Photo Tour: Winter is finally here!

 

 

All photos by Nicole Caldwell, Mike Brown, and May Daniels.

JCJDC Nomination Lands Us on the Front Page of the T.I. Sun!

For more information about this award, click here.

Winter Semester of Creative Writing Workshops Set in Watertown

The North Country Arts Council will begin on Jan. 29 its winter semester of Sunday-afternoon creative writing workshops.

Students may choose between any number of one-day workshops or full, five-week curriculums. The workshops are scheduled based on demand; that is, the first workshop to fill up will be the first taught, and so on. Participants will have the opportunity to express their preferences for which class time and which sessions they desire. Students will be promptly notified when their choices are scheduled. Each class is $17, with five-week workshops $89. Classes are limited to only 12 students, so sign up today!

To ensure your seat is saved for ANY of the seminars, please visit the registration site by clicking here. Below is a list of the courses and workshops offered:

The single-session workshops the Writers Academy will feature are:

• Lessons in Enhancing Your Creative Abilities
• Overcoming Writers Block
• Keeping a Writers Journal 
• Style: Develop Your Own Unique Writing Voice 
• How to Win Over Agents & Publishers 
• Writing Detective, Mystery & Suspense Stories 
• Editing and Proofreading Skills 
• How to Publish an E-Book 
• Screenwriting & Stagewriting 
• Power Writing: Advanced Writing Techniques 
• Preparing Your Manuscript for Publication 
• Master Class in Writing Powerful Scenes 
• Crafting Authentic Dialogue 
• When the Well is Dry: How To Get Great Ideas For Your Writing Projects 

Here are all the 5-Week workshops members will be able to choose from:

• Constructing Your Novel
• Writing Memoir & Autobiography
• The Art of the Short Story
• Writing for Children & Young Adults
• Advanced Editing Techniques (or Preparing Your Work For Publication)
• Writing the Personal Essay/ Creative Nonfiction
• Poetry Writing Workshop
• Creative Writing 101
• Power Writing: Advanced Prose Techniques 

The workshops are taught at the Arts on the Square by retired literature professor and Watertown native Bob Comenole. They are designed for beginning writers who wish to learn fundamental techniques and seasoned writers wishing to acquire more advanced skills; there are no prerequisites.

The Instructor: For more than 20 years Bob Comenole has taught writing, literature and communications at several colleges, including Miami University, Siena College, the State University of New York and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Mr. Comenole, author of Bushel & Lamp and the novella The Long Night of Clement C. Craggogre, has just completed work on a collection of short stories, Perplexed by the Egg & Other Stories, as well as a collection of essays. He was also the producer of the children's television series, StoryBrook. 

For more information about these courses or to sign up, visit the North Country Arts Council website.

How to Afford Better Food

Originally published at Mother Earth News

There’s growing evidence that industrial food just ain’t what it oughta be. Lucky for us, the path to super-nutritious food at affordable prices offers many entry points. We’ll pilot you through the diverse options in this guide to shopping smart and eating better food.

Buy In Season

WHY? Like most goods and services, foods cost less when they’re abundant. Eat foods during their peak season for scaled-down price plus amped-up quality. Foods that get to you quickly lose less flavor and nutrients, and you can enjoy varieties of produce that can’t survive long-distance shipping. Buying in-season foods directly from farmers is the easiest way to save money on better food — especially at the end of market day, and especially if you’re willing to buy less-than-perfect items. Buying in season is also the best way to get good prices on more-expensive organic produce. 

HOW? Arm yourself with strategies for eating fresh during any season with the comprehensive resources we’ve compiled for you on our website at How to Eat Seasonally. 

Buy Locally
WHY? When you spend $1 on supermarket food, not much of it goes to the actual producer. Some of your dollar goes to the person who grew it, while some goes to the person who picked it. Some goes to the companies who processed, packaged and transported it, and some to the firm that designed the packaging and advertising. Finally, some of your dollar ends up in the hands of the grocery store owner, and also in the hands of the store’s employees. The fewer middlemen, the less the seller will have to charge you.

HOW? Find farms, restaurants, co-ops, farmers markets and other great local-food resources on our website (see How to Find Local Food and Farmers). In addition, locally owned specialty shops can often help you find things that local farmers can’t grow, such as fresh-roasted coffee.

Join Forces With Community Supported Agriculture
WHY? Community supported agriculture (CSA) programs used to be charming novelties in certain neighborhoods that enjoyed eco-abundance, but their huge surge in popularity in recent years means CSA programs are now available nationwide — more than 4,000 are listed in the Local Harvest database. A CSA program is essentially a local-farm subscription service, in which a group pays the farmer directly for the food she delivers. You can save money on super-fresh, high-quality produce, and many CSAs also offer meat, eggs, dairy, honey, flowers and herbs. Some offer free or lower-cost subscriptions to those who donate time or qualify for low-income shares.

HOW? Find a CSA program in your area through the Robyn Van En Center or Local Harvest and start buying better food now.

Cook Your Own Food
WHY? The absolute fastest route to grocery savings is the path to your kitchen. Avoid eating out or buying packaged foods by cooking your own meals from whole, unprocessed ingredients. Simple breakfasts of whole grains, fruit and eggs eaten at home will kick-start your day with long-lasting energy. Take your own lunch to work or school for a meal guaranteed to be much more flavorful than fast-food or vending machine fare. Save time at dinner by spreading the work among family members and prepping double batches of dinners that freeze well. And save money all around by making your own staples, such as stock, pasta sauce, butter, condiments, yogurt and many others. You'll learn quickly that you can make better food than any of those packaged versions at the grocery store.

Did you know you could save at least half the cost of fancy fresh cheese by making it yourself? Plus it’s fun, I promise. And what about fancy artisan bread? Whoa nelly! Delicious rustic loaves from fine bakeries can cost up to $7 a loaf, but you can make your own loaves of comparable quality — again, I promise — for about 50 cents each. You’ll also be able to use more nutritious flour made with whole grains. Really serious about getting high-quality food at awesome prices? Grind your own grains for peak freshness and flavor. Grain mills start around $25 (though some nicer ones are in the hundreds), and if you buy 50-pound bags of whole grains, you could make that back with your first grain purchase.

HOW? Just search for “whole grains” at the MOTHER EARTH NEWS website, and keep reading for links to several fabulous homemade bread recipes, plus easy tips to keep more lunch money in your pocket. Check out a long list of our reader’s excellent grocery budget tips in How Do You Save Money on Groceries? and while you’re on our website, visit our Real Food page for all kinds of recipes and cooking information. 

Grow Your Own Food 

WHY? A sure way to rock your world with superior flavor and better nutrition, and still save money, is by growing your own food. Rosalind Creasy, author of Edible Landscaping, saved $700 on groceries in 2008 when she grew a simple, 100-square-foot garden. Roger Doiron, founder of Kitchen Gardeners International, saved $2,000 from a 1,500-square-foot plot in 2009. Just think — grocery prices are even higher now.

Accumulating evidence is revealing the sad truth that today’s commercial fruits, veggies and grains contain fewer nutrients than their counterparts of yore, and many heirloom varieties are nutritionally superior to modern hybrids. Growing food yourself — with time-tested heirloom varieties, in healthy soil — is the best way to get those nutrients back into your diet.

If you’re unsure, start small! Try radishes, greens, zucchini, tomatoes, peppers and potatoes to start. Even a modest herb garden could save you big bucks, as fresh herbs are usually pricey. If you’re adventurous, start big! You can grow whopping quantities of food by using your front yard, too (if your community doesn't forbid it). Many edibles, such as rainbow chard and climbing beans, are as beautiful as they are useful. No sun? Join one of the 18,000 community gardens dotted all over North America. Live in an apartment? You may be lucky enough to find a rooftop garden sprouting up near you.

HOW? Learn to grow better food and find gardens that need you with our deep archives (see Learn to Grow Food).

Preserve Your Own Food
WHY? Even if you’re not growing food yourself, you can save up to 75 percent on home-canned and up to 80 percent on home-frozen foods if you buy the produce fresh during peak season. They’ll taste better than store-bought convenience foods to boot.

Drying foods is another way to concentrate flavor and nutrition. Dried fruits and veggies make wonderful, easy snacks, and you can save quite a bit on pricey mushrooms by buying them when you spot a sale, then drying them yourself to reconstitute later.

HOW? Search for “canning,” “drying” and “freezing” at MOTHER EARTH NEWS online to find plenty of articles about the basics. Download our canning app for smartphones and tablets at Free MOTHER EARTH NEWS How to Can App. You can learn how to ferment delicious beverages at home, too (see Home Brewing), and you’ll find a neat kit for a hybrid solar/electric food dryer at All About the SunWorks Solar Food Dryer Kit.

 Buy In Bulk

WHY? The price differences between packaged foods and plain, whole foods sold in bulk can be astounding. For example, you can save about 50 percent on pasta and peanut butter, and up to 70 percent on oats and popcorn. You may be surprised at how much you can find in bulk sections these days — everything from spices, herbs, tea and coffee to beans, grains, flour, olive oil and more. Buying clubs and food co-ops also offer tremendous savings to grocery shoppers who don’t mind planning ahead and working with others.

HOW? Look for the bulk section in your grocery or natural foods store. Connect with a food co-op or buying club through Coop Directory Service or United Buying Clubs. Go to Dry Goods and Staples: Costs for Packaged vs. Case vs. Bulk to see a detailed look at the cost savings of bulk items. See Get to Know the Wonder-Working, Timesaving Pressure Cooker to learn how you can save even more by preparing foods efficiently with a pressure cooker.

Choose Wisely
WHY? Supporting a reduction in our nation’s pesticide dependence by choosing organic foods is worthwhile — the effects of industrial, chemical-based agriculture reach much further than what we ingest as individuals and the effects it has on our personal health. But sometimes we must make strictly budget-conscious decisions. If you can only access organically grown food some of the time, you’ll want to make the best choices. For example, fruits with permeable skin, such as strawberries, absorb more chemicals than thick-skinned onions and eggplants. And did you know that apples and celery top the list of pesticide-laden foods, while mushrooms and sweet potatoes are consistently clean?

HOW? The Environmental Working Group maintains the most up-to-date list of which conventionally grown foods are likely to be contaminated with pesticides and which are safest to eat: EWG’s 2011 Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce.

Go Grass-Fed

WHY? Foods from animals that were raised humanely on healthy pastures are no doubt more expensive than their factory-farmed counterparts, but that cost is coming down as more consumers become aware of the multiple benefits (tell your friends!). Along with top-notch flavor, pastured products offer better nutrition than industrial animal products. You can save money by choosing cuts of meat that are less expensive but still healthy and flavorful, such as bone-in chuck roasts, shoulder and shank cuts, round roasts, stew meat, and organ meats. You can also save a bundle by buying larger portions directly from the farmer, or by choosing to pay for what you value and simply eating meat less often. You might also consider investing in a deep freezer so you can store that quarter of a cow, half a pig or whole lamb that will provide many meals. Or split a large meat purchase with friends.

HOW? Use Eatwild to find farms and butchers in your area, or check with your local county extension for potential sources. For more information on sourcing and cooking all cuts of grass-fed meat, check out Good Meat by Deborah Krasner and Pasture Perfect by Jo Robinson.

Raise Your Own Animals
WHY? Pastured meat, eggs and dairy are tremendously more nutritious than their industrially farmed versions. The meats are leaner and have a fatty-acid profile that helps combat heart disease rather than contributing to it. Pastured eggs also contain these beneficial omega fatty acids, plus vitamins and minerals that are deficient in factory farmed eggs, including vitamin D, which many Americans may not realize they are lacking. Most importantly, homegrown meats usually taste better than products that come from the animals raised in crowded, stressful conditions in feedlots and factory farms.

Taking care of chickens is not much more complicated or expensive than taking care of a dog, and many urban and suburban areas are now allowing residents to do so. Plan on harvesting about one egg per hen per day. Sustainable agriculture expert Gwen Roland has raised her own flavorful broiler chickens at a cost of only $1 per pound of meat produced. If you decide to keep a dairy cow and calf, you’ll spend up to a couple grand, but will recoup between $4,000 and $6,000 in delicious, healthy grass-fed milk and beef. Plus, you’ll be among the lucky few who truly understand all that is required to bring meat to our tables.

HOW? Learn about grass-based farming at Choosing Natural, Grass-fed Meat and The Chicken and Egg Page. You’ll also find a wealth of information about raising pastured animals through one of our favorite magazines, The Stockman Grass Farmer, and via the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service.

DIY Outdoor Wall Art

Create weather-resistant wall art for your outdoor entertaining areas by using outdoor materials for a non-traditional canvas!

Article originally published at b. Organic.

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Supplies

• Wooden Frames
• Aluminum Window Screen
• Fiberglass Window Screen
• Landscape Cloth
• Burlap
• Staple Gun
• Artist Acrylics
• String or Yarn

Instructions

 

Step 1: Frame Material

Choose the material you want to use as your canvas and staple to your wooden frame. Staple taut to the backside of your fame or with your softer materials like landscape cloth or burlap, you can also wrap around your frame to secure. Both looks are great.


Step 2: Add Your Art
Embellish as desired. You can create some fun embroidered/stitchery looks to the fiberglass window screen material. Artist Acrylics work beautifully on all the other materials. Paint in whatever style you like and have fun with it. Hang outdoors proudly and you'll be amazed at how well they stand up to the elements. Do one up in every material.
Note: Some colored threads such as yarn or embroidery floss will fade after extended time in sunlight. 

 

Got a great DIY project you'd like to share? E-mail us at info@betterfarm.org.

Gourmet Vegetarian Winter Recipes

Recipes originally published at Mercy For Animals website.

Wheatmeat Roulade With Chestnut "Sausage" Stuffing
For the Wheatmeat Roulade:

• 1 package Harvest Direct seitan Quick Mix (or 1/3 lb. instant gluten flour mixed with water)
• 1/2 cup (100 ml) soy sauce
• Chestnut "Sausage" Stuffing (recipe follows)

For the Chestnut "Sausage" Stuffing:

• 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
• 1 small onion, minced
• 1 stalk celery, minced
• 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp. dried sage
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 1/2 small loaf whole-grain bread, diced
• 1 package (200 g) cooked vegetarian sausage, crumbled
• 1 cup (240 g) cooked shelled chestnuts (fresh or canned)
• 1/4 cup (4 Tbsp.) minced parsley

For the Wheatmeat Roulade:
Prepare the seitan mix according to the package directions. After kneading, place the raw seitan in a shallow bowl and marinate in the soy sauce for several hours or overnight. Roll out the raw seitan with a rolling pin until it is about 1/4-inch thick. Spread the surface of the seitan with stuffing. Roll up in a "jelly roll" fashion and place seam side down in an oiled, shallow baking pan. Pierce with a fork in several places. Add 1/2 cup water to the soy sauce used to marinate the seitan and pour over the roulade for basting. Bake uncovered at 375 degrees F for 30 to 40 minutes, basting every 10 minutes. The roulade is done when the surface is browned and glossy. Cut into 1/4- to 1/2-inch slices and serve with mushroom gravy.

For the Chestnut "Sausage" Stuffing:
Heat the oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the onion and celery and cook, covered, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the thyme, sage, salt and pepper and stir well to combine. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and add the bread, vegetarian sausage, chestnuts and parsley. Mix well. If the mixture is too dry, add a small amount of water or vegetable stock and adjust the seasonings to taste. The stuffing is now ready to be used in recipes, or transfer it to a casserole dish and bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

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Citrus Coconut-Kabocha Bisque (Courtesy of Christy Morgan, author of Blissful Bites)
Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1 medium kabocha squash, seeded and cubed
• Pinch sea salt
• 1 orange, zested and juiced
• 5 or more cups filtered water
• 1 can (13½ ounces) coconut milk
• Pinch white pepper
• Fresh herbs, for garnish
• Sea salt, to taste

Heat oil in medium stockpot. Sauté the kabocha with sea salt for about three minutes, covered, stirring occasionally. Add a little water if the kabocha starts to stick to the pan. Add orange zest and juice. Sauté for two more minutes. Add water and coconut milk and bring to boil. Simmer until kabocha is very soft (about 20 minutes). Purée with immersion blender right in the pot or in batches in a regular blender (return to pot when finished blending). Add pepper and sea salt to taste. Serve hot garnished with herbs. Makes 7 to 8 servings.

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Radicchio Salad with Figs & Pomegranates (Courtesy of Claudia Pillow, author of The Gluten-Free Good Health Cookbook)

• 1 radicchio, washed and torn into small pieces
• 1 small curly endive lettuce, washed and torn into small pieces
• 2 navel oranges (medium size), peeled and cut into segments
• 1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced into rings
• 8 small fresh figs, quartered
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
• 1 teaspoon finely minced fresh ginger
• Sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
• 2 pomegranates, sliced and seeds scooped out
• 1 3.5 ounce bag pecan halves

In salad bowl, place radicchio, endive, orange segments, onion and figs. In small food processor or bowl, combine oil, vinegar, cinnamon, orange juice and ginger. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour vinaigrette over salad and toss lightly. Top with pomegranates and pecans. Serve immediately. Serves 4.

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Green Beans with Fresh Cranberries

• 1/2 lb. green beans, trimmed and cut on the diagonal
• 2 Tbsp. vegan margarine
• 1 cup cranberries
• 1 clove garlic, minced and pressed
• 2 Tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 Tbsp. fresh tarragon, chopped
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add the beans and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Drain the beans in a colander and hold under cold running water to stop the cooking process. Blot the beans with a paper towel to remove the excess water. Put the beans into a dry skillet and heat over medium heat until the remaining moisture on the beans evaporates. Stir in the margarine, cranberries, garlic, parsley, tarragon, salt, and pepper, tossing to coat well. Cook until heated through. Makes 4 servings.

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Raw Pumpkin Pie (Courtesy of Susan O'Brien, Founder of Hail Merry)

Crust:

• 2 cups walnuts
• 1/2 cup pitted dates (presoaked for 1 hour in water and drained)
• Dash of sea salt

Blend the crust ingredients in a high-speed blender or food processor, then evenly distribute in the bottom of a pie plate.
Filling:

• 2 cups shredded pumpkin, butternut squash, or sweet potato flesh
• 1 cup pitted dates (presoaked for 1 hour in water and drained)
• 1/2 cup soaked, thoroughly-washed Irish Moss
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon freshly diced ginger
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 cup almond milk

Cut the pumpkin into 1-inch cubes and place in a high-speed blender (Vitamix) or food processor until finely shredded or chopped. Add remaining ingredients and blend until smooth. Add more almond milk if necessary. Batter should be creamy. Pour into crust and chill in refrigerator for 30 minutes before serving.
 
Note: Roulade photo courtesy of veganyumyum.com

What to Do With Those Discarded Christmas Trees

Make a raised bed by piling old logs up and covering them with dirt. The rotting wood makes excellent fertilizer!

From a mat just outside your door to a sieve for straining liquids, there are countless uses for your Christmas trees once the holiday season is over. We've compiled a list below of some of our favorites (thanks to www.permies.com for these great ideas!):

Excellent for keeping the mud and other barn gick out of your house, simply lay the small branches in a pile just outside your house. This can also help with traction on slippery days. Not just frugal, but free! It doesn't just have to be Christmas trees, either. You can use any conifer/pine/fir/spruce branches. Wipe your feet in the winter, and then the branches break down to feed the soil in spring:


 

Christmas trees also make great fish habitat. In one instance, individuals took broken cement blocks to make fish habitat in a new flood-control dam: "We got broken cement blocks for free from a local vender and drilled a hole through the trunk of the trees. We then strung the trees and cement blocks together with a cable. The flood-control lake was totally flat on the bottom and offered no place for small fish to hide. When the lake was first filled, the trees were in place. The trees rot after a few years, but the lake is now one of the best bass fisheries in the area."


Discarded trees also make great chicken coop bedding:



Or how about Hugulkultur?

Hugulkultur garden after one month

Hugelkultur is nothing more than making raised garden beds filled with rotten wood. This makes for raised garden beds loaded with organic material, nutrients, air pockets for the roots of what you plant, etc. As the years pass, the deep soil of your raised garden bed becomes incredibly rich and loaded with soil life. As the wood shrinks, it makes more tiny air pockets - so your hugelkultur becomes sort of self tilling. The first few years, the composting process will slightly warm your soil giving you a slightly longer growing season. The woody matter helps to keep nutrient excess from passing into the ground water - and then refeeding that to your garden plants later. Plus, by holding SO much water, hugelkultur could be part of a system for growing garden crops in the desert with no irrigation.
They also make great bird feeders and shelters:

When blizzards hit, place the tree right up against one of your house windows for entertainment. Remove the window screen so you can just open the window and re-stock the seed and suet cakes just after a storm. On the windowsill, place a short board that has a section of hollow log that has a "port" hole in one side for easy viewing which provides shelter and three way access for wrens. In the springwhen the tree has turned brown, reuse the branches to smother out poison ivy where ever it may be growing.

Got another great use for discarded Christmas trees? Share them with us at info@betterfarm.org.

Building a Grow Bed for Your Aquaponic Garden

Our aquaponic setup at Better Farm has been going strong since we first put it together in November. Now that our

fish have established themselves

(and their waste and food cycles) in our 70-gallon fish tank, it's time to get our grow bed organized.

The grow bed is filled with a growing medium that the plants grow in. A growing medium is any porous, chemically inert material that holds the plant roots and maintains moisture. Examples include: perlite, expanded clay pebbles, peat moss, pea gravel and coconut coir. You need enough to fill your grow bed. A plastic Rubbermaid container, a garden planter, or other container that will sit on top of the tank will work fine. The container should be between 3 and 8 inches deep. A small water pump is used to pump the water from the fish tank to the grow bed. As in the above illustration, you can also get creative with using gutters or troughs to hold your plants.

After the water is pumped into the grow bed, it gravity-feeds back to the fish tank. You'll need enough tubing to go from the outlet on the pump to the top of your grow bed and form a circle within it. The air pump to blow air into the tank water for both the fish and the plants. Tubing connects the air pump to an air stone at the bottom of the tank. The air stone breaks the stream of bubbles coming from the air pump into micro-bubbles, which greatly increase the oxygenation in the water. Here are some easy-to-follow instructions for setting up your own grow bed.

What you'll need:

• A plastic tub or, for a very nice looking unit, plexi-glass and non-toxic, silicone glue. If you build the grow bed, you can accommodate an aquarium light by making a cavity in the grow bed that the light can slide into. If you are using some other kind of container, a light can sit just behind it if there is room. The container should be slightly larger than the length and width of the fish tank so the bed can sit above the tank.

• A water pump (3-4 watt pump capable of lifting 18 to 54 inches at 30-100 gallons/hour—small circulation or fountain pump is ideal)

• 3 ft. of plastic tubing that fits the outlet on your water pump

• Aquarium air pump sized for the number of gallons in your fish tank

• Air stone

• 3 ft. of air tubing to connect the air pump to the air stone (must fit the air pump outlet)

• Growing Medium - enough pea gravel, perlite, coconut coir, expanded clay pebbles or peat moss to fill the grow bed

• If you establish your system in an area with low light levels, you may need to add artificial light for healthy plant growth. Keep in mind that bright light will quickly encourage algae growth in the fish tank. You should try to point an artificial light in a way so that it does not directly penetrate the fish tank. If you do have rapid algae growth, you can scrape the interior walls of the fish tank or buy a plecostomus, a fish that eats algae. If the grow bed is in a windowsill with bright sunlight, in a greenhouse or planted with plants requiring low light levels, a grow light isn't necessary.

• Tools Required

• Drill with 1/4” or 3/16” bit and 1/2” bit

• Scissors

• Electrical tape

Assembly Instructions

Step 1

    Drill 1/8” or 3/16” holes in the bottom of the grow bed every 2 square inches so the water can drain into the tank. In one of the back corners of the grow bed, drill a 1/2” hole for the tubing from the water pump to pass through.

Step 2

   Place the water pump in the fish tank then set the grow bed on top of the tank. Feed the tubing from the water pump through the 1/2” hole. Leave enough tubing to extend about 3/4 the height of the grow bed and to loop around the inside of the grow bed. Cut off any excess tube and fold the end over. Seal the folded piece with electrical tape

.

Step 3

   Fill the grow bed with the growing medium to just under the top of the tube

.

Step 4

   Puncture small holes every 2 inches in the section of tubing that loops in the grow bed

.

Step 5

   Cover the loop of tubing with an inch or two of growing medium

.

Step 6

   Plug in the pump to ensure that the water is pumped into the grow bed, trickles down through the growing medium, and continuously back into the tank. Depending on the size of your tank, grow bed and pump, you may have to adjust to flow

.

Step 7

   Connect you air pump to the air stone with the air tubing. Place the air stone in the tank and plug in the air pump. A steady stream of bubbles should rise through the water, providing fresh air.

Step 8

   Check the pH of your water using litmus paper, a pH test kit, or pH meter. Limtmus paper and inexpensive pH test kits are avilable in most hardware pool supply stores. The ideal pH is 7.0 for an aquaponic system. If it is higher than 7.2 you should lower it with a “pH down” product and if it is lower than 6.8 you should raise it with a “pH up” product, both of which are available from aquarium stores.

More Information

A desktop aquaponic garden will support most varieties of house plants, lettuce, spinach and herbs. Ideally, you should start your plants from seed in a grow cube (also called jiffy cubes) or loose in the growing medium in your grow bed. Very small seed can be sprouted by placing them between two paper towels that are kept warm and most. You can also transplant plants from an existing hydroponic system with good results. If you must transplant from soil (this was our method), thoroughly wash away all of the dirt surrounding the roots and wash the leaves being sure to remove any pest insects.You will have the most success with leafy vegetables like lettuce, spinach and herbs or houseplants such as anthodium, dracaena, dieffenbachia and philodendron. You can also plant aquatic plants in the fish tank. They will provide a more natural habitat for the fish and aid in purifying the water.

Nitrification Cycle

Fish excrete ammonia in their wastes and through their gills. In sufficient quantities ammonia is toxic to plants and fish. Nitrifying bacteria, which naturally live in the soil, water and air, convert ammonia first to nitrite and then to nitrate. In your aquaponic system the nitrifying bacteria will thrive in the gravel in the fish tanks and in the growing medium in the grow bed. Nitrate is used by plants to grow and flourish. The plants readily uptake the nitrate in the water and in consuming it, keep the levels safe for the fish.

System Maintenance

The only daily input in this system is fish food. With any aquarium, frequent small feedings are better than fewer large feedings. Unless you have a really large tank, a pinch of food is all it takes. You should never feed more than the fish can completely consume in 5 minutes. Most tropical fish will be fine with a dry flake fish food but occasionally varying their diet with brine shrimp or blood worms will definitely keep them healthier and happier. The water level in the tank will slowly decrease as some water is absorbed by the plants and some evaporates. Every few days you should refill the tank to the top. About once a month a 10 - 15% of the tank water should be siphoned out and replaced with fresh water.

For more information,

click here

.

Other Better Farm articles on our aquaponic experiment:

Aquaponic Gardening: Phase I

Aquaponic Gardening: Phase II

December 2011 Newsletter

Happy Holidays from Better Farm!
Our tree is up, the lights are strung around the house, and things have finally quieted down around here after a flurry of spring, summer, and fall activity. We're using this opportunity to revamp our programming, streamline our business plan, ready for our New Year's Eve party, and foster and nurture our networking and outreach efforts.

We've been drafting plans for completion of our Art Barn renovation, fine-tuning our vegetable-preservation methods, organizing toolsheds and greenhouses, getting the garden winter-ready, and upping our involvement in community action. We've also installed an indoor aquaponics system, scooped up a few awards, and made our way onto several local news networks. Thank you to all who have been involved and showed support for these projects, and spread the word about the work we're doing! You can learn more about how to get involved with these endeavors below.

 

Please contact us to schedule a visit or tour, or visit www.betterfarm.org to find out more about what we're doing. From all of us at Better Farm, we wish you a peaceful, happy holiday season.

Viva Better!

Nicole Caldwell
Executive Director and Co-Founder
Better Farm

Read the full newsletter here.

JCJDC to Choose from Four New Business Venture Award Nominees

By

NANCY MADSEN

TIMES STAFF WRITER

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2011

One of four companies in Jefferson County will be named New Business Venture Award winner by the

Jefferson County Job Development Corporation

in January. The award will go to a county business, two to four years old, that is growing.

The nominees are:

• Better Farm, Redwood, run by Nicole Caldwell

• Fourth Coast Inc., Clayton, run by Augusta L. Withington.

• LLREEDWELL, Adams, which operates Cafe Mira, owned by Lisa A. Reed and Lori A. Wells.

• North Croghan Outpost, Natural Bridge, owned by Teri L. Ellis.

“We have businesses that are from around the county and in different business sectors,” said Mary Anne Hanley, director of marketing for JCJDC. “There are many opportunities in many fields and these business owners had an idea and a dream and they went for it.”

The winner, who will receive $1,000, will be announced at the annual corporation membership meeting, at noon Jan. 20 at the Hilton Garden Inn.

North Croghan Outpost was a nominee last year, and Ms. Caldwell was given a Young Professionals Award by the Greater Watertown Jaycees in October.

“They’re growing and showing what it takes to be a successful business,” Mrs. Hanley said.

The corporation will also give Business of Excellence Awards, which recognize businesses whose corporate actions show a commitment to the county and its economic health, to the following businesses:

• Aubertine and Currier Architects, Engineers & Land Surveyors PLLC, Watertown, whose partners are Michael L. Aubertine, Patrick J. Currier, Brian A. Jones, Matthew R. Morgia and Jayson J. Jones.

• Lake Ontario Realty, Chaumont, owned by Amanda J. Miller.

• Transitional Living Services, Watertown, led by Executive Director Stevie Smith.

“We’re hoping to inspire other people with the entrepreneurial spirit,” Mrs. Hanley said. “All of these people have worked very, very hard and I’m always amazed by them.”

Originally published in the

Watertown Daily Times

.

Spotlight On: The Gentle Barn

The GentleBarn was founded by Ellie Laks in 1999 and is now home to 130 animals rescued from severe abuse, neglect or slaughter. Ellie and her husband, Jay Weiner, run the facility in Santa Clarita, Calif. Once the animals are rehabilitated, they stay at the barn for the rest of their lives and serve as ambassadors helping to heal abused children. The Gentle Barn is host to kids in foster care, on probation, in gangs, on drugs and from the inner city, as well as school groups and special needs kids and adults. Through the interactions with the animals and their stories, kids learn kindness, compassion, confidence and reverence for all life.

The Gentle Barn has been a dream of Ellie Laks’ since she was 7 years old.  She would bring homeless or injured animals home and her parents would get rid of them while she was in school.  When she came home to find them gone, Ellie would say that when she grew up she would have a huge place full of animals and she would show the world how beautiful they are.

The Gentle Barn is open to the public from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Sunday.

To learn more, make a donation, or volunteer, click here.

What Food Safety Experts Won't Eat Will Surprise You

The politics of food is a subject that's gotten a lot of airtime in the news lately; with the recent proposal from congress to count tomato paste as a vegetable and, more recently, those same kooks' decision to block new, healthier rules for school lunches.

I'm all for parents making their own, smart choices regarding what their kids eat. And except for health and science classes in schools providing good, honest education about what we put in our bodies, I'm also for low levels of school interference. But if schools are going to contract with specific corporations for food, shouldn't we then demand that those foods we ultimately pay for provide our children with nutritious, healthy meals?

Speaking of healthy (or not) foods, Prevention recently published an interesting article that asked food safety experts which foods they avoided. The answers might surprise you (article re-printed below):

1. Canned Tomatoes

The expert: Fredrick vom Saal, PhD, an endocrinologist at the University of Missouri who studies bisphenol-A

The problem: The resin linings of tin cans contain bisphenol-A, a synthetic estrogen that has been linked to ailments ranging from reproductive problems to heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. Unfortunately, acidity (a prominent characteristic of tomatoes) causes BPA to leach into your food. Studies show that the BPA in most people's body exceeds the amount that suppresses sperm production or causes chromosomal damage to the eggs of animals. "You can get 50 mcg of BPA per liter out of a tomato can, and that's a level that is going to impact people, particularly the young," says vom Saal. "I won't go near canned tomatoes."

The solution: Choose tomatoes in glass bottles (which do not need resin linings), such as the brands Bionaturae and Coluccio. You can also get several types in Tetra Pak boxes, like Trader Joe's and Pomi.

2. Corn-Fed Beef

The expert: Joel Salatin, co-owner of Polyface Farms and author of half a dozen books on sustainable farming

The problem: Cattle evolved to eat grass, not grains. But farmers today feed their animals corn and soybeans, which fatten up the animals faster for slaughter. More money for cattle farmers (and lower prices at the grocery store) means a lot less nutrition for us. A recent comprehensive study conducted by the USDA and researchers from Clemson University found that compared with corn-fed beef, grass-fed beef is higher in beta-carotene, vitamin E, omega-3s, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), calcium, magnesium, and potassium; lower in inflammatory omega-6s; and lower in saturated fats that have been linked to heart disease. "We need to respect the fact that cows are herbivores, and that does not mean feeding them corn and chicken manure," says Salatin.

The solution: Buy grass-fed beef, which can be found at specialty grocers, farmers' markets, and nationally at Whole Foods. It's usually labeled because it demands a premium, but if you don't see it, ask your butcher.

3. Microwave Popcorn

The expert: Olga Naidenko, PhD, a senior scientist for the Environmental Working Group

The problem: Chemicals, including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), in the lining of the bag, are part of a class of compounds that may be linked to infertility in humans, according to a recent study from UCLA. In animal testing, the chemicals cause liver, testicular, and pancreatic cancer. Studies show that microwaving causes the chemicals to vaporize-and migrate into your popcorn. "They stay in your body for years and accumulate there," says Naidenko, which is why researchers worry that levels in humans could approach the amounts causing cancers in laboratory animals. DuPont and other manufacturers have promised to phase out PFOA by 2015 under a voluntary EPA plan, but millions of bags of popcorn will be sold between now and then.

The solution: Pop natural kernels the old-fashioned way: in a skillet. For flavorings, you can add real butter or dried seasonings, such as dillweed, vegetable flakes, or soup mix.

4. Nonorganic Potatoes

The expert: Jeffrey Moyer, chair of the National Organic Standards Board

The problem: Root vegetables absorb herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides that wind up in soil. In the case of potatoes-the nation's most popular vegetable-they're treated with fungicides during the growing season, then sprayed with herbicides to kill off the fibrous vines before harvesting. After they're dug up, the potatoes are treated yet again to prevent them from sprouting. "Try this experiment: Buy a conventional potato in a store, and try to get it to sprout. It won't," says Moyer, who is also farm director of the Rodale Institute (also owned by Rodale Inc., the publisher of Prevention). "I've talked with potato growers who say point-blank they would never eat the potatoes they sell. They have separate plots where they grow potatoes for themselves without all the chemicals."

The solution: Buy organic potatoes. Washing isn't good enough if you're trying to remove chemicals that have been absorbed into the flesh.

5. Farmed Salmon

The expert: David Carpenter, MD, director of the Institute for Health and the Environment at the University at Albany and publisher of a major study in the journal Science on contamination in fish.

The problem: Nature didn't intend for salmon to be crammed into pens and fed soy, poultry litter, and hydrolyzed chicken feathers. As a result, farmed salmon is lower in vitamin D and higher in contaminants, including carcinogens, PCBs, brominated flame retardants, and pesticides such as dioxin and DDT. According to Carpenter, the most contaminated fish come from Northern Europe, which can be found on American menus. "You can only safely eat one of these salmon dinners every 5 months without increasing your risk of cancer," says Carpenter, whose 2004 fish contamination study got broad media attention. "It's that bad." Preliminary science has also linked DDT to diabetes and obesity, but some nutritionists believe the benefits of omega-3s outweigh the risks. There is also concern about the high level of antibiotics and pesticides used to treat these fish. When you eat farmed salmon, you get dosed with the same drugs and chemicals.

The solution: Switch to wild-caught Alaska salmon. If the package says fresh Atlantic, it's farmed. There are no commercial fisheries left for wild Atlantic salmon.

6. Milk Produced with Artificial Hormones

The expert: Rick North, project director of the Campaign for Safe Food at the Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibilityand former CEO of the Oregon division of the American Cancer Society

The problem: Milk producers treat their dairy cattle with recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH or rBST, as it is also known) to boost milk production. But rBGH also increases udder infections and even pus in the milk. It also leads to higher levels of a hormone called insulin-like growth factor in milk. In people, high levels of IGF-1 may contribute to breast, prostate, and colon cancers. "When the government approved rBGH, it was thought that IGF-1 from milk would be broken down in the human digestive tract," says North. As it turns out, the casein in milk protects most of it, according to several independent studies. "There's not 100% proof that this is increasing cancer in humans," admits North. "However, it's banned in most industrialized countries."

The solution: Check labels for rBGH-free, rBST-free, produced without artificial hormones, or organic milk. These phrases indicate rBGH-free products.

7. Conventional Apples

The expert: Mark Kastel, former executive for agribusiness and co-director of the Cornucopia Institute, a farm-policy research group that supports organic foods.

The problem: If fall fruits held a "most doused in pesticides contest," apples would win. Why? They are individually grafted (descended from a single tree) so that each variety maintains its distinctive flavor. As such, apples don't develop resistance to pests and are sprayed frequently. The industry maintains that these residues are not harmful. But Kastel counters that it's just common sense to minimize exposure by avoiding the most doused produce, like apples. "Farm workers have higher rates of many cancers," he says. And increasing numbers of studies are starting to link a higher body burden of pesticides (from all sources) with Parkinson's disease.

The solution: Buy organic apples. If you can't afford organic, be sure to wash and peel them first.

Ushering in the Holiday Season at Better Farm

A cozy fire stoked with harvested dead trees on the property at Better Farm.

The holidays are upon us at Better Farm!

We took advantage of the absolutely beautiful, wintry day yesterday to do a walkabout on the property in search of a Christmas tree. Unfortunately for us (fortunately for the trees, we suppose), there weren't any that were the right size or shape for the library at the Farm. We did manage to find a bunch of standing dead wood, however—perfect for the woodstove:

Tyler Howe and Brian Hines harvest some fire wood.

Next step was to find a local tree farmer. Which we did, right next door to the Theresa Bowling Center.

The guy who sold us the tree was kind enough to offer us free delivery. Our Christmas tree arrived just as we were sitting down to a delicious family dinner feast to welcome in the holiday season. How's that for service?

After dinner, we decorated the tree and marveled at the nice job May did with stringing lights around the library as decoration:

 

Check out the tree! 

 

With all the decorations in place, it was time to stage our 2011 Better Farm Holiday card. Can't show you any previews here—just make sure you're on our mailing list if you want to see the amazingness that is photographer (and former betterArts resident) Erin Fulton's prowess.

From all of us here at Better Farm, we wish you a superfantastic holiday season. Hope to see you at the New Year's Eve party!

To get on our mailing list, e-mail info@betterfarm.org with your snail mail and e-mail address.
For great holiday gift ideas, visit www.betterfarm.org/merchandise.