AgriMag June 2017 by AgriMag Press

Down to Earth in Florida

AgriMag Formerly: The Ag Mag

Didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t it Rain Children Gardening With wide Spacing Grow Mushrooms in Florida My Father, Farmer of the Year Pesticide Drift Drop by Drop

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Volume II, Issue 4, June 2017 June 2017

Cherish ~ Protect ~ Celebrate

Make every day Earth Day Farming Wonders of the World

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From the Publisher Hurricane Season officially began on June 1st. Lots of Floridians breathe anxiously whenever a “front” or storm brews until November 30, when hurricane season ends. Longtime residents remember summers and falls when winds viciously lashed and rains pummeled the ground. In other years hurricane season began and finished six months later with little or no threatening weather. “Experts” base their weather predictions on previous history, patterns, trends, geographic shifts, and changes of weather. Meaning, weather predictors base their predictions on the history of weather. How reliable can weather predicting be when forecasts are figured from prior years? A little more, a little less, of the same, maybe longer lasting, but maybe not. Although, that year did this, so maybe this season it will do it again. Predictions are just that – Predictions. Hurricanes and severe weather are no fun, and need to be taken seriously. They do not, however, need to drive you into a cave or ruin six months of your life while you endure hurricane season. Instead, enjoy a plethora of activities in the natural world which may be enjoyed alone or with 1-4 other people, or any size you wish. Ventures include a picnic, star gazing, bird watching, canoeing, and photography among dozens which you may enjoy. The bonus of spending time in the outdoors enables peace, satisfaction, and delight when you relax and/or play. Most folk find those qualities and more, in their natural environment. Make friends with the universe that forms the weather. Living with hurricane season can boggle your mind OR It can also give you a lovely season of gardening, visiting with friends, cooking out, vacationing, caring for family, friends, and others who need help. Knowing a hurricane can blow into your area means you take precautions, plan for the safety of the people, animals, and things you value, but worry only at the moment when you need to, and not for six months. Hurricanes blow in, then out and leave in their wake inches and inches of the valuable liquid so crucial to life – RAIN! Serenity! Enjoyment! Don’t give up six months of all the ways you value life by worrying. Living through a hurricane is not exactly a tradeoff, but for sure, there are benefits of being a Floridian, living in Florida, during hurricane season. Jeri Baldwin

AgriMag Volume II, Issue 4 ISSN 2471-3007

Publisher Jeri Baldwin Jeri@AgriMag.Press 352-209-3195 Editors Jeri Baldwin 325-209-3195 Marnie Hutcheson 352-207-6520 Contributors William K. Crispin Jan Cross Cubbage David Goodman Laura McCormick Melody Murphy Design + Production Marnie Hutcheson Marnie@AgriMag.Press Amy Garone Ad Sales Ursula Ceballos Ursula@AgriMag.Press Distribution Terri Silvola-Finch Founder Carolyn Blakeslee Contact Us & Subscriptions AgriMag Press info@AgriMag.Press 352-209-3195 P.O. Box 635 Orange Springs, Florida 32182 Websites http://AgriMag.Press http://Facebook.com/ AgriMagPress Copyright ©2017 AgriMag Press All rights reserved

June 2017

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Contents 2 3 6 7

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Farming Wonders of the World From the Publisher Florida AG Food Banks and Pantries

8 | Didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t it Rain Children by Melody Murphy 10 | Gardening With Wide Spacing Requires Less Water by David the Good 12 | Pesticide Drift: A Primer for Farmers and Gardeners by William K. Crispin, Attorney At Law 14 | Grow Mushrooms in Florida by Marnie Hutcheson 16 | Without Water, How Would We... 18 | Drop by Drop by Jeri Baldwin 20 | My Father, Farmer of the Year, Every Year by Jan Cubbage 22 | In Season Recipes 24 | Agri News 30 | Meet Our Advertisers Cover Photo: Waste Not Want Not by Jeri Baldwin

June 2017

Featuring Florida Agriculture Products

Timber The timber industry in Florida is among the top 20 economic enterprises in Florida. Florida has over 16 million acres or 25 thousand square miles of forests, covering nearly half of the stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s land area. Forests are managed to produce a variety of wood and fiber products, with about 650 million cubic feet harvested annually . Southern Yellow Pine comprises the majority of timber types grown and harvested each year. Yellow pine forests covered much of Florida, and the southeast when settlement began in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The value of all farm and forestry products in Florida is 8.835 billion dollars per year. No figures could be found for the northeast region. The economic impact included all forestry, natural resources, manufacturing and millwork, nurseries,

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and sawmills. Natural resource use includes hunting, fishing, and wildlife viewing. Not all wildlife-related recreational activity is directly a function of forest lands. However, most of the hunting and wildlife watching occurs in forested ecosystems. The timber industry provides employment for 48,930 persons annually in the state, including environmental and eco-tourism activities which has enjoyed major increases in eco-tourism activities easing by huge numbers every year . Forests in Florida also provide numerous amenities or quality of life values. This includes support of rural life values, provision of character building opportunities, heritage, and support of national identity ideals.

FOOD BANKS & FOOD PANTRIES: A BRIEF HISTORY Did you know there is a difference? A food bank is a nonprofit organization that collects food and distributes it to pantries. A food pantry is a smaller agency that gives food directly to individuals. In a standard supply chain model, the food bank would be the distributor/ warehouse, and food pantries would be the retailer/store fronts. The concept of food banking was developed by John Van Hengel in Arizona in the 1960s. The number of food banks increased thanks to federal funding and the Tax Reform Act of 1976, which made it more financially desirable for companies to donate their products. By the 1980s, many

major US cities had food banks and Van Hengel created a new nonprofit, now known as Feeding America. The organization established food banking standards and guidelines and pioneered the acquisition of food from large, national manufacturers. In recent years, there has been increased awareness about the link between diet and chronic disease. Feeding America has launched a â&#x20AC;&#x153;Foods to Encourageâ&#x20AC;? campaign, highlighting the importance of making the healthy choices the easy choice. FNP food systems specialists are working on multiple healthy food initiatives that combine hunger relief efforts with nutrition education. These include improvements in display of food, point of distribution prompts encouraging healthy selections, Grow-A- Row programs, and gleaning operations.

Jeri Baldwin

June 2017

Didn’t It Rain, Children by Melody Murphy It is hard to think of anything this month except the rain we so desperately need. All I (and all any of us) can think about is rain, and how much we need it. I am hoping that by the time the June issue comes out, the rainy season will have begun. Until then, we haunt whatever means by which we get our weather forecast, whether it is an app or the TV or our tea leaves, and we wait. We are all wishing, hoping, and praying for rain these days. This reminds me of the spring and summer of 1998, when it was so dry that 4th of July fireworks were forbidden pretty much across the state. I remember the Independence Day celebrations that year featured a lot of cannons booming in lieu of pyrotechnics. Noise, at least, is not flammable. This came on the heels of an unseasonably wet winter. I was in college at UF at the time, and we had so much much rain that

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winter, Paynes Prairie flooded and 441 was either closed or down to one lane in places – with alligators sunning themselves on the dry stretches of pavement. Or, if you took I-75 from Ocala to Gainesville, you could look down and see gators swimming in the full-to-thebrim ditches along the interstate, right next to your car. It was a weird time. And it’s a weird time again. Spring is usually a dry season for us here in Florida, but enough already. Enough wildfires, enough drought, enough unrelieved heat. Seeing 97 and 99 degrees in the weekly forecast for early May is a bit jarring. Unfortunately, there’s not a lot we can do about it. What we can do, besides crank up Mahalia Jackson singing “Didn’t It Rain” and hire a rainmaker, is conserve water. It’s something we should do anyway, not just when there’s a drought. You don’t start a savings account when you’re broke; better do it

when you’ve got a little more than you need. You can do this in so many little ways. When you’re emptying the dog’s water dish in the morning to give him fresh water, don’t pour the old water down the drain. Go pour it in your houseplants.

Old coffee in the pot or a cup of tea you didn’t finish drinking? Your ferns will be glad to have it. (And, as I shared last month, coffee and tea are excellent natural fertilizers, so you’ve got a two-for-one win-win situation going on here.)

walk, wasted as you move from hydrangea to hibiscus. And as much as I would prefer to wash my car on the concrete driveway, the grass in the yard will make better use of the runoff water – so I move the car to wash it.

and we do get rain, maybe it’s time to think about investing now in a rain barrel for keeping the plants in your yard green and well-watered… just like opening that savings account when we’re flush with a little extra cash.

When you come home after a trip and you go to empty your ice tray of the old, stale ice that piled up while you were on vacation, is the kitchen sink really the best place to dump that? Wouldn’t your wilted tomato plants be much happier with ice cubes melting into the soil around their summer-parched roots? (Yes, they would.)

And, as delightful as it is to stand under the water during a long shower… maybe this isn’t the best time for it. Turn the water off while you’re shaving or waiting for your conditioner to work its magic. Also, there is no need for water to flow down the sink drain while you’re brushing your teeth. Or for the dishwasher to run when it’s only half-full.

I know that when we finally behold again the joyous sight of plentiful rain falling from the skies, we are going to want to remember the past and think about the future. And there is no time like the present.

Somebody left a half-finished water bottle in your car? Your peace lilies will thank you for emptying it onto them. Or, if you have a birdbath, the birds and squirrels will thank you. Or you can pour this leftover water you aren’t planning to drink into your watering can, for when you water your porch pots. Every little bit adds up. No reason to waste good water down a drain.

And in anticipation of the great day when Mother Nature smiles on us again – may it be soon –

Speaking of watering plants, if you are going to turn on your hose or sprinkler to do so, don’t do it at midday when most of the water will just evaporate away. Morning and evening, before or after the worst heat of the day has passed, are the best times to water – or even at night. Make sure you have a spray nozzle on your hose so you can control the output and water isn’t pouring out onto the side-

Melody Murphy is hoping for a normal Florida summer of rainy afternoons just as much as you are.

Lamium Amplexicaule - common name: Henbit http://www.ediblewildfood.com/henbit.aspx Photgraph by Marnie Hutcheson

June 2017

Forget What You’ve Heard: Gardening with wide spacing requires less water by David the Good Tiny yards, tiny houses, tiny garden beds. Over the last few decades, “tiny” has gotten big. This is especially true in gardening. Even when I was growing up and learning how to garden, I learned that wide garden spacing was the “old way” to do things and was an artifact of commercial farming and tractor usage. See, if you had tighter spacing, a tractor couldn’t get through the field. Wide spacing in your garden is just a waste of space – after all, didn’t John Jeavons and Mel Bartholomew prove that you could grow tons of food in really tiny spaces? Great-Grandpa’s methods went out with gas lights and top hats, don’t you know? Maybe there’s more to know than we think. Today we’ll reconsider the current “common wisdom” on intensive gardening. Despite the mighty army of tiny raised-bed aficionados, there are good reasons to adopt wider spacing and larger garden plots.

Gardens with Wide Spacing Require Less Water Some years ago I was getting ready to plant corn in a sandy, unirrigated field near Ocala, carefully marking out lines at 18” apart. As I did so, the neighbor stopped by to see what I was doing. He was an old farmer with a cow-

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boy hat and a collection of aged tractors. “What are you plantin’?” he asked. “Field corn,” I replied. I knew this farmer grew corn without irrigation, so I asked, “am I doing it right?” He shook his head. “Too close.” “Too close?” I said. “It’s at 18”!” “Three foot,” he said. “I need to plant my rows that far apart?” I asked, incredulous. “Three foot,” he replied. I did what he said. And that corn grew and yielded a crop without irrigation. It was like magic to me. I had always grown plants close together in the modern, fashionable way… and had to water them all the time to get a harvest. When you plant your crops at wider spacing, the roots can take advantage of the limited water in the soil and sometimes grow without any extra irrigation at all. Crops are pretty good at getting what they need from the soil when competition is suppressed and they have room to spread out. Watering an intensive garden bed twice a day to keep it from wilting is common, yet a widely spaced garden might go three days on one good soaking.

does a widely spaced traditional garden. When you pack a bunch of plants together, they fight for water, nutrition and sunlight. Since I focus a lot of my gardening on growing the most food for the least amount of work, I don’t like having to baby plants. I’d rather let them take care of themselves – and they can do that better when they have room to spread without much leaf and root competition. I’ve seen this first hand and you probably have as well. Once year I grew a big patch

Hoeing and maintenance are easier If you’ve ever grown a tightly-spaced little garden bed, you know how time-consuming weeding can be. It’s a job to be done by hand, not by hoe. When you utilize wider spacing in your garden, you can use a hoe without crouching and hand weeding. Extra space around the plants makes your job easier. One of my favorite weeding tools is the Planet Whizbang wheel hoe. It’s a re-creation and reinvention of a classic gardening implement and it saves me a ton of time. If I plant in rows with adequate spacing, I just walk in between the rows with my wheel hoe and decapitate all the weeds in a couple of minutes, then do a little cleanup work with my standard garden hoe right around the crops themselves. No crouching required.

Widely spaced plants are happier Though we hear a lot about tiny spaces and HUGE yields, the truth is that it takes more input to grow an intensive garden bed than it

of turnips by broadcasting seed across a tilled area. The turnips in the middle where the seed was thickest grew leaves but not a lot of roots, whereas the turnips in the thinly seeded areas grew fat rapidly. As I pulled turnips, the remaining roots got some breathing room and started to fatten as well. With many crops you won’t be that lucky and if you overplant an area, you’ll get next to nothing. Think about it: you’re better off planting six tomato plants with lots of room than packing in a tomato seedling every six inches. As you plant your gardens this year, I recommend you set aside some of your land and give wider spacing a try. If it worked for the settlers – who didn’t have commercial fertilizer and city water and yet fed themselves from their gardens – it will work for you. David The Good is a gardening expert and the author of five books available on Amazon, including Totally Crazy Easy Florida Gardening, Compost Everything: The Good Guide to Extreme Composting and Grow or Die: The Good Guide to Survival Gardening. Find new inspiration every weekday at his popular gardening website TheSurvivalGardener.com.

June 2017

Pesticide Drift A Primer for Farmers & Gardeners by William K. Crispin, Attorney At Law Our publisher Jeri Baldwin in last month’s issue made reference to the “staggering” statistic of one thousand people moving to Florida each day. With farmsteads numbering near 19,000 throughout our state competing for a limited amount of land, proximity and nearness of urban areas to producing farms is our demographic reality. This ongoing urbanization brings agricultural practices ever closer and noticeable to those perhaps not familiar with ag production. Smells and sounds of a farm become regarded as a nuisance to the non-farm neighbor. This aspect brought about our Right to Farm Act. The Act provides legal insulation from nuisance suits based on a farm’s usual and ongoing operation. The point? More people living on a set amount of land presents challenges that must be negotiated by farmers and neighbors alike, for all interests to be adequately protected. Today we address pesticide spray drift, a term that refers to the airborne movement of pesticides to areas other than the

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intended target. Florida enacted the Florida Pesticide Law located at Fla. Stat. §487.011-487.175. The statute defines pesticide as: “...any substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling, or mitigating any insects, rodents, nematodes, fungi, weeds, or other forms of plant or animal life or viruses, except viruses, bacteria, or fungi on or in living humans or other animals, which the department by rule declares to be a pest, and any substance or mixture of substances intended for use as a plant regulator, defoliant, or desiccant.” Not all drift may be illegal or necessarily harmful. We will focus on what the statute addresses, which is substantial drift. There are important rules that govern the use and application of pesticides. The Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services (FDACS) investigative arm is initiated by the filing of a complaint. An excellent article published by the University of Florida’s IFAS Extension by Professor F.M. Fishel, How to Report Pesticide Misuse in Florida explains the

FDACS complaint process. The legislature authorizes FDACS investigators to enter public and private premises to investigate and enact relief of violations related to a pesticide complaint. Florida considers pesticide drift a legal concern. This concern is based on the significant contribution of Florida agriculture’s fresh market fruits and vegetables to our economy and the nation’s breadbasket. Tomatoes, snap beans and watermelon are some highly susceptible vegetables that can be harmed by a number of pesticides. Encroaching urbanization adds to the potential health risks, thereby increasing the need for responsible pesticide application. The balancing act mentioned earlier consists of the many benefits pesticides provide, as well as the potential risks. As Professor Fishel notes in his article, “Pesticide accidents can happen for a variety of reasons.” People can make mistakes, sometimes with malicious intent. In some situations, pesticides have drifted or run off from their intended targets to cause harm to bystanders, communities, and the environment. Pesticide applicators carry the liability associated with the safe and proper use of any pesticide product. What is generally not known to the public are the factors that contribute to the extent of a pesticide application gone adrift. Interestingly spray drift is not necessarily confined to when an

application of pesticide is performed. UF’s Professor Fishel along with fellow agronomy colleague, Professor J.A. Ferrell in their article, Managing Pesticide Drift, discuss postapplication drift. “Days after application, pesticides can volatilize into gas. Low levels of pesticides may be carried long distances by air currents. It depends on weather factors even days after the application.” Some pesticides are volatile and can change from a solid or liquid into a gas under the right conditions. This most commonly occurs with high air temperatures. However, “wind speed is the single most important weather factor influencing drift.” Fla. Stat. §487 states that: “It is unlawful for any person to apply a pesticide directly to, or in any manner cause any pesticide to drift onto, any person, or area not intended to receive the pesticide.” Many agricultural crops, particularly broad leaf plants, are extremely sensitive to the organo-auxin family of herbicides. So much so that a special rule was enacted by FDACS named the OrganoAuxin Herbicide Rule, (“the Rule”) codified in the Florida Pesticide Law & Rules. Pesticides like 2,4-D are a part of this family of pesticides with specific restrictions in the Rule that prohibit the application of chemicals like 2,4-D under a variety of weather conditions, as when wind speed exceeds 10 m.p.h.

The Rule also requires strict record keeping by the applicator when applying organo-auxin herbicides and plant growth regulators: location, person making application, license number, wind speed, dosage rate, etc. As Professor Mike Olexa with UF’s Agricultural Law Center stated in his article, Laws Governing Use and Impact of Agricultural Chemicals, “Although courts have recognized that agricultural spraying is a beneficial activity, they have also recognized its potential for causing damage. Courts have imposed liability on applicators and landowners under theories of trespass, negligence and strict liability.” As such, “farmers should carry liability insurance to cover damage or ensure that the applicator has a policy that will indemnify the farmer for damages.

ing to spray pesticides. Inform your neighbor(s) when you might be spraying and what is being applied. Pay attention to weather conditions. Follow the local and state pesticide drift requirements. All this will make for better neighbors and lower insurance premiums. William K. Crispin Note: Crispin and Mike Martin of Lakeland have tried to verdict pesticide spray drift cases throughout Florida, representing farmers and ranchers harmed by errant drift. Afarmersfriend.com

Communication, another form of insurance, is a key component in avoiding unintended damage or anxiety when decid-

June 2017

Grow Mushrooms in Florida By Marnie Hutcheson Cultivated Oyster Mushrooms in/on a plastic bag <-Wild FL Oyster Mushrooms in/on a tree --> According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary: A mushroom is an enlarged complex fleshy fruiting body of a fungus that arises from an underground mycelium and consists typically of a stem bearing a sporebearing structure; especially : one that is edible—compared to a toadstool which is not edible, i.e. poisonous.

other spoors out. The mycelia mat will start to grow in a few weeks or months depending on the type of compost material used. 5. Keep the bed shaded, moist, and just the right temperature, for a few months, and then: Walla! The mushrooms will explode forth, and can be harvested about once a month, sometimes for years.

Mycelium is the root system of fungus. For every mushroom you see, there can be many hundred feet of hair thin mycelium beneath it. Inoculation is the process of introducing mushroom spoors into a growing medium where mycelium can digest the medium and grow.

Sounds simple right? Sometimes it is, but mostly it’s not; simple. Like everything else, success requires a combination of specific knowledge, experience, timing, hard work, and luck. Not to discourage you, but... The more I researched this topic, the more errors I found in the “how to” documentation and videos on the internet. --Don’t trust everything you read on the internet.

There are five steps to cultivating mushrooms: 1. Acquire mushroom spawn; think “seeds.” 2. Buy or make compost that the fungus will digest in order to grow. This means compost, straw, or logs; think sterile potting soil. 3. Spread the spawn in the compost and moisten it. This is called inoculation; think planting seeds. 4. Cover the spawned compost to keep it damp, and keep light, pests, and

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Most important:

KNOW YOUR MUSHROOMS! You need to know about mushrooms in general and you need to be able to identify several types of mushrooms when you see them. Particularly, you need to be able to tell the difference between what you are trying to grow and any other type of mushroom. And probably more important,

you need to be able to recognize non-edible mushrooms on sight.

The biggest challenge in Florida is keeping the native mushrooms out of the pet mushroom patch. The first fungus spawn that gets into the compost will be the successful one. The native mushrooms in the compost picture below sprouted in only 5 days. If your compost has already been inoculated by local spawn, your edible mushroom spawn is out of luck. Next, native fungus spores are everywhere in our environment so, even if you start with sterile compost material, your edible mushroom spawn can eas-

ily be overwhelmed by airborne spawn and squeezed out. This is why commercial mushrooms are grown inside where environmental control is possible. Plugs are wood pegs inoculated with mushroom spawn. Plugs are used because the mushrooms that grow best/easiest in Florida are wood digesting mushrooms. Plugs are sealed into holes drilled into wood limbs, stumps and logs. The growing medium must be wood of the right species for the mushrooms, and it must be cut live in winter to minimize the risk of inoculation by local fungi species. For example, if you inoculate pine or red oak with shiitake or oyster spawn instead of laurel oak, you won’t get anything. And, you must watch to make sure that no local fungus colonizes the logs as well. I attempted to grow mushrooms using fresh cut logs and wood plugs from 2010-2012. Sadly, no matter how hard I tried, there was no joyful harvest of shiitake, oyster, or any other edible mushroom in 3 years of persistent tending. Growing mushrooms outdoors in Florida is many months of hard work, with no guarantees. Happily, things have changed with bag kits.

My Recommendation: Buy a complete mushroom kit in a bag from a reliable grower. Not all mushrooms will grow in the Florida “outdoors,” but because of the climate control in your home, there is a huge variety that will grow inside, even

in your garage. And, because the kits, especially the hanging bag kits, already have EVERYTHING needed to grow your mushrooms, all you have to do is follow the instructions and you have a good chance of success. Everything is sealed in a closed bag, hang it in the correct environment; light, temperature, etc., add water and the mushrooms burst through the bag when they fruit. Check out the links below for bag kit suppliers. If you “must” try growing mushrooms out of doors in Florida... Do it in a bag from a well established, reputable and preferably local provider. Follow instructions, and do your homework on the mushroom species that are available and their requirements. Be sure to check out the cost of complete mushrooms-in-a-bag kits versus spawn by itself.

Be sure you know your mushrooms and eat safe! Finally, I don’t want to leave the impression that the wild fungi in Florida are a nuisance. They are an invaluable and indispensable part of our ecosystems. Our woodlands, wetlands, and grasslands fail without their mycelia mats. Fungi have an amazing ability to digest and purify dead and dying biomass, eradicate dangerous bacteria, sequester carbon, and transport the nutrition released via their mycelium to make life possible for the plants and trees in their environment. ---More on this miracle in a future article.

Resources Books about mushroom cultivation • The Mushroom Cultivator: A Practical Guide to Growing Mushrooms at Home By Paul Stamets and J.S. Chilton • Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms By Paul Stamets • How to fact sheet with lots of helpful links from Univ. of Florida shttp:// smallfarms.ifas.ufl.edu/other_enterprises/ pdf/FarmingShiitake.pdf

Bag Kits and Spawn • Shiitake, Oyster, and many other types for sale in plugs. Growing bags available, some do-it-yourself, in High Springs FL http://www.souteast mushroom.com/ • Growing kits have everything that the mushroom needs. The kits are viable as spawn for expansion on to wood chips, newspaper pellets, straw, etc. or you can grow them right from the bag Sarasota FL http://www.gulfcoas tmushrooms.com/growing-kits/ • Great selection, good support, normal varieties plus Brown Dragon, special for Florida Summers Ann Arbor Michigan http://www.easygrowmus hrooms.com/plugs.shtml

The author and her assistant Sam catalog wild mushrooms at Shady Grove Preserve in Ocala FL

June 2017

WITH OUT

WATER,

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WE ... HOW

WOULD June 2017

Drop by Drop

by Jeri Baldwin Seeds. Honeybees. Red Wiggler worms. Water drops. Nothing is more important to earth’s existence than the four items named above. Worms eat through compost and reduce the earth’s organic leftovers to rich, dark castings, ideal for use around plants, and essential partners to a pole and line for a successful fishing trip. Honeybees and their ilk pollinate plants, the activity which assures the growth and maturation of most vegetables. It is estimated that humanity would not survive more than three years without bees and their busy journey to collect pollen and nectar, and leaving pollination dust on stigma or ovule day after day. Seeds, the miraculous small drop of matter which

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produces vegetables, fruits, herbs, grasses, etc. etc. Water covers 71 percent of the earth. Water drops merge and appear as aquifers, oceans, seas, lakes, rivers, streams, ponds, canals, and puddles. To sustain the bodies of water, drops process through evaporation, precipitation, and run off when conditions demand. Evaporation draws water into the atmosphere primarily because of heated air, where it then falls to earth as rain. If soil is not strongly rooted, water flows to the lowest ground, often taking soil with it. Water reduces its natural bodies, i.e. rivers, seas, etc. to channels of soil and its nutrients, polluting the liquid and rendering water bodies nearly 100 per cent ineffective. Water appears to be abundant and many people act as though they believe that it is. However, in many regions of the world, according to UN information, countless girls and women

walk up to six hours every day to bring water to their families. Often, those same women and girls make the identical journey two times in a day. Some young women bear water to their households at the expense of many personal goals, including education and marriage. In many other regions of the globe, water is rationed to everyone every day. No day is ever filled with all the water anyone wants to drink or cook. Water is dear and scarce in more places in the world than it is abundant. Often there is a fallacy in many folk’s reasoning. That fallacy comes when the word “potable” is ignored or disregarded. I once roughly, very roughly, figured the portions of water available to inhabitants of the world. When I had my proportions, I used glass containers to demonstrate in a presentation the truth about water. I filled a five gallon jar,a one gallon jar, and a pint jar with water. I

spoke about the importance of water and mentioned many of the ways that water is crucial to every being on earth. Water looms large in every process on earth. People’s growth, their health, aesthetics, hygiene, growing food, and countless other activities practiced require water. When my audience begin to wander away mentally, I asked them to tell me how much water is available that is “potable.” After a few stabs at answering, I lifted my five gallons of water into view. “Pretend that this is all the water in the world. It covers vast amounts of earth and looks to be enough for everyone.” Everyone agreed that we likely could live on the earth’s water for a long time. Then I lifted my one gallon jar for all to see. “Pretend that this is all of the fresh water on the planet. So, we might need to make more informed decisions about our use of water, do you think?” I had gained my audience’s full attention.

The room had grown silent. Point taken. Water might appear plentiful, but the water required for life is limited. I use that visual demonstration whenever water’s importance must be registered with folks. This year, 2017, we must produce another irrefutable visual demonstration that will ring loudly and clearly to those whose authority gives them leeway to decree the usage of water without regard for the amount that really is available. This is not a one person demonstration; many, many committed folks must step forward to change the thinking of people who serve other agendas to distribute the potable – pure – usable – drinkable – life giving liquid that cannot be supplanted by any other liquid or food currently known to give and sustain life Time is NOT on the side of those who understand the peril of diminishing water. This issue needs attention quickly, else

other issues which we consider important will be moot. Nothing that can be named is more critical than answering the question about water available for every citizen. All of us must understand that our water supply is limited, AND that there is not a simple path which will give us more. We further must decide that our water and its usages must not, cannot, rest in the hands of anyone who refuse to consider this an imperative trip, which all must take together. Seeds. Honeybees. Red Wiggler worms. Water drops. How will we respond to each of these small molecules of matter? Particularly, how will we respond to, and react, to those small drops of life sustaining liquid?

Jeri Baldwin

Finally, I reached for my last jar. “Pretend that this is all of the potable water on the earth. This is the water for drinking, cooking, growing, producing medicines, and any other activity which must have potable, or pure water, for the millions of extant beings who require water for life.

June 2017

My Father, Farmer of the Year, Every Year By Jan Cubbage

Fundamental farming can follow two pathways. A farmer who owns his land can treat it like a prize from the heavens or exploit it and abuse it until it is hopelessly worthless for agricultural production of any kind. In 1768, George Washington, the “Father of Our Country,” as a plantation manager and owner and not yet a General or President, wrote about the depletion of soil fertility in the British colony of Virginia from tobacco and grain cultivation and harvest. Washington wrote that more often than not, farmers “till the land until it is exhausted,” and then abandon it. Simply put, a farmer’s soil is an entity that must be observed, nurtured, exploited nutrients and humus replenished and most of all “valued” with respect to future fertility. This I learned firsthand from my father, the farmer. My father was born on Washington’s birthday (February 22nd), 1912 and, like Washington, went to war, worked for the Veteran’s Administration for 20 years while he also farmed. Though balancing a nine to five job with the federal government, raising a family., and farming was no easy task, my father stuck to farming because he loved the land. At times my father planted, cultivated or harvested using the tractor headlights until ten o’clock at night. My father worked a double shift because he loved the smell of a warm cow barn in frigid January and tall, waving wheat in

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hot July. He relished caring for both land and livestock. By age five I followed him around the farm like a faithful puppy. I probably got under foot often but I observed and learned. He scooped soil into his calloused hands, gently squeezed it, smelled it, and let it fall to the earth through his fingers. He might mumble a comment to the Father Farmer in the Sky, “this will do and do well.” The soil of that old 75 acre farm had been farmed for nearly two hundred years, but my father knew how to boost the soil’s fertility without using commercial fertilizers. Rather than a second cutting, he would let his hay grow tall and then let the Herefords graze it down. Their hoofs and manure loosened and fed the soil. The result was a fast growing incredible, thick field of hay the following June cutting, even if it lacked rainfall. Our old orange Allis-Chalmers tractor was always hooked to the manure spreader. All manure produced by the livestock was spread on fields and pastures. Today called “nutrient recycling,” spreading the fertile biomass kept the topsoil of the fields deep, cool, moist and full of minerals, enzymes and beneficial fungi, bacteria, earthworms and other micro and macro-organisms. My father would not disk a field on a dry day, saying that for topsoil to be blown away was like greenbacks blowing in the wind.

My father rotated crops, grew cover crops of winter rye or wheat and low tilled with a disk before it was popular to do. During droughts when neighboring farms had fields of cracking hardpan,, our farm’s fields flourished with thick grain and hay crops growing tall. He nurtured and preserved the soil in every way possible. My father taught me how to use a round metal curry-comb to loosen the hair of our dairy cows, Tessie and Daisy. By working alongside him I learned to care for, feed, and respect animals. I also learned to listen carefully as he was not apt to repeat himself. An ancient black pony, named “Blacky” arrived for my sixth birthday - a dream come true. My father gave me a crash course in horsemanship, saddling, and bridling, then left me alone with the pony to “work things out.” This kind of independence was offered to all of his five children. It was a major character builder. Who ever coined the phrase “whatever doesn’t kill you will make you stronger” must have worked with my father. One day as he harvested corn. I rode in the wagon behind the harvester that shot the husked corn into the wagon. At about eight years I was old enough to sit on the pile of corn and push it to the sides of the wagon, so the wagon filled evenly. Dodging the flying corn cobs was not fun after you got hit in the head a few times. I wore a hooded sweat shirt and a ball cap over it for protection. Should have had a helmet. On this particular afternoon the wagon was nearly filled so I slacked off and took a break and sat on top of the pile of corn in the back. My father came to the end of the last row and turned toward the barn yard and corn cribs. As he turned, Dad hit the gas and tractor, harvester, and wagon, including corn and petite daughter, lurched. I tumbled out the back of the wagon and the hood of my sweat shirt caught on a stave on the back panel of the wagon. So, dangling like a puppet, I started wailing.

Only eight, I was terrified. After a rather long trip down the road to the barn yard, my father pulled to the corn crib. He dismounted from the tractor, walked around the back of the wagon, found me dangling, in a tizzy, and unhooked me from my ungainly predicament. I seriously sobbed. My father took off his ball cap, scratched his head, scanned my little body and asked, “Are you hurt?” I replied with a stuttering “Nn-nooo.” To which my father then stated, “Then why are you crying? That was the funniest thing I have ever seen.” I thought about that, stopped sobbing, and we walked to the farm house, my father holding the little hand of his buckaroo farmer’s daughter.

My father was working in his huge and prolific garden when he suffered his first heart attack. Eighty years at the time, he described the heart attack as “having a pain in my chest so I just laid down for a while between the sweet corn and the squash.” When he felt recovered, he got up and rode his garden tractor to the house. He neglected to tell my mother of the event. For my father it was just another day doing what he loved, interrupted by a bit of pain in the chest, as in “what does not kill you will make you stronger.” Jan Cubbage

June 2017

In Season Recipe Fresh Chopped & Grated Vegetable Mix for cold Soup & Salads Marnie Hutcheson Nothing against “tossed” salad, but how about a different way to serve fresh vegetables? A vegan friend of mine who raises all her own vegetables, introduced me to her chopped and grated salads several years ago. I couldn’t help but see the similarities between her crunchy little salads and my Gazpacho. Here are some ideas you can use to make a chopped & grated in-season vegetable mix for both soup and salad dishes; i.e. Gazpacho, or as a base for chicken or fish salad bowls.

If you are gluten intolerant like I am, you can also use it to make a pleasing bed for a naked hamburger (sans bun), and you can even use it instead of pasta. --Wonderful for your diet and your health. These days, I make a finely chopped and grated mix out of whatever is in season and then use different dressings to make the salad or soup. I use my food processor as much as possible to grate and slice my hard vegetables and

only hand chop the fragile ones. See the pictures below. Be sure to mix in the lime juice to keep the mix from turning brown in the refrigerator. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving. The prepared mix will keep for 3 - 4 days in the refrigerator if it is made from vegetables bought at the farmers market. --Since they are mostly picked the day before the market and are exceedingly fresh. I typically prepare mine once a week and then enjoy different salads for several days.

Basic chopped & grated vegetable mix

Additions: ANY Vegetable IN SEASON

• 4-6 medium size firm vine-ripened tomatoes • 1 chopped red or green bell pepper • 1 bunch chopped green onions with stem • 1 medium - large cucumber peeled at least 1 cup (I grate these, makes you think of fine sushi) • 1-2 medium garlic clove, minced • 2 tablespoons fresh basil leaves Here is your chance to use your fresh herbs! Malabar spinach, oregano, tarragon, Cuban oregano, you name it, try them! Cut them up fine or blend them. Let the flavors mix in the refrigerator. You can also use them as garnish when you serve. • 1-2 limes juiced. The acid helps keep the vegetables from turning brown in the refrigerator

• Grated: Green or yellow zucchini, radishes, 1-2 stalks celery, 1/2 cup of cauliflower (purple is wonderful) or broccoli

June 2017

Gazpacho - Spanish cold vegetable soup Dressing for Gazpacho

Stir your dressing into 4-6 cups of your vegetable mix, leave it chunky or smooth it in a blender. Refrigerate for 2 hours before serving. Feeds 4-6 persons. Quick Gazpacho dressing OR --‘From scratch’ dressing Mix together in a blender: • Make 1 packet of dry Italian dressing according to the • 1-3 tomatoes (soft ripe) • 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil instructions on label (Makes 1 cup dressing) mix into • 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar vegetables • 1 teaspoon kosher salt • Add enough V8 or Tomato • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground juice to make the mix into thick black pepper soup (1-2 cups)

Garnishes at serving time

Seasoning options

Dressings for chopped salad

• Sliced into fine strips: Leafy greens and herbs • Slices of: avocado, kohlrabi, bok choy, hard pears, apples • Whole: snow peas, cherry tomatoes, olives, giardiniera mix

• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce • 1/2 teaspoon toasted, ground cumin • 1 teaspoon caraway seeds • Finely chopped: small jalapeño

• Your favorite bottled salad dressing, even Cole slaw dressing or Ginger dressing (see your grocers’ refrigerated bottled dressings) • A dash of soy sauce, or lemon

Salads

Top your salad mix with baked or sautéed chicken strips, shrimp, grilled fish filets, or even a hamburger. Sprinkle with cheeses, like Parmesan.

When I use the vegetable mix to replace pasta, I warm it up in the microwave before topping it with sauce, but I don’t cook it; I like it crunchy. -- Suit yourself. Cheese Burger with onions on romaine letuce, chopped salad on the side with ranch dressing--> <-- Shrimp on chopped salad with olives, tomatoes, snow peas, and lemon Be creative and enjoy something Cool, HEALTHY, TASTY, low calorie, and different this summer!

You can find locally grown produce at On Top of the World Farmers Market on Thursdays, The Ocala Farmers Market on Saturdays, and at Crones Cradle Conserve 7 days a week.

June 2017

AgriBriefs Drought Impacts Farmers and Ranchers The extended drought in Florida is changing the price of some produce and meat in Florida grocery stores. Grass is scorching and dying, so cattle farmers have to spend money to feed their cattle without pasture grass. Buying supplemental feed drives beef prices up. A significant amount of cow-calf operations are almost, if not totally, grass-dependent, This is especially true in Southwest Florida, where dry conditions have sparked fire and recent weeks. Farmers face the prospect of buying all the feed their cattle need, at least for the foreseeable future. On the other hand produce growers, namely tomato growers, have no quarrel with the path their season has taken. Conditions are nearly ideal for tomatoes, and the yield should be significant. Perhaps too significant, as the price for tomatoes begins to drop.

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Water-Wise Florida Farmers Can Get Help The St. Johns River Water Management District is accepting applications through July 28 from local farmers who are interested in cost-share funding for agricultural projects that promote water conservation and improve water quality in area waterways. Up to $1.5 million is available to support this effort . The drought conditions facing farmers has brought water conservation projects and proposed actions to the top award consideration. The SJRWMD agricultural cost share program will assist area farmers and ranchers with up to 75% of funding toward implementation of water saving techniques to improve efficiency and protect north Florida’s natural systems. Among projects eligible are irrigation system retrofits, soil moisture and climate sensor telemetry, rainwater harvesting, and expanded waste storage. Check the sjrwmd.com/agriculture/costshare. html for an application and information about the review and selection process. A successful grant is based on location, water conservation benefits, water quality benefits, cost/benefit effectiveness and time line. The approved funding will be awarded in October.

Conservation Innovation Grants Florida farmers and conservationists will receive grants of almost 2 million dollars through the 2017 USDA Resources Conservation Service’s Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG). One of the Florida grants is awarded to the Lake Branch Dairy Farm which proposes to demonstrate a plasma system to convert bio waste liquid into sanitized liquid and clean energy gas products. USDA will award 22.6 million through its 2017 grants program. The grants are awarded to individuals, Indian tribes, local, and state

AgriBriefs cont. governments Matching investments are required. Projects may run for three years, and maximum monies granted is 2 million per project. 10 percent of the funding is awarded to projects that benefit historically under served producers, military veterans and new and beginning farmers. The announcement for CIG program funding can be found on www.grants.gov.

Mexico buys cheaper Brazil corn as NAFTA talks loom: official Mexico expects to import a record amount of yellow corn from Brazil this year after its livestock producers secured lower prices in deals with suppliers on a recent visit to South America as NAFTA talks loom, a Mexican official said Thursday.

Alejandro Vazquez, a government official who was part of a Mexican delegation that visited Brazil and Argentina last week, said Mexican livestock companies on the trip had negotiated directly with suppliers and cut out commodities traders such as Cargill Inc and Louis Dreyfus that normally arrange shipments. Following repeated threats by U.S. President Donald Trump to pull out of the North American Free Trade Agreement, Mexico, a net grains importer, has been eager to show the United States that it has options to trade elsewhere. It has touted an upcoming visit to China and trade talks under way with the European Union, Brazil and Argentina, while looking for new suppliers for the U.S. grains that make up most of its imports of corn, wheat and soybeans. The Trump administration launched the process for opening NAFTA for revisions on Thursday and will likely face pressures from the politically connected U.S. corn industry to maintain market access to Mexico, one of its biggest customers. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trademexico-south-america-idUSKCN18F005?il=0

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AgriBriefs cont. Southeastern American Kestrel in Trouble The southeaster Kestrel has experienced the greatest decline of all the North American Kestrel population, declining by 82 to 95 percent in Florida during the past 50 years. Though some call the Kestrel a â&#x20AC;&#x153;Sparrow Hawk,â&#x20AC;? it is actually a raptor, their sleek, colorful bodies measures 9-12 inches. Kestrels feed on, and prefer anoles, insects, and skinks They hunt from perches or glide and hover, waiting for prey. They prefer short grass fields where prey is easy to spot or open longleaf pine stands that they can easily fly through. The Kestrelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s preferred habitat is Longleaf pine savannas, sandhills, dry prairies and scrub. Kestrels have lost their habitat to large dense pine plantations, row crops, pastures, and urban sprawl. Even though federally protected, the Kestrel is losing their fight for survival to habitat decline.

If Kestrel population is restored in Florida, the crucial actions which must be taken are restoration of open grassland and low density longleaf pine savannas. Other areas would help except for the longleaf pine snags, their preferred nesting area. Longleaf pine snags last longer than snags from other pines, which give them better nesting habitat. Kestrels nest in the cavities created by woodpecker activity on the pine snags. Nestboxes on poles will help in pastures, agricultural fields and other open areas which do not have snags. Help can be provided for the American Kestrel by participating in a next box project under the direction of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Since the project started, kestrel population has increased fivefold. Build Your Own Kestrel Nest Box plans may be found online. Another way to help Kestrels is to restore your land to a more open, low density pine habitat. Cost share programs can help cover the cost of habitat restoration Contact your local NRCS district conservationist.

June 2017

AgriBriefs cont. Citrus Grower Improves Attitude The Florida Grower Citrus Achievement Award winner for 2017 is Ed Pines. Mr. Pines received his award through his work in growing citrus under a protective screen, (CUPS) to exclude damaging disease. “Our industry is shell shocked right now,” said Mr. Pines, “because our reality is right now after 10 years, production has continued to fall each year. So we have to find our own solutions. There is no silver bullet coming. We have to change our growing practices.” Mr. Pines continues to plan for new practices and new collaborators in the citrus industry.

Florida’s Special Session Includes Medical Marijuana Consideration Florida legislators reached agreement in early June about putting medical marijuana into effect in the state. Voters approved the amendment in the November, 2016 election. The agreement was on the agenda for the Florida Legislative special session which began on June 7. The legislators agreed to license 10 new growers this year, adding to the seven who already hold a state license under an earlier agreement. Five new growers will be added for every 100,000 patients. Lawmakers will cap the number of dispensaries each grower can open at 25.

Did you know that you can read any AgriMag or AgMag issue on line, any time? Go to http://www.agrimag.press and click on any cover picture.

The magazine will open in a new browser window.

Click the arrows to page through the issue.

Click the box in the bottom right corner and read the issue in full screen.

Check it out and tell us what you think! June 2017

AgriBriefs cont. Third Annual Farmers Market Poster Contest The annual Farmers’ Market Poster Contest is announced for 2017. The contest kicks off on June 15. Winners will receive cash prizes and more for winners of the first place design. Winners will be announced during National Farmers Market Week (August 6-12). Farmers recently surveyed at farmers markets say that the best way to support their business is through better advertising and signage. The trusty poster has long been one of the most efficient ways to promote farmers markets. Market posters not only promote a place to pick up delicious food, they promote an opportunity to connect with neighbors, support the economic viability of local farms, and work to preserve farmland for generations – a true testament of the power of simple signage.

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The Farmer’s Market Coalition is looking for posters that depict a combination of engaging graphics, informative messaging and regional or market identity. Four prizes will be given in these categories: 1st and 2nd place for best overall poster; best EBT/Nutrition Incentive poster and the Fan Favorite – the poster with the most votes on Facebook. The contest opens on June 15, 2017. Go to Farmers Market Coalition@fmc.org for entrance requirements, contest rules, prizes, and criteria.

Calendar of Events Please send your agricultural and gardening related Calendar listings to info@AgriMag.press

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See our June featured advertiser

Red Wagon Produce on page 30

AgriMag Distribution 15,000 copies of AgriMag are printed monthly and distributed in Alachua, Citrus, Levy, and Marion Counties, as well as The Villages and Wildwood. This magazine can be found in your neighborhood. It’s in feed stores, tack shops, tractor dealers, hardware stores, extension services, farm bureaus, FL Farm Credit offices and other farm-friendly banks, a few vets, UF/IFAS, high school and university agricultural departments, trailer dealers, selected restaurants, farm-oriented real estate offices, Thoroughbred associations, landscape and garden centers, nurseries, libraries, economic development offices/ chambers of commerce, wineries, farms with retail outlets, and theatres including The Hippodrome and OCT.

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Meet our Advertisers

Gill & April Norris Meet Gill and April Norris,

owners of

Red Wagon Produce,

a “Certified Naturally Grown” farm in Ocala Florida.

The incredible variety (50 or so different types of vegetables and fruits) on their market tables every week are certified “naturally grown”, or certified USDA Organic. April has degrees in Agricultural Science and Landscape Design, Gill was a chef. Gill doesn’t have much to say, but for a man who doesn’t smile at a camera, he has a ready smile when helping his customers. April has a passion for raising “food” that is just shy of overwhelming. She became a farmer at age 4 when she got her first tomato plant. It gave her 52 tomatoes, and she was hooked. She grew up on a farm that

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raised 98% of their own food, and that just about sums up the philosophy at Red Wagon Produce.

Fresh Naturally Grown Variety Year Round

they plan to raise even more of what they sell. April and Gill stock a bountiful store. One look at the quality and variety of produce on their market tables not only makes your mouth water, the prices are irresistible.

If they can’t raise “it” at the time but its available from a certified natural source, they will stock it. Produce is picked the day before market or the morning of, so it’s FRESH for you.

In the days before they had their green house, they may have been able to raise 20% of what they could offer at the market. Today, the green house allows them to raise almost 50% of what they sell at the market year round, so they buy less at the wholesale produce markets in Florida, and sell more of their own carefully nurtured produce. Going forward,

Red Wagon Produce is a regular vendor at Circle Square Farm Market on Thursdays, and Ocala Farm Market on Saturdays.

RED WAGON PRODUCE

Fresh Produce Vegetable & Herb Plants Organic Practices

April & Gill Norris 352-537-0413 RedWagonProduce@hotmail.com

See us at local Farmers Markets: Thursdays: 9am - 12pm Circle Square Commons Saturdays: 9am - 2pm Ocala Farm Market

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14201 SW 16th Place Ocala, Florida 34481 Open Thurs.-Sat. 7am-12pm from Memorial Day, May 31 until June 30 Closed Sunday - Wed. Organically grown $3.00/lb. Call: 352-489-1441 for directions

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June 2017

Crones’ Cradle Conserve Foundation

Ecological Preserve

Retreat Center

Natural Farm

Florida Certified Stewardship Forest

Farm to Fare Weekly Baskets Available in June: Farm Heritage Experience Farm Stead Weekends Keepers Series Winter Thyme Vegetables: Tigress Zucchini Florida FolkGerman Greek Oregano Bunching Onions and Burgundy Beans Women‛s First SundayYellow Brunch including: Italian Oregano Cucumbers Yellow Fin Squash Basket Making, Fire Building, Spring Sustainability Festival Mustad Lavendar Easter Egg Radish Zephyr Squash Wild Food Spring & Fall Natural Foods Galas Rue Foraging Fennel Rainbow Mix Carrots Stevia Garden Workshops including: Floridorand Zucchini Group School Farm Tours Trinidad Thyme Green Provider Beans Greenhouse Herbs: Soil Building, Garden Layout, Winter Savory GreenOrganic Tomatoes Gardening Aloe Companion Planting Red Fire Lettuce Apprenticeships Bee Balm Food Workshops Including: Malabar SpinachDelivered Catnip Fresh Herbs: Local Produce to Your Misome Tatsoi Common Sage Parsley CanningCurly & Preserving, Restaurant Cuban Oregano Moringa Olifera Lemon Balm Preparation & Presentation Nevada Lettuce Curly Parsley Pineapple Sage Word Weavers Writing Okinawa Spinach Fever Few Spearmint Volunteering / Internships Rainbow Mix Carrots Flat Leaf Parsley Watercress Event Space Available for your

Weddings, Parties, Showers, Board Meetings, Workshops & Conferences 6411 NE 217th Pl. Citra, FL 32113 6.4 miles east of 301 on CR 318

352-595-3377 catrone@aol.com FB: Crones’ Cradle Conserve Foundation cronescradleconserve.org No Pets or Smoking Cash or Check Only

Farm Store Open 7 Days a Week Ask about our Certified Kitchen & Honey House

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