Gardening Talk on KWTX

Norman Borlaug

There have been many differing views on the life and accomplishments of Norman Borlaug. With an upcoming class on sustainable and organic agriculture this Monday we thought it would be interesting to read both the accolades and criticisms of Norman Borlaug.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/14/business/energy-environment/14borlaug.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/sep/15/norman-borlaug-legacy

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/13/norman-borlaug-dead_n_284886.html

http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/articles/borlaug/index.html

A Warm Safe Place

Plants are not that different from people. They live outdoors in all kinds of weather, but in order to flourish they need a warm safe place away from the cold and wind. Our urban gardening program has a shelter called the BUGI (Bethel's Urban Gardening Institute) Barn where we keep plants, tools and seeds (along with bikes and miscellaneous junk that piles up). It's not really built to be a greenhouse. Occasionally the temperature has been colder inside than outside. Our poor plants struggled to stay alive through an unseasonably cold winter in Texas this year, much less thrive. What to do?

Greenhouses in some form have existed since the Roman Empire. Modern greenhouses started in Italy in the 13th century to house exotic plants and animals that explorers brought back from the tropics (source). It's interesting that in both cases greenhouses were built to benefit the wealthy, not in order to improve agriculture for the masses. From the beginning greenhouses were a resource intensive endeavor. It takes a lot of fuel (wood, propane, electricity, etc.) in order to keep a greenhouse heated through the winter.

I'd heard snippets here and there about unheated greenhouses. Eliot Coleman is the guru of greenhouses and year-round farming. He does this, not in the temperate climate of Texas, but the harsh winters of northern Maine. I was particularly intrigued by rabbit-heated greenhouses. According to one site, rabbits produce about 8 BTUs of heat per hour. Their feces is composted with worms underneath the cages which adds additional heat. When someone who used to work at the farm dropped off four rabbits that had been 4-H projects, I had found my project.

We sectioned off a 10 foot section at the end of the BUGI Barn with a double layered plastic curtain. We lined the inside of the barn with plastic as well to create a layer of air that will insulate while the plastic helps trap the heat. We set the rabbit cages up on cinderblocks about two feet off the ground. There is a table for plants above the rabbit cages with some aluminum roofing nailed to it to keep water from hitting the rabbits. Then a small square table and one more long one for more plants.

There's a fan in the corner blowing across the rabbit cages. This, supposedly, causes the rabbits to produce more heat by cooling their ears, which are temperature sensors for their bodies (though I'm no biologist so correct me if I'm wrong). So rabbits provide heat and compost. If you get them to reproduce like, well, rabbits, then you also have a meat source.

There are lots of other techniques for unheated greenhouses. Five gallon buckets painted black on one side and filled with water act as solar heaters. The idea behind unheated greenhouses is to think about the inputs required to grow our food and reduce or do away with our dependence on outside inputs as much as possible. If my little experiment works we'll have a greenhouse that doesn't require outside inputs or a fuel source and produces meat and compost.

Here's some pictures of the finished greenhouse. Pardon the mess. We live on a farm.

The BUGI Barn from the outside. It's about 40 feet long.

The greenhouse from the outside. There are two layers of plastic with slits that are offset for entrance.

Inside the greenhouse. Lots of room for all our plants.

Our little biological heaters. They are way cuter than a propane or electric heater, tastier too.

Up close and personal with one of our bunnies. Notice the fan on the left to circulate the air and encourage our bio-heaters.

Envisioning A New Haiti

Hundreds of individuals have now settled in Ferrier, Haiti following the January earthquake which struck Port-au-Prince some 8 hours to the south. The World Hunger Relief - Haiti team has responded by providing temporary assistance thanks to the generous giving of many folks reading this post. We continue to feel that our assistance is best delivered through our Haitian brothers and sisters, and are seeking ways to do this most effectively.

Addressing needs in outlying areas, like Ferrier, seems to be gaining wider attention, not just as a short-term response to internally displaced Haitians, but also as a solution to a long-term, chronic problem. By the time of the earthquake, chaotic urban migration had turned Port-au-Prince from a modest-sized city to a crowded, messy habitation for over 3 million people. Experts involved in the reconstruction effort, are increasingly asking how to encourage the 1 million Haitians who have left Port-au-Prince to stay put for the long haul.

The Jan. 29 Christian Science Monitor reported “As Haitian officials and international development experts start to envision Haiti's reconstruction, 'decentralization' has become an ubiquitous rallying cry. Port-au-Prince should never again be the congested and almost anarchic city it was before Jan. 12, these experts say: Those who have left the capital should be encouraged to stay out.”

Economic development in outlying towns, like Ferrier, serves both the short and long-term best interest of the country. After hundreds of phone calls and e-mails, we are more and more convinced that our response to the earthquake should be shaped by this understanding. We intend to redouble our efforts at encouraging agricultural improvement and food production in one of the few areas of the country with under-utilized, potentially productive farmland.

To this end, WHRI Executive Director, Neil Rowe Miller, will travel to Haiti on Monday, Feb. 22 to discuss potential strategies with WHR-Haiti President, Jackson Nelson. We will likely focus on rice production since the area around Ferrier includes the third largest flood-irrigated area in the country. Rice production creates additional jobs as the crop is processed, transported, and marketed to consumers.

Meanwhile, WHR-Haiti has been asked to help in the rural town of Léogâne, an hour west of Port-au-Prince. This area, which was also devastated by the earthquake, is the focus of the relief efforts of the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee. Their water resource specialist, Jos Josse has asked for assistance in drilling four wells to provide drinking water for their traditional population as well as those displaced from the city. This need also seems in keeping with our overall approach, and we will do all we can to help Jackson and his crew respond.

Snow Day at the Farm

The Waco area got 1-3 inches of snow late Thursday and overnight. Here's some pictures complete with witty captions for you.


Nothing witty, just the ed building with snow... cool.


One of the chickens was trying to throw us off the trail... we still found him. We are still smarter than chickens.


"I'd like to see this thing solar dehydrate anything now!" -Mother Nature


The farm accepts all kinds of snowmen, although some should still learn to pluck their eyebrows.


My son is proud of the snowman he built with his dad. Unfortunately...


our development director has a sick sense of humor.

My farm blog - Chase Estrin

Hodwy! For those of you who don't know me, my name is Chase and I'm a new live-in volunteer here on the farm. I came out here last May with a group from the University of Michigan and enjoyed my experience so much I decided to come out for 5 months to learn everything I can about agrarian life. Nature is really a wonderful thing. You find out very quickly that everything that happens in nature has evolved and adapted to what it is now. Even being here for a few days you will learn a plethora of new information dealing with gardening, sustainable practices, and everything in between.

My blog is for my friends and family and covers what I've learned here on the farm as well as what I've been up to. It covers information from our classes and the information that I've learned that, should be, second nature to everyone but has managed to drop out of society. I hope that you enjoy it. Feel free to comment.

Chase Estrin's blog

I am sitting in a hotel room in New Mexico watching C-SPAN waiting for dinner at a training so I can officially become a VISTA Supervisor. Michelle Obama is on giving a speech about how to keep kids from giving getting and staying fat. She is giving a shout out to community gardens and Will Allen. She committed to eliminate food deserts within 7 years. This will include bringing grocery stores to neighborhoods that currently do not have them (read North Waco and East Waco) or help convenience stores include more fruits and veggies. She promised that funding would be available to encourage better nutrition and more physical activity through The Partnership for a Healthier America.

Her initiative is called Let’s Move.

Check out the USDA Food Atlas to see where the governments perspective on how Americans are eating.

She is talking about making food healthier in schools but she is not talking about why the U.S. subsidize foods that make people fat but we have only done a little to encourage farmers in the U.S. to begin to grown more fruits and veggies.