Environmental Stuff

A while back, you'd have to look up when, I was talking about at least re-using bags for cat or dog doo - but it wasnt satisfying as you still end up throwing it in a landfill. Well, for cats at least, there is a solution: flushable litter. Arm & Hammer makes it, and Rachel and I will try it out next time we need new litter. There still seems to be some concern: what is it made of and will throwing it in your toilet be any worse than what already goes down your toilet? I am asking these questions of anyone out there to answer, though I know you (hopefully including a few of our new members) in the bloggosphere havent probably got alot more time to do chemical research than I do. What research I have done has turned up this cat littler somehow made of wheat. As one of our members is reminding me though, do we want to be growing wheat to use on kitties, even though it is organically grown . . . Obviously complicated stuff and a good reason for a picture with a cat in it.

But in the case of peak oil someone, actually lots of people, have done the research, and here is a local website that gives Vermonters some local ways to help change our energy use habits: http://www.vtpeakoil.net/index.html The site is a wealth of information, probably most importantly, how to meet people likewise concerned, because once you realize how many people are willing to go the extra mile (sans gas) you might (I do) find it alot easier to start making a difference in ways that at first seem like a dream or dare. I don't think it would be Bragging to say that becoming a member of open heart farm is an important way of reducing gas consumption: the average piece of food travels 1500 miles to an american plate, either by car, boat, or plane, so any time we can make it 0-5 miles it will really bring that average down.

To all new members: Rachel or I will be calling you and sending you a receipt in a week or so. We are very excited about this season and will be posting lots of info about the season here, as it starts to really heat up.

ps Wonder Wheat isn't a good example as it is grown in Australia, but I've seen other wheat ones in stores.

Changeable Weather

They say it is going to snow tomorrow. All my sources back that up, and yet there are certainly many farmers in the area who have put their peas in the ground. Not Rachel and I, for two reasons: 1) I don't think during the next cold few days too much growing will get done by them, but much more importantly 2) since our field has not been a vegetable farm for some time (if ever) we are going to wait for our innoculant to arrive. The innoculant is a prettygood window into what organic means these days: it is a soil based bacteria, which if you don't know, and I don't guess there is any reason you would, there are lots of bacteria naturally living in the soil, healthy soil, every day. Just like they are in your gut helping you digest food (they are there too!). So the scientists or soilists or what have you, I gather, isolate some of particular strains that help peas both produce peas and fix nitrogen nodules in the ground, thereby helping whatever is next to go in that area. Once the Bacteria is introduced to a field, it can live there on its own, especially, as previously noted, in a healthy soil, which is what the Intervale soil looks like.

So how does this relate to the "organic" thing? (I get off topic pretty easiliy, huh?) It's just to say that organic doesn't mean eschewing all technology or never adding anything besides compost to the soil. It's more about finding solutions to problems that don't create new problems, and maybe even solve some problems off to the side, which general soil health has a tendency to do (ie helping the plants stave off bugs and other diseases). Conventional Farms, to show the counter example, wouldn't be adding the innoculant, and there is generally little chance the bacteria would survive in a soil that had been conventionally farmed field for long, because there is very little organic matter and almost no soil life.

Here I'm doing my yapping and the weather in Burlington has changed again, back to Sun, so I'll take advantage of it.