Nipples On a Breastplate, Or A Pickle?

While I work on a post chronicling pickles from hell, I wanted to share this little tidbit with you. It nearly made me spit my coffee across the room. I hope the rest of your day is laced with equal amounts of humor!

"The man is as useless as nipples on a breastplate."

George R. R. Martin

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!

Putting Our Money Where My Mouth Is

Yesterday was a small adventure day for us. Every now and then, we like to take the bus up to Waterloo and hit one of my favorite seed stores, Ontario Seed Company. One of our favorite restaurants, Cora's, is right across the road and we always stop there for breakfast or lunch. (If you ever have the opportunity to eat at a Cora's, you really should! Their dishes are like no other breakfast or lunch you've ever had for these prices!) We went with a small four page list of seeds to get for both us and my Mother, and I would say we got at least three of those pages. We also found a mortar and pestle that my darling partner had been wanting.  Actually it was a set of three mortar and pestles, so I would say she's set for a while now. We got flower seeds (corn poppy, california poppy, morning glory, shasta daisy, salvia, and two different kinds of impatiens). We got vegetables and a fruit (iceberg lettuce to add to our growing collection of lettuces, cabbage, collards, onions, more peppers, zucchini, broccoli, pumpkin and cantaloupe) We also started our herb collection off with lavender, lemon balm, rosemary,  arugula, and purple coneflower, which is also known as echinacea. As if all that wasn't enough, we also wandered a few blocks in search of a store that sold a certain type of bag that Betty wanted. I knew she wanted one that had a woven, ethnic, "Himalayan-look", but with a zipper for security and a long strap so she could wear it across her body. I commented to her that if Ten Thousand Villages didn't have one, no one would. You're probably giving me the same questioning look she did. To explain,
"Ten Thousand Villages is an organization which sells handicrafts from “developing” countries through its network of stores in Canada and the USA, as well as hundreds of annual Festival sales. Ten Thousand Villages is a program of Mennonite Central Committee, a relief and development organization working in more than 50 countries around the world. Ten Thousand Villages has its roots in the work begun by Edna Ruth Byler in 1946." Even better is the fact that the artisans all belong to collectives, which gives them bargaining power, and the fact that the craftspeople are paid half when the order is placed and half before the finished order ever leaves their country. It's good to know my money isn't lining some crooked politicians pocket!

I like the fact that they put the producer before the product. This isn't Wal-Mart. You won't find items made by 12 year olds forced to provide for their families in horrible conditions for pennies a day. Now I'm not implying that Wal-Mart supports sweat shops, but think about it, how else do you think they can offer the products they do at those prices all the time? Not accusing, just sayin' ... think about it. So anyway, in we went and I immediately saw a bunch of things that appealed to me, not the least of which was the wooden cabinets and tables made from abandoned and reclaimed wood. These pieces had class, style, character and they were made from more solid wood than your average $25 entertainment unit. I loved them! While Betty shopped for a bag that was exactly what she wanted, I came across the perfect coffee mug. It was hefty in my hand, it felt solid and it held a serious amount of coffee! I am VERY particular when it comes to my favorite mugs. They must have style, heft and look damn good too. I found one. (No Betty, this does NOT mean you can throw out my brown one with the broken handle)

Even better than how this feels is that I know who made it! "Drink your morning coffee from this stunning ceramic mug and contribute to the well-being of talented artisans from India. Moulded from clay by the skilled hands of local artisans, this mug is characterized by its deep blue hue, stylized motif and perfect glaze. A mug of style and substance."
Indeed!


So we got a good supply of seeds for the next few growing seasons, had an awesome lunch and even got to support craftspeople in developing countries. We ate well, provided for our future sustainability and shopped politically.
I'd say that's putting our money where our mouthes are!

One Last Argument For Food Control

As a part of this series on food, and my arguments for taking control of it back, I'd like to give you something else to think about, something to "chew on" as my Grandfather would have said. The food guides of both the U.S and Canada recommend certain serving sizes of fruits and vegetables, meats, grains and so on for optimum heath, right? Not many of us really try very hard to achieve those culinary goals, but some do. It takes some creativity to eat anywhere close to those food guides, and if you have a picky eater in the family, then you REALLY have your work cut out for you! But some of you may be surprised to find those fruits and vegetables we've been told to eat are NOT as healthy as we've been allowed to believe. Now before you splutter in protest, hear me out. In 1963, the USDA, or United States Department of Agriculture released a collection of nutrients found in all sorts of foods tested. In 2001 they updated their information as certain foods had been tested again. This is pretty much an ongoing process.
(If you're feeling especially brave, you can try and slog through all the government-speak and data yourself Nutritive Value of Foods) But to share just a small part of a near-overwhelming amount of information, our veggies ain't what they used to be.

From 1963 to 2000 the common field tomato has changed.  It is no longer a bastion of vitamin C. In fact, the tomatoes level of vitamin C have fallen by an alarming 41.66%, it's vitamin A has dropped by 29.75%, the calcium so important for our bones has dropped 33.3%, the potassium has fallen 3.5% and magnesium has plummeted 22.91%. Due to information laws, the U.S government isn't trying to hide this information, but I went looking and let me tell you, it's not easy to find either!

I find it a little disturbing that the National Academy of Sciences has issued a statement saying it now takes twice as many vegetables to get our daily requirement of vitamin A as it did before. But how many people know that? Did you see it in the news? I didn't. Neither your government nor mine want us to know about this, because then a good many of us would get upset and start demanding answers. They don't really want to be put on the hot-seat, so they don't make the information easy to find. They don't want you to know that vitamin A and calcium have plummeted by almost 50% in that serving of broccoli they say you should eat. Cauliflower isn't much better. It has nearly 50% less vitamin C, thiamin and riboflavin. That's why our breads are all enriched. The food manufacturers are trying to make us think they're looking out for us, but really, they're only putting back what our other foods are lacking!
 
This isn't news, I've written about this before.  Who Killed My Tomato? This is an issue that has some far reaching consequences. If your daily intake of vegetables is less than you should be eating, and the vegetables themselves are lacking vitamins, then how many nutrients are you really getting? Less than you think. You aren't going to start eating twice what the recommended value is if you weren't eating enough veggies in the first place. So you just go on with your life, wonder about it occasionally and carry on as best you can. There's no shame in this, most of us do this. But I'm calling on you today to do something different. Start asking questions. Go to the library or the internet, or both, and start reading all you can find on nutrients in your food. Find out how the food is grown, harvested, processed and shipped. Ask more questions. No question is too stupid. As hard as it may be, watch the Food Inc. video, or borrow the book. Read it. Try not to throw it against a wall when you become educated and enraged. And you will. As one good friend says, let me set your expectations early. You will not like what you learn. You will be appalled at how your food is raised, grown, prepared and shipped. You will be disgusted when you find out how your roasted chicken lived and died. You may swear, cry and throw up. I know one person who did.

But we all need to take this uncomfortable and painful journey. Going vegetarian is not the answer unless you need to be for health reasons. But if that is your reality, you'll need to know this information all the more. We all need to know what we're eating and how it becomes our food. We need to know the good with the bad. We need to know about the people that make it our food. There are some horrible labor practices that accompany that bag of apples you bought from the grocery store. We need to know about that too, because every time we remain silent, we allow those practices to continue. Practices such as

• Working 12 to 15 hours without overtime or holiday pay
• Denial of necessary breaks
• Use of dangerous chemicals/pesticides with no safety equipment, protection or training
• Unfair paycheque deductions for EI and other services in cases where workers get little or nothing in return

That's just the tip of the iceberg. That's not some foreign, visually oppressed country, either. That happens in Canada and the U.S too.

So, over the past few days, I've offered a lot of reasons why we should take back control over our food. The next step is to DO IT. Do it politically with our votes, letter writing, making sure the food producers understand we want change. send the message with our money, with our voices and with every resource legally at our disposal. Do it with our actions by putting our money where our mouths are. A part of this includes learning how to access food that is raised humanely, sensibly and with care. Part of the solution is more education, at least in WHO to fight and why. Another part of the solution is to learn how to take back control by learning how to grow, raise and process our own food.

It's all going to be a long, bumpy ride, but I promise you, it's worth it. You'll feel empowered, educated, more satisfied and less worried about what we're feeding our families and each other. Are you ready?

An Argument For Food

I've written here before about the declining to almost non-existent nutritional value of our food.  I've gone on at great length about the declining taste in our food, and my theory that this declining taste is the reason so many use so much salt. (Even if you cut back on the salt at home, have you read the sodium levels of "convenience food"? It's enough to make me stop eating at work!!) Yesterday I wrote about the need to go back to growing our own food. Not just for control over our own food, but also to control what we put into our bodies. Sodium is only a part of that. All this really started for me when a co-worker became pregnant and had to start watching how much sodium, caffeine and sugar she ingested. She was near-rabid about it, and the topic of nutrients came up repeatedly at work. Before long, we were all looking at those nutrient labels, and we were all appalled. In one submarine sandwich, there was 115% of the daily recommended allowance of sodium! In one sandwich! In a frozen, throw-it-in-the-microwave-and-zap-it meal there sodium levels ranged anywhere from 25% to 80%, depending on the producer. The conversations turned then to what we can do about this.

I've always said we need to express our wishes with our money, and this is no exception. Don't buy the frozen, high fat, high sodium meals. Bring your own lunch from home. Include in that lunch more fruit, more vegetables, more water, more juice. Last night's leftovers, maybe you made apple muffins or cookies, or your soup you made from scratch. Make your own submarine sandwiches, wraps are so versatile it's hard to get bored, roasted vegetables are always a treat. I know one industrious soul who makes her own bread bowls and somehow manages to fill them with stew and take them to work without making a mess. I'm not that talented, but I eat from home as best I can. Meatloaf, barbeque chicken, homemade biscuits and gravy, soups, stew, wraps, cookies...whatever we have available. Even homemade mac & cheese. Ever look at the nutrition label on a box of KD? I love cheese, even though I shouldn't have much of it. When I get the yearning for smooth, melty macaroni and cheese, 90% of the time, we make it at home. Very little, if none, sodium. There's no mysterious powder to wonder about, and I'm the envy of my co-workers. Even an ordinary sandwich can be livened up with a handful of clover sprouts that you grew. Full of vitamins, minerals and sunshine, those sprouts can take a sandwich from boring to cool in only a few days. The best part is that you don't need a southern exposure to grow them, either.

No matter how we grow our own food, controlling what we put into our bodies will have profound effects. More nutritious food, allowed to ripen in the sun if possible and not picked green, builds better bodies. When we started down this footpath of better health, I didn't notice anything at first. I didn't notice more energy or better skin or anything of that sort. But let me go on record right now as saying we're not perfect. We slipped a few times. It's cheaper to buy crap-food, I'll admit, and we've all done it. After a little while of nipping out for lunch, a few days of not having herbal tea but Coke and Pepsi instead and not paying attention to what I was putting in my body, I was draggin' ass. I was tired all the time, I had no get up and go, no zip, no pep. I wasn't interested in anything, couldn't concentrate... you get the idea. I suspected there might be a link. (Feel free to roll your eyes here) So I went back to drinking more herbal tea, more water and eating fruit and yogurt more often. I found I needed to nap less (I work late into the night, so my sleep schedule is already compromised), it was a little easier to concentrate at work and I wanted to walk more. As a side benefit, I was having fewer asthma attacks. Coincidence? I think not.

So, in conclusion, taking back control of our food, how it's grown and processed and how we eat it is all within our best interests. Better health is something we're all entitled to, no matter what country we live in, our economic situation, or our family dynamic. I firmly believe that decades of nutrient deficient food has made us sicker, weaker and less vital. We can start reclaiming our health one meal at a time, one ingredient at a time, one person at a time. If you can't grow your own tomatoes because you face north and get no sun, like me, look into sprouts. They're the easiest green to grow ever. If you are able, start buying at Farmer's markets. Not only can you actually speak to the person who grows your food, but you'll be supporting local growers and producers. If you want a local food system, help create one. We need to take back control over our food, take back control over our health and in such uncertain times, every little bit of reclaimed control makes us stronger.

Tomorrow, a look at using food stamps in the U.S for seeds and food producing plants! (Thanks to Jacqueline for the heads up!)

Beat The Flood! Take That Power Outage!

Do you still have spring in your neck of the woods? Or maybe it feels more like summer? We're still enjoying mild spring here, and while there is a part of me that is worrying about August, I love being able to be warm in these last few days of March. All winter, I've been doing research into extending my growing season; both being able to start early and finish late, and have the veggies survive this. The other day it occurred to me that if we're this mild now, what about August? Some veggies bolt in heat, so then I began to wonder if I shouldn't be looking at ways to keep my veggies from baking in the ground! We're getting pretty good at thinking outside the box around here, and we certainly can't afford rows and rows of shade cloth, as much as I'd like to. So on a walk one day, I got to wondering what could be acquired inexpensively for a person such as myself, who is trying to provide relief for hot plants.

In every thrift store I see sheer curtains. I myself have gotten rid of a few in my time. But I wonder now if they might be sewn together, even by hand, and then rigged into some fashion of row cover. A frame could be built fairly easily from small saplings, cast off branches or the like and then the homemade row cover applied over top. But how to keep those sheers where you want them, and not off  into the next yard or the swamp? Hose, cut into 4 or 6" lengths, and then split lengthwise, can be used as a poor mans clamp. Again, there are lots of thrift stores out there that may have hose, or even something similar that sparks your imagination. Think outside the box. Think repurposing. Think, 'how can I use this to keep it out of the dump?'
Now I'm not proposing you become a pack-rat, just start thinking of the things you see in a new way. The more we can keep out of our dumps and landfills, the more we can use what's already been manufactured, the more money we'll save.

What kind of spring weather do you have where you are? Is your area susceptible to violent spring thunderstorms? Does your area flood frequently? Are you  at the mercy of road traffic? Do you have frequent power outages? Now might be a good time to go poke through your cupboards. Go ahead, I'll wait.

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Ok, now that you've done that, ask yourself, 'if I was cut off from the grocery store, would I be able to eat for three days?' Think about what you like to eat. Do you eat out more than at home? Do you excel at box meals that require only a microwave? Let's think outside that box for a moment. Even hamburger helper can be broken down. It requires meat, ok, but the price of beef is going up, we don't want to break the bank cooking at home. Do you have access to ground chicken? You can mix ground chicken and ground beef, or use only ground chicken if you'd like. There's very little taste difference anyway, at least with store bought meat. So you have meat, now think about your favorite pasta. Egg noodles? Scoobi pasta? Elbows? Bow ties? Whatever your favorite, that's the one you want to get. Next, you want to get a can or two of your favorite vegetables. Peas, carrots, corn, okra, beans...whatever your favorite veggie is can be dropped into your special dish. Don't forget to get a manual can opener! An electric one won't do much good if your in the grip of a four hour long power failure and you're hungry! So that's one idea for dinner. But what if you live in an apartment, like me, and when the power goes off, your stove won't work? That's a whole new level of creativity. Can you operate a small camping stove out on your balcony or patio? Do you have a barbeque? You'll want to make sure you have an alternate way to cook or reheat your food.

What about water? Let's say you need a gallon a day for drinking. Add a bit more for washing, even just what we call a bird bath. (Wet washcloth, scrub any potentially stinky areas). Do you have pets? Add some water for them too. I still find it outrageous that a lot of folks pay hard earned money for something that falls from the sky. Rarely will you ever see me buying bottled water. Save your milk jugs, pop bottles, juice jugs or whathaveyou. The bigger, the better. Rinse them out well, remove the labels if you can and put a capful of regular home-use bleach into the jug/bottle. Not the lemony kind of bleach, mind you, just regular, run of the mill bleach. Fill the container with warm water, the warmer the better, and give it all a swirl. Put the cap back on, turn the vessel upside down to make sure the upper parts are disinfected too. Dump that out, maybe your toilet can use the added clean, and rinse the vessel very well with repeated fillings and rinses of water. If you don't mind your tap water, you can fill your jug or bottle with that. We use a water jug with a built in filter here (which reminds me, I need to get a replacement filter for it), and I fill our jugs and bottles from the filtered water. I date the bottles with permanent marker and set it side somewhere out of the way. I doubt I have enough to last a month, but I know we'd all have enough water to last a week anyway.

So now, in theory, you've thought about food, water and a way to heat that food. You might want to invest in some candles for light too. There are a gazillion choices out there, from the scented variety to the basic emergency style. No matter which you get, always think about candle safety. Make sure those candles aren't tippable. If flashlights are more your style, there are plenty of sturdy LED flashlights and lanterns out there. Next time you're shopping or mall crawling, wander through a store that has sports equipment or camping equipment. Keep a thought for quality and safety, always. There are so many choices out there, you don't have to compromise safety or cost for quality.

I hope all this has gotten you thinking about how to beat your next power outage, wash out, flood or whatever might put a crimp in your daily life. It never hurts to be ready for anything that might come our way.

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.