The Worm Man: Organic Way to Repel White Fly, Red Ants & Pests from Your Garden! | Worm Casting Applications

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Only since 1800, in the last 0.1% of the history of Homo sapiens, has the human population shot into the billions. Now at nearly 6.7 billion, with 9 billion looming 40 years away, few environmentalists seem to care.

Yet the population-environment link is clear. Our environmental impact, as gauged by total resource consumption for a country or the world, is the product of population size and the average person's consumption.

Today's crumbling environment, racked by climate change, mass extinction, deforestation, collapsing fisheries and more is evidence our total consumption has gone too far. We are destroying our life-support system. In ecological terms we are in "overshoot" of Earth's "carrying capacity" for humans, our demand exceeding the planet's absorptive and regenerative capacities.
~ Return of the Population Time-Bomb || Too many People: Earth's Population Problem ~

As for motherhood — the fertility of the human race — we are getting to the point where you simply can't discuss it, and we are thereby refusing to say anything sensible about the biggest single challenge facing the Earth; and no, whatever it may now be conventional to say, that single biggest challenge is not global warming. That is a secondary challenge. The primary challenge facing our species is the reproduction of our species itself.

How the hell can we witter on about tackling global warming, and reducing consumption, when we are continuing to add so relentlessly to the number of consumers? The answer is politics, and political cowardice.

It is time we had a grown-up discussion about the optimum quantity of human beings in this country and on this planet. This is a straightforward question of population, and the eventual size of the human race.
~ Global over-population is the real issue: Population, Politics & Political Cowards || Humanity’s Choice: A Series of Exits—Not a Fork in the Road

I have had a chance to observe quite a few companies in the U.S. from the inside, and have spotted a certain constancy in the staffing profile. At the top, there is a group of highly compensated senior lunch-eaters. They tend to spend all of their time pleasing each other in various ways, big and small. They often hold advanced degrees in disciplines such as Technical Schmoozing and Relativistic Bean-counting. They are obsessive on the subject of money, and cultivate a posh country set atmosphere, even if they are just one generation out of the coal mines. Ask them to solve a technical problem — and they will politely demur, often taking the opportunity to flash their wit with a self-deprecating joke or two.
~ Surviving Peak Oil & Economic Collapse: Post-Soviet Lessons for a Post-American Century.. ~

Is There Really an Organic Way to Repel Fire Ants and Other Insect Pests From Our Yards?


Ball Point Wren

The Worm Man

Not long after my fire ant column, "Go Away! Ant That Means YOU" made it into the San Diego Union-Tribune I received a phone call from a reader, a Mr. George Hahn.

After our initial confusion (I thought he was an editor--he thought I was a reporter) Hahn explained that he owns California Vermiculture, the company that produces Wormgold earthworm castings.

My disappointment at not being hired as a columnist was great, but I got over it. Besides, Hahn's subject matter was pretty entertaining.

For those of you who don't know, worm castings are a polite way of saying worm POOP. And Hahn was on the phone to tell me he has the organic solution to California's recent fire ant invasion: worm poop.


The Enzyme

According to Hahn, worm castings contain an enzyme called chitinase. Insects avoid chitinase because it dissolves chitin, the main ingredient in their exoskeletons. If a plant contains a high level of chitinase, Hahn says insect pests like aphids, spider mites and whiteflies shy away from it. He claims they won't walk on it, either.

In other words, when a plant absorbs chitinase with other nutrients from the soil, it makes them taste bad. Insects may take a bite but will say "blech!" and go looking for better tasting chow. If they step on chitinase, they'll cry, "Aieee!" and hurry off to a chintinase-free zone.

To be honest, at first I thought Mr. Hahn was just another overeager salesman and I wished I had thought to pay Pac Bell for an unlisted number. But his enthusiasm was hard to resist and the information he faxed me was interesting.

In addition to general product information about Wormgold (Hahn's brand of castings), he included a copy of a letter written to him by Randall Ismay, Horticultural Consultant for Water and Landscape Consultants of Laguna Niguel.


The Fire Ants

In this letter, Ismay states that he reluctantly yielded to Hahn's prodding and distributed a one-inch thick layer of castings over several dozen confirmed RIFA mounds. To Ismay's astonishment, he observed that, "literally all visible ant activity ceased completely. In every single instance, without even one exception."

Ten weeks after Ismay's initial tests, the fire ants did not reappear in the treated areas.


The Whiteflies

In Hahn's information packet there was also a clipping of a Los Angeles Times article dated Saturday, May 27, 2000 by garden writer Julie Bawden Davis.

Davis wrote that she had been battling whiteflies on her hibiscus plant for over two years without success. But one month after spreading a one-inch layer of worm castings around the base of the hibiscus, she noticed "that the whitefly population had dwindled. Three weeks later there were absolutely no whiteflies on the plant. It's now back to its healthy self and producing lots of blooms."


The Suits

Hahn says he called the California Department of Food and Agriculture to tell them worm castings might be a non-toxic solution to the RIFA dilemma, but was immediately accused of illegally promoting an insect repellent without authorized government approval. They warned him that such claims could result in prison time.

"Heck," Hahn says he told them, "you're going to send me to prison because I tell people to spread worm poop in their back yards? It's already sold everywhere as a fertilizer!"

This is true. Worm castings have long been known to be an excellent organic fertilizer and are sold in countless nurseries all over the world. The stuff doesn't burn and is odor-free, unlike other manure products.


The Professors

Nevertheless, I wanted an expert opinion. I forwarded Hahn's packet of information to the horticultural department at two California universities to ask some experts what they thought about all this.

Dr. Robert Rice from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo was kind enough to send me this response:

I haven't seen any data to support Mr. Hahn's claims in the scientific literature. Mr. Hahn repeatedly refers to scientific evaluation yet does not cite the published sources. . . there are too many variables and the whitefly could have gone away for a completely different reason which coincided roughly with the application of the earthworm castings. So, I am not discounting the possibility that the castings have some repellent properties but until it was evaluated under controlled conditions I am skeptical.

An opinion from another California university was more blunt:

If this stuff really worked we (entomologist, PCA's and people in horticulture) would be recommending the material. Personally, I think he is trying to make money. There is a sucker born every minute! The worm industry was in its heyday a few years ago and people lost money in the "worm business." I believe in biocontrol but it doesn't work in every situation. A lot of claims without any documentation.

Hahn admits he needs scientific research, not just anecdotal evidence to back up his claims. Currently, he says his worm castings are being used in a study at the Quail Botanical Gardens Pinetum in Encinitas, California. And in anticipation of receiving government approval of his worm castings as an insect repellent, he has also applied for a patent.


The Hardhead

Being the hardhead that I am, I decided I'd like to see for myself if this stuff works. While we don't have fire ants in our neighborhood yet, most of San Diego is suffering from an overabundance of Argentine Ants and whiteflies.

I purchased Wormgold worm castings and spread it over an area in my yard where Argentine Ants are a serious problem (I refrained from applying it in my kitchen).

With my neighbor Sophie's permission, I also spread the stuff under her hibiscus plants, which are dying a slow death from whiteflies, as are most hibiscuses in the San Diego area.

I made note of my experiences in a log, but summarized the results of my experiment here.

You might want to experiment in your yard, too. Follow the instructions for using worm castings and let me know what happens. If you give me permission, I'll print your experience on this site.

Remember, Hahn is not claiming worm castings will kill fire ants or other insect pests. Rather, he is saying the castings will repel them.

If it works as Hahn says, when we treat our yards with castings, we should observe insect pests moving to a chitinase-free area, like the neighbors' yards. If so, this might upset the neighbors, but so what? Tell them to get their own worm poop.


The Disclaimer

• I am not receiving any compensation (not even a free bag of poop!) from George Hahn, California Vermiculture, or any other agency.
  
• I am not a gardening expert. I am, however, a mom who prefers to use natural solutions for her insect pest problems. (See "Babies on Board.")
  
• You want a truly scientific opinion on this topic, go talk to a scientist.

Source: BallPoint Wren

"Worm Cast Applications"

by George Hahn, California Vermiculturist

Worm Castings have been known as the best item possible to make all plants to grow better. New applications have been researched by several universities and have been field tested for confirmation. Any landscape or growing application will benefit immensely from the use of worm castings.

Improved Growth: Extensive university testing has been performed by Ohio State, Cornell University, UC Davis, and the Australia SIRO to prove the results with worm castings. These tests have shown improved flower size, bloom quantity, quality, and color. Fruit and vegetable tests have resulted in yield improvements from 15% to 57% as well as improvements in taste and appearance.

100% Organic: The general public has come to correctly support non-chemical answers. Worm castings have been known since the time of Charles Darwin's research as the best way to healthy soil and healthy plants and 100% organic. A common cry is for solutions that are not chemical based so we don't risk potential health problems.

Non-Toxic: The skull and cross bones found on agriculture chemicals is absent on worm castings because they are non-toxic. Parents do not need to fear for their children or pets with worm castings.

Can't Burn: Since worm castings are 100% organic they don't have the salts found in synthetic fertilizers. The absence of these salts means that there is no possibility that plants can be damaged using worm castings.

Odor-Free/Odor Elimination: Worm castings are the only animal waste that does NOT have a manure odor. Worm castings have the fragrance of rich healthy soil.

Odor Elimination: Testing has shown that worm castings are very quickly effective at odor elimination. Mix 20% worm castings with composted dairy manure, horse manure, chicken manure, or compost and all objectionable odors are eliminated within eight hours. You can now use these effective organic fertilizers without offending odors. Worm castings are more efficient and cost less than half than activated charcoal.

Fungus Control: Four major university research projects and testing has shown that the complete soil food biology found in worm castings will quickly control fungus problems. Within a few weeks plants suffering from fungus problems will show significant improvement that lasts. All ground fungus is quickly brought under control. Nitrogen is released in the fungus control process providing added plant growth. (This is published research information and can be given to buyers in a generic form).

Insect Repellency: Testing has shown that several microorganisms found in worm castings stimulate the organisms in plants that work as repellants for a large array of insects. The repellants increase to a level that the insects find the plant nectar distasteful. The insects then leave. The effectiveness has been seen for aphids, white fly, and other bugs that feed on the plant juices. Plants tested included but are not limited to: begonias, various citrus, hibiscus, various house plants, morning glory, roses, solanum, and zylosma. The number of individuals who have successful applications now exceed 1,500. This research is on-going. A patent application is in process as well as a bio-pesticide registration.

Fire Ant and Common Ant Repellency: Ants can detect the natural repellency organisms when they walk over worm castings. They find the worm castings highly objectionable. An immediate negative reaction can be seen by ants when worm castings are applied. The ants leave areas covered with a ‡ inch layer but will begin to walk across the layer after a few weeks. Apparently some change happens to the top layer. Red fire ants will leave their nests within 24 hours of a single application. We are working with the top research scientists for the application on red fire ants. The ant revulsion has many applications.


How Does the Insect Repellency Work?

My best understanding and explanation is:

The relationship between the enzyme chitinase and insect repellency is well documented from academic research. (Extensive research work is now being done to genetically alter plants to produce a high level of chitinase). Using worm castings is a non-toxic, and organic methd of doing the same without genetic alteration.

The enzyme chitinase will dissolve chitin and chitin makes the exoskeleton of a bug. If the level is below detection then it is not toxic to the bug and they can NOT detect it. Increase the level of chitinase above this level and the bug is repelled by the nectar of the plant rather than attracted to it. The bugs reaction to chitinase is similar to our reaction to sour milk. One drop of sour milk mixed into a glass of sweet milk and you will drink the glass with no negative reaction. However, mix in three tablespoons and no one has to convince you to not drink the milk.

Using worm castings triggers the chitinase production level. At this point I can't name the trigger organism. I have a theory that I am researching. I should be able to name the organism soon. Applying the worm castings to the soil at a 10% - 20% mix results in the level of internal chitinase increasing. The 10-20% mix comes from research by Ohio State, Subler, Edwards, et al, regarding the optimum mix for optimum plant growth. Applying a ‡ inch layer to the top of a plant equates to 10%. A 1 inch layer to 20%.

The detection level for the bug is in the range of 1 million cfu/dwg. We have tested plants covered in white flies. The level of chitinase producing organisms is usually less than 300,000 cfu/dwg. One particular hibiscus tested at 260,000 cfu/dwg prior to application. This 10 foot tall hibiscus was covered in white flies. Three months after application the white flies had left the plant totally. The chitinase level had increased to 670,000,000 cfu/dwg.

The speed of repellency is in direct relation to the size of the plant. Spider mites will leave house plants in about two weeks. Aphids will leave roses in less than two months and it will take about three months for all of the white flies to leave a ten foot tall hibiscus.

It appears that this mechanism works for nearly every plant. I have included a list of the plants tested. All of the plants listed were tested by 11 nursery managers/staff and two garden writers. All tests to date have shown success. (These tests were NOT performed by California Vermiculture). We have performed our own tests and shown efficacy have relied on tests by others as support data. Nearly every one of these testers scoffed at the possibility of worm castings being able to repel insects.

The manager of Steven's Nursery told me that he could not accept insect repellency. I agreed that the idea sounded outrageous but offered samples for his personal testing. He had Joseph Coat roses that had been plagued with aphids for over six years. He said that there was not a single spot on these roses bigger than the size of a dime NOT covered in aphids. He applied a 1 inch layer in the watering basin. In less than two months, all aphids were gone. He has now applied worm castings to all of his roses. He now has not a single aphid anywhere.

Nursery managers have asked their clients to apply worm castings and observe the possible pest repellency effects. The number of people who have seen success in their own tests exceeds 1,000. I have asked how many of their clients have complained of no positive results. Not one complaint for lack of results has been made to date except for Gina Wright.

You read the article by Gina Wright in Decor & Style. You need to know the whole story. In a later article, Gina reported that her aphids were all gone but the white flies were still evident though greatly reduced on her hibiscus and abutilon. I contacted her to do some testing to determine why she still had white flies. She reported back that she had spoken too soon. All white flies are now gone.

I have registered the use of worm castings for insect repellency as a patent. The patent search shows no one else has made this claim. Dr. Scott Subler says he is familiar with the industry and no one else has tied together this effect. Dr. Subler also did Not believe my radical reports but now says this is the first ever, organic, non-toxic method to provide for insect repellency. Dr. Subler are working together to assmble the needed academic documentation. We should have several research projects underway before the end of the year.

I am working with the EPA Biopesticides to get registration as both a fungicide and a pesticide. The director and his staff are very supportive. I should have registration for non-food applications before the end of the year. Food applications will take longer.

Source: Hidden Valley Nature Arts

Food, Inc. Documentary Movie Removes Shroud of Secrecy || Betting the Farm: Longterm: Global Population driver of Food Price Spikes

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To give the reader an idea of the energy intensiveness of modern agriculture, production of one kilogram of nitrogen for fertilizer requires the energy equivalent of from 1.4 to 1.8 liters of diesel fuel. This is not considering the natural gas feedstock.

In a very real sense, we are literally eating fossil fuels. However, due to the laws of thermodynamics, there is not a direct correspondence between energy inflow and outflow in agriculture. Modern intensive agriculture is unsustainable. It is damaging the land, draining water supplies and polluting the environment. And all of this requires more and more fossil fuel input to pump irrigation water, to replace nutrients, to provide pest protection, to remediate the environment and simply to hold crop production at a constant. Yet this necessary fossil fuel input is going to crash headlong into declining fossil fuel production.
~ Eating Fossil Fuels, by Dale Allen Pfeiffer ~

The related terms, "sustainable" and "sustainability" are popularly used to describe a wide variety of activities which are generally ecologically laudable but which may not be sustainable. An examination of major reports reveals contradictory uses of the terms. An attempt is made here to give a firm and unambiguous definition to the concept of sustainability and to translate the definition into a series of laws and hypotheses which, it is hoped, will clarify the implications of the use of the concept of sustainability. These are followed by a series of observations and predictions that relate to "sustainability." The laws should enable one to read the many publications on sustainability and help one to decide whether the publications are seeking to illuminate or to obfuscate.
~ Reflections on Sustainability, Population Growth, and the Environment: Carrying Capacity & Denial of Population Problem ~

“Food has something in common with energy — they're both commodities that you use up. And they're both worth fighting over. Naturally, if food is a problem that could blow up in our faces, the smart thing to do would be to think strategically.”
~ AgriWarfare & Strategic Food: The Agriculture Ticking Time-Bomb: F-O-O-D, is a Fighting Word, like OIL ~

Food, Inc. Documentary Movie Removes Shroud of Secrecy

Keith Rockmichael || Sustainablog

For those in America who have yet to read The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Fast Food Nation or even The Jungle, the new docu pic Food, Inc. smoothly stirs the boiling pot of food production controversy while allowing those not familiar with the dark secrets of the food production industry to enjoy a film in bite size nuggets.

With Fast Food Nation author Eric Schlosser a co-producers and Omnivore’s Dilemma writer Michael Pollen one of the consultants (in addition to being on-screen participants) the film offers a solid, well presented structure that offers not only scary, gut wrenching even stomach turning scenes in meatpacking plants, chicken coops and but offers a silver lining into the future of food.

Producer/Director Robert Kenner weaves the film through the various food landscapes from the cramped chicken coops of Maryland to the aerial CAFO vistas to the open grasslands of Polyface Farms. Inside one of the chicken coops live chickens that wallow in their own filth and barely have room to move. Factory farm shots show downer cows being uplifted by forklifts to be transported to the slaughterhouse. The film makes a point of showing people how dangerous and unregulated our food system remains.

Besides showing the torturously nauseating animal conditions, the film doesn’t forget the human factor and the social justice issues. Food, Inc. follows undocumented factory farm workers being arrested while making the point that the huge company that they work for should be the ones under the squad car lights. Kenner also captures the human element in the case of one California family that must decide between fast food hamburgers and broccoli as a result of economic hardship. (Guess which they choose?) Food, Inc displays the bigger-breasted chickens, the perfect pork chop, insecticide-resistant soybean seeds, and even tomatoes that won’t go bad, but also shows the new strains of e coli—and the deadly results.

But the film is not all about “dishonest food” and the “ugly truth” as Kenner captures lively footage of environmentally progressive owners such as Stonyfield Farms’ Gary Hirschberg and Polyface Farms’ Joe Salatin who both proudly declare and demonstrate how food can be produced honestly and without a wall of secrecy. Like the Wizard of Oz, Food, Inc. reveals that cow behind the curtain.

Already this docu pic has several large food conglomerates just a tad worried with companies like Monsanto and the American Meat Institute creating their own websites in response to the film. It’s curious why it took till now to get a response from these food giants because according to the filmmakers representatives from Monsanto, Tyson, Perdue and Smithfield, declined to be interviewed for the movie.

Food, Inc. comes off less like a documentary and more like a food based 1984 where the food conglomerates act like Big Brother. Parts of this film appear to be as scary as any recent horror film. But consider, most horror films are works of fiction while this film deals with stuff that sits on your dinner plate.

Source: Sustainablog

Betting the farm

Over the long-term, the rising global population will be a fundamental driver of the rising price of food.

Garry Whit | The Standard

Monday, June 01, 2009

You are going to have to get used to the fact that you will have to spend a greater proportion of your income on food in the future - after decades of spending less.
That's according to Joakim Helenius, chairman of Trigon Agri, an integrated soft commodities producer in the Ukraine and Russia. He believes that food inflation has only just started - and he is not alone.

Commodities perma-bull Jim Rogers thinks people should not buy shares - he says they should buy commodities instead, especially agricultural commodities.

"I can think of very few industries in the world where the fundamentals are getting better. But the fundamentals of commodities are getting better, full stop," Rogers told CNBC last month.

The price of most commodities has jumped significantly this year, as the global economy slowly stutters toward recovery.

Gains in oil and metals prices may not have much further to go but many believe that the situation with food is different.

Soybean futures have risen 48 percent since their low, with sugar futures rising 40 percent to three-year highs.

The Indian government is so concerned by developments that it has outlawed trading in any new sugar futures contracts until the end of this year.

The government obviously believes that speculation by investors was the source of recent price rises.

However, many argue that there are fundamental trends driving the increases. The rise in food prices is inevitable, they say. Helenius says there are long-term and short-term factors at play - and these factors have combined to create a bull market in soft commodities.

Over the long-term, the rising global population will be a fundamental driver of the rising price of food.

Last year, Ban Ki Moon, secretary general of the United Nations, predicted that world food production had to increase by half by 2030 to meet rising demand.

Then there is global warming. Dry places are getting dryer and wet places are getting wetter and this is playing havoc with farming.

South America has suffered from a protracted drought this year and many crops have failed. Changing weather patterns are likely to mean this will continue.

Stephen Johnston, partner at Canadian agricultural investment firm Agcapita Partners said: "The fundamentals in the agricultural commodity markets remain unimpaired as they are driven primarily by a large increase in demand coming out of the emerging economies of China and India. We believe that the secular bull market for agricultural commodities is intact."

Rising wealth leads to rising food consumption but it also leads to more meat consumption. Raising cattle or sheep requires significantly more grain and stimulates demand for soft commodities.

It has been estimated that between 2001 and 2007, emerging economies accounted for a 26 million tonne average annual increase in consumption of major food stocks.

Short-term factors are also having an impact and these are responsible for a significant amount of recent gains. One factor is the credit crunch.

"The financial crisis is hitting both sides of the supply and demand equation," Helenius says. "Poorer countries do not have the finance to import the food that their countries need, but it is hitting the supply side as well. Farmers cannot get the finance they need to buy the inputs that go into growing food."

Ukraine is a perfect example of this. Because of the financial crisis its agricultural output is set to fall by about a third this year, meaning there will be little food to export after it has met its internal needs.

Helenius believes that the financial crisis is hitting the supply side of the equation harder than the demand side and that is why food prices are likely to continue to rise. There is also the question of the outlook for the dollar. The US Federal Reserve may soon be forced into more quantitative easing, whatever the consequences for the dollar.

One of the major contributors to the last commodities boom was a weakening US currency. Commodities are used as a hedge to protect wealth.

A tumbling dollar is likely to cause food prices to rise as well. Debased currencies stimulate an appetite for investment in real assets.

In a recent note to clients, Eliane Tanner, a commodity analyst at Credit Suisse said: "A shift by central banks across the globe towards quantitative easing will lend support to commodity prices over the longer term."

Food inflation has been stubborn.

Last week, Northern Foods, one of the UK's largest suppliers of packaged food to supermarkets, said it was here to stay for the foreseeable future. "We anticipate that next year will be equally challenging, with the continuation of food inflation," it said.

With demand for food continuing to rise significantly as the global population rises and gentrifies, the fundamental arguments for continued rises in soft commodity prices and all that means for inflation are easy to see.

If you are expecting the price of your weekly shopping basket to fall soon, it may be best not to hold your breath.

Source: The Standard

Dangers & Rewards of Home-Gardens || Indoor Survival Garden || Tire Garden || Survival Gardening: Lazy Tomatoe Growing || Rule of 3 & Survival Seed

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Post collapse hiding our food crops could be requisite to filling our gut with fresh produce. Somehow the idea of consuming only ground wheat gruel, day after day – month after month doesn't seem very appealing. Combined with beans it will keep you alive, but after six or eight months of this diet you will die of boredom if nothing else.

Grain can be sprouted and young sprouts eaten raw or dried and ground into a flour providing some nutrient content not found in the basic grain, sprouting is an excellent survival technique and one you should use, but nothing beats fresh corn, squash or green beans to build moral and fill, that empty spot in your stomach.
My grandfather remembers the Great Depression, he said they survived because they raised a huge garden putting up the surplus to live on through the winter. One year he recalls the garden getting hit by a drought and subsequent attacks by locust. You can still see that look of pain and uneasiness in his eyes and on his face when he recalls going to bed hungry nearly every night that year.
~ Dangers and Rewards of the Home-Garden || Indoor Survival Garden || Tire Garden || Survival Gardening: Lazy Way to Grow Tomatoes ~

The trend of farmland investment is real and gaining ground. “Many governments are rethinking their approach to food security and are saying we need more domestic production, we need to be domestically independent,” he said. “I would argue the exact opposite approach is better. Without the free flow of trade in agricultural commodities and food products the health of any given country in any given year is at risk.
“Decisions taken today will have major repercussions for the livelihoods and food security of many, for decades to come” warns the report.
~ Report: Food security fuels Africa land grab | Africa's Misery Breeding Program, (aka PC) Food security or economic slavery? ~

Today, 6.5 billion humans depend entirely on oil for food, energy, plastics & chemicals. Population growth is on a collision course with the inevitable decline in oil production.
~ The Oil Factor: Behind the War on Terror, by Free Will Production ~

Dangers and Rewards of the Home-Garden

Survivalist Blog

I am amazed by the thought process of some survival authors who go to great lengths to convince readers that raising a garden is not a viable survival strategy. After all, having a garden makes you a target, hungry people want food and will rob you of your harvest.

A Yellowstone eruption or asteroid strike could put enough crap into the atmosphere that you would not be able to raise a garden for several years. Yep, this is true - but what is the point?

If you do not plant a garden for fear of having it taken you are guaranteed to produce nothing. If you are raided by looters or Blackwater thugs and they are able to take your crop you have nothing.

I would rather spend a little time planning and planting with the possibility of getting a harvest, then do nothing and guaranteeing failure. By this logic someone with more support and firepower could take your food storage, should we not store food because we could lose it?

This is non-sense, why avoid planting a garden because you are afraid it will be taken? I am not saying it will not happen, it could; but there are steps that can be taken to minimize the risk. Like not planting in rows, the three sisters or growing in a secret greenhouse .

We can learn a lot from the marijuana growers, who come up with some ingenious ways of hiding their illegal crop from authority's. Around here growing weed is big business, growers hide fields deep in the forest and under the cover of indoor grow rooms.

Every fall the police put on their camouflage BDU's, and head to woods in search of the illegal plants, state choppers flying overhead. Yet they find only a small amount of what is out there very seldom making an arrest. It always seemed strange to me that they only seek out the fields when it's harvest time...

Post collapse hiding our food crops could be requisite to filling our gut with fresh produce. Somehow the idea of consuming only ground wheat gruel, day after day – month after month doesn't seem very appealing. Combined with beans it will keep you alive, but after six or eight months of this diet you will die of boredom if nothing else.

Grain can be sprouted and young sprouts eaten raw or dried and ground into a flour providing some nutrient content not found in the basic grain, sprouting is an excellent survival technique and one you should use, but nothing beats fresh corn, squash or green beans to build moral and fill, that empty spot in your stomach.

My grandfather remembers the Great Depression, he said they survived because they raised a huge garden putting up the surplus to live on through the winter.

One year he recalls the garden getting hit by a drought and subsequent attacks by locust. You can still see that look of pain and uneasiness in his eyes and on his face when he recalls going to bed hungry nearly every night that year.

I think the potential rewards of the survival garden outweigh any potential risk. Don't you?

Source: Survivalist Blog

Indoor Survival Garden

Survivalist Blog

Keeping your garden safe and out of sight, from hungry looters and refuges after the collapse could mean the difference between life and death for the survivor. Having a traditional garden planted in rows is an open invitation to trouble, as every hungry unprepared person passing by will try to raid your garden, for a easy meal.

Sure you could just shoot them. But like I have said before, don't draw attention to yourself or your location. You want to look just as pathetic and unprepared as everyone else. If you can avoid a confrontation, by laying low and out of sight, you have won the fight already. Why risk a firefight that could lead to a family member being killed or wounded, if it can be avoided? We are not military planners and no one in our group is expendable.

Avoid planting in rows. The Three Sisters Garden works well to conceal your crop if planted in a way as to blend in with a stand of tall weeds. Don't make trails leading to your garden, that could be followed by someone wondering by. Don't leave trash around the site, and cover any exposed dirt after digging with leaves or whatever was covering the site before you started digging. Try to make your garden blend into it's surroundings as much as possible.

Produce can be grown in sunny rooms using natural light. One way would be to take the roof off of an old shed, barn, garage or storage building and replacing it with corrugated fiberglass sheets used to build greenhouses, you can get the fiberglass sheets at any good hardware store. The walls and floor of the building should be painted white or covered with aluminum foil, to reflect sun-light back onto the plants. I like the pant best, but the foil works well.

Any windows should be covered with heavy plastic, to keep anyone from looking in. Window blinds are a good idea. They can be worked in such a way as to let light in, and at the same time make it difficult for a passerby to look in.

The grow room should also have vents covered with screen cut into the walls to let air circulate. The vents should be cut up high next to the roof to keep anyone from looking in. Four 6x12 inch vents, will be fine for a modest size grow room of say 15x30 feet.

You can set the containers with plants on a table, so they can be closer to the source of light, the more light you can give the growing plants the better they will grow. If electricity is available the light can be supplemented by adding Fluorescent light fixtures, above the planting tables. Keep the light fixture about 2-3 inches from the top of the plants, moving the lights up as the plants grow taller, while maintaining the 2-3 inch distance. Remember, the more light the better.

With a little work the secret garden can look like only an old out-building, from the outside, but have a thriving garden hidden inside. Granted, if would be difficult to grow enough produce to feed a family using this method, it works best when used to grow smaller plants like tomatoes and peppers. This plan is best when used as a supplement to other gardening methods.

Source: Surivalist Blog

Tire Garden

Survivalist Blog

I love building useful things from junk, like this root cellar and smoker built from old refrigerators, or this efficient dryer from a cardboard box, or even a generator from used car parts and mower engine, so it should come as no surprise to anyone that my survival garden would continue in the same tradition.

I am sure some of you are wondering what in the hell is going on here. What has Creekmore been smoking? Working on a garden in December? I have never been a procrastinator; I prefer getting chores over with as soon as possible. The quicker I get things done and over with, the sooner I am free to loaf.

Come planting time all I need to do is start the seed and transplant the seedlings to the garden area. No need to be rushed digging up the soil or working in compost etc., and by starting early I can be assured any organic matter added to the soil will be fully composted before the start of the growing season.

The dirt at the homestead kitty is hard clay and rock, the topsoil was striped away years ago by the mining company. My only option if I wanted a garden was to put in raised beds. I needed something free and permanent, using old car tires for planners made sense. I found all the tires I wanted for free and they are permanent.

After hauling the tires up to the homestead kitty, I started the generator and plugged in the jigsaw with metal cutting blade and cut out the top around the tread of each P235/75R15 tire, leaving one side of each tire intact. This side will act as a reservoir to hold water, while allowing the roots to grow through the center and into the ground under the tires.

Each P235/75R15 tire has six squire feet of growing space when you cut out one side up to the tread. A garden of seventeen tires will have a growing area of just over one hundred squire feet. Anyone who has ever worked a raised bed will tell you more produce can be grown in a smaller space, because the whole area is being used, with no wasted space for rows and the plants can be grown closer together.

I made cages from five foot tall concrete reinforcing wire with six-inch squire openings, for several of the planters. These will be used to grow tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers and squash. Large trash bags can be thrown over the top of the cages to act as a greenhouse (clear bags) or to protect the plants from frost, early in the season.

Source: Survivalist Blog

Survival Gardening: The lazy way to grow tomatoes

Survivalist Blog

Gardening is hard work, all the bending, stooping, pulling, planting, picking, plucking, composting and other chores can leave you exhausted by the end of the day. In a survival situation, time will be at a minimum and energy should be conserved if possible.

Negative gain

For example; if you burn 500 calories chasing a squirrel through the trees, but only extract 150 calories from the meat, that is a loss and a slow way of starving to death.

If there is an easier way of doing something, I am all for it. Why do three times the work for the same amount of gain?

My solution is the tire garden, correctly done, they entail little work after initial set up and produce more than the traditional row garden in the same amount of space.

Advantages of the tire garden

* Reduced soil compaction - plant roots need air to grow with the tire garden you avoid stepping on and compacting the soil.

* Plants can be spaced closer together in a tire garden because you do not need places to step. This increases productivity per square foot of space.

* Tire gardens tend to drain away excess moisture better than the ordinary garden, but retain a reservoir of water within the bottom wall.

* Soil conditions and types can be controlled more efficiently in a tire garden and they can be varied easily from bed to bed and for different plants.

* Tire gardens can extend you're gardening season. They tend to warm up a little sooner in the spring and remain productive later in the fall.

* Less weeding, plants in a tire garden are spaced just far enough apart to avoid crowding but close enough to shade out weeds.

* Using difficult sites. Growing in tires makes gardening possible on sites where you otherwise could not grow plants.

Cutting

I use a jigsaw with metal cutting blade to cut out the top around the tread of each tire, leaving one side of intact, this is the bottom and acts as a reservoir to hold water but still allowing proper drainage, the roots can grow through the center and into the ground, so there is no need to worry about plants becoming root bound.

A P235/75R15 tire has six squire feet of growing space when you cut out one side up to the tread. A garden of 17 tires will have a growing area of just over one hundred squire feet, with no wasted space for rows.

Tomato growing tips

For tomatoes I try to keep the soil pH in the 6.2 – 6.8 range, you can check this with an inexpensive pH test kit found at most nurseries, or hardware stores.

To make your soil more alkaline add hydrated lime in small amounts until reaching the desired level. If your soil needs to be more acidic, sulfur may be used to lower the pH. Details on lowing / raising pH levels can be found here.

I mix top soil with potting mix at a ratio of three to one. Three gallon top soil, one gallon of potting mix, I also like to mix two parts composted cow manure to one part chicken manure. If you have it Vermiculite, pearlite, and/or peat moss mixed in will "lighten" the soil, helping the roots to breath.

Mulch

After the plans become established I like to spread a thin mulch of grass clippings or wood chips around the plants to conserve water and impede weed growth, this in itself will cut the work load by at least 25%, not to shabby for what amounts to maybe 15 minutes of effort per tire.

Recommended products

Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times, by Steve Solmon, this book covers everything you need to know about growing food in hard times. If you garden you need seed, The Survival Seed Vault carries non hybrid seed prepackaged for long term storage.

Rest and relaxation

Remember what I said at the start of this article ; energy should be conserved if possible, set back, read a book and watch the garden grow.

Have tips on raising tomatoes or making gardening easier – tell us about it in the comments so we can all enjoy more time in the shade.

Source: Survivalist Blog

Rule of 3 and Survival Seed

Survivalist Blog

Let’s face the facts; no matter how well prepared or how much we have put back against the day of need, our survival foods will eventually be depleted. Storing a years worth of food, keeping it rotated and replaced with fresh stock is difficult enough, trying to lay back sufficient foods to last five years or more, becomes next to impossible for the average survivalist.

Sure it would be easy enough to put away hundreds of pounds of wheat, after all if kept dry and sealed from pest, it will last forever. All is well and good, until wheat is all you have to live on; some people can develop adverse reactions to wheat and eating only foods made from wheat day after day, would likely increase this allergic response in some people.

This is why I urge readers to stock an assortment of foods or at least wheat, assorted beans, oats, honey and other stables.

Knowing the limitations of my food storage and the need to restock eventually the pantry, I began to look into sources of renewable foods that will ensure my survival after my stocks are used up.

Never become dependent on one source of food, remember the survivalist rule of threes – three separate and distinct methods or sources of supply. Here at the homestead kitty I am working toward providing myself with such independence.

Take food for instance, I have my food storage which is the first line of defense against hunger, backed up by hunting, trapping, foraging, small livestock, and my raised tire gardens.

When it comes to survival gardening, obviously you must start with seed; therefore it becomes necessary to have a source of viable seed on hand. Look for non-hybrid ("heirloom") varieties, you want to be sure the seed saved from year to year will breed true and continue to do so. Hybrid varieties for the most part are unpredictable and seem to only do well during the first year of planting.

Most garden varieties should be included in your stock. Include such vegetables as: artichoke, asparagus, beans, beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, chives, corn, cucumber, eggplant, garlic, gourds, kale, leeks, lettuce, mustard green, onions, parsley, parsnips, peanuts, peas, peppers, pumpkin, radishes, soybeans, spinach, squash, sunflowers, swiss chard, tomatoes, turnip, watermelon, zucchini etc; In general put back seeds that grow well in your area and of foods you like to eat.

Never use a microwave oven to dry seed. You can use a conventional oven if you keep the door open and the seed is heated to no more than 100 degrees. Package the seed in moisture-proof containers and store it in a refrigerator or deep freezer. A moisture-proof container is one that stores seed safely while submerged in water. Use sealed cans or jars, rather than plastic bags.

In general the drier the seeds, the longer they will store. There is a chance of producing what is known as "hard seed" if moisture is reduced below eight percent. Hard seed resists germination under favorable conditions because it does not absorb enough water.

When planted, the seed gradually absorbs water, germinates and produces seedlings over an extended period. A seed lot containing 50 percent hard seed is little better than a lot containing 50 percent dead seed, because neither produces a stand of seedlings when they should.

Beans and peas are particularly subject to this condition and therefore should not be dried as completely as other seed. If they have been over dried, they germinate better if exposed to a humid atmosphere for two weeks before planting.

Source: Survivalist Blog

Victory Gardens: Growing a Greener City: Community gardens benefit the neighborhood, the economy and the environment

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I recently explored whether it was sufficient to pursue an energy revolution as a means for smoothing the path toward a stable, prospering population. The perfect nonpolluting cheap energy source might simply increase our appetites ( Jevons Paradox) and encourage ever-rising populations given that energy easily translates into water and food. Basically, do we need a “values revolution” as well?
~ Will More Food Simply Boost Population? || Growing Food in Times of Scarcity || The gentle art of non-gardening ~

“Food has something in common with energy — they're both commodities that you use up. And they're both worth fighting over. Naturally, if food is a problem that could blow up in our faces, the smart thing to do would be to think strategically.”
~ AgriWarfare & Strategic Food: The Agriculture Ticking Time-Bomb: F-O-O-D, is a Fighting Word, like OIL ~

Today, 6.5 billion humans depend entirely on oil for food, energy, plastics & chemicals. Population growth is on a collision course with the inevitable decline in oil production.
~ The Oil Factor: Behind the War on Terror, by Free Will Production ~

How a greener city gets growing

Community gardens benefit the neighborhood, the economy and the environment, advocates say

By Meredith Cohn | meredith.cohn@baltsun.com

May 26, 2009


Mark Smallwood in his Woodberry garden. (Baltimore Sun photo by Patrick Smith / May 14, 2009)

As a regional "forager" for Whole Foods, Mark Smallwood spends much of his time making sure the green grocer stocks local food, usually from commercial farms. But if he has his way, some products will come from even closer: Baltimore's community gardens.

To make that happen, he has hatched a plan to vastly expand the number of city residents who know how to grow fruits and vegetables - as well as how to cook, preserve and sell them. He's negotiating with the city for a site, likely in northern Baltimore, large enough for gardening classes and some individual plots. And he's applying for grants to cover some of the costs. "There's no reason why you can't grow your own food in the city," said Smallwood, an organic farmer who points to his own planted Woodberry yard as evidence. "This is a years-long project that aims to get a lot of people involved."

Local community gardens (Baltimore Sun photo by Patrick Smith / May 14, 2009): Mark Smallwood is planning a side project to teach urban farming, cooking, selling, and canning.

Smallwood said many seeds are already planted: He's one of many urban and suburban dwellers growing food at home or in community gardens from Upper Fells Point to Rodgers Forge. And people are turning out in droves at area farmers' markets in downtown Baltimore, Towson and Annapolis, among others, fueling a nationwide increase in markets by more than 25 percent since 2004, according to government statistics.

Across the nation and Canada, there were 18,000-20,000 community gardens last year, the American Community Garden Association estimates. A Baltimore group has tracked nearly 100.

Mark Smallwood will model his community project after his own garden.

Miriam Avins, a local gardener, is working to preserve them. She used a fellowship won in 2007 from OSI-Baltimore to create a land trust called Baltimore Green Space (baltimoregreenspace.org), and it bought the Upper Fells site.

Neighbors had worked the abandoned public property between two Pratt Street rowhouses for years before they began to worry that rising property values would tempt the city to sell to a developer. There are 13 individual gardens, and those who tend them say it's been a gathering spot, a beautification project and a food source.

Garden Wall: (Baltimore Sun photo by Jed Kirschbaum / May 18, 2009) A wall separates the garden from East Pratt St. but residents of rowhouses have a bit of nature to look at.

One plot is tended by Jan Mooney and her husband Kurt Schiller, who is the garden manager. It has flowers, lettuce, black beans, herbs and other plants.

"We're big on sharing," said Schiller, as he pointed to the varied collection of flowers and food. "This is a big asset to us and the community."

Chives: (Baltimore Sun photo by Jed Kirschbaum / May 18, 2009): Chives blossom in several of the gardens.

The neighborhood began trying to buy the property in 2002, but city officials wanted $40,000. They settled for about $4,000, including taxes and transfer fees, after Avins and council members joined the cause. Avins says city officials have since had a "real change in thinking" about the benefits of gardens. Baltimore's new Office of Sustainability recently hired her to create a formal process for selling to the trust at little cost.

Beth Strommen, manager of the office, said the city has a plan to develop more "community managed open spaces" that could be a garden or other use. They also are pushing more backyard vegetable gardens and urban farms that can sell food. Together, she said, they are good for neighborhoods, the planet and the economy.

Local community gardens: (Baltimore Sun photo by Jed Kirschbaum / May 18, 2009): Salvia blossoms in the garden.

"They strengthen communities by giving them recreational space or healthy food," she said. "They are good for the environment because if they're green they're not polluting. ... And they are good for the economy because they stabilize communities and increase property values."

The city's effort is ongoing. But more immediately, officials are looking for more candidates for the trust. Avins and the local green activists group Parks and People Foundation have been documenting community managed open spaces. They've counted 93 so far, mostly on city property that Avins said could have been left to drugs, litter or ill-suited development.

"A lot of properties were simply abandoned," said Avins, who got the trust idea after the garden she started next to her home in Waverly was threatened by a developer. "Instead, they've become beautiful gardens, green spaces that raise quality of life and property values around them."

Local community gardens: (Baltimore Sun photo by Jed Kirschbaum / May 18, 2009): The garden has developed in what was a vacant lot in Upper Fells Point.

Others in and around the city are finding ways to use private property for community gardening. In Rodgers Forge, for example, Joseph Hamilton has started a blog called the (theforgefarm.blogspot.com/) Rodgers Forge Farm Initiative to account for gardens there. It also aims to hook up those with time but no space and vice versa.

In Baltimore, Smallwood calls his garden program City Fresh - borrowed from a similar program in Cleveland. The effort, he said, will create a healthier population and a more sustainable city by expanding on existing gardening and developing nascent interest.

He wants to involve church and community center kitchens for cooking lessons and food pantries. And he plans to open a cannery for preserving and teaching local teens to sell to groceries such as Whole Foods, restaurants and the public. With his employer's blessing, he then plans to repeat the process around Baltimore and other cities.

Local community gardens: (Baltimore Sun photo by Jed Kirschbaum / May 18, 2009): There are 13 gardeners who have a variety of things growing from flowers to herbs to vegetables in Upper Fells Point.

Back in his Woodberry yard, Smallwood shows off his garden filled with raised beds of vegetables and herbs. He has a greenhouse with some egg laying chickens and starter plants. There's a beehive in the back near a compost pile. There's also a rain barrel with goldfish to eat the mosquito larvae and a cat and two dogs to keep watch.

"To save space, you plant the beets and radishes together, which are the slow growing and the fast growing, and you plant the tall plants like tomatoes with anything that needs shade," he said, launching into a lecture he plans to give in his future community gardeners. He has more: on soil, on timing, on organic fertilizer, on conservation.

He explains how the food can be made into meals in his future community kitchens, and how it can be preserved as sauerkraut, pickles and preserves in the canneries he wants to open.

Wheelbarrow: (Baltimore Sun photo by Jed Kirschbaum / May 18, 2009): At the south end of the garden a rusty wheelbarrow leans on a pile of mulch.

"Anyone can do this. Get a pot and some dirt and you can grow something."

Community Gardening Resources

• Baltimore Green Space, preserves community-managed open spaces: baltimoregreenspace.org
  
  
• Baltimore City's Office of Sustainability, implements the city's sustainability plan: cleanergreenerbaltimore.org
  
  
• Civic Works' Perennial Nursery Program, offers free plants and workshops to urban community gardens: civicworks.com
  
  
• Maryland Cooperative Extension, offers expert advice and workshops by master gardeners: mastergardener.umd.edu
  
  
• Parks & People Foundation's Community Greening Resource Network, promotes community gardens: parksandpeople.org

Source: Baltimore Sun