Livin’ in the Ozarks

Photo by Sue Weaver

I didn’t know what to write about this week, so I asked Mom.

She said, “Why don’t you write about where you live?”

Uzzi and I looked at each other. We live in a buck pen and a Port-a-Hut. What’s to say about that?

No, Mom said, talk about the Ozarks. So we thought a bit and looked around.

Here’s what it’s like on our farm:

We live on the Salem Plateau of the Ozark Mountains. The Ozarks cover the southern half of Missouri and a big part of northwest and north-central Arkansas. They aren’t real mountains but they are big hills.

Our house is on the highest ridge in all of the surrounding townships, so we can see a long, long way from the top of our Port-a-Hut.

Ozark is a corruption of the French “aux Arks,” which is short for “aux Arkansas.” Early French traders called the Quapaw people the Arcansas tribe but later on someone spelled it Arkansas.

There are lots and lots of trees in the Ozark Mountains. Most of them are oaks (yum!) and hickories. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, less than one-quarter of the Ozark region has been cleared for pasture and cropland.

Like all the land around us, our farm is strewn with thousands of rocks. Not much grass grows on our farm, especially in the summertime, and we have to eat hay. We lie around in the shade and chew our cud in the afternoons when it’s super hot (it was 103 degrees yesterday, so we chewed a lot of cud), and we come out in the cool of the evening to play.

Mom misses Minnesota but she says she likes it here too, especially when she watches the sun set above the distant hills. Uzzi and Tank and I have never lived anyplace else but at Emily’s farm and it’s in the Ozarks too. Hot and rocky or not, we love the Ozarks. It’s our home!

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Urban Farming

Fun at the Fair

Photo courtesy the Orange County Fair

Hungry piglets hurl themselves on their way to the trough during a race at the Orange County Fair.

Urban farming has its limits. It’s rare an urban farmer has enough room for to all the different kinds of critters you would typically see on a farm. So what can we do about it? Go to the county fair for a livestock fix!

This past weekend, I went to the Orange County Fair, considered one of the top fairs in California. The fairgrounds are located in one of the most populated areas of Southern California, and are packed with people during the month-long fair.

My husband and some friends wanted to indulge in the fair’s many culinary delights (deep-fried butter and chocolate covered bacon — yum!), and browse through the many buildings of stuff (the Carnival of Products was a particular fave). But I wanted to go for one reason only: the animals.

Fortunately for me, our group’s first stop at the fair was the Centennial Farm. The four-acre farm resides at the fairgrounds year-round, but during fair time, 4-H and FFH members fill the barns with their project animals. Cows, sheep, pigs, goats, rabbits, oxen, and donkeys are all over the place.

Although I missed the birthing of piglets that was reportedly scheduled to take place, I did get to bask in the presence of a variety of animals I don’t usually get to see. We stopped and petted the huge American Yorkshire pigs, and marveled at how little hair they have. It was like petting the head of a balding man.

In pig mode, we decided to go watch the pig races. It was hard to get a spot where we could see the action. Apparently, watching oinkers run around a U-shaped track is a popular pastime with fairgoers. In between people’s heads, I did see a few of the races of these “Alaskan” pigs, which actually looked more like American Yorkshire piglets to me. The crowded roared as four pigs at a time would run through the track, negotiating a couple of hurdles, all so they could get to a trough at food at the end.

Next on the list for viewing were a couple of huge oxen. I never really understood the difference between a cow and an ox until I saw these guys. They are much bigger than cows. Their poop is much bigger, too. It was amusing to see the crowd of city slickers clear out at lightning speed when one of the oxen lifted his tail and began to relieve himself. Judging by the giggles and jeers, not too many people in Orange Country have ever seen a cow go to the bathroom.

After the oxen, we wandered into the FFA sheep barn, where I fell in love with a freshly shorn sheep named Charlie. I cuddled with this little guy for a good five minutes before I was dragged away by my friends.

Our last stop in the Centennial Farm was the petting zoo. I normally hate petting zoos because the animals look miserable, but this one was different. People were not allowed inside the pen with the animals, but could reach through the bars to pet them. The critters that were tired of being petted—or of eating the corn and pellet mix being sold for outrageous prices just for this purpose—could get away from the grasping hands.

It was here that I met my first baby yak. A brown, fuzzy little thing that looked like a miniature buffalo (of sorts), she gave me a big kiss on the cheek when I bent down to coo over her. I was so touched by this spontaneous yak show of emotion, I could have gone home completely satisfied. Of course, my compadres wanted to see more of the fair, so I let them pull me along to the food vendors and carnival rides. Apparently, they just don’t get it.

Trouble-shooting Deficient Crops

Post author By Dani Yokhna
Post date July 23, 2010
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Extra rain can flood crops, depleting the soil of oxygen and increasing the amount of carbon dioxide. This leads to limited root growth in the plants.

If your crops aren’t looking as spritely this season as you expected them to, your first instinct may be to get a soil test to find out what nutrients your soil is lacking. However, if you’re doing things right, it’s likely your soil test shows healthy soil, meaning the weather and other growing season conditions are to blame for your deficient crop.

“Environmental conditions play an important role in nutrient availability,” says Fabián Fernández, University of Illinois Extension specialist in soil fertility and plant nutrition. “Plants obtain most of their nutrients and water from the soil through their root system. Any factor that re¬stricts root growth and activity has the potential to restrict nutrient availability.”

Causes of Crop Nutrient Deficiency
Four factors may be causing this season’s observed crop deficiencies, Fernández says.

1. Extra Rain
Excess water in the soil depletes oxygen and builds up carbon-dioxide levels. While oxygen is needed by the roots to grow and take up nutrients, high carbon-dioxide levels are toxic and limit root growth and activity.

2. Cooler Weather
Temperature influences how soil nutrients are absorbed by plants. Under cool soil temperatures, chemical reactions and root activity decrease, rendering nutrients less available to the crop. Plant nutrients are taken up as roots extract soil water to replenish water lost through the leaves. Cool air temperatures can lower evapotranspiration and reduce the convective flow of water and nutrients from the soil to the plant root.

3. Cloudy Skies
Light intensity affects nutrient availability. Many days in this growing season have been characterized by low light intensity due to cloudiness. Low light intensity reduces photosynthetic rates and nutrient uptake by the crop.

4. Crop Residue
Immobilization of nitrogen occurs when plant-available nitrogen becomes temporarily unavailable as microorganisms breakdown crop residue. This has been observed in corn fields planted on previous corn fields. As crop residue and soil organic matter starts to mineralize, nitrogen will become available to the plant. If the full amount of nitrogen has not been applied yet, a sidedress application of urea ammonium nitrate (UAN) can help provide the nitrogen the plant needs at this time.

“As growing conditions improve, most nutrient deficiency symptoms will disappear without additional fertilization,” Fernández says.

In Illinois, there are instances in which calcium, magnesium, sulfur and a few micronutrients may be deficient in crops, but these crop deficiencies are not widely seen.

“The use of micronutrient fertilizers should be limited to areas of known deficiency, and only the deficient nutrient should be applied,” he says. “Exceptions to this are situations in which producers already in the highest yield bracket try micronutrients experimentally in fields that are yielding less than would be expected under good manage¬ment, which includes an adequate N, P and K fertility program and a favorable pH.”

Testing for Crop Nutrient Deficiency
If you suspect a nutrient deficiency in your crop, Fernández encourages you to collect plant samples and send them to a laboratory for nutrient analysis.

When diagnosing a crop fertility problem through plant analysis, select paired samples of compa¬rable plant parts representing the abnormal and normal plants. After collecting the samples, deliver them immediately to the laboratory. Samples should be air-dried if they cannot be delivered immediately or if they are going to be shipped.

Soil factors (fertility status, temperature and moisture) and plant factors (cultivar and development stage) may complicate the interpretation of plant analysis data. The more information provided concerning a par¬ticular field, the more reliable the interpretation will be.

“Because growing season conditions accentuate problems that might not be as evident in other years, this is a good time to learn about field conditions or management practices that should be adjusted to prevent or lessen problems in the future,” Fernández says.

Recipes

Boiled Cider Pie

Two quarts of cider will make about 2 cups of boiled cider, enough for one 9-inch deep-dish pie or two shallow 8-inch pies. To make, bring the cider to a boil over medium heat in a large pan. Lower the heat to medium-low, letting it simmer gently, and stir frequently until the mixture starts to thicken and becomes syrup-like—about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Volume will reduce by about 80 percent. Remove from heat, and cool. (It will thicken more during cooling.)

Ingredients

9-inch pie crust
2 cups boiled cider, cooled
4 eggs
1½ cups milk
2/3 cup maple syrup
6 T. flour
1/2 cup ground walnuts
1/2 cup brown sugar

Preparation
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Whisk eggs well in a large bowl. Add cider, milk, syrup and flour; mix well. In a separate bowl, combine ground walnuts and brown sugar; set aside.

Line a 9-inch pie pan with crust; crimp edges. Pour cider mixture into pie shell. Bake pie for 50 minutes, until filling is set; then remove from oven and sprinkle top with reserved walnut mixture. Turn oven to broil, and cover crust of pie with aluminum foil. Place pie under broiler for 2 to 3 minutes, until topping is golden.

Serves 8.

Recipes

Bistro Apple Pizza

Ingredients

1 12-inch prepared pizza crust
2 tsp. garlic, minced
2 T. olive oil
2 cups coarsely chopped fresh spinach
1½ cups cored, peeled and thinly sliced (or chopped) Red Delicious, Golden Delicious or Granny Smith apples
1 cup shredded low-fat, part-skim Mozzarella cheese
1 cup crumbled blue, Gorgonzola or Roquefort cheese
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1 tsp. dried oregano

Preparation
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Sauté garlic in olive oil over medium heat for 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

Brush olive oil blend onto pizza crust. Distribute spinach evenly onto crust. Sprinkle apples on top. Blend cheeses and distribute evenly over apples. Sprinkle with oregano. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until cheese bubbles and crust is brown.

Makes 8 slices.

Recipes

Autumn Sweet Potato Bake

Ingredients

3 medium sweet potatoes
1 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
1 cup peeled, chopped Granny Smith apples
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup apple cider
1 tsp. salt
1 T. butter

Preparation
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large saucepan, cover sweet potatoes with water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until tender. Drain and cool. Peel potatoes; cut into 1-inch pieces.

Combine cranberries, apples, sugar and salt; place half in a greased 11½- by 8- by 2-inch baking dish. Top with half the sweet potatoes. Repeat layers. Pour cider over all and dot with butter. Cover and bake for 25 minutes or until cranberries are tender.

Serves 12.

Recipes

Apple Cheese Bread

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1½ cups peeled, shredded apples
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup chopped walnuts

Preparation
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cream butter and sugar; add eggs and mix well. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and combine with butter mixture. Fold in apples, cheese and walnuts. Pour mixture into a greased loaf pan, 9 by 5 by 3 inches. Bake 55 to 60 minutes until top springs back when pressed lightly with your finger. Cool on a rack before removing from pan.

Makes 18 half-inch slices.

Crops & Gardening

Tomatoes and Peppers

Photo by Jessica Walliser

I may be jinxing myself, but as of this point, I have managed to escape the late blight-fest on my tomatoes.

I’ve been using Serenade fungicide as a preventative and so far so good. The weather has been a bit drier too so no doubt that has helped as well.

My ‘Early Girls’ are the only ones that have ripened so far (though I certainly would not call them early by any means!). Usually my cherry types are first, but not so this year. In fact, I still am waiting for the first one. I’m guessing by next week I’ll be up to my elbows in them.

I haven’t been as religious about pruning off the suckers as I have been in other years. As a result, the plants are more unruly than I’d like them to be, but other than that, they seem to be fairly healthy. I’m sure the big old heirloom varieties will not ripen until August sometime but they are so worth the wait.

The peppers, too, have begun to set lots of fruit. They should start to color up in a week or so as well. Sounds like a good excuse for making salsa and margaritas.

We went to Belize about a dozen years ago and stayed in a beautiful lodge on a river in the jungle. Since the nearest market was miles away, they had a huge, beautiful organic garden to feed all the guests.

They practiced trench composting and had chicken manure from a ba-jillion free range chickens for fertilization, a cistern for watering and ducks for bad bug patrol.

It was a very lovely, functional garden complete with bananas, maters, herbs, beans and lots of veggies I didn’t even recognize.

While we were there, we had the most amazing fresh salsa I have ever tasted. I went on and on to the staff about how good it was and the day we left, the chef came out of the kitchen with the hand written ‘recipe’ and gave it to me.

I still have the scrap of file folder it is written on in my recipe file and every summer I enjoy making it and reminiscing about that long ago trip.

Funny how food can connect us with a moment in our lives. I hope my son has ‘food memories’ too, as he grows. And I hope it isn’t the avocado I forced him to try a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, that would be a not-so-good ‘food memory’…. I have some of those too.

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Urban Farming

Beach-season Tricks

Photo by Rick Gush

I captured a shot of a threefin blenny on today’s snorkeling trip to the beach in Rapallo, Italy.

I’m a big lumbering lummox sort of guy, and maybe that’s part of why I’m fascinated with all the little creatures on the planet. I really like looking at all the different bugs in the garden. We’ve had some spectacular new black-and-yellow-spotted hornets, some little spotted scorpions and some big iridescent crawlers in the last few days. Big fun for me!

Another thing that’s big fun for me is the fact that we live walking distance from the beach here.

Today, I got to enjoy one of my favorite summer outings: My wife and I went to the beach for lunch. I went in the water for an hour and took a bunch of photos and video clips of the fish Then when I came back to shore, lunch was ready for me on the beach towels. It’s a rough life!

Photo by Rick Gush

Threefin blennies are entranced by the black gloves I wear while snorkeling.

The temperature is around 90 degrees Fahrenheit here these days, so the water in the Mediterranean really heats up and it feels like Tahiti. Because there are not many waves except during windy days and storms, Rapallo, Italy, is a great place for snorkeling. Today, it was really calm, so I could wind in and out of all the little crevices along the shoreline without getting battered. All the different-colored seaweeds and crusty growths were exceptionally beautiful in the sparkling clear water today.

Although the fish are smaller here than in Hawaii where I used to go snorkelling a lot, they are every bit as spectacularly colored. The fish that get most of my attention are the colorful little threefin blennies (of the genus Trypterigion) that live in holes on the rock close to the water surface. The rocks and growths can be sharp, so I wear neoprene gloves to fend off the rocks as I work my way along the shoreline with my camera in a plastic box.

The threefin blennies are sort of shy, and they quickly retreat tail first into their little holes, so photographing them is a trick. I used to do a lot of small-stream trout fishing, so I know something about sneaking up on fish by moving in slowing and unobtrusively. But still, getting one of the little buggers to sit still while I snap photos is fairly difficult.

But after a few years of chasing these fish around with my camera I made a funny discovery. One day, I had to brace myself from some waves caused by a local ferry, and I put my gloved hand out in front on the rocks. After I bounced in the waves for a few minutes I noticed that there was a group of threefin blennies gathered around my black glove. Hmm, I thought, it seems as if they are actually attracted to my glove. A few experiments later, I became convinced that the fish are actually reacting defensively, as if the black glove somehow represents a romantic rival. Ha!

Anyway, these days I use the black glove trick frequently. The photos for today’s blog are of a few of the little fish that came and sat on my gloves today.

Protect Hardwoods from ALB Infestation

Post author By Dani Yokhna
Post date July 23, 2010
No Comments on Protect Hardwoods from ALB Infestation

Asian longhorned beetle

Courtesy USDA/ Michael Smith

The USDA is working to eradicate Asian longhorned beetles that are infesting and killing hardwood trees in the Northeast and the Midwest.

The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service needs help detecting and preventing the spread of the Asian longhorned beetle (Anoplophora glabripennis), a serious pest of hardwood trees.

Federal, state and local partners are working to eradicate active Asian longhorned beetle infestations in portions of Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey. Infestations have been eradicated in Illinois and Hudson County, N.J.

While the Asian longhorned beetle does not pose a risk to human health, it is extremely dangerous to hardwood trees. The Asian longhorned beetle has killed healthy maple, ash, birch, elm, European mountain ash, hackberry, horse chestnut, katsura, London plane, mimosa, poplar and willow trees. To date, the beetle has caused the destruction of more than 69,000 hardwood trees in the United States.

“July is the time of year when adult beetles are emerging from a winter spent growing and developing deep inside the hardwood tree they’ve infested, and they are easy to see if you know what to look for,” said Christine Markham, national director of the Asian longhorned beetle cooperative eradication program. “It is important that residents familiarize themselves with the signs of an [Asian longhorned beetle] infestation and monitor their hardwood trees and surrounding areas for this destructive pest.”

Identifying the ALB

The Asian longhorned beetle is approximately 1 to 1½ inches long, is shiny black with random white spots and has six legs. Its antennae, which are longer than the insect’s body, are banded black and white. Its feet are black and sometimes appear with a bluish tint. Adult beetles typically first appear during the month of July and will continue to be present throughout the summer and into the early fall months. The Asian longhorned beetle can be found anywhere, including on trees, benches, cars, patios and outdoor furniture, sides of houses, and sidewalks.

Prevent ALB Spread From Firewood

The beetle can also be found and unknowingly transported in firewood. Cutting a tree into firewood will not kill the Asian longhorned beetles developing inside it, and adult beetles can still emerge from the wood, thereby spreading an infestation to new areas. Firewood from regulated areas must be used within the regulated area.

If you see signs of Asian longhorned beetle infestation on your firewood, please call the USDA or your state department of agriculture immediately. Infested firewood also presents a very real threat to the nation’s forests, not only from the Asian longhorned beetle, but from other invasive species, such as the emerald ash borer. APHIS is asking residents not to move firewood and to purchase firewood locally from the area where it will be burned.

If You Detect an ALB Infestation

If you see the Asian longhorned beetle or other signs of an infestation, or if you have questions about Asian longhorned beetle control and eradication efforts, please call your local APHIS state plant health director, your state department of agriculture or the Asian longhorned beetle cooperative eradication program in your state.

For residents in New England, call the ALB cooperative eradication program in Massachusetts, call 866-702-9938.
For the ALB cooperative eradication program in New York, call 866-265-0301 or 877-STOP-ALB.
For the ALB cooperative eradication program in New Jersey, call 866-233-8531 or 866-BEETLE1.

If you find an Asian longhorned beetle, you can help to stop the spread by capturing it, placing the insect in a jar and freezing it—this will preserve the insect for identification. Early detection of Asian longhorned beetle infestations is very important because it can limit an infested area and the number of trees destroyed.

More information about the ALB can be found on the APHIS website by clicking on “Asian Longhorned Beetle” under the “Hot Issues” heading. You may also logon to BeetleBusters.info.