Friday, September 28, 2012
Thursday, September 27, 2012
As an "old hippie" at 59 I am now more hopeful than I have been in years due in part to see so many young people in their 20s embracing and learning about organic gardening, permaculture, dumpster diving and living sustainably since I remember when all were either obscure or considered "weird". When I first started raising chickens in the early 90s so many people thought that was so "out there", so to witness backyard poultry raising increasingly common does my soul good. So many of my generation, sadly, abandoned the idealism of the 60s and 70s and became yuppies obsessed with status and Hummers and granite counter tops...here's hoping the inspiring young people I see in action today don't do the same thing.
Monday, September 24, 2012
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Friday, September 21, 2012
Thursday, September 20, 2012
I thought I'd share that while sweet potatoes might be big enough to dig up and use now, since the 80s I've gotten the best flavor and greatest sweetness by waiting until the vines are actively dying back, often between Halloween and Thanksgiving. Maximum sweetness seems to be after a few cold snaps and the vines have died back completely. Harvested early, they can be starchy and bland vs. flavorful and sweet, which disappoints people growing them for the first time. The pic is of a harvest one autumn that was produced by just one chunk of sweet potato planted that spring.
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
End Of Summer Weed Hell
All manner of weeds have erupted after our first wet summer in south Tampa in years, and as I yank and pull and sweat in the humid heat I remind myself that some become chicken and duck food immediately, and the rest get packed into 55 gallon compost barrels to add vital green matter.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Some years ago when I first discovered I had high blood pressure by trying out Dad's BP machine, I googled what neighborhood Caribbean people had previously told me about passion fruit leaf tea for high BP, saw it is empirical fact, so I drank a few glasses daily until the REAL corrective measures (cut WAY back on salt, some on caffeine, take in more potassium, and more cardio) kicked in....it worked QUICKLY to get the numbers down. Back then I had a vine on my south fence. This last week or so I've binged on both pizza and a brand of frozen burritos plus smoked salted herrings as a rare splurge on processed foods....when I woke up this morning I could feel in my face and eardrums that high BP was back, put a new battery in the cuff.....159/114!! So when the wonderful rains let up I harvested maybe 10 leaves from my west fence vine, chopped them with my kitchen scissors into rainwater in a saucepan (2 quarts?) and simmered them on low, covered, maybe 15 minutes until I had that lovely familiar tea....totally clear, a tannish green, very mild flavor. I drank a coffee mug of it. About an hour later I checked my BP.....105/86! I'll go back to my usual low sodium/high potassium cooking, put a smaller scoop of Cuban coffee in my mini-expresso machine, and drink two glasses of the tea daily to get my numbers back to their usual ideal. If anybody local wants leaves to try my Passion Fruit vine has EXPLODED into growth, easily spanning 15 feet on the west fence and even blooming despite being less than a year old....I can give you oodles of fresh leaves right off the vine. It is planted in a buried 7 gallon Water Wise Container Garden. I have loved the stunning blooms for years and should have ripe fruits by Thanksgiving....the scent of the blooms in the morning is amazing. Health food stores sell tea bags and gel caps of the dried leaves for high blood pressure for ridiculous prices when I think of the productivity of this vine. Holler if you want to stop by for a bag of leaves. I learned my lesson....frozen burritos and pizza as an OCCASIONAL treat, not a week long decadent binge!
One less duck in the center area out back that is an evolving food forest....
..so two days ago I go into my back yard and there in the chicken path is my giant white male Muscovy duck who'd flapped his way over the fence (I'd been noticing his regrown flight feathers. I grabbed a pair of scissors, somehow caught him by the tail then held his wings together over his back to keep him from attacking me, then re-clipped his flight feathers. I put down the scissors and took one wing per hand and carried him by the wings to the south bed where the other two just put in there have already made a big dent in the weeds. I could not believe this bird's strength as it tried to flap to get away!
That leaves just three males in there to remove so I can plant the bananas and the guava in lined pits that are in effect giant Water Wise Container Gardens. With SUCH a prevalence of males, who often squabble violently over the few females, I simply MUST do my first duck slaughter and preparation. I am told that they are VERY good eating, that the meat is almost identical to cow meat in color, taste and texture.
That leaves just three males in there to remove so I can plant the bananas and the guava in lined pits that are in effect giant Water Wise Container Gardens. With SUCH a prevalence of males, who often squabble violently over the few females, I simply MUST do my first duck slaughter and preparation. I am told that they are VERY good eating, that the meat is almost identical to cow meat in color, taste and texture.
I've known wheat sensitive people who assumed that glutens were the culprits...
I've never heard of gliadins until today, but this might explain folks I've known with chronic colitis.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505269_162-57505149/modern-wheat-a-perfect-chronic-poison-doctor-says/
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505269_162-57505149/modern-wheat-a-perfect-chronic-poison-doctor-says/
Monday, September 17, 2012
This wonderfully expresses how I feel as an omnivorous urban farmer who in my youth tried to see these matters through the filter of "black and white" both as a passionate ethical vegan bordering on Jain (sp?) and as a vegetarian. He addresses eloquently and factually matters of soil fertility, pest control, and that the entire ecology of the planet is based on the predator/prey cycle, which the fossil record shows has been the case for billions of years. Bravo!
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Saturday, September 15, 2012
From "Bidens Hell" a year ago to this wonderful tipping point! One duck, a big male, is now in the south bed eating weeds for his third day there, I trapped a female yesterday in a dog carrier cage in that center bed, she goes to the south bed today. That leaves four males to go before I can begin the transformation of the large center bed now 99% weed free and hyper fertile after their being in there for nearly a year. CENTRAL to the project is planting the bananas and a guava in lined pits that are in effect giant Water Wise Container Gardens, planting many papaya seedlings directly in the soil, then DEEP mulching the entire bed with branches of cherry laurel, paper mulberry and Cassia alata and water hyacinths, plus with horse stable sweepings, to create a richly fertile DAMP core to my back yard urban farm. Once that layer settles and decays somewhat by next spring, I'll likely plant peanuts and sweet potatoes as edible ground covers, with the added benefit of the peanuts being nitrogen fixers.
Friday, September 14, 2012
This is VERY disturbing news
I remember people thinking of the oceans as "infinite", with even that one Russian clown, I mean, scientist, advocating dumping ALL nuclear waste be dumped into the oceans. I remember in the 60s the oceans being thought of an infinite source of protein...NOT!! I so wish that humans would breed responsibly vs. behaving like fucking bacteria in a sealed petri dish! We are dramatically simplifying various ecosystems into less stable ones.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=phytoplankton-population&fb_action_ids=10151138238962311&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=timeline_og&action_object_map=%7B%2210151138238962311%22%3A10150803926285441%7D&action_type_map=%7B%2210151138238962311%22%3A%22og.likes%22%7D&action_ref_map
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=phytoplankton-population&fb_action_ids=10151138238962311&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=timeline_og&action_object_map=%7B%2210151138238962311%22%3A10150803926285441%7D&action_type_map=%7B%2210151138238962311%22%3A%22og.likes%22%7D&action_ref_map
Thursday, September 13, 2012
"Thornless" Edible Opuntia Cacti
Students and others have told me of picking and eating what LOOKED to be a "thornless" Opuntia paddle-type cactus, only to discover tiny virtually invisible spines called "glochids" embedded in their fingers, lips and tongue....painful indeed, I know from experience! I grow and sell a TRULY spineless form of Opuntia cochenillifera that makes a VERY tiny number of VERY widely spaced glochids as to be meaningless. The differences between the two are easy to detect IF you know what to look for......the one with the hundreds of glochids has paddles that are more rounded at the tip vs. tapered, and has large number of small fleshy appendages on the pads. These pics should help you train your eye. Not only is the flavor and texture of the safe one yummy raw or cooked, it is very nutrition-dense and contain polysaccharides that if eaten daily, can do wonders to help stabilize blood sugar levels.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Home Made Moroccan Preserved Lemons
Last spring I made a small trial batch using cloves and hot peppers and peppercorns and more after seeing there are MANY variations, and after a three month room temperature ferment the results were delicious! It adds a wonderful spectrum of flavors to Moroccan rice and meat dishes, which I will be exploring further this winter. I have MANY Meyer's Lemons plus Persian Limes ripening on my trees, so will poke around the house for a larger, sealable glass container so I can make a good sized batch this time. This recipe looks delicious so may try it. It almost seems that one can't go wrong when it comes to the choice of spices.
http://www.recipesource.com/ethnic/africa/morocco/preserved-lemons1.html
http://www.recipesource.com/ethnic/africa/morocco/preserved-lemons1.html
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Jamaican Cherry (Muntingia calabura)
African Yellow Yam (Dioscorea cayenensis)
My Jaboticaba
Friday, September 7, 2012
I wish more central Florida gardeners would grow this ancient crop each winter once things really cool down. In Denver it laughed at late frosts and snows. I have not grown it in about four years. My seeds came yesterday, mailed some to two friends today. The pic is from that last chilly winter I grew it...it loves and needs cold and is immune to freezes in my south Tampa yard. It likes damp soil so I grew it that year in a Water Wise Container Garden made from a scavenged bus tub from a restaurant dumpster. The flavor is mild and sweet and nutty.
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Cheap Easy "Organic" Pest Control
"Filipino Mexican Tree Pepper"
Two Species of Moringa
Monday, September 3, 2012
Lots going on and growing here as autumn approaches!
Sunday, September 2, 2012
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