I love it when something is more successful than I hoped. Voila a bowl of fingerling potatoes.
Sometime in March I discovered the last few potatoes in a bag were a bit beyond eating. I hate that. I hate when food goes to waste.
My friend Douglas Welch at A Gardener’s Notebook stuck a few old potatoes in the ground in his garden and the plants were growing well. So I decided there was nothing to lose. (See our adventure to a local Garden Show).
My six old potatoes were cut into pieces with visible eyes (the beginnings of new plant growth) and stuck in two rows in my raised beds.
I’ve watered them occasionally and added additional soil around them as they grew. Really, it was minimal care. About a week ago some of the plants started dying back. So this morning I went potato digging and what did I find? Fingerling potatoes!
I only dug up about half of the plants and I already have more than twice the amount of potatoes I put in the ground. Potatoes are amazing. And perhaps this is a lesson for me: Potatoes seem to grow well in the soil and amount of light in my vegetable garden. Perhaps this is a crop I should plant more often.
This is what sustainability is all about. Reducing waste, growing food in a minimal footprint. Tonight we will have fresh potatoes for dinner. It is a good start to the day.
My wisteria has never bloomed. Last year my grapes didn't produce any fruit and my lemon crop was sparse.
But with the help of a new book, The American Horticultural Society Pruning & Training, I've learned that not only is there a correct way to prune, there is a correct time or season to prune each plant or plant family.
I have put together a calendar for the plants in my yard. Each month I have a specific prune list.
I held off on pruning my lemon tree and had a record crop. I've baked with them, given them as gifts, and even used lemons for holiday decorations.
Previously, I pruned my grapes in February or early March. This year I pruned in January and paid close attention to the specifics of how to prune. The plants are more robust and they are beginning to flower.
With grapes positioned around our patio, we've increase our area to grow fruit.
Understanding the cycle of dormancy and when flower buds form on different plants can make the difference between a bountiful harvest and wasted resources. Invest in a good manual on when and how to prune your plants. You will be improving your own understanding of the cycles of life and improving your efforts to live sustainably.
PS. Oh, the wisteria. It seems in the past I have been pruning off the plump dormant buds on my wisteria that were the germ of blossoms. A little new knowledge and this spring the WISTERIA BLOOMED!
How quickly a season ends.
The ornamental plum that burst into bloom has quickly progressed to add leaves.
And now to be devoid of flowers.
Will the flowers of ideas, pollinated with effort and intention bear fruits of change?
During this month I have tried to change daily habits toward more sustainable behaviors – Green Action #3.
While it is impossible to sustain spring, it is possible to accept the natural cycles of nature. I can prepare for summer and support the natural systems that will bring spring back again with a healthier and more sustainable yard and future.
Happy Valentine's Day
Are you giving your sweetheart a sweet gift?
If chocolate is on your list, take the opportunity to use your economic voice for more sustainable chocolate growing and harvesting.
Organic, free-trade and shade grown are all better options for the planet. All are more likely to be grown with reduced pesticide use, to pay growers fairly for their harvest and to protect more of the surrounding forest ecosystem.
For more on green choices when buying chocolate, check out the Fair Trade USA. Make your Valentine's effort a gift for two loves, your sweetheart and the earth.
Grocery shopping has become a challenge. Five Green Food Actions
Are you stopping to really look at ingredients? Are you putting back products with palm oil and unpronounceable preservatives?
I found that my shopping cart had fewer items, but more fresh fruit and veggies. Shopping for meat products has become a journey into reality. I could not find any meat from an animal raised on natural food. The beef and pork were labeled as having a vegetarian diet, and the fine print on the organic roasting chicken spelled out that that vegetarian diet was corn and soybeans. Chickens will naturally eat corn, but having raised chickens, I know it isn't their first choice. They would much rather eat greens and small protein items, insects, worms, etc.
Pigs will eat most anything. Cattle however do not digest corn and soybeans well. I've finally gotten around to reading the Omnivore's Dilemma by Micheal Pollan. I recommend it. It will explain to you how cheap corn is being used to make large corporations wealthy, while making animals and people less healthy.
So what to do? I bought an organic roasting chicken and one small steak. Then I whipped out my Seafood Watch guide and found two types of fish on the Preferred listing. I wasn't the only one reading labels and putting back pieces of meat. A European couple was doing the same thing. They had more resolve than I did. When they found nothing "grassfed," they bought nothing.
It is time to check out the local farmer's coop and their meat choices. Time to really say 'No,' to the corporate production of unhealthful animal protein.
Eating sustainably is a new way of thinking. It isn’t just what you eat, it also means considering the origin of that bunch of grapes or the shrimp on your salad.
The sea has been so bounteous throughout human history, it seems almost incomprehensible that we are over consuming its populations of fishes. Yet for some species that is the reality.
Here in Southern California we have experienced firsthand the decline of local fish and sea life populations. Pacific sardines fed the soldiers and civilian populations during WW2. But this thriving sardine fishery crashed with the combination of natural population cycles and over harvesting. Not only were fish impacted, all of the canneries on Monterey’s famous Cannery Row were closed down. Jobs and livelihoods were lost.
More recently we’ve seen the near disappearance of abalone and giant sea bass. But both of these creatures have been aided by human endeavors to assist with raising juveniles, specific fishing regulations and providing marine sanctuary areas where reproducing populations can reestablish themselves.
Seafood is an important part of a healthy diet. But some seafood is not caught or raised in ways that assure long-term survival of species. You can make environmentally important choices that support sustainable fishing and aquaculture practices. The Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch guide has just been updated with the current seafood choices that are best for the planet.
They even have an ap for the iphone. Check it out.
We had wild-caught Pacific salmon last night. Not only was it good for us, we supported sustainable fishing practices.
This month my Green Life Action has been to change my eating habits to reduce the amount of meat I consume. I've been following Veggie Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Directly depending on plants which transform the sun's energy into calories reduces the amount of resources you use. It has been easier than I thought. On a rainy day like today, a corn and roasted pepper soup with a salad is an easy and satisfying meal.
Dinners are harder. But now that my husband has committed himself to Veggie Tuesdays and Thursdays as well, meal planning has become a joint effort. Michael had a great idea and we are having roasted vegetables with tofu meatballs over pasta and stuffed mushrooms on the side.
Because there are so many people on the earth, our food choices are changing the balance of life around the globe. Human consumption is the main threat to species ranging from Asian turtles and forest primates, to sharks and wild ginseng. Even more species loose their habitat to agriculture. Farms to produce palm oil, corn and soybeans displace creatures ranging from orangutans, to bison and jaguars. The raising of domestic animals for meat uses a vast amount of resources. At the same time over-harvesting of sea life threatens the largest ecosystem in the world, our oceans. We can all make a difference by increasing our awareness of what we eat.
So I'm making a life change with Five Green Food Actions.
- Veggie Tuesdays and Thursdays - I started this in December. For the most part it is easier than I thought. I will admit dinner is the hardest meal for me to eat vegetarian.
- Harvesting food from my own yard and buying locally produced plants and animals
- Buying food items that only contain ingredients that I would use myself
- Eliminating products with unsustainably harvested palm oil
- Pledging to adhere to Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch - Monterey Bay Aquarium offers guidance regarding which seafood species are being sustainably farmed or harvested. They do the fact finding work and make it easy to be an informed seafood consumer. They have specific species watch lists by geographical location, including a sushi watch list. They also offer Sustainable seafood recipes
I picked lemons this morning and made lemonade. The earth gives to us, it is time we think about the big picture of the earth's health when we use its bounty.
