Blog Action Day: Local Veggie Boxes

As you may or may not know, today is Blog Action Day. (thanks earthchick!) The 15 of October is a day for bloggers to all write about a very important topic: our environment.

A fair chunk of posts on Exeterra are already about the environment, but it's time for another :)

This Saturday I went with some fellow members of the Green Society to Shillingford Organics, a local organic farm on 200-something acres. We had a great time getting a tour of their low-impact methods and trying our hands at farm work. We pulled dock, harvested more winter squash than I will eat in a hundred lifetimes, and planted garlic further than the eye can see. Here are some pictures:

Martyn shows us which yummy veggies to harvest.

We planted rows of garlic (one clove every six inches) on this strip of land, which was a few hundred metres long.

At the end, Martyn gave us as many free vegetables as we could carry. I have never seen people so ecstatic over carrots.

At the end of the day, I signed up for a weekly vegetable box. Shillingford delivers to a few hundred local households and restaurants, providing them with weekly vegetables that have been harvested no more than a day or two before arriving. You really have to taste this stuff to believe it -- there are lush flavours and sweet smells that I didn't know existed. The one bad thing I will say about their veg is that once you try it, you will never be able to eat supermarket vegetables again.

Although it is not as high-profile as automobiles, electricity use, or recycling, how our food is produced is just as environmentally important. With a local veggie box program -- or some other system of community supported agriculture -- you reach a win-win-win situation.

You win because you get the best vegetables ever delivered to you. Because there is no middle-man, the prices are comparable to supermarket prices. You actually know who grows your food, and have a connection with that person.

Your community wins because you are employing local small-scale farmers. You can also meet other like-minded people if you pick up your box from a neighbourhood delivery point. In some systems, the members spend a small portion of time working at the farm -- and believe it or not, this can be quite a lot of fun.

The environment wins because organic community supported agriculture can be very low-impact. Shillingford is within walking distance from my house, so not many food miles there. The vegetables are fertilized naturally through crop rotation (no petrochemicals in this food chain), pests are controlled biologically, and the harvest is gathered by hand. The farm supports us, but not at the expense of wildlife -- ponds, hedges, and woodland are integrated into the farm design to allow for co-existence rather than compartmentalization.

Most places in the US and UK have several organic vegetables box systems available -- try Googling it; you may be surprised at what you find. Most allow a trial veggie box so you can see if you like it -- so go ahead, give it a try! If you live in Exeter, I've already put a list together.

How To: Grow Soap Nut Trees

A few months ago I wrote a review about soap nuts. These are nut husks (Sapindus spp.) coated in saponin, a natural soap. The image to the right is a grove of young adult Sapindus marginatus though the related Sapindus mukorossi is most commonly used as a detergent substitute. You can use these to wash your laundry without other detergents. The best part is that they actually work really well. I use them myself, and anyone who knows me will till you I am renowned for my subtle yet pleasing odour.

One day I found a soap nut seed amidst the husks. These are supposed to be removed from the husks, but this one made it through. My immediate thought was I must grow my own soap nut tree, and so I began to search for information about how to grow them. I could not find much information available, and what is available is geared towards commercial farmers in Asia. After 3 months, I successfully germinated some soap nuts, and now have living soap nut trees in my garden. I'm no expert at this, but I do have experience in horticulture, so I thought I would share what I've learned with you, gentle reader. These directions are based on reading guidelines given to commercial soap nut tree growers, my experience in growing soap nut trees of my own, and my horticultural experience growing other plants.

1. First you must find a seed. These can be found with the husks occasionally, but you may have to look through quite a few husks to find one. I'm sure this varies from source to source, but by my estimate about 1 seed makes it through for every 50 to 100 husks. Because you use about 5 husks per load of laundry, this means you are likely to find one every 10 to 20 washes. The seed will be charcoal black, about the size of a small grape, and stone hard. If you find the seed after it has gone through the wash, it will still be perfectly good.
2. Secondly, you must scarify the seed. Because the seed coat is so hard, the plant embryo inside cannot breakthrough the seed coat on its own. You must help it by damaging the seed coat. (The evolutionary purpose of this is to stagger the germination span over a period of months or even years, as well as dispersing them geographically so that an entire generation of seedlings cannot be wiped out in one streak of bad luck.) Nature scarifies seeds through harsh weather and by animals eating and partially digesting them. We'll have to be a little creative. One option is to use a nail file and wear down a notch in the seed coat. I found the seed coat to be so tough that sand paper and fine-grained files did not leave a mark. Another option is to hammer the seed. Be careful not to crush the seed; we just want to weaken the seed coat. I gave about a dozen hard whacks to my seed against concrete, and felt like I was weakening it, but did not see any visible change. Thirdly, you may soak it in hot water. Don't use water that is actually boiling, but it can still be very hot. I boiled a kettle, let the hot water sit for five minutes, and then filled up a vacuum-insulated thermos with the seeds and water, and let it soak for 24 hours. The thermos will keep the water quite warm throughout that period. I used all three methods (filing, hammering, soaking) and it worked ok, but I'm sure there are other good methods too. Soaking is particularly important though, as the water is what activates the germination.
3. Thirdly, you need to plant the seed. I would do this in spring or early summer in a pot either outside or in a greenhouse. Choose a pot that is deep, as soap nut trees send down vertical tap roots. If you don't have a deep pot, a 2 litre plastic bottle works well - cut off the top and drill several holes in the bottom. Bury the seed in potting soil (not dirt - use good quality potting/germinating soil) to about three times the seed's depth. Put it in a place where it will not be in direct sun, and where it can catch some rainfall. Water the pot if the soil starts to dry, but don't water if it is still moist - that can promote fungal growth. Also, avoid fertilizing the soil before germination occurs - high levels of nitrogen in the soil can actually inhibit germination in general.
   

4. Fourth, wait. Your seed may take a long time to germinate. It could be 1 month to 3 months, perhaps even more. Not all of the seeds will germinate, but if you follow these directions, you should get 80%+ to grow. Once it does begin to grow, it will shoot up fast. About 1 foot in 1 month should be about right, then it will slow down a little. Give it plenty of full sunlight, and water when soil begins to dry. The image to the right is a Sapindus mukorossi (as far as I can tell) about 3 weeks after germination. It is ready to be repotted in a larger pot.
   
5. Fifth, taking care of the tree... My trees are still very young, so I cannot provide a lot of personal experience. I will be growing mine in progressively larger pots, keeping them on a sunny patio when temperatures are above freezing and moving them indoors when it gets cold. (They may be able to cope with British/American winters, but I need to find out about that - they are mainly grown in northern India and southern China, so they may or may not be able to sustain freezing temperatures, depending on their specific biome.) They appear to be generally quite hardy and should not need a high level of care. From what I can piece together, you should start getting decent crops of soap nuts in about 10 years, but I would not be surprised if you get some significantly earlier or later than this. The tree will start off with a smooth silvery bark, which will eventually become darker and rougher. Some of the largest Sapindus trees are 75 m in height, but that would be quite unlikely out of their natural environment.
   

How To: Keeping Your Organic Garden Fertile

Often times when people find out I'm vegan, they look at me with astonishment and say, 'But how do you get any protein!? Don't you have to take special pills or injections?' The answer of course, is a laughable no. A reasonably healthy diet will provide plenty of protein without any special measures. Likewise, reasonably intelligent gardening methods will ensure your organic garden stays fertile and healthy. In fact, you can do so with little or no extra expense.

First a brief overview of plant nutrition: There are three main nutrients every plant needs: nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium (N-P-K). When you see three numbers on commercial fertilizer (like 10-10-10, or 20-5-5), these are just the percentage of N, P, and K. So 5-5-5, 10-10-10, and 20-20-20 contain the same equal proportions of N-P-K but in increasingly strong concentrations. Nitrogen is used primarily in green leafy growth. Phosphorous is used mostly in root growth. Potassium is used primarily in fruit formation. Non-organic fertilizers provide an abundance of N-P-K, but there are a few problems: the nutrients leach away quickly, and go into the groundwater. Furthermore, a strict N-P-K diet is a little like a diet of sugar and vitamins - it will keep you alive and growing, but it is essentially junk food. There are many dozens of other nutrients and symbiotic micro-organisms that make plants healthier and more robust. Organic fertilizer sticks around longer instead of leaching away with the rain, and it provides those extra trace nutrients and micro-organisms that growing plants need.

I'll provide three levels of effort in terms of fertilization: Easiest, Easier, and Easy. If you are a serious gardener, you'll want to do all three. Each of these methods provide a good, well-balanced mix of N-P-K, so you don't have to worry about using too much of one nutrient. Don't use much fertilizer on baby plants or seeds, as this can be harmful to them.

Easiest: Liquid fertilizers can soak into the soil quickly, providing a boost to established plants. Liquid fertilizers are all around you: old coffee and old tea are some of the most readily available. Just dilute with water and spread around the base of your plants. Here's what I do: I take all my households' tea bags (about 20 a week), tear each of them into two pieces, and dump them in a large watering can. This gets all the leafy bits inside to mix around with the water in the watering can. Every Saturday I empty the tea-filled watering can on my tomatoes and corn, and it works beautifully. You can also water ('tea') your houseplants this way.

Easier: Start composting. Take all your garden waste and stick it in one pile. You can use an enclosed plastic bin, an open wooden structure (easy to make with old pallets), or just leave it loose. If you are using an enclosed plastic bin, you can stick food waste in there as well as the garden waste. Turn the mix every month or so with a shovel/spade/digging fork. After 6 to 12 months, you'll have beautifully rich topsoil. Dig it into your garden in the off-season, and the nutrients will last all year. Supplement with liquid fertilizers for extra hungry plants like corn.

Easy: Get a Wormery! This is a special bin that holds tiger worms (aka red wrigglers). You just dump your food waste in the sealed bin (any food waste - veggies, fruit, meat - even bones), and the worms eat it. The liquid waste the worms leave behind is called castings, and these drain down to the bottom of the bin, where there is a tap. Turn the tap, and the liquid castings drain out the bottom. These castings are chock full of every trace nutrient and micro-organism a plant could want - very powerful stuff. I bottle these castings in 2 litre bottles throughout the year, and use them in the growing season. Every week or two in June, July, and August, I take 1 litre of worm castings, dilute it in water 1 to 10, and our this mix around the base of my plants. They love it. When the wormery gets full (about once a year) and the contents resemble top soil, empty the contents into a wheelbarrow and mix it into the rest of your garden (best done in November when the growing season ends). This adds plenty of organic material which improves the overall condition of the soil. Make sure at least a few worms are still in the wormery and start the process all over again. The great thing about this system is that it also eliminates your food waste from going into a landfill - which typically comprises 1/3 of all landfill waste.

There are plenty of other fertilizing methods. The fine people at Shillingford Organics use a nettle tea system (basically nettle plants rotting in water) to fertilize all their poly-tunnel plants, and they produce the best vegetables I've ever had (better than mine!) - and they manage to feed a few hundreds local households this way. Comfrey and seaweed also work well in this method. I also compost my pet rabbits' litter waste (shredded paper and rabbit droppings) which is odourless. In the late autumn, I put my bunnies in the garden, and they eat all the old plants to the ground, 'fertilizing' as they eat. Growing beans, clover, or other legumes boosts nitrogen in the soil. You can usually get free compost from your local government. You can also be lame and just buy compost or other organic fertilizers. There is no limit to the methods creative organic gardeners can use to keep their soil not only fertile, but healthy as well.

Maters!

It has been a good while since I've done a gardening post, so I figured it was about time. Since my tomatoes are starting to fruit, I thought I would cover them. Although I'm growing a few standard boring ol' regular varieties, the heirlooms are my pride.



Brandywine Tomato
Solanum lycopersicum

When Plato theorized his conceptions of the Forms - that is the blueprints of perfection which earthly particulars aspire to - surely he was thinking of the Brandywine Tomato as the perfect Form for all lesser tomatoes. Well, he would have if the Brandywine had been around then. Brandywines simply outperform every other tomato in terms of taste. The only bad thing about Brandywines is that once you try them, you may just find supermarket tomatoes too mealy and watery to be edible. I can't wait for this year's crop to be ready, they just go so well with my heirloom lettuces.

---

Yellow Perfection
Solanum lycopersicum

Ok, I've yet to taste any of these little yellow babies yet, but the plants look gorgeous so far, and other yellow varieties have been quite good. Don't those 'maters just look delectable? Yellow tomatoes have less acidity than red ones, which is either a good or a bad thing depending on your preferences. I think the yellow and red colour contrast is especially nice in salsas, sandwiches, and salads.

---

On Sunday, I'll write an additional gardening post about keeping your organic vegetables well fertilized. Veggies like tomatoes and corn can get quite hungry and need to be fertilized, but thankfully you can do this organically (and for free!) with household waste products. Look for a How To post on Sunday.

Weekend WWOOFing

I'll be spending this Saturday and Sunday at Shillingford Organics, an organic farm just on the edge of Exeter. Based on taste, they are one of the best in the region. I'll be going with some of the other organic campus allotment people in a WWOOF-type setup. Should be fun!

Elderberries

So I was walking through campus when I found some interesting looking bushes. The leaves resembled most fruit trees (narrow along the length, pointed at the tip, and folded along the vein, and finely serrated along the edges), so I looked a bit more closely. I noticed small clusters of flowers, with five petals per flower... that means elderberries! I checked online to confirm, and yes, I have found dozens of elderberry bushes on campus.

This summer should be full of free, wild fruit. My list of fruit trees on nearby public land includes:

• Dozens of elderberry bushes
• Countless blackberry brambles
  
• 20 apple trees
• 6 fig trees
• 2 cherry trees
• 1 mulberry tree
  

I'll need to polish up my wine fermenters and jam jars! I may even make pie...

Campus Gardening

Alright, it seems like it has been forever since I've written a gardening post. So, I've got a lot to update you about.

If you remember, the Green Society held a Green Fair in April (which was a huge success, by the way). At the Fair, a few students expressed interest about the possibility of having a student allotment on campus (US translation: "allotment" = "garden owned by an institution, but given to residents/citizens to use as they wish"). Within a few days, we had received permission from the university to begin digging in a field on the edge of campus. Although the whole field is several acres, we're just using a corner of it. Still, our corner is 2,700 sq ft, which is a big corner, as far as corners go. This is a picture of our corner from the top:


And this is the same land but from the bottom:


Ok, ok, I know that's pretty boring. But these photos are about a month old, and since that time, five of us have dug up, by hand, about a third of it. This Saturday we planted the Three Sisters (corn, climbing beans/peas, and squash), as well as tomatoes, beetroot, and dwarf french beans. Last week, we planted kale, lettuce, peppers, and more tomatoes. The space we have planted so far will be communal, meaning we all work it and all share the harvest. The remaining 2/3 of our land will be split up between us in individual plots where we can grow what we like and maintain it ourselves. We're all very excited about it! In the next few weeks I'll try to get some pictures of what it looks like once dug an planted. Good stuff!

It's a great area as far as wildlife is concerned. Yesterday, we saw two pheasants, a hen and a cockerel, treading through the high grass about a hundred feet from our garden. Last week we heard the cockerel calling non-stop (pheasants are very loud), but this week he was pretty quiet. There are also two badger setts and many rabbit warrnes in the nearby trees. Hedgehogs and foxes are bound to be around too, but I've not yet seen any.

Slugfest

Two nights ago, we had the first hard rain in about six weeks. During that time, hundreds of mauraders raided my garden, causing dozens of casualties. The Endive, being the first rank in my phalanx of greens, took the hardest hit, but being tough, all survived -- barely. The Coleus would not be so lucky, and the tomatoes.... well, we can only hope. The enemy:




Slugs. Hundreds of slugs, some half a foot long. And snails. Snails the size of golfballs. Last night, I launched a counter attack, and with crankable flashlight in hand, descended upon my quarry like a wolf amongst lambs (slimy, very slow lambs.) I captured over a hundred of the beasts in three forays throughout the night. (blog reader: "Chris, I thought you were really busy. Did you really have time for that?" Me: "Shhh!") I contained them in jars and relocated them to places with barriers from which they cannot return, such as the other side of the row houses. I also encountered unexpected help from some allies.
I found three common frogs were patrolling the garden: one keeping watch over the strawberry patch, and two more executing what appeared to be a pincher attack between the compost bin and the brick wall.

I'll keep patrolling when it rains, and move the little slimy beasts to slug-reservations, and although the threat will always be present, hopefully my greens will be able to prosper through the calmer nights.

The Three Sisters

Our next installment in the gardening series focuses on what many native Americans called The Three Sisters. Those are, of course, corn, beans and squash. These three plants not only make a mean Thanksgiving meal, they also benefit each other by growing next to each other. The corn stalks act as poles for the beans to climb. The beans, being legumes, add nitrogen to the soil instead of removing it, which helps feed the corn and the squash. The squash's large leaves spread out to cover the bare soil around the corn plants, which keeps the soil from drying out and also prevents weeds from growing, helping both the corn and the beans.



Mandan Red Corn
Zea mays

Yes, I will probably be the only person in Exeter trying to grow corn in my very small (by US standards) English garden. But with corn like this, who could resist? It's deep red hue calls to me, begging to be germinated. This particular variety is the traditional corn grown by the Mandan Indians of North Dakota. The stalks only grow to 4 or 5 feet, which will help it stay upright in the windy weather. I'm not sure what I'll actually do with it once I've grown it. Some will be eaten fresh, but much will be dried. I might try making some red corn meal out of it. Red corn bread would be pretty cool.

---

Black Seeded Blue Lake Pole Beans
Phaseolous vulgaris

These are some of the best green beans I've had, and have done excellently both in Georgia and England. They climb from 6 to 8 feet, and are very prolific. They grow faster than we can eat them. Fortunately, if not eaten fresh, great dried black beans mature inside the pods.

---

Delicata Squash
Cucurbita pepo

Many of the readers of this blog may remember eating this particular squash at Thanksgiving '06, roasted, hollowed out, and stuffed with wild rice. Although asking "what is your favourite winter squash?" is a bit like asking "which one of your children do you love more?" I would say this one is up there. And Butternut. And Acorn. And Winter Dumpling. But especially Delicata.

---

Paint Dry Bean
Phaseolous vulgaris

"Wait, you said three sisters, not six!" Yes, I know. I won't actually be planting these next three kinds of beans with the corn or the squash, but I had to fit them in somewhere. Anyway, they are not climbing varieties, so they would get shaded out by the corn. I'll plant these Paint variety of beans in amongst the lettuces, to boost the fertility, and to keep a good pollination distance from the Blue Lakes above (I save the seeds for replanting.)

---

Pawnee Shell Bean
Phaseolous vulgaris

Another non-climber, and beautifully speckled. Probably the most productive of the three non-climbing beans. These would be very pretty in jewelry, if one were into that kind of thing. Me, I think I'll just eat them. They keep their patterning when cooked, and so look very decorative in soups. I'll grow these in the front yard to avoid cross polination with the others.

---

Jacob's Cattle Bean
Phaseolous vulgaris

Probably my favourite dry bean of all time, but not as productive as the others. It's very tempting to add play-doh horns and tails to them. I'll be growing these on the roof of my office building to avoid cross-pollination with the other bean varieties. Unfortunately, they lose their patterning when cooked. Perhaps their best use is in a diorama of a cattle drive.

---

Lettuce All Start Gardening

Spring is upon us. Except for the snow we got yesterday and the blizzards across the whole of the UK (Scotland got gusts of wind up to 107 mph). But the week before was very Springy and the week after is supposed to be as well. This can only mean one thing: it's time to get gardening. Last week I began germinating many varieties of vegetables and herbs. Now most are up and reaching towards the sky (or in this case, the flourescent lighting in the kitchen.) I've still got six weeks until I can plant out, and much needs to be done in preparation before then. I'll be in Michigan for most of that time, so what shall I do? I'll make the bunnies do the work.

Our backyard is segmented into two sections, separated by chickenwire: one of grass lawn and the other of garden. The idea was that the bunnies could keep the grass lawn in check, and the garden would be safe from the rabbits. It worked beautifully in the summer, but now they have munched the lawn down to about 1/4 of an inch, and it is now mostly moss (but pretty moss.) The "garden" is just grass with a few remaining strawberry and turnip plants. So for the past two weeks I've kept the bunnies only on the garden side, and they have done a great job of trimming the grass down from about 6 inches to about 3. By mid-April they should eat the grass down to the ground, all the time "fertilizing" the ground as they munch (and they're really good at pooing. Sometimes they do it just to show off.) When it is time to plant, I'll have a big patch of nearly-bare pre-fertilized earth, and hopefully the lawn will have had enough of a rest for the bunnies to return to grazing it again. That's the plan at least. Here are Chockas (left) and Connie (right) munching down on the "garden."




As I continue to work on my garden, I'll create short plant profiles to post here because I just know you want to hear all about what kinds of vegetables are going into this year's garden. These aren't just any old vegetables, either. All are organic, and most are very old heirloom varieties. Many were developed in 18th and 19th centuries, and some are medieval in origin. I'll present them by category, my dear reader, so as not to overwhelm you with too many vegetables at once. This week, we'll take a look at one of our most misunderstood set of vegetables: the leafy greens.



Forellenschluss Lettuce
Lactuca sativa

This will be my first time trying Forellenschluss, which is a romaine-type lettuce of Austrian origin. The name means "spotted like a trout's back" in German. I've actually seen this variety in some of the pre-made salad mixes in groceries, and it's quite tasty. So far, these were my most lively germinators, putting up green in less than 48 hours after being sown.

---

Bronze Arrow Lettuce
Lactuca sativa

Bronze arrow is also a new variety. It's a loose-leaf variety, so I can just take a few leaves from the base when's it's time for a sandwich or a salad, leaving the plant intact. As you may be able to tell, I really like the darker lettuces that have shades of red, deep green, and sienna.

---

Four Seasons Lettuce
Lactuca sativa

This is, without a doubt, my favourite lettuce of all time. It always grows perkily, and tastes like sweet buttery velvet. In fact, it is a member of a family of lettuces aptly called butterheads. Last year, when I grew quite a bunch of this, I would make lettuce sandwiches with Four Seasons: two toasted slices of multi-grain bread, margarine, tomato puree, yeast pâté, lots of hotsauce, and about 20 layers of lettuce. It was soooo tasty and after eating it I could practically hear the nutrients and antioxidents fizzing away.

---

Red Deer Tongue Lettuce
Lactuca sativa

This one is one of the oldest lettuces, popular throughout medieval Europe, but new to me. Again, this is another looseleaf variety, so I can just harvest leaves as needed without damaging the plant by cutting the entire head. I've wanted to try this kind for many years.

---

Maraichère Frisée Très Fin Endive
Cirhorium endivia

Ok, so I had to have one leafy-green that was actually green and not mostly red. Endive can be quite nice, but on its own is a bit bitter. On a sandwich, or in a salad mix, it makes a nice contrast in shape and texture, and the bitterness is just right. The cool climate here should help keep it from going over-bitter, as it often did in Georgia. Just don't ask me to pronounce the full name.

---

Red Oak Leaf Lettuce
Lactuca sativa

A classic that has done very well for me both in Georgia and in England. Lettuces typically don't do well in the heat (like in Georgia). In the hot summers they become bitter, tough, and go to seed. England, on the other hand, is about the best climate for lettuce imaginable. The only problem is that the best climate for lettuce (cool and moist) is also the best climate for snails and slugs. And slugs love lettuce. Fortunately, Red Oak Leaf is fairly slug resistant. It is not, however, Chris resistant.

---

Red Russian Kale
Brassica napus

Ah, kale. The curly kind is often used as decorative greenery for the food at all-you-can-eat buffet restaurants. Little do most people know that the kale is often tastier than the food it surrounds. I've had much success with this variety in Georgia, and after being steamed it simply melts in the mouth. It is a favourite of slugs, so I'll have to watch over this one carefully. Last year's planting was mostly devoured by these critters before it was ready. An interesting fact about kale: it is the only plant that can grow leaves out of its leaves without the use of a stem. Really, leaves will just grow out of others at 90 degree angles. You can actually see a tiny, thin, light green one in this picture, just to the left of centre, growing near the red mid-rib.

---