Category: Sustainability

General Sustainability Articles

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Container Gardening Grow Science Sustainability

Shedding Light on Cannabis Growth: Why Growers Oversize Lights And CO2 Constraints.

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In the bustling world of cannabis cultivation, where every watt of light counts towards the holy grail of high yields and potent buds, a peculiar trend has emerged. Despite advancements in cultivation technology and a wealth of knowledge about optimal lighting conditions, many growers are investing in larger lights than necessary. Why? The answer lies in an unexpected constraint: carbon dioxide (CO2) levels.

CO2, often hailed as the “elixir of growth” for plants, plays a crucial role in photosynthesis. Cannabis plants, like all green organisms, convert CO2 and light energy into sugars, the building blocks of growth. However, there’s a catch. Increasing light intensity without a proportional increase in CO2 levels can lead to inefficiencies and even stunted growth.

Imagine a scenario where a cannabis grower installs powerful, high-intensity lights to maximize photosynthesis. These lights emit a copious amount of photons, providing ample energy for the plants. But without sufficient CO2, the plants struggle to harness this energy efficiently, resulting in suboptimal growth despite the abundance of light.

To tackle this issue, growers often resort to boosting CO2 levels in their grow rooms. By supplementing with CO2, they aim to match the increased light intensity with a proportional increase in carbon dioxide, thereby optimizing photosynthesis and maximizing yields. However, there’s a limit to how much CO2 plants can effectively utilize.

Herein lies the dilemma. Many growers, eager to harness the full potential of their high-powered lights, may inadvertently oversupply CO2, assuming that more is always better. This misconception leads to a vicious cycle where growers invest in ever-larger lights to compensate for the perceived shortfall in CO2 utilization. Consequently, they end up with more lighting capacity than their plants truly require, wasting energy and resources in the process.

The solution to this conundrum lies in striking a delicate balance between light intensity and CO2 supplementation. Rather than blindly ramping up either parameter, growers should adopt a holistic approach that considers the specific needs of their plants and the limitations of their environment. This entails:

  1. Understanding Plant Physiology: Cannabis plants have specific light and CO2 requirements at each stage of growth. By familiarizing themselves with these needs, growers can tailor their lighting and CO2 supplementation strategies accordingly.
  2. Optimizing Grow Room Environment: Factors such as temperature, humidity, and airflow can influence CO2 uptake and plant growth. By maintaining ideal conditions, growers can enhance the efficacy of both light and CO2, maximizing yield potential.
  3. Investing in Precision Equipment: Rather than splurging on oversized lights, growers should prioritize precision equipment that allows for fine-tuning of light intensity and CO2 levels. This ensures efficient resource utilization without unnecessary waste.
  4. Continuous Monitoring and Adjustment: Monitoring plant health, environmental parameters, and CO2 levels is crucial for identifying any imbalances or inefficiencies. Growers should regularly assess their setup and make adjustments as needed to optimize performance.

In conclusion, the phenomenon of cannabis growers purchasing larger lights than necessary stems from a fundamental misunderstanding of the interplay between light intensity and CO2 availability. By acknowledging this dynamic relationship and adopting a nuanced approach to cultivation, growers can unlock the full potential of their plants while minimizing waste and maximizing efficiency. After all, in the world of cannabis cultivation, it’s not just about how much light you shine—it’s about how effectively your plants can bask in its glow.

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Agriculture Beneficials in the garden Garden Tips and Ideas Organic Gardening Self-Reliability Sustainability The Science Of Growing

Better Yield and Soil Health with Intercropping: The Benefits of Growing Crops Together

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Intercropping is a farming technique in which multiple crops are grown together in the same field. This method has been used for centuries and has numerous benefits for the soil, crops, and the environment.

Here are some of the benefits of intercropping:

  1. Increased Yield: Intercropping can increase yield by making the most efficient use of available space, light, and resources. By growing multiple crops together, farmers can make use of different root systems, growth patterns, and nutrient requirements to optimize their use of the land.
  2. Soil Fertility: Intercropping can help to improve soil fertility by adding organic matter to the soil and fixing nitrogen. Leguminous crops, such as beans or clover, can help to fix nitrogen in the soil, which can be used by subsequent crops.
  3. Weed Suppression: Intercropping can help to suppress weeds by competing with them for light, water, and nutrients. This can make it easier to control weeds and reduce the need for herbicides.
  4. Pest Control: Intercropping can also help to control pests by attracting beneficial insects, such as ladybugs and lacewings, which feed on harmful insects. Additionally, different crops can have different susceptibility to pests, so intercropping can help to reduce the spread of pests.
  5. Biodiversity: Intercropping can help to increase biodiversity in the agricultural landscape, which is important for the health of the ecosystem. By growing multiple crops together, farmers can promote a healthy and diverse ecosystem.

In order to get the most benefits from intercropping, it is important to choose the right crops for your area and to plant them at the right time. It is also important to consider the specific needs of each crop and to carefully manage the intercrop mixture.

By incorporating intercropping into your agricultural practices, you can help to increase yield, improve soil fertility, suppress weeds, and control pests. Whether you are a small-scale farmer or a large-scale producer, intercropping can be a valuable tool for improving the health of your soil and the environment.

Categories
Activism Consuming Less Environmentalism Real Food vs. Fake Food Sustainability

ConAgra: Bad Food, Bad Policies

ConAgra is one of the most irresponsible companies that one can find on Wall St. From fighting GMO labeling to abusing labor and the environment they have done it all. But now ConAgra is on the ropes. They have stretched themselves thin and they are weak with debt and shrinking sales.

cagchartNow is the time to organize an all out boycott, not just from those of us that call ourselves environmentalists, but from everyone who will listen.

In 2002, ConAgra, together with other major food and beverage companies including PepsiCo, General Mills, Kelloggs, Sara Lee, and H. J. Heinz Co., spent millions to defeat Oregon Ballot Measure 27, which would have required food companies to label products that contain genetically modified ingredients.

A 2006 report by CERES, a non-profit organization that works to address global climate change and other sustainability issues, titled “Corporate Governance and Climate Change: Making the Connection,” measures how 100 leading global companies are responding to global warming. Companies in the report were evaluated on a 0 to 100 scale. ConAgra scored a total of 4 points, the lowest of any of the food companies rated.

And that’s not all ConAgra does with major labor and safety violations over the years, and of course corruption. Multinational Monitor, a corporate watchdog organization, named ConAgra one of the ‘Top 100 Corporate Criminals of the 1990s’.

So as you can see they are not a responsible company and are actively contributing to slowing or stopping agriculture reforms.

ConAgra brands to avoid:

Categories
Activism Agriculture Consuming Less Environmentalism Sustainability

6 Green Living Principles Every Household Should Learn (The Basics)

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By: Guest Contributor, Jonathan James More

Sometimes, you are presented with too many ideas on how to maintain sustainability in your living space and are unsure which ones are the most effective. The challenge is to put those concepts together and come up with the best game plan for a greener living.

Here are 6 green living principles your household should learn and live by.

1. Your Electricity Bill Tells a Lot

You can start at home. Try to consume less energy and you’ll realize that it will not only benefit the environment, but it would also yield higher savings for your family. Use natural sunlight rather than electricity during the day. Sunlight is a great source of vitamin D and can boost your mood.

2. Meals Should Be Well-planned

Obesity rate among children ages 2-5 decreased 43% in the past 10 years, based on a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in February 2014. This means that healthier habits are being practiced by more Americans. Do your part by preparing healthy and delicious organic food that your kids would like. As much as possible, have a good estimate of the food you will prepare for your family to avoid throwing away leftovers.

3. Make Play Time More Fun

Aside from preparing healthier meals on the table, you should also be concerned about your kids’ physical and mental development. Being active in the playground allows children to run around freely with other kids. Having fun playground time is one great trick that can prevent your children from watching too much TV, or playing too often using electronic gadgets, or spending too much time in front of the computer. Allow them to exercise at the playground with other kids in your community to make play time more enjoyable for them. Look for commercial playground equipment that would not only address their playground fitness, but also develop their cognitive and social skills.

4. Reduce Waste

Do your share by purchasing items in bulk to reduce the amount of packaging. Buying reusable items rather than disposable single-use products can also help in avoiding waste. And when doing the groceries, bring tote bags to avoid the use of plastic bags.

5. Transform Waste into Treasure

Look for second-hand furniture or previously-owned home pieces that are useful and in great condition. If there are unused toys or old clothes that do not fit anymore, hand them down to other people in need. Donating them to the less fortunate is better than just throwing them away. Glass and plastic bottles are good for decorating the house. Use your creativity and give the house a makeover.

6. Grow Greens

If you have a spacious backyard, consider growing various vegetables in it. This can be a source of food available for your household, so you don’t need to buy them when you do your grocery shopping. If you do not have a yard where you can plant a fruit tree, you can still create a small herb garden. Grow them in a pot and place it on the front porch or windowsill. It’ll be a fun learning experience for the kids to watch the plants grow as well.

Jonathan James More is a medical writer. Connect with him via @JJMore022.

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Agriculture Beneficials in the garden Garden Tips and Ideas Nature Organic Gardening Sustainability The Science Of Growing Urban Gardening

Azospirillum Brasilense Bacteria (Azos) And Why Every Gardner Needs It.

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Once again this is an example of how one must feed the SOIL not the plant. Nature has already thought of everything you need and provided it somehow, all you have to do is learn to restore what has been lost. Many fungi and bacteria have been killed off by spraying and other pressures of modern Western life. So here is a knowledge bomb of one of the hardest working bacteria in your garden, and maybe on the planet,

Azospirillum Brasilense, commonly referred to as Azos or A.Brasilense, is one of the most well-studied plant growth promoting bacteria. It is considered a free-living soil bacterium that has the ability to affect the growth of numerous agricultural crops worldwide through the excretion of various hormones and the bacteria’s ability of nitrogen fixation.

Pull Nitrogen From Thin Air.

Even though you and I breath oxygen and plants breath carbon dioxide, the atmosphere is actually comprised of around 80% nitrogen which is in the form of N2 atmospheric nitrogen that is not conventionally available to plants. Nitrogen is a key component in growing anything. it drives chlorophyll production keeping the plants dark green and happy. It is a huge part of amino acids and other compounds that keep your plants strong and healthy. It is a part of every major protein molecule, and yet soil is often lacking enough N. Chemical fertilizer could provide this N, but they are expensive and can be dangerous.

 

Somewhere along the evolutionary development of the “Plant – Soil – Microbial Matrix”, certain bacteria began to specialize in tasks to enhance plant growth, which in return provided the microbes with a food source exchange opportunity.  A select group of bacteria classified as “Diazotrophs” began to supply nitrogen to plants from a range of sources, including decomposed plant litter, dead micro-organisms, and sequestration of atmospheric nitrogen.

Azos is a particularly efficient agent originally isolated in the Amazon Basin where the lack of soil, the reapid breakdown of any vegetation by hungry microbes, and the environmental conditions which require growth to survive is a fundamental proposition of the ecosystem. Azos specialized in the highly-efficient conversion of the N2 form of nitrogen into plant-available NH3 ammoniacal nitrogen. Azos is so efficient that between 50-percent and 70-percent of all the nitrogen required by most crops can be supplied by this organism. Azos benefit to plants is not limited nitrogen-fixation alone. Azos also acts as a growth simulant, catalyzing the release of a natural growth hormone in plants. This naturally-released hormone increases root development and optimized the harvest potential of your garden. Together, Azos and mycorrhizae fungi work symbiotically to help ordinary plants become the fullest they can be (read about mycorrhizae in this post).

Azos can be used as a cloning solution, though I have not tried it personally.

So grab some for your spring transplants and improve your crop this summer.

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Agriculture Beneficials in the garden Garden Tips and Ideas Nature Organic Gardening Sustainability The Science Of Growing Urban Gardening

Top 5 Reasons To Use Mycorrhizae, Friendly Fungi And Fabulous Friends For Gardeners

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Do you want way to naturally and organically produce more food from your garden or farm. Well, nature provides. Mycorrhizae is a fungi that will rock the roots of most plants and show a HUGE gain in size and yield. In combination with Azos bacteria, the two can nearly grow a plant in anything. So here is some info and The Top 5 Reasons To Use Mycorrhizae.

Top 5 Reasons To Use Mycorrhizae In Your Garden.

5. Can give your plants up to 10000% more root mass (yes 10000%!)

4. It makes a plant heartier and more resistant to drought, pests and disease.

3. Use less water to grow even better plants.

2. Use less compost and fertilizer, meaning less work, energy and waste go into your garden.

1. Plant yield and growth will explode!

Runner Up: They look really cool when you see them pop up on your seedlings.

 

 

Mycorrhizae (or Myco’s for short) form a mutually beneficial relationship with the roots of most plant species. Let me simplify the science. The fungus colonizes roots of plants and breaks down certain nutrients for the plant, in return for those nutrients the plant feeds the fungus the sugars it so craves, its just a fungus with a sweet tooth looking for its next fix, which it is willing to work for.  The mechanisms of increased absorption are both physical and chemical. Mycorrhizal mycelia, tiny little hairs which you can see on the roots, are much smaller in diameter than the smallest root, and thus can explore a greater amount of soil, providing a larger root mass for absorption of water and nutrients. While only a small proportion of all species has been examined, 95% of those plant families are predominantly mycorrhizal. And here is the real kicker, it may be myco’s that allowed waterborne plants to move to the dry land many millions of years ago!

Mycorrhizae should be everywhere, but due to pollution, runoff, pesticides, herbicides and anti-fungal sprays, mycos are missing in many gardens and raised beds, not to mention all indoor potted plants that are started with sterile soil.

Two Types, Two Jobs, Too Easy

There are two types of mycos, endo and ecto. Rather than bore you with my poorly explained science, I will simply tell you that endomycorrizae are for most vegetable and fruit species in your garden (spinach and lettuce type plants do not colonize with it, though it will not hurt them either), and ecto are for a lot of trees and some flowers such as roses and orchids. I just generally get a mix of ecto and endo so that it can both colonize the plant I am planting and rebuild the soil by possibly colonizing other areas and plants.

Technically there is a third type, but it is for bogs and not commonly sold or needed.

You can spray on myco, you can use it as a root inoculate when you transplant or plant, or you can “drill’ a small hole in the soil and spray or sprinkle some in the hole for existing plants. The key is to get it in contact with the roots.

So have heavier yields with less fertilizers and compost for less than $20 an acre. And I will give you a little tip that the guy at the garden center may not. You can use a small amount of myco and culture it in your potting soil, use it in house plants and then put that medium in the garden when done recycling the myco or you can even grow your own with certain grasses etc, but I just find it easier to buy a box or two a year (about a pound) for our whole farm to use.

Here is a good video if you want more info, the more you know, the more you can grow.

Research shows that the lack of mycorrhizal fungi can create problems with many plants, shrubs and trees when they are growing in our gardens, so make sure you get some before this spring.

 

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Self-Reliability Urban Gardening

Simple Steps for Saving Tomato Seeds

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This is really so simple. I’ve included pictures for each step of the way, but don’t be intimidated; it takes so little effort!

 

If you have heirloom tomatoes, and you want to keep growing them year after year without having to buy more seed, try saving their seeds. Saving the seeds from your healthiest plants will help ensure you are giving future plants the best start in life; they will be more acclimated to the specific growing conditions in your garden. By saving seeds year after year from the tomatoes that perform the best, you are essentially doing your own natural selection.

 

The tomatoes we decided to save seed from: Heirloom Amish Paste,originally purchased from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds (click here)

 

Noah says “Save some Seeds, Man!”

I’m completely in love with my Amish Paste Tomatoes, and their seeds are the first I’ve ever attempted to save. Since March I’ve tended them; they grew in my heart more and more as the summer progressed, and repaid my efforts with a harvest that just never seemed to end. They’ve proven to be just the most perfect, all-round tomato in my opinion; perfect for slicing and for preserving. The pictures below show the very simple process. Don’t be afraid of the mold; it’s an important part of the process that helps break down the goop around the seeds and sterilizes them.

 

I needed three tomatoes for a recipe. Click here to make the recipe;you will not regret it.

 

Slice tomato in half, and simply scoop out all the goop and seedswith your finger into a small container (I used a small Mason jar).

 

Slice further into quarters to make sure you’ve found all the pockets of goop/seeds.

 

The goop and seeds will form a tiny layer in the bottom of your jar.

 

Cover with a lid that has breathing holes (I used a coffee filter),then put on a counter or windowsill…leave it alone for a few days.
Several days later, you’ll have a layer of mold on the top.

 

Scoop the mold off the top…

 

 

then pour seeds and goop into a strainer over the sink.

 

While rinsing, stir seeds around on the strainer to remove all goop.

 

Tap the strainer upside down over a paper towel or coffee filter to get all the seeds out.

 

Gently spread the seeds around to dry.

 

Place the seeds in a dry place until fully dried; I put mine in a sunny windowsill.

 

They are dry when they no longer stick together. I had to gently peel some of mine off the coffee filter.I could see cute fuzzy hairs on the seeds, showing me they were completely dry.

 

I used an old baby food jar to put all the seeds in. Be sure to label your container.

 

Voila! Seeds for next year!

 

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Self-Reliability

You Can Can. But Why Bother?

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Canning was all the rage, and in fact necessary for most people, in the not too-distant past. I found this 1940s-era photo in a local photo history book; I really love body language shown by the girl 2nd from right 😉

*This takes a long time.

*There are a lot better things I could be doing right now.

*Ugh, I am hot and my legs hurt.

*It’s so beautiful outside, and I’m stuck slaving over this big canning pot…and…oh geez, am I supposed to get those air bubbles out of the applesauce? Why is there applesauce coming out of the tops of those cooling jars? Great, now what am I supposed to do? …guess I will google later to see if the sauce is still safe despite overflowing.

*Ya know, wow…this actually, kinda sorta, sucks.

 

Right there are some brutally honest thoughts, during a long afternoon of saucing and canning a mountain of apples. I snapped blog-hopeful photos that could belie the drudgery and that I could write up as ‘fantastic fun, and just the perfect thing I wanted to spend hours doing!” But I whined and complained in my head, and began to wonder why I was even doing it.

 

I can totally see why an entire generation was more than willing to let home canning go by the wayside and just start buying easy, conveniently packaged food.

 

Is the work long and hard? Sort of. But, what would I have been doing otherwise during those hours? Playing on Facebook? Reading a book? Or otherwise just piddling the afternoon away, seeing that I do have all the modern conveniences I’d ever want? I may have a mountain of laundry, but I also have a washing machine and don’t have to dole out hours for hand-washing. I don’t have to gather wood for cooking, I don’t have to make everything we eat from scratch. I do always seem to find plenty of time (perhaps too much time) to do the ‘useless’ things I love, so what is the big deal about devoting a  few hours to putting up some food?

 

Once the work is finished, and I can stack up a few jars of food that will stay good all year, food that I spent pennies on, the sense of accomplishment is pretty amazing.

 

So why bother?

*You’ll save money

*You’ll avoid GMO and pesticides/herbicides

*You’ll become more dependent on yourself instead of industrial food

*You’ll get a happy feeling when you see your efforts stack up in pretty rows

*You’ll produce less waste

*You’ll avoid the BPA that is in the lining of most commercially canned goods

*Did I mention you’ll save money?

A portion of our wares. The empty jars in front are from foods we ate in just one week from the stash. Not pictured are the dozen jars of awesome cherry jam we mostly gave away, and several more jars of applesauce. Not bad for just our second year of attempting this canning thing! (most of our tomatoes are in the freezer, as you can see in this post)

Canning is really catching on all around me, and that is exciting. Two of my facebook friends recently posted pictures their gems. Their impressive stashes showed me how much more I could be doing.. and that I’m not the only one spending some time learning this ‘old-fashioned’ skill.

 

Lorie’s Wares

 

Sarah’s Wares

 

My neighbor, Linda canned for the first time this year; she’d gone blueberry picking and canned a bunch of blueberry jam. We were giddy when we learned that we had both canned some jam, and of course we had to swap, one jar of my cherry for one jar of her blueberry. I love, and I mean adore, the warm and fuzzy feeling of community I had in that moment of trading homemade jam.

 

 

One way to make the task less long and boring? Find a canning friend. Combine the work. I’ve seen that suggestion time and again on websites and in books; and I’m on the lookout for such a canning buddy. My first choice? Craig. Aka the hubby, the other half. I think he might just be all for it, since he’s become interested in self-sustainability lately. He lives in this house, he’s going to be eating the food, so there’s no reason why canning should be ‘woman’s work.’ Heck no! In fact, I’d love seeing this new trend taking off with the men around us. I also have 3 little men who will, I think, do well to learn some canning tricks.

 

So far I’ve only braved canning with a hot water bath. Just certain foods that are safe to can this way; high-acid foods like fruits, fruit juices, jams, jellies, and other fruit spreads, tomatoes with added acid, pickles, relishes, and chutneys, tomato sauces, vinegars, and condiments. Other veggies from the garden, like green beans and carrots, require pressure canning. Stay tuned; I’m relatively certain that pressure canning will exist in my future and that I’ll feel compelled to blog about it. 😉

 

Click Here to see a basic rundown of using a hot water bath. Which, by the way, you don’t have to go out and buy a canning pot. You can use any large stock pot with a lid; you just have to make a rack to keep the jars from resting on the bottom of the pot. Easily done by attaching some extra canning lid rings together with twist ties.

 

Here are a few tips I’ve come up with for myself (and anyone out there who wants to give hot water bath canning a shot):

 

1). Look at things you actually use, and then see if you could can them yourself. For me, this is tomatoes. I have a ton of recipes that use tomatoes in all forms; sauced, diced, whole, crushed. One day I will brave ketchup, perhaps. Buying canned tomatoes from the store won’t break the bank. But once you start concentrating on organic (and tomatoes is one thing I almost always get organic), the price goes up considerably. Not to mention, I am still convinced that as the world’s supply of oil dwindles, the price of food is going to keep creeping up, until the cheap things we are accustomed to buying may become prohibitively priced. Start canning your own food (or locally sourced food) now so that you’ll have that skill set when you decide there isn’t enough money in your budget to rely on the convenience of industrial food.

 

 

We are a tomato family

 

2). Break up the task. I find it less overwhelming to prepare what you want to can one day, maybe on a Saturday, and then actually do the canning itself on a different day, like Sunday. This works well with applesauce. Just make sure to warm the food up before placing it in your jars, to prevent your jars from bursting.

 

The boys helped puree a bunch of tomatoes, and that waswork enough for one day…
…so the whole bowl went into the fridge to be dealt withlater.

3). Join freecycle to look for canning supplies. Ask friends, neighbors, or relatives to borrow canning jars that are not being used (maybe they will donate supplies if you promise to share some of the finished product). Be careful not to use canning jars that are too old, because they’ve improved them over the years and you want to stay as safe as possible in this venture. Before I started canning, I never really saw the wonder that is the canning jar. When they are not being used for preserving food, they are great for other projects like fermenting (I’ve fermented sourdough and kefir, and am planning on saurkraut soon, using mason jars). I saw this use for a mason jar to use as a soap dispenser that I think is just genius, and just may try. Canning jars are freezer safe, so if you have just enough food for a couple quarts and don’t want to start the canner going, you can put them in the freezer instead, using handy plastic screw on lids.

 

 

4). Keep your canner filled with water during canning season. During late August and September, when the apples and tomatoes are pouring in, I found that I had to set up shop three times. I couldn’t see dumping out all that water, what a waste! So, the hot water bath hung around, filled with water, in the kitchen for about a month.

Hot water bath hanging around on the washer, ready for the next canning session

 

5). Check this book out from the library. Or buy it. I’ve browsed several books and this one is so incredibly simple and will walk you through each step. It has full color pictures and simple instructions that are so helpful. I actually have a different book that is my favorite (this one) that will further inspire you to try other things, but you will want to get the basics down first.

 

6). Label your food, and find a place to store it. I know this sounds so basic, but honestly, I just started labeling this year. It’s just nice to know exactly what is in that jar and when you canned it. You will be more likely to use it and not fear it. As far as where to store all these jars? My space is at a premium, so I struggle with this. We have a fridge in the garage and I have been storing everything on top of it. I hope to get my hubby to build some nice strong shelving in there, just for my canning jars.

 

For now, this is where the canning supplies live. As I fill jars, I stack them upusing the boxes the jars came in (see below)

7). Save the boxes the jars came in. I find them really wonderful for storing empty jars for the next canning season. I wash the jar out, dry it, and put it in the box upside down (to keep out dust). You can then slide the box in and out of your shelving (or, if you are limited in space like me, it makes stacking things easier). Just a simple way to keep those jars organized.

 

 

I still have some canning to do this fall (more applesauce). I’m looking forward to the work a little more now that the days are colder and it’s not as bad being stuck in the kitchen. Plus I have a little helper who happens to love applesauce and who is more than willing to help me out for now. I’ll take the help from my little guy while I ‘can’…and who knows, maybe he will keep the skill handy for himself!

 

Simon enjoys hot fresh applesauce during our last canning session!
Categories
Activism Agriculture Animal Rights Anti-Monsanto Environmentalism GMO crops Sustainability

The Scourge Of Monsanto Roundup Strikes My Family

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Well, where to begin, everything seems like a haze right now.

On October the 6th 2013 our long time companion and best friend Sappho died. LITERALLY the reason that FutureFarming.org exists was to provide a safe farm environment for our dog, all of the rest was born from that single idea.

Puppy PeachSappho was only 9 years old and perfectly healthy last summer. Early in the fall of 2012 a nearby farmer made a HUGE “mistake” and sprayed many acres of our land. Sappho then was exposed to the Monsanto product Roundup.

It was nearly a week before we found out that she had been exposed, we had caught the farmer in the act and stopped him immediately, but not soon enough. The symptoms began to manifest as the Roundup caused our dogs body to attack itself.

SillySappho

The larger battle was yet to come. Three different veterinarians could not explain her illness, but also refused to concede that Roundup could do this. In fact on our last visit to the vet in August, there was a landscaping crew using Roundup right outside of the vets windows and doors.

The vets would say that the American studies here at Cornell and other places have shown how safe glyophosate is. We would point them at other studies in Europe and other places that would show her exact symptoms with Roundup exposure in both the real world and the laboratory.

William Meggs, M.D., Ph.D., School of Medicine, East Carolina University has done extensive research on Roundup and similar chemicals.

In patients who have been chemically injured by Roundup, Meggs has noted significant lymphatic hyperplasia, lymphatic tissue that is swollen and engorged. He has also found significant cobblestoning in upper airway passages.  This represents chronic inflammation caused by lymphocytes migrating out of the blood stream and seeping into the tissues. Meggs has also noted thickening of the structure called the basement membrane, the structure on which the lining of cells that lines the interior of the nose sits.  Meggs’ study also found a defect in the tight junctions (the joining of cells together) and a proliferation of nerve fibers.

“Chemicals bind to receptors on nerve fibers and produce something called neurogenic inflammation. These chemicals bind to these receptors and cause the release of potent substances that produce inflammation in tissue.

When chemicals bind to nerve fibers, they can produce inflammation.  Inflammation, in turn, produces other changes in the tissue, and it brings in these lymphocytes. We believe that inflammation causes these barrier cells to open up and sometimes even come off the basement membrane.  Below the basement membrane is the nerve fibers, so we have a process whereby a chemical exposure will damage the lining of the nose.

What happens is people have a large chemical exposure, they breathe in noxious chemicals, and this damages the epithelium.  This huge exposure is able to penetrate this barrier we have between the chemicals we breathe in and these nerve cells beneath the lining layer that react to chemicals by producing inflammation. The inflammation, in turn, produces substances that cause further damage to the lining cell, and actually produce the substances which cause the tight junctions between these cells to open up.  In some cases the cells actually come off and just leave these bare nerves exposed.  Once you have the bare nerves exposed, low levels of chemicals that we all experience every day are enough to produce inflammation which in turn keeps the epithelium damaged.”

sapphoprofileThese were the exact symptoms Sappho was experiencing, but NO ONE would listen and treat the problem, even though they had no viable explanation and we were giving them one.
Instead the gave us pills and no answers, but that is a whole other issue.

The bigger problem was the denial of the danger in Roundup, it is much more dangerous than just glyphosate. We need to change these ideas!

Although its active ingredient is glyphosate, an organic phosphate, this is combined with other ingredients including a surfactant called polyethoxylated tallowamine that helps the product penetrate plant surfaces. Glyphosate has been used as an herbicide since the 1970s and is hailed as non-toxic and environmentally safe. But recent studies show glyphosate herbicides and Roundup in particular are more dangerous for people, animals, and the environment than previously believed, especially the combination of glyphosate and polyethoxylated tallowamin.

Critics have argued for decades that glyphosate, Roundup and other herbicides used around the globe, pose a serious threat to public health. Industry regulators, however, appear to have consistently overlooked their concerns with the help of lobbyists.
The government of El Salvador in Central America has banned the use of Glyphosate (Roundup) and 52 other dangerous chemicals. The Dutch city Rotterdam, the second largest city in the Netherlands, has also banned it. Someday Roundup will be seen as out generations DDt.

On Saturday October the 12th all over America there will be March Against Monsanto events. I strongly suggest you go if you care about food security, animals, kids or the environment. You never know when your neighbor may go crazy and spray this all over a driveway, you can get it in an department store.

There are studies over 30 years old that show how dangerous this is, the effects on the environment, people, animals and the entire planet. If we dont stop this now, there wont be a planet. Please dont let another dog, another person or even another frog die because of Monsanto Roundup and their lobbyists.

RESOURCES and STUDIES on ROUNDUP

(and other herbicides).

Glyphosate (Roundup) is one of the most toxic herbicides, and is the third most commonly reported cause of pesticide related illness among agricultural workers. Products containing glyphosate also contain other compounds, which can be toxic. Glyphosate is technically extremely difficult to measure in environmental samples, which means that data is often lacking on residue levels in food and the environment, and existent data may not be reliable. 
(“Greenpeace Report – Not ready for Roundup: Glyphosate Fact Sheet,” greenpeace.org – April 1997)

Glyphosate is found in weed killers and may cause cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, nerve, and respiratory damage.
(“Special Report: what you need to know about pest control,” Natural Health Magazine, May/June 2001)

“RoundUp was found to cause significant DNA damage to erythrocytes (red blood cells) in a study done in 1997 by Clements, Ralph and Petras.  RoundUp’s surfactant, POEA, is known to cause haemolysis.”
(In haemolysis, hemoglobin leaks from the red blood cells, leaving them unable to transport sufficient supplies of oxygen to the body’s tissues.)
(Clements C, Ralph S, Pertas M, 1997.  Genotoxicity of select herbicides in Rana catesbeiana tadpoles using the alkaline single-cell gel DNA electrophoresis (comet) assay. Environ Mol Mutagen 1997; 29(3):277-288.)

 

One of the older studies I mentioned.
(Sawada Y, Nagai Y, Ueyama M, Yamamoto I, 1988. Probable toxicity of surface-active agent in commercial herbicide containing glyphosate.  Lancet. 1988 Feb 6;1(8580):299.)

These are just a sample of HUNDREDS I have, if you need more feel free to write us on our contact page.
Sapphoball        Sappho    2004 – 2013

Categories
Self-Reliability

How Big a Backyard Do You Need to Live Off The Land?

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Here’s an interesting visual, stretching the imagination about just how much each person could produce from their own land. The original link here includes interesting comments, both incredulous and inspired, but I think this reader’s comment sums this kind of visual up nicely:

“Some people may mock this infographic but IMHO let’s not pick the figures to death and consider the principle which is to make people think about the possibilities and answer a very common question about how we can become more self-sufficient. No matter if you have 1000 acres or a balcony in the city, it’s how you use the space! If one tomato plant saves you $5 in tomatoes from the supermarket and gives you organic beautiful tomatoes then you’re a success and more self-sufficient than you otherwise would have been without growing anything.”