Water - a more fragile resource than we acknowledge

Some of my friends understand my obsession about water, and some don't. Though our city water systems have evolved a very high quality of life, there is a fragility, and toxicity, to the system.

It may be impractical for everyone to become self-sufficient when it comes to water - but water quality, and sourcing, is worth investigating.

We get our drinking water from a fresh river source which is run through ultra-violet filtration - and there are several spring water sources like this around the island. It may seem like a lot of work to collect water - but with all the chemicals being added to city water, and the research on plastic leaching the carcinogen Bisphenol A - we are risking our health if we don't choose to pay attention.

An example of my ignorance on this subject is that I thought if you used a plastic water bottle enough times, it would stop leaching. But in fact, it is the other way around! The more you re-use plastic water bottles, the more little crevices form from which the toxins leach.

At Thanksgiving someone mentioned that I am not the only one who thinks water may be an issue in the future. Apparently large corporations like Coca-Cola are buying up water rights. (I've got a long string of four letter words about that - but I'll spare you).

If you are fortunate to live somewhere where there is ample rainfall, one option is catchment. Some people meaning well have unwittingly made themselves sick not handling their catchment correctly - so check out this guide if you are thinking to go that route:
http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/freepubs/pdf/RM-12.pdf

What ever solution you come to regarding water safety and sourcing - it's a good idea to think it through carefully.

Here is an interesting link to a West Michigan group that is helping people understand just one of the many water issues we are now faced with the environmental impact our modern cities have on delicate eco-systems. Just something to consider to see how varied the issues involved can be: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlScj9yN6Jw&eurl=http://www.urbanraincatchersgazette.ca/show2s/INSPIRING_VIDEOS

Basil: benefits and starts – the easiest herb to cultivate and use.

Basil is a very versatile herb which grows prolifically in a window box or in the ground with a little light and some good, moist soil. I learned that it’s easy to keep your basil supply fresh and plentiful year round.

In Hawaii, basil put in the ground tends to turn into small trees, replete with mini-woody trunks. Though we started with a single 5” high basil plant from the Kula Nursery, it quickly took root and started producing far more than we could ever use. But as time progressed, the quality of the basil began to change. What once were tender, soft leaves gave way to wrinkled and tough ones. The stalks changed too. At first the stems were soft and flexible and later hard, snapping like a dry twig in your hand.

I thought a nutrient deficiency might be the problem so went to work researching the subject. I found out it wasn’t what I thought at all.

Apparently all basil tends to have an earlier tender stage and later woody stage which is inevitable; it just depends on how fast the environmental elements effect its maturation.

 

I learned that basil does not need to be started form seed but actually propagates quickly and simply from clippings. Using the basil plant that is beginning to turn woody, clip off fresh groupings of leaves which are still tender and put in water in the window for 5-7 days. And Voila! – roots grow and it will be ready to plant.



We have had somewhere around 50 basil trees, all which originated with this one plant from the nursery. Every time ours start to turn, I just clip off the tips and start over.

Just a word of advice on this though: when you first put the starts in soil, they will droop for a few days as they adjust to being in soil. Keep them out of direct hot sun while they adjust, and they will pop back once they take root.

Our favorite thing to do with basil besides a caprese salad which requires tomatoes that we don’t have all the time, is to make pesto. We are starting to grow the garlic too, and I use macadamia nuts rather than pine nuts because I prefer the taste, and they are local. I am under the impression that everyone knows how to make pesto - but here's a basic recipe with a couple twists to experiment with, just in case:

Pesto:

Basil - two large hand full of cleaned leaves removed from stem

3/4 cup olive oil

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground pepper

2-4 garlic cloves, depending on size and personal preference

1/2 cup nuts - optional, can use pine or macadamia.

1/4 cup ground Parmesan - optional, I also like to sprinkle with feta on top as an alternative

Grind it all up in the Cuisinart, and Bob's your uncle!

We also make cilantro pesto and arugula pesto by throwing in a handful of one or the other with the main recipe. Yum!

The Transition Movement

It seems you can find a scientist to support just about any future projection in regards to planetary outcome in the near and distant futures - from 'hard proof' that we are heading to extinction to 'hard proof' that everything is business as usual on planet earth.

We don't know what the outcome is going to be, but between carbon emissions and bank bail outs - it certainly doesn't look like business as usual. I think we can agree that our world is being polluted, and that there is much inherent suffering created by the lifestyles we live in the US.

No matter what you believe, most people seem to want change (we voted for it - even if we didn't get it!). What stands in our way is the idea that we believe that we must wait on government to make change, or that there needs to be immediate economic benefit to our efforts.

Colette and I have found, along with tens of thousands of other people around the world, that inspiration begins in our own backyard with what we can do today, and communities are already reaping the rewards of their efforts.

I really recommend the following 50 minute movie created by the Transition Movement to get you thinking in a new way about a positive, and possible future: http://www.transitionnetwork.org/support/publications/transition-movie

After that, check out these links (see below for movie recommendations) for more great info:

http://www.transitionnetwork.org/
http://www.storyofstuff.com/
http://c-realmpodcast.podomatic.com/

Movies:
The End of Suburbia
Crude Awakenings
The Power of Community
An Inconvenient Truth

Picking an Avocado

Jan claims not to know much about avocados, at least not compared with people who have been growing them for 35 years like the old guy at the market. But when Jan's trees aren't going off, I've watched her inspect avocados at the market or Mana Foods with a great deal of interest. It's clear she knew what she was looking for - and with the duds I can pick, I wanted to know too.

Here's what she told me:

Avocado's are often picked before they are ready - I don't mean ripe - but ready. That means that the avocado needs to ripen to a certain degree before it is removed from the tree or it won't ripen correctly (thus the rubbery texture), no matter how long you wait. Apparently once the tree starts dropping fruit, then it's time to pay attention as the first wave is ready. You'd think growers would wait until the right time - but apparently many of them don't. So you need to know what to look for at the market or in the shops.

The big tip is that the stem of the avo (if there is one), where the fruit meets it at the top, should have become darker and look a bit older. It shouldn't be a bright fresh green, or it was picked too soon. If it doesn't have a stem, depending on whether that occurred naturally, could mean that the fruit had already fallen to the ground of it's own accord. That's a good thing. Either way, you still want to look at the fruit itself to be sure the flesh has filled out the skin which will make the avocado appear smooth and full, not puckered or wrinkled, especially around where the stem is or was. Most avocados are best when the lumps and bumps have given way to a smooth full body.

That being said there are many types of avocados, from watery and light to creamy and heavy. Most people seem to prefer the oiler type typified by a Hass. There is no guarantees about which avocado shape or size is going to give you what you're looking for, but Sharwils are popular here on the island and rarely does one go wrong with a Sharwil. When in doubt, ask the avocado purveyor - they'll know which kind they have.

But you will have to determine if the avocado has been picked too early using the above tips.

With all the types of avocado's there are many which are hard to tell when they are ripe and you can think that the hard exterior means it needs more time only to have it be rotten when you open it. Rather than using my previous "trial and error" method of hoping and opening, try a tooth pick from the top. If the toothpick meets no resistance, then the flesh is ready.

Once you have your avocado - here's a suggestion of what to do with it:

Guacamole
We tend to throw everything in, adjusting the elements to taste based on what kind of avocado we find. But this will give you a jumping off point for your own experiments:

1 ripe avocado
juice of half a lime (lemon works too)
1/4 cup freshly chopped cilantro
1 tbsp finely diced onion
1 clove of garlic - pressed or finely diced
1/4 cup chopped tomato, small pieces
1/8 of a green hot chili pepper - finely diced
a dash of hot sauce (optional)
salt and pepper to taste.

We like Hav'a Chips corn chips (bad name, the best corn chips!) with our guac. These chips are really good, but soon, we're going to master making our own chips.
Tip: the chips are extra fabulous warmed just before serving - spread out on a cookie sheet or foil in the convection oven or broiler for just a couple minutes - yum!

Enjoy :)

D's Big Inspiration Sources

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall - creator of "River Cottage"


Several years ago, I came across a show called "River Cottage" about a guy who had decided to leave city life behind (London) and headed to the country side to start a new life growing his own food and raising his own animals. He started in 1998, from humble beginnings, he's now introduced a program called Land Share to help others actualize a similar dream. He is matching land owners with people who have a passion for growing and raising organic food - and so far 50,000 people have been coupled to make the dream a reality for the average non-land owning person.

I found, and continue to find, his show very inspiring. The first series is called Escape to River Cottage. Season 2 is Return to River Cottage. The third is Beyond River Cottage where he branches out with 40 plus acres.

Here is the link to season 1, epsiode 1: http://www.factualtv.com/documentary/Escape-to-River-Cottage-Episode-1

There is more stuff available on YouTube for River Cottage, including bread making, mushroom picking, free-foraging, etc.

The other main source of inspiration came from a family of four in Pasadena California who live on 1/10th of an acre and are producing 6,000 pounds plus of organic food per year, and providing a living for all four adult family members.

The Dervaes Family

Here is a great video they created to introduce new comers to what they do, and why: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCPEBM5ol0Q

From there - you can branch out and learn more through their web site, other videos, and their blog. They also sell seeds and pioneer-style kitchen and garden products (http://www.peddlerswagon.com/)

NPK? - What's wrong with my plant?

Are you having the experience of starting with a happy healthy looking plant only to have the leaves turn yellow or brown or spotty?

There are many possibilities, but usually it's because your soil is lacking in a basic nutrient.

In our garden, we found veiny patterns and yellowing to be the main two issue. In researching what was happening, we found the following amazing reference: http://4e.plantphys.net/article.php?ch=3&id=289

Take a close look at your leaf and compare to the pictures in the lower part of the article, and you can quickly diagnose.

Inspiration Taking Root

(video of the 2 acres we've been offered to farm at the bottom of this post - with characteristic Daren embellishments for fun - check it out!)

We’re really happy that Dano’s on board with our gowing vision (Yay!).

Yesterday, D spent the day with Dan (Dano) and Brendan in Haiku at Jess and Dano’s home clearing Gliricidia trees (an amazing nitrogen fixing tree – which will make fantastic soil once chipped for compost).  

Brendan made a really good point – which is, why should we prepare someone else’s land (the two acres.....Video at bottom of this blog) before we get the land "in the family" up and producing! (duh? – how silly are we?? – thank you Brendan).

So our focus has become to update the clearing and planting that Dano started on his property 20 years ago. He’s put a lot of energy and preparation in to the land over the years, including the forethought to plant the Gliricidia trees when he got his property. The place is already producing, and loaded with potential.

D said that they unearthed a lime tree (and accidentally cut down an All Spice tree) while clearing – and that there are lots of other healthy fruit trees on the property just waiting for a little boost to really take off.

Dano has threatened to start contributing to this blog - and we're hoping he's serious. (He does know just a wee-bit about this stuff - though you'll never hear him blowing his own horn - so I will - 'toot-toot!') 

We realized our own garden isn’t producing like it could be. We got a little lazy with the idea that it’s a ‘winter garden’ – but in truth, we need to get more winterized plants in the ground.

Before and after pictures of the clearing progress:

Here are some of the Gliricidias planted many years ago in-between planting rows. The tree stumps will send up new shoots in 2 weeks or so and begin the process again. As you can see, the trees have crowded out light.

 (Dano's existing veggie garden)

The After:

Gliricidias stacked and ready for chipping

All in a days work for Dano, Brendan (B) and Daren (D)

The two acres we have been offered to farm.