Sunday, December 29, 2013

Why we don't eat the best foods available to us

When I grew up we trusted the nutritional "experts" and avoided lard in favor of Proctor & Gamble's money making, 100% trans-fat cotton seed oil, Crisco. They said Crisco was a light vegetable oil that was much healthier for us than lard - we now know it causes heart disease.  Of course, corporations want us to buy their products and eschew natural foods because they made big profits selling their product. Naturally, the USDA supported  big corporations and big agriculture - they were influenced by big business through lobbyists and generous campaign contributions to pliable candidates who would further their profit making agenda. Recipes were created that used cheap, and profitable, grains and commercial products, like Crisco while people paid dearly with money and their health.The challenge today is to make people aware of nature's bounty and create new recipes and food combinations that will nourish and satisfy.  

You can find some wild food recipes at Wildman Steve Brill's site:  http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/

You might also pick up Samuel Thayer's excellent books: Nature's Garden and The Forager's harvest.







Friday, December 27, 2013

Growing your own money - A lazy man's approach

Growing food is like printing your own money.  Done well, you have more fresh nutritious food at your fingertips.  By growing my own food I save on gas (by not traveling to buy food), food and medical bills (by being healthier).  By not plowing, tilling or weeding I save money by not buying garden equipment like tractors or tillers, gas to run them and lots of time.
Gardening can be easy or hard depending on how you do it. After many years of gardening I now don't plow, till or weed - it works for me.
Reading Masanobu Fukuoka and Ruth Stout inspired me to think about changing the way I garden. I have combined their methods to suit my conditions. Because I cannot flood my fields like Masanobu or have deep rich topsoil like Ruth Stout, I have devised an alternate method for my soil type.  Similar to Lasagna gardening, my garden is layered with manure and wood ashes as a micronutrient starter, followed by a heavy layer of sand and topped with rotten hay from bales that farmers discard.  The sand acts as a a dry zone that seems to inhibit weed seeds from sprouting and keeps the soil from compacting since sand does not compact and allows the winter frost to heave the soil up.  Rain cannot pack the soil because it absorbs the force of the rain by vibrating rather than compacting.  Because the soil cannot compact  it eventually becomes loose like the soil you would would find under a porch.  The old hay provides mulch and then rots into the sand making it very loamy.   The results are a very low maintenance garden once you have done the initial work.  I do have some weeds appear but most occur in the fall and spring.  Usually chickweed and dandelions pop up in cooler weather.  I welcome them since I use them in salads and smoothies for a high nutrient boost.
When planting time arrives I either pull the weeds or use a scoop shovel to cut the roots and pile them in a compost pile.  It doesn't take much time to do this since the sand is loose.  I then make a fairly deep furrow to plant seeds in because they need to be able to reach the moisture.  Sometimes watering is necessary to insure good germination.  One summer, however, I had to water weekly because it was too dry.
Once the plants are up I start moving the mulch layer closer and closer.  About 3-6 inches of mulch seems to work for most crops, except potatoes which like a lot more.  Crops that like water should have a thinner layer of sand and a much thicker layer of mulch.  As the hay improves the soil I anticipate less a problem with water retention.  As it is, I am starting with ground that is virtually all clay so I am very pleased.  I also do small raised gardens of carrots, beets, lettuce and parsley.
The sharp edged crushed sand that I use seems to discourage slugs, wire worms and other soil pests.  As I mentioned before the lack of upper layer moisture seems to inhibit weed seeds however maintaining enough moisture is something that must be watched.  I might add that I also plant and save heirloom seeds.