Author: Paul Deaton

Categories
Kitchen Garden

In the Tomato Patch

Spring Vegetables
Spring Vegetables

LAKE MACBRIDE— The U.S. Drought Monitor shows Big Grove Township to be abnormally dry, even with the recent rainfall. Gardeners and farmers need rain, but this year the cold, unevenly dry conditions of early spring made for late planting and a tough job preparing the soil for transplanting seedlings from bedroom to garden. The weeds have started to take root, requiring some hoe work to break up the clumps of earthworm and bacteria-laden loam.

A gentle rain fell yesterday— the perfect kind for nourishing new seedlings, had they been planted.

“We farmers pray for rain, but it must be the right kind and at the right time and when we need it most,” wrote local farmer Eric Menzel. “When we get it, it’s more than often a torrential storm that washes topsoil and comes with a cold front that stunts growth to new tender annuals, while giving naturally-occurring perennials (a.k.a., weeds) just what they need to thrive.”

While inventorying tomato seedlings, it turned out that some were only lightly connected to their root structure. The rain had me in the garage transplanting them into larger containers for further development before putting them in the ground. It was probably for the best. There are enough extra tomato seedlings to make up for deficiencies, yet I would like the tomato plan outlined in yesterday’s post to come together. All tomato plants are not created equally, nor are the soil conditions in which they germinated uniform. These are challenges of trying to grow a diverse crop of tomatoes.

Turned Over
Turned Over

On Wednesday, former Reagan administration secretary of agriculture turned lobbyist John R. Block published an opinion piece about organic marketing in the Des Moines Register. This thinly veiled advocacy for big agriculture may be well received among fans of the late president, but its vapid positioning was transparent.

“We’ve witnessed a remorseless campaign based on junk science or no-science attacking food grown with modern fertilizers, pesticides, GMOs and other technologies,” Block wrote. His argument failed to recognize that the same corporations that prop up high-tech agriculture have a vested interest in organic marketing— corporations like General Mills that also owns Muir Glen Organic and Cascadian Farm, and recently introduced GMO-free Cheerios. That’s not to mention large organic operations like Earthbound Farm Organic in California that benefits from technology, if not the one Block defends. Block’s ideas could only gain traction among people already drinking the Kool-Aid. There is a strong case to be made for small-scale farming without fossil fuel-based fertilizers and pesticides to solve the world’s food production problem.

Any farmer who uses organic practices is well aware of the deficiencies of the “USDA Organic” label. If the limited energy and resources of small-scale local food growers were diverted to the straw-man argument about labeling, there wouldn’t be enough time for farm operations. What I know is the quality of vegetables I delivered to CSA customers last night was superb and well received. A CSA is based on a simple concept, that is impossible among producers of fungible crops: know the face of the farmer. More than the land-locked limits of conventional agriculture, this represents the future of feeding the world. My garden is a small part of that.

Categories
Kitchen Garden

Garden Log 2014-05-14

Spring Growth
Spring Growth

LAKE MACBRIDE— The Blue Spruce (picea pungens) showed new growth during my yard and garden walk. The tan-colored tips are breaking away, revealing young needles below. What was once a nine-inch seedling is now more than nine feet tall. It has been a nice, non-native addition. We are all transplants of a fashion. While it was not my intent when planting the Blue Spruce, it serves as a reminder of many recent trips to Colorado.

Apple Blossoms
Apple Blossoms

The lilacs and apple trees in bloom made the first lawn mowing memorable with fragrances that bond me to this place. The bare rooted plants from the nursery were dormant but have come alive and enliven me.

The mowing deck was set as high as possible during the first cut of lawn. The grass was long and my process is to prepare for re-cutting and collecting the clippings today. After the first cut, the lawn looks lush.

Space for 18 Tomato Plants
Space for 18 Tomato Plants

I spaded the first of two tomato plots. After working the soil with a rake, I’ll plant the first seedlings and dump the clippings directly on the plot as I cut them. I left a shallow row on the north end for existing chives and oregano. That space will be filled out with other herbs.

The tomato decision has been made. The first plot will be home to eighteen growing cages bonded together in couples on a single stake. This is to reduce the number of metal stakes used and optimize the space around them. One row will be the Martin (F1) Italian tomato which retains a variegated green and red color when ripe. The intent for this tomato is ketchup making, although that may change as they mature and we see what they taste like. The center of the plot will be three types of cherry tomatoes (Sweet Olive (F1) baby grape tomatoes, Black Cherry (OG), and Gold Nugget (OG) golden cherry tomatoes). The third row will be Olivade (F1) and Monica (F1) (OG), two tomatoes for use in sauces, and Rose (OG), an heirloom pink tomato. Unlike in past years, I plan to keep closer track of the varieties and how they produce.

Lilac Blooms
Lilac Blooms

The other tomato plot hasn’t been finalized, but it will be some combination of Acer, Beefsteak and Best Boy planted in similar couples. The Beefsteak and Acer are slicers, and the Best Boy will be canned whole. Whatever tomato seedlings I don’t use will go to my sister-in-law’s garden.

A local chef is seeking spring garlic, and it looks like my plot will produce an abundance. Once it matures to spring garlic stage, I’ll harvest a couple of bunches and take it to his restaurant to barter for store credit.

It was a productive day in the garden.

Categories
Environment Sustainability

Iowa Hosts Physicians for Social Responsibility

Student Physicians for Social Responsibility in Cedar Rapids
Student Physicians for Social Responsibility tour Kirkwood Community College

CEDAR RAPIDS– Iowa played host to the national organization Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) from May 6 through 10 at the Hotel at Kirkwood.

Iowa held center stage for meetings convened by national and international leaders of the 52 year old, Nobel peace prize winning organization. Thanks to the kind attention and assistance of the many expert hotel staff and the Kirkwood Community College affiliated training programs, this remarkable, first ever, national PSR gathering concluded a successful meeting on Saturday, May 10.

Those who attended the meetings work to address and reduce the humanitarian and health risks posed by the growing threat of nuclear weapons, the changing climate, and toxic environmental degradation. These first time visitors, initially quite skeptical about Iowa, were especially appreciative of its many unique offerings, both practical and recreational, available in and around the Kirkwood campus and the greater Cedar Rapids area.

The intractable challenges of our times were addressed in the meetings with U.S. Senate staff, Iowa elected officials, and online participants followed by experiences arranged by the Hotel at Kirkwood staff. Participants concerned about sustainability were able to visit and learn from the Kirkwood wind turbine and training center, the new Cedar Rapids LEED certified library with its green roof and inviting community center atmosphere, and the Kirkwood gardens and greenhouse. These tours, combined with the tasty, locally sourced and produced meals at the hotel, and an evening at the Cedar Valley Winery all served to showcase Iowa’s forward looking spirit and renew participants hopes for the future.

The troubled world presents us with so many new dangers and challenges. But the practical and creative talents of Iowans, especially those involved in Kirkwood’s uniquely integrated educational programs, services, entrepreneurship, and hotel partnership, manifest ample reasons for a positive outlook.

Board members, chapter leaders, staff and students from across the country join Iowa PSR in extending our deepest appreciation and gratitude to our hosts in Iowa. A special thanks to Tom Larkin of Senator Tom Harkin’s office, State Senator Rob Hogg of Cedar Rapids and State Representative Sally Stutsman of Johnson County. PSR leaders departed Iowa renewed by the gracious hospitality, insights and new sense of possibility gained by their experience.

~ Written for Blog for Iowa

Categories
Juke Box

Juke Box – Keeper of the Farm

Categories
Home Life Sustainability

Apple Blossom Time

Red Delicious Apple Tree
Red Delicious Apple Tree

LAKE MACBRIDE— Apple blossoms are in full bloom, and it never lasts for long. Once bees pollinate, the petals fall in snowy softness, carpeting the ground as quickly as they went from pink to bloom.

One of the farms where I work is an apple orchard— a resource for learning about my four trees. I recently sent a question via email.

“Can last winter’s pruning cause a lot of blooms this spring?

I pruned my trees and the Red Delicious tree is loaded with blooms like it was last year. Not sure the pruning helped that, but I was expecting very little fruit because it was a branch buster last year.”

The answer came promptly:

“I spoke to my dad about your question. He said that pruning and the number of blossoms aren’t directly related. The exact reason is quite a long answer, but he said that you must just have a good tree!”

That’s a good enough answer for me, “it’s a good tree.”

I did my first experiment in making flour tortillas at home yesterday. They came out more flatbread than tortilla, so it needs more work. Trouble is we’re not running a test kitchen here and need to consume what we cook. We’ll enjoy the flatbread, but wait a couple of weeks for round two.

The dough recipe included some baking powder, which leavened the bread. Next time, I’ll omit it and see if the result is more tortilla-like.

There is a zero percent chance of precipitation through sunset today, so hopefully the ground will dry out, enabling preparation of more garden space for transplanting. There is a lot to get into the ground before Memorial Day.

The row croppers took advantage of last week’s drying conditions, and according to the USDA crop report, 70 percent of the corn and 20 percent of the soybeans are planted, putting spring planting right on its traditional schedule.

Reflecting on time spent with Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) last week, I am glad I participated in their national meetings. My primary interest in the group is their long history of nuclear abolition work. Dr. Ira Helfand from Massachusetts has been a prominent figure in the nuclear abolition movement, and it was good to spend some time with him. Likewise, the Washington, D.C. staff was there, along with chapter leaders from around the country. The organization has expanded its reach beyond abolition to include the relationship between health and climate change, and toxic substances in the environment.

I broached the topic of the effectiveness of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in effecting policy change. In today’s political environment, more people associate with NGOs, and a lot of people make a living doing that work. My concern is that in the perpetual chase for grant money, the number of funders is reducing, and whatever may have been successful last year, is out of step this year.

In Washington, there is a small group of people working on nuclear disarmament and they talk among themselves constantly. This includes people in NGOs, the U.S. and foreign governments and citizen advocates. I met a number of these people during my treaty ratification advocacy work in 2009. However, there is a certain self-interest they have in keeping conversations alive that perhaps may be better off placed on the back burner.

We are entering an era when regardless of which political party dominates the Washington conversation, the same work goes on, and currently it is work that includes refurbishing the nuclear weapons complex with a great diversion of funds. A person can’t be happy about that.

Nonetheless, while NGOs may not be as effective as I would like, they are currently the only game in town, so I plan to re-engage with PSR over the near term. The work will include rolling out a program on nuclear abolition to local Rotary clubs, working in between gardening and yard care sessions.

Categories
Living in Society

Two Weeks Until Summer

Oakland Cemetery on Memorial Day
Oakland Cemetery on Memorial Day

LAKE MACBRIDE— A few people have asked how I am voting in the June 3 primary, but not many. Having framed the 2014 election process in January, and explained where I stand at the beginning of April, little has changed. It will be a case of playing through.

When the ground dries, I’ll make the first mowing, collect the grass clippings to mulch the garden, and put up my candidate yard signs. I see who is working and who isn’t. Everything leads to Memorial Day weekend and the unofficial beginning of summer. There is a lot of work to be done before then, and politics isn’t on the short list.

What is on the list is adjusting my work activities to generate sustainable economic value. That will be my breviary this morning.

Categories
Kitchen Garden

Farfalle Fun with Baby Bok Choy

Saints Peter and Paul
Saints Peter and Paul

LAKE MACBRIDE— Jaime Oliver and Gennaro Contaldo taught me to make pasta without tomato sauce. The two television chefs went searching around London for wild rocket, brought it to Oliver’s kitchen, and made a simple pasta dish with it. That local greens could be the beginning of a pasta dish was a new idea I am adopting into my cooking.

We have an abundance of baby bok choy from the CSA and a large bag of leaves separated from the stems was the starting point for last night’s dinner.

Ingredients: a bread bag of roughly chopped baby bok choy leaves, three full heads of garlic peeled and sliced thinly, bits and pieces of aromatic vegetables leftover from salad making (carrot and bell pepper), a cup of grated Parmesan cheese, a half pint of last summer’s pesto thawed from the freezer, a roughly chopped large onion, and salt and pepper to taste.

Process: Bring a pot of water to boil for the farfalle. While the water is heating, perform the chopping work: rough chop a large onion, dice the carrot and bell pepper, rough chop the greens and peel and slice the garlic heads. This is a lot of garlic, and our kitchen has two dozen from last year needing to be used up before the spring garlic comes in.

In a large frying pan sauté the onions and carrots in olive oil. Add salt. Add the bell pepper next and when the onions begin to soften, add the sliced garlic, stirring to prevent the garlic from burning. Once everything is soft, add the baby bok choy leaves, turn down the heat and cover to let them wilt. Take the pan off the heat and let it rest until the pasta is done.

Drain the farfalle and put it in a large bowl. Add the cooked greens mixture, half a pint of pesto and a cup of grated Parmesan cheese. Mix gently with a spoon and serve, adding freshly ground pepper on top, and salt to taste.

Notes: The greens mixture is a form of mirepoix, and my ingredients were chosen because they were on hand: the operative principle in this local food dish. Farfalle is used because of the broad surfaces for the sauce to adhere. Most other forms of dried pasta would work well. Last summer I made and froze three different kinds of pesto based on what was coming from my garden. Any pesto would be fine in this dish. Other ingredients to consider would be pine nuts, fresh herbs, leeks or shallots.

Categories
Kitchen Garden

Spring Flowers Are It

Lilacs in Bloom
Lilacs in Bloom

LAKE MACBRIDE— Taking photographs of spring flowers isn’t necessary. Nor does it record the pink, blue, red, white and violet petals in a way that persists like the collective memories of 20 years of spring in this place.

The Red Delicious apple tree has an abundance of blooms, just like last year. I thought 2014 would be apple bust because there were so many last year. It is very exciting to see blooms on two apple trees and on the pear tree.

I am lagging behind the neighborhood on making the first cut of lawn. I saw bumble bees in the dandelions— a hopeful sign. I want to give them as many pollinating opportunities as possible. We have a light carpet of violets among the blades of grass. I don’t want to cut until I need to mulch the tomatoes and peppers. It won’t be long, but not today.

 The scents of the flowers are intoxicating. Anyone who doesn’t know what I mean should get outside more— now. The varied fragrances last so short a while, but we drink in their liquor like hikers after following the trace of Dillon’s Furrow from the city.

Categories
Kitchen Garden

Garden Log 2014-05-10

LAKE MACBRIDE— I planted Market More cucumbers in a seed tray today and transferred some tomatoes and peppers into larger containers.

Categories
Environment

Farming and Climate Change

PSR - IowaPrepared Remarks for the “No Talent, Talent Show” at the National Physicians for Social Responsibility Leaders Meeting in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, May 9, 2014.

Farming and Climate Change

Welcome to Iowa.

In Iowa, where we hold the first in the nation political caucuses, we view political discourse as a talent. I heard Mitt Romney speak down the hall from here in 2010, so this argument remains an open question. Whether political discourse is talent will be for our out-of-state guests to determine tonight. My subject is farming and climate change.

One can’t help but notice the bucolic setting in which we find ourselves tonight at this first ever national meeting of Physicians for Social Responsibility in Iowa. Within walking distance, the spring images of agribusiness play out in real life: plant genetics, row cropping, fertilizers made from natural gas and associated nutrient runoff— a chemically intensive food production system developed in the industrial era. It features enormous single-crop farms and animal production facilities based on a misguided hope of feeding the world from these fields.

Expand the circle several miles, and a few dozen small farms engage in sustainable practices, have crop diversity, use cover crops to enrich the soil, muck out barns for manure to spread on fields, and produce pasture fed meat and dairy products along with vegetables. The contrasts between the two models couldn’t be more different even if they have the same roots in Iowa’s fertile soil.

In Iowa, agriculture connects us to the rest of the world. When Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan suffered a drought in 2010 and stopped wheat exports, neighbors of mine planted winter wheat almost immediately on the news. The dead zones in the Gulf of Mexico can be traced directly to our land. When Iowa trade missions visit China, South Korea and Japan, the framing is export of commodities that include pork, beef, corn and soybeans. When our cultural missions visit Africa it is partly to propagate plant genetics and row crop methods, displacing native staple foods with corn and soybeans in the ersatz colonization we call international development.

It’s all good… or is it?

More than most people, Iowa farmers deal with the reality of the effects of climate change and I want to spend the rest of my time on their resistance to mitigating the causes of climate change.

During the drought of 2012, more than 6,500 daily heat records were tied or broken in the United States, including in Iowa. July 2012 was the hottest month on record in the United States. I was engaged as a political consultant that summer, and the work took me out among farm fields on a daily basis. I learned what stressed corn looks like and came to understand what drought means to crop production. That year, U.S. corn production decreased by almost 20 percent.

Conditions were so bad the governor called a meeting in Mount Pleasant to discuss the drought. Invited speakers included farmers from Iowa agricultural groups: the Cattleman’s Association, the Pork Producers, Corn Growers Association and the Iowa Soybean Association. None of my sustainable farmer friends were invited.

Their comments were similar: the way farmers would deal with the effects of the drought would be to plow the crop under, capitalize the loss over five years, and start planting again the next year. Not once during the meeting were the words climate change uttered by anyone. Iowa agriculture doesn’t connect the dots between extreme weather and how it is made more frequent and worse by global warming. They just deal with it as best they can.

Iowa Farm Bureau economist Dave Miller provided some clarity about where farmers are coming from at a recent conference in Des Moines. Miller is a farmer who also ran the now defunct Chicago Climate Exchange, a company that made a market in carbon with companies who voluntarily adopted a cap on CO2 pollution and traded carbon credits toward that end.

“If there is no profit in farming, there is no conservation in farming,” said Miller. “You can’t pay for conservation out of losses,” he added. Farming economics drive farming behavior and what he said to close his remarks has broader significance:

“Capital investment horizons are three to 20 years, but my farming career is 20 to 40 years. The climate conditions and those things are millennial.”

There it is, the Iowa resignation that climate change may be real and happening now, but what’s a person to do about it since it is much bigger than my life?

From the perspective of a single life of economic struggle, it is difficult to raise our heads and connect the dots between an industrial society that includes farming and its production of greenhouse gases that contribute to the droughts and extreme weather that make our lives worse.

This is where Physicians for Social Responsibility must step in and connect the dots. With education, by framing actions, by pointing to the health consequences of global warming and the changes in our climate it is producing.

We must do this with an eye toward the future, and an avoidance of alarmist rhetoric that deniers use against us. We must make it a tangible behavior in our daily lives. The words are familiar. We must use our standing as health professionals and recommit to preventing what we cannot cure in every action we take in constant vigilance of the gravest threats to humanity.

Thank you.