Categories
Crops & Gardening

Favorite Ornamental Grasses

By far, the most interesting things in my garden these days are my ornamental grasses. I have a lot of them because they are so low maintenance and they add great texture to the garden— in summer, fall and winter.

The only time I’m not super fond of my ornamental grasses is in the spring, when I cut them back and they’re bare for a month or two until they re-sprout. We have at least a dozen different varieties here at our house, and I’m always looking to expand my little “collection.” We got a few new ones this past spring, and I was curious to see if I would like them as much as the others come winter. I certainly do. Here are a few pictures of some of my favorites.

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Categories
Homesteading

An Illuminating Tradition: Easy Peasy Pillar Candles

Red, white and green pillar candles against a holiday backdrop
Courtesy TongRo Image Stock/ Thinkstock
When you make your own candles, you can make them any shape, size, color and fragrance that you want!

When it comes to creating a romantic, intimate or dynamic dinner table setting, nothing beats candles. The amber cast and undulating flickers they bring to a table filled with delicious foods and drink can transform an average dining experience among friends and family into a special occasion. If your farmstead feast is prepared with ingredients from your own garden, extend your farmsteadtarian mindset to homespun table decorations, too.

Our favorite candles are an assortment of pillar candles we’ve made ourselves as a part of our annual New Year’s Eve celebration. For many years, now, we’ve celebrated New Year’s Eve with the Carus family, our urban-farming friends in Monroe, Wis. They’re also the ones who host community soup nights, which we write about in Farmstead Chef. We’ve found making our own candles to be a fun activity to usher in the new year. Because the wax needs to be melted down and then color or fragrance added, there’s plenty of time to visit and enjoy a lengthy meal of tapas and drinks while preparing our candle molds, usually done in the basement or a heated outbuilding.

There are lots of types of candles you can make; however, we like to make pillar candles, due to their simplicity. With some degree of care, making candles can be done in your home, too, without a mess or any danger.

Step 1: Gather Materials
Although much simpler than making soap, making candles does require a few supplies:

  • Wax
    Because there are lots of types of candles, select the wax to fit your purpose. We prioritize recycling and use leftover paraffin wax from previously burned candles, but there’s also soy and other alternative waxes. If you keep bees, consider experimenting with beeswax candles.
  • Wick
    The wick delivers melted wax to fuel the flame. Most wicks today are made with cotton or a cotton-paper blend in a flat or square braid and are most commonly used for pillar candles. Wicks are sized according to the style, wax, additives (like fragrance) and diameter of the candle. Small candles, in general, require thin wicks. Just be advised that there may be some testing involved—that’s the fun part. For some assistance choosing the correct wick, check out the Candlescience Wick Guide.For our pillar candles, our goal is to have a little rim around the top of a burning candle to contain the melted wax, and we choose a wick that will help achieve this effect. If the right one isn’t selected, the wax pool might drip all over the counter or leave us with a crater as the candle burns down into the middle of the pillar.
  • Slow cooker or double-boiler system to safely and slowly melt the wax without burning it.
  • Metal carafe for pouring the hot wax.
  • Molds or containers for making your candles.
    Pillar-candle molds come in various sizes and shapes. We own both commercially made molds (shaped like an owl or a star) and molds we created from recycled juice, milk or yogurt containers. The widely used votive and container-type candles require your candle holder to be fireproof, leak-free and crack-resistant.
  • Fragrances to scent your candles (optional).
    The fragrances come as oils that are added to the melted wax. They come in just about any scent you can image. We like pine, cinnamon stick, pomegranate cider, carnation and amaretto.

Step 2: Melt the Wax
You can choose to purchase paraffin or soy wax, among the more popular types of wax, or opt for a more frugal approach, like we do. To do this, melt down all the various bits and leftover pieces of assorted candles from previous years. After sorting the leftover candle wax, melt each color group (red, green, yellow, et cetera). Add clear or white candle pieces to mellow any color, or add coloring tablets to brighten them. Once the wax melts, it’s easy to scoop out the old wicks or other non-wax debris that falls to the bottom.

For melting wax, we use an old slow cooker relegated solely for candle making. We find it usually takes about an hour to melt down the wax in our slow cooker to the point where it can be easily poured into the molds. As an alternative, you can melt the wax with a double-boiler system, using an old, metal coffee can set inside a larger wide pot containing boiling water.

It’s important not to heat the wax directly on a stove because when paraffin reaches 390 degrees F, it can spontaneously ignite, i.e. explode. Keep in mind that water boils at around 212 degrees F, so that’s a good temperature to keep the wax at. Monitor it using a thermometer or the temperature gauge on your slow cooker. And never leave the melting wax unattended!

Step 3: Attach the Wick
Attach the wicks so they go down the center of the mold, and tie them off at the bottom and top. Then tape the sides mold tightly shut. Use putty material to seal the bottom of the mold to prevent hot wax from leaking out.

Step 4: Pour the Wax
Using an old, metal coffee carafe, pour the melted wax into the mold. Make your candles one color or multi-colored. We create a rainbow design for some of our pillars by adding different colored, repurposed wax to each layer. For our smaller candles, perhaps those in a Dixie-cup mold, we stick to one color. Once poured, let the wax cool completely. On New Year’s Day, the candles just slip out and are ready for use.

We couldn’t imagine a better way to usher in the New Year than turning leftover candle pieces into a colorful and warm beacon for what lies ahead. Enhance the satisfaction that comes from preparing a delicious meal by gracing your table with your own homemade flickering candles.

Savoring the good life,

John and Lisa's Signatures

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Categories
News

Institute Offers Certificate in Sustainable-ag Systems

Students at Bainbridge Graduate Institute
Courtesy Bainbridge Graduate Institute
Students at Bainbridge Graduate Institute can now opt into one of three new certificate programs that have a sustainability focus.

The Bainbridge Graduate Institute in Washington, the first school in the country to offer an MBA in sustainable business, announced three new certificate programs designed for working executives seeking to develop skills in the areas of three emerging markets: Sustainable Built Environment, Sustainable Food and Agriculture, and Sustainable Energy Solutions.

These new programs expand the overall offerings of BGI to provide students with a deeper understanding of the rapidly evolving sustainability landscape and further prepare them to offer smart and sustainable business solutions in these three growing industries.

“BGI is tailoring these new programs for those currently working in these important sectors as well as aspiring entrepreneurs,” says BGI’s dean, John Gardner. “These certificates distinguish themselves not only as the current state of the art, but importantly, they engage and guide students on how to design new business models that will enable breakthrough success.”

The Bainbridge Graduate Institute crafted these four-quarter, one-year, graduate certificates to stimulate innovation and creativity in the design and operation of businesses that pursue a more sustainable world. Developing skilled, experienced managers with an integrated knowledge of sustainability is a core value of BGI.

The Certificate in Sustainable Food and Agricultural Systems will offer an integrated examination of food and agricultural systems in the U.S. and the broader movement toward sustainable practices, innovation and whole-systems development. Students will benefit from integrated examination of food systems, both globally and in the U.S., and examine business opportunities at the local, national and global levels.

Students completing the Certificate in Sustainable Built Environment will learn how to create new products and services for the design and construction sector, as well as understand the development, finance and real-estate sectors from a green perspective. The certificate will equip students with the knowledge required for a career in green building and development by exploring the systemic, philosophical and historical forces that have given rise to the field. The program will also examine the technological, political and economic forces shaping its current and future development, providing a solid overview of the trends favoring a shift to a more sustainably built environment.

The Certificate in Sustainable Energy Solutions will teach students the skills necessary to manage and innovate in this sector, including the structure and economics of the energy business, the promise and pitfalls of emerging renewable sources of energy, and how energy is consumed. The course series provides an overview of the terms, concepts, technologies and framework needed to take a concept or idea for a new venture through the final steps to making the “pitch” in the sustainable-energy marketplace.

Starting winter 2012, these programs, offered at 12 credits each, will be taught by the leaders and pioneers of each industry, including Jimmy Jia, CEO and co-founder at Distributed Energy Management; Jason McLennan, CEO of the Cascadia Green Building Council; Tony D’Onofrio, sustainability coordinator of Town & Country Markets and a BGI graduate; and John Gardner, BGI dean.

The Sustainable Built Environment program will be offered at the LEED-Gold certified IslandWood campus located on Bainbridge Island, Wash., and the Sustainable Energy Solutions and Food and Agriculture Certificate programs will be offered at the Seattle Learning Site, located in downtown Seattle, with asynchronous distance learning between sessions incorporating a variety of learning methodologies.

Categories
Equipment

A Look in the Rearview Mirror …

As we approach the end of the year, it’s natural to look back at the past year. An event that really stands out for me was one of those things that never happens traveling the interstates.

While topping a hill in western Washington state this summer, I saw before me a wheat field with harvest equipment circa 1930 and 1940. Feeling like I had slipped back in time, I pulled into the next driveway. A sign off to the side of the road announced the Vintage Harvest.

A group of friends working with the county’s historical museum at nearby Davenport, Wash., had refurbished farm equipment from a half-century or more past. The exposition included not only the combines and crawler tractors of the day but also old farm trucks that had been restored.

I later found out that the Vintage Harvest is an annual affair held the last weekend of every August. Crayton Guhlke, one of the founders, told me the small, pull-type combines (pictured right) produced cleaner grain than many of today’s self-propelled combines. A number of them had automatic leveling devices developed during World War II to keep the threshing units level on the area’s steep hills. So here I found myself among machines that were, in some ways, superior or at least equal to the behemoths that crawl across fields today. Bigger isn’t always better.

If you are heading west out of Spokane, Wash., on Highway 2 the last weekend in August, watch for old combines working in fields on the north side of the road. You’ll not only see history, you’ll see some pretty darn good technology.

For photos of past Vintage Harvest events, visit this blog.

Categories
Urban Farming

Consumers Talk Energy Efficiency

faucet

Photo courtesy iStockphoto/Thinkstock

According to Whirlpool Corporation, it is unnecessary to pre-rinse dishes when using the dishwasher. By skipping this step, consumers can save up to 20 gallons of water per dishwasher load.

A Harris Interactive survey, conducted on behalf of Whirlpool Corporation, recently revealed that consumers want to make a habit out of saving time, money and energy when it comes to home appliances.

According to the survey, 75 percent of consumers between 18 and 37 years old have already taken “green” steps but are looking to do more to save energy, water and money. Sixty-five percent of consumers already use ENERGY STAR-qualified appliances, 36 percent purchase green products when possible, and 15 percent actually seek out green products, according to the survey.

“We are not surprised to see that consumers are devoted to living an energy-efficient lifestyle,” says Monica Teague, Senior PR Manager at Whirlpool Corporation. “Whirlpool is constantly innovating new products that conserve water and reduce energy consumption in order to help consumers live a more eco-friendly lifestyle.”

Survey findings further revealed that 49 percent of consumers would consider paying more money for an appliance if it would reduce their utility bills and allow them to save money over time. Replacing appliances that were made before 2000 with ENERGY STAR-qualified products can help save on both energy and water costs. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, replacing a washer and refrigerator made before 2000 with new ENERGY STAR-qualified models can save up to $135 and $40 each year, respectively.

While 78 percent of consumers are interested in monitoring their household’s energy use, they’d like more information on how to save. A quarter of those interested in saving are not at all aware of the energy and water usage of their appliances, according to the survey.

If you are not currently in the market for new home appliances but still looking for ways to live a more eco-conscious lifestyle, Whirpool Corporation offers tips on how you can more efficiently use the appliances you already have at home:

  • According to the survey, 87 percent still pre-rinse their dishes before placing them in the dishwasher. By scraping and skipping pre-rinsing, consumers can save up to 20 gallons of water per load, and by using the dishwasher instead of hand-washing dishes, consumers can save up to 230 hours per year. (That’s a 10-day vacation!)
  • Run your dishwasher, washer and dryer late in the evening to avoid the peak hours.
  • Proper appliance maintenance, such as emptying the lint trap, vacuuming refrigerator coils and cleaning your washer on a regular basis, can help keep your appliances running efficiently.
  • Use pots and pans with flat bottoms that fit the burners. A 6-inch pot on an 8-inch burner wastes over 40 percent of that burner’s heat. Using the right-sized pot can save up to $36 annually for an electric range and $18 for a gas range.
  • Don’t open the oven door during cooking; each time you open the door, your oven drops about 25 to 30 degrees of heat. Try cooking with a full oven, and, when possible, use the broiler, which uses less energy and does not require preheating.
Categories
Animals

New Year’s Resolutions

Mopple the hair sheep
Photo by Sue Weaver
In 2012, Mopple gets to learn to pull a cart as part of Mom’s  New Year’s resolution.

In December of 2010, the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, a survey research center at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., asked people if they make and keep New Year’s resolutions, and 44 percent of them said they do. According to the survey, younger people are more likely to make resolutions than folks Mom’s age; 58 percent of people under age 45 vowed to improve their lives in 2011 while only 34 percent of respondents over 45 did. Researchers asked the same people if they kept the resolutions they made for 2010; 60 percent said they kept their resolutions for at least part of the year, while 40 percent did not.

Mom always makes resolutions, and she sometimes keeps them. This year she resolves to write a freebie eBook about raising a pet dairy goat wether and give it to anyone who wants one. She also wants to finally teach Mopple, the sheep-geep, to pull a wagon.

The trick to New Year’s resolutions and making them work is to select just a few goals like Mom did, plan ahead and break each goal down into doable tasks. If you’re making resolutions this year, here are some tips you could follow:

Make SMART goals
SMART stands for “Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-bound.”

  • Specific means you’ll hone in on the essence of each goal. Instead of saying, “I’m going to grow more food on my farm this year,” say, “I’m going to grow an organic garden full of yummy vegetables.” (Be sure to grow extra for your goats—yum!) Or you could say, “I’m going to research heritage chickens, pick a dual-purpose or layer chicken breed, build chicken housing and raise some chicks.”
  • Measurable means you can tell when you’ve reached your goal (i.e., you’re eating homegrown vegetables or eggs).
  • Attainable means the goal is reasonably doable. If you’ve never ridden a horse, resolving to buy your own horse and take some lessons is a better goal than saying you’ll place in western pleasure at the Quarter Horse Congress this year.
  • Relevant means the goal meshes with your interests and lifestyle; it’s not something someone else wants you to do.
  • Time-bound means you’ll say exactly when you’ll attain your goal. “I’ll serve my family homegrown eggs from my very own chickens by October.”

Don’t necessarily start living your resolution on Jan. 1.
Just figure it out, and write it down. Then start when the time’s just right. For instance, starting a diet or vigorous exercise plan on Jan. 1 during the rush and bustle of the holiday season usually leads to disaster.

Break your goals into increments.
Establish milestones, and reward yourself along the way. Instead of saying, “I’ll lose 20 pounds this year,” try “I’ll lose a pound a week until I’ve lost 20 pounds.” Then reward yourself with a good book or some other treat once a month.

What are your resolutions this year? Leave a comment—Uzzi and I want to know!

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News

Farmers Donate 100,000th Christmas Tree to Troops

Troops at West Point with Christmas trees
Courtesy Trees for Troops
Service members pick up their Christmas trees from West Point.

This time of year is particularly special for a sector of growers who base their businesses on the traditions of the season. So it’s no surprise that Christmas-tree farmers have come together to pass along the spirit of the holidays in a way only they can: by providing live Christmas trees to the men and women who serve our country.

This year, more than 700 farms from 28 states provided about 18,400 trees to the troops through the Christmas Spirit Foundation’s Trees for Troops program. The trees were delivered to 65 military bases in the U.S., as well as to bases in Kuwait, Bahrain and Spain.

“People appreciate the sacrifices military members and their families make each and every day,” says Dick Moore, president of the National Christmas Tree Association and owner of Moore Tree Farm LLC in Groton, N.Y. “As Christmas-tree farmers, we want to provide a little Christmas spirit and maybe start a new tradition with military families to be able to experience a traditional Christmas with a real tree.”

The Trees for Troops program reached an important milestone this year by donating its 100,000th tree since the nonprofit program began in 2005. It was received by Sgts. Jonathan and Jessica Felix and their children Kaya and Jonathan II.

Whether the trees made it to the homes of families, like the Fieldses, who had a tough time adjusting to their permanent change of station, or others like the Prices at Fort Bragg, who welcomed their father and husband home this Christmas, this year’s Christmas-tree donations were enjoyed and appreciated by their recipients. Many expressed their thanks on the Trees for Troops website and Facebook page. Here are some of their stories:

“We have four kids who were overjoyed to get a tree from [Trees for Troops] this week. It was our first time putting it up without dad. I think it fell over three times, only one strand of lights worked, and I am sure our effort to give it a fresh cut with a dry-wall saw was pretty entertaining to watch. These were all things that made us laugh and realize just how much we rely on our missing family member. We finally got the tree up and it is gorgeous!”
–Cherise, Virginia Beach, Va.

“I went to Luke Air Force Base with my son, Conrad, this morning to pick up a Christmas tree. He is stationed at Luke. Just as we were adding the lights, two F-16s flew overhead. I live about 15 miles from base, and it’s rare for me to hear the jets, let alone to actually see them flying. It was just such perfect timing that I couldn’t help but believe it was divine intervention. It brought tears to my eyes and a prayer of thanks for the troops, past and present, who have sacrificed to give us freedom.”
–Cheryl N., Phoenix, Ariz.

“My husband is deployed this year and will be missing Christmas. He also missed the birth of our first child and will be meeting her this Jan. 2012 once he is home. I just wanted to thank [Trees for Troops] and the Delp Tree Farm from St. John, Kan., which is where our Christmas tree is from. It is such a beautiful tree, and we are so grateful that it was donated to us for our daughter’s first Christmas. Without their generosity, we would not have had a tree this year.”
– The Hubbell Family, Rapid City, S.D.

If you are a tree farmer and want to take part in the 2012 Trees for Troops, there are several ways you can help:

  • Donate trees through your state or regional Christmas-tree association
  • Host a “trailer drop” on your farm, offering customers the chance to buy a tree to donate
  • Offer sponsorships to customers and local businesses who want to help sponsor a tree
  • Collect donations to help offset Trees for Troops expenses

Find more information about how you can help on the National Christmas Tree Association website or by contacting Amy Mills at the Christmas Spirit Foundation at 636-449-5060. 

 

Categories
Urban Farming

Spinach

spinach

Photo by Rick Gush

Spinach is as easy to grow as lettuce, even here in Italy.

Growing good spinach is a bit like growing lettuce: A nice, fast growth period, when the weather is just right, is what produces the best crops. There’s no hope for plantings that have started to go to seed; this can happen if the weather is too hot, the length of day is too long or if the seedlings are allowed to dry too much or otherwise stunted. The answer seems to be in making several plantings throughout the year, enjoying the times that the crop does come in well, and not getting too upset about the inevitable percentage of crop failures.

Spinach grows best in cool weather, so most people plant spinach in the very early spring and try to get a crop up and harvested before the weather turns hot. Some people like to plant spinach in late summer and let it mature in the cooler, shorter days of fall.

Here in Rapallo, Italy, I can do either spring or fall spinach planting, and I also have the blessing of being able to overwinter plants most years. I find that the older, overwintered plants are by far the heaviest producers, and when things start warming up in spring, overwintered spinach plants will produce much bigger and many more leaves.

Although commercial growers most often grow spinach on deep, alluvial river-bottom soil (one can see that sort of very fine grit on the unwashed leaves of freshly harvested spinach at the market), spinach is fairly tolerant of a wide range of soils. My strange mix of yellow mud and rocks manages to produce fine spinach crops.

Spinach doesn’t like too much acid, which is the case in some of my beds, where I’ve been extremely zealous about adding organic material. Although adding lime is the classsic advice for neutralizing acid soils, I like to use eggshells and wood ashes to get the same effect.

Spinach is a heavy feeder, and as one would expect for a green leaf crop, it uses a lot of nitrogen. I mix compost and manure into the soil, and then use a liquid fertilizer once a week on the plants. One problem with mixing in a lot of organic material is that creates a situation that is ideal for the growth of the diseases such as Pythium, which can be a problem for young seedlings. I’ve found that if I prepare a bed and leave it alone for a month before seeding, then the balance of soil organisms will re-establish and the ever-present Pythium won’t be a serious problem. Some people think pre-covering the planting bed with black plastic has a similar calming effect. When I’m cultivating the bed prior to planting, I try to dig extra deep where the spinach will be planted. While lettuce has a fairly shallow and finely fibrous root system, spinach plants have much thicker and longer tap roots, so a deeper soil is preferred.

Spinach is one of the few crops that I like to direct-seed into the growing bed. I soak the seeds overnight in a nutritious solution such as SuperThrive or compost tea.

It used to be common advice that people should plant a succession of plantings to ensure a long harvest season. That’s a good idea, but way more work. I prefer to just plant it all in one shot, and if there is a large excess, the spinach greens can be lightly steamed and then frozen for later use.

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Categories
Urban Farming

Seattle Bans Plastic Bags

Seattle, Washington

Photo courtesy of Comstock/Thinkstock

Seattle’s ban of plastic bags begins in July 2012.

On Monday, Dec. 19, the Seattle City Council voted to ban plastic bags from grocery, retail and convenience stores, joining Edmonds, Bellingham and Mukilteo, Wash., in the push for more progressive environmental laws. The unanimously approved ban will take effect in July 2012.

Along with the plastic-bag ban, there will be a $.05 charge for paper grocery bags to compensate for the higher cost of paper. With the charge, Seattle City Council is hoping people will be reminded to bring their own bags. Low-income people on food-assistance programs will not be charged for paper bags.

In 2009, voters rejected the measure to mandate a $.20 fee for paper and plastic bags, which would be put back into the city for education and recycling programs. The Seattle Times stated the plastics industry then paid signature gatherers to place a referendum on the ballot.

Plastic bags often end up in Puget Sound, Washington’s admired estuarine. Environment Washington, a citizen-based environmental advocacy organization, states, “The amount of plastic in the ocean has tripled since the 1980s … In Seattle, 292 million plastic bags are distributed each year, and too many of them find their way to the Sound.” The organization’s website noted that, in April 2010, a beached gray whale in West Seattle was found with 20 plastic bags in its stomach.

Seattle Public Utilities’ waste composition studies show that Seattle residents use about 292 million plastic bags per year, and only 13 percent of plastic bags in the city are recycled.

Seattle’s plastics industry opposed the ban, stating the bags are “convenient, reusable and represent a fraction of the trash that ends up in Puget Sound.”

The Earth Resource Foundation states that plastic bags are one of the top items of litter on beaches, roads, sidewalks and vegetation, next to cigarettes and Styrofoam. There are very few recycling centers for plastic bags, which means they’ll be stuck in landfills, oceans and streets for an unknown amount of time. Californians Against Waste’s website says, “At least 267 species have been scientific documented to be adversely affected by plastic marine debris. Plastic bags are considered especially dangerous to sea turtles, who may mistake them for jellyfish, a main food source.”

Other areas in the United States that have already banned plastic bags include: Long Beach, Calif., San Jose, Calif. (January 1, 2012), San Francisco, Calif., cities in Hawaii, North Carolina and Suffolk County, New York.

Achim Steiner, head of the UN Environmental Program, says, “There is simply zero justification for manufacturing [plastic bags] anymore, anywhere.”