Onions

I love onions, and can hardly wait to plant them this month---enough to last through most of the Winter. Last year our garden onions were sweet, delicious and stored well. Did you know........

"The onion species is a subset of the lily family? They may have first been cultivated in Asia or India, but wild onions are native in may localities including North America. The Great Lakes Indians called them She-khe-ony, and it is from this Indian word that the city of Chicago derives its name. Onions are valued for their distinct flavor, which enhances the flavors of other ingredients in any dish; and are a particularly good marriage with bland, starchy foods, such as legumes or potatoes.

Onions contain carotenoids, B complex vitamins---including all-important B6---and vitamin C, calcium, magnesium, potassium and sulphur compounds. They are universally valued for their medicinal properties, which include improvement of kidney function and antibacterial qualities. According to some researchers, half of a cup of raw onions per day is an excellent means of protecting the blood from a tendency to coagulate and clot. Onions also have been shown to lower elevated blood sugar levels in test animals. Pasteur was the first to recognize that onions have strong antibacterial powers; onions are also helpful in breaking up mucus in the throat, lungs, and nasal passages. Finally, recent research indicates that onions, with their concentrated sulphur compounds, can be useful in treating cancer in some people. Onions also concentrate germanium when it is found in the soil. Germanium acts as an oxygen transporter and has been useful in cancer therapy.

On the other hand, certain yogic diets prohibit the onion because it is said to 'increase body heat and appetites.' This may be because the onion acts as a stimulant to the adrenal glands. Those with weak adrenal grands should eat sparingly of the onion family as should individuals sensitive to sulphur-containing foods.

To peel small onions, remove ends and plunge briefly into boiling water. Skins will then come off easily.

Baked Onions with Pecans
Serves 8

4 large onions, peeled
1 cup chicken stock
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1/4 teaspoon paprika
sea salt
1/2 cup crispy pecans

Cut onions in half along the equator and place cut side up in a buttered glass baking dish. Mix stock, butter, honey, lemon rind, and paprika and heat gently until well blended. Season to taste. Pour over onions. Bake, covered, for about 50 minutes at 350 degrees, basting occasionally, until onions are just tender. Remove cover, sprinkle with pecans and bake another 10-15 minutes until lightly browned."

Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats by Sally Fallon
Click here to purchase this book from Amazon.com

A Perspective for the Future

by John Jeavons

in the book How to Grow More Vegetables than you ever thought possible on less land than you can imagine.

"We 'farm' as we eat. For example, if we consume food that has been grown using methods that inadvertently deplete the soil in the growing process, then we are responsible for depleting the soil. If, instead, we raise or request food grown in ways that heal the Earth, then we are healing the Earth and its soils. Our daily food choices will make the difference. We can choose to sustain ourselves while increasing the planet's vitality. In the bargain we preserve resources, breath cleaner air, enjoy good exercise, and eat pure food.

"It has been estimated that about 1/3 of the health care costs in the United States could be eliminated through an increase in exercise and by eating a nutritious diet. Gardening and mini-farming provide both of these, resulting in a win-win proposition. By doing something that is wondrous and fun--growing food--each individual becomes important again in the face of an otherwise overwhelming global environmental challenge. The Earth, the soils, and each individual will be better as a result of these efforts."

My Feelings Exactly

My First Year as a City Chicken Owner

or What I Wish I'd Known 12 Months Ago :)

It's been just over a year since I inherited my first chickens. I now have six hens, two of them new this year. Here's what I would tell someone who is considering chickens. (Please add your comments too!)

1. City chickens are healthiest when housed on the lawn, but it doesn't work so well in the Enumclaw winter. My chickens love the lawn and the greens make their egg yolks a bright orange color. However, moving my chicken tractor around in soggy weather just tears up the grass! Although it's not ideal, I have a permanent pen where my hens stay in the winter. I spread straw on the ground to minimize the mud. The chickens do enjoy a chance to dig in the dirt.

2. Grow lots of cool-weather greens! (See this post.) Kale and chard during the rainy season help to make up for the hens not being on the grass.

3. Three square feet per (full-size) chicken isn't really enough. (That was a measurement I got from the Chicken Tractor book.) My hens grew A LOT over their first winter, and seemed to totally fill their tractor by spring! They also produced more manure than they had in the fall, so I had to move the tractor more than once a day if I wanted them to be able to find any grass on the ground.

4. Introducing new hens to the flock is a tricky business. I was oh, so careful, but my two new girls are still sometimes picked on even after six weeks. The "pecking order" is a real thing!

5. Keep your chickens entertained. Vary their food, let them run a bit (I have some portable fencing that I use to give them more space), or visit them often. Bored chickens get into trouble--like picking on each other and eating eggs. I learned this the hard way, and had to take an egg eater to the auction. :(

6. Be patient when your girls are molting. For some, it is a long process. They don't lay well, and they're grumpy. This, too, shall pass.

7. Chickens breeds are not all the same! I have three kinds now, and I think my favorites are the Buff Orpingtons. Every breed has its fan club, however.

While I would LOVE to have a more land and the chance to let my chickens run free, life with city chickens is pretty good too.

For all you local Gardeners and New Farmers

GRCC will be offering a “Tilling The Soil” Agricultural Business Planning class on the Enumclaw Campus starting Oct 11. The class will run for ten weeks and will meet on Monday evenings from 6-9 pm. There will be two farm tour dates in addition to class sessions. The cost of $250 also includes an excellent text book from Nxlevel, lots of resource materials, and guest speakers. This opportunity to learn and share locally is jointly sponsored by WSU Ext and GRCC.

Contact GRCC - Enumclaw Monday through Thursday, 8:00 am to 6:00 pm by phone or in person for more information and to register.
Phone: (253) 288-3400
1414 Griffin Avenue
(Friday, Sat. & Sun they are closed.)

Urban Farming Approved in Seattle

A breakthrough!

"The Seattle City Council on Monday passed legislation designed to encourage urban farmers. People would be allowed to keep up to eight chickens per house; roosters would be prohibited. The ordinance, which passed unanimously, also paves the way for urban farms and taller greenhouses. Specifically, it would allow: Urban farms of up to 4,000 square feet in residential zones. Food grown on site can be sold on site. There are limits on sales hours, amount of farm equipment allowed, and size of signs; and Greenhouses dedicated to food production to extend 15 feet above height limits in certain zones."

ATTRA Weekly Harvest Newsletter, 9/9/10

Restructuring the Food System

"I grew up on a 1950's vintage poultry farm. Back then here in New Jersey there were thousands of small poultry farms with a few hundred to a few thousand birds. Every evening we would collect eggs and the whole family would be in the basement washing candling grading and boxing eggs in 30 dozen crates that we shipped to a co-op.

You might be surprised to know that this nightly ritual was repeated in millions of households across the United States. Everybody was small scale, everybody made a little money, nobody got rich or dominated over anybody else. Every county had small feed mills, poultry vet services, and spent bird haulers who shipped birds to soup canneries. The system worked, the supermarkets and food processors were always supplied with eggs.

It was all over by 1970. How did it end? the same way it always ends, somebody got greedy and wanted to dominate the industry in the good honorable guise of progress and efficiency. They destroyed the infrastructure and the system collapsed then they moved on to conquer the broiler, cattle and hog farms. It doesn't have to be this way.

Sadly we have an entire generation of adults in America that never knew a time when corporations did not dominate commerce. When little people work together they have more power than you can imagine."

Bob
Sunny Meadow Farm
Bridgeton, NJ
permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org

A Movie about Growing Food in Cities

A Great Resource for Seed Saving

Thank you to Seedman whose comment on my previous post introduced me to an awesome website! Check out http://www.seedsave.org/issi/issi_904.html for instructions on all aspects of vegetable seed saving--including which seeds are easiest for beginners, when you need to worry about cross-pollination, and even a little bit about the genetics of various plants.

Saving Seeds--Peas

By the end of July, those pea vines are looking pretty dead. Don't pull them up, though, because you can save seeds for next year if you have some ripe (or over-ripe) pods still on the vine.

Peas are some of the easiest seeds to harvest, and it saves you from having to buy any in the future. (I haven't purchased pea seeds for 21 years!) Choose the biggest, fullest pods because the best crop from this year will yield the best for next year. Let the pods get as dry as possible, but avoid mildew if the weather is rainy. Save in a cool, dry place until next spring.

Fruit fly threatens fruit crops

"Armed with $1.2 million in federal funding, Washington State University scientists are trying to beat back the advance of the spotted wing drosophila (SWD) into the Pacific Northwest.

Introduced into California in 2008, SWD is a red-eyed "vinegar fly" that attacks ripening and rotting fruit. The fly has spread rapidly northward along the Pacific Coast into Oregon and Washington and is considered a serious threat to Northwest fruit crops such as strawberry, cherry, raspberry, blueberry, blackberry, plum, pluot and nectarine, and may be a threat to wine grapes."

WSU
PCC Sound Consumer, July 2010

Tips for Pickin.....

It seems second nature to some, but to those new to gardening how to tell if fruits or veggies are ripe and ready to pick can be confusing. Do not use size to choose when to pick---as most of us are conditioned to the size and color of supermarket produce---which is not a good measure to use. Most home grown or local produce will be a bit smaller, more colorful and a bit less uniform in appearance than the supermarket equivalent.

Use your sense of sight, touch, smell and taste to determine when (and what) to pick. Gently feel the fruit or produce to know if it is soft and slightly yielding, or still just a bit firm. When in doubt, always take a taste test to see if your other senses need some fine tuning. Fresh locally grown fruit and produce--if safely grown (without herbicides, pesticides, OR poisons in the soil to kill weeds)---are noticeably more nutritious and delicious. They are worth the effort and cost involved for your health and enjoyment! Be sure to ask your farmer (or grocery retailer) if they use pesticides, herbicides or poisonous weed killers. With a little time you will know exactly when everything is at it's peaking flavor. Once you have experienced the magic of a ripening from your garden or a U-pick crop, you will never forget the sights, smells, and taste!! Your body will thank you, and health will follow.

It's usually best to pick on a dry and cool morning, as the evening's growth is completed and flavor is at the day's best. Cool dry evenings are also a good time to pick. Enjoy planning some scrumptious meals, healthy drinks, and preserving possibilities for next Winter.

Chicken Update

It's been seven months since I wrote about raising city chickens, and I'm feeling a bit more experienced. I originally planned to write this post about the superiority of homegrown eggs (and the eggs ARE great), but I've learned that raising chickens has many other advantages as well. They make wonderful PETS!

Helping in the Garden

My chickens spent most of last winter camped out on top of various garden beds in my yard. I put their chicken tractor on the raised beds, and "the girls" provided the fertilizer for this summer's crops. (I added straw to balance the high-nitrogen manure.) Within a month of moving the birds off, each bed had beautiful, worm-filled soil.

Creating Companionship

I had never realized how nice it is to hang out with chickens. They make happy little noises all day long. They also make other sounds we've learned to recognize--like what my son translated as "Look, look, look EEEGG!" when they want to make an announcement. They each have a unique personality. I like to be with them!

Being Neighborly

Best of all, chickens are like magnets for attracting friends. There is the man who whistles to the birds every time he walks past my yard. One of my neighbors often brings over "past their prime" fruits and veggies, while another neighbor pokes weeds through the fence for the chickens to eat. A young family stops their car to get a closer look and the kids are excited to be able to pet a chicken. The whole neighborhood comes together around a few little birds!

This YouTube author experienced the same thing:

If you want to learn about other chicken talents, I recommend the book City Chicks by Patricia Foreman. Click here to order it from Amazon.com.

Window Farms

Thanks to Kelli--the blogger at Plateau Gardening (see our links)--for the heads up on this great idea. Most of us on the Plateau have some space to garden, but here is an informative video for those who want to make garden space in their homes...or perhaps for those who want to grow veggies all winter.

Check out the whole story at the website. Isn't this cool?

Enumclaw Farmers' Market

Dear Market Friends.....The article below, also published in this week's Courier Herald, ends a third attempt to bring on-going direct sales of locally grown, chemical-free food to Enumclaw and surrounding communities.

No Farms No Farmers' Market

It was beginning to look like Enumclaw was going to have its own weekly seasonal Farmers' Market by 2011, but a dearth of interested food vendors has derailed that possibility. Yes, our Plateau is farming country but surprisingly there are only a few small farms growing produce. In 2008, over 500 Enumclaw residents were surveyed for what they wanted in a farmers market. 98% requested fresh veggies and fruits, without chemicals on them or in the soil, as their top priority for a Farmers' Market. If it is called a Farmers' Market, they do not want it to be a part of a flea market, a garage sale, a craft market, a street fair, a circus or an opening event for dog and horse shows. Shoppers want to purchase a variety of quality food, directly from growers, on their way home to refrigerate it!

Late last fall GRCC Enumclaw Campus agreed to contract with the Enumclaw Plateau Farmers' Market to use their parking lot when school is closed on Fridays. Six years ago DOT 2004 statistics show 6,000 commuters stopped at the Griffin-Porter stop light on Friday afternoons. The landmark site is also easy access for walkers, bikers and strollers. Volume of potential shoppers is essential to sustain any farmers' market. Undoubtedly this location could revitalize the downtown economy. Bravo GRCC! We applaud you as the first community organization to provide solid market support.

Within the past decade there have been two prior attempts for an Enumclaw market. A major learning gleamed from them for this third try is that an abundance of diverse, fresh food must be at market weekly for shoppers to continually return. Of a recent vendor questionnaire to 200 food growers within 100 miles only a handful expressed tentative interest in participating in the Enumclaw Farmers' Market. Conclusion? It's time to begin a Plateau Food Growers Association that draws new farmers to the area, as well as connects and strengthens those already farming here. It is also time for Plateau residents to grow more food on the fertile land that still surrounds us. The quality of our future and a strong local economy is literally in our own back yard.

My Favorite Seed Catalogs

It's getting late to order seeds, but there are two great companies I "discovered" this year that are worth looking at:

BAKER CREEK HEIRLOOM SEEDS publishes a catalog that is a visual feast! Page after page of huge colored photos--and not of just ordinary varieties of vegetables--make my mouth water for summer's fresh produce. All of the seeds are non-hybrid, non-GMO, non-treated, and non-patented. There are more than 1,200 fruit and vegetable varieties, many of them collected by owner Jere Gettle on his world-wide travels. One summer squash is described as "the ethnic heirloom pumpkin of the Maori people of New Zealand." One kind of corn is an "old variety reputed to be basically unchanged from the days when Native Americans grew it in New England." Or an onion "from the village of Galmi, a small community in the Ader Valley of Southeast Niger." Fun!

Gettle started his seed company when he was just 17 years old, and is now joined in the family business by his wife and young daughter. (His mom does the art for the catalog covers.) They have a store in Mansfield, Missouri and a "Seed Bank" in an old 1920's bank building in Petaluma, California. Baker Creek gives seeds to schools, orphanages, and prisons--over $50,000 worth in 2009. You can order their seeds at www.rareseeds.com or subscribe to their magazine (The Heirloom Gardener) for $12.00 per year.

Another seed company with a less-flashy catalog, but just as important a mission, is

BOUNTIFUL GARDENS (a project of Ecology Action). These folks, besides selling seeds, are dedicated to teaching sustainable agriculture. That means "creating a system in which the soil will live at optimum health and will produce crops at a rate which can be maintained indefinitely, without degrading the environment." Their catalog outlines the eight steps for their "Grow Biointensive" solution. These steps include things that many home-gardeners do (composting, companion planting) and things that most of us don't do (growing grain crops). I'm starting this year to change to some of these new practices in an effort to be a good steward of my garden.

To support their focus on education, Bountiful Gardens offers many DVD's, books, and other publications. While their orientation is sustainable organic gardening, they offer a variety of resources on food storage and processing, self-sufficiency, solar, and food security. You can see what they have to offer at www.bountifulgardens.org. All of their seeds are open-pollinated to "preserve our agricultural heritage in all its diversity."

As Jere Gettle says, "You are the biggest threat to big, corporate agriculture." Please write back and let us know what are YOUR favorite places to buy seeds.

Growing Sun Vegetables on the Plateau

"I'm a long time gardener and was looking for some new, fun varieties of tomatoes to grow this year. A Google search of tomato varieties for the Pacific Northwest produced a Sound Consumer article for 2003, though it came up as the second link! I chuckled when I read the story of growing tomatoes under a cherry tree. I, too, have found that tomatoes need far less direct sun than some suspect.

I am at about 1,000 feet elevation and I grow Cayenne peppers a plenty, along with Hungarian hot wax peppers and great jalapenos. Just start plants indoors from seed in March and wait to put them out until May. The only pepper that has failed to ripen was habaneros. These results are year after year in a garden that only gets full sun until the afternoon and in the fall even less. Don't believe the books, I even grow okra!"

-Angie Wright, PCC Sound Consumer, March, 2010.

post script......Enumclaw is also about 1,000 feet above sea level.

Vegetables You Can Dig

Did you know there are 14 ways to get in touch with your roots?

Well, there are 14 nutritious and versatile ROOT vegetables fun to dig out of your garden, or seek organic and locally grown options. They are beets, cassava, carrots, daikon, Jerusalem artichokes, jimaca, parsnips, potatoes, radishes, rutabagas, sweet potatoes, taro, turnip and yams. Eating root vegetables can be more satisfying than veggies harvested above the ground because of their volume, texture and mild flavors. Rule of Thumb: Buy These Fresh and Never Overcook unless you want them mashed or for a sauce. Tubers (or rhizomes) are easy to prepare: steam, roast, bake, fry, mash or use in soups, stews, or sauces---some are eaten raw. They add variety to vegetable dishes and are tasty with meats. Don't forget the leaves because that's often where most of the vitamins and minerals can be found!

This Winter I tried two new root veggies, rutabagas and turnips, and have been pleasantly surprised. A rutabaga is a cross between the cabbage and the turnip--with edible leaves. They are a good source of Vitamin C and beta carotene. Prior to the popularization of pumpkins, rutabagas were often carved for Halloween. Apparently humans have been consuming the white, bulbous turnip since prehistoric times. The root is high in vitamin C. The leaves are a good source of folate, calcium, and vitamins A, C, and K.

For years I have been eating fresh beets which are delicious if cooked properly. In spaghetti sauce they enrich the flavor and color. They are a high sugar veggie in the same family as Swiss Chard, and its greens can be eaten much as you might eat chard. They are an excellent source of the B vitamins and folate--a very good source of magnesium, iron, copper, and phosphorous. When combined with small amounts of vinegar beets aid digestion as well.

Which vegetables do you dig, or rather enjoy and why?

Why Organic Video

Since 1989, Seeds of Change has been preserving biodiversity and supporting sustainable organic agriculture. They are embarking on becoming carbon neutral, and teach urban permaculture courses in urban gardening basics, design and community gardens.

Click on their site http://www.seedsofchange.com/ for a short video on "Why Organic", how this company operates responsibly, and what is available to you:

• Certified 100% organic seed: vegetables, flowers and herbs
• Over 1200 seed varieties, many heirloom, native and hard to find
• Quality performance in your garden or farm are guaranteed

Choosing organic seeds is smart money-wise too, the prices are equivalent to non-organic.

The Safe Seed Pledge

Two seed company catalogs I recommend checking are http://www.bountifulgardens.org/ and info@abundantlifeseeds.com. Both are heirloom, untreated, open-pollinated seeds for sustainable growing, and both have signed the safe seed pledge. Type High Mowing Organic Seeds into your search engine for good selection, cost comparison, pelleted seeds, and other resources. More seed companies are signing now due to customer request for tested seeds. Territorial Seed Co has recently become suspect for the future because one of their suppliers--Seminis*--was purchased last month by Monsanto.

*"Seminis controls 40% of the U.S. vegetable seed market and 20% of the world market---supplying the genetics for 55% lettuce on U.S. supermarket shelves, 75% of the tomatoes, and 85% of the peppers, with strong holdings in beans, cucumbers, squash, melons, broccoli, spinach and peas. The company's bigest revenue source comes from tomato and pepper seeds, followed by cucumbers and beans." http://www.seedalliance.org/: seed news.

The Safe Seed Pledge: "Agriculture and seeds provide the basis upon which our lives depend. We must protect this foundation as a safe and genetically stable source for future generations. For the benefit of all farmers, gardeners and consumers who want an alternative, we pledge that we do not knowingly buy or sell genetically engineered seeds or plants. The mechanical transfer or genetic material outside of natural reproductive methods and between genera, families, or kingdoms, poses great biological risks as well as economic, political, and cultural threats. We feel that genetically engineered varieties have been insufficiently tested prior to public release. More research and testing is necessary to further assess the potential risks of genetically engineered seeds. Further, we wish to support agricultural progress that leads to healthier soils, genetically diverse agricultural ecosystems and ultimately healthier people and communities."

For a current complete list of all companies who have signed the above pledge go to http://www.organicconsumers.org/ for "U.S. Seed Companies Pledging To Be GE Free" and "Ten Reasons Why We Don't Need GM Foods".