Our onions.
I took this photo for Gavin. He's really into tractors these days.
Showing posts with label farm-to-market. Show all posts
Showing posts with label farm-to-market. Show all posts
Thursday, February 24, 2011
On the farm!
Yesterday afternoon we had perfect outside-work weather. The temps were in the mid-60s and the sky was slightly overcast. We transplanted several varieties of onions and leeks and weeded the garlic and shallots. The interns recently turned in our respective garden plans and have moved on to peer review. I'm reviewing the solanaceous crop plan. Ordering seeds will be next, which means we're about to really get busy and next week's guest speaker is going to talk about small farm business planning. Exciting stuff. In my Organic Crop Production/Sustainable Agriculture course we are currently studying crop rotation and vegetable culture. Yes, it turns out veggies are quite the well-rounded and cultured bunch.
Our onions.
I took this photo for Gavin. He's really into tractors these days.
Our onions.
I took this photo for Gavin. He's really into tractors these days.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Food for thought
I love that phrase, it's so perfect for what I am studying this semester, organic crop production. Anyhow, I know some of my beloved blogger buddies may not share my love of sustainable agriculture, so if you are one of them feel free to come back another day. It won't hurt my feelings. I, however, felt compelled to share some of what I have been reading lately. Reiterating it here will help me recall it later during class discussions.
This quote from "Building Soils For Better Crops: Sustainable Soil Management" left me smiling:
"...it is our work with living soil that provides alternatives to the triple crisis of climate, energy, and food. No matter how many songs on your iPod, cars in your garage, or books on your shelf, it is plants' ability to capture solar energy that is at the root of it all. Without fertile soil, what is life?"
- Vandana Shiva, 2008
The article I am reading for my farm-to-market course, "Food Miles and the Relative Climate Impacts of Food Choices in the United States," has really been the most insightful. I've been paying attention to food miles for some time now, but some of the data in this report was new to me and really got me thinking about my consumption of red meat in a way that I hadn't before. I don't think I'll ever be a full-on vegetarian, but I definitely think as I continue to educate myself (and others) that I'll become a more thoughtful consumer in general. Sustainable consumption, now that's a goal I can really have fun with. A lot of my desire to create and work with what I already have is tied to this concept of sustainable consumption.
"...red meat is around 150% more greenhouse gas (GHG) intensive than chicken or fish....a dietary shift can be a more effective means of lowering an average household's food-related climate footprint than 'buying local.' Shifting less than one day per week's worth of calories from red meat and dairy products to chicken, fish, eggs, or a vegetable-based diet achieves more GHG reduction than buying all locally sourced food."
For me, that's mind blowing and will probably influence how I consume meat. It also increases my desire to have my own chickens some day!
As much as I enjoyed listening to my president speak tonight, I was disappointed he didn't mention anything about sustainability when he was proposing the upgrading of our infrastructure. I want people to have jobs just as much as the next person, but I also want some assurance that we'll be improving our construction as well as agriculture practices along the way.
This quote from "Building Soils For Better Crops: Sustainable Soil Management" left me smiling:
"...it is our work with living soil that provides alternatives to the triple crisis of climate, energy, and food. No matter how many songs on your iPod, cars in your garage, or books on your shelf, it is plants' ability to capture solar energy that is at the root of it all. Without fertile soil, what is life?"
- Vandana Shiva, 2008
The article I am reading for my farm-to-market course, "Food Miles and the Relative Climate Impacts of Food Choices in the United States," has really been the most insightful. I've been paying attention to food miles for some time now, but some of the data in this report was new to me and really got me thinking about my consumption of red meat in a way that I hadn't before. I don't think I'll ever be a full-on vegetarian, but I definitely think as I continue to educate myself (and others) that I'll become a more thoughtful consumer in general. Sustainable consumption, now that's a goal I can really have fun with. A lot of my desire to create and work with what I already have is tied to this concept of sustainable consumption.
"...red meat is around 150% more greenhouse gas (GHG) intensive than chicken or fish....a dietary shift can be a more effective means of lowering an average household's food-related climate footprint than 'buying local.' Shifting less than one day per week's worth of calories from red meat and dairy products to chicken, fish, eggs, or a vegetable-based diet achieves more GHG reduction than buying all locally sourced food."
For me, that's mind blowing and will probably influence how I consume meat. It also increases my desire to have my own chickens some day!
As much as I enjoyed listening to my president speak tonight, I was disappointed he didn't mention anything about sustainability when he was proposing the upgrading of our infrastructure. I want people to have jobs just as much as the next person, but I also want some assurance that we'll be improving our construction as well as agriculture practices along the way.
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