January 19, 2010
By Melody Parker
Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier

There’s a great deal of pride in being able to say, “I grew it myself.”

Apparently, more Americans want to experience the satisfaction and pleasure of uttering that phrase because edible gardens are “in.” The National Gardening Association reports a nearly 20% increase in urban edible gardens in the past year.

Grow your own vegetables

Photo: Growing your own groceries promises to be a popular project in the garden for 2010.

The Garden Media Group’s 2010 trends report cites several reasons for the increase, including a practical response to economic uncertainty, a return to small-town values, a desire for locally grown produce and a rising demand for organic foods.

GMG President Susan McCoy points to American’s inherent “can-do” spirit and desire for self-sufficiency that is “defined more by nostalgia rather than geography” as part of the shifting priorities.

Edible gardens are no longer banished to the backyard, either. Enthusiastic gardeners are tearing up front lawns and installing vegetable beds or planting cottage gardens where tomatoes, peppers, beans and other plants happily grow alongside perennials, roses, herbs and annual flowers. Container gardening continues to be a sensible option for people with limited space and time or physical limitations.

Other “ins and outs” for 2010 from the GMG:

• Slow gardening is in. Instant gratification is out. Seed sales are up 30 to 50%, according to Lifestyle of Health and Sustainability, and home canning increased by 45%. Fruits and berries are on the must-grow list, too, particularly raspberries.

• Eco-boosting is in. Chemical-dependent gardens are out. People want earth-friendly over scorched-earth products, including fertilizers, animal and insect repellents, potting soil, etc.

• Multi-tasking is in. Single-purpose gardening is out. A greater range of plants and uses, such as cottage gardens, rain gardens, wildlife habitats, house plant collections, etc., will be popular.

• Perennials and shrubs are in. Divas are out. Translate this into selecting native perennials, ornamental grasses and shrubs, as well as creating low-maintenance gardens and sustainable landscapes and choosing drought-tolerant and pest-resistant plants.

• Mindfulness is in. Bling is out. Gardeners want value, price and performance.

http://www.nwipp-newspapers.com/dn/free/304941853956520.php

I went out today on a Sunday afternoon and braved the cold to begin prepping a dirt garden as I call it.  I really like self watering container gardening much better as I have had better luck with the Texas heat using this method in the past.  I guess it is still habit though and I do prefer the dirt for the winter and early spring crops and we had a nice wet spring last year also. The only time we watered was at planting time if I remember correctly.

I began by hoeing off all of the dead grass and winter green cover as I call it. I could have just tilled this in, but I prefer to do it this way. It is less of a problem when tilling and I will use this cover material in a compost pile. It is just much better when you are in a hurry to get your ground ready too. I will use this to set up a compost bin as it is both carbon (dead grass) and nitrogen (green grass) and I will add some leaves to that also.  I prefer to start at one end and go backwards across it. That way I only see the part  I have cleaned mostly. It’s a psychological thing for me.  Every now and then I will grab a rake and rake what I have hoed into a pile to haul to the compost bin later.

Once I had cleaned all of the grass and vegetation cover down to mostly bare dirt, I got out the tiller and tilled it one time without the bedder attachment.  The ground was just a little too moist but I got through it without too much of a problem. After this first pass, I put the bedder on the tiller and made some really nice deep beds.

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I am going to let this set until Friday when the next above ground planting times are good according to the almanac. I used to not take much care about this, but I had an eye opener many years ago about this and I will make a special post about this when I get a chance. Really a unique story and it actually happened to me.

I will coat this entire area with about a half inch to an inch of compost from the compost pile after I plant also. Keep watching and I will post again after planting time.  Last year we had cabbage, onions, radishes, greens, brocolli, and brussel sprouts in this garden area. I have include some pictures from  Spring 2009 below.
:B

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This is where the old Rule of 72 can give you an idea of how fast your gopher hill can become a mountain! It is really an old formula, but the Rule of 72 can still give you some valuable information about an investment.

To find out how long it will take an interest-bearing instrument to double in value, divide 72 by the interest rate that you will be earning on this investment

72 / 20 percent = 3.6 years

72 / 10 percent = 7.2 years

72 / 8 percent = 9 years

72 / 5 percent = 14.4 years

:B

]]> http://www.gophermatic.com/2009/how-fast-will-your-savings-grow-the-rule-of-72/feed/ 0 http://www.gophermatic.com/2009/5-tips-from-a-farmers%e2%80%99-market-manager-on-shopping-the-final-market/ http://www.gophermatic.com/2009/5-tips-from-a-farmers%e2%80%99-market-manager-on-shopping-the-final-market/#comments Fri, 02 Oct 2009 13:57:21 +0000 admin http://gophermatic.com/?p=59 5 Tips from a Farmers’ Market Manager on Shopping the Final Market

October 1, 2009
by Lisa Kivirist
Eat. Drink. Better.

The sustainability mantra may be “less is more,” but there’s one exception when buying more makes green sense: shopping the last farmers markets. If you’re not gardening and growing your own produce, your local farmers market serves as your easy connection to one-stop local fare shopping.

Farmers Market

But as frosts linger and the cold winds start to blow, don’t punt and think your fresh local bounty will disappear till spring. With a little strategic shopping and planning, you can preserve a local meal focus all winter long by taking advantage of those last farmer’s markets.

Here’s another perk of eating local year round: you’re supporting the economic health of your community. Just ask Cindy Torres, manager of the Longmont Farmers Market outside Boulder, Colorado, and an IATP Food and Society Fellow. Passionate about using local food systems as a healthy economic development tool, Torres co-founded the Boulder County Food and Agriculture Policy Council to look at how her area can increase the local food supply to enhance the lives of community residents of all economic backgrounds.

“With a little bit of planning and preparation, we can readily eat local till the spring markets start up again,” explains Torres. Here are her favorite five tips:

1. Identify Your Needs

A simple but important first step, think about what it is you like to eat and use the most of and prioritize stocking up on those items. “There’s no point in buying something and never eating it,” Torres adds. Think potatoes, for example, as these are a basic staple in most family’s kitchen and easily store into the winter.

2. Assess Your Storage

“Take a look at what type of storage you have available at home since this will determine what and how much you should buy,” advises Torres. A basic dark basement that can keep relatively dry can serve as ideal storage for root crops through the spring. Storing potatoes in double brown grocery bags works well.

3. Think Dehydration

Limited on storage space? Try dehydrating as a space efficient food preservation technique. “Dehydrating also works great for stocking up on herbs,” adds Torres.

4. Gather Farmer Advice

“Ask the farmers at your market what varietals work best for storage,” Torres recommends. “Some tomatoes, for example, are better for canning while others are meant to be eaten fresh.”

5. Cook Up Winter Creativity

After you squirrel away your winter booty, use the slower winter months to experiment with new ways to prepare and use your veggies. “It’s a mistake to stick to just the traditional way of preparing something,” advises Torres. “Experiment with a new twist on an old favorite. For example, try pureeing vegetables such as cauliflower or turnips for a creamy soup base.

“More than just food on your plate, eating local year round connects you directly to the economic health of your community,” sums up Torres. “Supporting local agriculture goes beyond just food, it helps increase social justice by creating a food system that is fair and accessible to all.”

http://eatdrinkbetter.com/2009/10/01/five-tips-from-a-farmers%E2%80%99-market-manager-on-shopping-the-final-market/

Tire Garden

February 10, 2009
Earth First

Photo: Flickr user of a tire garden iamterris)

Gardening is regaining popularity as a pastime for all types of people across the world, with gardens popping up in the most unexpected places. While the traditional image of a garden may not exactly fit into the reality of most urban environments, the fact is you can grow your own food whether you live on a rural farm or in a tiny Manhattan apartment. Urban gardening is all about using space wisely to regain a closer connection with your food and beautify your home or neighborhood.

There are a handful of different types of urban gardens, and the ones we’re going to focus on here are indoor gardening, container gardening, community gardening and guerilla gardening. Perhaps you’ve got a tiny townhouse yard, a balcony, a south-facing window – or perhaps you live in a basement apartment that won’t support anything but mold. You can still grow enough of your own food to save a considerable amount of money and enjoy the freshest, healthiest produce possible.

Container Gardening – Growing Food on a Small Scale

Photo: Container gardening comes with variety. (Technology for the Poor)

Container Gardening

Container gardening allows urban residents with small yards, patios or balconies to grow practically any plants in practically any container that will hold soil. One of the most fun parts of growing food in containers is that you can get incredibly creative with coming up with new uses for old junk. Wine barrels, used tires, feed sacks, kiddie pools, buckets, leaky watering cans and even shoes are among the items intrepid container gardeners use – and that’s just the beginning. You can also build your own self-watering containers, as illustrated in the video.

Raised beds make a great alternative to containers and allow you to grow a lot more. Like containers, they can be placed on hard surfaces like concrete slabs or rooftops and are great for smallish spaces or yards where the soil quality isn’t so great. Raised beds are freestanding structures typically made from wood, stone or concrete that are filled with soil and compost. Most often, they’re constructed of planks of wood screwed or nailed together in sizes typically ranging from 3’ x 8’ to 5’ x 20’ and are between 8” to 3 feet in height. They keep soil warmer, provide better drainage and require less maintenance than traditional gardens.

Photo: Raised beds lets people get the most produce from the least amount of land. (PathtoFreedom.com)

Raised Beds

For amazing eye candy, inspiration, tips and info about growing food in raised beds on a small lot, check out the journal at PathtoFreedom.com. ‘Path to Freedom’ is the urban homestead of the Dervaes family, who grow almost all of their own food – plus enough to sell to local restaurants – on just 1/10th of an acre. They also raise goats, chickens and ducks, keep bees, brew their own biodiesel and basically live as self-sufficiently as possible on their tiny parcel of land in Pasadena, California.

Beginners and experienced urban gardeners alike will also enjoy FreedomGardens.org, an online social community of gardening enthusiasts “digging their way to a free and secure food future”.

Indoor Gardening – Apartment Dwellers Can Grow Food, Too!

Okay, so growing pumpkins, corn or zucchini indoors probably isn’t all that feasible. But, any window that gets at least 6 to 8 hours of sunlight a day can support leaf crops like lettuce, endive and arugula as well as small-crop tomatoes, peppers, root crops and even bush beans.

Photo: (Indoor containers need only 6-8 hours of Sun. (Flickr user ramsey everydaypants)

Indoor Garden

Growing vegetables indoors requires different soil requirements, watering, pollination, and pest control techniques than doing so outdoors. You must also consider things like air circulation and ambient temperature. You may need supplemental lighting – cheap shop lights from the hardware store work just as well as expensive grow lights.

If you’re a total novice and growing veggies in your kitchen window seems intimidating, try herbs first. Chives, basil, parsley, oregano, cilantro, peppermint and rosemary are among the herbs that do well indoors and they’ll add lots of fresh, pesticide-free flavor to your meals.

For tips on indoor gardening, including planting requirements, potting media, how to hand-pollinate with artist brushes and which varieties will be most successful, check out GardenGal.net and this article by the Virginia Cooperative Extension.

Community Gardening – Rent a Plot in Your Neighborhood

Photo: Community gardens are a good option for apartment dwellers. (Flickr user jeffschuler)

Community Garden

If you don’t have any space at all to grow plants, community gardening may be your best bet. Most cities have some kind of community garden program, where residents can rent a plot of land for a nominal fee (it’s even free in some places). There are an estimated 10,000 community gardens in the U.S. alone, allowing people who don’t have land of their own or who simply want the community experience to grow food, relieve stress, connect with the environment and interact with other members of the community.

In community gardens, residents share the responsibility of maintaining and managing the garden. Some community gardens are communal instead of divvying up land between members, so everyone shares in each others’ efforts.

To find out if your city has a community garden or to start one, check out the American Community Gardening Association.

Guerilla Gardening – Who Cares if it’s Someone Else’s Land?

For those with no access to land at all, or people who would just prefer to put their efforts into beautifying forgotten public spaces, guerilla gardening will satisfy your impulse to dig in the dirt. Guerilla gardening is planting vegetables, fruit, herbs or any other plants in land that’s not yours – whether it’s a vacant lot, a park, a median, the side of the highway or those sad little strips of dirt between streets and parking lots.

Photo: Guerilla gardening turns ugly bare spaces into useful gardens. (Flickr user ubrayj02)

Guerilla Garden

Also called ‘pirate gardening’, the essential goal of guerilla gardening is to improve public spaces and make sure perfectly good land doesn’t go to waste. Some guerilla gardeners surreptitiously sow and tend patches of vegetables or flower gardens under the cloak of night, ready to run for it if cops or the property owners appear. Others get permission from landowners or the city and openly garden in spaces that aren’t technically theirs.

There are lots of different ways to guerilla garden. Some people secretly plant food – like strawberries, melons, zucchini or tomatoes – among ornamental plants in city-tended gardens. Some take over vacant lots altogether, or simply throw ‘seed bombs’ anywhere that plants could potentially take hold. Seed bombs are little balls of soil, clay and seeds – check out our video below to learn how to make them yourself.

http://earthfirst.com/urban-gardening-you-can-grow-food-no-matter-where-you-live/

I half-jokingly suggested about a year ago that animal manure— used livestock, horse, and chicken bedding— was going to be the hottest commodity on the Chicago Board of Trade. There are indications now that such a seemingly absurd prediction might not be so absurd after all. Last year the prices of some farm fertilizers shot up to over a thousand dollars a ton. Ammonium polyphosphate is still nearly that high. Deposits of potash in Canada, a main source of our potassium fertilizers, are declining. Natural gas, from which commercial nitrogen fertilizer is manufactured, is rising in cost as other uses compete for it. Long term, there are reasons to believe that the era of abundant manufactured fertilizers is passing.

Manure Compost

There is nothing funny about that prediction. Nor should organic farmers feel vindicated. If we run out of commercial fertilizers, there would be no way we could avoid a precipitous decline in crop yields while farmers switched to all-organic methods. It has taken us a couple hundred years to reduce the organic matter content in our soils to the low levels of today and experts say it might take at least half that long to build them back up again. Getting enough manure and other organic wastes to make up for a shortage of commercial fertilizer would be an enormous challenge requiring changes not only in agricultural attitudes but cultural attitudes as well.

It is however difficult to suppress a smile at the irony of the situation. For years shit has been seen as something so repugnant that the word itself was scrubbed from polite conversation. One of the main reasons for the ancient prejudice between urban and rural cultures was that before Fels Naptha, the odor of manure lingered on the skin and clothing of farmers. To become truly civilized came to mean escaping the barn and pretending that offal was not a part of life. Make it disappear. Flush it down the toilet.

The predominantly urban society of today has energetically (and with good reason) opposed modern gigantic animal confinement operations because of the stench of manure. The confinement operators would like to suppress or mask the smell but to make money, they must house continuing larger numbers of animals cheaply. That makes pollution problems inevitable. Larger animal factories can generate as much waste as the human sewage from a large metropolitan area but, unbelievably, they do not have to handle and treat their sewage the way municipalities do.

So the operators haven’t been able to get rid of the stuff cheaply at a fast enough pace. They offered it free to farmers. Not enough farmers were interested. They put it in huge lagoons that overflowed and polluted the landscape. They tried, and are still trying, to make fuel out of it. Not yet practical enough. They sometimes tried to leak it out unnoticed into the waterways, only to be caught and fined by the manure police.

Today, the situation has changed dramatically. With no assurance that grain prices will be high enough to cover the high prices of manufactured fertilizers, farmers are waiting in line at the animal confinement operations, willing to fork over good hard cash to get the lower-priced manure. The laugh of the day now is that maybe manure will become more profitable than the food produced, that the operations will become, in fact and not in jest, money-making manure factories which just happen to produce meat, milk, and eggs as byproducts. This seems particularly possible since some of these factories change hands about as often as partners do in a square dance.

The possibility that all of agriculture might have to rely on animal and human waste to maintain the necessary fertility to keep the world from starving is not at all something new to civilization. Only in the last century or so has it been possible to lard enough chemical nitrogen on cropland to attain record breaking yields while burning most of the organic matter out of the soil. Before this modern “progress,” human society had no other choice than to consider manure— animal and human— to be more precious than gold. At least humans did so in countries that sustained an ample food supply for very long periods of time, as China and Japan did. We all need to read again Farmers of Forty Centuries, by F.H. King, published in 1911, about oriental agriculture at that time. Manure was treated like a precious gem because it was a precious gem. Every scrap of animal waste, human waste, and plant residue was scrupulously collected, composted, and reapplied to the land. So precious was manure that Chinese farmers stored it in burglar-proof containers.

As a result, the oriental farmer for thousands of years maintained an unbelievably productive agriculture. Their little farms produced at the very least five times the amount of food per acre that American farmers were getting in 1907 when King traveled through Japan and China. Those yields still far exceed those of American agriculture even today, except where intensive, raised bed gardening is practiced here. For all practical purposes, a large part of China in 1900 was one huge intensive, raised bed garden. Indeed, the oriental farmer had no choice, because population densities were much higher than anything the United States had or has yet experienced. They either produced huge crops or starved.

Cheap, plentiful manufactured fertilizers and a seeming infinity of farmland allowed the United States over the last two centuries to become the champion wastrel of agriculture (and everything else). One can only imagine the famine and chaos that would result if we continued that kind of extravagance for forty centuries, even if we could. As sources of cheaper chemical fertilizers decline, manure will either once more become the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow or population levels will dramatically decline.
~~
Gene and Carol Logsdon have a small-scale experimental farm in Wyandot County, Ohio.
Gene is author of The Mother of All Arts: Agrarianism and the Creative Impulse (Culture of the Land),
The Last of the Husbandmen: A Novel of Farming Life, and All Flesh Is Grass: Pleasures & Promises Of Pasture Farming
OrganicToBe.org | OrganicToGo.com
Gene’s Posts

Published Apr 9 2009 by Dave Smith, OrganicToBe.org

http://energybulletin.net/node/48574

IMPORTANT NOTE: African Honey Bees are attracted to CO2, which is expelled naturally while breathing. AHBs will aim for the mouth and nose first. Often people and animals die of asphyxiation when the nose or throat swells shut from the stings. More deaths occur from suffocation rather than from the venom itself. —Jerry Hays, apiary inspection chief, Florida Dept. of Agriculture

Remember these important steps:

1. RUN away quickly. Do not stop to help others. However, small children and the disabled may need some assistance.

Africanized Honey Bees

Photo: Closeup of Africanized honey bees (AHBs) surrounding a European queen honey bee (EHB), marked with a pink dot for identification. Since AHBs arrived in Texas in 1990, they’ve mated with EHBs and spread throughout the Southwest. But rather than commingling, AHBs tend to replace EHBs, partly because EHB queen bees mate disproportionately with African drones. (by Scott Bauer)

2. As you are running, pull your shirt up over your head to protect your face, but make sure it does not slow your progress. This will help keep the bees from targeting the sensitive areas around your head and eyes. (They are attracted to the CO2 expelled from your nose and mouth during normal breathing and will target those areas first.)

3. Continue to RUN. Do not stop running until you reach shelter, such as a vehicle or building. A few bees may follow you indoors. However, if you run to a well-lit area, the bees will tend to become confused and fly to windows. Do not jump into water! The bees will wait for you to come up for air. If you are trapped for some reason, cover up with blankets, sleeping bags, clothes, or whatever else is immediately available.

4. Do not swat at the bees or flail your arms. Bees are attracted to movement and crushed bees emit a smell that will attract more bees.

5. Once you have reached shelter or have outrun the bees, remove all stingers. When a honey bees stings, it leaves its stinger in the skin. This kills the honey bee so it can’t sting again, but it also means that venom continues to enter into the wound for a short time.

6. Do not pull stingers out with tweezers or your fingers. This will only squeeze more venom into the wound. Instead, scrape the stinger out sideways using your fingernail, the edge of a credit card, a dull knife blade or other straight-edged object.

7. If you see someone being attacked by bees, encourage them to run away or seek shelter. Do not attempt to rescue them yourself. Call 911 to report a serious stinging attack. The emergency response personnel in your area have probably been trained to handle bee attacks.

8. If you have been stung more than 15 times, or are feeling ill, or if you have any reason to believe you may be allergic to bee stings, seek medical attention immediately. The average person can safely tolerate 10 stings per pound of body weight. This means that although 500 stings can kill a child, the average adult could withstand more than 1100 stings.

Some of the places they have been known to nest include:
Trees and Shrubs
Wood Piles or Trash Piles
Flower Pots
Old Tires
Ground Holes
Chimneys
Storage Sheds
Wall Cavities
Attics and Crawl Spaces
Roof Overlaps and Building Eaves
Underground Utilities
Water Meters and Sprinkler Control Boxes
Old Mine Shafts or Rock Crevices
Evaporative Coolers

What Should I Know About AHBs?

Africanized Honey Bees are much more prone to attack in defense of their colony than European Honey Bees. Vibration, noise, or motion within 50 feet of the nest can provoke an attack. They dislike the sounds that are made by such tools as lawn mowers, leaf blowers, or hedge trimmers. Odors can also aggravate them, including freshly-cut grass or citrus.

Africanized Honey Bees will pursue people or animals as far as ¼ mile, and will remain agitated for up to eight hours after they are disturbed.

Since the discovery of African bee in Mesquite, Nevada in November of 1999, the UDAF has been working with Washington County public safety agencies regarding African bee response. We will redouble or efforts to offer training to the health department, police and fire, school districts and any group that seek assistance.

Our agency’s Internet web site has useful information on how to be safe when it come to the African bee.

We continue to work with Utah beekeepers to identify hives that become aggressive. We wish to remind residents that the honey bee population in Utah is very important to agriculture and wildlife, and that not all bees are African bees.

The bee is aggressive, only when defending its hive. It does not initiate random attacks, instead, it perceives humans or animals as threats to its hive and acts to defend it.

The best way to avoide an attack is to be aware of where bees tend to form hives, look for bees and if you see bees, move in the opposite direction.

More details on how to identify the African bee and what to do if you encounter them is available here.

If Your Pet or Livestock is Being Attacked

Try to get the animal away from the bees without putting yourself in danger.

A solution of ½ cup soap per gallon of water will kill any bees that are clinging to the animal, if you are able to safely approach.

Be aware that, when agitated, bees will attack anything that resembles their natural enemies – bears and skunks.

This includes anything dark-colored or furry, which puts pets and livestock at particular risk.

Where did Africanized Honey Bees come from?

They were introduced into Brazil in 1956, and have slowly spread northward since then. They have been in the United States since 1990, when they were detected in Hidalgo, Texas. They are now found in parts of California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and Texas, and as close to Utah as Mesquite, Nevada.

How to Subdue Attacking Bees – a Guide for Fire Fighters and Rescue Personnel

Africanized honey bees (AHB) are spreading in Texas. Their attacks can be a life-threatening emergency. Fortunately, rescue personnel can help people under attack by using (with slight modification) equipment and materials common on fire trucks, ambulances and hazardous materials response vehicles.

This guide can also be used to protect people from swarms of wasps and domestic honey bees, which to the naked eye are indistinguishable from the AHB.

PROTECTIVE CLOTHING

Conventional heavy turnout gear worn by most fire fighters protects all areas of the body except the head and neck. Consequently, veils are essential, but they must be adapted to the headgear worn. Bee veils are available from beekeeping supply houses. Mosquito veils can be obtained from military surplus and sporting goods stores. Seal the veil at top and bottom with string or duct tape. Tape should also be used around the waist, wrists and ankles, and to close any other gaps. Leather areas of turnout gear, such as gloves, may antagonize the bees. Plastic or rubber gloves are best.

Disposable hazardous materials suits, such as those made of Chemrel R, Saranex R or Tyvek R, provide good protection, especially if worn over street clothing or uniforms.

Reflective aluminum suits work but may limit movement, and veils and duct tape are needed.

WETTING AGENTS

Bees are easily immobilized and killed by wetting agents (surfactants) – including commercial liquid dishwashing detergent. Nonfoaming fire control chemicals and fire fighting foams with surfactant characteristics such as the aqueous film-foams (AFFF) also work.

Not all commercially available products have been tested, but most such wetting agents should be equally effective. Chemicals tested so far include: original Palmolive dishwashing liquid, 9-55 R fire control chemical, Silv-ex R foam concentrate and FC-600 Light Water brand ATC/AFFF. All had a light but distinctive odor. A one percent solution was sufficient to immediately immobilize honey bees and apparently kill them within 60 seconds.

If there is doubt whether a particular chemical will work, rescue personnel should enlist the aid of a local beekeeper. Clearly, human and animal safety must be the most important consideration. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has conditionally approved detergents for use against AHB’s.

VICTIM RESCUE

After arriving at a site, rescue personnel first should assess the situation from within their vehicles. Then they should retreat several hundred yards, put on protective clothing and move any onlookers to a safe distance.

Each situation is unique, but to rescue a victim, two things must be done as quickly as possible: establish an adequate insect barrier, and neutralize the insects’ alarm odor – which consists of chemical components of venom that enable more bees to find and attack the victim.

Fire and rescue units responding with standard fire fighting equipment can quickly accomplish both objectives by using water plus a non-toxic wetting agent.

Using standard fire fighting procedures, set up a line with an educator capable of delivering a one to three percent spray of one of the foaming/wetting agents and a nozzle capable of delivering a wide fan patter. A light initial application to the victim will stop the attack by most of the insects on or near the victim within 60 seconds. These insects, unable to fly, will begin to suffocate and can be quickly brushed aside.

If an obvious line of insect flight can be determined, a vertical wall of spray 20 to 30 feet in the air should intercept further flight activity. Or, the nozzle can be inverted near the victim to provide a curtain of safety.

Rescuers wearing proper protective gear then can carry a victim into a house, van or ambulance for treatment and transport. Many bees, however, will follow to continue their attack.

In a house, vacuum up bees attracted to windows by light. In a rescue vehicle, drive away and then roll down the windows and chase the insects out.

STING REMOVAL

Once the victim is protected, remove stings as quickly as possible. Otherwise, the white, translucent, venom sac – with its nerves and muscles attached – will continue to pump venom into the wound for a minute or more. Removing the victim’s outer layer of garments may help because stings embedded through the fabric will be dislodged in the process.

The best way to remove stings is to simply scrape them away with a fingernail, credit card or similar instrument. Never pinch, tweeze or otherwise attempt to pull stings out, as this will simply inject the remaining contents of the venom sacs.

After sting victims have been cared for, rescuers should launder the bees – alarm-odor chemical from suits, veils and equipment.

TRAINING

Fire and rescue personnel should familiarize themselves with normal activities of stinging social insects in their area. Local bee experts or beekeepers can provide extremely valuable advice and assistance, particularly when unusual situations arise. All states have active beekeeper organizations, as do many local communities, and they usually welcome requests for assistance.

Most beekeeper groups would welcome an invitation to help develop training exercises, where bees would be used to simulate an actual attack and allow rescuers an a opportunity to practice their skills.

http://www.ars.usda.gov/Research/docs.htm?docid=11059&page=3

http://ag.utah.gov/news/africanavoidattack.html

http://standeyo.com/News_Files/Garden_Seeds/090329.Africanized.bees.html

Think of it as a modern-day Victory Garden. With gasoline prices soaring and food costs not far behind, the number of Americans planning to grow their own backyard vegetables this year is up sharply.

Gardening organizations, seed wholesalers and nurseries all are reporting increases in the number of people buying vegetable seeds and starter plants.

The trend started slowly several years ago, spurred by concerns about food safety, food quality and global warming, garden mavens say. This year’s gasoline and food price spikes have had what could be called a “Miracle-Gro” effect on the backyard garden movement.

This year, 39 percent of people with back yards told the Garden Writers Association they planned to grow vegetables this year. That’s up 5 percent from last year, after remaining relatively stable with just small increases for much of the past decade.

“This is evolving into a perfect storm for vegetable gardening,” says Charlie Nardozzi, senior horticulturist at the National Gardening Association in Burlington, Vt. “A lot of the economic things happening, and concerns are rising about global warming and carbon footprints, and so are worries about the quality of food, its price, and freshness – it’s all come to a head.”

At Running Brook Farms, a nursery in Killingworth, Conn., sales of plant seeds are up, according to manager Louann Papoosha.

Sales of starter plants have jumped as much as 20 percent this year, according to Ms. Papoosha, even though Connecticut’s planting season has just begun. In fact, it’s still a little bit early on the coast for some of the more tender vegetables.

“But we are selling lots of lettuce, peas and broccoli – the plants you can put out early,” Ms. Papoosha says.

Early spring is also when many people plant trees. Last year, Running Brook sold maybe a half-dozen fruit trees, according to the staff. This year, the nursery has seen a “real heavy” run on apple, pear and other fruit-bearing plants.

Photo: Charles Dorsey tends his plot in a privately owned community garden in Pasadena, Calif. With rising food and gas prices cutting into personal budgets, home gardens are regaining some of the popularity lost in recent decades. Vegetable seed sales have risen by as much as 60 percent since last spring in parts of the United States and Britain. (Getty Images)

“Rather than just buying a decorative or ornamental, people are looking at fruit trees so they can have sustainable agriculture in their own back yard,” says John Neely, busily pruning azaleas at Running Brook. “People are more inclined to get their hands dirty and have the profit of their work as opposed to just an ornamental type of planting.”

Farther south, at the Oakhurst Community Gardens in urban Decatur, Ga., the gardening season is already “going gangbusters,” says director Stephanie Van Parys.

The summer gardening class – usually reserved for about four or five people – filled the front room of the gardens’ center last month. People even had to be turned away. Chicks in the City, a class on raising chickens, also was packed. The crowd, which usually is made up of the retirement set, included lots of twenty- and thirtysomethings.

Indeed, the rush to plant was so great this year at the 2-acre urban garden spread that management put in four more plots for newcomers.

To be sure, food security (especially with the 2006 spinach scares), a rising demand for locally grown organic food and taste are big factors in the garden movement. It was, however, the $4 bowls of edamame, or soybeans, that caused Ms.Van Parys to reconsider the kind of impact even a small vegetable garden can have on a household budget.

Photo: Marcie Curry removes weeds to prepare a plot at a community garden in Boston. She and a friend have been planting vegetables here the past three years for family and others. (Christian Science Monitor)

“You get more bang for your buck out of a seed packet,” she says.

That message appears to be resonating nationally. At the Garden Writers Association, which surveys people annually to see how they plan to spend their gardening dollars, there was genuine surprise at the big increase in preference for vegetable gardens. For years, the top three on the list were lawns, annuals and perennials, with vegetable gardening a distant fourth. This year, vegetable gardening jumped to No. 2.

Christian Science Monitor Marcie Curry removes weeds to prepare a plot at a community garden in Boston. She and a friend have been planting vegetables here the past three years for family and others.

“You’ve got a double whammy: The cost of food is going up disproportionately, and so is the price of gas to go get it,” says Robert LaGasse, executive director of the Garden Writers Association in Manassas. “With a garden, there’s the cost savings, and add to it the time savings to walk out your back door and pull a couple of tomatoes from the garden for dinner tonight. It’s wholesome, convenient, and you know what was done to it.”

That’s exactly the message folks at the National Garden Bureau in Downer’s Grove, Ill., have been promoting for years. The nonprofit educational organization, which is funded primarily by seed distributors, is hoping this year’s spike in vegetable gardening could jump-start a long-term trend.

Photo: Vegetable garden seeds are sold at a nursery where demand is rising on April 30, 2008 in Pasadena, California. With rising food and gas prices cutting into personal budgets, home gardens are regaining some of the popularity lost in recent decades. Vegetable seed sales have reported risen by as much as 60 percent since last spring in parts of the US and UK and some home gardeners have turned to supplementing their income with sales from their so-called “mini-farms” to restaurants and at farmers markets. During the Second World War, labor shortages and food and fuel rationing sparked a government-backed trend of citizens growing their own food. By 1945, 20 million “Victory Gardens” supplied 40 percent of the fruits and vegetables consumed in the US. (by David McNew/Getty Images)

“Once people taste their home-grown tomatoes and basil and cucumbers, they’re not going to go back and buy a store-bought one,” says Nona Koivula, the garden bureau’s executive director. “The taste is so much better, and the nutrition is there, too.”

Like other garden experts, Ms. Koivula believes something more powerful and less tangible also is coming into play.

“There are a lot of different reasons to garden this particular year, but I do think there’s also this innate desire in all of us to actually put seed in the ground because that’s how we all fed ourselves years ago,” she says.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/may/28/backyard-farming/

:B

Victory Gardens Sprout Up Again

People are borrowing an old wartime concept to lessen the need for mass-produced food, reduce pollution, form communities and save on grocery bills.

January 9, 2009
By Mary MacVean
Los Angeles Times

Victory Garden

These days, digging some holes and planting a little lettuce or a few beets is a political act. Just ask Julie Stern, who shares a backyard organic garden with her neighbor in Topanga Canyon. Stern worked at the polls on election day. “There’s a feeling you had,” she said. “You saw your neighbors, and you felt good about what you did.” Growing food, she added, “I sort of do feel the same way.”

Or ask Sandra Young, who put two raised beds in the neatly kept front yard of her Westside house.

“For me, it’s much more a political question than a gardening question,” Young said, adding that when her family moved to the house 10 years ago, she asked: “What are we doing with all this grass?” Though she claimed she had too little time to be a top-notch gardener, last month beets, carrots, lettuces, basil and parsley were growing steps from her front door. Gardening, she said, is one thing she can do, “a step in the right direction.”

Decades ago, the victory gardens planted at the behest of the federal government helped the United States cope with food shortages during World War II. (In World War I, they were liberty gardens.) By 1943, Americans planted more than 20 million victory gardens — at homes and schools and in parks — that were reported to produce 8 million tons of food that one old film called “America’s hidden weapon.”

Now, in community gardens and backyards, and of course on the Internet, a new victory garden movement has captured the attention of people who want to lessen their reliance on mass-produced or imported food, reduce their carbon footprint, foster a sense of community or save on their grocery bills in a fractured economic climate.

When the National Gardening Assn. compiles its annual data later this month, market research director Bruce Butterfield expects to see a 10% rise in food gardening for 2008. Based on anecdotal evidence and trends in past recessions, he expects even stronger growth this year.

“People want to have more connection with their own world,” said Yvonne Savio, manager of the Common Ground Garden Program for the Los Angeles County UC Cooperative Extension, which includes a master gardener program that aims to help poor people grow food. Applications, she said, have doubled in recent years.

Jimmy Williams, who runs Hayground Organic Gardening from his Los Angeles house, has 6,000 to 10,000 seedlings on the roof of his small garage alone. His business — selling seedlings and designing gardens — has quadrupled in the last year, he said. Why?

People see how much better food that they grow tastes, he said. Plus, there’s the economy. “They’re worried,” Williams said. “They don’t know what’s going to happen.”

The desire to grow food, however, crosses economic lines. Some people are struggling financially, but others simply prefer lettuce over lawns. Do-it-yourself types are eager for delicious, healthy food close at hand.

“Even super-rich people who can afford to send people to any store anywhere — they even want gardens,” Williams said.

Raised Beds in Backyard

Christy Wilhelmi, who teaches gardening at Santa Monica College and in her Mar Vista backyard, notes that growing your own makes the shortest path possible from field to table, eliminating the need to transport crops, sometimes thousands of miles. Behind her house, she gardens in eight raised beds, growing heirloom varieties of asparagus, strawberries, tomatoes and more to do her part to increase biodiversity. She would like to add chickens. They would eat kitchen scraps and some garden pests, and they would provide eggs.

http://www.latimes.com/features/printedition/home/la-hm-victory10-2009jan10,0,3830017.story

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