Growing Potatoes in Tires

Potato tire tower photo by Bonzai Aphrodite

We've bemoaned the tragedy of eating non-organic potatoes (see: "The Seven Foods Safety Experts Won't Eat" and "Potato, Potahto") A pack of organic potato seeds will run you about $3.50 and will provide you with pounds upon pounds of this vegetable. But what if you're tight on space for growing your veggies? We've found a solution. Check out this Instructables entry on  growing potatoes in old tires.

Chitting

means that when you receive your seed potatoes in around February, you place them in a light, dry environment, but out of direct sunlight (a north facing window sill is a good place) and wait for small shoots to grow from the eye of the potato, which should be facing up. When looking at a potato, you will notice that one end will usually have more eyes than the other end, this is called the rose end. Early potatoes need to be chitted before being planted, while maincrop varieties don't absolutely need it but will benefit from being chitted before being planted.

If growing potatoes in tires, first chose a sunny spot in your garden or balcony. Ensure there is drainage below the tire, as potatoes don't like getting water-logged, though they do need sufficient water for the tubers to form.

Early potatoes can be planted at the end of March, while maincrop potatoes are usually planted in April, at the latest at the beginning of May. The main aspect affecting planting time is frost. Potatoes are only half-hardy and any frost will kill off emerging plants.

Fill the tire with damp earth to just over half the depth and place 4 - 5 seed potatoes in it, with the eye or shoots facing up. Cover with a couple of inches of soil. In this example, we have used seed potatoes for a maincrop which have not been chitted.

Keep the soil moist but not wet and within about six weeks there should be several healthy potato plants growing. If your seed potatoes were chitted, the plants should appear sooner.

If there is any chance of a late frost, protect the young plants with straw or earth them up immediately as they appear.

When the young potato plants are two to three inches high, add a second tire to the stack and add more soil, almost but not quite covering them.

Continue covering the emerging plants with soil until your stack is 3 tires high. Tubers will be forming all the way up the stack of tires.

Early potatoes are ready to harvest when the flowers have opened or the buds fallen off. Dig a few tubers up and check—they should be about the size of a hen's egg. With maincrop potatoes, wait until the foliage has turned brown, cut off at the stems and wait a few days before lifting.

One of the cons of the traditional method of growing potatoes in long rows, is that you have to ensure you have dug up every single tuber each autumn. Growing potatoes in tires avoids the possibility of missing that one tiny potato which would ruin your carrot patch next year!

Ways You Can Get Involved with All Things Better

Photo/Erin Fulton

Love reading about what we're doing out here at Better Farm, but unsure how you can get involved? Here's a quick cheatsheet of ways you can hop aboard, no matter how far or near you are, or how much time you have:

Participate in our Internship Program

2011 interns Natasha Pietila, Soon Kai Poh, Lizzi Musoke, and Jaci Collins.

Better Farm’s internship program runs in one- to three-month intervals and is available to individuals interested in a myriad of sustainability issues. Each internship is carefully tailored to suit a specific person’s needs and goals. We offer internships geared toward organic small-scale farming and gardening, general farm management, alternative building, rain and graywater collection, aquaponics, community outreach, organic cooking, canning/preserving, participation in local supper clubs and/or food kitchens, and outdoor survival. Many sustainability specialists visit Better Farm throughout the year to offer mentoring and guidance to students interested in coming here to work and gain valuable experience. Additionally, interns have the option of taking any workshops scheduled during their time at Better Farm. We can host up to six interns at a time. Click here to learn more and for the application!

Apply for a betterArts Residency

betterArts residencies seek to provide an opportunity for creative exploration and growth to artists, writers, and musicians within the context of Better Farm's dynamic environment. The property boasts an on-site pond, vegetable, fruit, and herb gardens, shop space, open-air sheds for pottery and painting; a multimedia room, and a practice space for musicians (recording equipment available for a nominal additional fee).  Room and board, all food, linens and towels, wireless Internet, on-site parking, movie nights, and field trips are included in a low stipend we require of all residents. The environment is simple and communal. In addition to their work, betterArts residents are asked to interact and participate in the goings-on around the property; such as helping with farming or assisting at farmers’ markets, and participating in art-related community outreach projects. Residencies are for one week, two weeks, or month-long periods. Basic facilities at Better Farm will be provided; but betterArts residents are expected  to provide the majority of materials and equipment they would need for the production of their work.  Click here to learn more and download an application.

Teach For Us

betterArts resident Eric Drasin volunteers his time to give a music lesson to teenagers in Redwood.

betterArts is looking for instructors! We seek specialists in every area for private instruction, group workshops, lectures, and presentations for every age group and skill level. All classes, lessons, workshops, and lectures are held at BETTER FARM, 31060 Cottage Hill Road, Redwood, N.Y., unless another agreed-upon location is selected. Click here to fill out a proposal. Better Farm will also be hosting workshops throughout the summer in areas such as alternative construction projects and rainwater harvesting—click here for more information on that.

Spread the Word
Telling the people you know about the work we're doing is the best way for us to gain momentum with our projects. Sign up for our newsletter, forward links to our websites and blog, and share our Facebook posts with your friends.

Volunteer
If you're local, get in touch with us about times you're available to help us out. We can always use an extra set of hands out in the garden, in the wood shop, or helping out at different events. If you're not local and would like to come help out for a weekend, shoot us an e-mail to set something up.

Visit
We offer overnight rates for guests throughout the year. This is a great way for you to meet the people at Better Farm, check out what we're up to, and enjoy an extremely low-cost alternative to the hotels and bed and breakfasts in the Thousand Islands Region. Also available for rent are bicycles, kayaks, a sailboat, canoes, and (of course!) studio space. Click here for more information and to make a reservation.

Donate
We rely on volunteers and donations to allow us to do the vast amount of work we do, and to allow us to offer internships, residencies, and workshops at such a low cost. Click here to make a donation of any size. We are also always in need of other donations: furniture, bicycles, instruments, art supplies, construction materials, appliances, etc.—anything that makes a big old farmhouse tick!

Our Seeds Are Ordered!

Seeds photo from Lou Murray's Green World.

It's that time of year again, when we inventory the seeds we have left over at Better Farm from last year and supplement that stock with a fresh batch of organic seeds. Our previous seed source dried up, so this year we shopped around online to find the best deals on the most nutritious, organic seeds we could find.

We've already got the asparagus and garlic going strong; and our chives, some of our leeks, a little kale, and a handful of other herbs will undoubtedly start waking back up in the coming weeks (if not right now, in this unseasonably, freakishly spring-like day). We also saved some hubbard squash seeds from a squash a friend gave us. After drying them and sealing them in a plastic bag, they've been hanging out in the freezer all winter. We'll see how we do with them!

Our intern Maylisa went through the tedious process of taking seed inventory for Better Farm. Here's what that list looks like:

While we're certainly not suffering from a shortage of seeds, there were a few essentials we needed. Here's what we ordered today:

• Certified Organic Tango Celery, 100 Seed Count
• Certified Organic Tuffy Acorn Winter Squash, 25 Seed Count
• Kale Italian Lacinato Nero Toscana Certified Organic Seeds
• Organic Dark Star Zucchini Seeds - 2 grams
• Early Wonder Beet Seeds - 2 grams - Organic
• Pea Snow Oregon Sugar Pod Certified Organic Seed
• Organic Waltham Butternut Squash - 60 Seeds, 4g
• Seeds of Change Organic Renegade F1 Spinach Seeds - 3 grams
• Cucumber "Spacemaster Bush" 30 Organic Seeds   
• Organic Leek Seeds "Large American Flag Variety" - Allium Ampeloprasum Var. Porrum - 300+ Gardening Seeds 
• Walla Walla Organic Onion Seeds - Allium Cepa Approx 200 Gardening Seeds 
• 75 Kentucky Wonder Green, Organic Bean Seeds  

The seeds will be planted in the beginning of March, and situated out in the greenhouse. We'll be utilizing former intern Lizzi Musoke's rainwater catchment system to keep the babies watered, and will be getting the plants transferred into the ground the first week of June. Let the games begin! 

Make Your Own Tofu

Tofu, also called bean curd, is a food that originated in China and involves  coagulating soy milk and then pressing the resulting curds into soft white blocks. Chinese legend ascribes its invention to Chinese prince Liu An (179–122 BC). Tofu and its production technique were introduced into Korea and then Japan during the Nara period; then to other parts of East Asia. This spread likely coincided with the spread of Buddhism because it is an important source of protein in the vegetarian diet of East Asian Buddhism.


Tofu has a low calorie count, relatively large amounts of protein, and little fat. It is high in iron and, depending on the coagulant used in manufacturing, may also be high in calcium and/or magnesium. There are many different varieties of tofu, including fresh tofu and tofu that has been processed in some way. Tofu has a subtle flavor and can be used in savory and sweet dishes. It is often seasoned or marinated to suit the dish.

Here's how tofu is made in a factory:


And here's how you can make it yourself:

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups (1 lb or 450 grams) of dried soybeans, soaked 8-10 hours (or overnight)

1 1/4 gallons of water
3-4 tsp nigari or calcium sulfate

Equipment:
food processor
2 large stock pots
wooden spoon
sieve and cup or bowl OR sieve or colander lined with cheesecloth
tofu press
cheesecloth or muslin for the tofu press
ladle
1 extra bowl
thermometer

Instructions

Put half of the ground soy beans into each pot. Divide the gallon of water between the pots. Bring to a boil and lower to simmer for 15-20 minutes. Watch the pots carefully as it tends to boil over. There may be a lot of foam -- you can remove it or stir it in. When it has simmered for 15-20 minutes, turn off the heat and strain.

Ladle the liquid into the strainer with the cup or bowl under it. The ground soy beans, or okara, will collect in the strainer. Remove this to a colander lined with cheesecloth. Squeeze all of the soy milk out of the okara. Wash one of the pots, pour all of the soy milk into it and take it back to the stove top.

Using your thermometer, warm the soy milk to 180 degrees. Dissolve the nigari in 1 cup of hot water. When the soy milk reaches 180 degrees, turn off the heat. Gently add the nigari mixture and stir. Turn the heat back on and gently stir until the soy milk separates -- like curds and whey. If it doesn't separate, make a small batch of nigari (1 1/2 tsp to 1/2 cup of hot water) and add it in. Stir gently. The water will turn clear and the curds will clump.

Ladle the curds and whey into the muslin- or cheesecloth-lined tofu press. Cover the tofu with the cloth and drop in the lid. Put a 3-5 pound weight on the top (large jars of tomatoes, pitcher of water, etc.) and let it sit for 20-30 minutes. The longer its pressed, the firmer the tofu.

Remove the cloth and place the tofu into a container. Cover with water and put on a tight fitting lid. It will keep for a week; change the water every day or so that it stays fresh.

Rinse and pick through the dried soybeans. Soak in plenty of water overnight or for 8-10 hours. When they are re hydrated, rinse them once more. Grind the soy beans in the food processor in 2 cup batches. Cover the beans with a little water and grind for 4-5 minutes until they are pureed and have turned white. They will have the consistency of cream of wheat.

Additional Tip: Use the okara in burgers, breads, or muffins.

Recipe from Delectable Planet

The Perks of Permanent Garden Beds

By Barbara Pleasant for Mother Earth News
One of the basic tenets of organic gardening is to put as much effort into improving soil fertility as you put into growing your crops. When you use permanent garden beds and pathways, you can concentrate on building soil in deeply worked beds that will improve over a period of years, all the while growing robust, disease-resistant vegetables. Permanent vegetable beds also make more efficient use of water and fertilizer, and soil compaction is limited to pathways where repeated footsteps can naturally inhibit the growth of weeds.

Limiting Soil Compaction With Dedicated Beds

One of the big advantages of working in permanent garden beds is that you can limit some forms of soil compaction. Wet soil is especially prone to compaction because water acts as a lubricant. The first time you step on wet soil, it can become 75 percent compacted. After the fourth step in the same spot, 90 percent of the pore spaces are gone. Soil compaction restricts root growth physically because overly dense soil is often impenetrable, plus it handicaps any roots already present by depriving them of oxygen and access to soilborne nitrogen.

You should always try to avoid stepping on your garden beds, but some operations — such as building trellises or using a broadfork — require standing space. In these cases, you can prevent unnecessary soil compaction by standing on a wide board to distribute your weight. Standing on a board or using boards as walking bridges over garden beds will reduce your body’s ground pressure from about eight pounds per square inch to less than one. Just as snowshoes make it possible to walk on snow by distributing your weight, boards, wide steppingstones or flakes of baled hay can help protect permanent vegetable beds from the compaction caused by footsteps.

Surface compaction caused by driving rain also can be troublesome, especially for clay soils. When bare soil is subjected to heavy rain, the larger particles and organic matter often wash away in the mud, leaving behind a surface layer of fine particles that dries into a crust. Organic mulches will cushion the soil from the pressure of heavy rain and protect it from erosion. In situations where you can’t mulch — in a newly seeded bed, for example — use a sheet of burlap or other porous cloth to prevent surface compaction. Row cover tunnels cause raindrops to shatter and disperse before they reach the soil, so such covers prevent surface compaction, too.

Permanent Garden Bed Options
Garden experts talk mostly about raised beds, but they are not essential and can be expensive to build. Our point here is that rather than plowing or tilling your entire plot each year, it’s better to lay out and tend permanent areas for dedicated beds and paths. The beds can be raised if you are in a rainy climate, or sunken if your site is dry and windy. Flat beds are also fine, with markers to distinguish the beds from the paths.

If you do choose raised beds, framing is optional. The plants will grow just as well in unframed beds, although you’ll probably need to do a bit of rebuilding each spring. Framing does make the beds look sharp, but lumber for framing can be expensive. Low-cost or free options such as logs or recycled cedar fence rails work fine — just lay them along the long sides of your beds. No need to enclose the ends; if you leave them open it will be easier to adjust the beds’ positions if you need to in the future:

Many gardeners like framed garden beds because they can use the frames to support or anchor row covers, plastic, bird netting or other protective covers. For example, pipe brackets installed on the outside of wood-framed raised garden beds can be used to hold the ends of hoops made of wire or plastic pipe, or the ends of wire hoops can be pushed into the ground just inside the frames to provide a firm anchor. The trend toward more extensive use of protective covers is so prominent that many gardeners regard bed framing materials primarily as structural foundations for tunnels or plastic-covered boxes that do the work of small greenhouses.

Improving Soil Fertility
Every soil has an innate texture based on the size of indigenous soil particles. Clay particles are small, so clay soil feels slippery when wet. Sandy soils have much larger particles, so they feel gritty. The tiny size of clay particles means the spaces between them are small, too. In comparison, the spaces between sand particles are huge. To increase the sponginess of either type of soil and prepare it for the task of growing vegetables, a thorough digging is in order to incorporate spaces for air and organic matter, such as grass clippings or compost.

After starting new gardens in several different states, I have yet to encounter soil that was not vastly improved by deep digging in the garden’s first two years, with constant inputs of compost and mulch to raise its organic matter content. With time, the soil’s most important component evolves — a dynamic community of bacteria, fungi and insects. These soil critters exude natural glues and enzymes that bind soil and organic matter particles, creating loamy structure (tilth). After five years of thoughtful organic management, any soil should show notably improved structure, with a profile of 50 percent indigenous soil particles; 25 percent pore spaces for air, water and roots; and 25 percent biosphere of bacteria, fungi, earthworms and other life-forms that call your garden home.

This biosphere is crucial because it’s what improves your soil structure, and it’s the means through which most plants get essential nutrients. Of particular interest are a talented group of soil-dwelling fungi that form dynamic relationships with plant roots. These fungi, collectively known as mycorrhizal fungi, form colonies around plant roots that enhance a plant’s ability to take up nutrients and water, and increase the plant’s resistance to soil-borne diseases. 

 

Conservation Cultivation

Cultivation has the unfortunate side effect of ravaging beneficial fungal colonies, so when you cultivate your garden beds is important. For example, turning up and shattering spadefuls of soil in fall destroys colonies of many beneficial fungi, and they won’t have time to recover before cold winter weather ends their season of active growth. As a result, spring crops get planted into soil that’s in microbial disarray. The story changes if you stop short of cultivating when cleaning up beds in fall, and instead either plant a cold-hardy cover crop, such as hairy vetch or cereal rye, or cover the soil’s surface with a winter mulch. These are the preferred methods for conserving healthy populations of beneficial fungi, including strains that help legumes capture and accumulate nitrogen, the main nutrient plants need for vigorous new growth.

After coaxing along permanent garden beds with infusions of organic matter for a few years, most gardeners will switch from deep digging to cultivation methods that are less traumatic to the soil’s structure. Shallow cultivation at the surface is often needed to prepare seed beds, mix in organic fertilizers or control weeds. In a small garden, this can easily be done with a sharp hoe, and in a big garden, with a tiller set to go no more than 4 inches deep.

A more vexing problem often lurks below ground, as natural forces will cause the soil in permanent beds to gradually compact and form a “hardpan.” As water percolates downward, fine soil particles will accumulate where drainage slows, much as fine soil remains in your sink after you wash vegetables. This hardpan is known in Australia as “hostile subsoil” — a good phrase to describe subsoil that drains too slowly and is too tight to be penetrated by plant roots.

Research done by cooperating farmers at Cornell University’s Reduced Tillage in Vegetables Project has found that cutting a narrow slit one to two inches below the hardpan layer is the least destructive way to restore the drainage capacity of compacted subsoil, which in turn boosts plant productivity. In a small raised bed, you can do this using a digging fork. In larger gardens, a broadfork is the best tool for preventing or relieving compacted subsoil.

MOTHER EARTH NEWS first published plans to build your own broadfork in 1980. The broadfork has since been embraced by many organic gardeners as the best way to reintroduce air to the deepest sections of a permanent bed without tearing up the soil’s structure and thus setting back the soil-building process. Along with air, soil amendments such as compost, wood ashes or organic fertilizers will naturally sift into deep holes made by a broadfork.

I use a broadfork often, but in my clay soil, it isn’t entirely able to take the place of deep digging to mix in organic matter and a fresh supply of air. I try to limit my forking or digging frenzies to warm weather — for example, when renovating beds after I’ve harvested garlic and cool-season spring crops. Soil recovers faster from digging under warm conditions, and nutrients released as the shredded fungal mycelium and roots decompose can be utilized by the next crop.

When you keep garden walkways in vegetation or mulch while minimizing cultivation in adjoining beds, you’re practicing what is called “zone tillage.” Walkways become refuge areas for night crawlers and other soil-building creatures, while the beds get cultivated only as much as needed to accommodate changing crops. Even compacted pathways can host numerous earthworms as long as there is vegetation or mulch at the surface. In a 10-year study done in West Lafayette, Ind., earthworm counts under pathways planted with a bluegrass-clover mixture averaged 400 per cubic meter, compared with 340 in an open dairy pasture and only 20 in a no-till field planted in continuous corn. Another study from Germany showed that soil compaction had little effect on the production of earthworm castings. Rather, having plenty of rich vegetation at the soil surface — either as mulch or mowed greens — will transform pathways into earthworm havens.

Recently I heard a soil-minded gardener joke that growing cauliflower takes about five years — four for soil-building and one to grow the crop. He was right, because cauliflower and many other veggies won’t prosper in low-integrity soil. Growing in wisely nurtured and maintained permanent garden beds guarantees better results, season after season.

Read more: You can learn more about how to manage your soil’s food web in Barbara Pleasant’s book The Complete Compost Gardening Guide. 

Spent Hens Get Spared

With yesterday being Valentine's Day and all, we thought it would be appropriate to use this opportunity to make a very public lovenote to a bunch of spent hens in the North Country and to send out word that we're coming to swoop them away, Prince Charming-style.

There are more than 280 million egg-laying hens in the United States confined to battery cages — small wire cages stacked in tiers and lined up in rows inside warehouses. In accordance with the USDA's recommendation to give each hen four inches of 'feeder space,' hens are commonly packed four to a cage measuring 16 inches wide.

Because egg-laying chicken breeds have been genetically selected exclusively for maximum egg production, they don't grow fast or large enough to be raised profitably for meat. Therefore, male chicks of egg-laying breeds are of no economic value, and they are discarded on the day they hatch.

The female birds' confined space doesn't allow the ladies to stretch their wings or legs, and they cannot fulfill normal behavioral patterns or social needs like scratching in the dirt, chasing bugs, and taking extremely adorable, endearing dust baths:



As you can imagine, constantly rubbing against the wire cages means these birds lose a lot of feathers; and it's not uncommon for the ladies to have lots of bruises and abrasions. In order to reduce injuries resulting from excessive pecking—a behavior that occurs when confined hens are bored, stressed, or frustrated—most (but not all) laying hens have part of their beaks cut off.

Laying more than 250 eggs in one year, a laying hen's body is severely taxed (whose wouldn't be?!). They suffer from "fatty liver syndrome" and "cage layer fatigue"; and, percentage-wise, after about a year most hens in the egg industry are considered "spent" and sent to slaughter. The hens who did nothing but lay eggs usually end up in soups, pot pies, dog food, or similar low-grade chicken meat products.

But the truth is, these hens don't have to be spent! So we've linked up through a liaison with a local egg farm that has thousands of laying hens. And we've been told we're welcome to as many spent hens as we want.

While we certainly can't house them all, we expect to take 20 birds into custody at Better Farm. The hens will be welcome to come and go as they please in the grass, brush, and dirt on the property (living and playing outside for the first time!), laying eggs only if they feel like it. They'll have plenty of room to flap their wings, squawk, devour worms and bugs, and experience all the lovely North Country has to offer.

Oh, Baby!

Green baby photo from Eco-Snobbery Sucks.

The Environmental Working Group recently sent this information along about eco-friendly, health-concious baby items. Some great product ideas for the next baby shower you go to—or the next time you want to try something all-natural out for your little one!
Toys

• Natural wood teething ring 
• Wood mobile 
• Organic Pack N Play sheet 
• Sand play set

Clothes

• Organic onesies 
• Organic footie pajamas 
• Organic booties 
• Organic hat 
• Organic swaddlers 
• Organic baby sling

Feeding

• Glass baby bottles: plain, or with a silicone sleeve 
• Organic cotton nursing pads 
• Manual baby food processor 
• Organic bibs

Diapers

• Organic cloth diapers 
• Environmentally friendly disposable diapers 
• Organic cloth baby wipes

Baby's Personal Care Products

• California Baby brand creams, washes, and more 
• Badger baby balm

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

Macsherry Library Art Show Features Our Work!

We told you last week about Macsherry Library's Ninth Annual Heart of Winter Art Show & Chocolate Festival, the reception for which was held from 1:30 to 5 p.m. Saturday at the Macsherry Library Community Gallery in Alexandria Bay, N.Y.

Among the featured work was my above nighttime photograph, and this piece by our own Maylisa Daniels:

These pieces, as well as all the other paintings, drawings, poems, and three-dimensional pieces, will be on display through Saturday, Feb. 18. Be sure to stop in and take a look—and don't be shy about buying a few pieces to take home with you!

The Saturday afternoon reception was packed—with people, with art, with chocolate, and with younger children working diligently on making their own Valentines Day cards. Here are photos from the event:

We can't wait to team up with Macsherry Library again from 1-5 p.m. May 12 for their Garden Day! That event will offer free seeds, catalogs, information, and master gardeners for guidance—and reps from Better Farm and betterArts working with kids on planting seeds, painting some faces, and bridging the gap between cultivation and creativity in order, literally, to cultivate creativity. Stay tuned for details!


Many thanks to Sue-Ryn Burns for putting this event together! Macsherry Library is located at 112 Walton St. in Alexandria Bay, N.Y.

This Week in News

GMO foods alter organ function, Nicaragua takes a stab at energy independence, NASA finds a huge crack in an Antarctic glacier, and Rick Santorum swears he's never bought the "hoax" of global warming. Happy Friday!

• GMOs, organ function, and cancer causality: In the video above, "Health Ranger" Mike Adams explains how studies in cell research have demonstrated the mechanism by which micro RNA from genetically engineered foods may alter organ function in humans (more info here).
• Nicaragua goes for energy independence: Oil accounts for 70 percent of Nicaragua's power generation, which means the economy takes a kick every time international petroleum prices soar. And despite having the poorest economy in Central America, Nicaragua has the highest energy costs. The country is meeting this issue head-on, with the Sandinista government focusing on renewable energy in order to reduce dependence on foreign oil, and to help bring electrification, development and progress to the countryside. Administration officials say it will do so in a way that protects the environment, by deterring deforestation and reducing harmful emissions. Presidential adviser Paul Oquist, an academic and leading voice on Sandinista development policy, says that renewable energy policy is key to providing citizen security, labor stability, peace and development in the country. (From the Christian Science Monitor)
• NASA spies 18-mile "crack" in Antarctic glacier: NASA reported footage of a glacial crack larger than Manhattan that's apparently growing. In the next few months, ABC reported, scientists expect the glacier to create an iceberg about 350 square miles in area. It will probably float northward, melting as it goes. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland sent an expedition called Operation IceBridge to Antarctica in October in an old DC-8 jetliner, modified for scientific operations. It spotted the break in the ice. Earth-observing satellites have been watching it since.
• Rick Santorum vs. a Coherent Energy Policy: Here are a few choice quotes from presidential candidate Rick Santorum's speech Monday at the Colorado Energy Summit: "We were put on this earth as creatures of God to have dominion over the earth, to use it wisely but for our benefit, not the earth’s benefit.” ... “We are intelligent beings…we should not let the vagaries of nature destroy what we have helped to create.”  Santorum also said the claim that climate change is man-made is a quote “...hoax…an absolute travesty of scientific research that was motivated by those who saw this as an opportunity to create panic and crisis - for government to be able to step in and even more greatly control your life.”  ...  “I for one understand from science that there are a hundred factors that influence the climate. To suggest that one minor factor of which man’s contribution is a minor factor of a minor factor - is the determining ingredient in the sauce that affects the entire global warming and cooling, is just absurd on its face.” Read more here. 

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

DIY Pheasant Rearing

New York State's Day-Old Pheasant Program distributes 46,496 day-old pheasant chicks to qualified applicants across the state who agree to raise the baby birds to eight weeks of age and then release them. We'd like to get Better Farm involved, which means we have to construct a fly pen for the pheasants and create other crucial accommodations. To make the research part simpler for those of you also interested in getting with the program, here's a handy outline of what we've learned about raising these beautiful birds.

(Editor's Note: To ensure their best chance of survival in the wild, it's very important to give pheasants PLENTY of natural surroundings to grow up in (brush, grash, bushes, branches)—and to release them no later than when they're eight weeks old.)

Brooding

Baby pheasants! Photo from BackyardChickens.com.

The brooder house for pheasant chicks should be weather tight, free from drafts and rodent proof. It can be designed for the birds or part of another building that can have a penned-in portion.

Young pheasants are very delicate and your brooder must be set up correctly or you may encounter problems. Clean and disinfect your brooder house at least two weeks before the chicks arrive. The best litter to use on the floor is chopped straw. Pheasants seem to like to eat wood shavings. If the chicks have access to wood shavings, they will eat them and die. Sand or newspaper is not recommended as litter. If brooder paper (a coarse, rough paper that allows chicks to keep their footing) is not available at your feed store, burlap works very well also. Do not use newspaper as the chicks will not be able to get a firm footing. Remember to remove the burlap or brooder paper after the chicks are about one week old.

Heat Lamps
Heat lamps are the easiest to use. Be sure to have at least one 250 Watt infrared bulb for each 100 chicks you plan on starting. Make sure to get the bulb with a red end, as it won't be so bright and will help control cannibalism. Hang the heat lamp from the ceiling, about 18 inches from the floor to the bottom of the lamp.

Ring/Draft Shield
Use a ring or draft shield to confine the chicks for the first 5-7 days the chicks are in the brooder. Cardboard about 14-18 inches high can be bent to make a ring or circle. A kiddy pool will work too! A circle with a diameter of 4 feet will be sufficient for 50 chicks (with the heat lamp in the center). This shield helps cut down on the drafts on the floor.

Your brooder house should be big enough to allow 3/4 of a square foot per bird. Pheasants tend to be very cannibalistic, so don't overcrowd them.

Use at least one 2-foot long feeder for each 50 chicks. Also, 1 one-gallon waterer for each 75 chicks. Use a waterer with a narrow lip (1/2 inch or less) or fill the water trough with marbles so the chicks can't drown.

From the time chicks arrive until they are six weeks old, they should be fed a 30% protein medicated gamebird or turkey starter feed. The best medicated started feed contains 1 lb. Amprolium (a coccidiostat) per ton of feed. The feed should be in crumble form.

Introducing Chicks to Their New Home
When the chicks arrive, remove them from the box, dip their beaks in the water, and put them under the heat lamp. Most losses occur because the chicks do not start to eat or drink. Never let your chicks run out of feed or water. The chicks should form a circle around the heat lamp. If the chicks bunch up directly under the heat lamp they are cold. Lower the lamp, and add more bulbs, or further draft-proof your brooder house. If the chicks spread out too far away from the brooder and pant, etc...they are too hot - turn off one of the bulbs, raise the heat lamp, and perhaps open a window during hot weather.
Inspect the chicks often during the first week - especially at night during the first few nights. Chicks often die from piling (from being too cold) during the first or second night.

After the chicks are 2 or 3 weeks old it is a good idea to allow the chicks to range outside during the daytime. Wait for a warm sunny day and open the brooder house door into the pen. The pen must be covered and enclosed with one inch hole chicken wire to prevent the chicks from escaping. The pen should be large enough to allow 1 - 2 square feet per bird. Drive the chicks back into the house late each afternoon. Continue to turn the heat on each afternoon. Discontinue operating your heat lamp during the day once the chicks spend each day outside. Continue to turn the heat on each night until they are 3-4 weeks old (depending on how cold it is outside). After the birds are 4-5 weeks old, they will need a bigger pen. You should always be on the lookout for cannibalism. The first evidence you will see will be blood on the wing tips and tails of some of the smaller birds. Don't expect it to just go away—instead, it will just get worse. Add branches and alfalfa hay to the pen for the birds to peck at and play on - this will help. You may have to trim the top beaks on your birds to curtail the problem. A pair of fingernail clippers will do - trim far enough back just so it bleeds a little. This can be done as early as 2 weeks old and may have to be repeated. 

Pheasant Pen

Sample pheasant pen. From www.ohiodnr.com.

One of the most expensive requirements on a game bird farm are covered pens. It is important to build your pens in such a way that they will do what they are supposed to do. ie keep the birds in and predators out. Other considerations are 1) cost 2) long life 3) ease of construction 4) resistance to bad weather. Below is a covered pen that incorporates many of these desirable characteristics. 

Basic Layout

• A pen of 144' x 96' conforms to two rolls of toprite and can hold 700 hens with peepers, or 500 cocks with peepers, or 600 hens and cocks with peepers.
• Pheasants require 25 square feet of pen space per bird for proper flying. Building a bigger pheasant pen is better than building one too small.
• Keep building costs to a minimum by price shopping for new materials or reusing chicken wire, fencing and lumber.
• Use pressure treated lumber or locust for the main posts. Choose materials that are resistant to bad weather and outdoor durable.
• Locate the pheasant pen in an area with adequate shelter and shade access. The more natural cover available, the safer young pheasants will feel, which results in less cannibalism.
  Design the pen with gates or doors of sufficient width and height to allow for easy feeding, watering and catching of young chicks. 
  

Posts
These posts should be set equidistant from each other around the perimeter of the pen. It works out that the posts should be 12 feet apart. The posts should be 10' long. They should go into the ground 3' and extend 7'.

Wire
The four sides of the pen should be covered with galvanized-after-weaving wire - 1" mesh - either 18 or 20 gauge. This wire should be buried at least 6" and flared to the outside underground. This prevents animals from digging down under the pen. The wire should extend up to the sides of the pen to the tops of the posts.

#9 Wire
A standard #9 galvanized wire should be strung around the top of the poles around the perimeter of the pen. Another strand of #9 wire should be strung the length of the pen equidistant from the two sides. Two #9 wires should be strung widthwise splitting the pen in thirds. These #9 wires will support the roof. The poles to which the #9 wires is attached should have "dead-man" poles for support. This will prevent the poles from pulling in.

Toprite
Over the top of this grid put two connected rolls of 150' x 50' toprite netting. The netting should be connected to the four corners first to make sure it is square. It should be pulled over the edges and attached to both the #9 wire and to the wire sides. DO NOT attach the netting to the #9 wire running through the pen. You should hog-ring the #9 wire to the toprite in the inside of the pen about every 5' to prevent ripping in the wind. At the junction of the #9 wire in the middle of the pen, put brace posts made of 2" x 4" material. They should be tall enough (10 to 12 ft.) to make the pen tent-like in appearance. On the top of the 2" x 4" add a screw-in eyehook, run the #9 wire through, then close the eyehook. This pen is designed to be lowered in case of wet snow or icy conditions. In case of foul weather, simply take down the 2" x 4" poles and let the toprite down. Even with the birds inside, they will move to the edges of the pen. This pen is economical as you have fewer posts and #9 wire then most pen designs. I purposely avoided the subject of gates, feeding, watering or catching birds, as each farm has is own situations.

Building Instructions

• Build the pheasant pen frame by placing 10 foot long treated posts 3 feet into the ground, about 12 feet apart. Place the posts equally distant from each other, making sure there are posts at all corners, both sides of the door frames and in the center of each side.
• Dig a trench around the base of the pen between each of the set posts, about 6 inches deep and 6 inches wide.
• Lay the first layer of galvanized wire into the trench, flaring out 2 or 3 inches at the bottom. Fill in the trench with dirt. This prevents predators from burrowing under the fence to get inside the pen.
• Extend the galvanized fencing around the fence up to the top of the posts.
• Around the perimeter of the top of the posts, lay #9 wire fencing over the tops like an edging. Lay several pieces across the pen width for top netting support.
• Place one or two brace posts on the inside of the pen like tent poles. Use 10- to 12-foot lumber or shorter lengths in areas with lots of snow and ice load.
• Lay game bird netting across the top of the pen to prevent birds from escaping. Connect the netting to the corner posts first for a snug fit and then lay the remainder. Attach the netting to the #9 wire on the inside with hog rings to prevent ripping in high winds.
• Strips of burlap approximately 10 inches by 20 inches or
  similar material hung randomly throughout the pen will help reduce injuries.

Information gleaned from MacFarlane Pheasants, Inc., ehow.com, GardenWeb.com.

To learn more about our adventures with pheasants, check out this link:
The Freeing of the Pheasants  

The Art of Regrowth

Image/Squidoo

Why should your cans, plastic, and paper have all the fun? If you've got a sunny south-facing window in your home, you can recycle the otherwise discarded parts of many everyday pieces of produce to regrow delicious scallions, potatoes, and even mangoes. Check out the tutorials referenced below for full information on having an indoor garden all year round.

(Editor's note: When regrowing any of the below-listed items, be sure to use only organic plants. Non-organic plants not guaranteed to grow. But consider that if you buy one organic piece of produce, such as an onion, each time you regrow it you're getting your money back!)

•  Scallions: Did you know scallions will regrow indefinitely in a glass of water on your kitchen counter? Lifehacker recently posted the following:

If you like to cook with scallions (aka green onions or green shallots), did you know you can keep the white root ends from purchased scallions in a glass of water and they will regrow almost indefinitely? Household weblog Homemade Serenity shares how scallion ends can regrow in in a glass of water. Just put the root ends in a glass of water and put that glass in a sunny window. After a few days you should be able to begin harvesting the green ends of the scallions. Make sure you change the water every so often and cut what you need with scissors before cooking.

• Potatoes Got an old potato that's started sprouting eyes? Click here to learn how to turn that into a whole new plant.
• Onions  Instead of tossing those onion bottoms into the compost heap, why not grow your own fresh onions out of them? You can theoretically create an endless supply of onions without ever having to buy bulbs or seeds—check out how over at Instructables.com. You can also regrow onions in a simple glass of water—click here to learn how.

If you like those, here are a few more ideas for re-growing food right on your kitchen counter (from Cornell's "Trash Goes to School" instructable).

• White Potato in Soil: Take a white potato that is showing "eyes" and cut a section that includes an eye (about 1 square inch). Place it in a pot of moist soil, about 2" deep. Keep the plant moist but do not "drown" it. Field potatoes are planted this way. 
• Sweet Potato in Water: In the middle of a sweet potato, stick 3 to 4 toothpicks evenly spaced. Place the potato in a glass of water and put it in a sunny window. Either end can be rooted. Keep the water level high, and after a week or more the potato will usually sprout roots and vine-like stems and leaves. At this point, you need to replant the potato into a pot with soil. 
• Carrot Top in Water: Cut about 1" - 1 1/2" off the top of 4 to 6 carrots. Fill a shallow bowl 2/3 full of washed pebbles (pebbles help support the tops.) Place the carrot tops over the pebbles. Add water to the level of the pebbles and maintain this level at all times. Soon the tops will sprout pretty foliage. 
• Pineapple in Water: To separate the top from the fruit, hold the fruit firmly with one hand and twist the leafy head with the other. The top should come right off. Remove the lower leaves until the stump is about 1 1/2" long. Put the top in a glass of water and change the water weekly. When roots are 3" to 4" long, transplant to a pot.

Plants from Seeds:

• Avocado Pits: Remove the pit from an avocado and allow it to dry for 2-3 days. Peel away as much of the onion-like skin as possible. One-third of the way down, inset four toothpicks at regular intervals. The flat end is the bottom and the pointed end is the top. Put the pit in a glass of water so that 1/2" of water covers the base of the pit. When the roots are 4" long, transplant the pit to a pot and keep it in a bright, warm window. Keep the soil evenly moist at all times. 
• Mini-Fruit Trees: Citrus plants can be grown from seeds removed from oranges, grapefruits, lemons, and tangerines. Soak the seeds overnight in water. Plant 1/2" in moist potting soil. Cover the pot with a plastic bag or a piece of plastic wrap, and put in a warm spot. When the seeds start to grow (in a few weeks), remove the plastic. Keep the plant in a warm, sunny window. 
• Beans, Peas, and Lentils: Soak dried beans, peas, or lentils overnight in warm water. Fill a pot 2/3 full with potting soil. Place three seeds on the top of the soil and cover with 1/2" of soil. Cover the pot with plastic wrap. After the seeds start to grow, remove the plastic. Put the plant in a warm, sunny window, and keep the soil evenly moist. It may be necessary to tie the plants to a small stake as they grow. 
• Herbs: Use anise, caraway, coriander, celery, dill, or fennel seed. Fill a 6" pot 2/3 full with moist potting soil. Place six seeds on top of the soil and cover with 1/2" of soil. Cover the pot with plastic wrap and place in a warm spot. After the seeds begin to grow (3-8 days), remove the plastic and place the plant in a sunny window. After a few weeks, you will have a lovely feathery foliage that can be snipped and used in cooking. 
• Peanuts: Make sure you use fresh, unroasted peanuts. Fill a large, 4" deep plastic bowl 2/3 full with moist potting soil. Shell four peanuts and place them on top of the soil, covering them with 1" of soil. The plant will sprout quickly. In a couple of months small, yellow, pealike flowers will develop along the lower part of the stem. After the flower fades, the ovary swells and starts to grow toward the ground and pushes into the soil. Peanuts will be ready to harvest in about six months.

Plants from Exotic Fruits:

• Mango: In the center of the mango, there is a large hairy husk with a pit in it. Scrape off all the excess flesh from the husk and gently pry open with a dull knife. The pit is best started in a sphagnum bag. Fill a Ziploc bag with dampened peat moss or sphagnum. Place the pit in the bag and make sure it is completely surrounded by moss. Check every day to make sure the pit is not dried out or rotted from too much moisture. When the roots are 4" long, transplant to a pot that is at least 1" larger than the pit. 
• Papaya: Papayas are not easy to grow because the plants have a tendency to dampen off (die) at about 6" tall. When you cut the papaya open, you will find hundreds of black seeds surrounded by a gelatinous aril (seed covering). To remove the aril, spread some seeds on a paper towel and roll them with your fingers until the aril squashes off. Plant the seeds immediately in a container with sterile potting soil. Give them bottom heat and high humidity until they pass the critical stage of 6" high. Papayas are rapid growers, and once they are established, they will not need a lot of water and fertilizer. 
• Tamarind: Tamarind pods look like brown lima beans. The outer shell is brittle and easily peels back, revealing a sticky, brown, pulp. Within this pulp there are five or six shiny black pits. Nick the pits (with a nail file) and soak them until they swell, usually in a few hours. Plant the pits in a container with potting soil and place in a sunny window. Tamarinds are water-loving plants and should never be allowed to dry out. As they grow, pinch them back to make the plant fuller.

Spotlight On: Environmental Working Group

From EWG's "Meat-Eater's Guide to Climate Change and Health."

While researching information about farm subsidies and the growing local food movement, I stumbled upon the Environmental Working Group; a non-profit organization that advocates on Capitol Hill for health-protective and subsidy-shifting policies.

The group's website, www.ewg.org, is a virtual kiosk of information that benefits farmers and consumers alike. Pages on the site cover transparency in the food supply,  health issues, a chemical index, and up-to-date information on natural resources and the politics surrounding them. Definitely a great go-to for anyone interested in farming, thoughtful consumption, and the politics of food and health.

Three Honor-System Farm Stand Models