Before Chemical Fertilizers

Several years ago I came across this picture in a "coffee table" book (from my parents' house) on the history of America. The picture covered a full spread in the book—two full pages. I was able to get the whole thing on my scanner to make a copy.

The picture had no accompanying text other than something like a "Farm Family." But here's what amazed me about the picture: Chemical fertilizers weren't introduced into American agriculture on a widespread basis until after World War II. Based on the dress and appearance of this family, I'm guessing this picture was taken before that era. Also, American topsoil was still relatively prevalent then, not having been destroyed by commercial farming and poor management practices in the post-War agriculture boom. That means this farmer probably plowed with a horse(s), used manure as fertilizer, and practiced traditional (= organic) farming techniques. I could be wrong—these are just assumptions based on the picture.

And look at the bounty! These vegetables are HUGE—especially the root crops (carrots, turnips, etc.). A huge head of cabbage on the left front corner of the table, huge eggplants (?) on the right front corner. I would imagine these vegetables are multiple times higher in nutrients than today's vegetables because of the soil they were grown in.

I may be romanticizing, but I question the amount of progress we've made in farming if a hardscrabble couple like this could produce these kinds of results. (Forgive me if this is a duplicate post. I searched my blog but couldn't find that I'd posted it previously.)

Yesteryear Garden

Came across these photos of my previous garden consisting of 8-9 large raised beds in the backyard. (Can't remember if I've posted this before.) This shows about half the beds. I deconstructed it all when I thought I was going to sell my house. I'm still here, sans garden. It was a nice place to hang out in the early mornings:

Zucchini Pasta

I picked the first zucchini of the spring this morning:

I decided to make some Raw Zucchini Pasta out of it using the Spiral Slicer appliance:

I cobbled together some veggie-heavy pasta sauce and voilà—Raw Zucchini Pasta. If the zuke has been in the refrigerator, the "pasta" will be cold. You can either leave the zuke on the counter for a while before shredding, or, the heated pasta sauce will warm it up. A nice Saturday lunch:

I had read recently about a plant called Malabar Spinach. I was curious about it, wondering if it had been developed at Louis Bromfield's Malabar Farm, but it wasn't. It's a native southeast Asia vining "spinach" bearing the name of the same region of India where Bromfield lived for a while, and for which he named his farm. Malabar spinach isn't really a spinach, and goes by lots of names in Asia. But the leaves can be used like spinach, raw or cooked. It's a vining plant, so I'll need to get it something to climb. Mary Roberts of Windcrest Farm had started some Malabar spinach seedlings this spring so I bought one a few weeks ago at the Matthews Farmers Market. It was just a tiny start when I bought it but it has grown well -- large, deep green leaves; high in several vitamins, fiber, and protein. I haven't tasted it yet but it looks delicious. You can read more about Malabar spinach here:

How to Be Happy

Nobody can really be happy. You can have moments of happiness; moments of joy. But life is very difficult, unless you're a total idiot. Then you can be happy.

(Irvin Kershner, director of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, as interviewed in the forthcoming movie The Nature of Existence)

There you have it—how to be happy: Be a total idiot.

Peggy Noonan Gets It—Finally

It's taken her a year and a half to see the light, but Peggy Noonan's eyes have opened to the pure incompetence of the Obama administration. She, one of the most eloquent of pundits (writes for the Wall Street Journal), was a Reagan speech writer and has a been a so-called Republican. But she warmed to Obama during the election. But no more. In today's column, she says Obama will not survive his administration's three consecutive missteps: healthcare, immigration, and the ongoing Gulf oil disaster. I hope she is right.

Speaking of incompetence, I heard a citizen remark during an interview recently (paraphrase), "If you think the government's been incompetent with one leaking oil well, just way until you see how incompetent they'll be trying to manage healthcare—one-sixth of the economy." I shudder to think.

Peggy Noonan's closing paragraph is a fair warning to Republicans, since every out-of-office party loves to see the current administration mess up, thinking they'll get it right when they retake the White House—and then they get hit with something just as bad and prove to be just as incompetent:

But Republicans should beware, and even mute their mischief. We're in the middle of an actual disaster. When they win back the presidency, they'll probably get the big California earthquake. And they'll probably blow it. Because, ironically enough, of a hard core of truth within their own philosophy: when you ask a government far away in Washington to handle everything, it will handle nothing well.

The Squash Bugs Are Coming!

Everybody who raises squash dreads the arrival of two squash pests: the squash bug and the squash vine borer. Fortunately, the squash bug's egg clutches are easy to spot. While they are normally found on the underside of squash, zucchini, and melon leaves, these two clutches were sitting topside on two zucchini leaves. The eggs have to be removed with sticky tape or by just tearing off that portion of the leaf, and crushed. If not crushed, they'll hatch and create nymphs that will find their way back to the garden. I'll post a picture later this summer of adult squash bugs. The eggs indicate they're around, I just haven't seen them yet. The adults can be picked off and "dispatched."

Two clutches of squash bug eggs, the first one being a little fuzzy:

Nice zucchini. One of the best ways to eat raw zucchini is to make pasta out of it. I have a small, hand-powered appliance that shreds a zucchini into long strands just like spaghetti or pasta. Add your favorite pasta sauce and it makes a great mostly-raw dish. You can see to the right what happens to a zucchini or squash that doesn't get pollinated—dries up and will fall off:

Tomatoes on the vine:

I'm babying these "Black Cherry" tomatoes along in hopes of a harvest. I learned about these tomatoes from New Town Farms in last year's CSA program—the best cherry tomatoes I've ever tasted! The Black Cherries are the large, dark maroon tomatoes in this picture from last year's CSA. So good that I tracked down the seeds and am going to try to grow some of my own. You can eat these like candy standing by the vine.

The bread pan behind these Black Cherry seedling pots is filled halfway or so full of water, then set the green pots in the pan to allow them to wick up water from the bottom up instead of watering from top down. This helps prevent "damping off" disease from forming around the stalks of seedlings when the top layer of soil gets too wet. I'll move these starts into larger containers to grow—I have no more room in the ground.

CSA Harvest #5, etc.

This week's CSA harvest, the fifth of the season: left to right, cabbage head, red beets and greens, HUGE broccoli head, bag of mesclun mix (mixed baby lettuce leaves), fennel bulb, two heads (red and green) of kohlrabi, lacinato kale, Waxahalia onions, and bag of arugula.

Plus, some shots from the garden:

A carpenter bee bathing headfirst in the squash pollen:

A gaggle of baby yellow squash:

And the summer's first tray of wheatgrass. I keep my house so cool in the winter that the grass doesn't grow well. The second tray is an experiment: I've seeded a mesclun mix to see if I can begin raising trays of salad greens indoors in trays. It's been a few days and they haven't germinated yet, so not sure how well this will work.

Update: Just noticed this morning the first lettuce seed germinating, so maybe this will work!

CSA Harvest #4

Failed to post a pic of last week's CSA harvest: starting in the back, red beets and greens, Waxahalia onions, several heads of lettuce, baby bok choi, and on the front row, carrots, broccoli raab greens, broccoli head, cabbage head, curly kale, two heads (red and green) of kohlrabi. Awesome, as always.

"I Recommend You Panic"

A fascinating BBC (May 26) interview between a Columbia University economist (who has no skin in the financial game), a hedge fund manager (who has massive amounts of skin in the game), and a Financial Times writer who is surprisingly rational.

The economist: "Don't panic."

The hedge fund manager: "I recommend you panic."

The reporter: "Things look pretty bad."

It's a classic illustration of academic theory versus practical reality, in my view. I'm going with the hedge fund manager (I like his accent and his fire in the belly). (8 minutes long)

I Don't Want to Say "I Told You So," But . . .

For those of us who have been Mac users from the beginning (for me, since 1984—like the original Mac at left), and who resisted the siren song from the dark side in Redmond, Washington, yesterday was a day of sheer satisfaction. For the first time, Apple is now a more valuable company ($3 billion more) than Microsoft in terms of market cap (shares x share price). The only company larger than Apple in that regard is Exxon. Imagine—the company that once flew a black pirate flag over its secret Mac development outpost is now the second largest company in America!

That said, I'm really not an Apple fanatic, as are many. I don't own an iPhone, iPad, or even a Macbook/Pro. But I have been a loyal Mac user for so long that I can't imagine why everyone isn't. And it's nice to see more and more people valuing the creativity born out of Cupertino.

My posting has slowed down in recent days because of work commitments, but I couldn't let this go without notice.

Ten Things Monsanto Doesn't Want You to Know

Monsanto is the leading supplier of genetically modified organisms (GMO seeds) to world agriculture. They have ruined many small farmers with their lawsuits on "patent infringement" and have led the charge to patent seeds so that no one can plant that crop without buying their seeds. Monsanto is one of the worst things ever to happen to agriculture that seeks to be organic, sustainable, just, and equitable.

The Organic Consumers Association has put together a list of "10 Things Monsanto Doesn't Want You to Know." In leaflet form, the points are brief and a quick read, which is unfortunate since there is so much more evidence that could be provided on each point. And it doesn't include information that just surfaced in the press last week about laboratory tests on animal subjects that lost the ability by the fourth generation to reproduce after living on a diet of GMO foods.

Please read the brief leaflet for an overview on why Monsanto is bad for food and farming. If you are not eating organically-grown food, you are consuming vast amounts of GMO foodstuffs. Thanks to Monsanto's efforts to ban the labeling of foods in the U.S. that contain GMO products (which labeling is required in most other developed countries of the world), you have no idea what you're eating.

Overview of the Current "Food" Movement

One may not agree with all of Michael Pollan's positions re: "food," but few people have a grasp like his of the players and issues involved when it comes to the increasingly prominent subject of "food" in our culture. And as a long-time journalist and author, his pen is as skilled as his grasp is current and encyclopedic. His most recent summary is coming in the June 10 issue of The New York Times Review of Books, titled "The Food Movement, Rising." It can be read now here.

This is a helpful paragraph from his review, describing the dizzying array of permutations within the "food" movement:

Where many social movements tend to splinter as time goes on, breaking into various factions representing divergent concerns or tactics, the food movement starts out splintered. Among the many threads of advocacy that can be lumped together under that rubric we can include school lunch reform; the campaign for animal rights and welfare; the campaign against genetically modified crops; the rise of organic and locally produced food; efforts to combat obesity and type 2 diabetes; “food sovereignty” (the principle that nations should be allowed to decide their agricultural policies rather than submit to free trade regimes); farm bill reform; food safety regulation; farmland preservation; student organizing around food issues on campus; efforts to promote urban agriculture and ensure that communities have access to healthy food; initiatives to create gardens and cooking classes in schools; farm worker rights; nutrition labeling; feedlot pollution; and the various efforts to regulate food ingredients and marketing, especially to kids.

I am personally interested in "all the above," some more than others, but am most interested in a part of the movement that, shamefully, has no national presence—a biblical/Christian perspective on food and nutrition and their relationship to broader issues of creation-care and stewardship; a distinctly Christian perspective. Granted, at best "the church" gets short shrift from the culture whenever she speaks. Part of that dismissal is for spiritual reasons—nobody likes to be told they are accountable to God. But part of it is because the church doesn't speak practically or winsomely enough (if she speaks at all) to gain a hearing, which is the case regarding food, nutrition, etc.

I hope the day will come when Pollan's paragraph, re-summarized by future writers, will include recognition that the Christian church has a dog in this (food) fight (bad metaphor, admittedly). Whether that happens, of course, depends on whether followers of Jesus develop a kingdom perspective on these issues.

America's Economic Future (Collapse)

The National Inflation Association has produced a very current, 55-minute video on America's economic present and future. It features well-known economic conservatives like Marc Faber, Jim Rogers, and Ron Paul. It shows why the current spin coming out of Washington, that the Obama administration's stimulus plans have created a recovery, is an illusion. It clearly shows that America is bankrupt; that America will NEVER be able to pay off her debts (massively increased in the last two years by the administration's printing and borrowing of money, as well as the ongoing two wars); and how the only hope for reducing unpayable debt is the one governments have always used: inflation. That means the government will inflate the debt away by printing more paper dollars to pay the debt. The result for consumers will be massive inflation or hyper-inflation which will result in increased prices for everything, high interest rates, and a radical decline in American standards of living and well-being. In other words, things are bad now and are only going to get worse.

The average American will not take 55 minutes to watch this video (or seek out other sources of information) but will choose to believe sound bites coming out of Washington and from the main-stream media. But I strongly encourage you to invest an hour in your, and your children's, future. The jettisoning of at least four incumbent politicians in yesterday's primaries is a good sign, but I fear that the point made in the video is true: today, there is NO difference between Republicans and Democrats. It was a Republican administration (and the Federal Reserve), prior to the current one, that set in motion the sub-prime crisis, two wars we cannot afford, etc. So even if Democrats are ousted by Republicans in November, that is no guarantee of a solution. The Tea Party Movement shows that lots of people are waking up to the nightmare of the last two years—the sea change in government policies that are counter to historic American values. So perhaps there is some hope that things WON'T GET WORSE than they will be in the immediate future. Even Republicans can do nothing about America's debt, so regardless of who is in Washington, citizens have to take responsibility for their own futures.

This video is a good primer. You may not agree with every opinion stated, but I found 98 percent of it to be sober and calm—just the facts:

ANDI Scores

Dr. Joel Fuhrman's ANDI list is becoming well-known, ANDI standing for "Aggregate Nutrient Density Index"—a way of measuring the nutrients-per-calorie of foods. Wholefoods Markets are publishing the ANDI list throughout their stores in an attempt to help shoppers become "Nutritarians" (Dr. Fuhrman's term)—people who choose and eat foods with the highest nutrient density possible. Of course, plants dominate the ANDI scores, resulting in a nutritarian diet being a plant-based diet. The opposite ends of the scale are bracketed by kale and collards at 1000 and cola at 1.

You can read more about the ANDI scores at Dr. Fuhrman's web site here, about Wholefoods' use of the ANDI scores in their stores here (scroll down for an additional link), and view the basic ANDI chart below:

Beware the North Carolina Strawberry Glut

I have read several times in the last couple weeks about an anomaly in the North Carolina (and other areas as well) summer strawberry harvest. Unusual weather patterns have caused strawberry production to be sudden, large, and not anticipated to be ongoing. That is, all the summer berries are going to come in at once resulting in abundance and lower prices, especially at U-Pick-Um farms.

While I like strawberries as much as the next person, I never by conventional strawberries because they are so heavily sprayed with toxic pesticides. Strawberries, along with other soft-skin fruits like peaches, are consistently ranked at the top of the "Do Not Eat These Conventional Fruits" lists because of their high pesticide residues. Instead, eat organically-grown versions. None of our bodies suffer from chemical poison deficiencies that need to be remedied by eating petroleum-based chemical poisons. :-)

So while the summer strawberry glut is tempting, and baskets of berries are showing up at farmer's markets, I would definitely avoid those that are not organic. Last summer, whenever I found organic strawberries on sale at Earthfare or other local stores, I would buy extra and dump them into gallon Zip-Lock type bags and put them in the freezer to use in smoothies during the winter. I still have a couple gallons left. They can be a little mushy when defrosted, but since I use them only in smoothies (while frozen) that's not a problem.

The Environmental Working Group's list of the conventional foods to avoid because of heavy pesticide residues, along with the least contaminated (along with an iPhone App with the same information) can be found here.

A Better Use for Your Microwave Oven

Dr. Mercola has one of the best summaries of studies done on the negative impacts of residential microwave ovens I've seen. Who could think for a minute that applying microwave radiation to food could result in anything positive? I realize most people will ignore his warnings because microwaves are standard in the American lifestyle. I encourage you to read the report here.

My house came with a built in microwave, of course, but it never gets used—ever. Instead, I've found it makes a great bulk food storage area for nuts, seeds, grains, dried fruits, etc. You'll be safer and healthier (read the report) by using your microwave for the same (or other useful) purpose:

Garden Shots

Anybody who raises vegetables luxuriates in the variety of sights the garden offers. Just a few quick pics from this weekend:

The first tomatoes are appearing on the vines:

A bouquet of squash flowers blooms in the cool of every morning:

The ants love something sweet they find in the middle of the squash flowers:

A forest of Bourdeaux spinach -- I love the contrast of the green leaves with the red stems and veins:

After a couple waterings with compost tea, this avocado tree is putting out some HUGE dark green leaves:

From Jennifer's Kitchen

Yesterday, my daughter-in-law Jennifer posted a recipe for a delicious dish I have eaten with her family at their house. So I had to try it tonight:

She didn't name it, so I'll just call it "Jen's Spicy Rice, Beans, and Greens." It is REALLY good and full of whole, plant foods. Here's her recipe:

1 onion

1 can crushed/diced tomatoes

3 tsp. coriander

1.5 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp. Garam Masala (Google this -- you'll find places to buy it -- a GREAT Indian/South Asian spice mix)

1/4 tsp. turmeric

1 can chickpeas/garbanzos, rinsed

1 tsp salt (or to taste)

1 bunch of greeens (spinach, kale, charc) rinsed and chopped, or 1 pack frozen spinach

Saute onion in oil or water until soft. Stir in tomatoes, coriander, cumin, garam masala, turmeric, and salt. Cook for 3 mins. Stir in chickpeas and greens and simmer 10 minutes or until the greens are as soft as you like.

Serve over a plate of rice (brown/basmati/jasmine -- not white!). Also good over quinoa. (Of course, double the recipe if you want to make more.)

I doubled the recipe (and have plenty left for another meal), added some cubed extra firm tofu, and chopped mushrooms. But frankly, this recipe I had from Jennifer's kitchen was better than mine, so I might should have stuck with the recipe. Plus, I didn't have any coriander, so that might have weakened mine. I think I more than doubled some things, and probably didn't double the spices "enough." These spices are NOT hot in temperature, but very flavorful -- think India -- especially the garam masala.

Thanks, Jennifer!

CSA Harvest #3

Picked up another great box of veggies fresh from the ground today—2010's third CSA delivery from New Town Farms in Waxhaw, NC (about 15 minutes from my house). This week there are three large heads of different lettuces, a head of escarole or endive (not sure which), a bag of baby arugula, a bundle of chard leaves, a huge bok choy plant, a bundle of "candy" carrots (Eliot Coleman's term for sweet baby carrots, usually sweeter in the winter), three baby Waxahalia onions (these are the same onions grown in Vidalia, GA, but which cannot legally be called "Vidalias" unless they're grown there, so Sammy combined Waxhaw and Vidalia and calls them Waxahalia onions), a bundle of red kale, and a small broccoli head from the first cutting of the spring broccoli. (New this week as they come on line: broccoli, carrots, and onions—new flavors for the palate as the weeks progress.)

I post these pictures weekly as a chronicle of the seasons. Because food is shipped all over the world today, our grocery store produce sections have "everything" all the time, regardless of season. But everything doesn't grow all the time. Plants have seasons, and I have to think there is great wisdom in learning to eat with the seasons; that our bodies, unbeknownst to us, process different foods better in different seasons. That's a foreign thought given the conditioning we are used to—for example, having tomatoes in winter. But a modern grocery store is a wholly unnatural thing (said the naturalist whose last name means "grocer" in Dutch). If I can ever have a parcel of ground large enough to grow my own food year 'round, I'll pursue eating with the seasons more faithfully. But being part of a great CSA like New Town Farms is a step in that direction.

(Wilbur update: Wilbur was right where I left him last week—snoozing in the cool, green grass; still underwhelmed with my presence, but I'm undeterred in my efforts to be his pal.)

How to Get the Oil out of the Gulf

I love people who spend their days solving problems—like the two guys in this video. They demonstrate an unbelievably simple way to mop up the oil that's already escaped from the damaged well in the Gulf of Mexico, keeping it from fouling the beaches. Are there problems with their idea? Perhaps—but it sounds better than anything else I've heard. Guys like this are often laughed at by "scientists" because they wear overalls and "talk funny." But I love these guys and others like them—solving problems simply. (They don't say in this video, but it's important to remember that oil is lighter than water and floats on the surface of the ocean, making their system workable.) (Thanks to Daniel for the heads-up on this video, apparently first published on the Huffington Post this week.)