June 2012

2012 Slow Food Terra Madre

Slow Food is Good, Clean and Fair

We are honored to have been selected as US delegates to the 2012 Slow Food Terra Madre in Turin, Italy October 25-29. There are only 200 Delegates chosen from across the country to represent Slow Food USA. This is a very unique and advantageous opportunity for us as a small heirloom seed company to attend while creating and strengthening connections with producers around the world. This event will help to further our work of preserving and promoting heirloom seeds, home gardening and sustainable, local food networks.

Since 2004 Turin, Italy hosts this international event every two years in the northwest Piedmont area. Slow Food is an international grassroots membership organization promoting good, clean and fair food for all. Terra Madre is a network of people who actively work to preserve and promote sustainable farming that respects nature, traditions and communities.

During this trip we plan to meet and make friends with food producers around the world and learn from their experiences while sharing ours. The synergy of a group of committed people with a common goal and interest can make incredible change in the world. Now more than ever we need this change on both a global and local level. Bringing back stories of successes and challenges can help make changes in all of our communities. We have a unique position of interacting not only with our local community but a customer base that expands across North America and many countries, giving us the ability to share our experiences at Slow Food Terra Madre with a very diverse audience. The time is right for us to gain a larger view of the global food system by participating first hand in such a unique event.

The Slow Food organization is an ironic way of saying “No” to fast food and a fast, superficial life. Slow Food means living a deep, meaningful life; beginning at the table. It was founded to counter the disappearance of local food traditions and people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes and how our daily food choices affect the rest of the world.

It has been said that the best revenge is living well. It really starts with eating well, as eating is such a central part of all of our lives whether we consciously realize it or not. Not only is food the third most important ingredient for life behind air and water, but every civilization and culture throughout history has shaped and been shaped by its food traditions. Slow Food is simply reconnecting with those roots in today’s world by opposing the industrial standardization of taste and culture, and the unrestrained power of the food industry and industrial agriculture.

“Slow Food unites the pleasure of food with responsibility, sustainability and harmony with nature.” – Carlo Petrini, founder of Slow Food

The tenants of Slow Food are Good, Clean and Fair. Good simply means a fresh and flavorful seasonal diet that satisfies the senses and is part of our local culture. Clean designates food production and consumption that does not harm the environment, animal welfare or our health. Fair is accessible pricing for consumers and fair conditions and pay for small-scale producers. Farmers Markets, Community Supported Agriculture, local food swaps, community gardens, neighborhood gardens and over the fence backyard garden food trading are all examples of the ideals outlined above.

Terra Madre arose out of Slow Food and is made up of small farmers, producers, cooks, academics, consumers, non-government organizations and youth who come together to discuss how to improve the food system collaboratively at global, regional and local meetings. The many resulting projects and exchanges promote the sharing of knowledge and best practice approaches around the world.

The first world meeting of Terra Madre was in 2004 in Italy and brought together 5,000 producers from 130 countries. The second in 2006 included 1,000 chefs, aware of their important role in supporting local, quality production, as well as 400 researchers and academics seeking to bridge the theory of their work with hands-on knowledge. In 2008, 1,000 young producers, chefs, students and activists from around the world joined the network to show their commitment to ensuring traditions and agricultural wisdom is handed from one generation to the next.

“Foods that Change the World” is this year’s theme. For the first time the Salone del Gusto and Terra Madre will be a combined event and open to the public, not just Slow Food members. In years past the Salone del Gusto was the venue where foods and products from around the world were showcased while Terra Madre housed the discussions on successes and challenges of food producers everywhere. This year they are combined, making it the most important event solely dedicated to food, responsibility and respect for those who produce it and the environment.

“Salone del Gusto and Terra Madre 2012 will represent a defining moment for the thousands of people that will come together in Turin to discuss the future of food,” said Slow Food president Carlo Petrini. “Our daily choices and the food that we put on our plates determine the future of the environment, economy and society, and it is more crucial than ever that we raise a collective voice this October and become an active part in solving the problems that are affecting the earth and the global community.”

To make this trip a success, we are asking for your support. As 2 of 200 US Delegates we are responsible for travel to and from Turin, Italy. The costs of international air travel have increased greatly in the past year, and we are seeking support to help cover these costs to attend. 100% of contributions will go directly to travel expenses. This is a very unique opportunity for us as a small family owned company; however the costs are significant. We ask for your support in any amount that you can contribute, as everything will make a difference! Many of you have commented that the work we are doing is significant and important, so please pass this along to your friends, family and neighbors that are interested in preserving heirloom seeds and strengthening local, sustainable food networks.

To contribute, please visit our Slow Food Terra Madre link in our store!

by Stephen Scott

Garden Advice

Heirloom Seeds and The Native Garden

Heirloom Vegetables and Native Plants Work Well Together

Heirloom gardening has really caught on in the past several years; from the delicious and nutritious usefulness of heirloom vegetables and herbs to the ethereal, captivating scent and stunning colors of heirloom flowers. What is often overlooked is the foundational stock of native plants and how they can be highly beneficial in many aspects. Inherently hardy and adapted to the environment, they need little if any attention and care once established. Natives act as pollinator attractants, nurse plants for more tender heirlooms, erosion control, soil improvement species, provide shade, windbreaks and housing for birds.

We are fortunate to have The Native Garden here in Prescott, AZ as they embrace and educate people on the dual benefits of both natives and heirloom seeds. The trees, shrubs, perennials, grasses, cacti and succulents are all adapted to the Central Highlands of Arizona, making them ideal additions to any garden or landscape.

We’ll show you around the demonstration garden with its raised beds and wall planters that are growing all sorts of heirloom goodies.

The front entrance greets visitors with a set of raised beds growing edible welcomes. Several different varieties of radish are on offer now, with lettuces and other greens filling in the mix. As the radishes are picked, they will be replaced with other tasty greens throughout the summer.

A plant growing in the dirt on a sunny day.

Raised Bed Radishes

Looking toward the street gives a good view of the central raised bed with its Purple Plum and Easter Egg blend radishes being offered to visitors, and the Black Spanish Round radishes are almost ready. People are pleasantly surprised at how tasty the fresh-pulled radishes are.

Raised Bed Squash

A view North along the two front raised beds showing the squash followed by Hopi Blue Corn on the right and Cherokee Long Ear Corn on the left. The beds are pretty wide, so the boards allow walking into the bed without compaction of the soil. The beds are new this year and the plants already have some great growth on them. There should be an abundance of summer squash this year!

Natives Ready for to Take Home

Here is a good view of some of the native trees that line the walkway.

Heirloom Tomato and More Natives

Another view down the other side showing the heirloom tomato leading the way to another native-lined walk to the greenhouse and back parking area.

Start incorporating native plantings with your heirloom vegetable garden. They can be very supportive of each other, so look for some plants and trees that are native to your area at a knowledgeable nursery or local garden center where you live.

by Stephen Scott

Garden Advice

Overlooked Benefits of Home Gardening

Home Gardening Offers More than Just Food

Home gardening has been a national pastime for almost as long as there have been Europeans in America, and growing food has been important for a much longer period. Home gardening on a family based scale has gone from an absolute necessity for most of the population to a hobby for many in today’s world. Along the way there have been formal gardens, research gardens, and plant breeding gardens alongside the ever-present, humble home garden that provided fresh produce for the house. Many of the benefits of the home garden have been material in nature; a source of fresh vegetables when grocery stores had no coolers, money saved by growing one’s own food, better nutrition compared to the canned or aged offerings on the local shelves. Let’s look at just a few of the less than obvious benefits of a home garden that are not strictly physical in nature, but are valuable products of the garden nevertheless.

Organic gardening gives you a sense of accomplishment and independence, as well as a closer relationship with nature. -Dr. Marla Ahlgrimm

Anyone doing home gardening of any size will readily agree that gardening has a very physical component to it. The work associated with caring for the garden throughout the year can positively contribute to a better level of both cardiovascular and physical fitness, but those are just the introductory benefits. A reduction of osteoporosis has been a measurable result of gardening, even compared to activities such as jogging, swimming and aerobics, a study from the University of Arkansas of 3,310 women has shown. Kansas State University has found that the risk of diabetes is decreased through active gardening. Of course, the nutritional benefits of fresh home-grown produce are a powerful diabetes management tool right out of your back door. Several studies have found that diabetes rates are lower in neighborhoods and areas having community gardens, or where home gardens are common. Many studies show that when children are exposed to gardening, they will make better and healthier food choices for the rest of their life, enjoying a healthier, higher quality of life as a result. Their school grades are higher; they socialize easier and are better adjusted to the everyday stresses of life.

Linda’s Garden, NE

Better sleep and an improved outlook on life are easily experienced and well documented benefits from all of this gardening! In fact, the mental health rewards of gardening are strong enough that an entire field of study called horticultural therapy has been developed to help people working through psychiatric disorders find relief. Dementia and anxiety are calmed through gardening, leading to improved quality of rest through deeper and better sleep patterns. For many busy people, the garden is a welcome, treasured escape from job pressures and family responsibilities. The relief and relaxation found in the garden helps reduce stress levels that have been shown to contribute to chronic, deadly stress related diseases such as heart disease.

Many gardeners know that beneficial bacteria and microbes in the soil greatly improve plant health and productivity. Surprisingly, the same holds true for the gardener as well. A study published in the magazine Neuroscience in 2011 study discusses a strain of bacterium in soil, Mycobacterium vaccae, which has been found to trigger the release of seratonin that elevates mood and decreases anxiety. This bacterium has also been found to improve cognitive function.

Criss’s Garden, OH

Just half an hour in the garden assists in toning and strengthening the physical body, yet the mental benefits seem to outweigh them completely. In a study published in 2011 in the Journal of Health Psychology, thirty gardeners performed a stressful task and were then randomly assigned to 30 minutes of outdoor gardening in their own plot or indoor reading. Gardening and reading each led to decreases in cortisol during the recovery period, but decreases were significantly stronger in the gardening group. Positive mood was fully restored after gardening, but further deteriorated during reading. These findings provide the first experimental evidence that gardening can promote relief from acute stress. Another study conducted by Tennessee State University found that people who garden regularly believed that the greatest benefit they received from the act of gardening was not a yard filled with flowers and vegetables, it was the significant reduction in general stress they felt in their lives.

A 2010 study by Farming Concrete measured total vegetable yields and produce value from 110 gardeners in 67 community gardens across New York City. These gardeners, collectively only using a total of 1.7 acres, grew 87,700 pounds of produce worth more than $200,000. This means the average community gardener in the study grew produce valued at $1,818 out of their plot. Looking beyond the obvious (and impressive) economic benefits, these community gardens strengthened the family bonds, created relationships outside the family that fostered trust and a powerful sense of belonging for the gardeners. Community gardens empower people to realize that they are not victims and can take responsibility and control of their lives, making choices that will positively benefit them not only for the short term but long term as well. They learn life skills that help provide food and therefore security and peace of mind along with methods of creating something that hadn’t existed before.

Gardens stimulate us as they engage all of our senses. Not just the sights, sounds and smells around us, but touch too; the textures of soil tell a story, and feeling; the emotional satisfaction of a harvest or a successful cutting as well as the deeper side in a sense of belonging or a realization of a spiritual connection or spiritual and emotional peace. These are just a few of the often overlooked benefits of a home garden.

by Stephen Scott

Pest, Weed and Disease Management

Home Garden Bug Solution

Here it is the beginning of June and bugs are making their appearances in our garden. We wanted to share a recipe we’ve found that has been recommended to us by other gardeners and has proven to be effective in dealing with unwanted insects and other bugs in the garden.

This is a different approach than our Squash bug solution. You can read that article here – Squash Bugs and Ways to Deal with Them. That approach works well for more than just Squash bugs, so give this recipe and that one a try to see what works for your garden! You might also like some of our solutions detailed in Heirloom Tomato Growing Tips that shows several methods of deflecting insects, nematodes and blight, mildew and other assorted fungi that love our tomatoes.

It needs to be mentioned that spending time in your garden and getting to know who lives there is extremely valuable, as then you’ll know when some shady character moves in. You might still be taken by surprise when you discover a colony of insects chomping on your squash, tomatillo or tomato plants; but you’ll know with certainty that they weren’t there last night or the morning before. This knowledge is valuable, as this helps in choosing which methods to use and how aggressive to apply them.

Here is another recipe for a broad-based insect repellent for your garden. This is a very concentrated recipe, as the garlic and onion oils are extracted into the mineral oil, so test spray a small area before soaking the whole garden. The extraction is based on English research used to test the effectiveness of garlic and onion oils as natural antibiotics and anti-fungal agents.

Start by testing it on a small area at a 20:1 dilution – 20 parts water to 1 part bug solution. You can always dilute it with more water if you find it is too aggressive for your plants. If it is effective, increase the dilution ratio 10:1 at a time until the solution is still effective, but not immediate. You don’t want to nuclear carpet bomb the problem, just kill off the bad bugs. Remember, this kills all bugs, not just the bad ones, so go easy and be careful! Garlic oil is very effective, but if used in large doses it will be deadly to bugs and soil micro-organisms as well. It must be said that homegrown or locally and organically grown garlic and onions are the best, as they will have much stronger oils than commodity ones from the grocery store.

Home Garden Bug Solution

This is a very powerful solution, so go easy at first - test on a small area before declaring all-out war!

Ingredients

3 heads not cloves, of garlic - crushed
2 medium onions finely chopped
1/4 cup mineral oil
2 Tsp pure liquid dish soap - Dr. Bronner's is best - it is organic do not use any detergent - it lasts too long and upsets the biological balance of the soil organisms.
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 Tsp extra hot pepper sauce Dave's Insanity Sauce is great!

Instructions

For the Garlic/Onion Extract

Add crushed garlic and chopped onion to 1/4 cup mineral oil and let soak for 24 hours.
Dissolve liquid dish soap into 1 pint of warm water, stirring well.
Slowly soap-dissolved water to mineral oil, stirring well.
Strain out solids through fine gauze or cheesecloth, then store in glass container - do not use a metal one as the extract will react with it!

For the Bug Solution

Add Garlic/Onion extract to apple cider vinegar and hot sauce.
Stir well, making sure not to get any on your hands - it will burn!
Use a 20:1 dilution ratio as a starting point - 20 parts water to 1 part bug solution. If bugs die rapidly, increase dilution to 30:1 or 40:1 until bugs don't die off as rapidly, then go back one dilution.

Recipe Notes

It is best to make this fresh as needed, as the oils will work best on the bugs when they are at their peak. Another approach is to use garlic essential oil that has been distilled and is many times more potent than the home-grown extract. If using the essential oil, start with 5 - 10 drops of oil in place of the extract. Look for garlic essential oil in your local health foods store or apothecary.

This will chase off all bugs that it comes in contact with, so be sure to use sparingly and only on areas that are showing undesirable insects. Once you see a reduction in the insect population or an increase in plant health, reduce the amount and number of times the bug solution is applied.

by Stephen Scott