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Shop locally for Thanksgiving

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I was just reading World Ark (Heifer Int’l’s magazine) and discovered  the website www.localharvest.org. I just took a peek and it’s a really wonderful resource. You can search for farms, CSAs, farmer’s markets, restaurants and grocery/co-ops (that serve or offer locally grown food) near you. You select which category you are interested in and put in your zip, city or state and they list the resources closest to you. This includes produce and grass-fed meats. And just in time for Thanksgiving, there’s even a separate button for organic heritage turkeys.

They also have an online store to find great things you can’t find locally such as maple syrup, dried fruits and nuts, wool, honey, coffee, etc.

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Backyard Harvest

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It’s always been my dream to have a sunny yard where I can grow my own fruits and vegetables. Unfortunately my little garden in Brooklyn has quite a bit of shade and the soil is questionable. I have certain areas where I have brought in good compost and grow herbs, but other than that I stick to mostly non-edibles.

So when I went to France to visit my father last week, I was very happy to hear that the olives were ready to be harvested. My father has 6 young trees on his property, which doesn’t seem like a lot. It took my sister and me hours to pluck the massive quantities of olives from those trees.

Instead of curing their olives, they have them pressed into olive oil. Their area of France is set up for pressing both olives and grapes. If you have enough of either, you can have your own pressing. If you don’t, like my father, you piggyback with a friend’s harvest. It takes approximately 7 kilos of olives to make 1 liter of oil. We didn’t weigh our harvest, but the baskets were extremely heavy. 

When you see the French handpicking their olives, they usually lay a sheet down under the tree to catch the falling olives. That is something I will definitely do next time as we lost quite a few in the lawn. My sister and I enjoyed the experience and I am looking forward to tasting the olive oil that comes of it.

In the first photo below there’s a very old tree that is growing in a friend’s garden. Olive trees grow very slowly and in the mid 1950s there was a terrible frost that mostly killed all of the trees in the region. The trees recovered and sent up new shoots. If you look closely, you can see the old trunk from what didn’t survive the frost and the new shoots are what’s grown in the last 50 years.

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Today is America Recycles Day

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Saturday is America Recycles Day; Recycle, reduce greenhouse gas emissions / U.S. EPA encourages public to do its part, find ways to increase recycling

Contact Information: Wendy Chavez, 415/947-4248, chavez.wendy@epa.gov 

(11/14/08) (SAN FRANCISCO) — Trash can or recycling bin? It’s your choice. As America Recycles Day approaches, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency encourages people to think about increasing their recycling rate to conserve resources and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

November 15 marks the eleventh anniversary of America Recycles Day, a day dedicated to encouraging Americans to recycle and to buy recycled products. More than 35 states are holding America Recycles Day events, with state and local governments, non-profit organizations, and large industry partners promoting recycling efforts. America Recycles Day is supported by the National Recycling Coalition and sponsored by the U.S. EPA.

“Recycling is a great way all Americans can help fight global warming and protect the environment,” said Jeff Scott, the EPA’s Waste Division director for the Pacific Southwest region. “On America Recycles Day, we encourage everyone to learn about opportunities to do even more.”

The EPA’s new 2007 Municipal Solid Waste Characterization report shows Americans recycled and composted 85 million tons of the 254 million tons of total municipal solid waste produced in 2007. Each person produced on average 4.6 pounds of trash per day. Recycling increased slightly over 2006, when people recycled and composted around 82 million tons of the 251 million tons of total municipal solid waste produced.

Opportunities to increase recycling include:

University student recycling competition: This month RecycleMania opens registration for colleges and universities to compete on their waste reduction and recycling efforts. In this 2009 national competition, schools can be recognized for the highest recycling rate or the largest amount of recyclables per capita. During the 2008 competition, 58.6 million pounds were recycled and composted, preventing the release of 25,342 metric tons of carbon equivalent greenhouse gas emissions — the equivalent to eliminating the annual impact of 15,439 passenger cars; the electricity use of 11,165 homes; or the burning of coal for 440 railcars.

Go beyond recycling – compost: In addition to paper, bottles and cans, recycling also includes composting food and green waste. About 25 percent of what is still sent to landfills is food and green waste that can instead be composted and turned into a beneficial soil amendment and great nutrient in your garden. 

Recycling certification training: To learn more about recycling, the California Resource Recovery Association is offering a professional certification training program this year. The training, partially funded by a U.S. EPA grant, provides classroom courses, testing, and guidance on how to implement a recycling or composting program. Recycling provides economic benefits by reducing costs to businesses and creating jobs. The American recycling and reuse industry is a $200 billion enterprise that involves more than 50,000 recycling and reuse establishments, employs more than 1 million people, and generates an annual payroll of approximately $37 billion.

For more information on America Recycles Day, visit: 
 http://www.nrc-recycle.org/americarecycles.aspx 

For more information on RecycleMania, visit: 

http://www.recyclemaniacs.org 

For more information on composting, visit:
 http://www.epa.gov/region09/waste//organics/index.html 

For more information on Recycling Professional Certification:
 http://www.crra.com/certifications/index.html 

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Compost 101

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photo by Susan Heller

photo by Susan Heller

A lot of people are very interested in composting, but find the process too intimidating. With a few pointers, it’s really very simple. In this lesson I will assume that you have an outdoor space for your compost. We will have a lesson in composting indoors coming up shortly.

How do leaves, berries and other organic matter turn to soil (or compost) in nature? They get rained on and start to decay. What’s the difference between breaking organic matter down at home versus in the wild? Nothing much just some time and energy. If you have a big yard, you can have one or more piles in an out-of-the-way area and let nature slowly break them down. This process could take a year or more depending on what you put on the pile. However, many people don’t have that kind of space or patience.

So let’s assume you have some outdoor space and want a contained pile that will produce rich compost more quickly. There are many online sources to find compost bins. Many cities have compost programs in which they give or sell (at reduced prices) compost bins. This is mutually beneficial because while you get a free or inexpensive compost bin, they don’t have to haul away as much garbage. About 60% of everyone’s garbage consists of organic matter that could be composted. It’s a shame to throw this into a landfill when you could turn it into rich soil for your plants. The New York Sanitation Department has a partnership with the Brooklyn Botanic Garden to subsidize compost bins and classes. This wonderful project is facing the axe of budget cuts unfortunately. The bins are still less expensive than many commercial sites. If you live in the NYC area, you can email them for information about purchasing their bins at compost@bbg.org.

Some online sources for compost bins:

www.composters.com

www.compost-bin.org

www.gardeners.com

Or, you could build your own:

  • Take a galvanized trash can and punch holes in it. This compost bin is the best solution if you are at all worried about attracting rodents.
  • Or follow the directions on this website, which shows several different types to build.

The most important thing to remember in the beginning is that the organic material you toss in your compost bin will eventually turn into compost no matter what. Short of shellacking your leaves, there’s really nothing to prevent them from breaking down into soil, so don’t worry about messing up the process. They are going to decay and break down without you, so you don’t need to dig into the nitty gritty too much to compost. If you are type-A like myself, you will want to know about the bacteria and fungi that are involved with the process, but let’s keep things simple for now. We want to get you started and help prevent some common problems.

There’s a whole list of things that you can put into your compost pile, but let’s first talk about what should not go in. 

DO NOT ADD:

  • Meat or Fish – This will stink and attract rodents.
  • Dairy
  • Oily foods – Oil coats the food preventing the bacteria from getting to the food and doing their good work.
  • Pet feces -Dogs, cats and other meat-eating animals carry a host of diseases that won’t break down in a backyard pile. Some cat litter says it’s compostable and it is if there’s only urine in it. But maybe you shouldn’t even go there. 
  • Inorganic/manmade materials – Rubber bands, metal twist ties, plastic, metal or anything that will last on the planet longer than our grandchildren.

GOOD TO ADD:

The short answer for what to put in is basically everything else and some water. You can certainly make compost with this much information. The stuff that follows just adds a bit of information to make your scraps turn into soil faster and avoid smells. I’m breaking the good stuff into two parts: green and brown.

Add GREEN materials such as: 

  • Vegetables
  • Fruits
  • Grass clippings
  • Animal manure – From non-meat eating animals such as horses or chickens. Chicken poop is very high in nitrogen, which makes it an excellent choice
  • Coffee grounds
  • Bread
  • Old flowers
  • Weeds – Avoid weeds that have gone to seed as they will flourish in your compost and then grow wherever you spread it in your garden.

Add BROWN materials such as:

  • Leaves
  • Egg shells
  • Sawdust
  • Tree branches – Avoid ones that are too big as they will clog up your pile for a very long time.
  • Unbleached napkins and paper towels
  • Newspaper
  • Wood ash – Ash from charcoal shouldn’t be used.
  • Lint from the dryer or vacuum cleaner bag

Green materials have a lot of nitrogen in them, which helps them decay faster, but can smell in the process. Brown materials have a lot of carbon in them and take longer to decay, but don’t smell. Try to mix some green materials with some brown materials to give you the best of both worlds. You generally want slightly more browns (60%) than greens (40%), but don’t lose sleep over the ideal proportions. If your compost bin is smelly, add some more material from the brown list.

After you’ve added your kitchen and yard scraps you should add some water and mix everything up. You can use a pitchfork or a more specialized comport crank. I use a compost crank that looks like a giant corkscrew. The ideal wetness of a pile is often described as being as wet as a wrung out sponge. You can decide how often you want to add water and turn the pile. The more often you do, the faster the process will be. But if you go away on vacation, you don’t need to find a compost sitter. The pile will continue to decompose on its own. There are products on the market that claim that they will speed up the process so much, you will have finished compost in 14 days. That’s a bunch of snake oil as far as I’m concerned.

Well, that’s pretty much it. You should have beautiful rich garden soil in about 3-6 months. You will also find plenty of earthworms and other little creepy crawlies. They are big helpers in the process and shouldn’t be seen as pests. When you sprinkle the finished compost on your garden, they will only help to enrich the soil. Have fun with your composting. Spread the word. And bask in the knowledge that you are doing a big part in making your part of the world greener and healthier.

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Eating Locally in France

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My father lives in the South of France, which to me is one of the most beautiful parts of the world. The landscape has orange/red craggy rocks, deep blue skies and lots of silver foliage in the form of olive trees and lavender plants. With fields of lavender and sunflowers it’s no wonder that many painters such as Van Gogh were inspired to paint the scenery. They even mine ochre for paints from the deep red soil in a nearby area.

 

Besides the lovely sights, the food is fresh, local and delicious. Although you are starting to see asparagus from Chile and grapes from Spain, you still find an overwhelming amount of local produce, cheese, bread and charcutrie. Farmers and artisanal bread bakers and cheese makers are treated with respect. The French love their food and take a great source of pride in living in the country or specific region where it is produced. When Cavaillon melons are ripe, they are the pride of the local town markets. Slices of sausages and cheese are proudly offered for tasting, because they know that if you have one taste you won’t be able to refuse buying. This is the ultimate place for eating locally.

My father lives in the tiny town of Lorgues, which is about 45 minutes north of Nice and about an hour from Aix en Provence. The town is tiny, and yet they have a big market day every Tuesday. I went today. Feast your eyes on this bounty.

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Why Chickens?

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When I tell people I keep chickens in my backyard in Brooklyn, NY most people think it’s cool or interesting. There are some who are visibly horrified. No doubt they think I have a smelly poop-filled yard. Visions of Dorothea Lange photos during the Great Depression fill their heads. Since they usually aren’t interested in visiting, I get to show my more open-minded friends and acquaintances. 

 

 

  • I’ve always been interested in composting and gardening. Chicken manure is one of the best sources of nitrogen for the garden. 
  • I started to think about buying locally grown produce. Last summer I read Barbara Kingsolver’s book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. In a nutshell, she and her family decide to try and grow most of their food for one year. What they couldn’t grow or raise themselves, they wanted to know the farmers who did. It’s a fascinating story that involves the whole family. The youngest daughter decides to keep chickens and sell their eggs to pay for their feed. I found that part very endearing. There’s also a hilarious part about raising heirloom turkeys and trying to unravel the mysteries of turkey sex. The reason it’s a mystery is because almost nobody breeds turkeys anymore. They artificially inseminate the birds and then hatch the eggs in an incubator. Their mothering instincts are bred out of them. I found this disturbing, which led me to read the next book.
  • The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan. This book is about the industrialization of the food supply in America. There is a wonderful description of Polyface farm and Joel Salatin who runs it. The way he raises animals to work in harmony with each other. For instance, he puts chickens in the field 3 days after his cows have moved out of it. Why does he do this? Well, flies have laid eggs in the cow flops and have hatched into maggots. The maggots are nice and fat (but not ready to fly yet) after a few days, which is just the way chickens like them. They wolf them down, which effectively keeps the fly population in check. If you’ve ever spent time around cows, you’ll know that there area always zillions of flies. The description of how fabulous his truly free-range eggs taste got my curiosity. Free-range is a term that has been stretched by the government to mean almost nothing. Having “access to the outdoors” qualifies your chickens as free-range. Never-mind that the outdoors is a paved lot.
  • I read that chickens like to eat mosquitoes, which a a huge nuisance here in Brooklyn.
  • I fell in love with the blue/green eggs of the Aracauna/Ameraucana  hens, and the crazy pom pom hairdoos of the Polish hens.
Araucana hen

Araucana hen

 

 

Buff-colored Polish hen

Buff-colored Polish hen

 

 

 

  • I seem to like to find interests that make my husband shake his head and sigh. Ask him about the fruit flies in our worm compost bin (that was in the kitchen!)
  • I found out that I could have 3 day-old chicks shipped through the mail to my door. Who could resist this? 
Day-old chicks in their shipping box

Day-old chicks in their shipping box

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    Freegans

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    This tuesday evening I took a compost workshop at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens. It was an interesting workshop run by Luke Hall. Most of the information I already knew, but it was great for filling in some gaps and refreshing my memory of other things. The workshop was worth it alone just because taught me a new term. Freegan. Maybe I live under a rock, but I had never heard of freegans before. And for those unenlightened folks like myself, here is a description of a freegan from freegan.info. 

    Perhaps the most notorious freegan strategy is what is commonly called “urban foraging” or “dumpster diving”. This technique involves rummaging through the garbage of retailers, residences, offices, and other facilities for useful goods. Despite our society’s sterotypes about garbage, the goods recovered by freegans are safe, useable, clean, and in perfect or near-perfect condition, a symptom of a throwaway culture that encourages us to constantly replace our older goods with newer ones, and where retailers plan high-volume product disposal as part of their economic model. Some urban foragers go at it alone, others dive in groups, but we always share the discoveries openly with one another and with anyone along the way who wants them. Groups like Food Not Bombs recover foods that would otherwise go to waste and use them to prepare meals to share in public places with anyone who wishes to partake. By recovering the discards of retailers, offices, schools, homes, hotels, or anywhere by rummaging through their trash bins, dumpsters, and trash bags, freegans are able to obtain food, beverages, books, toiletries magazines, comic books, newspapers, videos, kitchenware, appliances, music (CDs, cassettes, records, etc.), carpets, musical instruments, clothing, rollerblades, scooters, furniture, vitamins, electronics, animal care products, games, toys, bicycles, artwork, and just about any other type of consumer good. Rather than contributing to further waste, freegans curtail garbage and pollution, reducing the over-all volume in the waste stream.

    I haven’t met any self-proclaimed freegans, so I have no real opinion on their manifesto. I do agree that we add a shameful amount of perfectly good items to the landfills. My sister and I used to call the weirdly disposable joke gifts our mother used to give us landfill fodder. I commend any group in America for trying to curtail the flow of goods to the garbage dumps.

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    Red Hook Harvest Festival

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    This Saturday our friends who moved to CT came down and we all went to the Red Hook Harvest Festival at the Added Value Farm, which is a farm my friend Alison started as part of her work for Heifer International. For anyone who isn’t familiar with Red Hook, Brooklyn it is a very urban area. 

       

    It was a beautiful day and the turnout was great. There were informational booths on composting and building rain barrel systems, there was food from Rice, there were chickens from the Red Hook Poultry Association, there was an area for costumes and face painting. Lindsay’s friend Mason dressed himself up and had his face painted as an asparagus. He was obviously inspired by his surroundings, because this is a kid who barely touches vegetables!


    I caught the tail end of a canning workshop by an amazing woman named Classie Parker. I definitely have to track her down because she was extremely knowledgeable and a total riot.

    
A man named Roger Repohl gave a talk on urban beekeeping. He keeps bees at a community garden in the Bronx and shared a lot of his knowledge. He brought his honey and let us sample it. The honey was divided up by times of the year. The earliest honey was a pale lemon yellow and the latetest honey was a dark amber color. I liked the honey on both ends of the growing season best. The early honey was delicious with a subtle minty taste. Roger said that it was from the bees gathering nectar from Linden and basswood trees. The honey from the end of the summer had a very fruity flavor. The honey from the middle of the summer tasted more like regular honey that you get from the store. I’ve tried honey from bees that pollinate various plants, such as lavender or clover, but it was interesting to taste the difference of honey based on what the bees find in the Bronx at different times of the growing season.

      

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