A coffee grinder and some beans on the ground


Fresh Coffee Grounds Are Great Source of Minerals and Nutrients

Looking to perk up your compost pile? Do you drink coffee? You might be holding the answer in your hands this very moment, or at least part of the answer. Coffee grounds have been used for many years by those “in the know” to boost the quality of their compost, making a superior soil amendment for free. The grounds are considered part of the “green” portion of the composting, speeding up the decomposition process while keeping temperatures high enough to kill off pathogens.

Coffee grounds provide energy in the form of nitrogen to the hard working bacteria doing all of the work in the compost. They also encourage beneficial microbe growth, contributing to a healthier soil. Another benefit is the minerals added to the compost such as phosphorus, potassium, magnesium and copper – all very necessary to the growing process. Earthworms absolutely love coffee grounds, preferring them to other food sources and turning them into highly prized vermicompost. For many years coffee grounds have been thought of as slightly acidic, but recent research shows that the grounds are usually pretty neutral in pH, but have a very high buffering capacity. This means that whether the soil is acidic or alkaline, the grounds will bring the pH back toward neutral, so they are good for any soil types. The moisture holding ability is very beneficial for loose soils, yet it acts to loosen heavy clay soils at the same time.

Some gardeners have worked the grounds directly into the soil, but it is best to add them to the compost pile and let decomposition release their nutrients first, then add the aged compost to the garden soil, working it into the top 2 – 3 inches in early spring and late fall. The grounds can make up to 25% by volume of the compost, and be used as a manure replacement for gardeners who don’t have ready access to those sources. Some city gardeners make their compost of leaves, cardboard and newspapers for the carbon side with coffee grounds and fresh grass clippings supplying the nitrogen to keep the pile going. It is best to let the compost decompose or age for at least 6 months, with a year time-frame yielding a higher quality amendment that looks very much like soil all by itself.

Coffee Grounds and Composting

Coffee grounds perk up compost pile with nitrogen


Food prices are expected to increase due to the worst drought in more than 50 years pushing more than 1,000 counties in 26 states into natural-disaster status. The USDA announced the news last week, stating that about 55% of the US has been designated as experiencing moderate to severe drought conditions, the worst since December of 1956. The worst conditions might not have arrived yet, either. If the weather doesn’t turn and deliver some desperately needed rain, the majority of food crops could be impacted. Right now corn and soybeans are feeling the biggest hit, as the worst of the drought conditions are centered around the Corn Belt.

Let’s look at how this plays out for you and me as everyday citizens.

Corn has a huge economic ripple effect in both the food and energy markets, as #2 field corn is the commodity of choice when the word “Corn” is mentioned. Most likely genetically modified to be Roundup Ready, #2 field corn is not used much as corn, but disassembled into components used in the processed food industry. If you haven’t looked at what food ingredients are derived from corn, you are in for a surprise! Google “Ingredients derived from corn” and start reading. There are a few hundred commonly used food ingredients the corn supplies us via the extraction process! Pretty much any food that has a wrapper or is processed has some form of corn in it, unless it is Certified Organic. Corn is also a major ingredient in commercial beef feed, so expect to see a resultant increase in the price of store-bought beef.

There could be a loss of almost 40 – 50% of this year’s corn harvest.

Obviously if this year’s corn crop is wiped out in a significant number of areas – many farmers in the Corn Belt are calling 2012 a total loss – the commodity or base price for corn will rise. It has already doubled in the past 2 months and is expected to double again or even more. Any packaged or processed food could see a noticeable increase in price in the coming months.

Now would be a perfect time to take a hard look at what packaged and processed foods you routinely buy and look for alternatives. Look for fresh, locally grown or minimally processed replacements. Find a local baker, butcher and get to know them or know them better. Your local farmer’s market is a great resource for locally made replacements to processed and packaged foods, often tasting much better and being healthier in the bargain. You might be surprised to find that they just might cost the same or even less! This way, you are less dependent on price fluctuations from a major food supply shock while supporting your local economy and keeping your money closer to home.

Drought in U.S. reaching levels not seen in 50 years, pushing up corn prices – The Washington Post

Organic Certification?


Cooking Up A Story has written a new editorial that addresses many folks concern with the New York Times article “Has Organic Been Oversized?” We talked about this article in Does “Big Food” and “Big Ag” Control “Organic”? There has been quite a bit of controversy about the article, partly due to the misreading of some that the article was about organic agriculture, when in fact it is about organic certification. Don’t get the two confused!

To many, the process of organic certification has been corrupted and co-opted by large companies wanting to gain a share of the very lucrative organic market. Cooking Up A Story (CUPS) advances the point that not all corporations are predatory and solely profit driven, which is true. They have a very valid statement in that being able to reach, teach and move 300 million consumers, you need more than a good blogging site!

The main, salient point that needs recognition is that despite it’s shortcomings, organic certification has definite, positive and meaningful benefits. Yes it needs work and a watchful eye to ensure that it doesn’t get made into a mouthpiece for Big Ag and Big Food, but let’s be careful to not throw out the baby with the bathwater.

Has ‘Organic’ Been Oversized: Avoiding Tragedy On Maple Street

Picking Heirloom Tomatoes


Heirloom tomatoes vs standard supermarket “red slicing” tomatoes

One has created a following based solely on its incredible flavor, the other has long been the benchmark of mediocre, tasteless, pithy but brightly colored tomatoes. Available 365 days a year, it’s only offering to the salad or sandwich is a bit of bright red. Why do these universally yucky tomatoes exist, and why do the supermarkets continue to sell such an obviously inferior product?

Consumer demand is the main reason, as most commercial growers state that they are only paid on the weight, not the flavor, of their tomatoes. This traces back to the tomato breeders, as they are responding to the grower’s inputs of what they need – a plant that will yield as much as possible over as long of a time as possible. The fruits must withstand being harvested, packed, and stored in a warehouse where they are turned orange with ethylene gas, then shipped by truck several states away and continue to look good a minimum of 7 – 10 days later when displayed on the grocery store shelves. If the grower has no financial incentive to produce flavor, they won’t.

Here’s a new wrinkle to the story. The growers are not completely at fault, it turns out. Recent research published in the journal Science isolates a gene mutation that is responsible for the almost artificially bright red, at the cost of flavor. This gene mutation was accidentally discovered by commercial tomato breeders and then bred into the majority of tomatoes used in supplying the food chain, especially in the off-season. This is not a genetically modified organism (or GMO) as the gene mutation happened spontaneously, and not through mechanical gene manipulation.

This is truly a story of unintended consequences, as it clearly shows the unwanted results of focusing and breeding too closely on one desired characteristic while ignoring others. The color mutation also turns off the ripening sequence gene, which disables the tomatoes’ ability to manufacture sugar in the body of the fruit, explaining why the lack of flavor. Dr. Ann Powell, a lead author in the Science paper offered this solution to the flavor issue – heirloom tomatoes, as they do not have the genetic mutation!

Flavor Is the Price of Tomatoes’ Scarlet Hue, Geneticists Say

GMO Labeling?


GMO Labeling – Good Idea?

The upcoming GMO labeling vote, known as California Proposition 37 or popularly called the California Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act is shaping up to be a huge fight for both sides. Those that support labeling of foods that contain GMO ingredients –about 70 – 80% of all processed foods– believe that there are many unanswered questions about the impacts of GMO foods on our health, both now and in the future. Advocates of the safety of GMOs say the passage of the proposition will be too costly and complex to enforce, while not doing enough to protect public health. They also assert that there is no scientifically proven dangers of the GMO ingredients.

The battle lines are very clearly drawn with scientific studies, experts of all kinds, parents and lots of emotional appeal being deployed by both sides of the argument. So far other GMO labeling efforts have failed in 20 states, most recently Oregon, New York and Vermont. Much media attention was paid to the Vermont case, as public opinion and votes were seemingly disregarded after threats of lawsuits from Monsanto against elected officials turned the tide. California is very important to this issue due to the historical trend of what has been adopted as agricultural practices has spread to other states. As California goes, so goes the nation. Labeling advocates point to recent studies showing consumers support Prop 37 by an almost 3 – 1 margin, with 64.9% in favor and 23.9% opposed. This follows several years of national public opinion polls showing the same or greater trending.

This isn’t just about a label appearing on the box of cereal you might choose for breakfast. This is about huge amounts of money and profits at stake for large food corporations. Research has shown overwhelmingly that consumers will be reluctant to buy packaged foods that have a “Made with GMO” label on them. This will create a sea change in the packaged foods industry, with earthshaking consequences. New food ingredient suppliers will be needed, supply will most likely not be able to keep up with demand for some time, certifying the non-GMO ingredients will cost money, and the new ingredients will most likely be more expensive. These increased costs will be partially passed on to the consumer, resulting in the average American’s food bill to increase appreciably. It might become more cost effective to finally eat a more healthy diet!

Expect this issue to hold center stage more often as the November election draws closer.

Battle over genetically engineered food heading to voters

Ferry Morse Sold


The large seed company Ferry Morse was recently sold and almost half of the employees were immediately laid off with a 60 day lump-sum severance pay. Seed Holdings, Inc. purchased the home and garden division of Jiffy International, who owned Ferry Morse previously. Seed Holdings also owns the NK (Northrup King) seed brand seen in big box stores and mass merchants nationwide. There was no notice to the two plants that were affected in Kentucky and Oregon. The plant in Kentucky has been in operation since 1959 and the one in Oregon since 2009. Some of the employees in Kentucky had worked for Ferry Morse for over 30 years.

Even though Ferry Morse was not an independent seed company, this further consolidation will not bode well for the customer, as the future offerings will be dictated almost entirely upon the basis of profitability for the company and shareholders. In a press release the expectation was expressed of “significant synergies, including optimized logistic solutions and exciting product development.” They further stated that this acquisition will give the home gardener the same high-quality products as used by most industrial growers. Synergies, logistics and products are profit centers. They are not new varieties of seed – bred for positive traits needed by gardeners – but more than likely new chemicals that will increase the profits of the new parent company. When any industry sees the extreme consolidation that the seed industry has, it follows what Americans have seen with the auto industry – when very few companies have complete control over the choices available for a product, and the quality usually suffers and the prices usually rise.

Ferry Morse Sold, Nearly 200 Laid Off


“You do not measure the fruit of your action. You have to measure your obligation of action. You have to find out what’s the right thing to do. That is your duty. Whether you win or lose is not the issue. The obligation (is) to do the right thing…”

An intimate and very telling interview with Dr. Vandana Shiva, a scientist, philosopher and champion of food and seed sovereignty. She recounts the history of genetically modified seeds, lies told to the Indian farmers, why there have been over 250,000 documented farmer suicides, the truth about actual GMO production versus what was promised, and why there is such a battle between the Indian government and corporations seeking a greater foothold, mainly by economic force. Dr. Shiva goes into some detail on how wrong it is to institute “intellectual property” rights on seeds, but how it makes absolute perfect corporate sense economically in moving into a monopolization on seed and food on a global scale.

Well worth the next 25 minutes of your time to watch – rewind, read the transcript and take notes!

Vandana Shiva on the Problem with Genetically-Modified Seeds

Milk as Soil Improver


“Can raw milk make grass grow? More specifically, can one application of three gallons of raw milk on an acre of land produce a large amount of grass?”

David Wetzel is the person possibly most responsible for bringing the ancient practice of applying milk to the soil in order to improve the health, disease resistance, and productivity of the soil. As part of a 10-year study in collaboration with the University of Nebraska soil specialists and weed specialists as well as insect specialists have proven the effectiveness of milk as a soil improver.

It started with David having excess skim milk that he didn’t want to waste, so he started applying it to a pasture on his farm and noticed several oddities about that particular pasture. When his dairy herd was turned out on it, the butterfat content of the milk increased by 3-4% within 2-3 days of being in that pasture, every time. Not only that, but the herd needed fewer vet visits, maintained their weight better and the pasture recovered faster and produced more hay than other pastures. David contacted his next-door neighbor, Terry Gompert, an extension agent for the University of Nebraska about the phenomenon, and a multiple-year study was born. One of the additional benefits of spraying the milk has been a drastic reduction in grasshopper populations in the pastures, as the milk sugars are toxic to soft-bodied insects. One theory is that grasshoppers will leave healthy plants alone, as the milk feeds the plant as well as the soil.

The following article is from Ralph Voss, a student of David’s methods, followed by David’s own observations on what is working on his farm.

Mon, 2010-03-08

“This article appeared in the March 10, 2010, issue of theUnterrified Democrat, a weekly newspaper published in Linn, Mo., since 1866. In addition to writing for the paper, Voss raises registered South Poll cattle on pathetically poor grass that he is trying desperately to improve.”

Nebraska dairyman applies raw milk to pastures and watches the grass grow

An Illinois steel-company executive turned Nebraska dairyman has stumbled onto an amazingly low-cost way to grow high-quality grass – and probably even crops – on depleted soil.

Can raw milk make grass grow? More specifically, can one application of three gallons of raw milk on an acre of land produce a large amount of grass?

The answer to both questions is yes.

Call it the Nebraska Plan or call it the raw milk strategy or call it downright amazing, but the fact is Nebraska dairyman David Wetzel is producing high-quality grass by applying raw milk to his fields and a Nebraska Extension agent has confirmed the dairyman’s accomplishments.

David Wetzel is not your ordinary dairyman, nor is Terry Gompert your ordinary Extension agent. Ten years ago Wetzel was winding up a five-year stint as the vice president of an Illinois steel company and felt the need to get out of the corporate rat race. At first he and his wife thought they would purchase a resort, but he then decided on a farm because he liked to work with his hands. The Wetzels bought a 320 acre farm in Page, Neb., in the northeast part of the state, and moved to the farm on New Year’s Day in 2000.

“We had to figure out what to do with the farm,” Wetzel said, “so we took a class from Terry Gompert.” They were advised to start a grass-based dairy and that’s what they did. “There’s no money in farming unless you’re huge,” Wetzel said, or unless the farmer develops specialty products, which is what they did.

In their business, the Wetzels used the fats in the milk and the skim milk was a waste product. “We had a lot of extra skim milk and we started dumping it on our fields,” Wetzel said. “At first we had a tank and drove it up and down the fields with the spout open. Later we borrowed a neighbor’s sprayer.”

Sometime in the winter of 2002 they had arranged to have some soil samples taken by a fertilizer company and on the day company employees arrived to do the sampling, it was 15 below zero. To their astonishment they discovered the probe went right into the soil in the fields where raw milk had been applied. In other fields the probe would not penetrate at all.

“I didn’t realize what we had,” Wetzel said. “I had an inkling something was going on and I thought it was probably the right thing to do.” For a number of years he continued to apply the milk the same way he had been doing, but in recent years he has had a local fertilizer company spray a mixture that includes liquid molasses and liquid fish, as well as raw milk. In addition he spreads 100 to 200 pounds of lime each year.

Gompert, the extension agent that suggested Wetzel start a grass-based dairy, had always been nearby – literally. The two are neighbors and talk frequently. It was in 2005 that Gompert, with the help of university soils specialist Charles Shapiro and weed specialist Stevan Kenzevic, conducted a test to determine the effectiveness of what Wetzel had been doing.

That the raw milk had a big impact on the pasture was never in doubt, according to Gompert. “You could see by both the color and the volume of the grass that there was a big increase in production.” In the test the raw milk was sprayed on at four different rates – 3, 5, 10 and 20 gallons per acre – on four separate tracts of land. At the 3-gallon rate 17 gallons of water were mixed with the milk, while the 20-gallon rate was straight milk. Surprisingly the test showed no difference between the 3-, 5-, 10- and 20-gallon rates.

The test began with the spraying of the milk in mid-May, with mid-April being a reasonable target date here in central Missouri. Forty-five days later the 16 plots were clipped and an extra 1200 pounds of grass on a dry matter basis were shown to have been grown on the treated versus non-treated land. That’s phenomenal, but possibly even more amazing is the fact the porosity of the soil – that is, the ability to absorb water and air – was found to have doubled.

So what’s going on? Gompert and Wetzel are both convinced what we have here is microbial action. “When raw milk is applied to land that has been abused, it feeds what is left of the microbes, plus it introduces microbes to the soil,” Wetzel explained, adding that “In my calculations it is much more profitable (to put milk on his pastures) than to sell to any co-op for the price they are paying.”

Wetzel’s Observations

Wetzel has been applying raw milk to his fields for 10 years, and during that time has made the following observations:

* Raw milk can be sprayed on the ground or the grass; either will work.

* Spraying milk on land causes grasshoppers to disappear. The theory is that insects do not bother healthy plants,which are defined by how much sugar is in the plants. Insects (including grasshoppers) do not have a pancreas so they cannot process sugar. Milk is a wonderful source of sugar and the grasshoppers cannot handle the sugar. They die or leave as fast as their little hoppers can take them.

* Theory why milk works. The air is 78% nitrogen. God did not put this in the air for us but rather the plants. Raw milk feeds microbes/bugs in the soil. What do microbes need for growth? Protein, sugar, water, heat. Raw milk has one of the most complete amino acid (protein) structures known in a food. Raw milk has one of the best sugar complexes known in a food, including the natural enzyme structure to utilize these sugars. For explosive microbe growth the microbes utilize vitamin B and enzymes. What do you give a cow when the cow’s rumen is not functioning on all cylinders (the microbes are not working)? Many will give a vitamin B shot (natural farmers will give a mouthful of raw milk yogurt). Vitamin B is a super duper microbe stimulant. There is not a food that is more potent in the complete vitamin B complex than raw milk (this complex is destroyed with pasteurization). Raw milk is one of the best sources for enzymes, which break down food into more usable forms for both plants and microbes. (Again, pasteurization destroys enzyme systems.)

* Sodium in the soilis reduced by half. I assume this reflects damage from chemicals is broken down/cleaned up by the microbes and or enzymes.

* If you choose to buy raw milk from a neighbor to spread on your land, consider offering the farmer double or triple what he is paid to sell to the local dairy plant. Reward the dairy farmer as this will start a conversation and stir the pot. The cost for the milk, even at double or triple the price of conventional marketing, is still a very cheap soil enhancer.

* Encourage all to use their imagination to grow the potential applications of raw milk in agriculture, horticulture andthe like – even industrial uses –possibly waste water treatment.

Microbes

The purpose of this story is to convince farmers and livestock producers in this area to look into the possibility of using raw milk, compost tea, earthworm castings tea,liquid fishor sea minerals or some combination thereof to boost production at an affordable cost. It’s my experience that people in the Midwest are to a great extent unaware of the benefits of microbes. If the first part of this story has caught your attention and you intend to consider the use of raw milk or any of the other methods, you need to learn about microbes and the best way I have discovered is a book co-authored by Jeff Lowenfels and Wayne Lewis,Teaming with Microbes.

In this story I cannot go into detail about microbes, the miniscule little critters that exist in abundance in good soil. There are four principal types of microbes – bacteria, fungi, protozoa and nematodes. To get an example of their size, consider that there are a billion bacteria in one teaspoon of good soil. The role of microbes is to consume carbon, along with other minerals and nutrients, and these are stored in their cells until their ultimate release for use by plants. Microbes also store water, which make them drought-fighters as well.

I realize this is an inadequate description, but you need to read the book.

Brix

Brix is another concept that is not widely understood in the middle of the country. Brix is the measure of the sugar content of a plant (that’s an oversimplification but good enough for this article) and is measured by a device called a refractometer. If your grass has a brix of 1, that’s cause for nightmares. Our grass is routinely a 1. Clover and johnsongrass might on occasion measure 4 or 5 in the middle of the afternoon on a bright, sunny day. That’s deplorable for plants that should be double or triple that figure.

It’s not just our farm that has grass that’s not fit to feed livestock. I communicate frequently with three young cattlemen from this area – Jeremia Markway, Bruce Shanks and Chris Boeckmann – and they have the same problem. Last summer we were singing the blues over lunch and decided our refractometers must be broken. Someone came up with the idea of measuring sugar water. We tried it. Boom. The refractometer measured 26. Our equipment wasn’t broken, only our grass.

About three months ago Markway discovered a short article on what Wetzel and Gompert had been doing in Nebraska with raw milk. He emailed the article to me and that’s what got me to do this story. An interesting thing is what Markway discovered about the impact of raw milk on brix levels. He has a milk cow and took some of her milk, mixed with water and sprayed on his pastures with a small hand sprayer. Where he sprayed, the brix level of the grass was raised to a level of 10. That’s a great start and was good news to Wetzel and Gompert, who had not been measuring the brix levels of Wetzel’s grass.

Compost Tea

Raw milk is not the only thing that will improve soil. Compost tea is a liquid made by running compost through a “brewer,” a device somewhat akin to a fish tank, in that oxygen is added to the water containing the compost and this action flushes the microbes out of the compost into the water. The resulting liquid is a “tea” that can be sprayed on pastures and crops, to their great benefit.

Two men that make extensive use of compost tea are Mark Sturges and David Herringshaw. These two have never met and until recently had not even heard of each other.

Sturges lives in western Oregon near the coast and for 10 years has had a business spraying compost tea on vineyards, cranberry bogs, fruit and nut trees and pastures. Sturges adds malt extract, kelp and seas minerals to his tea, and if he is spraying pastures, he adds molasses to build the bacteria content.

Herringshaw lives in the near-desert southeast part of Oregon at an elevation of 4,100 feet. He uses compost tea on his own land and has the brix level of his pasture and hay ground up to 22. That’s tantamount to feeding corn. Herringshaw attributes the high brix to the compost tea and also sea minerals, which he applies at the same time. He uses nothing else.

I have seen the compost Sturges produces. It is so alive it literally moves. I have not seen the compost Herringshaw makes at the other end of the state. I can only imagine how good it might be. He fortifies it with raw milk.

Think for a second what Wetzel said about using your imagination to grow the applications for raw milk. Herringshaw has already used his imagination.

Earthworm Castings Tea

This tea is identical to compost tea except that worm poop is substituted for compost. Almost everyone thinks tea from earthworm castings is great stuff, and some even think this tea is superior to compost tea. Earthworm castings are known to suppress certain diseases of grass and some people think the use of castings might suppress harmful bacteria such as staph and E. coli.

There is a story going around that a university was having problems with athletes getting staph infections from burns sustained on grass practice fields and the university stopped applying chemicals to the grass and instead turned to worm castings and solved the problem. I spent two weeks trying to track down this story and at this point I don’t believe it is true. Maybe someone will prove me wrong.

I did, however, come across an interesting situation in St. Louis County, Mo., where the Parkway school district turned to earthworm castings in lieu of commercial fertilizer. The groundskeeper there is Matt Jenne, who prior to coming to St. Louis was a golf course superintendent in Florida. While working in Florida he noticed earthworms had built up their castings on the greens. They picked up the castings as part of cutting the grass, and then piled the grass-castings mixture and let it compost, after which they used it with great success on new grass and bare spots. To feed the life they had in the soil, they applied molasses once a month with their irrigation system.

When he got to St. Louis Jenne decided to go with worm castings on two football fields, applying between half a ton and a ton per field. The castings are applied dry and work best when the field has been aerated.

Jenne may have an explanation for the staph infection story. He says that artificial turf causes staph and the only way this can be controlled is to disinfect the artificial turf.

Here in Osage County earthworm castings are available at Eisterhold Brothers on U.S. 63 between Westphalia and Freeburg. Unfortunately they have decided to close their business when their current supply runs out.

Fish

Liquid fish or fish fertilizer is another product that has been successfully applied to pastures. Teddy Gentry, the founder of South Poll cattle, has been using a fish product for years and is pleased with the results. It seems especially beneficial in fighting the effects of a drought. Gentry mixes the fish with liquid calcium and is thinking about adding sea minerals to his mixture.

Sea Minerals

Sea minerals might be the best way to improve poor or depleted soils. We all know that a large deer in Iowa will weigh 100 pounds more than a large deer from that part of Missouri south of the Missouri River. Many people ascribe the difference to the mineral level of the soils. It’s difficult – if not impossible – to produce high-quality grass on soil that is no properly mineralized. It took Herringshaw years to get his grass to the 22 brix level and he is convinced he would not have gotten there without the seal minerals. Herringshaw prefers Redmond salt, while Sturges uses Sea-90. Sturges applies his sea minerals as a spray, along with compost tea. Herringshaw makes both dry and spray applications. He estimates he has broadcast approximately 85 pounds of Redmond salt per acre since he started using that product. This is in addition to what he has sprayed on. For both Sturges and Herringshaw a foliar application is one pound or less per acre.

Another individual that makes extensive use of sea minerals is Doug Gunnink of Gaylord, Minn. Gunnink produces high-brix grass for his grass-fed beef operation by the foliar application of liquid fish and sea minerals. He also tests his grass and adds those minerals that are in short supply in his pastures, whether boron, sulfur, copper or some other mineral.

Fish hydrolysate, Gunnink explained, is the entire fish ground up and then preserved with phosphoric or sulfuric acid. If the preservative is phosphoric acid, the phosphorus “bumps up the Brix,” he said, adding that “phosphorus gives grass power.” High-brix grass produces more organic matter, which in turn holds more water, Gunnink explained, stating that a 1% increase in organic matter will hold an additional 53,000 gallons of water per acre. “Organic matter is the sponge that holds water for dry spells.”

The organic matter also holds the nutrients that plants need.

Conventional Fertilizers

This story is not meant to be a war on conventional fertilizers. The late Dr. Maynard Murray, the pioneer that first advocated use of sea minerals, said there is a place for conventional N, P and K. We do, however, need to come up with better ways to use them. Bill Totemeier, a friend in southeast Iowa that is a commercial hay producer, uses ammonium sulfate rather than ammonium nitrate because the former is much more earthworm-friendly. He applies fertilizer two or three times per year in smaller amounts rather one large application in the spring. This reduces the shock to the microbes.

Houston-area rancher Tom McGrady spread ammonium sulfate on his ryegrass pasture in early March. In his area ammonium nitrate is no longer available. That may be a good thing.

For Row Crop Farmers

Row crop farmers can also benefit greatly from some of these practices. Lowenfels, who co-authored the book on microbes, urges anyone who uses herbicides or insecticides to soon thereafter apply compost tea to increase the microbe population that was probably greatly reduced by the chemical spray. Fish would also work in this situation.

For the busy grain guy, there are companies that make products ready to go into the sprayer. One such firm is AgriEnergy Resources. Mike Wyatt, an independent consultant that workswithAgriEnergy, has helped me gain some insight into world of microbes.

Hunters

If you want bigger deer like you read about in Iowa and Illinois, the methods set out in this article should be used on your hunting land, especially the food plots. Animals are clearly attracted to plants that have been treated with sea salt. And they also choose high-brix plants over those with low brix levels.

My Experience

I know Terry Gompert personally. He’s the real deal. In 2007 he organized a high-stock-density grazing seminar in as remote an area of northeast Nebraska as you can find and attracted over 200 people. Included among that crew were Jeremia Markway and me. Based on my knowledge of and respect for Gompert and the results Markway experiences just down the road from us, why wouldn’t I be willing to try this? To me it’s a no-brainer. I’ve made arrangements to buy milk from Alfred Brandt, who lives just south of Linn, and Chamois MFA has agreed to spray 50 or 100 acres in mid-April. A 1,000 gallon tank containing 150 gallons of raw milk and 850 gallons of water will provide the perfect ratio of three gallons of milk and 17 gallons of water, which applied at the rate of 20 gallons per acre will cover 50 acres. I hope to get over at least 100 acres. Whether we include something with the milk – such as fish, molasses or earthworm casting tea – is a decision we haven’t made at this time.

We are also going to broadcast one ton of sea salt at a rate of 20 pounds per acre.

Conclusion

For years I’ve been a dung beetle fanatic, thinking that I needed dung beetles to build my soil. I’ve probably been wrong in this regard. I now think I need to build my soil and the dung beetles will come. Dr. James Nardi, in his classic workLife in the Soil, describes dung beetles as picky eaters. That may seem strange, but my experience convinces me his assessment is totally accurate. I hope – and I do believe this will happen – dung beetles will choose to come to our farm because we have upgraded the food supply.

Spider Milkweed Plug


Milkweed – Monarch Butterfly Food Source

 As a small family owned heirloom seed company, we receive many requests for partnerships with or donations to some great causes. Some of these are exceptional, as when the Xerces Society contacted us in January 2012 about growing a specific species of milkweed that is native to our part of central Arizona. Pollinators and pollinator attractants are very important to the success of any garden, so we jumped at the chance to connect the right people who share our passion for this project. Here is how that story unfolds!

Monarch butterflies have seen steady population declines across their native range since population monitoring first began in 1976. Several 2012 reports show that Monarch numbers will drop almost 30 percent this year, continuing a decline that has lasted for the past decade. The severe drought seen across Texas and Northern Mexico, combined with wildfires across the entire southwest has been a large factor. The biggest contributor is simply the loss of land that supports the Monarch’s food source and hatchery – the Milkweed plant. Much of the land has been converted to commercial herbicide tolerant corn and soybean production, or developed into housing. Overuse of persistent chemical herbicides and roadside mowing for weed control has also created loss of milkweed habitat and thus reduced Monarch numbers.

A plant growing in the dirt on a sunny day.

Monarch Butterfly on Milkweed

The milkweed plant (Asclepias spp.) plays a critical role in the monarch life cycle. Each spring Monarchs move across the United States, laying eggs on native milkweeds, the only plants that serve as food for newly hatched monarch caterpillars. Because of their migratory life cycle–breeding in the United States and Canada, and overwintering at only a few locations in Mexico and California–the most effective conservation strategies for Monarch butterflies are those that protect and restore habitat across their entire range. As a result, the North American Monarch Conservation Plan recommends planting native milkweed species to restore habitat within the Monarch butterfly’s breeding range.

The Xerces Society is working to increase the availability of native milkweed seed and encourage restoration using milkweed in California, the Great Basin, the Southwest, Texas, and Florida. These are important areas of the Monarch’s spring and summer breeding range where few commercial sources of native milkweed seed currently exist. To conduct the project, they are partnering with the Monarch Joint Venture, a coalition of federal and state agencies, scientists, and nonprofit conservation organizations.

A plant growing in the dirt on a sunny day.

Brianna Borders and Cindy Scott with Milkweed plugs

At the end of this past January, we were contacted by Brianna Borders, Plant Ecologist for The Xerces Society about a possible project to propagate a subspecies of Milkweed – Asclepias asperula that is native to Arizona. She had about 2 ounces of seed (approximately 7,000 seeds) that had been collected in the southern portion of our local county by the Desert Botanical Garden volunteers in Phoenix. Through grant funding, a California native plant nursery could propagate the seeds into plugs ready for planting. The Xerces Society was looking for a grower in our area that could bring the project into being. This would be a minimum 2 year project to grow a commercial quantity of seed to offer for sale.

A plant growing in the dirt on a sunny day.

Spreading Mulch for Milkweed plugs

After some thought, we decided that Fiona Reid was the perfect fit for this project. Recently retired as Education Director from a natural history education center, she was already growing and saving milkweed seeds at her property – Painted Lady Vineyard! One of her passions is native plants of the area, with an emphasis on butterfly attractants, and has solid connections with the Arizona Native Plant Society, as well as the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix. The Painted Lady is a beautiful, ephemeral butterfly that happened to visit the vineyard in droves as the initial vines were being planted, thus the name for the vineyard came about.

A plant growing in the dirt on a sunny day.

Drilling Holes for Milkweed Plugs

The planting took place over a long and extremely hot weekend in the middle of June after much work over many weeks not only by Fiona but her volunteer crew to prepare the ground to receive the fragile tiny plugs that had arrived overnight in flats from the grower in California. We took part in the planting, but what really inspired, amazed and humbled us was the outpouring of community support from all walks of life and all interests in this project that will only benefit the Monarch butterfly. There are no financial rewards for any of the volunteers for the hours spent bent over in 100 degree heat planting over 2,000 fragile plugs. Many of the people helping were native plant enthusiasts, some were butterfly lovers, but a significant number had no real interest besides that of helping see a project to fruition on nothing more than the basis of it is the right thing to do.

A plant growing in the dirt on a sunny day.

Planting Milkweed is a Team Effort

We received this email from Fiona on Monday after the planting weekend. When we left Saturday evening, a little over half of the plugs were planted. There was some concern of getting the rest planted with the remaining group and the high heat creating a deadline of viability for the milkweed plugs.

“Monday morning, after a pretty blazing hot weekend, and the little plants – ALL of them – are sitting in the ground, protected by mulch, and getting the necessary drink of water. Mission accomplished!

320 hours of volunteer labor, not even counting mine, to get this job done from start to finish. It has been an amazing community effort and I have had the pleasure of working with a great group of people, children included. As we began to close in on the finish yesterday, and everyone was hot and very dusty and sometimes muddy, I was almost overcome by the understanding that people don’t have to involve themselves in such hard work – sometimes backbreaking work, sometimes knee-breaking work, and always hot work. They could sit at home in the cool, or an office somewhere, and do good for someone else. But none of you did that. You came knowing it was going to be outside in the heat; knowing you would kneel and bend; knowing you would get dust in your nose and eyes; knowing that – as Rachel Carson said – “there is something beyond the bounds of our human existence” that matters. You also know that you won’t get any thanks from the butterflies that find all the little milkweed gardens that will eventually grow from this project. I do know, from the simple fact that you involved yourselves in this effort, that you will one day spot a monarch butterfly and in that fleeting moment there will be a part of your soul that stirs and feels absolute content. There is something right with the world – it may be ephemeral, and maybe you can’t articulate what it is, but that moment is enough for us.

I don’t think we will get a harvest this year at all. Next year we will have to put our heads together to figure out how we take the next step – collection of the seed. In the meantime I hope you can pat yourselves on the back for a fantastic job, so well done. I cannot thank you enough.”

A plant growing in the dirt on a sunny day.

Planting Milkweed Plugs

Here’s Fiona’s update on the project after the Monsoon rains have begun:

“It’s what we have all been waiting for – the rains! Right now, as I look through my office window, there are heavy raindrops exploding like little bombs on the driveway, and I know they are doing just the same over the new milkweed fields less than a hundred yards away. Perhaps I should take this very opportunity to celebrate these first rains of the monsoon season and take off all my clothes and run over there and be like a little milkweed, totally open to the elements!”

A plant growing in the dirt on a sunny day.

Almost Half Way!

“2,190 milkweed plugs, grown from seed in a California greenhouse, are now at home in our native Skull Valley soil, barely 50 miles from their parent plants. And their roots are now moving out from the plug of soil which has been their ‘nest’ for so many months into the earth around them. These rains have showered them with nitrogen and freshness and their narrow leaves are pushing up towards the currently cloud covered sky. So I can pat myself on the back for a job well done, right? But nothing like this can happen without the help of others, so they all need a pat on the back as well.”

A plant growing in the dirt on a sunny day.

Busy Hands

“Community and connections make good things happen. Stephen and Cindy needed to think of me for this project; I needed Jodi Padgett, with whom I share life and land, to agree with the idea that we could plant the milkweed on the property; I needed to find someone to plough and level the planting areas; I needed volunteer help almost every step of the way. I needed Brianna Borders of the Xerces Society to support me when needed. Food and wine is usually a great incentive for volunteers, but that’s not all – realizing that there is, as Rachel Carson said, “something beyond the bounds of our human existence” worth paying attention to is probably more of an incentive for every single one of the volunteers who came and knelt, and dug, and laid weed barrier fabric, and connected irrigation parts, and invented hole-burners and augers, and finally, tenderly, popped these little milkweed plugs into the earth with a silent prayer that each one would grow strong. All of this work was done in unusually hot weather. The youngsters took much needed breaks by splashing around in the swimming pool; the elders sat in the shade gulping down iced mint tea. Everyone got hot, sweaty and very dusty.”

A plant growing in the dirt on a sunny day.

More Busy Hands

“And for the past month, as hot dry weather has continued to dominate our local area, I began and ended each day by watering those four blocks of milkweed. Today the rains did the watering for me, and moments ago, (fully clothed) I wandered around the blocks and, yes, all of a sudden it seems that these small plants have decided this is a good place to be and have sent their roots out into the native soil and are prepared to call this place ‘home’.

We don’t get paid dollars for doing this. What we get is priceless. One day, in many gardens around this area and scattered throughout the southwest, the most ephemeral of creatures – a butterfly – will lay her eggs on the milkweed that has been grown there especially for her, and the stunning caterpillar that emerges will have all the nourishment it needs right there. Soon thereafter, through the miracle of metamorphosis, a monarch butterfly will continue the northward journey. We may only get a fleeting glimpse of this whole cycle, but that’s OK – we just need, it seems, to know that we are part of a bigger whole that is life on earth.”

Very well said, Fiona!

July 2013 update:

It has been just over a year now, and things are looking very well indeed! We visited Fiona recently to see how the seed production was coming along, took some photos and video and wanted to share them with all of you.

There are several things that have been learned from this experience. First off, the milkweed is an on-going production plant, meaning that it doesn’t set all of its flowers at once. This means that there aren’t a crush of seed pods that need to be bagged (needing a crew or a bunch of hardy volunteers), but it does mean that there are little bunches of pods that always need bagging, so it is seemingly never done. Second, there is no real seed cleaning equipment available for the small scale grower to process and separate the seeds from the floss. There is equipment for the large seed grower that costs as much as some folks homes, but nothing for the smaller scale grower. We have known that as an heirloom seed company, as we’ve had to adapt other industry’s equipment and needs to serve our own. Third, there isn’t an established market for a regionally adapted milkweed seed of a specific species, as there hasn’t been any available up until this point in time.

Let’s look at how things have developed:

 

A plant growing in the dirt on a sunny day.

This is what a milkweed pod that has been bagged looks like. It is bagged to capture the “floss” or fluff that transports the seeds on the wind. This has to be done on an on-going basis, as the pods grow and begin to mature.

 

A plant growing in the dirt on a sunny day.

This is what good pollination will do for production, and really emphasizes the importance of all pollinators, but especially bees. Big black carpenter bees are what do the most effective pollination for Painted Lady Vineyard, as they get into the flowers and do a tremendous job that the smaller pollinators can’t.

 

A plant growing in the dirt on a sunny day.

This is one of the several butterflies that were visiting the milkweed the day we were there.

 

 

A plant growing in the dirt on a sunny day.

The star of the show appears: the carpenter bee!

 

A plant growing in the dirt on a sunny day.

Another view of this hard-working bee. Notice my hand in the background, holding the flower stalk steady as the wind was starting to pick up. The bee didn’t mind and let me get several close-up “glamour” shots! They are big enough to get down into the flower and do the pollination work that smaller insects just can’t reach. The flowers are quite stiff, and some insects will be damaged trying to get into these flowers as their legs get caught.

Here’s a short video showing what the field of milkweed looks like, as well as how Fiona and Brianna have worked together to determine how to separate the floss from the seeds.

 


FarmPlate – Technology Connecting Producers with Eaters Everywhere

The burgeoning local food movement has a powerful new ally in FarmPlate to connect more people to those around them that are producing, promoting and distributing locally grown food. It can be very hard to find out who is in your neck of the woods, or in the next town that is part of local food. Communication is difficult, as there is no real central channel yet. There are a few resources that are devoted to showing us where the local “foodies” are, and this is one such resource that is making great strides in connecting the producers with the eaters of local ingredients.

FarmPlate is a revolutionary online community that connects farmers, fishermen, foragers, food artisans, restaurants, markets, distributors and foodies everywhere. Our searchable directory of 40,000+ business listings across the country, networking tools and reviews make it fun and easy to find and enjoy real foods near you.”

Using the top search toolbar, you can find a specific ingredient or foodsource near you, no matter where you are. I especially like to enter my zip code and click the red “Go!” button. It shows everything starting with what is closest to your zip code and works out from there. This is a great way to explore a new area, or if you are traveling and don’t know what is available locally – this is your ticket!

They showcase farmers, artisans, restaurants, markets and foods, so there is no loss for variety to choose from. Their blog is very informative and has a series of Young Farmer stories of, you guessed it, young farmers making their mark in today’s local food world. Take a look for yourself and see what is local to you.

FarmPlate


Community Supported Fisheries – Sustaining Our Oceans

The local food movement has had some seriously positive impacts on the quality and transparency of the food we eat. It has also stirred up quite a bit of controversy, which isn’t really a bad thing as it keeps food and where and how it is grown circling through the center of the national attention spotlight. Seeing how short the national attention span is, having food issues, food safety news and local food coming back into it every few days or once a week has helped many people realize just how disconnected almost all of us are from the third most important ingredient that sustains life.

As Joel Salatin recently said, “The average person is still under the aberrant delusion that food should be somebody else’s responsibility until I’m ready to eat it.”

Getting to know our seafood and those that harvest it is much harder than visiting our local farmer or joining a CSA. Most of us don’t live close to the source of fish and seafood, so we usually rely on the seafood lists such as that from the Monterey Bay Aquarium and other organizations who are making a step in the direction of educating us in where our seafood comes from and how sustainably it is harvested. With 86% of the seafood we eat being imported, this becomes almost impossible to sort out who is doing what right on an international scale. After all, I didn’t plan on a doctoral research project in order to feel good about my grilled salmon steaks!

That’s where the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance (NAMA) comes in. They are helping to create a national Community Supported Fisheries (CSF) movement. This is how you can get to know where your fish and seafood comes from, how it was harvested and who the folks are that are doing all the work for you. Your support helps the very people in the boats make a living by eliminating the international systems of trade and shipping that grabs most of the profits. It truly is a CSA system for seafood!

Beyond red lists: The power of community-supported fisheries


After losing his job in the L.A. tech industry to downsizing, Nathan Winters takes a 4300-mile bike ride across rural America to find inspiration and finishes his trip deeply in love with sustainable farming and a new relationship with food.

After working on several farms along his ride, he jumps in with both feet and starts his own. He shares his experiences, successes and challenges along with some new-found words of wisdom for those looking to start a farm of their own.
Bike Trip Across Rural America Results in Techie’s Conversion to Sustainable Farmer