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11/10/16 4:
IN THIS ISSU E OF GA R D EN CU LTU RE : 9 Foreword
50 Bayersanto
8 Feature Products
56 Who’s Growing What Where
14 Organic vs. Synthetic - Can a Plant Tell?
58 Light Matters - Part V
18 Giants in the Winter
66 Community Supported Agriculture
22 How Nature Works
70 The Smart Garden
28 What About the Water?
74 Guano 101
32 Feeding Cities With Urban Roof Gardens
76 Do Plants Poo?
40 5 Cool Finds - Alternatives
79 What Grinds My Gears
44 Unplug
81 Eggshell Planters
49 Green Manure
Before science began to mess around in agriculture, the word “organic” held no real meaning. Everything was organic. Slowly over a century food has become mass-produced, processed, and commercialized. And the effects of these changes are being felt in a multitude of ways. Today, for a product to be labeled organic, it requires more effort and cost. And passion. The savviest of organic gardeners will all tell you the secret to success is in the soil. Feed it and the life that you create will help feed the plant. Organic growers around the world are sharing know-how and expertise to leave healthy, living soil to our children’s children. Soil regeneration, for generations to come! In the OrGanics Edition, we are taking a small glimpse into the many strategies you can use for sustainable gardening. And bring to you some inspiring projects, from rooftop gardens to community supported agriculture. In How Does Nature Work, Evan will inspire you to dig deeper and challenges you to have a better understanding of the symbiotic relationship between the plant and the soil. Stephen brings up interesting points in the article Organics vs. Synthetics. Kyle shares some advice in The Smart Garden learned the hard way? Though recent events may have put the impending Bayer-Monsanto merger out of the media spotlight, Andrew discusses the consequences in Bayersanto. Living in a cold climate gets you thinking about the overall benefits of buying organic if it means a majority of your food is shipped over long distances. As many of you know, my grow room is an important part of the equation. As is our food subscription that allows us to supplement our production from local, organic producers, all year round. Once the last butternut has been harvested outside, the indoor garden kicks in. The plants in my indoor garden benefit from the best nutrition and natural pest control. The fertilizers are usually certified organic but sometimes, are not. Everything else is. What I’m avoiding are things like pesticides, fungicides, irradiation, and GMO’s. And, the overuse of fertilizers. So, which is best? The organic food I buy or the non-organic food I grow in my basement? Honestly, I think my indoor stuff tastes the best. I also believe that they are both more nutritious than any mass produced “fresh” vegetable from the supermarket. Of course, our tomatoes grown outdoors during the summer do win, hands down. It’s about striking a balance that works. “Information is like compost; it does no good unless you spread it around.” - Eliot Coleman. Eric
The Maxibright Compact Pro is a high quality, precision wound magnetic ballast with a 10 year life expectancy. Manufactured using professional quality control gear from Venture Lighting, the Compact Pro is safe, efficient, and reliable. It constantly provides the correct power to the lamp to ensure healthy plant growth and abundant yields. Genuine Quality & Power – Supplies the correct power to your lamps • Silent running with cool operation • Matched digital smart igniter • EC approved capacitors • Precision wound ballast with Grade 2 winding wire • Wall-mountable case • 5 year guarantee • Very low return rate • Runs high pressure sodium or metal halide lamps To find your local retailer visit: Maxigrow.com/where-to-buy/
Philips, the original designer and manufacturer of the 315W ceramic metal halide lamps announces the launch of the Daylight CDM Lamps. Their incredible 1.9 micromoles of light per watt makes these ceramic metal halide lamps one of the most efficient lamps on the market. With a spectral output close to natural sunlight, growers can expect to see plants form more lateral branches, have smaller internodal spacing, more flowering sites, and larger root systems. Increased UV-A and UV-B will enhance aroma and essential oil production. - culminating in abundant yields of the highest quality. Philips 315W CDM lamps give increased UV-A and UV-B light, enhancing aroma and essential oil production, resulting in better-tasting crops. Use the PHILIPS Elite Daylight lamp for vegetative stages and the PHILIPS Elite Agro lamp for flowering.
For optimum performance, use the Maxibright Daylight 315W. This low frequency, square wave digital ballast was designed specifically to achieve correct spectral output running the Philips CDM 315W lamps. *Ideal for both supplementary and stand-alone lighting To find your local retailer visit: Maxigrow.com/where-to-buy/
Alg•A•Mic™ is a revitalizing product, made from a high grade, natural seaweed concentrate extracted through cold pressing, rather than chemical solvents. Although it is not a fertilizer, it contains a high level of natural nutrition that caters to the whole spectrum of a plant’s needs, resulting in exuberant green foliage. Alg•A•Mic™ comes to the rescue if plants have suffered from overfeeding, deficiencies, diseases, or fluctuations in temperature. Stress-free, happy plants generally produce larger fruits! Visit: Biobizz.com
What is Azos? for cloning and Azos is an all-natural, growth promoting, nitrogen-fixing bacteria ideal to the plant, transplanting. It converts nitrogen into a usable form that is readily available Azos rapidly critical for establishing vegetative matter and supporting abundant growth. e, affecting increases plant production of IAA (Indole-3 Acetic Acid), a natural plant hormon cell division and growth rate in both plant and root development. Why use Azos? • Sparks new root development • Boosts plant growth • Converts atmospheric nitrogen into a form usable by plants To find your local retailer visit Maxigrow.com/where-to-buy/ or for more info visit xtreme-gardening.com/Azos
and fungi including VitaLink BioPac is back, but in powder form! Full of beneficial bacteria and also helps trichoderma, it improves root development, function, tolerance to stress, use in all growing in the recover y of stressed out plants. BioPac Powder is suitable for substrates, and will assist with nutrient availability and uptake. change. When In recirculating systems, add BioPac Powder at each complete solution ensures good growing in substrates, use each time you transplant or re-pot. This VitaLink Adding plants. your colonization by the microbes, and quick establishment of BioPac Powder to your grow schedule enhances your plant’s vitality! Find out more by visiting Vitalink.eu
larger roots for exceptional growth
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The MaxiFan Floor Fan is 30cm in diameter, with three speed options, and a rotating louvered front grill to redirect airflow around the room. The MaxiFan Floor Fan is housed in a durable plastic casing, and is lightweight for easy positioning. Other fans in the MaxiFan range include a Clip Fan, Wall Fan and a Pedestal Fan. • Three-speed • Rotating directional air-flow • 30cm diameter To find your local retailer visit Maxigrow.com/where-to-buy/
Batmix is a carefully selected composi tion of the finest peat - three varieties - as well as various types of fibre and perlite which resu lt in a ‘lightness’ and oxygen level you have now come to expect from Plagron. The unique Plagron worm castings play a big role in the vigorous plant growth and increased water retention of Batmix. As the name implies, the main nutrient is bat manure (Bat Guano). Bat manure is naturally rich in phosphorous and potassium, guar anteeing abundant growth. Formulate d to give your plant what it needs for the first six wee ks - no feedings required until your plan t indicates it! More info: www.plagron.com/en -RU/
stimulants. Biosys contains a unique blend of beneficial microbes and natural plant growth to water add you Quick and easy to mix and use, Biosys is a concentrated powder that to make an instant microbial tea. water availability, The microbes in Biosys improve root function, increase nutrient and contains biological help with disease prevention, and improve plant growth. Biosys also and seaweed catalysts (humic acids, amino acids, enzymes, proteins, carbohydrates, the rhizosphere extract) to allow activation and continued growth of the microbes within – right where you need them. solution. Breathe new life into your plants with Biosys— the complete microbial www.ecothrive.co.uk
Guanokalong has a rich and unique composition of macro and micro elements, as well as enzymes and an abundance of phosphorus. A blend that makes it one of the world’s most amazing organic soil amenders. This super manure works to improve taste, quality, and yield. Packed full of natural ingredients, Guanokalong delivers remarkable growth by enhancing the root zone with essential micro elements and enzymes, in addition to providing necessary macro elements to boost healthy growth. Sourced from caves next to the rainforest, where guano has been piling up for hundreds of years. The bats of the area enjoy an abundant supply of ripe fruit and insects, and most notably, an absence of human influence. Let the spirit of the jungle become a part of your garden with the aid of Guanokalong - Excellent for growing any organic crop. http://www.guanokalong.nl/engels.html
Dedicated to pure organics, Dragonfly’s products do not contain synthetic or animal products. Lush Roots 840, their flagship product, is a powerful herbal EndoMycorrhizae powder which enhances root growth and plant yields. Alfalfa, Nettle, and Kelp are included to feed roots and living soil. It also contains various strains of Bacillus and Glomus Bacteria to inoculate your growing medium. Visit them on Instagram: @dragonflyEarthMedicine
Developed by Cellmax, Organic Grow and Organic Bloom Nutrients offer optimum growing and flowering results. The conscious decision was taken to only use natural raw materials. These products contain the perfect blend of organic NPK nutrients and trace elements, and are always guaranteed to be PGR free. Cellmax Organic is very user-friendly, consisting of one Organic Growth nutrient component with a NK ratio of 3-4, and one Organic Bloom nutrient component with a NPK ratio of 3-2-5. The two nutrients can be used on all kinds of earth and potting soil substrates, and are also suitable for hydroponic systems, such as NFT, expanded clay pebbles, and run-to-waste systems. The Cellmax Organic line ensures a high-quality end product with minimal effort. Visit: www.cellmax.eu/organic-growing.
“I can no longer, so to speak, hold my chemical water and must tell you that I can make urea without needing a kidney, whether of man or dog; the ammonium salt of cyanic acid is urea.” -- Wöhler (1800-1882) Growing organically is undoubtedly beneficial for the environment - A holistic methodology focusing on soil regeneration, conservation, and the health of those that interact with the garden. No synthetic fertilisers, pesticides, herbicides, or GMO’s...
And there are plenty of benefits, such as: 1. The reduction of soil compaction and surface crusting. When this occurs, the air exchange between the air and the soil is dramatically reduced. Roots need oxygen, the soil microbiota needs oxygen, and without it, there will be limited growth of crops. Furthermore, compaction leads to surface runoff and poor infiltration of water to the lower soil horizons. Growing organically will encourage aeration, and infiltration creating a healthy soil full of life. 2. Increases the water-holding capacity, allowing sufficient nutrient transport to the roots. 3. Reduces soil erosion. Soil erosion means the land becomes sandy, salinated, and ultimately, unfarmable. 4. Cation exchange capacity (CEC) increases, boosting the fertility of the soil. Also helps buffer against rapid changes in pH. 5. Growing organically actually feeds the organisms that live in the soil which then form a symbiotic relationship with the plants, increasing nutrient uptake.
However, there are a couple of disadvantages, as with any particular method of growing: 1. If the soil has too much organic matter (in excess of 5%), it becomes increasingly complex to manage due to the lower temperatures and high moisture content, usually requiring special tilling procedures and extra work. Seeding the ground has to be left until later in the season (soil too cold), and growth can also be slower. 2. The source of the organic nutrients is very important. Elements can be added that accumulate over time, and this could adversely affect the nutritional status of the soil, and that of the crops being grown. A good example is chicken manure - High in potassium, over time it can alter the cation ratio of the soil, potentially leading to a magnesium or calcium deficiency.
A lot of terms can be used to describe the differences between organic and synthetic nutrients, here’s what they mean: Organic: Material(s) that contain carbon (C) along with hydrogen and oxygen. ‘Organic’ is usually derived from plants or animals, such as plant byproducts, animal waste, or natural sources (peat, bark, etc.) Mineral: A mineral usually refers to substances, or an ingredient in a fertiliser that is sourced from a naturally occurring substance, such as potassium chloride (KCl), which is often used instead of an inorganic form. Inorganic: A fertiliser that does not contain carbon, and is not derived from living matter.
Organic vs. Synthetic What is the difference between organic and inorganic fertiliser? Organic fertilisers will contain carbon, and are from living sources, while inorganic fertilisers do not contain carbon. Carbon being the backbone of life, we can see that organic fertilisers must be derived from natural sources, such as plant and animal waste products.
Plants uptake inorganic ions dissolved in water, nothing more, and nothing less. The real differences come from the cultivator’s gardening or hydroponic practices, and nutrient management. Not to mention the many plant processes that we do not yet fully understand, namely the role of microorganisms in nutrient uptake.
However, things can get a little complicated. For example, Urea contains Carbon CO(NH2)2 , but is produced synthetically from inorganic materials. Technically, urea is classed as organic, but the synthetically produced urea would not be allowed in an organic fertiliser, whereas urea in organic fertiliser has to be sourced from a living organism.
When you apply organic fertiliser to soil, it has to be broken down by microorganisms before it can be available to the plant. One of the processes that we do understand is the digestion of organic compounds into their ionic forms. Microorganisms release enzymes that oxidise the organic compounds into organic matter, and then further mineralisation for plant uptake. This oxidation reaction releases energy and carbon, which they need to survive.
The best definition to date (and it’s still not perfect), is that organic compounds contain carbon-hydrogen bonds, but inorganic compounds do not… Which leaves us with CO2 being inorganic.
So, is it the organically derived nutrients that can make organic produce taste better, or is it the billions of microorganisms and their ability to work synergistically with a plant, which improves taste and nutrition?
From the Plant’s Perspective It is widely known that a plant cannot distinguish between an organically derived ion and a synthetically derived ion. To further confuse the issue, here is a molecule of organic urea and a molecule of synthetic urea, can you tell the difference?
Organic urea
Synthetic urea
Taste...and Nutrition “It tastes better and it’s more nutritious too” is the favorite go to argument for choosing organic produce versus conventional. However, there has yet to be any published evidence to validate this hypothesis - On countless blind taste trials, it has not been proven true. Surprisingly, they are equal in nutritional density, except for a few studies that show higher vitamin C levels in leafy green salads. In addition, scientific taste tests have shown that when half of the food is labelled organic and the other half regular, the organic products consistently get higher ratings for taste, nutritional content, and a willingness to pay more...for an identical product! We are highly influenced by the organic label.
ORGANIC VS. SYNTHETIC I GARDEN CULTURE
One of the biggest differences between organic and synthetic fertiliser, and one that has a direct effect on taste, is the rate of absorption. Artificial fertilisers are absorbed very quickly compared to organic fertiliser, and can be easily over-applied, resulting in a ‘nutrient burn’ (necrosis of leaf tips), often leaving a chemical, metallic taste in the harvested produce. At this moment in time, no scientist in the world can differentiate between the organically produced ion and the synthetic ion. If plants could talk, would they be able to tell you the difference between a mineral based ion and an organically derived ion? The issues surrounding modern day agriculture are numerous, and often the choice between organic and conventional is a political one - it’s not just about taste. The far reaching benefits of regenerative soil practices, decreased usage of fertilisers and pesticides, conservation of heirloom varieties for our children, and land stewardship are just some of the reasons for choosing organic. And when you grow your own, there is no doubt it tastes better! There are always two sides to every coin, and I like to look deeper into all issues before taking a strong stance for, or against. Hopefully this article has stimulated some thoughts on the organic versus synthetic debate, and entices you to research further on the subject. Thank you for reading. 3
BIO Stephen is the manager for the UK hydroponic shops, NPK Technology. Hydroponics and Science are Stephen’s obsessions, along with mountaineering and reading. Stephen studied a BSc in Outdoor Education, then went on to study his Masters in Public Health Nutrition, which he finished in 2014. This year he embarks on his next level of study, doing a PhD on the effects of cannabinoids in humans. His passion project is the hydroponics podcast he co-hosts, NPK Live.
s ideal to plan the The Winter Months are alway g with your soil. growing season ahead. Star tin
Soil Preparation during the Winter Months. If you haven’t broken the soil into lovely clods in the months before winter, don’t try to do it now, as the frost will make it very difficult. The temperature for the next few months will be bumping along the lower limits (4°C and below). The soil will also be super-saturated after the rain, and won’t benefit from more air being squashed out of it by treading and compaction.
water very easily, yet apart from the huge deluges of rain, the drainage is good. So, if you are thinking of starting a vegetable patch or a small garden, and are trying to improve the soil, apply a layer of loamy soil to the garden first. Then head down to your local farm for some well-rotted manure.
Clean up The best guideline for the winter season is to refrain from treading on the ground as much as possible, and, if necessary, to tread lightly when you do have to do any work. Keep an eye out for aphids overwintering on your plants - remove them by hand, or use a pesticide. If you are interested in starting a vegetable patch, or have recently taken on an allotment, it is important to find out as much as you can about your soil. There are a variety of different types of soil and, depending on the size of the particles in the soil, can be classified into the following types: • Chalk, • Peat, • Clay Soil, • Sandy Soil, • Loam, • and Silt Depending on where you live in the UK, the soil structures will vary considerably from loose, fertile peat soils, such as is found in parts of the East of England to a clay soil like our own garden in Cwmbran, South Wales. Quite amazingly, Britain has over 700 different types of soil, which is a lot considering its small size. Our soil in the back garden was originally light clay. But each year, through the generous supplies of well-rotted manure from the local community farm, and the efforts of the worms, the soil has gone from a light clay to a medium to heavy loam. There are, however, various kinds of loamy soil ranging from fertile to very muddy and thick sod. Our soil now consists of sand, silt, and a small element of clay - a perfect soil for cultivation. The texture is gritty, and it retains
At the end of the season, it’s vitally important to clean down your growing systems and greenhouses. Good hygiene is the key to growing clean plants. If you haven’t already done so, clean out the greenhouse thoroughly. Wash the glass, the floor, and the staging with horticultural disinfectant to kill any overwintering pests and diseases. It is also important to ventilate the greenhouse on warmer days to reduce humidity, and the risk of disease. The majority of greenhouses will have automatic vents. Our Autopot system was cleaned down a few weeks ago, and we used Keep it Clean from Dutch Pro as a drip cleaner. These will be used in the coming months for growing Giant Peppers again. Our Pepper feed was trialled last year, and is now ready for launch.
Seed Development
What’s growing at the moment?
Winter is the time when seeds are harvested. It is important to continually develop the genetics of strains, and this is what we strive to do. Our Dad taught us the basics, but we are still learning each day. We have already harvested the seeds from giant cucumbers and marrows, and continue to develop the next generation of giant vegetable seeds. The onion and beetroot seeds will be harvested in late 2017. The swede clones have been propagated, and these will root very soon.
In winter whilst the garden soil is being dug over and fresh green manure sown, inside the greenhouse we have newly emerging giant leeks and onions, giant cabbages, and seed stock plants.
Seed stock
Onion with support
How We Grow Some of Our Giants Onion The current world record for the largest onion is held by Tony Glover weighing in at an incredible 8.47kg (18lbs 11oz). Here’s is a quick guide to get you started. In October, the giant onion seeds are started in seed trays. For the first time this year we placed them inside a grow tent with a LED Corn lighting unit. This has provided the optimum growing environment for the newly emerging seedlings. For the first five weeks, the onions are provided with 24 hours of lighting. Then they are moved into a heated greenhouse under HPS lighting, which runs for 9 hours during the day.
It is important to try to maintain the heat around 8-10 0C. The onions are also placed on top of a heated mat with capillary matting under the pots. It is important to make sure that the roots do not dry out.
until the end of February for approximately 10 hours of light from 7 am to 5 pm.
In early November, the onions are potted and supported, then continually repotted into larger containers until they are planted into their final growing pots. These pots are between 50 and 75 litres.
Thrips prevention using predatory insects is essential to prevent leaves being destroyed. The thrips predator (Amblyseius cucumeris) moves quickly to attack eggs, larvae, and small adult thrips. Female thrips predators, while consuming two to three thrips a day, also lay two to three eggs a day, multiplying the beneficial insect’s population as it feeds.
Leek The record for the world’s largest leek is held by Paul Rochester, weighing a tasty 9.75 kg (21lbs 8oz).
During the winter months, it is important to water plants sparingly to maintain as dry an atmosphere as possible. This also encourages the roots to go searching for moisture.
Leeks are started off as pips in October on an unheated sand bench. Once rooted, they are potted up using a multipurpose compost. Gradually, as the leeks get larger, a mix of Sheepswool compost (Dalefoot) and John Innes No. 2 is used for repotting. This is a soil-based growing medium. As each month passes each leek is transplanted into a pot only 1 inch or so larger, and placed back into the propagation bed. Mycorrhizal inoculant is added to each stage to provide for a healthy root system. Competitive growers will also use supplementary lighting up
Cabbage In November, the giant cabbage plants are started. They can, and will, reach weights of over 80 pounds. They are left inside a cold greenhouse to grow over the winter. The cabbages will be continually potted up using multipurpose compost with slow release fertilizer and mycorrhizae added at each stage of potting. This provides essential trace elements to the growing plant. In the next article, we will talk about planting out into the soil.
The start of the new Season is around the Corner So, you’ve heard a little about how the ground is prepared and what’s starting in the greenhouses during the winter. We also recommend soil testing prior to the start of the growing season to check your nutrient levels. We use Lancrop Laboratories, who advise us on what is needed in the ground based on their analysis. Some amendments take time to react with the soil and provide their full effect. This is especially true if you are lowering soil pH with sulfur, or raising it with an application of lime. So, be prepared. Don’t let winter go by without taking the opportunity to build your soil, and lay the foundation for the best garden ever. And most importantly, join our Giant Vegetable Community on Facebook to learn all about growing giant veg. It’s also time to shop for your giant vegetable seeds. 3
How does Nature work? It is an overarching question that has a surprisingly simple answer Mother Nature is the beginning and the end, she will always win. As the great Viktor Schauberger once told us, “Comprehend and copy Nature.”
We have strayed so far from this critical truth, and it is literally and figuratively crippling us in so many ways. There is no sector of society that makes the point more abundantly clear than in agriculture.
Cast doubts aside and have an experience
Humanity is defined by agriculture. It was not until huntergatherers envisioned and put into action the concept of domestication and planting food crops that we put down roots, and began the experiment in consciousness, and the process of specialization and industrialization that has come to define the modern world. Our intelligence and industry have generated great wealth, but at the same time have taken us further away from Nature than we have ever been. In the modern world, one must have an intention to spend any sort of considerable time in Nature, and know her intimately. In my evaluation, the most important challenge we face in modern times is to consciously re-integrate humanity back into resonance with the natural rhythms that produced us. This work begins within, and in the development of our perspective. And from perspective comes action. The very act of agriculture is the manipulation of the natural environment. Do we consider the soil as a checking account we are free to spend, or a savings account for the future? Do we simply grow plants, or do we focus on growing the soil? These are seminal questions. No doubt, our future success as a species will be defined by the scope and depth of our perspective towards agriculture and natural living systems.
For over 10,000 years, humanity was in synergy with Nature, by default. And in only a short 100 years the Industrial Age and blind consciousness have achieved a seeming dominance over the Earth. Technology and machines are increasingly doing our jobs, pharmaceuticals and supplements are considered adequate replacements to nutrition, and our food is no longer our medicine. We have lost the fundamental precept of supporting Nature, so that she can support us. We have become disconnected. If it is not in the soil, it is not in the plant. If it is not in the plant - it is not in the people. Combine this mantra with the reality that the majority of our food is processed, and travels over 1,500 miles to our plates, and we have gotten to the root of almost every degenerative issue facing society today. The way back is simple. First, we must develop our personal agriculture. Everyone should eat at least one local meatfree meal weekly. As Wendell Berry told us, “Eating is an agricultural act.” And I don’t intend to make a moral statement on meat-eating, but there is no doubt that curbing the intensity of our meat-based diet would have real benefits for the Earth. Second, everyone should grow at least one functional plant. I’m not talking about a houseplant, but something you eat, or use in some way. Whether it is a pepper plant to garnish your salad, or growing your favorite medicinal herb, everyone needs a direct growing experience. This simple pleasure has proven to change and enhance many lives.
In fact, we should start a movement that says all schools must require students to raise a plant that they eat on their own as part of the curriculum. You heard it here first, call it “Personal Agriculture 101.” When we have children who don’t know ketchup and French fries come from tomatoes and potatoes - there is a lot of work to do.
The compost pile is the gut of the landscape
Finally, and maybe most importantly, we must broaden our reverence and perspective towards Nature herself. I work as a consultant offering Fertility Management Services in all sectors of agriculture from acreage farmers to landscaping companies, and it is alarming how many professionals are completely unaware of the damage they are doing to things they are actually trying to help. In my experience working with growers, the most important service that I provide is offering a deeper perspective towards the forces of life, and how living systems actually work. This could be as simple as acknowledging the benefits of using compost tea in a hydroponic system, or it could be something more profound, such as actually coming to terms with the idea that there is more to life than the sum of our parts. There is a book called Secrets of the Soil: New Solutions for Restoring Our Planet that brought all of this to clarity for me almost fifteen years ago. It proposes that we must go beyond the material, and even “organic,” to methods of agriculture that incorporate spiritual science, and are truly regenerative. Through pondering, experimenting, and experiencing this approach to agriculture, I developed a consulting platform
called BioEnergetic Agriculture, or the recognition that life lives on physical, mineral, biological, and energetic levels. Here’s how it works.
The physicality of the soil is obvious. Think soil structure, soil horizons, and plants themselves. There are things you can do to encourage good soil structure, but the plant growth and physical structure of soil will normally move in the right direction given proper mineral, biological, and energetic methods and consideration. The mineral capacity of soil deals with fertilization and base saturation balance. In agriculture, and even in the garden at home, too much focus is put on NPK without consideration for trace elements, and mineral balance and diversity. Always make sure to use elementally balanced and diverse materials like rock dusts, kelp, or sea minerals in the garden. These materials also make great tools for helping soil microbes make enzymes and other biocatalysts. And when using singular elemental products like Epsom salts (MgS), lime (Ca), superphosphates (P), etc. - make sure to do soil testing to determine if they are actually needed. The health of the soil is much more than the pH number. Check into the work of Dr. William Albrecht. The biological component of BioEnergetic Agriculture is the soil food web that supports plant growth. The importance of diverse soil microbes cannot be overstated. Just consider the significance of plankton in the ocean. While microbes can appear complicated, they self-organize, and don’t really need our help other than to apply them consistently to our gardens, and stay out of the way!
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They are also much simpler than we have made them out to be. Just like eating gut microbes found in yogurt or probiotics after you get sick and take antibiotics, humus and compost tea inoculate your garden with beneficial soil microbes. The compost pile is the gut of the landscape.
The importance of diverse soil microbes cannot be overstated
And finally, there is the energetic capacity of life, or life force as I like to call it. In fact, life can be deduced down to electrical impulses in the brain. Simply acknowledging this fact provides an opportunity for experience, and a template to work with life force proactively that was not there previously. Many call the idea of life force New Age or woo-woo, but it is actually not a controversial idea to suggest that there is more to life than what is physically here. This is the general belief of most people, we just struggle to come to agreement with what that means. The notion of working with life force on the farm was championed by the “biodynamic methods” introduced by Dr. Rudolf Steiner in his Agriculture Course lectures from 1924. Steiner’s position was that the more comfortable we become with not knowing, the more we know. Far out, right? Steiner developed specific methods and deliberate processes to concentrate the subtle energies of specific
plants and organic materials, so they could be leveraged to regenerate the life force of farms. If you are not familiar with biodynamics and Steiner’s work, open your mind and do a Google search. You’re welcome.
But biodynamics is not a complete farming system. Neither is conventional or organic farming for that matter. They all neglect to combine the principles of soil physicality, mineral balance, microbial diversity, and life force. Think of it this way, conventional farming is plowing and fertilizing. Organic brings in the biological, but biodynamics is the only method that addresses subtle energies, and unfortunately, it does so without addressing soil testing, cover crops, compost tea, etc. The concept of life force can be put into action in many different ways, such as using potentized field sprays, planting by the celestial cycles, activating water with implosion, frequency farming with field broadcasters, and more. Cast doubts aside and have an experience. As I have described it before, conventional farming is drowning, organic farming is treading water, but BioEnergetic Agriculture is swimming where you want to go. I challenge you to look into some of the people mentioned in this article, and spend some time with them. And if you don’t mind, let me know what you learn. Helps me remember. So that’s how Nature works. Now go plant a garden. 3
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Growing organic is a complex process with traceable, verifiable inputs. Such as fertilizers and pesticides, to ensure the consumer gets what they pay for. There are multiple local and international organizations to certify the produce to be organic. But what about the water used for irrigation? The truth is, water quality varies wildly with little to no oversight to ensure a contaminant-free input. Some growers are lucky enough to enjoy a clean and reliable source that’s always readily available. Unfortunately, that’s increasingly not the case in many areas.
Hormones, pharmaceuticals, and all kinds of toxic materials are making their way into the water supply. In droughtstricken areas like Los Angeles and San Francisco, “toilet to tap” reclamation procedures are now in place, essentially straining solids, dosing with chlorine, then pushing the water back into the public drinking supply. Sound gross? Well, the situation with water in America is rapidly changing. If you wouldn’t drink the tap water at your house or cultivation facility, why would you give that same water to your plants? One of the worst mistakes an organic grower can make is to invest money into a garden, but gloss over their water supply quality, perhaps the most important resource to having a genuinely healthy end-product. Even if you believe your geographic area has “good” water, not investigating the quality and serving your plants less than optimal water might not only compromise the end-product, but also choke its potential, undermining an otherwise perfectly engineered operation. The TDS (total dissolved solids) in any type of untreated water varies for several reasons, and the relatively small investment into a water filtration system is a big step towards a consistent, reliable, and truly organic ecosystem. Many cultivators use purified water to completely control the content of their nutrient formulas for each crop, variety, or strain grown, making sure they properly and
consistently dial in the amounts of each mineral vital to healthy plant growth. Getting a water test to determine source water quality helps cultivators to decide whether using a water treatment system would benefit their garden. Municipalities provide free water reports, though water quality fluctuates greatly throughout an area, over the seasons, and can even vary from site to site. Water test kits for other sources, such as well or spring are readily available. Organic cultivators using microorganisms, such as beneficial bacteria, fungi, and nematodes, mycorrhizae, and trichoderma, must have chlorine and chloramine-free water for those helpful microbes to survive and flourish. All municipal water contains chlorine and/or chloramines as they are both powerful biocides, meaning they are designed to kill all living organisms. Letting city water sit out and bubble overnight may get rid of chlorine, but it’s not effective to remove chloramines, or other contaminants. Water from well or spring sources is often high in minerals such as calcium, magnesium, sulfur, and iron. Giving water with too high levels of these minerals to heavyfeeding plants will contribute to nutrient lockout and lead to deficiencies. The following table shows the most common contaminants in water, their sources, and what harmful effects they can have on plants. As one can see, many dissolved minerals in untreated source water have the potential to damage crops.
Using reverse osmosis to filter source water is the single most efficient, economical, and reliable way to ensure the removal of 98%+ of all contaminants mentioned above. As reverse osmosis technology continues to advance, as well as new regulations come online, several simplified water filtration solutions for commercial and hobby growers are now available. These include efficient pre-plumbed, plugand-play systems customized to treat any water source. These systems ensure consistency and reliability of water input, and are critical to the professional grower.
Already have access to excellent source water? Consider yourself lucky. People in many locations have increasingly complex, and sometimes dangerous, water contamination issues to deal with - as seen in Flint, Michigan and Corpus Christi, Texas in the USA, or the recent problems in Yorkshire and Manchester in the UK. Remember, if it’s not healthy for humans, it’s probably not healthy for plants - You (and your plants) are what you eat and drink! 3
A Windy city Harvest graduate works on the rooftop garden at McCormick Place, Chicago
The United Nations Organization for Food and Agriculture recently reported that 800 million humans are growing fruit and vegetables, or raising livestock in urban areas, producing 15 to 20% of the world’s food. Beyond the need to feed the planet’s constantly swelling urban population, the popularity of growing food plants in the heart of our cities points to urban dwellers’ profound need to reconnect with nature and know where our food comes from. Seeing their residents’ mounting enthusiasm for cultivating edible plants, elected officials in many North American and European municipalities decided to encourage the trend. The cities of Freiburg, Germany and Paris, France have recently developed a range of programs aimed at promoting urban agriculture, while various US cities, including Chicago and New York, now permit urban bee and hen keeping. In Canada, Montreal municipal authorities are working hard in co-operation with numerous community organizations to foster an interest in growing edible plants. With slightly more than 135 hectares of urban vegetable gardens, Montreal has become a North American leader in urban agriculture.
Fruit and vegetables are grown farther and farther from urban centres, and shipping them is a major source of pollution. According to the Worldwatch Institute, the food on a typical American plate has to travel an average of 2,400 kilometres (1,490 miles) to get there. By encouraging local and organic production, urban agriculture can help meet the enormous dietary and environmental challenges facing us – at least in part.
Vegetables in the sky Given that more than 80% of North Americans and 75% of Europeans are urban dwellers, vacant lots are increasingly rare, and it’s hard to find open space in
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cities. People interested in urban agriculture need to be very creative, and often find that the only spots available to them are on rooftops! Brooklyn Grange Farm, in New York, must be one of the most famous urban rooftop agriculture projects in the United States. The roofs of two buildings in Brooklyn and Queens, with a total area of over one hectare, are home to one of the world’s largest urban farms – growing close to 25,000 kilos (55,115 lbs) of vegetables every year! Gotham Greens, another urban agriculture company, recently built close to 16,000 m2 (172,222 ft 2) of rooftop greenhouses on four buildings in Chicago and New York. All kinds of citizen and community projects to create roof vegetable gardens have cropped up across the United States in recent years. There is Cloud 9, a nonprofit organization created by Rania Campbell-Bussiere devoted to teaching people about urban agriculture and building rooftop farms in Philadelphia. There is a huge urban agriculture movement in Chicago, too, especially high above the ground. The city has close to 400 green roofs, many of them used for growing produce. Windy City Harvest is an urban agriculture training program run by the Chicago Botanic Garden. Students in the program hone their skills by cultivating fruit and vegetables in various locations, including a nearly 2,000 m2 (21,528 ft 2) rooftop garden atop McCormick Place, North America’s largest convention centre.
One of Montreal’s first urban rooftop vegetable gardens appeared in 2011 atop the Palais des congrès convention centre, in the heart of downtown. Developed by a group of professors from the urban agriculture research, innovation, and promotion laboratory (AU/LAB) at the Université du Québec à Montréal, it is actually an urban farm designed to test various rooftop urban agriculture technologies and techniques. With 5,700 m2 (61,355 ft 2) devoted to cultivating vegetables in containers over the past five years, they have just added a huge 6,000 m2 (64,583 ft 2) vertical garden for growing herbs, leafy greens, and strawberries on geotextile fabric. Les Urbainculteurs is another pioneering rooftop urban agriculture company in Montreal and Quebec City. For close to a decade, founders Marie Eisenmann and Francis Denault, and their team have been creating dozens of rooftop urban gardens, including those atop the Lauberivière homeless shelter in Quebec City, and the Cuisine collective community kitchen building in Montreal’s Hochelaga-Maisonneuve neighbourhood. Finally, Lufa Farms is another Montreal example of rooftop urban agriculture, but it grows produce in greenhouses installed on building roofs, heating them with heat recovered from the buildings. Meanwhile, in Paris, the current municipal administration has set a target of creating urban food gardens on some 30 hectares of roofs by 2020. The City of Light has seen a number of showpiece urban agriculture projects in recent years, including Paris sous les fraises, installed atop the Galeries Lafayette by Yohan Hubert.
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Containers Rather than covering an entire roof with soil, it is much simpler, and far less expensive to grow vegetables in containers. Fabric pots yield excellent results. They reduce the load on the roof structure, and avoid the need for costly reinforcements. It is still best, however, to have an engineer certify the maximum weight in containers and soil that the roof can hold where you plan to create a garden. The planters should not to be in direct contact with the roof’s waterproofing membrane, to avoid damaging or, worse still, puncturing it. Ideally, containers should be placed on saucers, rubber tiles (like the ones used to cover steps and balconies in winter), or even recycled wooden pallets. Don’t forget that you’ll need ready access to the roof where you’re growing edible plants to make it easy to maintain them. It’s also important to use large containers. And to choose light, rich, moisture, and nutrient retaining potting soil. A blend containing equal parts of compost, sphagnum moss, and perlite, like Pro-Mix organic vegetable and herb mix, usually yields excellent results. For a good crop of more demanding plants like eggplants, cucumbers, peppers, and tomatoes, don’t forget to add a few handfuls (about 100 ml per plant) of a slow-release, granular, natural fertilizer that’s high in nitrogen and potassium at planting time. You also need to be sure to place your container-grown edible plants in full sun, since most require at least six hours of sun to grow and develop properly. Because it’s usually much hotter on roofs, tropical vegetable plants like eggplants and tomatoes tend to thrive and produce
Pots made of geotextile are perfectly suited to urban agriculture on rooftops
Veggies grown in a wheelbarrow and reclaimed containers
especially large crops. Considering that the wind can be very strong several metres above the ground, it’s important to put your plants in a sheltered spot, or to use a trellis or other plants to form a windbreak. In temperate regions, May and June, once all risk of frost is past, are a great time to plant tropical vegetables like eggplants, cucumbers, peppers, and tomatoes in containers. However, some root and leafy green vegetables like beets, spinach, and radishes can be planted or sown from seed outdoors even earlier, in March or April in some areas.
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Which edible plants are best? From fruit-bearing bushes to vegetables, herbs, and edible flowers, most edible plants – even root vegetables like carrots – can be grown in containers, on roofs! The best ones for this purpose are herbs and leafy vegetables like swiss chard, spinach, and kale. Dwarf beans and peas also produce abundant crops when cultivated in containers. Climbing varieties of beans and peas also do very well provided you give them some support. If you’d like to grow tomatoes in containers on your roof, look for a compact determinate variety that bears small fruit, like ‘Pepe’, ‘Tiny Tim’ or ‘Tumbler’, for instance. Larger varieties can also be successfully grown in containers. Lunchbox and Mini Bell series eggplants and peppers are other good options, yielding small fruit. You might be surprised to know that you can even grow potatoes in containers – just be sure that the pot is wide, and at least 45 cm deep. Obviously, longer-rooted vegetables like carrots and salsify require very deep containers. Some clever gardeners use plastic tubes over 60 cm long to grow long carrots! It’s simple to grow most herbs in a rooftop container. Chives, tarragon, lemon balm, mint, oregano, parsley, savory, and thyme are the least demanding. Basil requires more heat, and a bit more care. Cilantro really isn’t an ideal container plant. It goes to seed quickly if it gets too much sun, and the soil around its roots is allowed to dry out periodically. There are a few fruit-bearing bushes, including strawberries, haskaps, and raspberries that can produce heavy crops, and survive for several years in fabric containers, even if left on a roof over the winter. 3
W ha t is Salsi f y?
Albert brings Garden Culture great ideas for gardening outside the “box.” Sometimes, he throws in a plant that needs to be googled. Reading up on it, I am quite excited to find some. This unique root looks like a parsnip and tastes like an...oyster? Tragopogon porrifolius is native to the Mediterranean, and still popular in the United States and Europe, though it can sometimes be hard to find. If you do, learn how to prepare it: bit.ly/2ke0c17.
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Nearly two decades ago, just after leaving college, I made the decision not to buy or own a television. “You’re moving to Slough, aren’t you? Have you got a TV?” It’s the late 90s—a time when everybody had a spare television—most likely as a direct result of being repeatedly encouraged to replace their perfectly functioning, yet bulky consciousness-homogenization devices with vastly overpriced, sexier-looking flat-screen alternatives. It had worked—and now everyone, it seemed, was trying to unload their old, legacy TV-blocks on to me. “You can just take it—I don’t want anything for it! You’d be doing me a favour.”
Looking back, I did the best thing and politely declined the offers. That said, the most generous thing I can say about Slough is that it’s a dead place. Perhaps a TV would’ve helped. If I were feeling less generous I might liken Slough to a diseased, weeping wart on southern England’s anus— or, better yet, I would give way to the 20th Century poet, John Betjeman who wrote poignantly of it in 1937: Come friendly bombs and fall on Slough! It isn’t fit for humans now, There isn’t grass to graze a cow. Swarm over, Death!
thinking differently, more deeply, and asking more questions of the world and of myself than ever before. Looking back, I may have misattributed a fair portion of my natural brain development to the mere coincidence of spending a lot of time online—but the two seemed to be operating in tandem.
Suddenly every day feels 26 hours long!
Come, bombs and blow to smithereens Those air-conditioned, bright canteens, Tinned fruit, tinned meat, tinned milk, tinned beans, Tinned minds, tinned breath. There are a further eight stanzas but I think you get the idea. Still, there was no alternative in my mind but to move out of home and accept a job offer there. My mother had just passed away and my father had wasted no time in replacing her with whisky and sex with an ex-female-bodybuilder. (The precise syntactic scope of that modifier remains pleasingly ambiguous to this day.) Suffice to say, there was no place for me in the “love nest” so Slough, at the time, actually seemed like a good plan. I had no idea how bleak the next six months were going to be.
Unexpectedly one night, all my “hard work” payed off—hour after hour with a keyboard and my own thoughts. My mind’s chatter— something I had become used to since childhood and had never really questioned before—suddenly became aware of itself in a new way—and this awareness, naturally and inexorably, could only lead to one place: silence. I should point out that this non-event took place well before Eckhart Tolle made it, and wearing beige sweaters, cool. There was an overriding sense of humility—like I was the last child to realize that the headmaster had walked into the classroom and stood at the front patiently waiting for me to be quiet. But there was only me—well, me, everything and nothing. Waves of what I now call “bliss” washed over me again and again. I spent four days barely sleeping, feeling as light as a feather, chirping like a newly born bird.
Despite its fabled reputation for distraction, I didn’t miss television. I had something far, far better—the Internet. Mark Zuckerberg was still in high school. The world wide web was just starting to bulge out of its briefs. (My 2.1 gigabyte hard drive was also bursting at the seams with “media”.) Meanwhile, newsgroups formed yet another universe within a universe. Alt.philosophy, Alt.consciousness, and Alt.atheism were virtual hangouts where I could systematically pick apart unsuspecting strangers’ attempts at philosophical arguments with all the grace, modesty, and generosity of a Nazi eugenicist without any fear of being repeatedly punched in the face.0
After letting 2016 get me properly down in the dumps, today I feel intensely positive and deeply optimistic about humanity and the planet once again. I swear it isn’t just “hope” or forced, saccharine self-assurance in the face of adversity— it’s something deeper. Perhaps it’s just another coincidence, but a few weeks ago I stopped drinking alcohol every damn night, and purged all the news apps from my iPhone. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not about to advocate putting your cherished smartphone in the dumpster (sorry, recycle bin), or claiming that we all need to live our lives without technology in order to attain Nirvana. I love my smartphone—it’s just that certain apps were claiming far too much of my time and headspace, filling every would-be quiet moment with third-party noise. My wife would leave the room for a second and I’d check Facebook. For what? I don’t know. Now I’m learning again how to embrace something beautiful: silence.
The world had never been connected like this and there was a buzz in the ether as we breathed it all in. The net in the nineties felt like we were on the precipice of a new dawn for humanity. Knowledge was no longer something locked away in university libraries—it was all within reach, just a few clicks away. Something was happening—not just online but offline. I was
There’s no need to throw the baby out with the bathwater. I still have a Facebook account, but I deal with it through a wonderful intermediary, Hootsuite. I can’t recommend this enough—it’s like a solicitor for social media, holding the bullshit at bay, only without the nasty bills. Suddenly every day feels 26 hours long! The news apps had to go because I was sick of
The world had never been connected like this
reading “headlines” about tweets. Plus the sheer hubris of the term “fake news” started to irk my epistemological sensibilities so much that something had to be done. The solution was easy—switch off. Perhaps a little more controversially, I also took the step of unsubscribing from all those “We must stop this now!” petition emails that were plaguing my inbox daily about imminent environmental catastrophes. Am I shutting out reality? On the contrary, I‘m making space for it. I am awakening from the illusion of pretending that I really know anything about current and global affairs. I haven’t stopped caring—I’ve just taken back control of my mind. I used to wake up every day and religiously read the headlines of The Guardian or the BBC—or, if I was feeling like too much optimism was creeping in, a Chris Hedges’ opinion piece on TruthDig. Now I feel it’s far more productive to focus on that which is immediate and local. For me this starts with my family—first and foremost—and building up the soil in my garden with organic matter, propagating more seedlings than I need, giving them away to neighbors, and taking the lead in sharing my time, commodities, and energy without central banks or the tax man being involved. The feeling of liberation is palpable.
I’m learning again how to embrace something beautiful: silence
This new sense of seniority, I hope, is suffusing through us all. We must stop merely manifesting inferiority by ranting and railing against the so-called powers that be, and reclaim our own innate power. We are free, and that’s all that really matters—not because of some constitutional amendment or statute—but because we are living, conscious human beings. As such, if we are truly serious about revolutionizing the predominant culture on this planet then we have to start with ourselves and take ownership of this change. The battle is not about what you believe. Perhaps the aim of propaganda in these times is not so much about convincing you
of a particular version of events, but leaving you so confused that you give up on any hope or search for truth altogether? In that sorry, confused state, you can be convinced of the veracity of any voguish new term (“We are living in a post-truth era”) and even manipulated into acting against your own self-interest. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Get back to your gardens. Not because things are bad—but because things are good! Touch the soil. Listen to the birds chirping. Don’t let the hippies have all the fun. Last, but not least, if you haven’t done so already, kill your television, castrate your smartphone, and embrace the fruits of boredom. “If you awaken in this illusion and you understand that black implies white, self implies other, life implies death, or shall I say, death implies life, you can feel yourself not as a stranger in the world, not as something here on probation, not as something that has arrived here by fluke, but you can begin to feel your own existence as absolutely fundamental.” — Alan Watts. 3
Over recent years we have started to add green manures to our soil. French grower Mehdi Daho from our Giant Vegetable Community on Facebook suggested we ‘go green’. So, we have scattered green manure on our planting areas ever since. Green manure doesn’t sound very pleasant, but it does wonders for the health of the soil and subsequent plants. It is a crop that is grown mainly to benefit the soil, rather than for food or ornament. Green manures are fast-growing plants sown to cover bare soil. Their foliage smothers weeds, and their roots prevent soil erosion. When turned into the ground while still green, they return valuable nutrients to the soil, improving soil structure. The idea of growing a crop purely to benefit the soil and other plants is not a new idea. It has been around for centuries, but fell out of vogue after World War II with the advent man-made chemical products that could enhance plant growth, kill pests and diseases, and increase productivity. Fortunately, people are now more aware that there are better, more natural ways of ensuring soil productivity, and the subsequent crop’s health. It’s one of the best methods of building soil.
The Many Benefits of Green Manure Improving Soil Structure Green manures have deep penetrative roots that open up the soil as they grow. This is an advantage on heavy soils, because it allows drainage to occur more freely, and it adds organic matter to the soil. With lighter soils, green manures help the particles bind together better, increasing it’s ability to hold water, as well as enriching the soil with organic matter.
Weed Suppression Green manure crops grow quickly, covering bare soil like a living mulch that suppresses weeds and retains moisture. It is good practice to make sure the soil is weedfree first. That is why they are very important when areas are left fallow, especially in winter.
Adding Nutrients Our preferred green manure planting is a mix of Field Beans, Hairy Vetch, and Brown Mustard. These varieties bring minerals to the surface that would otherwise be unusable to plants. Leguminous green manures have root nodules that provide a home to nitrogen fixing rhizobia. When it is dug in, the fixed nitrogen becomes available for the following crop. Specific soil bacteria are required to be present, but they usually are in healthy soil. This offers a renewable source of nitrogen required by plants for healthy stem and leaf growth.
Soil Protection As a living mulch, green manures help to protect the soil from compaction due to heavy rainfall, prevents the leaching of nutrients, and helps hold the soil together. In the summer, it will protect the soil from the drying effects of the sun and wind.
Pest Control It provides habitat for frogs, beetles, and other natural predators that feed on crop pests, such as snails and slugs, etc. These beneficial creatures like the damp cover of green manures. 3
If you haven’t closely followed Bayer’s imminent $66 billion takeover of Monsanto, it might sound like a promising partnership. The merger would make them the world’s largest global pesticide and seed company.The mega companies claim that it will reduce costs for farmers and improve margins as industry prices drop.And while it would certainly be a coup for Monsanto’s largest shareholders, who are expected to earn nearly $8 billion, it sounds like a dangerous deal for consumers and farmers. “The consolidation and driving out of smaller competitors, and controlling the marketplace and raising prices of seeds and pesticides for farmers worldwide is going to be a real shock to the food system,” Robert Lawrence, a Johns Hopkins School of Medicine professor and the founding director of the Center for a Liveable Future, told MarketWatch. The agrochemical industry is already dominated by just a handful companies. This deal, which is the largest-ever cash takeover of a U.S. company, has to overcome antitrust hurdles. It could further limit farmer choice, and
their ability to bargain. Increased seed prices would be passed along to consumers at grocery stores. But for any of this to happen, the deal first has to be consummated. And right now it’s anything but certain. Motley Fool, the financial news web site, reported on January 5, 2017 that Monsanto’s stock is 20% below the stated $128 per share cash buyout. That suggests uncertainty about the deal moving forward. Monsanto CEO Hugh Grant, on a January 5th conference call to discuss quarterly results, said the companies are
pitching the merger to regulators in the United States and Europe as a way to unite Monsanto’s expertise in crop genetics with Bayer’s impressive pesticide portfolio. There will be limited overlap between the two businesses, Grant said. And if regulators disagree, Bayer has agreed to “a certain level” of divestitures. So, let’s just say regulators bless this monopoly - a merger that could eventually draw the ire of Donald Trump due to the potential job losses of St. Louis-based Monsanto employees as German-based Bayer takes over. What does the merger actually mean? The industry has already been consolidating in massive numbers. Dow and DuPont, along with China National Chemical Corp and Syngenta - both chemical companies - are also merging So are fertilizer companies, Agrium and Potash. Now you have Monsanto and Bayer merging into one massive company that would control a quarter of the world’s market for seeds and pesticides. Alicia Harvie, the advocacy and issues director of Farm Aid, told Modern Farmer that all of the consolidation is concern-
ing. According to Harvie, there’s been a 52% increase in corn seed costs from 2012 to 2015, and a 300% increase in soy and corn costs since 1995. That was the first year patented genetically modified cotton seeds were introduced to the market. “I think for the average farmer, they’re having trouble understanding how further concentration in a sector that’s already precipitously increased in concentration over the past two decades, how that’s going to benefit them,” she said. Tom Giessel, a Kansas farmer and honorary historian for the National Farmers Union, told Modern Farmer that all of the consolidation is “really, really devastating” for rural communities. He’s forced to buy Monsanto seeds, John Deere tractors, and Syngenta fertilizer. Fewer options means the companies can take advantage of farmers. Giessel is concerned about the Bayer-Monsanto merger. “It’ll have a large impact,” he said. “I have no choice when I purchase inputs, be it seeds, chemicals, whatever. There is no choice. They own me.”
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Increased seed prices would be passed along to consumers
He also said the consolidations have forced a one-size-fits-all approach for farmers. They buy Monsanto seeds and spray them with Monsanto pesticides, which has destroyed independent seed sellers. It is tougher for farmers to truly understand how to farm their specific land.
that would control a quarter of the world’s market for seeds and pesticides
Utah Senator Mike Lee, one of the nation’s top antitrust lawmakers, has been critical of the merger. “The transaction has the potential to result in a significant loss of competition, and reduced incentives and ability to innovate, thereby raising prices,” Lee, a Republican, said in September. In November, more than 1,200 Utahns signed a letter calling on Lee to urge the Justice Department to oppose the deal. Toni Preston, a campaigner for the international consumer watchdog organization SumOfUs, anchored the letter: “The merger between Bayer and Monsanto is a five-alarm threat to our food supply, and to farmers around the world. Now that Monsanto has accepted Bayer’s controversial bid, we need to step up global efforts to stop this illegal merger. This new mega corporation would be the world’s biggest seed maker and pesticide company, defying important antitrust protections, and giving it unacceptable control over critical aspects of our food supply - undermining consumer choice, and the freedom and stability of farmers worldwide.
“More than 500,000 people around the world have spoken out against this dangerous deal that has the potential to usher in a new era of sterile crops soaked in dangerous pesticides. We need our elected officials to work with us to ensure that regulators recognize the unique threats posed by a Bayer-Monsanto merger, and move swiftly to reject this proposal.” In December, Lee and Minnesota Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar - the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights - asked the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice Antitrust Division to give “careful consideration” to three recent proposed agribusiness mergers. That included Bayer-Monsanto, Dow-Dupont, and Syngenta-ChemChina. “While we take no position about the legality of any of the proposed transactions under the antitrust laws, we believe they raise important competition issues that the Department and Commission should carefully review,” Lee and Klobuchar wrote. Now regulators in both the United States and Europe will have to decide whether it’s in the best interest of the economy and the planet to create a company that will dominate the world’s market for seeds and pesticides. 3
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1) Teignbridge, Devon
Heapin’ Hot Harvest Until 3 years ago, Cliff Hyslop was a successful caterer who stepped up his chilli growing of a dozen plants to 200 in rented greenhouse space. That led to making chilli products, which morphed into being a chilli fest vendor, and suddenly... he was growing thousands of plants a year with 3 greenhouses sponsored by big hydro industry brands. Cliff’s smokin’ hot obsession sprouted a whole new business - Devon Chilli Man. He does an amazing job at growing a bumper crop of some of the hottest peppers on the planet. His award-winning chilli products, and fresh and frozen chillies have led to chilli lover fame. An excellent example of how far one can go on the fuel of a passion. Learn more: www.bit.ly/chilli-man
2) Waterloo, Lambeth, London
A Slice of Plenty Livestock and crops thrive in the inner-city on a ½ lot that took 5 years to clear of demolition debris. One of the three polytunnels at Oasis Farm Waterloo houses aquaponic system tilapia tanks, and rescued chickens roam freely amid school groups and family events. Three animal sheds house animals on rotation from partner Jamie’s Farm in Wiltshire, and usually include a sow and her litter, and a ewe and her lamb. What is most impressive is the Farming, Family and Therapy programme, which aims to help tackle challenging behaviours, engage children in academic life, and improve their self-esteem and resilience. The London location is on loan pending redevelopment by St-Thomas’ Hospital. For now, this ½ acre lot enriches the community, and helps children find their self-esteem. More info: www.bit.ly/oasis-farm
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3) Broadclyst, Exeter, Devon
A Growing Community Once upon a time the estate farm fed the village of Broadclyst. Thanks to a lease with the National Trust and community support, Broadclyst Community Farm is bringing back affordable, locally grown food... to the locals. Only area residents can purchase the organic vegetables, fruit, eggs, and meat grown on the 32-acre farm through a CSA program, and the local farm market. Community members own shares in the farm, but unlike traditional shareholders, do not profit financially. All profits are rolled back into the farm to cover operational and improvement costs.
Home grown and community owned, the farm provides everyone with something. Learn more: www.bit.ly/broadclyst.
4) St Just, Penzance, Cornwall
There Grows the Neighbourhood One of the few community farms in the UK where the land is owned, not leased. Bosavern Community Farm started out as the local allotment association. But when the council decided to sell the farm, the association dove into action gathering shareholders and members, and landed a grant from the Local Food Lottery. Fruits, vegetables, honey, eggs, turkeys, and sausages produced by the community and volunteers (from all over the globe) are available to area residents at the farm shop, and through a CSA box scheme. The 33-acre sustainable farm also supplies local restaurants, and grows hay and wildflower forage for their natural pollination army of honey bees. Achieving great things is possible just about anywhere, even in a small, rural community. Learn more: www.bit.ly/bosavern 3
In the series “Light Matters,” Theo Tekstra discusses the different aspects to lighting, such as quantity, quality, efficacy, special applications, new developments, and the science behind it. In Part V, Theo compares artificial lighting to...the Sun. You are used to me writing rather technical articles about light.Will this one be any different? Yes and no.Yes, there will be some calculating involved. No, most of the theory is really quite logical and requires no technical background at all, just a bit of common sense. What Is The Best Light For Plants? The answer is much more obvious than you might think: It is the sun! Plants have evolved under sunlight for millions of years, and they have optimized themselves during that period to the spectrum of the sun. It’s called evolution. Get used to it. However, you can use different light spectrums to influence the shape or substance contents of a plant. For example, far red light makes the plant stretch, and UVB light, in an appropriate low amount, can influence color, flavonoid, and essential oil content. The sun however, is always our baseline. Fig 1 – McCree curve
Evidence… Many lighting manufacturers nowadays show scientific research, or interpretations of scientific research, to prove that their spectrum is the best for growing plants. To understand these research graphs, you should know that light colors are expressed in wavelengths. These are the corresponding colors:
One of the most quoted researches in plant light science history is the work of Keith McCree, who measured the relative photosynthesis (quantum yield) in plants under various colors of light. He came up with what is now known as “The McCree curve”. In laymen’s terms, it shows you the efficiency of specific colors of light for photosynthesis.
Another widely used graph is the sensitivity of the various pigments in a plant. Pigments capture the light in the plant. The most abundant is chlorophyll, responsible for the green color of plants as it absorbs primarily blue and red light, reflecting the green light.
Fig 2 – the absorption spectra of chlorophyll A, chlorophyll B and carotenoids
R
So What Is The Right Spectrum? So clearly, when you look at these graphs, plants are best off with red and blue light, and you should stay away from green light. LEDs with red and blue light should be the most efficient answer, right? Well, that is what many people think. Let’s look at the sun first.
When you have followed the discussion about light quality in the professional horticultural world over the last five years, there was a lot of discussion about red, blue, and far red, initially due to the upcoming red/blue LED technology. Green was then added to the discussion, and more recently, there is a lot of discussion about UV and wide spectrum light.
Our Baseline: The Sun
Research follows technology. We know a lot about the plant responses to light, but we do not know everything. There is still a lot to be learned. During a recent conference about light and spectrum, with many manufacturers in the audience, the moderator, a plant scientist, asked who could present a spectrum that would perform 10% better than any other, or guarantee 10% more yield. Not one arm was lifted.
When discussing sunlight, I always ask what people think is the most abundant color in the sunlight spectrum. Mostly, the answer is yellow or red, but hardly ever do they know the right answer - It is green light! Now how is it possible that plants, according to studies, don’t make use of all that green light? You can actually see that plants don’t use green light, they are green, so they reflect green light, right? Wrong!
In 1994, Bruce Bugbee, professor at Utah State university, performed an experiment in which he lit plants with 6 different sources: Low Pressure Sodium (LPS), High Pressure Sodium (HPS), Incandescent (INC), Metal Halide (MH), Cool White Fluorescent (CWF), Red Light-Emitting Diode (LED), and Solar on a clear day.2 So very different spectrums of light, all administered at the same intensity to compare the efficiency of those spectrums. The conclusion was put in the following headline: “PLANT GROWTH IN SOME SPECIES IS SURPRISINGLY LITTLE AFFECTED BY LIGHT QUALITY.”
Fig 3 – spectral diagram of sunlight I have written about this before - Green light may be even more efficient than red or blue light.1 It will not influence the photoperiodism mechanism in plants which makes them start to produce flowers in short days, but it does have a great effect on photosynthesis. Was McCree wrong? No, he wasn’t. He was measuring photosynthesis on a leaf disk at very low intensities, and didn’t really look at a plant as a system. In high intensity white light, green light is very efficient.1 It travels through the plant, has a greater effect deeper in the leaf, and reaches the lower part of the plant more easily than red and blue light which is absorbed by the top canopy.
This is not best practice, of course, for all types of plants, and will not create very healthy crops in most cases, but it does show that there is much confusion and misinformation.
Morphogenesis Researchers discovered that the shape of a plant is influenced by the color of light which can lead to a croppy plant, an open plant with a large node distance, a dense plant, a plant with more shoots or less shoots, bigger and smaller leaves etc. This is called morphogenesis, or the shape of the plant. An optimally positioned leaf intercepts light much better than a covered leaf. Therefore, having too many leaves can cost the plant a lot of energy, because plants that do not intercept light have to be maintained by the plant, costing the plant energy.. In recent years, growers are much more aware to use the shape of the plant as an indicator to steer the yield of a plant.
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In the tomato industry, for example, leaves are removed to get a better leaf area index (LAI), and cultivators growing large plants cut the bottom shoots. Basically, when a leaf does not receive light, it just drains the plant instead of contributing to it.
Lighting A Greenhouse We know the sun works. Obviously. To protect plants from weather, we erected greenhouses, creating optimal plant growth by creating optimal climate and light conditions. To be able to grow plants year round, and to grow cultivars that are not specifically available in low light regions, we introduced grow lights in those greenhouses. Still, the primary source of light is the sun in a greenhouse. Maybe up to 25% is supplemented light in high intensity cultivation methods. So the influence of the spectrum of the supplemented light is limited. The plants get a baseline of quality light, which is supplemented by the spectrum of the grow light. To be efficient, this needs to be in the PAR region, of course, but the influence on the development of the plant, other than added photosynthesis is limited. Not absent, but limited.
So, you can steer morphogenesis with light colors. Adding blue light usually makes a more compact plant for example. But what we have seen with simulated sunlight is that plants grow much faster than under other light sources! In 2010, Sander Hoogewooning published a paper 3 in which he compared cucumber cuttings under HPS, CFL, and artificial sunlight. The results, not only in shape, but also in biomass, were stunning, and could only be explained by different morphogenesis developments by the artificial full sunlight spectrum. Though the quality of light does not influence the photosynthesis of a plant much, it does have a great influence on the size, shape, and yield of a plant. Results from plants grown in a greenhouse versus those grown under pure wide spectrum plasma light also show incredible differences in favor of the artificial light, which can only be attributed to the quality of that light. And this brings us back to sunlight.
The most efficient LEDs are red and blue. So it is logical that in a greenhouse we use the most efficient LEDs as supplemental lighting, and that works well. Note that the spectrum of these LEDs is much narrower than a normal HPS lamp, which gives you a much wider spectrum of light. LEDs emit very little heat, which makes them extremely useful for crops that require high light levels but low temperature, such as lettuce, or to add supplemental light where HPS would just be too warm. Blue and red together look like purple. Hence the purple glow from a greenhouse that is lit by red and blue LEDs. Though blue and red LEDs are the most efficient way to produce light, it may be that new white LEDs, or a combination of different discrete LED colors, may result in much better crops. Still, the influence of supplemental light is limited as the sun is by far the primary light source.
Lighting A Climate Room Now in a climate room, things are a bit different. We don’t have the sun. And, I think I have already demonstrated that you don’t need full sunlight spectrum to grow a plant. But to grow a healthy plant, we can learn from greenhouses. In a greenhouse, the base quality light there is provided by sunlight. All colors of light are represented, and all colors have a function. How they work, and specifically how they work together, is still under much research. There is no such thing as a “golden bullet” spectrum. We know from experience that many growers get great results when using just HPS which is efficient and provides a decent plant spectrum with some added infrared, close to the same ratios as the sun. It’s by far not complete, and specifically some blue light is lacking, which also has an important function. You can add a bit of sun in your indoor room by adding a more blue light, such as metal halide, ceramic metal halide, or plasma light to your HPS lighting. Growers have been doing this successfully for years. As you may expect, I am all for a much more complete spectrum, including green light. Though great results
can be had under HPS, the new generation of growers will use a fuller spectrum indoor light to increase the quality of their plants. This comes at a cost, as “real” full spectrum lighting still is expensive, either in CMH (you need lots of small fixtures and expensive lamps) or LED. HPS will be a technology that is here to stay for many more years because of its price, efficiency, and results. We are moving towards a future in greenhouse lighting of hybrid systems - where you still have the advantage of the infrared radiation on the crop, and when it is warm, the cool light from the LED. The same will happen in indoor cultivation. Lighting choices will become more affordable in the coming years, but there remains disadvantages to each, whether it is low irradiant heat or the absence of UV. So don’t throw away your HPS yet. 3
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I chiro Terashima, Takashi Fujita, Takeshi Inoue, Wah Soon Chow, Riichi Oguchi; Green Light Drives Leaf Photosynthesis More Efficiently than Red Light in Strong White Light: Revisiting the Enigmatic Question of Why Leaves are Green. Plant Cell Physiol 2009; 50 (4): 684-697. doi: 10.1093/pcp/ pcp034 Bugbee, B. 1994. Effects of radiation quality, intensity, and duration on photosynthesis and growth, p 39-50. In: T.W.Tibbitts (ed.). International Lighting in Controlled Environments Workshop, NASA-CP-95-3309. Sander W. Hogewoning, Peter Douwstra, Govert Trouwborst, Wim van Ieperen, Jeremy Harbinson; An artificial solar spectrum substantially alters plant development compared with usual climate room irradiance spectra. J Exp Bot 2010; 61 (5): 1267-1276. doi: 10.1093/jxb/ erq005
Over the last 10-15 years, there has been a growing movement for locally grown, sustainably sourced produce. For perhaps the first time in almost a hundred years, there is strong desire to know not only where our food is grown, but more importantly - how.
The rise of organic agriculture, and the demand for foods grown without the use of chemical pesticides, herbicides, and antibiotics are direct manifestations of this movement. The momentum can be seen in the growing popularity of local farmers markets, the farm-to-table restaurant movement, and retail grocery stores geared towards organic and sustainably grown foods. Another method of locally-sourced food production that many people may not be as familiar with is Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), and it is becoming more popular with each passing year. The basic concept of a CSA is that the farmer offers up a designated amount of “shares” of the farm to the public. Each customer that purchases a share at the beginning of the year, often referred to as a subscription, will receive a weekly allotment of the harvest. The weekly offering typically consists of a box of vegetables, but other products from the farm may also be included. The weekly boxes are picked up at a designated location and, in some cases, even delivered to the shareholder’s home. The fresh, locally-grown produce the boxes contain will vary according to season and ready for harvest as the year progresses. Farmers that grow for CSAs also tend to practice organic farming techniques. The weekly boxes offered through CSAs typically have enough produce to sustain a family of four over a week’s’ time. Even though the money for the share is paid upfront before the season starts, the price is usually quite fair.
As the popularity of locally sourced, farm-to-table food production continues to spread, so will the number of farms operating under the CSA model. A major key to CSAs is the focus on being a true community-based system. It is through this emphasis on community that important connections are made. The consumer can build a relationship with the farmer,, that in turn, provides a deeper connection to the food they eat. On the other hand, the farmer is able to get to know the people that, quite literally, eat their food to survive. This type of connection can have a great impact on a farmer, and often results in them taking even more pride in their job. It is a weekly reminder that what they do is of immense importance to our world. The connection between farmer and consumer is not the only noteworthy benefit provided by the CSA model. On the farmers side, it provides much needed cash flow before the season even begins. By selling shares of the harvest before the season starts, the farmer is able to buy needed supplies without relying on sizable bank loans. Money for items such as seeds, farm equipment, and even the farmer’s salary can come directly from the sale of shares. There is also the benefit of knowing exactly where the harvest will go without having to find a private buyer, or relying on current market trends. Since most CSA farms
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provide organic produce, the farmer is also able to get a premium price for the goods, which helps make the farm more prosperous. Shareholders not only get the benefit of knowing who is growing their food, but also where and how it is produced. Through a closer relationship with the farmer, they are able to learn which types of pest control measures or products are implemented, if any, and which types of fertilisers are used in the process. Many CSAs will even offer “farm days,” inviting the shareholders to visit the farm to build an even deeper connection with their food source. But perhaps the best benefit of belonging to a CSA farm is the variety of extremely fresh produce that has better flavor and nutrient content than what can be purchased at a grocery store. Another aspect that is inherent in the CSA model, and should be taken into consideration, is the idea of “shared risk.” This is important for any community-based system, and is what sets CSAs apart from other forms of local agriculture. The shared risk portion of the agreement creates a “we’re in this together” mentality between shareholders and the farmer. And believe me, there are plenty of risks to take into consideration. With each season there exists the possibility of a diminished harvest due to attacks by pests, disease, unfavorable weather such as hail, wind, and drought, or even just too much rain. Face it, there are a number of things that can go wrong and cause a bad year on the farm. A difficult farming year can lead to smaller harvests, and the possibility of shareholders not getting as much of a return on the initial investment. For the most part, there are no refunds in the CSA model. Most shareholders simply shake off the bad years, and remember that the next year might be the best year the farm has ever had. That is simply the risk that the shareholder takes when becoming part of a CSA agreement. The risk to the farmer can be even more substantial. If the farm has a disappointing year, and shareholders feel as though they’ve been ripped off, it can result in fewer subscribers
Note from the Editor : Having been longtime subscribers to CSAs here in Canada, and reading the different incarnations of the model around the world, many farmers have greenhouses, polytunnels, and a plethora of methods to mitigate the risks. Not to mention an intimate knowledge of their land and the plants best suited for it. Most CSAs now have waiting lists, which speaks of their success. Ultimately, we all share in the risks - it is reflected in the price we pay at the cash register.
the following year. If bad years persist it can even lead to the death of the farm’s CSA program. While the risks are very real for all parties involved, longtime members of a CSA program will most likely tell you that the good years far outweigh the bad. If the idea of shared risk, and the possibility of not getting your “money’s worth” makes you anxious, then the CSA model may not be for you. In this case, the local farmers market would be the better choice. At the end of the day, I feel that the true underlying importance of the CSA model can be seen by looking at it for what it represents as an overall idea. It all stems from the growing desire of everyday people to know how, and where, their food is grown. This same driving force is responsible for the rise in popularity in everything from farmers markets to retail stores specialising in natural and organically grown foods. These are all individual components of the same message. A portion of the public feels that it is our right to know what kind of chemicals and toxins are being used in the daily production of our food, and that the consumer should have healthier alternatives to choose from. This portion of society is growing larger by the day. The market for local, sustainably grown food has been, and still is, growing. 3
The first garden I ever grew was relatively small, but extremely overcrowded because my lack of experience didn’t offer me the foresight of how large each plant could grow. That was just ten years ago, and over time, my garden has evolved in significant ways. In the early years, my fascination and curiosity in learning about and understanding how to grow as many different plants as possible took control over the execution.
It was an excellent way for me to learn how different plants grow, but it also resulted in more waste than I like to admit due to both quantity of plants, and the fact that there are certain vegetables I just don’t find appealing on a regular basis. I would simply eat what I desired, and then attempt to give away as much as I could. Which is not that easy of a task: especially when a lot of your friends already have gardens, and the others just aren’t worried about eating healthy, freshly grown produce.
food grown in your garden will not go to waste is by planting exactly what you enjoy eating.
The story of my garden would form an arc if outlined on paper. It began small and, although cluttered, was designed specifically for a limited crop offering. Over the years, it grew exponentially, and along with it, so did the variety of plants. These last few years have seen my garden become deliberately and strategically smaller while incorporating a wider variant of cultivation methods that better fit my needs: such as raised beds, and a small container garden.
Another important step in creating a more sufficient and productive garden is to plant along with the seasons, staggering your plantings to create what I like to call the “perpetual” harvest. In my earlier gardens, I would just plant everything at once and essentially have just one big harvest; A highly inefficient method that led to an overabundance of produce in a short period, often leading to excessive waste.
Looking back, though my garden was large and full, I was not putting the right kind of thought into it. I was simply growing as much as I could without paying mind to the harvest. This led to multiple plants ripening all at the same time without having a proper plan of what to do with the bounty. So, just give it away. Or at least try to. This was a nonsensical way of going about the entire thing. A garden, regardless of size, takes a lot of hard work and commitment, and I was putting in too much time without actually making it worth it. And then I finally began to realize what my problem was. I was going big with my garden, but I wasn’t being smart about timing, and making the harvest last. Now my method is more streamlined and has a real purpose. Now I have what I like to call the smart garden, and the following are some ways that helped me achieve it. The first and, perhaps, most important step I took was only to plant what I knew I would like to eat. The ultimate goal of any garden is the ability to supply one’s self with food, and to cut the grocery store out of the picture as much as possible. Food grown in a home garden is often more nutritious, fresher, and better tasting when compared to its grocery store counterpart. The best way to ensure that the
When introducing new plants that are unfamiliar to your palate, be sure to start with just a couple at first. If you end up enjoying their flavor, then plant more the following year. When your garden is full of plants that you know you like to eat, it will become a more joyful experience, and the occurrence of waste will be drastically reduced.
Planting along with the seasonal weather patterns will help to ensure a steady harvest of different plants throughout the season. For instance, when the ground can be worked in early spring, and the nighttime temps are staying above 50°F (10°C), start planting cold season crops, such as radishes and broccoli. If there are nights during this period where the temperature drops into the 40s, utilize row covers for protection. As the soil and air begin to warm over the following months, start planting warm season crops like tomatoes and peppers. The cold weather crops will be reaching their end just as the warm weather plants are starting to flower and fruit, and will continue to yield throughout the summer and fall. A few weeks before cooler fall temperatures are expected to arrive, plant more cold season crops to extend the garden’s productivity up to the point when winter is nearing arrival. By staggering the plantings by season, you can increase the garden’s overall productivity. It is imperative to have a strong understanding of each crop’s growth cycle from seed to harvest. Researching each type of plant, and carefully planning the season from beginning to end will make everything go much smoother. The final topic that I feel can absolutely benefit one’s gardening experience is the practice of preserving the harvest for use
at a later date. I grew up in a small farming community where everyone’s grandparents had a garden. Similarly, everyone’s grandparent’s basement was full of canned vegetables from the previous year’s garden. As the years went by, I noticed that this trend began to fade with our parent’s basements, and eventually our own. Now, I look back on the older generation and ponder what has changed.
Some of the garden’s harvest can even be frozen in a plastic freezer or food saver bags, both cooked and uncooked. This method works for a wide variety of vegetables, including green beans and sweet corn. Freezing is by far the easiest method of preservation, but it only works for a relatively short amount of time. Typically a year, as freezer burn can set in, and diminish the food’s quality.
The fact is that many of our grandparents grew up and came of age before and during World War II, at a time when grocery stores were in their infancy, and a freezer was not in every home. A garden was more or less essential to providing food for the table. Not just during the growing season, but all year round.
Onions can keep for nearly a year by utilizing a process of drying and curing to remove the majority of the moisture. Once cured, they should be stored in a cool/dry place until eaten.
Dependence on the convenience of the grocery store model ultimately led to a decline in home gardening. However, with younger generations, there seems to be a real urge to know and understand how our food is produced. As the allure of processed food becomes less appealing, and the threat pesticides and herbicides applied to our crops may pose becomes more evident, there is a movement to go back to ways of the past: Growing our own, and preserving the harvest. There are several ways to preserve your garden’s bounty for the year to come. Most vegetables can be canned and pickled. Home canning (which is actually done in jars) is the most effective way to store vegetables free from microbial decay for 1-5 years, depending on the crop, while maintaining maximum freshness. There are several different canning or pickling techniques, and many recipes to choose from. So, search the internet, or ask someone with experience to find the one that works best for you.
A portion of the harvest can also be transformed into delicious items like salsas, sauces, and soups. Keep them in the proper recommended storage conditions, and enjoy them throughout the winter. Once I embraced these techniques, I was able to use my garden space more productively, and my hard work and time were better focused. Creating a smarter garden does take a fair amount of research and planning to be executed properly, though. I suggest a garden planning journal to roughly map out the entire season. This is where the importance of learning about the seed germination and growing periods of each plant in the garden comes into play. Knowing the approximate length or life cycle of a crop will help you better plan the season. Growing your own food is hard work, and it will take dedication. But for me, changing my approach made a world of difference. It also changed my plot from being just a garden to being a highly productive, food bearing machine. 3
Guano, though most often associated with bats, is the nutrient-rich manure of bats, seabirds, and even seals. It is a popular fertilizer, because of its high levels of nitrogen and phosphorous. It can often have usable levels of trace and micro-nutrients, due to the wide variety of diets by the birds and animals that contribute to guano formation.
“Guano” or “Wanu” in the original Quechua language of the Andean peoples translates to mean “the droppings of seabirds.” Historically, it was a strategic commodity for the people of Peru and Chile, not only for its agricultural benefits, but also its use in warfare as an ingredient in the manufacture of gunpowder.
Guano also has natural pest-control properties
Guano is most often formed in caves on the windward side of bodies of water. Caves provide the perfect arid environment for the excrement of bats and seabirds to become guano, as there is little to no precipitation in them to cause nutrient leaching. It can also be harvested from coastal areas that do not receive much rainfall.
Nutrient Analysis Guanos are usually divided between high nitrogen (N) and high phosphorous (P) types. The most commonly available forms of high N guano are 10-3-1, while the most commonly available forms of high P guano are 3-10-1. Seabird guano has the highest nutrient analysis of them all with a typical fertilizer analysis of 10-16% nitrogen, 8-12%
phosphorous, and 2-3% potassium. Guano from bats and seals is slightly lower in its nutrient levels, but still one of the most nutrient-dense natural fertilizers available. High nitrogen seabird guano usually has an N-P-K analysis of about 12-18-1, and high phosphorous seabird guano usually has an N-P-K analysis of about 1-10-1. They both tie up the majority of their nutrients as slow-release fertilizers, needing four months or more to release their full nutrient package. All the while, the guano is aiding in the decomposition process by stimulating the soil’s microbial activity.
How It’s Used Pelletized guano is easily spread, while the powdered form mixes readily with water for spray or hydroponic applications. Both pelleted and liquid forms can be used at different times in the growing season, or for different types of crops. Plants in their vegetative stages benefit from the higher nitrogen guano. Plants that are setting their fruit or seeds benefit with higher phosphorous guano.
If using as a soil amendment, powdered or pelletized guano should be incorporated at a rate of about 2.26kg (5lbs) per 9.29m2 (100 ft 2). If using it as a tea, mix 15ml (3 tsp) of the powder per each gallon of water. Guano makes a great amendment to compost piles, due to its natural microbial activity. Apply it as a simple dusting.
Pros Guano can be used in the production of field-grown and indoor-grown crops as a soil builder, or in hydroponic applications when diluted Seabird guano in water. It can also be used for lawn has the highest treatments, and as fertilizer for landscape plantings. Unlike other natural and synthetic nutrient sources of nutrients, it does not usually analysis have levels of salts that could potentially burn plants if over-applied. It also has natural pest-control properties. It can be used as a fungicide, when fed to plants through a foliar application, and as a nematicide as its decomposing microbes help control nematodes. That same microbial activity is what makes guano an excellent composting activator.
Cons The main drawback with using guano is its cost. It can be 10 or more times higher in price per pound than other organic sources of both N and P. This is mostly due to its limited availability and high demand. Guano is not a rapidly renewable resource, taking tens to thousands of years for the “raw material� to develop into a usable form. There are ecological costs to pay with the harvesting of guano. Specialized ecosystems survive in and around the caves where guano is formed that are disturbed during harvesting. Guano deposits support a great variety of cave-adapted invertebrate species that rely on bat feces as their sole nutrient.
However, the greatest damage of guano mining operations to habitat is to the bat colonies that live there. Bats are highly sensitive to regular disturbances of their roosting areas. Some bat species will starve to death, because the disruption in their homes puts them in a panic state, and their low fat reserves are unable to sustain them. Other bat species may abandon their young in a panicked state, resulting in the mortality of their young. Guano can be sustainably harvested in ways that doesn’t cause damage to the bats, or destroy valuable climate data. By mining or harvesting guano only from caves or habitats of migrating bats, the stress or panic induced to the bats by the harvesting operation can be avoided. Prior to the harvest, core samples can be collected from the site to ensure that there is a profile on record of the stratigraphy at each site. 3
First, let’s define “poop” as the waste product from a living organism. Plants don’t have a digestive tract in the traditional sense, but they do generate waste products. The term “waste product” is in itself a bit of a misnomer, since it is only a waste product from the perspective of the organism in question. From the perspective of whatever processes it next, it is a resource. Yeast, for example, excretes carbon dioxide and alcohol, so it could be said that they “poop” these as waste products. To a nearby plant however, the carbon dioxide is a needed resource, and to a brewer the alcohol is a resource for intoxication. In nature, there is very little that is produced by one creature that isn’t used in some way by something else. Humans being the exception, as they can artificially create waste too toxic to be used by anything discovered so far. One function of pooping is to rid the body of a substance it doesn’t want. Plants use their leaves as one strategy to rid themselves of toxins. First by moving the toxin to the leaf surface in an attempt to release it into the air through diffusion and, if that fails, by sacrificing leaf material by concentrating the contaminants in them. An example of this can be seen by overfeeding, where signs often first appear at the edges of the leaves, then advancing into the leaf leaving behind dry papery dead plant material as the plant attempts to cleanse the toxin from itself. Plant roots are hidden from view, and are often overlooked, but roots not only take up water and nutrients, they also disperse plant excretions. Plant roots give off a variety of substances, some to evacuate them from the plant, some to control the surrounding soil microbiology, and even some to combat aluminum toxicity. Carbohydrates are exchanged with mycorrhiza for nutrients. Amino acids, organic acids,
enzymes, and other chemicals are used by the plant not only to “mark territory,” but to change it to better suit itself.
Plant roots give off a variety of substances
Sticking with the metaphor and theme, but arguably more farty than poopy, are the gases plants give off.
Plant respiration takes place in each plant cell as carbohydrates (sugar) and oxygen are converted into carbon dioxide, water, and energy to power ATP molecules - which are used to power the plant. This oxidation reaction happens constantly while the cell is alive, so a small amount of carbon dioxide is produced by plant cells all the time. During dark periods this carbon dioxide will silently leak from the plant. The amount of carbon dioxide a plant gives off during these nocturnal emissions, however, is less than the amount of oxygen a plant gives off when exposed to light. During photosynthesis, plants use light energy to convert water and carbon dioxide into carbohydrates (sugars), and oxygen. Some of these carbohydrates are used to produce cellulose which is used in plant’s structure. The cellulose sequesters carbon into the structure of the plant, which is why plants, especially high carbon woody plants, are considered to be “carbon sinks.” The oxygen is released as a byproduct. Plants toot much more oxygen than they do carbon dioxide that for practical purposes they are considered to be an oxygen source. But what plants pass the most of, is more than a wee bit of water vapor. Humans can’t see humidity. Dry air looks exactly the same as wet air to us. It isn’t until water droplets form into a mist, fog, or rainbow that there is a visual indication of there being a lot of water in the air. This becomes a benefit when looking for things near dense vegetation,
as what plants exude more than anything else, is moisture.
Transpiration is the process where water from the roots is drawn up through the plant, and leave through the stomata (small pores in the undersides of leaves). The water turns to a vapor as it disperses into the air. Over 97% of the water taken up by the plant will wind up leaving as this vapor. To look at it another way, crop plants require from 200 to 1,000 times their harvest-weight in water to reach maturity, with almost all of it leaving the plant as transpired vapor. Depending on growing conditions, a single stalk of corn can draw up and emit a 2 liter bottle of water per day. A medium sized tree may go through a bathtub a day, and a large oak tree may well use a couple hundred gallons of water a day. Compare that to the pint or so held by the human bladder, even when emptied a few times over the course of a day, and you may learn some respect for the moisture-spraying prowess of plants. If we could see what they were up to, we’d see the way they shower on each other, and upon unwitting passers by. The gases and water vapor are released from the plant though specialized openings on the undersides of leaves known as stomata. These opening are surrounded by guard cells which function similar to a sphincter in that they can open and close depending on circumstance and need. The guard cells swell to form a gap similar to pursed lips, and deflate to close. How much and what plants “poop” - and excrete they do is often overlooked, because we aren’t well suited to look at much of it. Oxygen, carbon dioxide, and humidity are all invisible to us, and what takes place underground is hidden from us. That doesn’t mean they aren’t all taking place, and they aren’t all important. In this case, education can be more helpful than direct observation. 3
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How many times have you heard someone say: “Wow, that is really expensive!” It is interesting to take a closer look at “expensive.” Is a Porsche expensive? Is lettuce expensive? Is meat expensive? Is a fixture expensive? What makes something “expensive”? If you ever had sales training, you know how to overcome a price objection, usually expressed by the customer as “expensive.” It comes included with… It is made of the best materials… It will last forever. But really, that is not the issue at hand. People always look at price from a certain perspective. Usually, they either look at what they can spend, or they compare it to something completely different.
What makes some thing “expensive” ?
If you have 10 dollars to spend, buying a piece of meat that costs twice as much may be too much money for your budget, but it doesn’t mean that piece of Kobe beef is actually expensive. It’s just out of your budget. Comparing a horticultural light fixture with a cheap Chinese ballast is comparing apples and eggs. The question you should ask the customer is: “What do you compare it with?” First of all, in sales you always should know the customer’s budget. Just ask him. Offer, if possible, something that is within his budget. If you think he is better off with a something that will cost him more, but will earn that money back very easily, you can offer that as an option. Always explain what this investment will bring to him in the short and long term. He might be able to stretch the budget a bit. Specifically if you buy commercial growing equipment, it comes down to buying production assets. They may
not come cheap, but if they offer a higher yield, they will give you a much better return on investment.
I had a customer once who said: “Your fixture is expensive. I can buy a Chinese 1000W ballast, a good single ended lamp, and remote reflectors for 200$ less than your fixture. I tested it, and I got 2 lbs per fixture the first run. As I want to buy 400 fixtures, 200$ more is a lot of money.” I made him a very simple calculation on the back of a coaster - Given the same electricity use for the same amount of fixtures, I can give you 20-30% more light. At 4 harvests a year, how much more yield would you have over that period, and what value would that represent? Worst case: 400 (lamps) x 2 lbs (per lamp) x only 15% (more yield) x wholesale price is way over a million dollars per year. And I’m not even talking about installation, maintenance costs and repairs, replacements, and just the lowest wholesale price. It’s the difference between going to the beach on holiday, or taking your whole team to Hawaii, twice a year. You might be able to buy that Porsche after all. What is greatly amplified in large commercial installations, is also true for smaller operations. Respect a customer’s budget, but give him options by explaining the benefits. Bottom line - Great gear comes at a price. 3
It’s 100% organic, inexpensive, simple, and fun to make these planters.They are the perfect introduction for getting kids into gardening, be it indoors or outdoors. Any seed will sprout in a small environment. You can grow your own herbs, flowers, or fruit bearing plants even if you are living in an urban environment, where outside green space is at a premium.
Eggshells are a versatile natural tool in the garden. They are full of calcium which adds nutrients to the soil. Crushed eggshells also have the added benefit of acting as a deterrent to keep snails and slugs from devouring your young green plants. So, why not capitalize on the eggshell’s capabilities, and take advantage of it’s naturally protective and supporting shape in order to make small planters for seeds?
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The possibilities are endless, so get your kids started by following a few simple instructions:
Now you are ready to pop the egg box planter on a windowsill with a good amount of light, and wait. Depending on what you are growing, you should see the shoots within the first week.
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Buy some eggs, and make yourself some breakfast… scrambled, poached, or fried... your choice! It’s important to remember when cracking your eggs to only take the top third off. Once empty, wash out really well. It you are concerned about salmonella, place the eggshells in constantly boiling water, for about 15 minutes. Cut the lid off the egg carton. Once cool, take the eggshells out, and leave to dry. For drainage, it’s best to poke a small hole in the bottom of each egg. The best way to do this is to put the eggshells back into the egg carton, and use a ballpoint pen to push a small hole into the base of the egg. Place some natural cotton wool into the bottom of each one. I get mine from the cotton plant in my garden, so it’s 100% organic, but it can be bought from most haberdasheries. The seeds can then either be sprinkled on top of the cotton ball, or the cotton can be pulled open a bit for deeper sowing.
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The next step is to water. You need clean water at a cool temperature. I use collected rainwater, but tap water works just fine too. Water each egg until all of the cotton is saturated. Don’t worry about over-watering, as the hole in the bottom of the egg will drain off any excess. The cotton must be kept wet, so make sure you and your little one check it every day.
When the plants are ready, they can be cut down to eat - or repotted into a larger pot. If you do re-pot, there is no need to pull the plant out of the eggshell, or even the box. Just break the section holding each eggshell planter away from the rest, and replant the whole thing. The cardboard and eggshell are biodegradable, and will break down as the plants grow.
There are lots of great things that you can grow in these egg planters. Here are some of the easiest: • Cress • Basil • Red Basil • Chives • Sage • Lemon Balm • Mint • Oregano
An advantage to growing this way is that the eggshell, which is around the base of the stem, will protect the plant from slugs… A great organic bonus!! 3
we celebrate 25 years of growth.
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