Growin with jaab

An interesting article from this morning’s Ny Times on the Copenhagen Talks and how they will deal with protestors.

I grew up with a mother who gardens everyday but to think to check any soil’s pH was outrageous. Like any other hobby, gardening takes time and patience; the reason why is you take of your garden like the garden is yourself. You have to maintain yourself and the garden to bloom well everyday. What is pH you ask? Level to identify anything with their bitter or sour levels. The main levels of pH scale to be aware of are acidic, alkaline and neutral. Soil may run onto acid or alkaline level, but the best way to prevent from this to cause damage or different taste is by owning a pH soil test kit. Just like us, soil and plants need their nutrients to survive and bloom! 

http://www.flower-gardening-made-easy.com/soil-pH.html

Happy Gardening

Gardening was never a part of my life. Gardening was a hobby that only my grandfather and my mother’s co-workers participated in, and the only reason I knew these people participated in gardening was due to the fact that I would reap the benefits of tasty oranges or healthy vegetables. I remember one of my mother’s co-worker giving me oranges; then every time I would see my mother’s co-worker around town I would always thank him for the juicy, sweet oranges. I never really knew this co-worker, but his simple gesture gave us an immediate bond. A similar bond is shared between my grandfather and all his children, grandchildren, and friends. Since I have been alive, my grandfather has always been willing to share all the benefits of his lovely garden. Each Sunday, when my mother, sister, and I visit my grandparent’s home, my grandfather is always eager to give all he has grown. All his carrots, tomatoes, broccoli trees, bell peppers, and oranges are always available for anyone to take home and enjoy. These bonds can only be shared by a giver and a receiver. The giver is excited to share his treats; the receiver is excited that these treats are shared. After years of being a receiver, I am finally prepared to become the giver, not only to give to those around me, but to also give to me!

It is important to make sure that when you start gardening that you do more than plant the right items during the right season, first you must check your soil.

Does it have a good water retention (not sandy is it?),  is it nutritious? In order to give our soil a higher water retention level and thereby increase our oxygen content we should dig it up, move it around so that it isn’t so highly compacted and allows air to flow much better. It also allows for easier movement of our roots that will soon be penetrating the soil.  Next we need to incorporate what is referred to as organic matter. Organic matter is manure or store bought compost. It could also be your own home compost but more on that later. Bark chips and mulch can actually be used as organic matter and weed blockers! Exciting I know. Make sure to work this matter into your soil when you dig it up.

Remember plants are like people too, they need adequate food and water otherwise they will succumb to disease and will be unhealthy and/or die.

Give them the best chance to thrive in your presence.

A little sharing is in order here from the RebelTomato.com was created in 2007 by the American Community Gardening Association with funding from the United States Department of Agriculture community food projects grants. Check him out for some great useful information on youth gardening and many more fun how-to’s and fun facts.

In its annual report on hunger, the Agriculture Department said that 17 million American households, “had difficulty putting enough food on the table at times during the year.” This is an increase in 13 million households from last year. We think it’s time to start teaching ourselves and our children how to grow their own fruits and veggies. It is so much cheaper to grow our own than to pay outrageous prices at the grocery stores.  So try checking out the Rebel Tomato and see if you get a little inspired.

Natural erosion is not prime concern because natural erosion wears away soil at the same rate soil is formed. Even though this is a natural process, it is still important that this process is understood. Water and wind have the ability to erode the soil. “Water cause erosion by detaching soil particles from the surface soil mass and transporting them” (Stallings 51). “[Wind] takes up soil from one place and deposits it in another” (Stallings 71). Typically rainfall and flowing water are the main ways water erodes the soil; the process for erosion caused by rainfall and flowing water have the same process. First, the water breaks down the aggregates, or the building blocks of good soil structure, detaching soil materials. Second, the removed materials are transported. Lastly, this material is deposited. The process of erosion caused by wind is very similar. First, the wind loosens the aggregate. Then, the wind lifts or bounces the loosened materials off the ground. These are the natural process through which soil erosion occurs; the unnatural processes are what must be feared.

Human use of land causes soil erosion to occur at an accelerated rate. Humans’ constant use of the land has the ability to lead to soil exhaustion. “Accelerated erosion produces abnormal quantities of sand, salt, silt, and gravel that are carried from fields and stream systems and deposited at lower levels” (Stallings 35). These abnormal quantities can accumulate in stream channels, reservoirs, or irrigation supply canals. All these places of common deposits pollute the water, which is used daily. Another place where these harmful materials can build up are in the lower lands. In the end soil erosion can affect agriculture, drainage, irrigation, public health, and water supply. Then, these lands drainage and fertility are affected. Although soil erosion one of the larger issues involving land, soil erosion is not the only issue that the land faces. Other problems humans have caused include: gull eying, valley trenching, and arroyo cutting. Gull eying, valley trenching and arroyo cutting all involve the creating of valleys in the land.

 “Empowering people directly to produce their own permaculture designs and providing professional assistance for more difficult design problems, are necessary for permaculture to reach its objective-a nurturing human habitation within the Earth’s ecosystems,” Dan Hemenway.

Before we could tell others to grow gardens at home we needed to learn how to garden ourselves and we needed to start a garden in our homes. So we begin.

“THOUGH THE PROBLEMS OF THE WORLD ARE INCREASINGLY MORE COMPLEX, THE SOLUTIONS REMAIN EMBARRASSINGLY SIMPLE….”
– Bill Mollison, co-founder of the world-wide permaculture movement

Glaciers begin to melt, weather begins to change, fossil fuels begin to disappear, and-as if these problems were not enough- soil begins to erode. Although glaciers, weather, and fossil fuels are the main environmental focal points of concern today, soil erosion should also be an important environmental problem the world faces and awknowledges. Considering this issue is not in the well-known a definition is provided for you.
Soil erosion is the wearing away of the top soil. This top soil can either be removed naturally, water or wind, but this layer of soil can also be removed at an accelerated rate. Natural erosion has been occur for millions of years, therefore is not a major problem; but accelerated erosion will lead to many consequences.

            Our research project connects well with Chris Carlsson’s Nowtopian visions from chapter five “Vacant-Lot Gardeners” and the DIY section from chapter three “What you see me doing isn’t what I do.” Instead of attempting to create community gardens we are simply trying to get people to do it themselves by growing the food at home. For example an herb garden in a windowsill.

            We want to teach people how simple it can be to become more self-sufficient and that the effort it takes to grow certain foods at home is worth the toil because we might not always be provided for. Carlsson quotes Ben Gillock as stating,” The Do It Yourself ethic seeks to overthrow the idea that we will be provided for. We will provide for ourselves, through educating each other, through collective decision making. It fits in the larger concept of an ideal society” (46). This is what we want to achieve, the spreading of DIY ethic but specifically in regards to gardening at home.

Works Cited:

Carlsson, Chris. Nowtopia. Oakland: AK Press, 2008. Print.