Twittering from the Garden

Hey! You've probably been wondering where the heck I am lately. Well, the 3 of you that are left, anyway. ; )

I've been in the garden a lot lately, big surpirse! But, I've also been twittering more as a consequence, because it is much easier to do from the garden! It also just takes a couple of minutes, which means you don't even have to stop working. Which stops the panic of not getting everything done in the garden, which is a good thing.

There's also a lot of other great gardeners on twitter, and I may even blog about them too.

So, follow me on twitter eh? I'm @secretfarm

I will still blog here though, so don't worry! I will probably blog just about as much as before during the growing season, but now there's twitter too. Yay!

Protect your babies!

Just a quick warning to all MN gardeners - we may get a frost or FREEZE tonight! Ack! Just when I thought it was safe to plant those zone 9 plants I bought last weekend. Here's what Paul Douglas over at Minnpost.com has to say. So, cover up them buggers or take your chances - but don't say I didn't warn you!

Spring Cleaning

Just a quick post - I know it's been awhile! But, as my fellow secret farmers know, Spring is a busy time. So many seeds to plant and so much mulch to remove. It's clean up time!

And the weeds! Every year I am surprised at how much the weeds have grown already. I swear they grow under the snow! I've got Creeping Charlie in the strawberries and Crab Grass in the raised garden. Then there's the invasive species that you have foolishly decided to grow anyway. Now is a good time to quite literally, nip them in the bud! I've been pulling strawberries out of the brick patio, and Cup and Saucer out of the side garden. I'm sure once I get back out there. I'll see I've got a bunch more stuff to pry out of the dirt that I hadn't noticed yet.

As much as Spring is a time for tidying up, it is also a time for planting outside, and that's the fun part right? I've got three kinds of peas in the ground do far, and with no rain have been watering them. I planted about 35 each of Cascadia, Super Sugar Snap and Carouby De Maussane (a snow pea). So far not a single shoot has shown it's face-? But, I'm trying not to panic and be patient. Which I don't know about you, but is very hard for me. I've also planted a bunch of re-seeded radishes in little patches, and some of them have come up. I'm pretty sure I've also got some volunteer lettuce coming up, unless it's some kinda tricky weed, in which case I am watching new developments closely.

I've also made some mini greenhouses to start my tomato seedlings in this year. It's super easy, and super green!

Well, I better get out there again - there's rain in the forecast, and I'd like to get perhaps a few cold weather things in the ground first. Of course, if I do it's sure not to rain. ; )

What do you have in the ground so far? Did you lose anything over the winter?

HR 875 the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009

As many of you out there are aware by now, there is a bill that has been introduced to Congress called HR 875 Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 . I have seen a number of twitters and blog posts about it, as well as articles and discussions. I was all set to write a very different post about this issue until I came across this post at CrooksandLiars.com in my search:

http://crooksandliars.com/nonny-mouse/monsanto-and-hr-875-take-two

I think this excerpt is essential for background in this discussion:

"(1) the bill has nothing to do with Monsanto, (2) Rep. DeLauro’s (the introducer of the bill) husband is a pollster for a company that once had Monsanto as a customer a decade ago, but he in no way ‘works’ for Monsanto, (3) HR 875 as it currently stands is very unlikely to even pass, and (4) the group behind disseminating this trumped-up propaganda is NICFA,"

The NICFA is a group whose mission statement maintains their goal is to "promote and preserve unregulated direct farmer-to-consumer trade’ and ‘oppose any government funded or managed National Animal Identification System." But, when I went to their site, the only statement I could find remotely referencing HR 875, was this:

"A number of “food safety” bills recently introduced in Congress would give the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) direct control over every farm and ranch in the country and the authority to micromanage every aspect of farm production. Most of these bills have NAIS written into them. "

Perhaps they are referring to another food safety bill? I did not see any "trumped up propaganda about HR 875, unless it has been removed from their site, or referring to this appearance on Fox News.

What I think is behind the " propaganda" perhaps, is fear. We have just come off of 8 years of perhaps the most secretive govt. this country has ever seen, an administration that gave us good reason to not trust (ie "Clear Skies", "No Child Left Behind" etc. ) and I think we are all a little shell shocked. Too willing to believe that there must be some evil plot behind any new bill or law to take away our freedom. I think we all need to take a step back and do a little research before passing on info that sounds "too bad to be true". I have to admit, I am guilty of this as well, and I am trying to take my own advice.

Another heartening section from the post at "Crooks and Liars" that should quell much of the fears out there:

"I have since been in contact with Rep. DeLauro’s office, and they have confirmed that Rep. DeLauro has been meeting with organic farmers to draw up a proposed list of amendments to HR 875 based on those discussions. While these amendments are not yet public knowledge, and would be an informal document to clarify the bill, she and her staff would be happy to get the word out that the Congresswoman is indeed working very hard on improving both the bill and her office’s relationship with organic and small farmers."

While this is indeed good news, I would expect that these would be actual amendments to the bill and not just an "informal document" in the end. My work as a union steward and on a contract negotiating committee has taught me that clear language is always needed no matter how nitpicky it seems, and it is best not to leave things up to interpretation later on, if possible.

There are things now in the bill that I think are cause for real concern as far as open interpretation goes. For instance, the passage below from the "definitions" section of the bill seems to have the most relevance to the small producer as far as I have been able to discern. It seems to me to be too broad a stroke and needs further definition so as not to include perhaps even the home garden (or secret farm!) or chicken keeper, etc into the scope of the bill which therefore means, into the scope of the $1,000,000 penalty provided for in the bill.

"(14) FOOD PRODUCTION FACILITY- The term ‘food production facility’ means any farm, ranch, orchard, vineyard, aquaculture facility, or confined animal-feeding operation."

There needs to be clear language as to the definition of all of the above, lest your backyard chicken coop be lumped into a "confined animal-feeding operation", or your grove of apple trees on the back 40 (feet or acres) into an orchard under the bill. And since I do run a Secret Farm, I am concerned that any home garden could be lumped in to the above definition, but I am more concerned about the small organic farmer and CSA's. If there is no language in the bill to make exclusions, it means it is open to interpretation later - and then it will be up to the interpreter at the time, and we can't always rely on that person or body to be reasoned in their judgement, or to have the best interests of the people in mind, rather than the GM industry - (yep, I'm looking at you Monsanto!).

For something as essential as the safety of our food supply and our ability to produce our own food, should we choose, we need to make sure we get it right. Nothing should be rushed through without clear language as to who and what is included under the bill. Especially when there are such things as $1,000,000 fines and unannounced inspections and confiscations involved.

But let me be clear, I do believe we need such a bill, and we need a real overhaul to our food safety system. If the recent (and ongoing!) salmonella peanut recall has taught us anything, I hope it is that we need real improvement and regulation in food safety. But, that reform should not come at the sacrifice of the small and organic food producer. In fact, I think that the small organic producer, the home gardener, and organic farming in general is precisely what will save us from over-pollution. 

We must not resort to fear mongering and paranoia but instead, be vigilant, and informed. Make sure our leaders, whoever they are at the time, know that we are paying attention and will put any needed pressure on to make new laws and regulations reasonable, sane, and in line with keeping the power in the hands of the people and not the corporation. 

Amish Gold

These guys are Amish Gold - literally. Well, ok not exactly, but they are damn tasty! They are a cross between an Amish paste tomato and a Sungold Cherry, and they are nice and tangy and great for slicing because of their shape. I really like the longer format tomato, you get such cute little tomato circles out of them.

I will most definitely grow these next year!

Japanese Black Trifele

This fine pair are Japanese Black Trifele tomatoes. These were the ones I was most excited about this year for some reason - I'm sure it is the name. I mean, if they were called Early Boys or something, I wouldn't be interested. As they are named they have the mystique of the black truffle mushroom - or so I thought. Of course, as excited as I was about them it was pretty much assured I'd be disappointed. And yes, I was. They are ok, but I didn't think they even measured up to the Black Prince, which are so far my favorite black tomato. Ok, just to be sure, I'm gonna go cut up another one right now and taste it again...

Ok, yes, they are disappointing! Very mild and really barely any tomato flavor. Hmmm, I think I'm going to have to try them again anyway though, because I really like their pear shape and I didn't get them in early enough to let them fully ripen on the vine. Is that going to make a difference? Stay tuned.

Vintage Wine

This is a Vintage Wine tomato. It's very pretty, but the first one we had was pretty mediocre in flavor I thought. I'm pretty picky though, so anyone else might think it was just fine. As far as growing it again next year - it has decent production and medium size, flavor is as I said, ok, but it kinda makes up for that by being pretty so, yes, I'll grow it again.