week 2 & 3

I'm a little behind on my gardening work due to a nasty cold! I have done 30 minutes of composting over the past 2 weeks and plan on catching up on my work in the next week or so.

New year week 1

Composted for 30min this week and spent 45 minutes researching and ordering seeds from "West Coast Seeds".

Over the winter break I trimmed down the artichoke plants, covered them with leaves, then covered everything with pots and more leaves. Hopefully they will survive the snow to come.

Interesting elements from

• Malaria kills 1 child per 30 seconds and over a million per year
• People can feel the symptoms of malaria anywhere from 8 days to a year after infection
• Malaria was eliminated in the U.S. with DDT and people think Africa should do the same
• Some believe the benefits of using DDT to eliminate the disease in Africa out way the risks and dangers

Questions

• How would DDT be administered to eliminate the disease?
• How would it be controlled?

The Omnivore's Dilemma

Interesting elements from Ch.9: Big Organic of The Omnivores Dilemma by Michael Pollan:

• A farm claiming to be organic have cows in fenced "dry lots" with certified organic grain as food and tethered to milking machines 3 times a day
• Free range can mean a tiny door to a little grassy yard that is only accessible after 5-6 weeks of age
• Organic chickens must have "ACCESS to the outdoors" but if they don't for the first 5-6 weeks of their lives then they rarely go out into unknown territory outdoors
• plants grown in synthetically fertilized soils are less nourishing than ones grown in composting soils

Questions:

• On average how many grocery stores sell inorganic food vs. organic food which is still treated similarly with sneaky ways of doing it?
• Whats the difference of energy used on organic vs. conventional?

Silent Spring

Interesting elements from Ch.3: Elixirs of Death of the book Silent Spring by Rachel Carson:

• Synthetic chemicals/insecticides were a result of studies during WWII for weapons in chemical warfare that happen to be deadly to insects
• One can substitute other elements for Hydrogen in a hydrogen carbon bond
• Chlorinated hydrocarbon insecticides pass through the placenta to the embryo while in the mothers womb
• When swallowed dieldrin is 5 times more toxic than DDT but when absorbed through the skin it is 40 times more toxic
• The toxicity of organic phosphates can be increase by non-insecticide agents
• Herbicides can cause gene mutations

Questions

• How easily accessible are these chemicals to an average person?
• How many long term effects are still undiscovered?

week 10 &11

Over the past two weeks I have done 45 minutes of composting, 45 minutes of research and planning on how to keep our artichoke plants alive over the winter so that they will give us fruit next season, and 30 minutes of turning soil.

Week 9

An hour of planting the last of the late garlic and composting