DIR Return Create A Forum - Home
---------------------------------------------------------
Renewable Revolution
HTML https://renewablerevolution.createaforum.com
---------------------------------------------------------
*****************************************************
DIR Return to: Renewables
*****************************************************
#Post#: 5795--------------------------------------------------
Re: Sustainable Farming
By: AGelbert Date: October 11, 2016, 5:05 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[center] [img
width=300]
HTML http://dl10.glitter-graphics.net/pub/2491/2491210ovie015m90.gif[/img][/center]
[center]Market seen for Vermont food that’s going to
waste[/center]
Oct. 10, 2016, 1:17 pm by Mike Polhamus
Vermont farms produce 14 million pounds of unused food every
year, according to a recent report by a Morrisville-based
nonprofit called Salvation Farms.
The report also found that most of that food gets harvested and
discarded; only about 16 percent remains on farms to be tilled
under the earth or fed to livestock.
[center][font=times new roman]Salvation Farms[/font][/center]
A Lamoille Community Food Share client helps Theresa Snow, at
center, and Laurel Ferland of Salvation Farms unload potatoes
from a Black River Produce truck. Courtesy photo (at article
link)
Several groups of Vermont volunteers already handpick around
600,000 pounds of produce annually from selected farmers’ fields
after harvest and recover what’s edible from the remnants, most
of which suffer from blemishes and other aesthetic deficiencies
that don’t affect the food’s nutritional value.
Salvation Farms Executive Director Theresa Snow said the report
gives her confidence that a market might exist for this produce,
and she’s trying to scale her organization’s efforts up to a
point where Vermont institutions make use of it. Snow said the
study was undertaken to find out whether the amount of Vermont
agricultural produce that goes to waste is enough to affect the
state’s food supply.
Snow said it’s important to recognize that it’s not Vermont’s
farmers who are causing the food to go to waste, but rather
market forces beyond their control that make imperfect foods too
costly to use.
Snow’s organization exists to increase the resilience of
Vermont’s food system through better management of agricultural
surpluses like those the report describes.
The practice of salvaging leftovers after a harvest is known as
gleaning [img
width=60]
HTML http://us.cdn2.123rf.com/168nwm/lenm/lenm1201/lenm120100200/12107060-illustration-of-a-smiley-giving-a-thumbs-up.jpg[/img]<br
/>, and it’s not a new idea, said Rachel Carter, communications
director at Vermont Food to Plate.
[quote]People have gleaned farmers’ fields for thousands of
years, Carter said.[/quote]
“It’s actually a really old practice that Salvation Farms has
been spearheading to bring back to Vermont,” she said.
The food is entirely safe, but unmarketable, Carter said.
Carter’s organization is helping Snow figure out a way to expand
gleaning in Vermont from a volunteer effort to a sustainable
business, she said. [quote]Of the more than 14 million pounds of
Vermont produce that goes unused each year, she said, 68 percent
has been harvested already.
“As discouraging as this loss may be, the 68 percent of
harvested food that does not get sold or donated represents a
potential untapped market opportunity,” [/quote]Carter said in
an email. “The Farm to Plate Network … will examine the areas of
market opportunity for surplus and seconds, namely institutions
and processors, and begin to problem solve around the key
factors limiting the amount of surplus and seconds making it
from farm to plate: price, volume, labor, and logistics.”
There’s no downside for farmers, said Evan Harlow, a manager at
Westminster’s Harlow Farm. Volunteers from the Vermont Foodbank
glean from Harlow Farm fields after harvest, Harlow said, and
they’ve done so since he found out about the service five years
ago.
“We just show them what field to go to,” Harlow said. Volunteers
bring knives, bags and trucks to get the produce and haul it
away.
“There’s a little bit less organic material we’re tilling back
into the soil, but it’s negligible,” Harlow said. “I don’t
really think there’s any downside to it.”
HTML http://www.desismileys.com/smileys/desismileys_0293.gif
Industrial food production is extremely profitable and generally
efficient, Snow said, but it’s also very wasteful, and gleaning
recovers only a portion of what goes unused.
Across the country, she said, 60 billion tons of food gets
wasted every year, with only 16 percent of that number
representing produce and other agricultural products.
The 14 million pounds of unused Vermont produce every year, Snow
said, “seems like a lot, but I think it seems like a lot because
we don’t think about our food system.
“The amount the average person participates in wasting foods is
more significant than what’s left on farms,” she said. “We’re
wasting food all the way along the food supply chain.”
Although her efforts will capture only a small part of that
food, it’s still important to the vulnerable and disadvantaged
people who currently benefit from much of Vermont’s gleaned
produce. If she succeeds, the 14 million pounds of produce
Vermont farmers don’t use each year could also benefit the
state, Snow said.
[quote]“Vermont institutions spend $11 million each year
sourcing fresh food from outside Vermont,” Snow said.
“Meanwhile, 14 million pounds of Vermont fresh foods … is
sitting unused on farms.” ]
HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-200714183312.bmp[/quote]
Snow said she hopes to sell what farmers reject to institutions
like nursing homes, veterans’ homes, schools and prisons. She
said that along the way it’s important not to compete with
farmers’ development of markets, since that could hurt the
viability of the entire venture.
Salvation Farms’
HTML http://www.pic4ever.com/images/19.gif
goal of
increasing the resilience of Vermont’s food system comes into
play here, she said. Even though gleaning doesn’t typically
profit farmers, the money it saves would otherwise go to
exploitative industrial farms around the globe, she said, “and
we don’t invest it in the local economy or local communities.”
“That’s why an independent, strong food system ultimately builds
stronger communities,” she said.
HTML http://vtdigger.org/2016/10/10/market-seen-vermont-food-thats-going-waste/
#Post#: 5806--------------------------------------------------
Re: Sustainable Farming
By: AGelbert Date: October 13, 2016, 6:46 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[center]What to look for when you're buying land for
permaculture[/center]
Sami Grover (@samigrover)
Design / Resilience
October 12, 2016
Some of the most popular posts I write feature people who have
purchased land and transformed it into small-scale farms and
permaculture small holdings. From chicken tractors to food
forests, these stories tend to focus on what people have done
once they have purchased the land.
But what about while you're still looking? ???
Permaculture legend Geoff Lawton
HTML http://www.pic4ever.com/images/19.gif
has just put out another
video, this time looking at the question of what to look for
when you're on the hunt for suitable land. Points to look out
for, says Geoff, include water holding capacity in the
landscape, access routes, and how contours or other geographical
features may impact maintenance. It's hardly a comprehensive
guide, but it provides a useful starting point. And I get the
sense it's probably a teaser for a longer, full length video. I
would keep an eye on Geoff's website for future updates.
The other big topic, of course, which isn't discussed in this
short video is finance. Every time I post about an idyllic
smallholding, usually I receive comments from aggrieved would-be
farmers complaining about ex-hedge funders who are now living
the good life. So it would be interesting to see guidance, not
just on what types of land to buy, but alternative financing
models like the Slow Money movement. Similarly, I would imagine
location—distance to any day jobs, likely markets for produce
sales etc—would also be a major factor. (Don't forget that rural
living brings a heavy transportation footprint!)
Still, this is a useful addition to the arsenal. I'd love to
hear from folks on other things to look out for when thinking of
buying land.
[center]
HTML https://youtu.be/bYe8ds64Bek[/center]
HTML http://www.treehugger.com/resilience/what-look-when-youre-buying-land-permaculture.html
#Post#: 5810--------------------------------------------------
Re: Sustainable Farming
By: AGelbert Date: October 14, 2016, 12:51 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=jdwheeler42 link=topic=559.msg113838#msg113838
date=1476200781]
[quote author=agelbert link=topic=559.msg113811#msg113811
date=1476143724]
No disrespect intended, Doctor, but I think Geoff Lawton knows a
bit more about this than you. In the 2 minute video which I hope
you watched, ;), he specifically said that this was conditional
on the amount of toxins present (he referenced pesticide sprayed
vegetable residue being added to a compost pile). Obviously, if
the percentage is high, it would not be effective in removing
all the toxins. So, you are partially right. But Geoff is
totally right. Some time ago I learned that horse manure is much
poorer than cow or chicken manure for composting. I hope you are
aware of that. I suggest you watch the full soils movie. It will
help you expand your knowledge on this subject. 8)
[center]
HTML https://youtu.be/h_-fPGcnDyE
HTML https://youtu.be/h_-fPGcnDyE[/center]
[center][embed=640,380]
HTML http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_-fPGcnDyE[/embed][/center]
[/quote]
[center]Watercress
[img
width=400]
HTML https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8266/8832647094_c473926d8b_b.jpg[/img]
Nasturium officinale
[/center]
Watercress is one of the most sensitive crops when it comes to
toxins. If you can grow watercress in your compost, you should
have no trouble growing anything else with it. If a small batch
of watercress dies when apply some compost/tea, you probably
want to let it mature longer before using it.
[/quote]
HTML http://www.pic4ever.com/images/thankyou.gif
[img
width=60]
HTML http://us.cdn2.123rf.com/168nwm/lenm/lenm1201/lenm120100200/12107060-illustration-of-a-smiley-giving-a-thumbs-up.jpg[/img]<br
/>
Smart people will listen to you. But there are always those with
over inflated egos who do not take correction gracefully.
[font=times new roman]Proverbs 17:
9 Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it
separates close friends.
10 A single rebuke does more for a person of understanding than
a hundred lashes on the back of a fool.[/font]
#Post#: 5811--------------------------------------------------
Re: Sustainable Farming
By: AGelbert Date: October 14, 2016, 12:54 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=RE link=topic=559.msg113816#msg113816
date=1476153632]
As a non-expert armchair theorist, I still believe the best
purification method for compost is through solar ovens to bake
the compost and break up any complex polymers that might be
biologically harmful into smaller constituent parts, which then
can be reassembled into new molecules by the given organism that
ingests them. Adjusting the temperature and how long you bake
would make it possible to only break down as far as necessary
and still have good precursors to work with and not have to
synthesize everything from scratch.
Most if not all pesticides would be rendered harmless this way.
About the only harmful things that would remain are heavy metals
that got into the process in some way, mercury, lead etc.
RE
[/quote]
[img
width=20]
HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-080515182559.png[/img]<br
/> [img
width=30]
HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-200714191456.bmp[/img]
Sunflowers are a proven way to leach the soil of heavy metals.
They have done it in inner city lots now used to grow veggies in
Detroit. For heavy metal polluted stagnant water bodies like
ponds and lakes, Lemna minor (duckweed) has also been
successfully used. 8)
#Post#: 5928--------------------------------------------------
Re: Sustainable Farming
By: AGelbert Date: November 20, 2016, 12:16 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[center]Liquid Gold: Why Flushing a Toilet Is a Colossal Waste
HTML http://www.pic4ever.com/images/301.gif
HTML http://www.desismileys.com/smileys/desismileys_0293.gif<br
/>[/center]
[center]It’s not just a misuse of water; nitrogen and phosphorus
are also squandered in the process.
[/center]
By Jaimie Seaton
HTML https://psmag.com/liquid-gold-why-flushing-a-toilet-is-a-colossal-waste-fe656731956f
#Post#: 5996--------------------------------------------------
Re: Sustainable Farming
By: AGelbert Date: December 4, 2016, 3:09 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[center]
HTML https://youtu.be/fEJgw4z6bsg[/center]
[center]
We Can Now Grow Food Anywhere
HTML http://www.pic4ever.com/images/balloons.gif[/center]
The High Density Vertical Growth (HDVG) system seems like space
age farming. The crops grow on something that looks like large
plastic panels used to store shoes vertically in a closet.
They're indoors a controlled environment, moving on an overhead
conveyor system that is designed to provide maximum sunlight and
precisely correct nutrients to each plant.
Glen Kertz, CEO of Valcent Products explains that this system
only uses 1/20th the amount of water needed for conventional
agriculture.
"We do intensive agriculture that is renewable and sustainable
in an urban environment... this system can work in the desert in
Las Vegas, rooftops in New York, it can be in a building or a
basement."
His company operates year round production. No pests and no
weeds-- so it's easy to skip the fertilizers and pesticides.
They can even grow potatoes, beets and carrots in these
futuristic sheets of rotating vegetables! And indeed, they can
grow them anywhere...
--Bibi Farber
HTML http://www.nextworldtv.com/videos/growing-food/futuristic-indoor-farming.html
#Post#: 6025--------------------------------------------------
Re: Sustainable Farming
By: AGelbert Date: December 7, 2016, 6:43 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[center]
HTML https://youtu.be/Tk8eP9--O0Y[/center]
[center]Organic Pest Control[/center]
[center]Strike The Balance [/center]
80% of the bugs in your garden are good bugs. They are
beneficial because they eat other harmful bugs, like the ones
eating your crops.
Scott Myer, the editor of Organic Gardening Magazine explains
in this video that you don't need to panic when you see pests.
They are not all doing harm.
Some simple products he shows us to target specific pests are
peppermint oil and garlic oil. Learn about his great secret for
grub control. Great tip: you can use a synthetic fabric called a
row cover -- they're light enough to rest on the plants and
allow light, water and even fertilizer to get through.
Why not attract more birds to eat the bugs? Just offer them a
bird bath! You can also plant more flowers to attract the good
bugs.
Of course using chemical pesticides does nothing but harm
everything in it's path- along with the bugs it's successfully
killing.
As the study of permaculture teaches us -- it's all about
observing and helping our growing environments achieve optimum
balance and symbiosis. So maybe you don't have a bug problem -
but perhaps you have a bird shortage?
-- Bibi Farber
This video was produced by Howdini.com
HTML http://www.nextworldtv.com/videos/growing-food/organic-pest-control.html
#Post#: 6056--------------------------------------------------
Re: Sustainable Farming
By: AGelbert Date: December 11, 2016, 6:20 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[center][img
width=200]
HTML http://dl10.glitter-graphics.net/pub/2491/2491210ovie015m90.gif[/img][/center]
[center]Call for new dairy model in Vermont sparks
debate[/center]
Dec. 9, 2016, 5:51 pm by Mike Polhamus 11 Comments
SNIPPET:
The letter calls for the state to “support and facilitate the
necessary statewide transition to regenerative and organic dairy
production,” although several signers said that wouldn’t
necessarily involve every farm practicing fully organic methods.
Rather, they say, they seek to model a program after what’s been
done with organic products, where some set of higher standards
differentiates Vermont’s milk and commands a premium.
HTML https://vtdigger.org/2016/12/09/call-new-dairy-model-vermont-sparks-debate/
#Post#: 6160--------------------------------------------------
Re: Sustainable Farming
By: AGelbert Date: December 29, 2016, 12:18 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[center]Urban Rooftop Farm Sells Shares ;D[/center]
[center]Here's a rooftop garden that's feeding about 10
families.
[/center]
[center]
HTML https://youtu.be/eiHHd_wliZ4[/center]
They are called Community Growers in Milwaukee, WI. They are
operating as a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) meaning
they sell shares of the harvest on a subscription basis
throughout the growing season. They even sell to the local
health food store across the street.
Owner Erik Lindberg is on a mission: To grow organic vegetables
and fruits in an urban environment, to promote local food
production as an alternative to agri-business and corporate food
distribution, to innovate new and better methods for urban
farming, to provide leadership in urban farming and inspire
others to grow their own food, to provide successful models of
local business, to advise and coach other aspiring urban
farmers, to install additional urban farms and gardens, and to
green his city wherever he can.
Water is an issue because of the additional heat on the roof,
and the lettuce may wilt early. But the rooftop tomatoes came up
a week before all the land grown tomatoes! It's all a learning
process.
Most important: this was previously useless space, now growing
food.
HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-200714191258.bmp<br
/> [img width=25
height=30]
HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-080515182559.png[/img]
--Bibi Farber
HTML http://www.nextworldtv.com/videos/urban-initiatives/urban-rooftop-farm-sells-shares.html
#Post#: 6223--------------------------------------------------
Re: Sustainable Farming
By: AGelbert Date: January 9, 2017, 4:29 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[center][quote]"Drive-ins are more dangerous than drive-by
shootings."[/quote][/center]
[move]America's inner cities are "food deserts"[/move]
[center]
HTML https://youtu.be/EzZzZ_qpZ4w[/center]
[center]Food is the problem and food is the solution[/center]
If I picked a video of the year, this would be it.
A simple solution to many, many problems.
Los Angeles owns 26 square miles of vacant lots . That's the
equivalent of 20 Central Parks.
So what are they doing with them?
Nothing - but they will "cite" you if you try to grow anything
useful or beautiful on them.
Take aways:
"If kids grow kale, they eat kale."
"Growing your own food is like printing your own money."
So basic. So sane.
HTML http://www.pic4ever.com/images/47b20s0.gif
HTML http://www.nextworldtv.com/videos/health-and-wellness/drive-ins-are-more-dangerousthan-drive-by-shootings.html
*****************************************************
DIR Previous Page
DIR Next Page