Organic fertilizer!

Most chemical fertilizers and pesticides, herbicides & fungicides kill the micro-organisms living in the soil. Many people call 'living soil' the "Web of Life".

Micro-organisms help the roots access the nutrients in the soil. Having these micro-organisms attract other insects which attract ground beetles, birds and frogs. A living soil is rich in life; worms help break down organic material, as do many insects, and create wormholes which increase drainage. Their castings can be measured in the tons per acre! By applying well-composted compost on top of the soil every spring and fall encourages all these life forms to interact and grow. By using chemicals, most of these lifeforms are killed which creates a domino affect throughout the 'web of life'.

Unfortunately, mainly in the last 50 years homeowners have been told to buy numerous amounts of chemicals and fertilizers. Many of the fertilizers leach, quickly past the roots and onto the watertables and out into our lakes and oceans. We were shamed to have nothing less than a lawn that you find on a golfcourse green.

Today, more and more people are ripping up their lawns and replacing them with edible and indigenous plants that have been bred and acclimatized to their region. Starting with these disease-resistant, hardy plants is an important step in creating a healthy garden.

The first step to having a healthy garden is having great healthy soil. This means to add compost at least once a year, in the spring. Green cover crops are grown to ensure no 'bare' spots are left over winter. Green crops can build the soil with nutrients and organic material as well as stop the disease and pest cycles that occur when the same vegetable are grown over and over in the same location.

Rotate your crops! Divide your yard or property into sections and grow similar plant families in each plot. Many of the plants have different nutrition needs, so many people start one plot for the heaviest feeders, that need the most nutritious, high pH soil. Ther lowest quality soil in one of the beds otr location is devoted to plants that are 'light' feeders or plants that can give back to the soil, like the legume family (peas, beans, vetches, broadbeans). Or potatoes or buckwheat can be grown in these poor soil conditions. If growing potatoes make sure the conditions are more acid and do not add lime. Potatoes are a great way to convert a lawn into beautiful soil, ready for whatever your planting scheme is.

I lay down straw (not hay which has seeds) directly over the lawn. I put down a good 3 to 4 inches. Then I cover the straw with 3" of soil and then place the seed potatoes on top of the soil. I then cover the potatoes with another few inches of soil, and then cover the soil with another 4" of straw. As the potatoes begin to poke up through the staw I lightly cover the new growth with more straw. I continue doing this throughout th growing season. In late August, I can start reaching through the straw to pick the amount of potatoes I need. It is important to allow the roots get any light as it will turn the tubers green, which is toxic. Always cut off any 'green' part of a potato before preparing it for food.

In the early fall, I remove all the potatoes and quickly plant winter rye and a winter vetch. In the spring, these plants will take off, so unless you want to leave the soil fallow for another year, I would cut the plants down and gently hoe them into the soil. In a few weeks, plant a new crop, like peas or fava beans. All the grass and weeds will be converted into a beautiful rich organic material, attracting many beneficial insects and worms.

Many of todays organic growers rely on great compost, while others make their own organic fertilizer. This is a very simple and inexpensive way, especially if you buy the 'ingreiants' from a farmer's feed supply company. You will need to buy organic Alfalfa meal, kelp meal, dolomite lime, garden gypsum, and calcium carbonate.

Mix together: 4 parts of alfalfa meal, 1/2 part of dolomite lime, 1/4 part gypsum, 1/4 part calcium carbonate and 1 part of kelp meal. Some people substitute the kelp meal for rock phosphate or use 1/2 part kelp meal with 1/2 part rock phosphate.

Apply 1 cup per 10 sq. ft. Buy your ingrediants in minimum 50 lb. bags. Garden centres will sell an organic mix or these ingrediants in small 5-10 lb bags but the cost will be a lot more expensive.

This post is getting long so I will add one more point before I sign off:

Attract beneficial insects! Plant feverfew, borage, fennel, parsley, shasta daisies, sedums, elderberries; plants that have small flowers. Allow these plants to go to seed too. These plants attract ladybugs and numerous other insects that attack pests.

Have a water source, like a small pond or a dish of water and lay burlap so the insects and bees don't drown. In the Fall, leave some leaves in a pile and hollow dry stems, with rocks, sticks or ornaments that allow these insects to over-winter.

A Walk in the Park.

Yes, even Cityboy Farmers need recreation! Yesterday, I took my two pals out to our neighbourhood park.

Compost bins for the masses (And classes).

Everyone with a yard needs a compost pile. When I lived in the city, I would see large bags filled with grasscuttings, sitting on the neighbourhood boulevards, ready for pickup and disposal. If I knew the grasscuttings were not the subjects of chemical experiments (weedkillers, roundup, herbicides and pesticides) I would have eagerly grabbed them in a mad frenzy to 'feed' my compost pile. As I mentioned in my last passage, many people do not have a compost pile because they feel it is too much work. Composting is a very easy pursuit and should be taught to children in schools. I imagine a school program that instructs and teaches by putting their lessons into practice.

Imagine a school that had a course that involved all school grades. This practical course could be broken into disciplines:

- a recycling program, where glass, metal, paper and compostible materials could be sorted and properly distributed and 're-used, and/or recycled.
- a recycling, reuse and reduce instruction and practice; this could be a fund-raiser where students 'sell' their crafts & creations made from materials, typically, destined for the landfill.
- a compost program that introduces the science of composting; the understanding of microorganisms, insects, heat, water and air to promote an efficient and fast conversion of recognizable carbon/nitrogen materials into beautiful and beneficial compost.
- a gardening program that builds a fully-functioning garden that supplies fresh herbs, grains, legumes, vegetables and fruit to the school cafeteria
- a marketing course that allows the students to raise money for various goals and projects from the marketing, PR, packaging, distribution and sale of numerous goods created from the above.

I know I was going to talk about Composting but my enthusiasm to give students and young people meaningful tools, that are directly tied into the school's curriculum and learning objectives, is a subject that's dear to my heart.

Burning, dumping, oh no!

Our neighbour piles up all his branches and other wood debris and burns them, every Spring.

Every Autumn, numerous homeowners burn large piles of dried leaves.

I watch as billows of smoke drift across our yards, causing pets, children and me to search for clean air.
These same neighbours spend hundreds of dollars on truckloads of compost.

Is there anything peculiar with these events? Is there a better way?

Yes! These people could be producing their own 'free' compost for thier gardens and keeping our air a little cleaner. Most people associate composts with smell or pests or just think it will be too much work. I can be the first to say that on all 3 counts these are incorrect assumptions.

Compost is easy! If you have a yard, then you'll need 2 kinds of composting devices. The first kind is either a commercial, contained one which is designed for vermiculture--the growth of worms--or a larger one to hold larger, yard trimmings, leaves and small branches.

Vermiculture: All children love vermiculture! It can be done indoors in a commercially purchased bin or a large tupperware bin; or outdoors as long as the worms are insulated from the cold. All vermiculture bins need airholes at the top to allow your worms, and micro-organisms to breath.

Begin by soaking newspaper in water, to remove as much ink as possible. Avoid coloured inks and if possible choose unbleached, uninked brown paper bags. I forgot to say to 'shred' the paper first. Take the brown, shredded paper and squeeze out excess water and place it into the bottom of the bin. Then take a few cups of soil, and slightly mix it into the top layer of the paper. Add some soaked peat moss. Avoid using all soil as it will make your bin really heavy and, as worms are litter-dwellers, they prefer wet leaves or paper. The worms need some 'grit' to help their digestion; this is the reason for adding some soil.

OK! Time to add the worms! Most compost demonstration gardens sell 'red worms', or you could find them in an existing leafpile. Now they will need some food, such as: all vegetable & fruit peelings and scraps. Coffee grounds, filters, teabags, oatmeal, hair, bread and eggshells. Avoid adding meats, oils, or cooked salty foods. Cover with a brown paper bag or uninked brown cardboard; this keeps the moisture in and shields the worms from light. Every week or whenever you have scraps add them to the wormbin. Try to dig down a few inches to cover the food. Soon, you will see the food disappear. If the bin begins to smell then you either have too much uneaten food at the top and should try to bury the scraps under a few inches of paper, leaves, or or cardboard material.

In about 4 to 6 months depending how well you cared for your little 'eisenia foetida' friends, you will need to remove 3/4 of the compost and worms. Producers market this rich compost as 'Black Gold'! Your Black gold can now be used as a topdressing around your plants (keep away all dirt from touching the crown or stem of the plant as this may encourage rot, pests or disease) or placed directly onto your vegetable or garden beds. Or you can sell the BlackGold to your unconverted, leaf-burning, landfill abusing neighbours...

Ok! Time for lunch; I will add more info about outdoor composters and bins later...

Choppin' wood!

In an attempt to convert myself from a 'Cityboy' to a full-fledged Country boy, I not only bought a skookum 4.5 HP chainsaw with a 20" bar but I purchased a 'spiral' steel wedge and a 5 lb. maul/axe. The wedge is a brilliant device, with a spiral twist that forces the wood apart as the wedge is pounded deeper into the wood block. It makes me feel rather competent of splitting large wood rounds. My maul is a monster of an axe, and is designed for splitting wood. Until I moved here, I did not know the difference between a chopping axe and a splitting axe.

In the summer time, I began to cut up and collect wood for our fireplace: our main source of heat. In all the previous years, we had run out of wood around January so I was determined to be fully stocked with wood this year. I cut up about 4 or 5 trees; split them and dried them.

To hold 6 months of wood, I converted the previous owner's jungle gym into a storage unit. Slowly, I filled up rows of beautifully dried maple, fir, and alder wood. In November, when the first real rain came, I found that my converted jungle gym leaked, soaking all my wood. So, I moved half of the wood under the open shed. The wind dried the wood, until it snowed and all the wood is now soaked again with the snowdrifts that covered my wood. I guess the good news is that we probably will not run out of wood this year, as the wood does not burn very fast when it is wet.

Nutrition?

There has been so may 'fad' diets, like Atkins, cabbage soup, South Beach, etc...
And many work, especially weight watchers BUT, many of these diets are not sustainable as too few calories are consumed. The body will slow the metabolism while in this 'starvation mode' and will store the calories as fat once a person goes off the diet and people will typically regain (and more) the weight they lost.
I am not a nutritionist but I have worked with nutritionists for over 20 years and am forced to learn a bit of their wisdom (through osmosis!). Atkins diet basically eliminates carbs, although they have a system called 'net carbs'. Net carbs is basically the total carbs minus the amount of fibre. So if an apple has 21 carbs and 2.6 grams of fibre, the net carbs would be 21-2.6= 18.4 net carbs. The problem with Atkins is it forces a person to increase their fat intake.

Recommendations are not consistent but roughly many agree on the following:
approx. 20% of your calories should come from fat.
approx. 15% of your calories should come from protein.
approx. 65% of your calories should come from carbs.
In the 20% fat total, only 7% of your total calories should come from saturated fat.
So, based on a 2,000/day calorie intake: 7% of saturated fat would be 140 calories divided by 9= 15 grams of saturated fat.
There are 9 calories per gram of fat. The other recommendation is to have 30-50 grams of fibre a day. Most people on an Atkins diet would be getting less than 10. The secret to weight control is not to 'diet' but rather to establish a 'healthy lifestyle' with plenty of fresh veggies, fruit. Low levels of saturated fats, zero levels of trans fats. Low sodium and high fibre and close to 2 litres of water a day. Avoid processed foods, especially fast food and processed meats, like sausages and bacon. These foods are very high in sodium and nitrates. Vegetarians need slightly more protein in their diets than non-vegetarians:
non-vegetarians need approx. .4 grams per lb of body weight.
vegetarians need about .5 grams per lb. of body weight.

Buy low fat milk, cheese. Buy whole grains. Buy deep green and deep orange veggies. Buy deep orange fruits and dark blue/purple fruits, like blueberries, blackberries, raspberries and cranberries. Avoid 'fizzy' drinks. Avoid deep fried foods.

Tomatoes, Tomatoes, Tomatoes!

After years of admiring my Father's tomatoes (I hope that doesn't sound too weird!), I decided to double our area for growing the prized, and expensive vegetable. I collected tomato seeds and bought a number of varieties from our local 'Seedy Saturday' event. The name can falsely mislead the uninititiated, believing 'Seedy Saturday' is a rather decrepit affair, and to be avoided. But nothing could be further from the truth! Our 'Event' attracts over 70, primarily organic, suppliers of seeds. Some suppliers only sell seeds for growing vegetables, while others have various grains, flower seeds and even mushroom cultures & mason bees. This year, armed with over $100 of seeds, I began to plan our garden.

In March, I began to place my tomato seeds into little peat containers with rich, sterilized potting soil. After a few weeks, a spindley little tomato sprout begin to emerge. It is important to keep the little guys in a warm area (60-70 f), with plenty of light and never let the soil dry out. After close to 2 months of babying we had about 36 little tomato plants to place outdoors, during the day. At night we bring them back inside, into the comfort of our home. This process is called 'hardening off', which basically 'hardens' them to the real world, outside-- aclimatizing them. Depending on your zone, planting of the tomatoes, after a week of 'hardening off', can begin in the beginning of May until late June. Most people in zone 6-8 wait until May 24th weekend, as asudden cold spell will either kill the sensitive plants, or stunt them. A stunted tomato plant is not a pretty sight!

Tomatoes love sun! But they don't like their leaves to get wet, so we try to construct a plastic roof over them during the spring or late summer/fall. Some varieties are called 'indescriminate' which means they grow....indescriminately! These are the sprawling kind which needs plenty of room, at least 6 feet to its nearest neighbour. Tomato plants, that are not 'indescriminate' need less space, but still need to be at least 3 feet away. This is a very difficult lesson as when the little plants are only around 8" tall, it is very easy to place the plants too close. If the plants are too close than disease can be transmitted between themselves, as touching leaves collect moisture, creating a nice environment for the various tomato diseases. (The other important task is removing 'suckers' from the crooks of the stems. These will grow tomatoes but they tend to weaken the overall plant.)

By July, we were beginning to think that we planted our tomatoes too late as we had few tomatoes and even fewer flowers, and wondered if would get much produce. Were we ever wrong...

Well, we grew bushels of tomatoes. We had tomato salads, greek salads with tomatoes, tomatoes off the vine; we had so many tomatoes that I began to roast them and make sauce. 375 degree (f) for 1 hour or so. I rubbed the tomatoes, first, with olive oil and added whole garlics covered in olive oil for the last 20 minutes. I then simmered the tomatoes, garlic and carmelized onions for 1 hour or so, removing the tomato skins. I then froze the sauce in tupperware containers or ziplock bags. I made one mistake though; I forgot to label everything. I know, you're thinking "why label tomato sauce". This is a good question but I forgot to mention that I made other recipes with the tomato sauce. The other day I was de-thawing a ratatouille (tomato sauce with garlic, roasted eggplant & red peppers), or at least I thought I was de-thawing ratatouille. It turns out it was curried shrimp with tomato sauce. Now, this wouldn't have been a problem but I was planning to use up the goat cheese.

It is late January and we still have over 50 pounds of frozen tomato sauce or tomato-based sauces in our freezer. My wife has begun to take tums...