A New Garden!

Today I built a 5' x 5' x 8" garden.  It didn't take long but was quite laborious.  And, it's conveniently located right next to the compost bin! I put up a temporary "creature cover" to prevent it from becoming a giant litter box while I wait for the soil to settle.  Then I'll plant my seeds.  And if seeds don't work, I'll just stick some plants in.  Right now I'm planning for cooking herbs, radishes, spinach and beets.

Feeding the World in a Changing Climate

In a recent issue of Time Magazine, there's an article Climate Change and Farming: How not to go hungry in a warmer world.  Drought, increased rainfall, more intense storms, will have varied impacts on agriculture around the world.

New finds

With nothing on my shopping list at this weekend's Winter Farmer's Market, I decided to take the opportunity to "window shop". I learned about two new food items located on opposite ends of the food spectrum. First was sunflower greens (on the VERY healthy end of things). They were crunchy green sprouts growing out of the black sunflower shells. I have no idea what to do with them other than to toss them in a salad. But, they were tasty.

My second find was full of carbs, fat and sugar. And it was delicious! The ladies from Flour Girls Baking Co. in Marion, MA were selling cider donut holes from their truck. Not only did they have fresh cinnamon-sugar cider donuts but also fresh donut holes studded with cranberries. I got 6 holes (3 of each) for $4 and as predicted, they didn't make it home. In fact two didn't even make it to my car. Yummmm.

See what a local Tiverton family did: 2 weeks of eating within a 125 mile radius. Two weeks doesn't sound like a long time but they get extra points for the whole family eating vegetarian.

Honey Bees

Yep, the girl who fell into a yellow-jacket hive one summer wants bees. I've always been fascinated by the social and selflessness of the hive structure. But why now? Earlier this week I attended a showing of Vanishing of the Bees. As you might be able to guess, it was about Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) which has spread across the country. I first learned about this issue in the 2008 book "Fruitless Fall" by Rowan Jacobson. The documentary I watched provided some new theories on why thousands of honeybees are just disappearing and abandoning their hives. One popular theory has to do with pesticides. In case you didn't know, commercial beekeepers don't make their money from honey, they truck their hives cross the country following the crop blooms (almonds in CA, blueberries in ME, and cranberries in MA, to name a few). In the United States, about 100 crop species depend on honeybees for pollination —collectively, these crops make up approximately 1/3 of the U. S. diet, including the majority of high-value crops.

Historically, farmers would spray or dust their crops with a pesticide to keep insects from devouring their plants. Piles of dead bees outside of nearby hives indicated that these beneficial pollinators were also being poisoned. So, chemical companies changed their compounds and delivery method. Now seeds are coated with a systemic (as opposed to a topical) pesticide that stays with the plant throughout its life cycle. Even though the EPA regulates the environmental effects of the pesticides, it is up to the chemical companies to provide the research showing no harm. The company that makes the two kinds of pesticides of most concern has indeed tested the effect the chemical has on adult honeybees. Reports shows that there is no adverse effect. What isn't tested is what happens once that honeybee takes that treated pollen and nectar back to the hive and feeds it to her brood. Some apiologists (those that study bees) and beekeepers believe that the systemic pesticides have an unknown effect on the central nervous system of the larval bees that may present itself in the current or next generation. Maybe the bees fed the pesticide-laced food have weakened immune or nervous systems, causing them to become disoriented and thereby leaving the hive. Maybe the combination of different pesticides has a damaging effect.

Here's another piece of the puzzle. Europe had a similar threatened bee population 10 or 15 years ago called mad bee disease. However, the European regulators take a "better safe than sorry" approach when it came to pesticides. Questionable chemicals were pulled off the market and the honeybee population has rebounded. Hmmmm.....

So that's what I've learned from the movie which got me thinking about starting my own hive in a year or two. And here's a link to the RI Beekeepers Association.

Can it be true? A second post about oysters? You betcha! I finally made it to the Matunuck Oyster Bar this week. As I saddled up to the bar, I got a briefer on the raw bar spread out in front of me. Moonstone Oysters from Pt. Judith Pond, and a pile from Ninigret Pond and some from Matunuck. Very relaxed atmosphere but THE place to go in the area if you want fresh local seafood and shellfish.

The Lexicon

A sign at Dave's Market advertising native peppers and eggplants started me thinking. What's the difference between "native" and "local"? In the absence of those words, does "organic" have the same impact on shoppers? Does one term trump another in the produce aisle or at the farm stand?

Native species (think plants and shellfish) are those which occur naturally or have existed many years in an area. By definition, bringing in exotic species and cultivating them for a short time does not make them native. It may however make them "local".

As it applies to food and other goods, the term local covers a flexible area. The most popular measurement is the area within a day's driving distance. A more restrictive area may include only a city or state. Local food systems emphasize sustainable practices and the concept of buying locally produced goods supports the local economy.

Without splitting hairs, I think that the terms local and native are used interchangeably. Maybe the market is becoming saturated with the word local and so the term native pops out more.

And then there is "organic" which does not reflect where an apple came from, but rather the practices used (or not used) to grow the apple. Organic may have been a precursor to "local" in terms of people thinking more about the food they are eating. At farmers' market I have seen local organic produce but it sometimes is more expensive. Even though some farms practice organic farming, being certified as organic can be a costly annual process. In Rhode Island, the application/update fee is $200 annually.

Up in Maine, a lobsterman talks about how "local" trumps "organic" in Portland because people want to support businesses in their own community. In the end, learn about how your food gets to the table.