Categories
Urban Farming

Fighting for the Future

Wilmington Waterfront Park

Photo courtesy Sasaki Associates

Aerial view of Wilmington Waterfront Park reconnecting the community and the waterfront.

Residents of Wilmington, Calif., were outraged to learn that the Port of Los Angeles planned to build a 16-foot high barrier along a 1-mile stretch between the riverfront and their neighborhood.

The wall was proposed as a noise buffer to help minimize the sound of noise, air pollution and the sight of cargo containers and cranes at the Port of Los Angeles, the largest seaport in the nation. Residents of Wilmington neighborhood agreed that something needed to be done but argued that a concrete wall was not the solution.

“Residents were very concerned, and rightly so, about what the impact on the community was going to be,” explains Melissa McCann, ASLA, senior associate for integrated planning and design firm, Sasaki Associates Inc.

In fact, upon hearing about the plan for the buffer wall — formerly known as the Harry Bridges Boulevard Buffer Project — in 1994, neighborhood activist Gertrude Schwab told the Los Angeles Times, “We might as well put up barbed wire and machine guns on top and tell the community to stay out.”

Port officials listened to the complaints and worked to develop another plan. The result: a waterfront development project that included 98 acres of mixed-use development, including parkland — and no concrete barriers.

The residents of Wilmington, an industrial community with few open spaces, applauded the solution.

Public planning workshops began in 2004, and the Port agreed to build the park three years later; construction got underway in 2009. Sasaki was hired to design a sustainable solution and McCann assumed the role of senior project designer.

The first phase of the project, named Wilmington Waterfront Park, was completed in June. The $55 million project includes a vibrant park that stretches nine city blocks and features paved trails, a waterfront promenade, public art, a pedestrian bridge and recreation facilities, including a playground and splash fountain.

“This one project has doubled the amount of open space in the Wilmington community,” McCann notes. “The park is getting a tremendous amount of use.”

During a dedication ceremony in June, McCann recalls one resident telling the community he was, “tremendously overjoyed that the park came to fruition.”

While the park was intended to be a recreational resource for the community, Sasaki also wanted the project to offer environmental benefits.

The Wilmington Waterfront Project transformed a former brownfield site, constructing planted terraces to serve as noise buffers, installing stormwater management systems to reduce runoff, and using reclaimed water for irrigation. Sand filtration chambers were installed beneath the parking lots to remove oil and sediment from runoff so it’s not carried to the ocean.

Throughout the park, tree groves and drought-tolerant plants help restore wildlife habitats, capture carbon and enhance air quality; walkways and plazas are sloped toward grass swales and planter beds to capture storm water.

Sasaki also made a commitment to source materials from sustainable sources. Most notably, there is no concrete barrier separating the neighborhood from the Port. Instead, planted terraces mitigate noise. “The hill creates an observation deck that the community never had, where they can watch containers going in and out of the Port,” McCann says.

On the side of the landform that faces the Port, stepped terraces create a visually appealing barrier that minimizes air pollution; on the park side, the gently sloping hill offers residents space for relaxation.

McCann is pleased that the design addressed environmental and safety concerns and met the needs of the community.

“The Port really listened to the community, and the community became part of the process — that is what made the project successful,” she says.

Jodi Helmer is the author of  The Green Year: 365 Small Things You Can Do to Make a Big Difference and a frequent contributor to Urban Farm.

Categories
Animals

Sergeant Bill

Post card of, Sergeant Bill, goat mascot for the 5th Canadian Battalion
Courtesy Sue Weaver
Sergeant Bill, a former cart goat, was promoted from Private after his heroic actions during World War I.

Last week, I told you about Private Derby, who is mascot of a military unit, the 2nd Battalion Mercian Regiment (Worcesters and Foresters) in Derby, England. He’s the only sheep military mascot Mom discovered when she researched The Backyard Sheep, but there have been oodles of military goats!

Nowadays, regimental goats like William Windsor of the 1st Battalion of the Royal Welsh, an infantry battalion in the British Army, are kept for ceremonial purposes. In former times, they went to war! Mom’s favorites are World War I and II heroes: Air Commodore William de Goat, mascot of the British 609 West Riding Squadron of the Royal Air Force during World War II, and Sergeant Bill, who served in France in World War I as part of Canada’s 5th (Western Cavalry) Battalion. This is Sergeant Bill’s story. (If you like these historical sketches, please comment and I’ll tell you about William de Goat another time)

On Aug. 23, 1914, a train carrying soldiers of the newly mustered 5th (Western Cavalry) Battalion stopped at Broadview, Saskatchewan, Canada, where a group of recruits spied Miss Daisy Curwain and her cart goat, Bill. They asked Daisy if they could have her goat as their mascot. She said yes.

Private Bill proceeded with his new family to Valcartier training camp, then overseas to England. Finally, the unit received their orders to proceed to the front. No regimental pets, however, would be allowed go along.

The men of the 5th had other ideas. According to Sergeant Harold Baldwin, who wrote a book called Holding the Line while serving on the front, “We could not part with Billy; the boys argued that we could easily get another colonel, but it was too far to the Rocky Mountains to get another goat. The difficulty was solved by buying a huge crate of oranges from a woman who was doing brisk trade with the boys. The oranges sold like hot cakes and in a jiffy the orange box was converted into a crate and Billy shanghaied into the crate and smuggled aboard the train.”

Bill was famous for drinking canteen beer and eating important papers left lying around. However, Bill redeemed himself and earned the rank of sergeant at the Battle of Ypres when he was found in a shell crater standing over a nervous Prussian guardsman, even though he himself had been wounded by shrapnel. Bill was gassed with his boys at the Second Battle of Ypres, fought at Vimy Ridge, was shell shocked at Hill 70, and was wounded twice at Festubert, where he knocked three soldiers into a trench seconds before a shell burst exactly where they had been standing. By war’s end Bill was one of the few original soldiers of the 5th still active. He was awarded the 1914-1915 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal, for his proud 4½ years of service.

Despite immigration problems, Bill returned to Saskatchewan with his unit, where it was demobilized on April 24, 1919. He was later returned to Miss Curwain in Winnipeg and lived several more years. What an exciting life for a goat!

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Categories
Recipes

Gingerbread Doughnuts

Homemade gingerbread doughnuts and doughnut holes with lemon glaze
Photo by Stephanie Staton

Make these as regular doughnuts dipped in Lemon Glaze or go all out and fill them with Lemon Filling before glazing. It’s important to use fresh spices. You can also leave out the nutmeg and allspice or try adding a big pinch of cardamom. Be sure to warm the eggs in a bowl of hot water for a few minutes if using them straight from the refrigerator.

Ingredients

  • 6 T. unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup light brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs, room temperature
  • 2 T. molasses
  • 2 tsp. vanilla
  • 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • 1 T. ground ginger
  • 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
  • 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp. ground allspice
  • 1/2 tsp. salt, preferably fine sea salt
  • 4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 4 tsp. instant yeast
  • 1 cup milk, lukewarm (heated to 110 to 120 degrees F)
  • oil or shortening for deep-frying
  • Lemon Glaze 
  • Lemon Filling (optional)

Preparation
In large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time until fully absorbed, stopping to scrape down sides of bowl with spatula. Beat in molasses, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, allspice and salt.

Add 2 cups flour and all of yeast; beat on low speed just until mixed. Beat in 1/2 cup milk; beat on high speed 2 minutes. Beat in 1 more cup flour, then remaining 1/2 cup milk. Beat in 1/2 cup flour and beat for 1 minute. Dough should be very moist and sticky; add remaining 1/2 cup flour if it is; if not, don’t add any more.

Scrape into large greased container, cover with plastic wrap and lid, and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour. Gently press dough down, re-cover and chill it overnight or up to several days. (If you prefer, use the dough immediately after rising, but a brief chilling is better.)

Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to 1/4-inch thick; cut into rounds, squares or hearts. For traditional doughnut shape and no filling, use smaller cutter to cut hole in center. Re-roll the scraps one time and cut out more doughnuts. Let stand about 20 minutes, covered.

In deep pot, cast-iron pan, Dutch oven or electric fryer, heat oil to 350 degrees F. Gently add doughnuts to oil without overcrowding pan; cook 1 minute, turn, and cook 1 minute more, until golden, adjusting heat as needed. Remove with spider or slotted spoon to cooling rack set over baking sheet. As soon as cool enough to handle, dip both sides in Lemon Glaze. When fully cooled, if you want to fill them, use chopstick to poke hole in doughnuts, then pipe in Lemon Filling.

Makes about 18 filled doughnuts, or 18 doughnuts and 18 holes.

Find more doughnut recipes in the November/December 2011 issue of Hobby Farm Home.

Categories
Recipes

Chocolate Cake Doughnuts

Chocolate cake doughnuts dipped in cinnamon sugar on cake stand
Photo by Stephanie Staton

If you want to make quick doughnut holes, simply scoop small balls of dough into the oil.

Ingredients

  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 3 T. unsalted butter, melted
  • 1½ tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 1 cup buttermilk or plain yogurt
  • 2½ cups flour
  • 3/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa, sifted
  • 1 teaspoon espresso powder
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1½ tsp. baking powder
  • oil or shortening for deep-frying
  • cinnamon sugar (stir together 1 T. cinnamon and 1 cup granulated sugar), or confectioner’s sugar

Preparation
In large bowl, beat eggs and sugar on high speed until very light and fluffy. Beat in butter and vanilla. Dissolve baking soda in buttermilk and beat into egg mixture. In medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, espresso powder, salt and baking powder. Add to egg mixture, and mix on low speed just until blended. Refrigerate mixture for at least 30 minutes or up to several days.

In deep pot, cast-iron pan, Dutch oven or electric fryer, heat oil to 350 degrees F. On lightly floured rolling board, dust top of dough with flour, then roll or pat it out with floured hands to 1/4-inch thick. Cut out doughnut holes with small, round cutter as close together as possible, or use 3-inch cutter to cut out circles, then 1-inch cutter to cut the center hole. Gently press scraps together and cut out more doughnuts.

Gently add doughnuts to the oil without overcrowding the pan; cook 1 minute, turn them over, and cook 1 minute more, keeping the at 350 degrees F. Remove with a spider or slotted spoon to cooling rack set over baking sheet.
While doughnuts are hot, roll in cinnamon sugar, or roll in confectioner’s sugar when cooled. (Doughnuts keep, loosely covered, for one day.)

Makes about 5 dozen doughnut holes, or 20 doughnuts and 20 holes.

Find more doughnut recipes in the November/December 2011 issue of Hobby Farm Home.

Categories
Animals

Infographic: Chicken Organs

Whether you raise chickens for meat, for eggs or simply as pets, having an understanding of how your chicken’s bodily systems function will make you a better chicken keeper overall. There’s a lot at work inside your birds, from the respiratory system to the digestive system and more, and having a firm grasp on the function of these systems will help you recognize health problems that might arise. Plus, as a farm-to-table eater, knowing which organs are edible will help you create a no-waste meal.

Click each term below to learn more about the inner-anatomy of your chickens. (Definitions adapted from resources provided by the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture.)

Click image to view larger screen. 

 

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Categories
Urban Farming

Forbidden Love

Mr. Molly and Bobbi Jo

Photo by Audrey Pavia

Mr. Molly and Bobbi Jo sneak off for some alone time.

There’s one thing I like more than the eggs I get from my chickens — watching the daily drama of their lives. My flock puts Telemundo’s novelas to shame.

The most interesting plot line among my birds concerns one of my roosters, Mr. Molly, and one of my blue leghorn hens, Bobbi Jo. Mr. Molly is the subordinate rooster, playing second fiddle to his much more macho and assertive brother, Mr. Mabel. Since Mr. Molly is not the top cock in the flock, he is not allowed to mate with any of the hens; That privilege is reserved for Mr. Mabel.

Just because nature has determined that all the hens belong to Mr. Mabel, it doesn’t mean the hens necessarily agree. Bobbi Jo clearly has a preference for Mr. Molly.

Bobbi Jo’s attraction to Mr. Molly is no secret to Mr. Mabel. While Mr. Mabel is spending the day looking for food for his girls, watching for predators, and strutting around like he owns the place, he’s also forced to keep one eye on Mr. Molly and the unfaithful Bobbi Jo.

The way it happens is insidious: The flock will be together, moving around the yard, scratching for bugs or taking dust baths in the planter. At some point, Mr. Molly wanders off, just out of sight of Mr. Mabel. Bobbi Jo follows after him, but only when Mr. Mabel is distracted by something and doesn’t have his eyes on her.

When Mr. Molly and Bobbi Jo are out of Mr. Mabel’s sight, they do the wild thing. Sometimes they get away with it, but many times they don’t. It usually doesn’t take long for Mr. Mabel to notice that Bobbi Jo is missing. Once he realizes Mr. Molly is also gone, he starts running around the yard trying to find them.

If he catches the two renegades in the act, the feathers start to fly. Mr. Mabel launches at Mr. Molly, who runs for his life. Bobbi Jo then trots back to the flock, where she blends in with her look-alike sisters and plays innocent.

I’ve often wondered why Bobbi Jo prefers Mr. Molly. I noticed the attachment between them the spring after Mr. Molly was overthrown as head rooster. The year before, Mr. Molly had challenged Mr. Mabel’s authority and became the boss man after landing a well-aimed peck at Mr. Mabel’s left eye. Mr. Mabel cried uncle, and Mr. Molly was the rooster in charge for the rest of that year. When Mr. Mabel took back his crown the following spring, Bobbi Jo clearly decided that she preferred having Mr. Molly as a mate, despite the outcome of that battle.

Ever since then, Bobbi Jo has been sneaking off regularly with Mr. Molly. During Mr. Molly’s tenure as leader, one of the Jos gave birth to a chick, the now fully grown Baby Jo. Perhaps that hen was Bobbi Jo, and maybe that is why she still has a thing for Mr. Molly. He may be the father of her child!

All this chicken drama is quite silly, but like soap operas, it’s a great diversion from everyday life. I can’t wait to see what unfurls in the next episode.

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Categories
News

Hot, Dry Summer Hurts Southern Gardens

Green tomato
Photo by Stephanie Staton
Extreme heat in the South has impeded tomato ripening or has prevented them from setting fruit at all.

A summer of hot, dry weather has disappointed home vegetable and fruit growers in the South, who despite lavishing care on their plants, aren’t seeing the fruits of their labor.

“I am getting tons of calls,” says Jerri Lephiew, Ouachita County extension agent for the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture. “Everyone’s garden is crashing. People aren’t seeing fruit setting on their plants.”

Home gardeners are lamenting the lack of tomatoes, beans, squash and okra. Lack of fruit set can have many causes. High nighttime temperatures are a major problem. Several cities in Arkansas saw record highs this month, with some cities hitting 107 degrees F and not dipping below the mid 80s.

The heat causes the plant’s flowers to drop. No flowers means no fruit.

“If nighttime temperatures don’t fall below 75 degrees F during flowering to early fruit development, tomatoes just won’t set fruit,” says Sherri Sanders, White County extension agent for the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture.

“As it cools and we have three or four nice evenings, we should be seeing tomatoes set some fruit,” says Craig Andersen, extension vegetable specialist for the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture.

The high temperatures can also affect ripening.

“Temperatures in excess of 110 degrees F inhibit the ripening chemistry of the tomato in a similar manner to which cold temperatures damage fruit ripening,” Andersen says. “However, there is always the alternative and that’s fried green tomatoes.”

The same goes for green beans and squash.

“Beans won’t set pods when there are high temperatures, especially high nighttime temperatures,” he says. “Squash is probably being affected by water and heat stress. When it cools down a little bit, the fruit will come back.”

Andersen says the situation with the okra is more perplexing, though, because okra usually withstands heat well. He credits the problem in the southern part of Arkansas to fire ants, which have been eating the okra flowers.

“There have been other problems recently, like blister beetles coming out of alfalfa and soybeans and going into the garden and eating the flowers and young leaves,” he says. “This has not been a great season for gardening.”

Where blossoms have stayed aboard, pollination problems can also contribute to a lack of fruit. According to Jon Zawislak, extension apiculturist for the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture, there may not be any pollinators in some areas.

“Tomatoes require big bees,” Zawislak says. “Because of the way tomato pollen sticks, the plant requires buzz pollination, which calls for bumblebees. Honey bees are too small to pollinate tomatoes effectively.”

In buzz pollination, the bee vibrates the pollen loose.

Dan Chapman, director of the University of Arkansas’ Fruit Research Station in Clarksville, Ark., says the heat has also affected blackberries and peaches.

“In blackberries, it’s not the female flower, but the male flower that can’t take the heat, and you have to have both to get fruit,” he says. “Our peach crop is down, the fruit size is down and all the growers have had problems with size and quantity, too. It’s just a pitiful year.”

Categories
Urban Farming

Habitat for Humanity Bay House Wins Green Award

Habitat for Humanity

Photo courtesy of Habitat for Humanity

The 2011 National Green Building Award for the Affordable Project of the Year went to Habitat for Humanity Bay-Waveland Area. This award is given by the National Association of Home Builders. Thanks to Habitat’s hard work on a house constructed in 2010, which received NAHB’s Emerald certification — its highest green building standard, the group has received this award with great honor.

“While building our houses to meet green certification standards is the right thing to do for our environment, it also has a direct impact on our homeowners,” says Wendy McDonald, executive director of Habitat Bay-Waveland. “The energy efficiency of these homes means they will have much lower electricity and water bills each month, which makes their homes more affordable.”

The award was presented during the 2011 National Green Building Conference and Expo in Salt Lake City. The ceremony recognized builders from around the U.S. for their excellence in green building and advocacy during the previous year.

“These award winners are pushing the envelope of what we can achieve with energy and resource efficiency,” says Bob Jones, former chairman of NAHB.

The home features materials such as Bluwood, Galvalume roofing, open-cell spray foam insulation, fly ash concrete and Energy Star appliances.

In 2009, Habitat Bay-Waveland made a commitment to build all its new houses to the green certification standards of the National Association of Home Builders Research Center and the U.S. Green Building Council. To date, the Habitat affiliate has 57 houses that are either certified or in the process of being certified.

“We congratulate Habitat Bay-Waveland for receiving this national recognition that highlights their commitment to building homes and improving their community,” says Larry Gluth, senior vice-president of U.S. and Canada for Habitat for Humanity International. “We also thank NAHB for recognizing this effort to build affordable housing that is sustainable for low-income families.”

For more information, visit Habitat for Humanity.

Categories
Urban Farming

Backpack Farm

Backpack Farm

Photo Courtesy of Backpack Farm

I’m in the hospital today getting ready for tomorrow’s operation. Don’t worry about me; I’m fine. It’s not such a big deal, and I am being treated in one of Italy’s most deluxe private hospitals. The waiter has already come around and asked me if I would like the quail or the trout for tonight’s dinner. Since I can’t get out to the garden to photograph a subject this week, I thought I would talk about one of my favorite agricultural outreach programs — Backpack Farm, which teaches people in East Africa how to farm.

The people who work for Backpack Farm are amazing. It is a profitable business that makes and sells backpacks that hold both tools and information, helping people with very low incomes start farming and producing food for themselves. This innovative and highly practical business seems to be doing more to help citizens in this troubled region than a lot of charities.

I wish we could get people like Rachel Zedeck, the founder of Backpack Farm, to clone themselves and replace all the corrupt and useless politicians that are leading us into big trouble. The Backpack Farm business is just such a good idea that it embarrasses a lot of government-sponsored programs.

This week, Backpack Farm announced the KUZA Doctor program in cooperation with Mercy Corps. The KUZA Doctor is a cellphone SMS tool that provides text-based technical support to small-holder farmers in Kenya. The Backpack Farm team and Mercy Corps have joined forces to market the training tool to more than 17 million small-holder farmers in Kenya, who are constantly challenged by drought, poor yields and post-harvest losses. Surprisingly, mobile-phone solutions hold the potential to positively transform the lives of small-holder farmers and build more productive, equitable, and environmentally sound food and farming systems in a cost-effective way.

“Helping to facilitate the growth of commercially sustainable social enterprises that develop and service these technologies is a scalable and sustainable way to build access to a wide variety of vital technical and financial tools that can decrease hunger, increase incomes and improve environmental sustainability for millions,” says Keith Polo, Mercy Corps director of agricultural development.

In addition to the SMS messaging system, the Backpack Farm/Mercy Corps team is also fundraising to support a series of more than 30 2-D and 3-D animated training films developed in partnership with the group Scientific Animations Without Borders at the University of Illinois. The films will be published in four regional languages including English, French and Swahili, and they will be made publicly available as part of a database of opensource training materials.

Three cheers for these groups of clear thinkers. Thank you!

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Categories
Crops & Gardening Farm Management

Picking Melons and Watching Bats

The mystery melon looked like a cantaloupe on the inside, but not on the outside. Photos by Jessica Walliser

We just picked our first two melons of the season and enjoyed them with our dinner. I couldn’t remember what kind they were so it was kind of thrilling to cut into them and find out what was inside. The outside looked nothing like a cantaloupe, but that’s exactly what the inside looked and tasted like, only not quite as sweet.

I think the melons were a little overripe—I tend to err on that side rather than cutting into them before they are ready to eat; doing so yields nothing but chicken fodder. I was a little disappointed in the flavor, but still, it was fun to grow something different for once. There are two other fruits on the vine so I will be sure to harvest those a few days earlier and cross my fingers for a better flavor.

After I took the dinner scraps up to the hens and collected three beautiful eggs, I spent a bit of time standing on the back patio watching the sky.

There were three small bats fluttering about. They are one of my favorite animals and watching them is so amazing: how they can alter direction on a dime, change altitude with a wing flap and pause mid-flight to scoop a flying insect into their mouths. It’s another fine example of nature’s everyday miracles.

I remember as a kid we would go to a family bungalow on the weekends and all the kids would gather on the volleyball court at night and watch the bats. It seems there were lots more of them those days, and I know today they are suffering from a deadly disease called white-nose syndrome. I can’t help but think what a pity it would be if my son’s children never have the opportunity to watch the twilight acrobatics of a little brown miracle.

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