climate and farming

I found a great website that lays out the recent research about how climate change will affect agriculture in the Northeast.  

www.climateandfarming.org  

Some basic ideas I took from it are: 

1. Plants might grow faster & have a longer time to grow in between frost dates, but weeds will grow much faster.

2. Pests & diseases will increase.

3. More frequent intense storms will increase potential erosion.

4. Hot spells will stress livestock.

5. Varieties & even species grown commonly in the NE might have to change.

6. Irrigation systems might be more necessary.

I need to research & learn creative ways to deal with these challenges...  we will see how the years play themselves out.  I think one of the most important principles I plan to follow with my future farm is to grow a large diversity of crops.  So that if one fails, another may succeed, in this unpredictable weather.

mechanical cultivation

This morning I took the Cub tractor out with the "sweeps" on it, to go through the winter squash field again.  The purslane was trying to grow back.  But not anymore!  It was a lovely dry, hot day, and now the only weeds left in this field are between the plants, which we'll have to go through with our hands or hoes and knock out again.

It was challenging to operate the "sweeps".  While steering with my right hand, avoiding hitting any of the squash plants, trying to keep a straight line several inches to the right of the line of plants, my left hand was on the depth adjuster, making sure all the blades were deep enough to scrape every inch of the surface, but not too deep that they would damage the tender roots of the squash.  I made 2 passes on each row in either direction.

Here is one toolbar-- 2 of these get hooked up under the tractor for "sweeping".
I then removed the sweeps & put on the rolling bed-marker.  Nick had been chisel-plowing & rototilling all morning, and we needed to plant into 4 of the beds today, so I marked the beds.
I took the tractor with the basket-weeder and cultivated several rows of carrots, herbs, beans, leeks, and parsnips.

Then I planted, by hand, a 200' row of cucumbers (spaced at 4" apart), and another row of summer squash & zucchini (spaced 8" apart).
And a nice view of the harvest bins, stacked up in the barn.  Every few days we take these out to the field, fill them with vegetables, put them in the cooler, then bring them out to distribute, spray them down with the hose, dry them in the sun, and stack them up again here in the barn.  A nice, satisfying routine.

toast

I just wanted to share this article.  

From CNN.com Tue June 24, 2008

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Exactly 20 years after warning America about global warming, a top NASA scientist said the situation has gotten so bad that the world's only hope is drastic action.

James Hansen, sometimes called the godfather of global warming science, testifies Monday

James Hansen told Congress on Monday that the world has long passed the "dangerous level" for greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and needs to get back to 1988 levels.He said Earth's atmosphere can stay this loaded with man-made carbon dioxide for only a couple more decades without changes such as mass extinction, ecosystem collapse and dramatic sea level rises.

"We're toast if we don't get on a very different path," said Hansen, director of the Goddard Institute of Space Sciences who is sometimes called the godfather of global warming science. "This is the last chance."

Hansen brought global warming home to the public in June 1988 during a Washington heat wave, telling a Senate hearing that global warming was already here.To mark the anniversary, he testified before the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, where he was called a prophet. He also addressed a luncheon at the National Press Club, where he was called a hero by former Sen. Tim Wirth, D-Colorado, who headed the 1988 hearing.

To cut emissions, Hansen said, coal-fired power plants that don't capture carbon dioxide emissions shouldn't be used in the United States after 2025 and should be eliminated in the rest of the world by 2030. That carbon-capture technology is still being developed and is not cost-efficient for power plants.

Burning fossil fuels like coal is the chief cause of man-made greenhouse gases. Hansen said the Earth's atmosphere has got to get back to a level of 350 parts of carbon dioxide per million. Last month, it was 10 percent higher: 386.7 parts per million.

Hansen said he'll testify on behalf of British protesters against new coal-fired power plants. Protesters have chained themselves to gates and equipment at sites of several proposed coal plants in England.

"The thing that I think is most important is to block coal-fired power plants," Hansen told the luncheon. "I'm not yet at the point of chaining myself, but we somehow have to draw attention to this."

Frank Maisano, a spokesman for many U.S. utilities, including those trying to build new coal plants, said that although Hansen has shown foresight as a scientist, his "stop them all approach is very simplistic" and shows that he is beyond his level of expertise.

The year of Hansen's original testimony was the world's hottest year on record. Since then, 14 years have been hotter, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Two decades later, Hansen spent his time on the question of whether it's too late to do anything about it. His answer: There's still time to stop the worst, but not much time.

"We see a tipping point occurring right before our eyes," Hansen said before the luncheon. "The Arctic is the first tipping point, and it's occurring exactly the way we said it would."
Hansen, echoing work by other scientists, said that in five to 10 years, the Arctic will be free of sea ice in the summer.

Longtime global warming skeptic Sen. James Inhofe, R-Oklahoma cited a recent poll when he said in a statement, "Hansen, [former Vice President Al] Gore and the media have been trumpeting man-made climate doom since the 1980s. But Americans are not buying it."

But Rep. Ed Markey, D-Massachusetts, the committee chairman, said, "Dr. Hansen was right. Twenty years later, we recognize him as a climate prophet."

Although this subject depresses me, I don't want to be in denial of it.  Climate change is actually happening, fast.  And I do really believe that if people changed their lives drastically we could make a difference.  I think we all have unique skills that can be utilized in the movement toward a sustainable future.  Take a look at your life-- at your job, at your lifestyle, at the resources you consume, and the potential positive change you could create in the world.  I think these changing times present a call to action-- it feels like some kind of hollywood movie plot, but it's real this time I think.

And as for the whole "greening" of the capitalist world... while using environmentally-friendly products, and even buying "organic", feels good, it's not enough.   We can't create enough change through just our consumer dollars.  I believe that at least.  We need to vote with our lives.  The 24 hours every day we all have.  What are you doing with them?

another beautiful day.

Today we harvested all morning, packed CSA boxes, and then I drove the van to the distribution points in the city.  Upon returning from freeway traffic & so-called "civilization", I was struck by what an amazing piece of ground I live on.  A brief afternoon thunderstorm had passed through while I was gone, and it lowered the heat (85 degrees today) a little, but soon the hot sticky humidity was back, and the golden setting-sunlight made the air just visible.  I took advantage of the moist soil to cultivate (wheel hoe & hands) my row of beans.  After a few minutes sweat was rolling off my nose, chin, back, dripping onto the soil.  I wiped my soil-clogged hands on my brow & swatted flies off my arms.  Oh, summer.  I will remember this moment in December, fondly.

The melons are really sprawling out now, reaching for their neighboring rows.  Remember that melon plants have roots that reach out even further than the surface vines, intertwining with eachother & mycorrhyzal fungi & earthworms & rocks. 

And the first melon-- a cantelope.  The size of a quarter.
And this spunky little watermelon.  May you grow up to be a juicy sweet capsule of water.
The buckwheat Dave planted as the "harvest lane" in the melon patch is huge!  A foot tall already.  And you can see, with this dense planting, how they quickly shade the ground so that no weeds even have a chance at making it. A very efficient cover strategy-- like a blanket, but growing.  And then you can till it in, and have lots more organic matter to improve the soil!
Pests are starting to show up in greater numbers & diversity.  Japanese beetles are among them.  We may set out traps for them soon.  Here are some, mating on an eggplant leaf:
Peppers are big already, but not red.  Not even yellow yet.  (I tried one green anyway, I couldn't wait.  It was good.)
And the first eggplant!  It's about the size of a pea right now.  This variety is an asian eggplant.
And a sneak-peek at the tomatoes.  They are hidden in the middle of the vines, which are quickly sprawling and need more string to support them.
These tomatoes are sungold cherry tomatoes!  They are more lanky in their growth habit, but I think we'll see ripe ones first here, and boy, are there a lot of flowers:
Here's my long-beans, just barely reaching the trellis.  They sure are taking their time.  I hope they grow really fast to catch up, so I can harvest beans for a decent amount of time before the frosts come.  
Scarlet runner beans.  Showing scarlet, and starting to run:
And the prize-winning climbers, the Cherokee Trail of Tears black beans:
You can't see it too well, but the field I plowed last week is breathing up thick steam into the setting sun.  It's almost supernatural.
These are the first batch of baby chicks, looking (and eating) like adult hens these days.  Actually quite a few of them are roosters I think.  No crowing yet.
And the sheep are still enjoying the lush growth of the grasses (and poison ivy) around the farm.  I move them every day to a new spot.  I provide only a bucket of water & they are quite content.  I need a strategy for giving them shade though.  I bring them into the barn during the hottest part of the day, or set up an easy-up tent.  They're quite spoiled actually.  But this would work better if I had larger fields (more sheep) with trees on the edges that I could enclose in the fences every time.  Or if I was grazing them in an orchard, which I envision myself doing in the future.  
A barefoot walk around the farm just before dusk:

perfect soil moisture for...

weeding!    I woke up last night to thunder and lightning, it rained 3/10 of an inch.  Just enough to not have to irrigate anything.... what a relief.

It is really quite enjoyable to cultivate out those pesky weeds around our luscious growing veggies when the soil moisture is perfect.  And as it was a sunny, windy day, the soil was drying out & the little weeds were dying quickly, never again to root.  Ha ha ha!  Grow little leeks, grow cilantro, grow tiny carrots!

Besides all the practical reasons, perfect soil moisture just feels good in your hands.  Like crumbly chewy brownie texture, without the sugary stickiness.  A whole field of it.   Something akin to velvet, but better. 

We also harvested some of the day... kohlrabi & scallions & carrots in the morning.  Washing them in a bin of cold water out in the field as the day heats up and the humidity hangs in the air.  I love my job.  The colors, the smells, the sounds of the crows and the crickets.  

And the fireflies that dance every night in the tall grass.

processing

I picked 12 1/2 pounds of strawberries yesterday, at Thompson Finch farm.  I took the green tops off them, sliced them in half, and put them all in the freezer.  I'm going to have smoothies for life!  And pies & muffins & ice cream toppings...

I also harvested mulberries from a friend's tree.  We held a blanket out under the branches, than someone else shook the tree as they fell.  They're delicious.

I had way too many to eat, so I put some in the dehydrator, with some cherries I got at the farmer's market.  I'm having urges to "put away" food for the winter-- & to see that all this abundance doesn't go to waste.   I don't think a winter of living off frozen spinach & strawberries sounds half bad.  Throw in a couple chickens & a root cellar, and I'm on my way towards self-sufficient homesteading all year round.  

Also, all this beautiful cabbage was just calling out "sauerkraut, sauerkraut!"  so of course I had to obey.   

Let me tell you a little bit about this amazing food & why I love to make & eat lots of it.  Basically as cabbage ferments, the friendly bacteria "lactobacilli" is created, which aids in digestion, increases vitamin levels, and produces beneficial enzymes which promote the growth of healthy flora in the digestive tract.  Studies have been done that show certain compounds created also prevent the growth of cancer.  It has tons of vitamin C, and keeps for a long time-- that's why sauerkraut was taken on sea voyages to prevent scurvy!  Fermented foods have a place in many traditional diets, including German, Japanese, Korean, & Chinese.  

Unfortunately most of what you can buy in the store today is "dead" because it has been pasteurized.  So you get the flavor of sauerkraut, and a lot of salt, without the benefits.  So you have to make it yourself, or support a small local "fermentor".  

When I had to take antibiotics for Lyme disease, the doctor told me I might want to also take "probiotics"... to restore my intestinal flora after the medication kills everything, and to prevent yeast infections & the like.   I think that with everyone on antibiotics these days so much (especially around here for Lyme disease), people should stock up on regular "sauerkraut medicine" to put some friendly bacteria back in our guts.  Yogurt is the most commonly thought of "probiotic" food, but I think sauerkraut's just as good, if not better.  Maybe I'll be making yogurt medicine when I have a cow...

The only ingredients in traditional sauerkraut are cabbage and salt, but you can also add lots of other ingredients, like herbs, spices, etc.  Some people use whey (a bi-product of making cheese) to do a "lactofermentation" but it's not really needed.

I decided to take advantage of the diversity of vegetables & herbs on the farm right now to experiment with different flavors & styles of sauerkraut.

The first step is to chop up the cabbage (and other ingredients).  Sharpened knives make this really enjoyable, and good music, and large bowls.

Then you mix it up with salt (about 1 1/2 tablespoons per head of cabbage), and pack it into jars (or a big crock-- I'm always on the lookout for a nice big ceramic sauerkraut crock in antique stores).  I have this handy little wooden "pounder" that helps me to mush it into the jars, but you can also use your hands, or anything else that might work.  The salt starts drawing out water from the vegetables, and you basically want to press it down until the liquid level rises higher than the veggies.

Then, I put a round stone that fits almost perfectly into each jar, to press down the cabbage and keep it submerged under the brine-water.  Any "floaties" I scoop out from the top--- they will create mold if left there.

The caps I put on just lightly, I don't screw them on.  Basically you want to allow the gases created to escape, without letting in foreign bacterias & molds that will make the batch go "off".

These jars will start to bubble in the next few days, and I will be tasting them for "readiness" after a week probably, or less!

The combinations/flavors I'm experimenting with are:

Cabbage, turnip, carrot, parsley

Cabbage, turnip, carrot, parsley, kohlrabi, scallions

Cabbage, swiss chard

Cabbage, dill

Cabbage, mint, calendula petals

Cabbage, basil

Cabbage, cilantro, scallions

Cabbage, parsley, garlic scapes

Cabbage, purslane

Just purslane (I've heard you can pickle it)

I'll let you know how this experiment turns out!  Ask me if you'd like a taste!

a real summer harvest share

Today I felt like the real bounty had begun.  Enough with the greens, let's get on to heavier vegetables!  Things like cabbage, carrots, & zucchini that require (and build) muscle in the lifting of the boxes.  The beets were just glowing, as were the stems of rainbow chard & the fresh young carrots.  

    

And the round pale-green cabbages & kohlrabis...  crunchy & crisp, full of water & cancer-fighting goodness, these things will make you live forever.

  

I'm really enjoying making food these days... strolling around the farm to see what I'd like to eat, then combining several things with some fresh herbs maybe & chopping, steaming, roasting, marinading, & devouring!