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Gathering Notice: Getting More out of your Garden, Farm and Homestead through Permaculture Techniques with Kelly Ware, April 17 2014

Wednesday, April 2nd, 2014

by Catherine Haug, April 2, 2014

ESP and BERT (Bigfork Emergency Resource Team) are co-hosting this event:

  • What: Getting more out of your garden, Farm and Homestead Through Permaculture Techniques, with Kelly Ware; hosted by Essential Stuff Project (ESP) and Bigfork Emergency Resource Team (BERT)
  • When: Thursday evening, April 17, 2014, 7 – 8 PM
  • Where: Bigfork Middle School Cafeteria (600 Commerce St, Bigfork MT)
  • Who: Free and open to the public; no preregistration required.
  • Contact: Catherine at 837-4577 (Cat@essentialstuff.org), or Bruce at 837-0923

Additional Information: read on for more info about the event, and a link to a flyer.. (more…)

Posted in Compost, Ecology, Gardening, Landscaping, Permaculture | Comments Closed

Organic Gardening: The Problem of Contaminated Manure

Sunday, March 23rd, 2014
Frankenfood

Frankenfood

by Catherine Haug, April 23, 2014 (Image, right, used with permission from the Organic Consumers Association)

We all want to eat plant food that is healthful, not only for us but also for the soil in which it is grown, for the water that quenches its thirst, and for the air which provides the carbon dioxide for photosynthesis.Yet most of the food in grocery stores and supermarkets does not meet that criteria. Instead, it contains GMO ingredients and as a consequence is contaminated with plant-killing chemicals like glyphosate (Roundup) and animal-killing chemical pesticides.

So we turn to foods that are raised organically – both plant and animal foods. Some of us raise our own. However, in our quest for organic, healthful food, we may be shooting ourselves in the foot. For example: (more…)

Posted in Agriculture, Compost, Ecology, Gardening, GMO, Home & Ranch, Organics | Comments Closed

PBS Videos: The Lexicon of Sustainability

Wednesday, March 12th, 2014
Chickens at feed

Chickens at feed

by Catherine Haug, March 2014 (photo, right by Keith Blaylock)

Check out a very informative and entertaining series of short videos that explores new vocabulary associated with farming, food security, and other sustainability topics. From the Lexicon of Sustainability home page:

“For the past three years we have conversed with the foremost practitioners of sustainability in food and farming. They have shared their insights and experiences… and contributed their words to our rapidly growing Lexicon of Sustainability. To spread their knowledge our photography project has grown to include short films, study guides, traveling shows, a book and lastly a website where people can add their own terms to this ever-evolving lexicon.”

Read on for more about, and links to the videos. (more…)

Posted in Agriculture, Community, Compost, Ecology, Food-Nutrition-Health, Gardening, GMO, Livestock, Organics, Shop Local | Comments Closed

A Healing Garden: Milkweed for Monarchs

Thursday, February 27th, 2014
Female Monarch in May

Female Monarch in May

by Catherine Haug, Feb 27/2014 ( photo, right, from Wikimedia Commons; photo, below, from Wikimedia Commons)

In addition to bees, we are also losing another valuable pollinator to the effects of GMO crops: the Monarch Butterfly. This beautiful animal feeds only upon milkweed in its youth, but the spraying of GMO crops with Roundup and other herbicides is killing off all the milkweed. You can help by growing this flowering plant in your yard or garden. See Monarch Watch: Growing Milkweed.

Don’t confuse the common milkweed with Asclepias tuberosa, also called butterfly weed, because it is listed as toxic.  Asclepias tuberosa has erect, orange flowers and watery rather than milky sap. (See ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/poison/poison.htm for more about this).

Milkweed in bloom

Milkweed in bloom

Milkweed has medicinal use and is also used as a food. For example, young milkweed can be used much like spinach; the shoots can be cooked like asparagus, and the buds can be coated with beer batter, then deep-fried. See Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association: Milkweed.

For more on a Healing Garden, see the original post A Healing Garden – for You and Bees.

 

 

Posted in Agriculture, Ecology, Gardening, GMO, Health | Comments Closed

Nigerian Dwarf Goats – Perfect for town lots

Tuesday, February 18th, 2014
Nigerian Dwarf Twins

Nigerian Dwarf Twins

by Catherine Haug, Feb 18, 2014 (from March 3, 2013)

(photo, right, from Wikimedia Commons (2))

This is the second in a series on different kinds of dairy goats raised by our members. Read about BrendaLee’s Kinder Goats: Small breed for city lots or farms, or Gayle’s Toggenbergs: Keeping a Family Goat

If you would like to contribute info on your dairy or meat goats, please contact Cat (see our ESP Contact page).

Sheree T. raises Nigerian dwarf goats on her urban homestead for their milk, which she uses in her goat-milk soaps. She would like to start a Nigerian Goat Club in the valley; contact her for more information.

(more…)

Posted in Home & Ranch, Livestock | Comments Closed

A Healing Garden – for You and Bees

Monday, February 10th, 2014

by Catherine Haug, February 9, 2014; updated Feb 27,2014 regarding monarch butterflies

Our pollinators, especially bees, are in trouble, dying in great numbers. The situation is getting so severe that growers are concerned their crops will soon lose the ability to to produce seed for future crops, because of the decline in healthy pollinators. This affects almost all vegetables – including squash, tomatoes, greens, cabbage, broccoli, carrots, beets, beans, peas, etc.; and many fruits – including huckleberries and other berries, apples, pears, peaches, apricots, plums, melons and more.

Update: We are also losing another valuable pollinator to the effects of GMO crops: the Monarch Butterfly. This beautiful animal feeds only upon milkweed in its youth, but the spraying of GMO crops with Roundup and other herbicides is killing off all the milkweed. You can help by growing this flowering plant in your yard or garden. See Monarch Watch: Growing Milkweed.

But there is something you can do – every one of you – to help not only the plight of pollinators and our food supply, but also for the health of your family. (more…)

Posted in Ecology, Gardening, Health, Remedies | Comments Closed

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