It’s Offical: Supermarket Produce = LOLZ

But is Organic any better?

Although far from the first study on the nutritional value of supermarket produce, Time just posted an article about a report in the Journal of HortScience that claims supermarket veggies are “5% to 40% lower in minerals (including magnesium, iron, calcium and zinc) than those harvested just 50 years ago.”

 

A quote from the article says:

“Less studied, though, is the “genetic dillution effect,” in which selective breeding to increase crop yield has led to declines in protein, amino acids, and as many as six minerals in one study of commercial broccoli grown in 1996 and ‘97 in South Carolina. Because nearly 90% of dry matter is carbohydrates, “when breeders select for high yield, they are, in effect, selecting mostly for high carbohydrate with no assurance that dozens of other nutrients and thousands of phytochemicals will all increase in proportion to yield..

 Nestled at the end of the article, the author suggests buying Organic produce instead. While I think this is a good idea, in some ways, what is not pointed out is that, more often than not, the same hybrids that have been ‘genetically diluted’ through selective breeding on non-organic farms are grown on organic farms as well.

 Organic farms also regularly harvest vegetables prematurely for longer shipping and shelf life, just like non-organic farms. There may be something to be said that a wider range of nutrients are present in organic soil, but that’s not the main culprit here from what I understand.

 This is why it’s so important to preserve and grow Heirloom vegetables!

Keeping Seeds Warm

As I mentioned in a previous post, it’s important to keep your germinating seeds (for plants sown indoors early) at the right temperature to optimize your germination rate. The ideal range for the majority of vegetable plants in 75-85 degrees.  If you are a good person who cares for the world you live in (and you are, right?), you have no excuse to keep your house a 85 degrees in the winter just for a few flats of vegetable seedlings. This would be dumb, k? K.

Still, the plants would appreciate the tosty-ness, so there’s a few different ways of achieving this-

1. Heat mats-

   Although they work great, I view these as impractical because of the cost. I’ll have several flats of seeds germinating at a time, so at $20ish dollars per mat, having a mat per flat (that rhymes!) would cost too much. You can control the temperature by thermostat, which is nice, but not a necessity. Being an electric heat source, it’s not the most efficient or sustainable either.

2. Make a “Seed Oven”

    There’s likely a real name or something for this, but I don’t know it, so I guess we’ll let “seed oven” suffice for now. The basic idea is a box with a heat source that you can place your seed tray in. Here’s mine, it a little, well….makeshift, being thrown together by scraps of whatever recyclablerific item I could locate…Here’s the basic idea

   I used the bottom-most plastic shelf on my rack of gro-lights, which is basically a set of plastic shelves from Lowes or someplace. The top is covered with plywood, and a thick-ish blanket graces the front. I bolted some pieces of wood across the side post for extra shelf support, and I used some sheet metal from the barn to cover the bottom shelf…

 

….and at the bottom sits a concrete block (for fire hazard protection or whatever) with a red-painted lightbulb in a simple fixture wired in place to hold it up.

  The idea is the lightbulb warms the bottom shelf, which warms the whole box, which in turn warms the soil your seeds are in. It’s around 82F in there now.

 A setup like this is ideal if your seed flats are numerous and in an unheated building like a potting shed or something. It’s still an electric source of heat, so not the most efficient, but it’s cheap and it works. You can change the temperature by using different wattages of incandescent bulbs.

 -HOWEVER-

  The easiest and best seed warming implement for most of you guys might very well be the top of your…

   3. Refridgerator! It stays pretty warm up there, depending on the temperature of your house. Stick a thermometer on top and see what you get.

 A bit cold for my purposes, but for early spring, when the world warms a bit, it might be better. There’s also the issue of having to clean potting soil of your fridge rather frequently.

 

  Keep in mind some vegetable seeds like it colder. Like Celery and a few others. But most seem to do best at that 70-85 F range. Here’s an awesome resource that lists minimum, maximum and otpimun temperatures for vegetable plants- http://www.seedman.com/veggerm.htm

Varieties I’m Excited About for My ’09 Garden.

Of all the seeds I’ll be planting this year, I’m most excited about the following!

“Flashy Trout Black” Lettuce-

  Okaaay..will someone  tell me what is up with this name? Flashy Black Trout? Lettuce? What?

 Anyway, this is a real funky looking lettuce, although I’m not sure that it looks like a trout. I planted some today at Luther’s farm. It’s a green butterhead lettuce with….spots. Pretty little red spots all over the leaf. Really pretty, actually. I hope it tastes good too.

“Emu” spinach

  I’ve all but given up on growing spinach, with Louisiana’s short springs and long, hot summers. But  this slow bolting spinach variety looks like a winner. Just offered by Johnny’s Selected Seeds. It’s said to be a quick grower as well. I’ll be giving this one a try. Who comes up with these names, by the way?

“Bush Baby” Zucchini

   I usually pick my zucchini small, at least when they don’t get away from me. One or two always manages to hide and get 1,000 feet long in a couple of days. This variety is market as a “true miniature’, so I’m assuming they won’t get as long before starting to change color. I Wonder if the plants are smaller too? This one is going in my garden this spring.

Petit Gris De Rennes Melon

   This is an ooold variety. Grown by some French Bishop dude in the 17^th century. The Bishop of Rennes, hence the name. So far, my experience with small French melons has been pretty positive. So I’m excited to try this variety as well. 

“Buttercream” Sunflower

    Judging from the picture, this is most beautiful sunflower I’ve ever seen. Me wants.

 “White Lightning” Eggplant

   Available at TomatoGrowers.com- I don’t remember seeing this one in last year’s catalog, but it looks interesting. The only white eggplant I’ve grown is “Casper”, and the fruits are kinda small. A big white eggplant? Hmm.

 Red Choi

    Not much of a Pak Choi fan myself, but these maroon-tinged leaves sure look pretty.

Balloon Pepper

    WEIRD!

6 Seed Starting Tips

  It’s that time of year now! For some of us, at least. Time for seed starting! Huzzah!

 There’s something so awesome about nurturing a plant from seed to harvest, that I never buy plants anymore, if I can help it.

  But starting seeds can be a frustrating and sometimes fruitless task, so I’ve put together a few tips to make the whole thing easier and more likely to produce good results…

 Get The Right Trays-

    Recycling rocks! I think it grand when I hear of people using soda cans, milk jugs, newspaper, and other creative ways to make their own pots- and I used to be among them. I’ve spent [wasted] more time rolling newspaper pots than I’d like to consider. Probably made a thousand of the things; but when you come down to it, having nice dimensional seed starting trays with individual cells is sooo much nicer. 

    A friend of mine has turned me on to 200+ cell trays, like this one. They are very helpful in several ways-

•   They make very efficient use of space, especially for seeds that are less than easy to germinate. Drop one seed per cell, and even if only half come up, you don’t have your greenhouse or window or whatever overcrowded with flats or pots filled with seeds that never germinate.
•  They water easily from the bottom, They only need to stay in a shallow pan of water for a little bit before soaking up enough water. You can water quickly this way without worrying about displacing the seeds or beating up young seedlings
•   It makes transplanting a snap, just pull the plug out by the stem of the plant. You don’t have to worry about it messing up the neighboring plants’ root system.

 There are disadvantages, of course. For one, you have to transplant them fairly quickly, since the cells are small and shallow and the plant become rootbound in no time….Also….well….maybe that’s the only disadvantage!

  Afterwards, you can transplant into regular 3-pack seedling containers. Like what your tomato plants from the garden center come in. You can usually pick up a slew of them on ebay for a very cheap price usually.

 Speaking of Watering From The Bottom- this is also a helpful tip. Watering seeds or seedlings from the top via a watering can or even a spray bottle can displace dirt, or beat down the leaves, which can potentially stress or even break the young plant. Not to mention it takes a few gazillion pumps of a spray bottle to adequately water a tray. Shallow trays can be watered from the bottom up by simply placing the tray (as long as it has drainage holes) in a container full of water. A plastic tub big enough to fit stardard sized trays can be picked up from a store like Dollar General or Wal-Mart inexpensively. The process can be sped along with already-sprouted plants by tilting the tray in the water and letting it run over the top

Get The Right Seed Starting Mix, Then Mod it Out

   I’ve personally given up on soil-based seed starting mixes, at least for the present. I used to mix compost, garden soil, and liberal quantities of vermiculite, but I decided the results weren’t worth the effort of mixing it and started buying soiless commercial stuff. Not that it can’t be done, and you can save money, and you certainly don’t have to listen to the crap about heating the soil in the oven to ‘sterilize it’. Give me a flippin’ break.

   Most soiless mixes I don’t like very much. Usually the peat is not fine enough, and perlite is obnoxious (those hard white pieces), and it dries out way to fast. I personally like Redi-Earth. Good product overall, stays wet much longer than most others.

   However, like all soiless mixes it has no nutrient value for the plant. Plant don’t start needing nutrients until they get their first true leaves, but you’re going to probably keep your seedlings in pots until long after that, so you need to mod out your starting mix with elite fertilizer products! Especailly nitrogen-rich ones that won’t “burn” the youn plant. Here’s a few ideas-

•  Compost
•  Driend cow manure
•  Pelletized chicken manure (this stuff rocks hard)
•  Kelp Meal
•  Feather Meal
•  Blood and Bone Meal

 Using Worm Castings in the Mix

   Worm castings are actually known to increase the germination rate of seeds when included in the mixture. I have heard that 20% (or one part casting, four parts everything else) worm castings in your seed starting mix is best. Worm casting can be hard to come by if you don’t have a worm bin. I do [nah nah!]. If you don’t, you may want to look into making one or buying one- it’s a great way to make your compost all that more extraordinary! I frequently include worm castings in my mix, and while I haven’t done any scientific controlled studies in a lab coat, it does seem to do the trick nicely.

Keeping an Optimum Temperature

 Different types of seed germinate better under different ranges of temperatures, some of them being quite high. Most seed packets have this information, or it can easily be found online. I really recommend hopping over to Johnny’s Seed and requesting a catalog. Each type of vegetable in it has a chart that shows the optimum germination temperatures. Some are suprising- for instance, cabbage is shown to have an peak germination at 86 degrees F. And cabbage is a cool weather crop!

  Paying attention to temperature is important. Heat mats are sold in all garden supply stores or catalogs, and they work well, but they are an investment, especially if you need to heat multiple flats. Other homemade solutions work as well, such as a little ‘seed oven’ box that’s heated by a lightbulb or heat lamb. More on this in a future post.

Get a Hand Sower

Small seed can be a pain to sow individually. Lettuce, broccolli, leeks, all tiny seeds that make life difficult..

Heirloom Acres Seeds sells a hand ‘Dail-A-Seed’ sower for a couple of bucks. It works amazingly well. You turn the dial to adjust the gate for different seed sizes, and holding the thing flat in your hand you tap it with your index finger, and the seeds come out through the spout. There’s a trick to using it, and it takes a little practice, but in the end it’s just as good as a professional vibrating hand seeder.

  Anyway, I thought I’d throw this few tips together that have helped me in my seed starting journeys. Hopefully they’ll help you!

 

Fava Beans For Food And Good Luck!

 

  New Orleans, my hometown (sort of), is one of the few places in the U.S. where St. Joseph’s day is celebrated in a big way. The tradition was brought over in the late 1800s by Sicilian immigrants, among whom were my great grandparents.

  At one time in the Middle Ages, there was a severe drought in Sicily, during which the only crop to survive was the fava bean, which was previously considered animal feed. Out of desperation, the fava bean became invaluable as a source of protein to the starving population. During this time, the people all prayed to St. Joseph that the drought would end and rains would come. The rains did come, and the famine ended, and the holiday known as St. Joseph’s day was born, when, among other things, Fava beans are always placed on the St. Joseph’s Day altar.

  My grandma always used to carry a fava bean in her purse. Fava beans from a St. Joseph’s day altar are supposed to bring good luck. A person who carries a fava bean on them will never go without the basic necessities of life.

Growing Fava

 As a plant, Fava has a unique look in the garden, more like a pea plant than a bean plant, but with large squareish stems and pretty white flowers with dark streaks …it definitely stands out! It’s a bushy plant, growing to about 2 and half feet tall- or higher, depending on conditions.

Planting

 Fava beans are also a delicious food crop that can be planted now in many parts of the U.S. In the Gulf South they can survive throughout the winter depending on temperatures.

  A cold season legume, it’s cold hardy to- reportedly- 15 degrees F. Pretty impressive for a legume.

 Time of planting really depends on where you live. Many parts of the U.S. can get away with a fall sowing of fava, while others need to wait till spring. Even though it can technically survive periods of cold temperatures, it would do any growing or producing if the temperature is consistently dipping below freezing. So here’s what you do. Fava is a 60 day crop (although lets say 75 to be safe), right? So grab a calendar, count 75 days forward, and see what the average temperatures are on weather.com’s monthly view. If you occasionally dip into freezing temperatures, but stay relatively warm during the day time- give it a shot. If not, then you had better wait till spring, just don’t wait too long, as they dislike intense heat as well.

Space them a little farther apart than regular bush beans. Around 8 inches in a row or 1 per square foot in beds.

Care

Fava is fairly simple to grow, not requiring any nitrogen fertilization as it supplies it’s own. Adding more will discourge the plant from flowering. If your soil is less then perfect, you can sprinkle some Organic Sulfate of Potash and Soft Rock Phosphate, but I really wouldn’t bother.

No severe pests reported either, nothing that an occasional Garlic Spray wouldn’t prevent.

Havesting

 Fava Beans can be harvested at three different stages.

• Very small pods (like 2 inches or so) can be harvested and eaten raw, or cooked like snap beans.
• Larger pods may be shelled and cooked like peas.
• You can let the pods dry on the plant and use them as a dry soup bean. 

Fava also makes a great cover crop, performing very well in trails by Oregon State in both amount of dry matter and N added to the soil. 4.5 tons of dry matter and 200lbs N respectively

 Finally, just so you’d be aware, a small minority of people are affected by an enzyme deficiency called Favism- people who have this deficiency can experience severe effects after eating broad beans like Fava.