To Make A Farm

Indie films are an interesting breed unto themselves, but I find them most fascinating when they examine a topic very few others have looked at. In this age of mass-produced entertainment, films that make us think are gems indeed. I'm excited to share this with you, an indie film that follows five farmers on three Canadian farms as they try to make a profit. Farming is difficult enough these days with all kinds of challenges, but up here in Canada it is even more so. Not many people in these modern times are connected to their food, although that number is growing, and even fewer understand the person that lives a way of life that was largely abandoned for decades. So I invite you to follow the link to a fascinating article. Make the effort to find the film and watch with an open mind.
It's worth it.
Best of all, you might just come away with a better understanding of those that are doing what they can to reconnect with their food and the land.
You can find the interview at Scratch magazine.

The Many Faces of "B"

When I first sat down to write this post, I had a hard time thinking of words relative to farming and agriculture and prepping that started with B. Clearly I just need more coffee, because once I put my mind to it, there were all kinds of ideas.
The obvious first choices are broccoli, beets and beans. Because my family enjoy both raw and cooked broccoli, I'll be planting some and we'll likely freeze it and eat it raw. Beets are enjoyed as well, though I imagine there will be fewer of these since it has fewer fans in our family. These will be easy to put up pickled. Beans are important to both homesteaders and preppers alike. Many people put up bags and bags of them in case they need to one day rely on their own food supplies instead of the grocery stores. Heirloom beans have as an interesting and varied a story as the history of North America. There are dozens of types, colors, shapes and flavors. I'll be growing green beans and yellow wax, and I'd like to grow butter beans and a new-to-me type called "Orca"
(That's them below)
I'm fascinated by the whole process of taking a seed that looks so interesting, planting it and watching it grow, and then discovering what the pod might look like!

Of course, along the way, there will also be bugs, both good and bad. I'll have to learn how to spot the good guys like Brown Lacewings, Ground Beetles and the bad such as the Mexican Bean Beetle, as well as learn how to take out the bad guys in a way that won't do harm to the ecosystem.
Let's not forget bees too. We'll be planting flowers and herbs throughout the yards (front and back) to encourage bees and butterflies to not only visit, but pollinate as well. It frightens me a little to think about the "dead hive syndrome" that so many bee-keepers are hit with. Whole hives suddenly dying off mysteriously, but there is a theory that chemicals insecticides are the killer. Just one more reason why Monsanto's greatest legacy is wrong for the environment and people.

One of our goals for next year is to plant a few more berry bushes. The fruit will help us produce reams of gleaming jars full of jams and jellies. Raspberries, strawberries, locally foraged blueberries, and high-bush cranberries. I always thought of grapes as berries when I was growing up, and those will be planted in a bright sunny spot as well.

One of my goals this fall is to prepare different vegetable beds throughout the yard. I've put a lot of thought into what size beds I'd like to plant. They'll be anywhere from twelve to fifteen feet long and four feet across. These dimensions should allow me to build enclosures to keep out excessive sun (for those cool weather crops like lettuce and peas), cold, and even the chickens on their free-range days. A bed that is only four feet across allows for much easier weeding from either side. In case you're wondering why I don't just plant traditionally, in rows, I plan on instituting a three year crop rotation plan. This will help cut down on soil diseases and pests, as well as allow for green manure plantings.

I suppose there are dozens of other "B" words that relate to life in the Urban Trench, but the goal here is to get you thinking.
What other "B" words can you think of that might relate?

The A B C's of An Urban Trench

The obvious place to start is "A", of course, and with agriculture.

Wikipedia says that agriculture can be defined as "the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi, and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life". The New Oxford American Dictionary  says agriculture is the science or practice of farming, including cultivation of the soil for the growing of crops and the rearing of animals to provide food, wool, and other products.

That's still pretty broad. There are dozens of  branches to get lost on in the study of agriculture. If one were to go to school to study agricultural sciences, we would be studying irrigation, agricultural productivity, plant breeding, agricultural diversification, pesticides, soil, agricultural techniques, and the list goes on. So, if we use the two definitions above as our starting off point, we can study how we use animals, plants and fungi in our day to day lives, how they're raised or grown and how we modify them for our own use. Our track record, generally, isn't good.

We have a bad habit of squeezing animals in massive numbers into cages or pens too small for them, denying them basic comforts, force feeding them so that rapid growth benefits us, and even feeding them in a cannibalistic manner because slaughter house floor scrapings are cheaper, never mind the health risk. All one has to do is sit through half of Food Inc. to really see how we treat the animals destined to become our food. Now, I'm not a vegetarian, and I have no plans to become one. My standpoint here is that we, as a higher life form, really should know better than to continue down this slippery slope. We already dance with danger every day. E. Coli and Mad Cow runs rampant, and usually it's because some member of the human race has done something they know is wrong. E. Coli in melons killed 13 people, because two brothers thought they could save a few bucks. 9 people died because of salmonella in peanuts back in 2008. The list is exhaustive, and not the main thrust of this post. You get the point I'm sure.

One way to live healthier is to eat healthy food. I've written here before about diminishing nutrient values in our fruits and vegetables, and while I'm still appalled by it all, let me say that the declining nutrient levels have caused many to start their own gardens. Indeed, it is the main thrust behind my passion for organic growing methods. Growing healthier food starts with healthy soil. Soil that is teeming with life in the form of worms, microbes, fungi and bacteria. Before you get grossed out, these tiny critters are the keystone to good food. If your spadeful of shovel has no worms, chances are it is bereft of the smaller soil-dwellers too. That's not good for the plants. To feed the plants, you must first feed the soil. No soil ... no food.

Massive industrial agriculture is not a viable option for the future as the model stands today. There needs to be a change in our habits, and while there is a revolution that marches on, it is still small. We need to get politics out of our fields so that monsters like Monsanto wither and waste away. We need to get politicians to stop paying farmers to let their fields sit empty, and instead pay them to think more organically. We need to educate more people so that they better understand soil and what should live in it. We need to spread the word about compost so that everyone knows what it does, what it should be and what it can do for us. We need to understand water and how to live with less, as well as how to conserve it both in a small scale and a large one. We need city councils to allow us to raise chickens in our backyards, and sell eggs and grow tomatoes in our front yard if we want; not take homeowners to court when they rip up water-guzzling lawns.

This conversation is a massive, ongoing dialogue, one I hope we can all wade in on and share our opinions. It is only through the exchange of ideas and truly listening to one another that we can learn. So tell me what you think of agriculture today, perhaps you'll teach me something or get me pondering some aspect of it that I had overlooked!

The Shrinking Occupation: Farming

I was reading something today that I'd like to share with you, these points were written by Peter Holter, and in my opinion, more people need to see this.


"The average American farmer is 58 years old. The average cattleman is 61 years old.
According to Beef USA, 90% of all U.S. cow herds have less than 100 cows. So there is a declining population of people, with small herds, with growing challenges – and despite the current bubble — a disincentive to carry the ranch forward another generation, in the face of hunger and a growing demand for food.

The good news is there is a new generation coming on that wants to farm and ranch and they are exploring new paradigms – problem is they often can’t afford the land, and there are programs with land trusts, USDA and others to assist — and they desperately want training — not only in production but management to run a smaller, efficient, profitable healthy enterprise. And interestingly many are doing it. Many of them are women – 30% of the 3 million farms are operated by women – today, women are twice as likely to take over an existing enterprise or starting a new one than men."

“The Women and Food Agriculture Network has information indicating that – since 2002 – the agriculture industry has seen a 30 percent increase nationally in the number of women running farms and ranches.  If you look at demographic, social, and economic factors, they indicate that the number will continue to rise in the coming years.”

I have a banner on my Facebook page that says "No farms=no food".
It is true now more than ever with shrinking availability of land, fewer and fewer programs to help new farmers and a retiring group of farmers. The U.S is ahead of Canada in their efforts to try and help the next generation of farmers, and this needs to be rectified. Every country needs to help their farmers, and in the end, help stem the food crisis we all experience.

An Argument For Tomatoes

There was a prediction made by John Hamaker that by the year 1995, the temperate zone would become a subarctic zone, and the world would have lost it's food supply. The year that "Survival of Civilization" was written, the author stated that "the increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is man's most urgent problem".

I disagree.

In my opinion, whatever that is worth, feeding people is man's most urgent problem. Feed the hungry, stop the famine and THEN tackle the air. I'm not just referring to the Sudan or the refugee camps in some far off country, but our own countries first. I think that it was quite noble of George Clooney to get himself arrested, it's admirable that he has been fighting for a long time to draw attention to a horrendous problem. He, and Angelina Jolie and all the other celebrities who use their fame for the right ideals are to be applauded. Now we must follow their example, in this one thing at least. But with so many hungry mouths to feed, how do we even begin to start? We start at the bottom, one family at a time. Obviously a Sudanese village will face different challenges than Terra Haute, Indiana, but the solution lies in each of us. The answer to feeding the hungry is multi-layered and yet simple.

We must learn to feed ourselves.

Nourish our neighbors and re-prioritize how we use our green spaces. Those of us who already know a little something about growing food should be allowed to. Scrap ridiculous neighborhood association rules that forbid anything except manicured, chemical-riddled lawn. It makes no sense to sanitize the soil until it cannot support even an earthworm, while there are children going to school hungry. It makes no sense at all to prosecute someone who wants to quietly grow vegetables among their roses and marigolds. while these would be vegetable growers are held captive by obtuse and inane rules, food banks are overwhelmed with need. Children go to bed hungry because they did not get enough to eat at dinner. Some pregnant women live on one meal a day so that their families can have more and even in Canada we have people that choose not to eat so that they can make their groceries stretch further. This is wrong on so many levels.

We must learn to feed ourselves.

We must grow tomatoes among the marigolds and tuck carrots between the pea plants. We must reach out and find people with fruit trees that do not use all their fruit, and encourage them not to waste but to donate it. We must encourage our politicians to pass legislation that encourages people to grow food. Whether that be on a city level, provincial, state or even at the village level. Much like the American government did during WW 2, we need every citizen that is capable to grow food. Not because we are in a world wide conflict, although that day is not far off, but because we are in a war against hunger in our neighbors.. There is a program called Grow A Row in which gardeners are encouraged to grow a row of vegetables to donate to their local food bank. I love the idea of donating fresh vegetables to people who all too often are the recipients of outdated, empty calorie food. I've been there and done that, and I can't properly express what a bundle of bright green broccoli or a bunch of crisp orange carrots can do for someone's morale.

The financially challenged among us are some of the most vulnerable in our communities. Often malnourished, frequently ill and the most powerless, it is for these people we need to grow food. We must not only learn to feed ourselves, but our neighbors as well. For us, for our neighbors, for our country and for the sake of humanity. But that's only one perspective. Tomorrow, another rationale for why we should grow as much as we can.