrating your own produce does require time and some knowledge of food drying principles.

Preparation

  1. Select the best fruit and vegetables! As with canning and freezing, dehydrated foods are only as good as the fresh fruit or vegetables. When selecting fruits and vegetables for dehydration, choose ones that are ripe, unbruised and at peak-eating quality.
  2. Prepare foods to be dehydrated as you want them to be served. Apples, for example, may be sliced, cut into rings, or pureed for fruit leather.
  3. Keep pieces uniform in size and thickness for even drying . Slices cut 1/8 to 1/4-inch in thickness will dry more quickly than thicker pieces.
  4. Some foods should be washed before drying. Foods such as herbs, berries and seedless grapes need only be washed before dehydrating.

After Drying (for fruit only)

  1. Allow dried FRUIT (not vegetables) time to “condition”: When dry, allow fruit to “condition” for four to 10 days before packaging for storage. The moisture content of home dried fruit should be about 20 percent. When the fruit is taken from the dehydrator, the remaining moisture may not be distributed equally among the pieces because of their size or their location in the dehydrator. Conditioning is the process used to equalize the moisture. It reduces the risk of mold growth.
  2. To condition the fruit, take the dried fruit that has cooled and pack it loosely in plastic or glass jars.
  3. Seal the containers and let them stand for 7 to 10 days. The excess moisture in some pieces will be absorbed by the drier pieces.
  4. Shake the jars daily to separate the pieces and check the moisture condensation. If condensation develops in the jar, return the fruit to the dehydrator for more drying.
  5. After conditioning, package and store the fruit as described below.

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Now you know why they call it dry wine….

Energy Efficient Gardening – What about your soil

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So you have your soil test back. Hopefully you have planted several plantings of your favorite stuff to eat so that they will continue to produce for as long as the weather will allow. In a totally fluke year I had some spinach that lasted for a year and well into the next spring.

It is time to start both improving your soil and planting your “main” crops. The soil test says that you “need something”. Now I am not going to cover all of the soil additives but usually there will be somekind of chemical deficiency. Here you run smack dab into your modern industrial farming dilemma. Don’t worry, this will only last for a year. At the end of World War II the world had a total surplus of explosives and poison gas. What to do? Well they converted the explosives to nitrogen fertilizer and they turned the poison gas into herbicides and pesticides. Farmers fell in love with them and well here we are no longer loving our food. NO2 (commonly called Nox) is a much more potent greenhouse gas than CO2 It is estimated that when farmers fertilize there fields they castoff more greenhouses gases than the entire world’s transportation fleet:

http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/5/16/124957/304

Nitrogen bomb

‘Science’: nitrogen as important as carbon in climate change

Posted by Tom Philpott at 5:05 PM on 16 May 2008

Speaking of the troubles associated with industrial agriculture and its fertilizer regime, check this out:

“The public does not yet know much about nitrogen, but in many ways it is as big an issue as carbon, and due to the interactions of nitrogen and carbon, makes the challenge of providing food and energy to the world’s peoples without harming the global environment a tremendous challenge.”

The speaker is University of Virginia environmental sciences professor James Galloway (quoted in an AP piece), talking about his paper published (abstract here) in the latest Science.

According to Galloway, “We are accumulating reactive nitrogen in the environment at alarming rates, and this may prove to be as serious as putting carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.”

Nothing new here that I can tell at first glance. (I’d love to read the paper, but it’s password-protected.) I agree, though, that nitrogen’s role in climate change is way under-discussed.

The same issue of Science also contains an article about how synthesized nitrogen affects the oceans — specifically their role as greenhouse-gas sinks.

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So what to do about nutrients? Well it all comes down to crap. That’s right manure, excrement or poo. Not your’s. Though there is a case to be made for that, the small scale gardener is hard pressed to deal with human crap. In fact there are better fertilizers around. But lets take a step backwards, in the “old days” of sustainable farming the farmers had all kinds of animals, goats, cows, horses, mules, and chickens to name a few. They would collect this shit and straw from their animal’s housing and their yards and toss it in a pile. At the end of the growing season they would take all this manure and spread it on their field. Over winter it would break down. Then in the spring when they plowed they would turn it into the soil and “there you have it” fertile soil.

http://www.aces.edu/department/crd/publications/ANR-723.html

ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION SERIES
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Agriculture & Natural Resources

EXTENSION ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION, AUBURN UNIVERSITY, AL 36849-5647

Using Livestock Manure As Fertilizer

ANR-723, 1992. By Charles Mitchell, Extension Agronomist, Agronomy, Auburn University

Livestock manure is an excellent fertilizer for the soil, providing such nutrients as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Manure application can also benefit the soil’s water holding capacity and tilth. When using livestock manure, however, one should follow good management practices in order to avoid hazards to the crop and the environment. Sources Of Livestock ManurePoultry waste, cattle manure, and swine manure are all used as organic fertilizers in Alabama. They are all excellent sources for nutrients; however, nutrient compositions will vary among operations and over time. Users of manures from broiler houses, lagoons, or feedlots should have an idea of the total and available nutrient content before they are applied to land.Possible ProblemsBecause nitrate-nitrogen can leach into groundwater and both nitrogen and phosphorus can erode or runoff into streams, manure applications should be based strictly on the nutrient requirement of the crop. Therefore, the soil should be tested to determine nutrient needs for the crop to be grown.Good Management PracticesThe following precautions should be taken in order to prevent nutrient losses through leaching, erosion, and runoff:

  1. Eliminate excessive applications.
  2. Time applications appropriately, rotate crops,
  3. and use winter cover crops. Apply manure when it will be utilized by the crop.
  4. Incorporate or inject the applications into the
  5. soil. Do not leave the manure on the soil surface.
  6. Do not apply manure to steep slopes or during
  7. periods prone to erosion and runoff.
  8. Document the amounts and contents of material applied.
  9. Protect soil from erosion.
  10. Use filter strips or buffer zones between fields
  11. and nearby streams

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So when I end my growing season, I take a couple of big tubs to a local animal farm and I get free poo and straw from the farmer. Take it to my garden and toss it on. Big draw backs? It’s hard work and it stinks. But so what? Why did I say that this will be a problem for you only a year? Well because you have started a compost pile (hint hint) and you have located a farmer (hint hint). What to do now for you though. Well, you can go get fertilizer for one year and tell yourself everyone has to start somewhere. Or you can buy composted manure. Here again you have be to careful. Transportation and its oil use is the real issue so read the labels. Buy the composted manured produced the closest to you. If you are lucky you can find some poo from your own state. Now, if you have started your seeds inside and it’s time to plant YOUR plants. Or if you depend on a garden center it’s time to plant THEIR plants. Try to stagger them just like you did for your early crops so that they will produce for the entire growing season.

Oh, and for awhile you maybe a standard “row” gardener but there are more efficient ways to use your land:

http://www.squarefootgardening.com/

The Official Site of Square Foot Gardening and Mel Bartholomew, Originator and Author

Welcome  To  My  Garden

No Work, Organic Gardening the Square Foot Way

 

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or french intensive gardening

 

http://www.learn2grow.com/gardeningguides/edibles/planting/FrenchLesson.aspx

A French Lesson in Intensive Planting
Linnea Thornton

Juvenile Garden
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Barbara Wilde, L’Atelier Vert,Everything French Gardening, frenchgardening.com
This juvenile bed in a French garden shows how closely young plants are crowded together in intensive planting.

Crowding a bunch of plants in a narrow plot might not seem like a good idea at first. After all, it runs counter to everything you’ve learned about gardening. But this specialized method of planting – called French intensive gardening – is actually a tried-and-true technique to maximize your harvest in a small space. Even if you’ve only got a tiny plot, you can get amazing results if you develop it properly.
As you might’ve guessed by its name, French intensive gardening evolved in Europe. Its purpose is to make the most of limited growing space. Known as “square-foot gardening” in the US, it’s also the preferred method of many growers who want extra produce for themselves or to share with friends and neighbors.

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Garden To Save Energy – How to rev up the veggies

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OK so you have picked the site for your garden. You have picked the size of your garden. You have turned the soil for your garden. You have sent your soil off to be tested by the Ag extension office (if you are in the USA). There are a couple of things that you can plant now that are soil indifferent while you are waiting for the test results. The list includes most roots, like carrots, potatoes, turnips, radishes, and parsnips to name a few. All the roots care about is that the soil is well worked – no stones, no clumps and broken up deep. The onion family will grow almost anywhere any time. This is also true of the leafy vegetables. From lettuce to kale to spinach they all can be planted early and often. Sandy soil is the one thing that negates all that I have said so far. Because it drains fast and has few nutrients. But you  can see whether your soil is too sandy just by looking at it.

sand.jpg

Today I want to discuss 2 factors to keep in mind at this stage of your gardening, besides saying that you will make mistakes and nature will deal you a bad hand at times. It happens to all of us. 1. Assess your tastes. Tastes change over time and if you have never had the plant that you are growing FRESH, get fresh and try it. In my case, I had never had fresh spinach. I had grown to quickly hate the canned spinach dished out by mom and the school cafeteria, thus I thought all spinach tasted like that. Boy was I wrong! Fresh spinach rocks. I have gotten to the point where I cook with it alot too but it takes practice.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/06/04/earlyshow/living/recipes/main2883739.shtml

(CBS)  When the editors of Taste of Home magazine asked their readers for submissions for their Garden Bounty recipe contest, they were inundated with all manner of delicious dishes, from appetizers to salads to vegetarian entrees to fruit-laden desserts.

After reviewing all the recipes, they found their winner: Kathryn Pehl, the third 2007 Taste of Home contest winners to appear on The Early Show. Katie hails from Prescott, Ariz., and the judges could not resist her Spaghetti Squash with Red Sauce, especially her flavorful tomato sauce, which is served over spaghetti squash instead of the usual pasta.

If you’re interested in participating in a Taste of Home recipe competition, the next contest is “Corn is King.” You can also still submit a recipe for Slow Cookers. To get more information, click here.

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2. Every “GOOD” gardener will tell you to buy plants at a greenhouse or a garden center for great production. But think about it. The main reason this Site is discussing gardening is to SAVE energy. If the greenhouse grew their plants from seed, fine. But a lot of places truck their plants in…and that is kinda missing the point. I urge people to start there plants from seed where and whenever they can:

http://www.yougrowgirl.com/grow/seeds_veg.php

A Beginners Guide to Vegetable Seed StartingA Beginners Guide to Vegetable Seed Starting

by miss gard(e)ner Inhabit Hardiness Zones 5 through 8?
Ready to start your growing season?
The much anticipated moment has arrived.

Planning

Keep the following in mind when planning your garden:

    Climate: What grows well in your region?
    Space limitations: How extensive will your garden be?
    Domestic habits: What would you like to eat from your garden?
    Production levels: How many tomatoes do you really need?
    Aesthetic desires: How would you like the space to look?
    Make a list of your top ten most desired veggies. Start with them.

Seed Sowing Schedule

This seed starting chart will help you figure out exactly when to plant different seeds.
First, determine your region’s frost-free date. Ask your local plant nursery or gardener neighbor. Alternatively, check out–www.almanac.com. The reality of weather makes an `exact’ date rarely exact. Keep in mind the forecasts for your region. A colder, longer winter? Push the date forward a few weeks. As they say, better safe then sorry.

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Or the millions of other sites set up for this:

http://ezinearticles.com/?Starting-Vegetables-Indoors-from-Seed&id=479111

http://www.vegetablegardeningguru.com/seed-starting.html

http://www.ehow.com/how_12174_start-vegetable-seeds.html

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This early in the game you can do other things to save energy, like starting a compost pile:

http://www.hribar.com/how-to-save-energy.htm

www.backyardgardener.com/compost/index.html

Compost heaps

There are several ways in which compost heaps can be made and various theories exist as to the way in which they should be treated. There are two important points which are essential for successful compost making and these are adequate drainage and aeration and sufficient moisture.

A compost heap is a necessary feature in the average garden. It provides a means of collecting the surprising amount of waste material which is gathered together during regular garden maintenance and it supplies the garden, or rather, the soil, with valuable organic matter. This organic matter fulfils several vital functions. It helps to improve the structure of the soil, especially the heavy clay types and the light sandy kinds. It encourages a vigorous root system and also acts as a sponge to retain moisture. Light, sandy soils tend to dry out rather badly and a high humus content is necessary to overcome this problem. Well-rotted composted vegetable waste can be used as a mulch around plants and between rows of vegetables where it will smother small annual weeds and prevent the surface soil from drying out badly.

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Save water by using a soaker hose and:

http://www.uk-energy-saving.com/saving_water.html

Tips on Saving Water in the Garden

  • Collect rainwater and use a watering can instead of a hose. If you prefer to use a hosepipe, fit a trigger nozzle to control the flow. Water Butts for your garden can be purchased at Greenfingers Trading Ltd
  • Water your garden in the cool of the early morning or evening. This will reduce the amount of water lost to evaporation.
  • If you water plants and shrubs too often their roots will remain shallow, weakening the plant. Leave them alone until they show signs of wilting.
  • Regularly weed and hoe your garden, to ensure that watering helps plants and not weeds.
  • Plant flowers and shrubs that thrive in hot and dry conditions such as thyme, evening primrose, rock rose, Californian poppy, pinks, lavender, buddleia and hebes.
  • Mulches such as wood chips, bark and gravel help to prevent water evaporation and also suppress weed growth, saving you both water and time spent weeding.
  • Lawns can survive long periods of dry weather if the grass is not cut too short. Even if the grass turns brown, it will quickly recover after a few days of rain.
  • Garden sprinklers can use as much water in an hour as a family of four uses in a day. If you use a sprinkler, many water companies require you to have a water meter fitted.

    •

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This can become a lifestyle if you let it and I do.

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What Is The Most Environmental Thing You Can Do Right Now – It saves energy as well

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Plant a garden. You think I am kidding right. BUT if everyone on the planet who does not have a vegetable garden planted one, the world would change. Most products that you buy in the grocery store in America travel 1,500 miles…That’s a lot of gasoline products. All the produce, herbs and flowers you grow soak up carbon dioxide, especially sweet corn. Plus if you compost your garden waste you put that carbon directly into the soil where it will not be released. Plant a tree while you are at it. If all 7 billion people in the world planted a tree our problems would temporarily be over. Young trees soak up an incredible amount of carbon as they grow. Not to mention the health and well being benefits from working out doors and being away from modern stress inducers. Or the health benefits of eating good nutritious food. If you have kids teach them how to do it (it is no longer innate) and you will have passed along a valuable skill. Invest in an efficient refrigerator and a small efficient freezer to store your valuable products. This saves bunches too. If you are really adventurous invest in a dehydrator and a solar cooker or make your own. You save even more. By the time you are done heck you wlll amaze yourself at how much you have done. Seem impossible? NOPE, it starts with the first seed you plant. So lets get agrowing.

Getting Started:

Some of you are lucky to have year round growing conditions. As the world warms more of you will enjoy that perk. But where I live in Illinois it’s pretty much a 3 season affair. Today is March 6th and I plan on planting a row of peas and some lettuce and spinach. That will be dicey though and if we have an ice storm in April or early May it will be a wipe out. Such is life. If I get lucky I will be freezing sweet peas by the end of May. Here are some great sources for getting in the groove.

http://www.finegardening.com/

Planning Your First Vegetable Garden

March 5th, 2009 in Grow It, Live It

Ruth Ruth Dobsevage, editor

So you’ve decided to grow some veggies this year? Welcome to the club. Before you decide on what to grow or pick up a spade, you need to make some basic decisions about your garden’s location, size, and shape. Here are some things to consider.

Location
Walk around your property as you try to decide on a location for your garden-to-be.

Vegetables do best in full sun. You will get decent results with less than that, but in general strive for a site that gets at least six hours a day during the summer. Remember that sun patterns change dramatically with the seasons; a site that looks good in April may be too shady when the leaves come out.

Another factor to consider is proximity to your kitchen. You are more likely to check out your garden frequently if it is close to the house. My garden is maybe 30 feet from the kitchen door. When I need some parsley or mint, or maybe a few more tomatoes for a salad, it’s not a big deal to go out and get them.

If you have a choice, a flat area is better than a hilly one. A gently sloped site can work well, especially one that faces south or west.

What about water? You will most likely want a source close by, be it an outside tap, a rain barrel, or even a stream or pond.

Don’t despair if your lot is is very small. Even if you don’t see a way to create a separate garden area, you can probably tuck a couple of vegetable plants in somewhere: near the house or by the garage, perhaps. Or on the deck in containers.

Size and shape
For a garden of moderate size, aim for 400 square feet (20×20) to 625 square feet (25×25). You’ll have enough space to grow several different crops, but not so much that you’ll be overwhelmed. If even that seems daunting, start small. You can always enlarge the space later.

Gardens are generally square or rectangular, but they don’t have to be. You may want a different configuration to take advantage of sun patterns, to work around boulders, or just for artistic reasons. The plants won’t care if they are arranged in straight lines or curves.

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Personally I pick any 10 x 20 ft area that is unshaded and jump in. Begginners should start smaller. But if you are going to grow peppers, squash, corn or tomatoes you need a lot of space. Just think, the bigger your garden the less grass to mow.

http://www.organicgardening.com/

The Beginner’s Guide to Organic Gardening

 

 Gardening is not too complex. Almost all of us–probably in grade school–planted a seed in a cup of dirt, watered it, and watched it grow. But creating a garden that produces fresh food and flowers all season is not so elementary, especially to those who did not grow up gardening. So we’ve compiled this guide to the basics of organic gardening and the keys to success we’ve learned over the years. When you’re done reading, look at your thumb–you may see a tint of green that wasn’t there before.

No. 1 Plant Seeds

1. Make your bed. About three weeks before you are ready to plant, after the soil has dried so that it doesn’t clump when you pick up a fistful, sink a fork into the earth. Loosen it down to about 12 inches, add a half-inch layer of compost, and rake the surface of your garden until it has no weeds, dirt clumps, or big stones. Over the next three weeks, pull any weeds that come up. Raking and then letting the soil sit for a few weeks brings out weed seeds that were lurking in the soil.
For more information on garden beds, check out this article about raised beds and this video to see how to build a raised bed, or watch this video to see how to turn your lawn into a garden bed.

 

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I am not going to copy all of this stuff. go and read it yourself. If you have never done it before this is essential reading:

 

Garden Design

Horticulture

Garden Design

Country Gardens

Gardening How-To

Herb Quarterly

 Growing Edge

Water Gardening

Garden Compass

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Don’t read too long though, that’s what winter or nightfall is for. Get out doors! NOW

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Changing To A Sustainable Economy A Matter Of Choice – It’s in the can man

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It really is a matter of quitting. We do not have to emit life threatening  green house gases into the upper atmosphere if we do not want to. That’s a fact jack:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-sweden-carbonfree_goeringmar03,0,3023238.story

Going green: Entire Swedish city switches

to biofuels to become environmentally

friendly

Industrial community makes change with a minimum of cost, pain

By Laurie Goering |Tribune correspondent
March 3, 2009

KALMAR, Sweden — Though a fraction of Chicago’s size, this industrial city in southeast Sweden has plenty of similarities with it, including a long, snowy winter and a football team the town’s crazy about.

One thing is dramatically different about Kalmar, however: It is on the verge of eliminating the use of fossil fuels, for good, and with minimal effect on its standard of living.

The city of 60,000—and its surrounding 12-town region, with a quarter-million people—has traded in most of its oil, gas and electric furnaces for community “district heat,” produced at plants that burn sawdust and wood waste left by timber companies. Hydropower, nuclear power and windmills now provide more than 90 percent of the region’s electricity.

Kalmar’s publicly owned cars and buses—and a growing share of its private and business vehicles—run on biogas made from waste wood and chicken manure, or an 85 percent ethanol blend from Brazil.

ust as important, the switch from oil and gas is helping slash fuel bills and preserve jobs in a worldwide economic downturn. And despite dramatic drops in fossil fuel consumption, residents say nobody has been forced to give up the car or huddle around the dining table wearing three sweaters to stay warm.

“We are not eco-freaks,” said Carolina Gunnarsson, a sustainability officer with the Kalmar County regional council, as her teenage daughter, wearing a tank top, lounged on their living room sofa on a snowy February afternoon. “We’re just making it easy to change, giving people the tools.”

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If you think it’s just those liberal Swedes whose sole reason for their success is “it’s small and has a homogenous population”. Like why they can supply nationwide healthcare, universal education, paid maturnity leave and have the happiest population in the whole world. Well they do the same thing in Illinois, I mean the environment part.

http://www.prairiecrossing.com/pc/site/index.html

Welcome to Prairie Crossing

Prairie Crossing is a critically-acclaimed conservation community that was designed to combine responsible development, the preservation of open land and easy commuting by rail. The community offers a variety of housing options, including 359 single family homes and 36 condominiums, all designed in Midwestern vernacular architecture and built to the highest standards of energy efficiency. The single family homes are sold out, but a limited number of condominiums are still available! Please explore our website for information about the Organic Farm, shops and restaurants, Metra commuter rail service, Charter School, and our restored natural areas, as well as the Guiding Principles underlying the community. 

wetlands-home1.jpg

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Then you could say, “well that is all well and good for Illinois. But that wouldn’t fly in a small rural state”. Of course unless you are in say Georgia:

http://www.serenbecommunity.com/home.html

At home at Serenbe.
Let’s say you could create the perfect place to live. Blank slate. Anything you want.

You might want a place where your quality of life was extraordinarily high. Where you felt an easy sense of community. Where the principles of sustainability touched everything from your home’s methods of construction to the organic produce on your table that was grown by one of your neighbors.

Speaking of neighbors, you might prefer an eclectic group, from artists to writers to farmers to business people. You might like to walk paths that take you through both forest and meadow, ride horses along tree-canopied trails, or hear music outdoors in your neighborhood amphitheatre. Maybe you’d just like a place to get away, a place where you can enjoy a simpler life. For miles around you the Chattahoochee Hill Country is protected with a master plan that calls for 80% green space.

Let’s say you’d like a place where you can stroll as well as stride. Where you can spend time being as well as doing. Then perhaps Serenbe is a place you’d be at home.

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Power Shift 09 And The Climate Change March In Washington – I hope this all goes well

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I am not sure how many youth focused websites have gotten the word however. More on the Youth Environmentalist Movement and their medium:

http://www.futuremajority.com/

  Sarah Burris’s blog

“The Republican party isn’t exactly Internet savvy”

Bloguette Meghan McCain had an interesting article in the Daily Beast yesterday that addresses the techless nature of the GOP.

During the campaign season the only youth outreach I could find coming out of the McCain campaign was Meghan and her friends that traveled with the campaign and reported on the goings on.

Since this seems to be the week of children of the GOP coming out to tell all it is fitting Meghan wanted to talk about her experience as well. She says that the whole idea of the blog and project about being on the trail “was met with confusion and resistance” to begin with. “A few people even asked me what’s a blog.”

For the record, what you’re reading right now…. is a blog.

She also said that she got the idea that people thought she was wasting her time, “The Republican party isn’t exactly Internet savvy,” she says.

I would argue that there are many people in the GOP that are very tech savvy. The College Republicans developed a nice little social network site that no one really uses, if you’re a frequent reader of FM you know we know all about that site. And there are a hand full of remarkable tech savvy guys (sadly they’re all men) who do some good work for a party that has little to no support for them. Meghan’s lament isn’t an isolated one.

“Unless the GOP evolves as the party that can successfully utilize the Web, we’ll continue to lose influence. I think nothing confirms this fact to be more true than this recent election. I don’t claim to be an expert on mobilizing voters, but a significant number of the readers on mccainblogette.com, my blog, were between the ages of 18 and 30, a key demographic that either party would want. Many of the established Republican strategists told me that young people would not visit my web site.”

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Though I am not sure that the Hip Hoppers are on board either:

http://hiphopcaucus.org/

Full Events Calendar »

 

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It kills me to point out that the Illinois Math and Science Academy page hasn’t been updated since September 2008. What? Did school start or something?:

http://lorax.wordpress.com/

McCain and Obama: Energy Voting History

Posted by syntaxflute on Friday, September 26, 2008

 Watching the presidential debate has pulled my vote in different directions – but I am weary of falling victim to the theatrical allure of words and public speaking when the position comes down to action.  If you are interested in the green words the candidates have buzzed about in oration, have a bit of fun.

Past Action predicts present – 50 McCain No votes for energy policies and Obama’s short voting term as Senator. 

the significance in voting

the significance in voting

But when it comes down to it, policy and action are the skeleton of a candidate.  Each offers an Energy Plan – Obama’s ‘New Energy for America’ vs. McCain’s Lexington Project.  Obama’s backbone policy: eliminate foreign oil, 1 million hybrid cars by 2015, and a cap and trade program cutting CO2 emissions by 2050.  McCain in short: increase off-shore drilling, open domestic natural gas, cap and trade system, construct nuclear plants, a clean car challenge. Refer to the policies and note the time lines and numerical promise as measure of policy strength. 

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You would think Solve Climate would be on board with it too. Well not exactly:

 http://solveclimate.com/

February 20, 2009

Reid Plans Climate Change Legislation by End of Summer (AP)

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says the energy legislation expected to be taken up in the coming weeks will be limited largely to promoting renewable energy and energy efficiency.

Transportation Secretary Eyes Taxing Miles Driven (AP)

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says he is considering taxing motorists based on how many miles they drive rather than how much gasoline they burn. A few governors are also floating the idea.

Scientists Map CO2 Emissions with Google Earth (AFP)

A team of U.S. scientists unveils an interactive Google Earth map showing carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels across the United States.

Cost of Solar Fell 27% in Past Decade (San Francisco Chronicle)

The cost of installing solar panels on homes and businesses fell 27.6 percent from 1998 to 2008, according to a new study from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory that questions some of the conventional wisdom about solar’s price.

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These folks basically live in Washington. You would think they would be excited:

http://theusconstitution.org/blog.warming/

Oh Boy Oh Boy Oh Boy

Last night, the NY Times offered hope that the long-awaited endangerment for CO2 finding may soon be near:

Lisa P. Jackson, the new E.P.A. administrator, said in an interview that she had asked her staff to review the latest scientific evidence and prepare the documentation for a so-called endangerment finding. Ms. Jackson said she had not decided to issue such a finding but she pointedly noted that the second anniversary of the Supreme Court decision, Massachusetts v. E.P.A., is April 2, and there is the wide expectation that she will act by then.

The article also notes that the endangerment finding “would set off one of the most extensive regulatory rule makings in history,” which may in turn “accelerate the progress of energy and climate change legislation in Congress.” This, of course, is exactly what we have argued should happen, if the Obama Administration is to succeed in bringing about its desired cap-and-trade bill in the near future.

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These folks can be forgiven for not attending. They are in India attending there own conference:

http://www.whatswiththeclimate.org/

Gayatari Pariwar offer full-fledged support to IYCN

Kabir / 19 February 2009 / News

Shirdi/ Kabir Arora

The Divine India Youth Association, working under the leadership of Gayatari Pariwar (a Spiritual Organization), offered support to the Indian Youth Climate Network, at a recent conference in Shirdi. Members of the organization pledged to promote eco-friendliness at all of their religious gatherings. Proposals included the use of paper-bags instead of plastic ones, investment in solar powered energy systems, the replacement of plastic cups with traditional clay cups, and the promotion of organic farming as not only an ecological solution but a spiritual pathway as well.

At their gathering at Shirdi, two IYCN members displayed many of the small changes we can all make. People showed keen interest in the IYCN campaign.

Gayatari Pariwar was founded by Shri Ram Sharma Acharya and is now based in Shanti Kunj, Haridwar.

Yes, They Could. So They Did.

Kartikeya Singh / 14 February 2009 / Commentary, News

February 15, 2009

Climate Solutions Road Tour Launch, Chennai, January 3, 2009

Thomas Friedman, New York Times:  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/15/opinion/15friedman.html

So I am attending the Energy and Resources Institute climate conference in New Delhi, and during the afternoon session two young American women — along with one of their mothers — proposition me.

“Hey, Mr. Friedman,” they say, “would you like to take a little spin around New Delhi in our car?”

Oh, I say, I’ve heard that line before. Ah, they say, but you haven’t seen this car before. It’s a plug-in electric car that is also powered by rooftop solar panels — and the two young women, recent Yale grads, had just driven it all over India in a “climate caravan” to highlight the solutions to global warming being developed by Indian companies, communities, campuses and innovators, as well as to inspire others to take action. (more…)

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They publish Hansen and he doesn’t even mention it. Whoa:

http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/009432.html

Climate Change Demands a Transformative Change in Direction

WorldChanging Team
February 16, 2009 11:38 AM
Article Photoby James Hansen

Over a year ago I wrote to Prime Minister Brown asking him to place a moratorium on new coal-fired power plants in Britain. I have asked the same of Angela Merkel, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd and other world leaders. The reason is this – coal is the single greatest threat to civilization and all life on our planet.

Our global climate is nearing tipping points. Changes are beginning to appear, and there is a potential for explosive changes with effects that would be irreversible – if we do not rapidly slow fossil fuel emissions over the next few decades.

Tipping points are fed by amplifying feedbacks. As Arctic sea ice melts, the darker ocean absorbs more sunlight and speeds melting. As tundra melts, methane a strong greenhouse gas, is released, causing more warming. As species are pressured and exterminated by shifting climate zones, ecosystems can collapse, destroying more species. The public, buffeted by day-to-day weather fluctuations and economic turmoil, has little time or training to analyze decadal changes. How can they be expected to evaluate and filter out advice emanating from special economic interests? How can they distinguish top-notch science and pseudoscience – the words sound the same?

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Digg Is A Fascinating Place – But as a Blogger it is depressing

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Digg is a great place and as an Environmentalist/Energy person I get many of my ideas for posts there. But it can be depressing sometimes. Over the weekend people posted hundreds of articles to the point where I had to go nearly 10 PAGES into their posting to try to catch up. I never did.

 http://digg.com

http://digg.com/news/science/upcoming

Here is just a sampling of their first page. It is amazing.

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/02/ecological-stimulus-package-investing-natural-capital.php

Ecological Stimulus Package:

Investing In Natural Capital

by Earthwatch Institute on 02.16.09

Business & PoliticsBy: Jeanine Pfeiffer, Earthwatch Institute

What if we gave our environment the same wallop of attention we’re giving our economy? What if we valued natural capital as highly as financial capital?

The US Congress has passed a $790 billion economic stimulus package. Last November, the Chinese government approved a four trillion yuan (US $586 billion) financial stimulus plan.

The Chinese plan included 350 billion yuan (US$51 billion) for ecological and environmental projects. These projects, according to the Chinese Minister of Environmental Protection, Zhou Shengxian, will emphasize treating pollution and supporting rural environmental efforts and green industries.

In the US, President Obama’s administration is proposing a ten-year $150 billion plan to create clean energy industries, green jobs, and change consumption habits. The plan aims to reduce greenhouse emissions, but also includes intriguing bullet points like clean coal technology and constructing the Alaska natural gas pipeline.

Where’s the environment – left on the “outside”?
Absent from any of these plans, debates, and discussions on economic stimuli and environmental plans (several million hits on the internet, last time I checked), is a clear focus on our ecology, our natural capital.

Thinking environmentally is not the same as thinking ecologically. In common speak, the word “environment” refers to our surroundings –the “out there” part of our world. An environment can just as easily include tons of concrete buildings, asphalt highways, and diverted waterways as it can include rain forests, furry critters, and mountain streams.

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 http://lafora.com.br/2009/02/o-ar-que-resfria-sua-casa-aquece-o-mundo/

 

“O ar que resfria sua casa aquece o mundo”

16/02/09 | América do Sul/Central/Caribe, Interesse Público, Painéis |

Da Prolam Y&R do Chile para campanha de alerta contra o aquecimento global para a Columbia.

Tags:

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http://www.triplepundit.com/pages/5-dark-labor-pitfalls-in-the-new-green-e.php

 

3 Labor Pitfalls in the New Green Economy

One of the most compelling concepts behind the new green economy is its ability to create jobs in the US. You certainly can’t outsource the installation of a solar system or high-efficiency windows. Industrial-scale wind turbines are enormous, thus favoring local production.Although these concepts are true, there are some pitfalls to watch for:

1. Outsourcing Manufacturing
The US has lost 6 million manufacturing jobs in the last three decades.

2. US Subsidies Benefiting Offshore Manufacturers
US Law requires domestic sourcing for many programs and agencies, including the Federal Highway Administration, the Federal Aviation Administration, Clean Water Grants for Water Treatment, and the Energy Policy Act of 1992.

3. Low Wages
Not all green jobs pay a lot of green, even when receiving generous local subsidies. A recent study of green jobs found recycling plant workers making as little as $8.25 an hour and manufacturing jobs in renewable energy products paying as low as $11 an hour.

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http://www.naturalnews.com/News_000734_Los_Angeles_South_Central_farmers.html

This is a quick update to bring a few time-sensitive items to your attention that you may want to check out.

First, I’ve just posted an exclusive interview with Dr. Steve from his Real Health show. He interviews me about the economic stimulus bill (15 minutes duration). This was recorded just yesterday, and thanks to Dr. Steve, we got it posted here: http://www.naturalnews.com/podcasts…

Dr. Steve’s Real Health show is the best health podcast on the ‘net, by the way. Listen to all 71 episodes here: http://web.mac.com/drsteve720/Site/…

On a separate topic, when I saw this next YouTube movie, I finally came to realize that the human species is probably not going to make it. What YouTube movie could possibly have such a powerful impact on my perspective of the human race? Watch it yourself and you’ll see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wusC…

Watch LAPD cops stand guard as the food supply of hundreds of poor L.A. families is being bulldozed into dust… this is madness in the extreme, and it’s happening right here in the United States of America, by the orders of city officials!

If you’re not already in tears after seeing that video, watch the aftermath of the city’s bulldozers here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juMe…

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http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/science/02/12/fish.migration.study/index.html

February 12, 2009 — Updated 2227 GMT (0627 HKT)

 Fish migrating to cooler waters, study says


(CNN) — Climate-driven environmental changes could drastically affect the distribution of more than 1,000 species of commercial fish and shellfish around the world, scientists say.

 

Red areas on this map show regions that are expected to have the greatest increase in fish populations by 2050.

 

Red areas on this map show regions that are expected to have the greatest increase in fish populations by 2050.

For the first time, researchers using computer models have been able to predict the effect that warming oceans, fed by greenhouse-gas emissions, could have on marine biodiversity on a global scale.

A new study predicts that by 2050, large numbers of marine species will migrate from tropical seas toward cooler waters — specifically the Arctic and Southern Ocean — at an average rate of 40 to 45 kilometers (about 25 to 28 miles) per decade.

These migrations could lead to “numerous extinctions” of marine species outside the Arctic and Antarctic, especially in tropical waters, according to the study’s projections.

“These are major impacts that we are going to see within our lifetime and our children’s lifetime,” said William Cheung, lead author of the study, set to be published this week in the journal Fish and Fisheries.

“Climate change provides us with a kick in the pants,” added Cheung, a marine biologist and lecturer at the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom. “We can’t think about climate change and biodiversity without thinking about the impact it will have on people.”

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http://www.ec.gc.ca/education/default.asp?lang=en&n=3D1A3FBA-1

Go on Stand By

A computer that runs 24 hours a day is eating up electricity, and money out of your wallet. stand by

Pay attention to that humming sound: that’s your computer sucking up energy. Whether you work in an office or at home, powering a computer is probably using more electricity than you think, and contributing to your personal greenhouse gas emissions, particularly when the electricity is generated with fossil fuels like oil or coal.

Research shows that most people leave their computer on throughout the entire business day, including lunchtime and meetings, but only use their computers an average of four hours a day. Plus, running a computer continuously at full power generates heat, which causes indoor temperatures to rise and increases the demand for air conditioning in the summer months.

If you work from home, consider that your network of home computers, monitors and printers can use more than 200 kilowatts per year per computer. Tally how much time one computer is on each day and multiply that by its energy usage. Now take a look at your electricity bill and see how the costs of staying connected can add up.

Going on stand by can be good

Reduce your energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by enabling the monitor’s energy-saving features when you are away from your computer for a short period of time. In “stand by” mode (also called sleep mode, hibernate or power down mode), your computer typically drops to 50% of its maximum power consumption.

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From the green economy, to air conditioning, to bulldozing poor peoples gardens, to climate change to power vampires, how is a simple blogger to compete…yet I will continue to try.

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Oh and a lady wanted me to post a link with her site. So:

http://www.torontorealestatedirect.com?pg=NCYKt