Get the Dirt on Dirt

I have believe I have posted links to Dirt The movie before. I wanted to post a new link so any one wanting to watch the film online can do so. If you have not seen this film I strongly recommend watching it. Dirt is where we came from and it is when we will return. It is so important to a existence. We need to make sure we protect it.

Soil and Health Library.

I ran across this free resource The Online Soil and Health Library. . A good reference to have listed in your bookmarks. Happy Earth Day...Save our soil.

A Place in the Sun.

I have been thinking a lot about the challenging times we live in, and Mahatma Gandhi's concept of Swadeshi, or “localized economics,” keeps coming into my thoughts.

I had heard that in Russia, over 90 percent of vegetables are grown locally on allotments or Dachas . It seems that in certain parts of Russia, a family is awarded a small parcel of land outside of the city in which to grow food. The family will leave the City on weekends and go out to the county side and work in their gardens. They often will build some sort of shelter or camp on it. Families who were unable to gain access to a parcel will often join families who do have a parcel and work together in a communal effort.

I am saddened when I see just how far the United States has demonized community efforts and security in the name of Objectivism or Selfishness. It seems the more you oppress people the great a person you are. It use to be and should be the other way around.

When the United States was first occupied by the English, land was set aside for the common use. We still hear this custom in the use of village commons or greens in place names. The Native Americans had a custom of holding all land in common for the use of the Tribe. It was not until the 1950s suburbia automobile society did we disconnect with the custom of providing a place for people to grow food. aka: Community Gardens or Victory Gardens.

As with Gandhi we are starting to reach a point where we have to start re-localizing our world. It is going to be the only way we can guarantee our survival as the global economy leaves more of us behind.

Local foods taste good.

With the price of gasoline rising, now may be the time to start enjoying a more local diet. Here is 8 ways to get you started. I often joke about after you pick and eat your first fresh garden tomato you will never buy the ones at the supermarket again. Which is true in my case.

With transport prices going up our food security is in jeopardy. I was at a local cafe eating dinner last Wednesday evening, and there was a sign that stated "Tomato on Salad by request only". This is where we are headed I am afraid. We can no longer afford crappy tasteless Tomatoes.

The story of neighbors working together.

Here is the story of The birth of Owen Park's community garden . Interesting to find out the "behind the scene" workings that causes events to unfold.

Pink Petunias in the Snow

More information to help you get your fall garden started. This is for zone 5 so here in zone 7 all her tips should work out for you.

Time to get ready.

It is hard to imagine with the heat of the summer outside, but fall garden planting is just two weeks away. Here is the schedule.

Making a new life just like the old life

I wanted to share this article with everyone. For those of you who has shopped at the Nam Hai you can relate to the part about the market. I go into the Nam Hai and I look at the produce and wonder what all the stuff is and how do you cook it. The Nam Hai has a lot of root crops. I wonder if they are different kind of potatoes?

There is a movie called The scent of green papaya. I could not find a link to watch it online, but I would recommend watching it if you see it at the rental place or in a bargain bin. The story is rather boring but the food and garden scenes are my inspiration. As I create my outdoor living space I want to replicate the house in the movie.

A quote from the article; "Without stringent regulations or organic certifications, the Saturday open-air farmers market still welcomes all comers." Here in Tulsa these families selling their surpluses would be considered criminals. As I was driving down Charles Page Blvd, I saw a hand written sign nailed to a telephone pole. The sign advertised Home Grown Veggies for sale straight from the garden. I didn't pursue the location of the garden to see if it was in the city limits (illegal) or in the County (might be illegal). But I could not help thinking, how have we gotten to the point that hard work, skills, and entrepreneurship are considered criminal activities in the City of Tulsa. Is it just to limit competition with the big box corporate stores? Or are there previous produce illness outbreaks that have prompted draco

Times are changing and we need to change our 1950's suburban sprawl zoning. We have to be able to be more local with our food. And if someone has a "Green Thumb" they should be able to sell their surplus with no interferences or burdens placed apon them.

OPCG Work Party

Breaking ground and first planting party at Owen Park Community Garden. Edison and Santa Fe. Tonight at 6pm

The 8th Plague of Egypt.

God then had Moses stretch his staff over Egypt, and a wind picked up from the east. The wind continued until the following day, when it brought a locust swarm. The swarm covered the sky, casting a shadow over Egypt. It consumed all the remaining Egyptian crops, leaving no tree or plant standing.

Scary Stuff. Let's hope the swarm dies down before it reaches us.

Requiem for Detroit

I watched this BBC documentary last night. Very good insight into the rise and fall of American's fourth largest city, and the collapse of the industrial world as well. It ends with the Urban homesteaders raising food on empty lots. I loved the guy talking about he makes $500.00 a week growing food in Detroit, and the other guy exclaiming "That is about the same that I make working at Chrysler. You can watch it online. If you have a slow Internet connection, press play, let it connect and buffer, then hit pause till it downloads.

Nothin Tastes Better...

Than a home grown Tomato. If you are Tomato challenged plan on attending:

Tomato Growing Workshop with Sue Gray, OSU Extension
presented by: The Oklahoma Horticulture Study Group

Plant sales 10am-12Noon & 2pm to 4pm, Program with Sue Gray 12 till 2pm. We will have a small selection of tomato plants, and herbs for purchase.

The Walmart Tax.

Why should it cost a citizen $750.00 to ask permission to do business in Tulsa. When other cities encourage and even fund entrepreneurs. I sure am glad we have all this planners and zoning to protect Walmart opps...I mean us.

Saving your garden seeds

I was watching the documentary Collapse, and one of the things he stressed was to save your seeds for next years planting. I have started growing a variety of sweet pea and I have been successful in saving to seeds and getting them to germinating the next year and actually be the same plant as the parent plant.

I was talking to a friend about saving seeds and she told me that her mother had green bean seeds that had been passed down from mother to daughter for countless generations. She was so distressed about it because at the time she was not gardening and did not get the bean seeds from her mother to plant before her mother died. She has contacted relatives, but no one has the bean seeds for her to start growing. That strain of green beans that her family ate for generations is now lost to the ages.

As I plan my garden this year I want to try and grow varieties I can save the seeds from. I was shopping for seeds at my local garden center, I felt lost. I know I can always refer to the OK State fact sheet. But can you save the seeds and get the same plant year after year?. The fact sheet does not say. The seed packs aren't labeled. Should I just buy some and hope for the best? It could be two seasons before I find out it was a bad decision. Then just because it is an "Heirloom" doesn't mean it will grown well in Oklahoma.

Then just like the Lone Ranger, I get an email discussing the topic of seed saving. It seems the Kerr Center has done the trials and here is the list. So for those of you who are concerned about securing seeds as part of your food security, you will find everything you need to get started.

Deconstructing Dinner,

This spring Beekeepers discovered a 90% loss on Vancouver Island. Deconstructed Dinner has an interview with Paul van Westendorp, provincial apiculturist, ministry of agriculture & lands, Province of British Columbia and Bob Liptrot, co-owner, Tugwell Creek Honey Farm & Meadery (Sooke, BC) about the collapse. You can listen online or if you have a slow connection you can download the program.

Illicit Gardening

No... Not that kind of gardening...This kind.

Food Deserts

I hear the term "Food Desert" and I wonder what is the cause? Is it Walmart forcing shopping to move from a neighborhood store to a more regional shopping center. Or is it a choice made by the consumer as to this is where I prefer to shop. My shopping choices tend to be places that have the brands I prefer in stock so I know I can get everything on my list in one trip. I am not a person who goes to the store more than once a week, and I hate it when I have to make a second trip just for one item that was out of stock.

For the past three or so years, North Tulsa's shopping issues have been in the news. When you have the Mayor driving across town for a shopping photo op, then you know its all politics. But is it worth the cost of 2.2 million going to one place or one entrepreneur? All your eggs in one basket so to speak.

I ran across the article about how New York City is trying to combat health issues and food deserts and the same time. I came to the conclusion that 2.2 million would fund a lot of vegetable carts, entrepreneurs, and community gardens.

More from Cleveland.

I always thought it surreal to go into the Shopping Malls from the 1980's with the imitation outdoors environment under the expansive glass atrium ceilings. Promenade Mall is a good example of this. The outdoor shopping center was enclosed to allow complete control of the shopping experience. And of course you have to have the sound of falling water to give you the right white noise in the background. But what do you do when Macy's packs up and leaves? You revamp the Food Court.

I have been reading a lot about Cleveland Ohio.

Cleveland is one of the northern cities hit hard by job migration. Like Detroit and Flint, Cleveland's citizens are coming up with some innovative survival tactics to rebuild their community. I have ranted before about the Tulsa Development Authority holding land in common just to grow Bermuda grass. I think the concept of a "Land Bank"is much more inline with today's realities than the "Development" concept of the 1970's urban renewal. Why does a place have to hit rock bottom, and land revert back to nature before land use becomes a political topic. It is crazy that we have huge discussions about Tulsa's parks and rec centers. But no one every claims we do not have the money to mow or maintain TDA land.

My Bees were flying yesterday.

I has so happy to see the Bees flying yesterday. We are starting to get acquainted. Get acquainted? Yes these are new born bees so they don't know me yet. I was kinda worried about the Dog lying in the sun right in the middle of the Bee yard. I was afraid the Bees would trigger the alarm like a bear was coming in for the attack. But they settled down and started the orientation flights. They still haven't got use to the cat. The girls just don't like dark and woolly. I have mixed feeling about spring being here. I am glad the the cold is got, but I am in my new house and I am surrounded by a Bermuda grass desert. I have a lot of work ahead of me and a blank slate to do what ever I choose.