Your Worms Want Coffee

 

I hope I’m not the only one who finds compost fascinating. After all, any process that can take organic waste and break it down into nutrients is an awe-inspiring thing! Tonight I found out that even my morning coffee is nutritious twice!

From The Rodale Book of Composting;
“The nutrient content of coffee residues varies according to the type of residue. Grounds have up to 2% nitrogen, 0.33 % phosphoric acid and varying amounts of potassium. Drip coffee grounds contain more nutrients than boiled grounds, though the potassium content is still below 1%. Other substances found include sugars, carbohydrates, some vitamins, trace elements and caffeine.
Coffee processing plants sell coffee chaff, a dark material containing over 2% nitrogen and potassium. Chaff is useful either as a mulch or as a compost. Apply your coffee grounds immediately, or mix them with other organic matter. They hold moisture extremely well. Left standing, they will quickly sour, inviting acetobacters (vinegar-producing microbes) and fruit flies.”

How cool is that! My coffee not only gives me a jolt of ambition but is healthy and helpful for my compost and plants too!

Used as fertilizer, the grounds add organic matter to your soil. This helps aerate the soil, feeds any worms and other tiny critters present (and attracts them if you don’t have them already), helps repel ants, improves drainage and increases water retention. I can tell you that adding used, cool coffee grounds definitely attracts worms. I’ve been adding grounds to our garden beds, formerly a mostly sandy mix of who-knows-what, and every year, I’m amazed to see worms happily twisting through the soil.

You want earthworms — their casings are full of micronutrients your plants need to thrive and resist stress. A plant that can resist stress is better equipped to repel harmful insects and short periods of drought.

There are dozens of other ways to make your morning cup help out in the garden, but that’s another post for another time. Do you garden? Let me know in the comments section!

Who Is Eliot Coleman, And Why Should You Know Who He Is?

Who is Eliot Coleman, and why should you know who he is?

He is an American farmer, author, agricultural researcher and educator, and proponent of organic farming. Back around 1969, he taught himself how to farm organically in the sometimes harsh Maine climate and developed the cold climate farming techniques that he's known for. In 1989 he wrote his first book, The New Organic Gardener. It would be one of many that would change the minds and methods of gardeners everywhere, including myself.

Eliot advocates for feeding the soil, thereby manipulating weed growth, disease, plant health and our eventual health as a result. You might say he was organic cool before it was cool. Eliot taught me what sustainable agriculture was, and the hook was set. I've been an enthusiastic student of his ever since, even when I couldn't garden in the traditional sense. In his quest to understand the land better, he has often turned to published works on agriculture in an effort to continually improve his farming methods. A method of learning I've adopted from time to time. Over time, Eliot has become a mover and shaker in the organic world, as well as the market farming community. He is a mighty voice and a well-respected advocate for healthy soil.

So what difference does this make to you, a humble blog-reader?

No matter if you have a backyard garden or a collection of pots where you grow some salad greens on your balcony, Eliot Coleman's wisdom can teach us all about how simple soil can make us healthier people. Over the next few weeks, I'll be studying as much of his written works as possible, discussing them here and trying to understand how I can utilize his wisdom here on our less-than-an-acre property.

Along the way, I'll be writing to Eliot here on this blog, as if he and I were on such terms where correspondence back and forth might be possible. (Yes, I know it isn't) Much like the foundation for 'Letters To A Young Poet' in which ten letters were written to a young man about to enter the German military. His name was Franz Kappus, he was 19 years old, and he wrote to R. M Rilke looking for guidance and a critique of some of his poems.


Or more for my purposes here, 'Letters To A Young Farmer'. This book was written by some of the most influential farmers, writers and leaders of our time. They share their wisdom and insight in an anthology of 36 essays and letters. Barbara Kingsolver speaks to the tribe of farmers—some born to it, many self-selected—with love, admiration, and regret. Bill McKibben connects the early human quest for beer to the modern challenge of farming in a rapidly changing climate. Michael Pollan bridges the chasm between agriculture and nature. Dan Barber, Temple Grandin, Wendell Berry, Rick Bayless, Marion Nestle and more offer advice and inspiration. And in the spirit of this endeavour, I'll be writing the next series of blog posts to not just Eliot but to all these other learned and wise proponents of the land and farming.


So as we settle in for an interesting conversation with Eliot, Barbara, Michael, Marion, Wendell and the rest, tell me...do you garden?

It's Time To Look At Agriculture Differently

Sometimes certain posts, with bits of wisdom that need to be recovered, bears repeating. Here's one that I've had a lot of comments on...

My partner and I were talking about our future one day when she made a statement that still has me thinking weeks later. I was telling her about my plans for the not-quite-an-acre property, and how I plan to eke as much food from it as possible. She nodded and said, "Your job will be growing the food and mine will be preserving and cooking it" Now, obviously there will be more to it, but she has the essence of it right. With the core of our new roles put like that, I realized I can't take a break from learning all I can about agriculture.

John Michael Greer talks about two agricultures in his blog entry, Two Agricultures, Not One 

He talks about how the mega-farming as we know it today is an industrialized and chemicalized version of the intensive farming that fed our ancestors, and he also shares the opinion that intensive gardening is going to help us pad our food shortfall, 

"A team of researchers at pioneering organic-gardening group Ecology Action found, on the basis of extensive tests, that it’s possible to feed one person year round on a spare but adequate vegetarian diet off less than 1000 square feet of intensively gardened soil... In the more troubled parts of the future ahead of us, some of us may have to do just that; a great many more of us will need to be able to garden in order to pad out potential irregularities in a food supply that’s desperately vulnerable, over the short term, to fluctuations in the price and availability of fertilizer feedstocks and fossil fuels. The victory gardens of past wars are likely to be a useful template for the survival gardens of the deindustrial future."

 
I completely agree, and I've begun to see it already. All of that only frustrates me on another level, because here, I can hardly grow anything, facing north and being in shade. So on one hand, I could sit and whine about it, or I could shut up and do something. Months ago, I chose the latter. So it has become my secondary job, if you will, to learn everything I can about growing as much as I can on very small acreage. Starting with the soil. I already knew that compost is better than any chemical fertilizer we can manufacture. It's better all around, for the plants and for the environment, and it goes hand-in-glove with the various micro-environments in one's garden. I've been learning exactly how earthworms break down plant matter, how plants use the nitrogen from the air and how the no-till method is better than churning up our soil every spring and fall. I've also learned quite a bit about why seaweed is a better fertilizer than one that relies on ever-diminishing oil supplies. Did you know that plants require not only the big three (nitrogen, phosphorus and calcium), but also micro-nutrients? Without those micro-nutrients, the plant cannot grow to its true potential, and the resulting food lacks nutrients also. Hence the mystery of the tomato with less Vitamin C.

So, the answer then I think, is to go back to farming, or at least gardening, the way we used to. Those that can need to turn away from chemical fertilizers, away from row gardening, away from the way 90% of all gardening books tell us it should be done. We need to learn all we can about organic gardening, intensive gardening, square-foot gardening, composting, vermiculture, soil tilth, extending the growing season no matter where we live, and the value of the old-style farmsteads. The inter-relations of soil, air, food, animals, trash and what our culture has done to our planet cannot be overstated. But in the end, we will all come to a point where we must put down the books, turn away from the computers and do something about it. More of us need to focus on food production in a way that will not poison ourselves and our environment. We need to get back to basics, we need to take that first step.

Once we take control back over our food, we can begin to take more control over our lives and hand less of ourselves to the government. Once we get back to basics, many of us will need less and be happier with less and realize the folly of our culture's demand for the latest, best and fastest gizmo of the week. (I write this while admitting I spend more time on my computer than I probably should) I also admit that getting back to basics will inevitably improve our health, give us clearer vision when we look at what's going on around us, and in many cases, shift our priorities.
This is only the tip of the iceberg, it's true. We all need to start thinking about what's coming and how we might each be responsible for changing our corner of the world.

What do you think?

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!

Planning, Dreaming and Learning From Eliot

A big part of the fun of growing one's own food is the planning. Gardeners love to studying seed catalogues, plan, modify and change their orders numerous times over the winter season. Then all of a sudden we realize it's almost time to start the seeds indoors and we feel the rush of hurry up and wait! I am not above this condition. In fact, last night at work, I realized my seed planning was far from complete. It hit me suddenly...How many pea plants will I need to fill 48 pint jars? How many tomato plants will we need to fill 64 pint jars? How many tomato plants will fit a 4'X4' bed? How about the peppers? I've had more success in the past  with square foot gardening than with rows, and it's proven you can increase your yields using square foot spacing. So, where I can, that's what I'll be using. I have to try and produce as much food as I can for 7 people, remember. Now, I know that every season my yields will increase as I invest more time, work and TLC into the soil. That first season, we'll be moving part way through the growing season, and thereby lose a big part of growing time. There's not much that can be done about that.

But I have an ever-growing list of projects to keep me busy, and there will be vegetables that will grow in under 60 days. Peas, lettuce, radishes, baby carrots, baby spinach, cucumbers, and beets. Thanks to Eliot Coleman, I've been learning a ton about  season extension. That will make a big difference. I will be planning and implementing a green manure rotation plan as well. There will be new beds to locate and develop, the garden shed to fix up and a spring on the property I'd like to develop as well. I'll need to find a water testing lab for that, as well as cast an eye at potential flow. I'm going to be building on the current water catchment system, and I'd like to improve the current composting system. There are a few basics in place, they really just need some attention to flourish.

But for right now, this is the season of research, education and planning. I've been learning about season extension, organic gardening, market gardens, food preservation and nitrogen. Let's not forget the many facets of companion gardening, crop rotation, organic pest control and increasing one's self sufficiency. I'd like to learn more about ram pumps, water storage and solar power on a small scale.

The hard part is taking it slow.

Why We Need Winter

The Never-Ending blanket

As I write this morning, there is a clear blue sky outside and as of five minutes ago a chickadee was singing happily not far away from my patio. There is barely any snow to speak of outside, only patches  in deep shade, really. It's not cold out, but there is a chill in the air, it is 39 degrees F or roughly 4 degrees Celsius. All in all it feels more like April than January in Ontario! But while part of me worries about the way our seasons are changing and what effect it will have on our grocery bill, I am grateful for a lack of bone-chilling cold. Despite the fact that I am Canadian and despite the fact we are moving further North; I hate being cold. Go figure.
Winter is important though. We need the snow for next summer's water tables, the plants need the rest and the animals need the season so that they can follow their annual internal clocks and migrate...those that do. Gardeners need winter to prepare for the next growing season. You know how much I enjoy the planning, the seed catalogues and the dreaming. As Jacqueline said in response to my last post, seed catalogues are like a little bit of summer in the grip of winter. Even though there is no bone-numbing grip to speak of yet, seed catalogues are nice to use as both entertainment and a gardening tool. (Which reminds me, I'm expecting another catalogue shortly)

Knitters need winter too I think. Winter is a good time to learn new techniques, new stitches and try out new patterns. It's also a good time to look through the knitting basket and asses hibernating projects. I did that recently and I ended up frogging five projects! (For those of you who might not know what frogging is, it's a knitters term for tearing back a finished or unfinished project) All three of our sons have ADD, and we've found that occasionally, knitting helps focus the middle child. He doesn't do more than a few rows of a strip he's working on for a dog blanket, but it helps slow him down and focus his energies; and in the end, some lucky dog will have a warm smooshy blanket. While going through the knitting-basket-from-Hell I also found my own blanket in the works! For a couple of decades I had wanted a multi-square, multi-colored blanket. There were a couple of strips done, a few squares, but nothing much had been sewn together. So, in spite of the hat I've got started and first ever baby sweater that intimidates the heck out of me, I picked up the blanket again. I need a project to work on while I watch television, and it's always been the perfect one. There's a picture of part of it above.

All of this keeps me active during the winter, not to mention those two mile walks I mentioned earlier. On nice days like yesterday (much like today), it's a simple but soul-satisfying joy to walk down to the library and come home with a  few books in the backpack. This weeks reading list includes;
"Accessible Gardening:Tips & Techniques For Seniors and The Disabled" by Joann Woy
"Four Season Harvest" by Elliot Coleman
"How To Grow More Vegetables, Fruits, Nuts, Berries, Grains And Other Crops Than You Ever Thought Possible On Less Land Than You Can Imagine"
by John Jeavons (This is nearly a gardening bible for those who have very little space. Although I hear guerilla gardening is all the rage)
"Tea Bliss" by Theresa Cheung
"The New Organic Gardener" by Elliot Coleman

All that and a few audible books to listen to while the t.v is taken over by cartoons or CNN!
Is there a craft or skill you develop in the winter? What is winter supposed to be like where you live? Is there something you want to work on this winter?

Stay sharp, stay watchful.