Fall Planting: Garlic

One of the things that I love about gardening is that it never ends. Even as fall approaches and we start seeing some of our plants dying we can still start preparing for next years harvest. Gardening teaches us about planning for the future, and not getting everything we want now. It shows us what our hard work, and natures gifts can bring. Gardening is a hobby of hope, building on the failures of past, anticipating the harvest of the future. Gardeners always look forward, not forgetting the past, but seeing the past as a stepping stone to future abundance.

Winter is on the horizon here in Utah but it is still a good time to prepare for next year. Start thinking about what you want to grow. I am excited for Marisa and I to get a property (which I think will happen soon) and the first thing I will plant this fall is garlic. I just ordered my garlic bulbs from the seed savers exchange.

You can plant garlic in the spring but if you want bigger better garlic, it is normally better to plant them in the fall. The best time is between September 15th to November 30th while the soil temperature is around 60 degrees F. Most of you still have some time before you buy your garlic seed bulbs and plant them but it is not a bad idea to prepare the soil now.

Garlic is pretty hardy, but you can improve your chance of success by preparing the soil and choosing the right spot to plant. Find an area in your garden that gets plenty of sun, with soil that is not too damp. Till your soil now, add some of the compost from your compost heap, and work it in. Most areas are still warm enough where the soil will have a chance to break down the compost even further, getting it ready to nourish your garlic as it springs to life next year.

Most places that provide garlic seed (which are just cloves of garlic prepared for planting) will provide you with instructions on how much room to give each clove and how deep to plant them. If you are interested in companion planting you can plant garlic next to beets, cabbage, and lettuce as it is said to improve the flavor of beets and it is a natural pesticide for aphids and other pests that threaten lettuce. Keep garlic away from potatoes, peas. and legumes.

We will post next year on when and how to harvest garlic. In the meantime start planning all of the wonderful meals you will eat with garlic to accentuate your fresh vegetables.

Enjoy

We're so busy watching out for what's just ahead of us that we don't take time to enjoy where we are.

-Bill Watterson

How to Raise Kids Awareness to the Benefits of Healthy Foods

Earlier this summer I went on a road trip with my three oldest children to Grand Forks North Dakota. While we were there we went to the famous Whitey's to eat (get the fresh Walleye). For their appetizer they serve a liver pate with crackers and fresh vegetables. My kids did not want to have anything to do with the pate but they downed the plate of fresh veggies like it was going out of style. My Brother's were amazed at how fast they ate the veggies and that they chose them over crackers and bread. I was pleased to say the least.

Don't get me wrong, my kids would sell me up the river for a Starburst or a Tootsie Pop but in general they are open to healthy foods. I have often wondered what things parents can do to inspire the next generation to eat right. I have a few ideas on what has worked for us.

Let them garden: In my opinion, if you want your kids to eat and like veggies, they need to help you in the garden. My children are much more inclined to eat veggies that they know they have grown. At times Mason has said that he doesn't want anything, but if we point out that it came from the garden, then he is all in.

Give them healthy choices: We always have fresh fruit and veggies and the kids can eat them for a "healthy snack" when they need something to tide them over until dinner. Their favorites are apples, jicama, and raw beets.

Set an example: Kids do what their parents do. If you eat healthy then they will follow. Children have a strong sense of hypocrisy and they watch to see what you are doing. I try to hide my diet soda vice from them for this reason but they know better.


Along these lines Jamie Oliver has a new challenge on openIDEO. Watch the video to get a feel about the challenge but he wants people to present ideas on how to help children eat healthier. Comment on this post on what you do to help kids eat healthy and then go to this link to submit your ideas in his contest.

Real Simple Egg Freshness Test

Test eggs’ freshness. Unsure how long that carton has been sitting in the back of the refrigerator? Simply drop each egg into a bowl of water. If it lies on its side on the bottom, it’s fresh. If it stands on end, use it within a couple of days. Eggs that float to the top should be tossed on the spot. 

from realsimple

Raw Milk Consumers Win Round One

Judge Refuses to Dismiss Challenge to FDA’s Interstate Ban on Raw Milk

Falls Church, Virginia (August 20, 2010) -  In a complex federal district court ruling, Judge Mark W. Bennett refused to grant a motion by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to dismiss a lawsuit filed against the agency by the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund (FTCLDF) and eight other named plaintiffs.  The lawsuit argues that federal regulations (21 CFR 1240.61 and 21 CFR 131.10) prohibiting raw milk for human consumption in interstate commerce are unconstitutional as applied to FTCLDF’s members and the other plaintiffs named in the suit.

In his August 18 decision, Judge Bennett denied part of FDA’s motion to dismiss while reserving judgment on the remainder.  As part of his ruling, the judge ordered proceedings in the case to be stayed sixty days to allow plaintiffs time to decide whether to file a ‘citizen petition’ with FDA.  The petition would ask FDA to clarify its interpretation of the authorizing statutes and regulations giving the agency power to ban raw milk for human consumption in interstate commerce.  If plaintiffs choose to file the citizen petition, the court would continue to delay the suit until the administrative proceedings were completed or until FDA failed to take action within the time the law requires.  If plaintiffs declined to pursue the citizen petition, Judge Bennett indicated the court would reconsider FDA’s motion to dismiss.

In Judge Bennett’s view, the main question FDA needs to answer in the petition process is “whether § 1240.61 applies to and proscribes the conduct of (1) persons who travel from one state, where it is not legal to purchase raw milk, to another state, where it is legal to purchase raw milk, legally purchase raw milk, then return to the original state where they consume the raw milk themselves or give it to their friends or family members; or (2) a principal and agent who agree that the agent will obtain raw milk out-of-state, where it is legal to do so, and to deliver it to the principal in the principal’s home state, where sales of raw milk are not permitted; or (3) a producer of raw milk who sells raw milk in an intrastate transaction to persons that he knows are from out of state.” 

All of the individually named plaintiffs in the lawsuit fit into one of the three scenarios described above.  Section 1240.61 provides in part, “No person shall cause to be delivered into interstate commerce or shall sell, or otherwise distribute, or hold for sale or other distribution after shipment in interstate commerce any milk or milk product in final package form for direct human consumption unless the product has been pasteurized….” 

Judge Bennett sees the citizen petition as a way to resolve the question of “whether the plaintiff’s conduct involves or affects ‘interstate commerce’ sufficiently to fall within the proscriptions of § 1240.61, and, still more specifically, whether the plaintiffs’ conduct constitutes ‘delivery [of raw dairy products] into interstate commerce’ or ‘distribution’ of raw dairy products after shipment in interstate commerce.”

Plaintiffs have survived the first round in the case.  They have until October 18 to determine what their next course of action will be.

The Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund defends the rights and broadens the freedoms of family farms and protects consumer access to raw milk and nutrient-dense foods.

Concerned consumers can support the Fund, a U.S. based 501(c)(4) nonprofit, by joining or donating online at www.farmtoconsumer.org or by calling 703-208-FARM(3276).

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For more information call 703-208-3276 or email president@farmtoconsumer.org

The press release is posted on the Fund's website at:
http://www.ftcldf.org/press/press-FDA-lawsuit-round-one.htm

Feeding Fiasco

Hey mom, did you see who grabbed my spoon and thinks they are going to feed me?

Yeah, Mason, the kid that can't even remember to flush the toilet,

The one that calls me "Big Fella",
The one that thinks he is going to be a Power Ranger when he grows up,
The kid that is ONLY FOUR YEARS OLD!

I guess I will give this a try.

Not bad, I think he's got it.

Look what he's done to my face!

Mom, you seriously are going to let this continue?

Check out this ridiculous face he is making!

You are just going to stand there taking pictures the entire time?

You don't need to put the spoon in my esophagus.

Only one of us is enjoying this!

OK, now I'm just getting mad.

What do you mean say ahhh? I just need to open my mouth.

HELP!

Can we be done here?

Nothing like a full belly, no matter how the job gets done!

For just a few dollars, you too can be a farmer...

I am in serious farm dreaming mode lately.  I don't know why but every once in a while my desire for some land and some animals becomes an acute ache.  But since I am firmly embedded in suburbia for now and unable to have more the 6 hens(which I have), I go down the street to Thanksgiving Point's Farm Country and talk to the cows, ride in trailers pulled by retired farmers, and feed the ridiculously cute goats.  It helps for a while but like any unnatural stimulant, I crash after-wards and want a farm more than ever.  I listen to Dolly Parton, peruse rural real estate, and plan future orchard placement and animal housing.  Oh well, I'm addicted.  Someday I'll have the real deal.

 ~megan