Showing posts with label security. Show all posts
Showing posts with label security. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
More Dirt on Dirt.
Here is a fantastic resource for dirt issues. I have just started working on my microbes in my garden soil. It makes so much sense I now think about what is going on in the garden soil when my plants don't seem to be doing well.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
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.
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.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Sad News
Any one willing to help out I am sure BHCG would greatly appreciate your support.
Justin Pickard wrote:
We are officially losing the community garden lot. As some of you know, an heir of the deceased lady who owned the fire-damaged-house that was bulldozed by the City, contacted us a couple months ago wanting to reclaim the lot. Because the lot is encumbered with so many liens (close to $40,000 with the City's liens and a mortgage lien), we believed that no heir would want to go through probate to get a lot that had so much debt compared to its value ($5-10,000). Unfortunately, we guessed wrongly. The heir who contacted us has a wealthy nephew who is a very successful boxer and is unconcerned about losing money on the deal. At one point he considered selling us the lot, but now has decided firmly that he is not going to do that. He has asked us, graciously, to move everything off the lot by the end of January (so we wouldn't have to do it during the holidays).
Obviously, the need to move everything is discouraging. However, it is quite doable. (1)The bed frames will pull up easily and are light to move; (2) I have a friend who has a front end-loader and we can scrape the soil from the beds and transport it with that (3) the fence can disassemble into sections (4) that just leaves fruit trees and strawberries to pull up and some other odds and ends. The main concern I have is that we nail down quickly a new location to which we can move the garden, so that we do not have to move everything twice. And having had this experience, we would want to have the ownership of the new lot sealed to avoid this happening again.
There are two lots that are possibilities (and if anyone knows of others, let us know). One lot is for sale at 1024 N. Denver Ave. (sw corner of Denver and Latimer by the Tisdale Pedestrian bridge). It has some advantages such as its central location in Brady Heights proximity to the commercial buildings (when say when our grocer and Tara's coffee shop are open), room with the closed off portion of Latimer for holding famers' market, outdoor concert's or neighborhood block parties, etc.). Novus Homes is currently asking $15,000, which is probably why they have been unable to sell it. We could offer less. I spoke with the owner and he is interested in self-financing it, but only for two years. This would give us the option to break it out into manageable payments.
The other available lot is the second lot north of Marshall on the east side at 1207 N. Cheyenne Ave. The owner of it actually contacted me when he saw my number on our garden sign. I am now having trouble getting a hold of him, but I think he would take $5-6,000 for it. The lower cost would obviously be a benefit, plus the easy proximity to the current garden in terms of moving everything. I also see it as an opportunity to get to know our neighbors to the north of Marshall. The adjacent owner of the blue house to the south is a sweet elderly lady, who said she was definitely in favor of the garden being there.
What does everyone want to do? Should we have a meeting to discuss this? We could hold it at my house. Should we try raising money prior to the end of the year to catch the tax deductible donations? Or should we try raising it amongst ourselves? Russell or others, do you know of grant opportunities? Again, I'll stress that we really need to work out a permanent location so that we only have to move things once, which means we need to do that in the next month.
Justin Pickard
Justin Pickard wrote:
We are officially losing the community garden lot. As some of you know, an heir of the deceased lady who owned the fire-damaged-house that was bulldozed by the City, contacted us a couple months ago wanting to reclaim the lot. Because the lot is encumbered with so many liens (close to $40,000 with the City's liens and a mortgage lien), we believed that no heir would want to go through probate to get a lot that had so much debt compared to its value ($5-10,000). Unfortunately, we guessed wrongly. The heir who contacted us has a wealthy nephew who is a very successful boxer and is unconcerned about losing money on the deal. At one point he considered selling us the lot, but now has decided firmly that he is not going to do that. He has asked us, graciously, to move everything off the lot by the end of January (so we wouldn't have to do it during the holidays).
Obviously, the need to move everything is discouraging. However, it is quite doable. (1)The bed frames will pull up easily and are light to move; (2) I have a friend who has a front end-loader and we can scrape the soil from the beds and transport it with that (3) the fence can disassemble into sections (4) that just leaves fruit trees and strawberries to pull up and some other odds and ends. The main concern I have is that we nail down quickly a new location to which we can move the garden, so that we do not have to move everything twice. And having had this experience, we would want to have the ownership of the new lot sealed to avoid this happening again.
There are two lots that are possibilities (and if anyone knows of others, let us know). One lot is for sale at 1024 N. Denver Ave. (sw corner of Denver and Latimer by the Tisdale Pedestrian bridge). It has some advantages such as its central location in Brady Heights proximity to the commercial buildings (when say when our grocer and Tara's coffee shop are open), room with the closed off portion of Latimer for holding famers' market, outdoor concert's or neighborhood block parties, etc.). Novus Homes is currently asking $15,000, which is probably why they have been unable to sell it. We could offer less. I spoke with the owner and he is interested in self-financing it, but only for two years. This would give us the option to break it out into manageable payments.
The other available lot is the second lot north of Marshall on the east side at 1207 N. Cheyenne Ave. The owner of it actually contacted me when he saw my number on our garden sign. I am now having trouble getting a hold of him, but I think he would take $5-6,000 for it. The lower cost would obviously be a benefit, plus the easy proximity to the current garden in terms of moving everything. I also see it as an opportunity to get to know our neighbors to the north of Marshall. The adjacent owner of the blue house to the south is a sweet elderly lady, who said she was definitely in favor of the garden being there.
What does everyone want to do? Should we have a meeting to discuss this? We could hold it at my house. Should we try raising money prior to the end of the year to catch the tax deductible donations? Or should we try raising it amongst ourselves? Russell or others, do you know of grant opportunities? Again, I'll stress that we really need to work out a permanent location so that we only have to move things once, which means we need to do that in the next month.
Justin Pickard
Sunday, October 25, 2009
The right to grow your own food.
I was watching a documentary the other night about how the average Roman lived. In one of the segments Terry Jones talks about what an average Roman would eat. It seems that in Rome only the very wealthy would have a place to grow their own food. Towards the end of the Empire only a few people controlled all the land that was used to grow food. The average citizen would have to earn the money to eat or starve.
I am seeing this same trend here in Oklahoma. Where my family is from out in "wheat country", there is a movement to eliminate the family farm and get people off the land. The corporate aggrow business wants vast amounts of land with no houses or barns to get in the way of the automatic harvesters. The plan is to deliver the equipment to the field then use a satellite to steer the tractor or combine across the field to plant or harvest the crops. Since you eliminate the people from the process, the small towns that supported the family farms are vacated too. Terry Jones mentions the same thing happened in the Roman empire. As fewer people gained control of all the land, the farming communities disappeared.
But what about us folks here in the city. Do we have the right to take over vacant land and plant food on it? Or should we demand our government provide a place to grow our food. I have been observing a vacant lot for a few years now. I think I am going to start planting it. The lot has been vacant for over twenty years now and the owner lives in California and doesn't maintain it. I was thinking a few pepper and tomato plants and if they get mowed over than it will be no big deal.
But when you garden on no man's land things can go terribly wrong. One of our local community gardens is under the threat of the bulldozer everyday. The plot I helped secure for the garden is owned by a lady who died ten years ago, and there are numerous parties battling to get title to the land including the gardeners. Even when the city gives you permission to cultivate a garden on unused land things can change over night.
Here is a link to the documentary "The Garden". Part One. and Part Two. You have to click through some ads but the documentary is well worth it. For those of you who have slower Internet connections. Press play then pause the video and it will buffer so you can watch it without interruptions.
Sorry for such a long post. There are a lot of issues when it comes to food security. I personally think The City of Tulsa should provide Allotments to people to grow their own food. But at least we have gotten past the point of the city thinking community gardens are a bad thing.
I am seeing this same trend here in Oklahoma. Where my family is from out in "wheat country", there is a movement to eliminate the family farm and get people off the land. The corporate aggrow business wants vast amounts of land with no houses or barns to get in the way of the automatic harvesters. The plan is to deliver the equipment to the field then use a satellite to steer the tractor or combine across the field to plant or harvest the crops. Since you eliminate the people from the process, the small towns that supported the family farms are vacated too. Terry Jones mentions the same thing happened in the Roman empire. As fewer people gained control of all the land, the farming communities disappeared.
But what about us folks here in the city. Do we have the right to take over vacant land and plant food on it? Or should we demand our government provide a place to grow our food. I have been observing a vacant lot for a few years now. I think I am going to start planting it. The lot has been vacant for over twenty years now and the owner lives in California and doesn't maintain it. I was thinking a few pepper and tomato plants and if they get mowed over than it will be no big deal.
But when you garden on no man's land things can go terribly wrong. One of our local community gardens is under the threat of the bulldozer everyday. The plot I helped secure for the garden is owned by a lady who died ten years ago, and there are numerous parties battling to get title to the land including the gardeners. Even when the city gives you permission to cultivate a garden on unused land things can change over night.
Here is a link to the documentary "The Garden". Part One. and Part Two. You have to click through some ads but the documentary is well worth it. For those of you who have slower Internet connections. Press play then pause the video and it will buffer so you can watch it without interruptions.
Sorry for such a long post. There are a lot of issues when it comes to food security. I personally think The City of Tulsa should provide Allotments to people to grow their own food. But at least we have gotten past the point of the city thinking community gardens are a bad thing.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
"They finally get it -- why buying from a local, family-scale farm is important,"
I think it might be the fact that I grew up on a farm that I am so connected to the seasons. I think I am the only one in my neighborhood that actually cans Tomatoes, Jams, and Jellies during the season. There are several things I will not buy out of season because they are very expensive and taste like crap. Reuters has a good article about community supported agriculture and people getting reconnected to the seasons.
It seems there may be more to the story.
It seems there may be more going on with CCD in India then just Cell Phone Towers.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Why do we not have anyone with a brain here?
Ten ways to encourage Urban Agriculture. During the Mayoral candidate debate last week I did not hear any of the candidates mention any of these ideas. Bartlett did talk about planting 1600 Pecan Trees on urban renewal land he bought on the cheap. Guess that will benefit North Tulsa. He can sell you pecans.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
6 can Salad
Part of food security is being able to make a quick cheap dish or make things from what you have in the pantry. This recipe is made from things I always keep on hand. I know a lot of people have issues with canned vegetables but when you can them yourself like me then that is what you use. I also like the 5 for a dollar sales at the store. Here is my recipe for 6 can Salad.
1 can of black beans rinsed.
1 can of kidney beans
1 can of garbonzo beans
1 can of whole kernel corn
2 cans of green beans
1 medium onion
4 stalks of celery
Salt and pepper to taste.
Dressing:
1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup canola oil
1 tsp dried minced garlic
1 tsp dried minced onion
1 tsp dried italian season herbs
1 tbsp dijon mustard.
Make dressing so ingredients will have time to rehydrate. Open can of black beans and dump in colander. Rinse well. Open the rest of the cans and dump into the colander with the black beans. Let them drain for 10 or 15 minutes or salad will be watery. Chop up onion and celery. Mix all ingredients together and chill before serving. The salad is better if made the night before and well chilled before serving.
1 can of black beans rinsed.
1 can of kidney beans
1 can of garbonzo beans
1 can of whole kernel corn
2 cans of green beans
1 medium onion
4 stalks of celery
Salt and pepper to taste.
Dressing:
1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup canola oil
1 tsp dried minced garlic
1 tsp dried minced onion
1 tsp dried italian season herbs
1 tbsp dijon mustard.
Make dressing so ingredients will have time to rehydrate. Open can of black beans and dump in colander. Rinse well. Open the rest of the cans and dump into the colander with the black beans. Let them drain for 10 or 15 minutes or salad will be watery. Chop up onion and celery. Mix all ingredients together and chill before serving. The salad is better if made the night before and well chilled before serving.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Two acre of eden or the vacant lot next door.
It is interesting how things run in cycles. I have lived though a "back to the land movement" also in the 1970s. The one difference I have notice this time is that back to the land seems to be back to any land. Whether it be a two acre plot just outside of town, a vacant lot, or a rooftop. This movement seems to be more about substance then profit. People seem to be tried of "just add water" food. I want food that tastes good. I don't care about plants bred to be easy to grow and have a long shelve life. I wouldn't want to completely eliminate our food system. It is nice to be able to purchase green beans when you crop fails. But the trend seems to be if it is vacant they will plant.
Anyone feeling philanthropic?
It would be great of someone would consider starting a chapter here in Tulsa. I know several community gardens who would appreciate the help. Plus 1.7 million into the local economy is nothing to sneeze at.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Note from Crosbie Heights Community Farm
"We here at the Crosbie Heights Community Farm have a few new things going on that I would like everyone to know about.
First off we are starting an educational garden/farm/agriculture workshop every 3rd Thursday of each month. August will be the first month and the workshop will be on saving seeds. 6:30 pm at the garden or the Blue Jackalope. Nothing too fancy, just some basic seed saving tips and demos. Free.
Also, we are having a garden fundraiser/ potluck/ block party on Sunday the 23rd of August. We are having some bands play outside, as well as art installations in the garden and of course free food! Activities will start around 6:30."
Not sure who this is from, or who you would contact for more information.
First off we are starting an educational garden/farm/agriculture workshop every 3rd Thursday of each month. August will be the first month and the workshop will be on saving seeds. 6:30 pm at the garden or the Blue Jackalope. Nothing too fancy, just some basic seed saving tips and demos. Free.
Also, we are having a garden fundraiser/ potluck/ block party on Sunday the 23rd of August. We are having some bands play outside, as well as art installations in the garden and of course free food! Activities will start around 6:30."
Not sure who this is from, or who you would contact for more information.
NEOBA is moving.
Good but sad. NEOBA has out grown the Extension Office facilities. Starting in September, meetings will be held at Eastside Christian Church on the NE corner of 15th and Harvard.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Local Beekeepers Question Thursday's TW Article.
Here is the quote from Linda Harbinger in question:
"I've got one hive that's kind of nasty," she said. "But they're producing a 100-pound box of honey every week, so they can be nasty so long as they keep producing like that."
I have to admit this is hard to believe. According to the University of Kentucky average yield would be 50 pounds per hive per year. I am not planning on getting any honey this year. I just hope my bee's collect enough to survive the winter. The posts are on the NEOBA forum if you are curious about the discussion.
"I've got one hive that's kind of nasty," she said. "But they're producing a 100-pound box of honey every week, so they can be nasty so long as they keep producing like that."
I have to admit this is hard to believe. According to the University of Kentucky average yield would be 50 pounds per hive per year. I am not planning on getting any honey this year. I just hope my bee's collect enough to survive the winter. The posts are on the NEOBA forum if you are curious about the discussion.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Why this is happening.
I am starting this blog because I feel that food security is the most important issue the we face everyday.
About a month ago I decided to plant a Urban Agriculture Demo Garden. As I was planning the plot, I thought I needed a way if sharing the successes and failures since it is going to be an experiment in Urban Agriculture techniques. As with most things the blog idea evolved to be more that just a way of documenting my experiment.
So here you have it. This blog will be used to discuss and disseminate information about Community Gardens, Urban Agriculture, Food Security, and other related items.
If you feel as strongly about the subject as I do, please send me a email and I will add you as a contributor.
Tulsonian
About a month ago I decided to plant a Urban Agriculture Demo Garden. As I was planning the plot, I thought I needed a way if sharing the successes and failures since it is going to be an experiment in Urban Agriculture techniques. As with most things the blog idea evolved to be more that just a way of documenting my experiment.
So here you have it. This blog will be used to discuss and disseminate information about Community Gardens, Urban Agriculture, Food Security, and other related items.
If you feel as strongly about the subject as I do, please send me a email and I will add you as a contributor.
Tulsonian
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