visit Maroon Lectroid

some recent posts there may be of interest...

New Biodynamic Film Released

It's called "How to Save the World"
Press Release: http://www.howtosavetheworld.co.nz/HTSW%20Press%20Kit-WEB.pdf


A film about biodynamics in India featuring the work of Peter Proctor,a 78-year old farmer from New Zealand who has helped shepherd the rapid growth of biodynamics in India over the last ten years.
Narrated by Peter Coyote.
By Thomas and Barbara Burstyn with Cloud South Films in New Zealand
released December 2006
"The film explains biodynamics and how to grow biodynamically.It explores the political implications of the present world food system.We make the point that biodynamic farming may be the best hope thisworld has," said Barbara Burstyn.

you can get a dvd copy for about $30 US...
suggest to your local library to get one too!

Virginia Association for Biological Farming

anyone within x radius of this event should consider attending!

8th Annual Virginia Biological Farming Conference
“Healthy Farms, Healthy Soil, Healthy Food”

Focusing on the link between nutrition and agriculture in general, and the far-reaching consequences of the health of soil in particular, the eighth annual Virginia Biological Farming Conference will be held on Friday, Feb. 2 and Saturday, Feb. 3 at the Massanetta Springs Conference Center, Harrisonburg.

Co-sponsored by the Virginia Association of Biological Farming (VABF), Cooperative Extension at Virginia State University and USDA’s Risk Management Agency, the two-day educational meeting is designed for commercial farmers, farm managers, educators, agricultural professionals, urban farmers, master gardeners, consumers and anyone concerned about good health and sound farming practices.

Dr. Arden Anderson, who practices medicine in Michigan and serves as a private consultant to farmers on biological farm practices, will be the featured speaker. His topics include “Health from the Roots Up: The Inevitable Link between Agriculture and Nutrition,” and “Soil Management for Human Health.”

Other discussion topics will include permaculture; organic beef production; year-round vegetable production; commercial production of ringneck pheasants; vegetable soybean production; alternative swine production systems; biological insect control in vegetable crops; roadside stand produce sales; new opportunities for hair sheep and meat goats; organic strawberry production; trickle irrigation system; weed control in organic vegetable crops; marketing certified organic beef; computer software for farm management; and ways to protect customers from e.coli, salmonella and other pathogens.

Before Jan 23, registration is $40 for VABF members and $60 for non-members. After Jan. 23, the registration fee will be $90. Fees cover handout materials, participation in all sessions, three meals and refreshments.
An educational program will also be conducted for youth 6 to 18. Registration is $35 per child and $30 for each additional child in a family. Fees cover activities, three meals, snacks, activities and materials.
Anyone needing special services or accommodations in order to participate should call in advance to make arrangements.
To register, call Marilyn Buerkens, conference registrar, at (540) 291-4333 or e-mail biofarmingconf@hotmail.com.

Elizabeth Henderson of Peacework Organic Farm
at the 2004 VBFC

For conference and program information, call Andy Hankins, VSU alternative agriculture extension specialist, at (804) 524-5960 or e-mail ahankins@vsu.edu; or Katherine Smith, VABF president, at (540) 261-2562.

Inspiring Farmgirl

I learned of Cheryl Rogowski and the Rogowski Farm from Virtual Farmgirl

inspiring, creative...beautiful!

thanks VF!

Fingered Citron

also called "Buddha's hand"...

('Fingered Citron', ('Buddha's Hand', or 'Buddha's Fingers'; C. medica var. sarcodactylus Swing.); called fu shou in China, bushukon in Japan, limau jari, jeruk tangan, limau kerat lingtang, in Malaya; djerook tangan in Indonesia; som-mu in Thailand; phât thu in Vietnam. The fruit is corrugated, wholly or partly split into about 5 finger-like segments, with little or no flesh; seedless or with loose seeds. The fruit is highly fragrant and is placed as an offering on temple altars. It is commonly grown in China and Japan; is candied in China.)

we saw these fine fruits at the Ferry Terminal farmer's market in SanFrancisco

the market was amazing for the variety and quality of food being offered at new-year's time--one impressive display after another

These citrons were grown by the Hamada Family, who had one of the most beautiful --and friendliest!-- stalls in the market

We were happy to be able to get one of these amazing fruits (hint: don't try to peel it!) and also a beautiful pummelo from their impressive selection


(CITRUS MAXIMA (C. grandis) - Pummelo, Shaddock. A favorite in its original S.E. Asia, it is natural to describe the pummelo in relation to the grapefruit because they are closely related with slightly more frost sensitivity. The size of the fruit is reflected by its botanical name. It is the largest among citrus. It is generally round to pear-shaped with thick skin, firm flesh and a lower juice content than grapefruit. Because of the firm flesh, you do not eat pummelos the same way you eat grapefruit. Instead, you peel the fruit, segment it and shell the edible pulp vesicles out of their membrane. Many varieties exist with yellow, pink or deep red flesh and acid to sweet.)

The only reason we recognized what we were seeing when we saw the Hamada "family's jewels" was because we're avid readers of the CRFG's Fruit Gardener (you should be too!), a journal which is the fortunate recipient of the reports of the "Fruit Detective", David Karp. (a sample of Karp's work: Every Plum Imaginable )
The CRFG isn't just for Californians, that's where it began but you can start a new chapter in your area if there isn't one already
Wherever you live, do take advantage of as much of the local fruit potential as you can! There's a lot more out there than the supermarket knows about

from http://www.incanto.biz/letters_-_sagras.html :

Located in Kingsburg, south of Fresno, Hamada Farms consists of approximately 240 acres of stonefruit, citrus, persimmon, apple, pear, and fig trees as well as grapes and, of course, melons. Each week Mr. Hamada makes the long journey to the Bay Area, offering a wide variety of tree- and vine-ripened fruit for sale at three farmers' markets, including San Francisco's Saturday Embarcadero Farmers' Market.

[For most of his life, Yuk Hamada had been a commercial grower of nectarines and grapes (table and wine), operating a 240 acres farm. Actually, his father had been farming since 1908, but as an "oriental", he was not permitted by California law to own the land until the mid-1940's when that law was repealed.]

As a commercial grower following in his father's footsteps, Yuk for many years sold his nectarines and grapes to packing houses that would wash and sort his fruit, grade it for size and pack it into boxes for sale to wholesalers. The packing house would throw away fruit that was already beginning to ripen because the softer fruit would not survive the week it typically takes to get it from wholesalers to stores and then into consumers' refrigerators. By then, the ripening fruit would be spoiled.

In the late 1980's, Yuk and his wife Yonki decided they preferred to sell properly ripened fruit instead of selling prematurely picked fruit that could never reach its full potential in the cold storage of a mass-market commercial distributor. They began selling their fruit directly through local farmers' markets. Initially, they brought only ripe nectarines. Recognizing the great taste and variety found in less common fruit varieties, Yuk began replanting his farm with between ten and twenty new varieties of fruit each year, specifically for his farmers' market customers. Eventually, the Hamadas "retired" from commercial growing; though now Yuk is working harder than ever in his retirement.

Today Hamada Farms produces more than 75 different varieties of stonefruit, 25 varieties of citrus, 14 varieties of table grapes, and 15 types of apple, pear, fig and persimmon. In addition, Hamada Farms offers 15 different varieties of melon, many of which we proudly feature tonight.

Modern industrial agriculture is about striving for uniformity of plant size, shape, and color and optimizing the crop's yield, harvestability and transportability. In the course of "modernizing" our farms, the economics of specialization and monocrop agriculture have largely defeated the aesthetic of taste and trampled the natural state of polycrop diversity. Though arguably less expensive in the short-term, industrial farming practices have also proven to be the most harmful to our environment. One of the reasons that industrial farmers rely so heavily on chemical fertilizers and pesticides is that single-crop plantings tend to be the most susceptible to attack and the most likely to rob the soil of its nutrients.

The Hamada family stands in stark contrast, representing the very best traditions of family farming: stewardship of the land, dedication, perseverance, sustainability, preservation of tradition, and most importantly celebration of bio-diversity and great taste. By deliberately moving in the opposite direction of modern farming practices, Yuk Hamada and Hamada Farms have enriched our lives and inspired many other small farmers to follow in their footsteps. Farmers like Yuk Hamada remind us of the beauty and fragility of food

Amen to that; and thank you, Hamadas!

Raphael Garden at Steiner College

We can't overstate how impressesd we were, on our visit to Raphael Garden at Steiner College in Fair Oaks, CA. over the new-year's holidays

we took a few photos, viewable on flickr (if that doesn't work let me know)




that's "wild dagge", "Lion's tail" or leonotis leonurus in the foreground, one of our favorite garden herbs



here's a view of some of the tremendous beds:

a lot of learning goes on here!

upcoming public-registration gardening classes are listed in the comments and here.

We're Available

Hire Message from Yard for your next project!

We'll be working in washington and oregon this month, getting ready to head south soon for a busy farming season in california

so if you're in the contiguous northwest, send us a note via email and let's think about how we can help you "take it to the next level" -- this month! or next winter...

Meditating on Terminology

I was working on my first "open-ended" gardening project at my good friend jcmg's in the bay area about 10 years ago when i started wondering what the term "gardening" actually referred to...

when an activity is called one thing, that means it isn't being called other things...
the term "plant growing", for instance seems to be referring to a discrete set of skills
while the term "gardening" seems distinctly to refer to an art
the art of what?
making garden(s)

hypothesis: gardening is the art of raising the energy level of the entire spatial area in and around the garden, including anything which can be influenced by the garden/gardener

i found this hypothesis to be instantly clarifying and very inspirational, and still do
and understanding of the implications of the principle can develop...indefinitely!

if the art is to be appreciated by other humans (who may not want to crawl around under brush) then one also (part B) needs to integrate some places-to-be and some ways-to-get-there, a la patios/clearings and paths

in what ways and to what extent this 'raising of the energy level' happens in this or that spot have a lot to do with the 'art of any particular garden.

the gardener makes the choices and the efforts she can make at the time, and then -- what's so fascinating and thrilling about this artform -- "Nature" (for lack of a more evocative term) "happens", everywhere, on every scale, within and without the garden: a strong current of Life and energy flowing in and in-between everything

"time" goes by, and then the gardener enters the scene again and makes a few more alterations, additions or subtractions or rearrangements, the "tide" of Life comes in again, and ...one can experience the results!

Thankfully there's a lot of good help out there for us newby gardeners, and more and more each year. 40 years ago one really could get the impression (like even from Sunset magazine) that a "garden" should actually be a static and lifeless collection of plants , practically a trompe l'oeil prettying up the borders of a house lot
that was a dark time, actually

Now we know that our gardens are actually an opportunity to experience our connection to the vastness of all Life, most of which is, thankfully, non-human...

Daybreak Star

Daybreak Star
Originally uploaded by organ_leroy.

before christmas we got to visit Daybreak Star in Seattle for an afternoon

they have a native plant garden, on which we took extensive notes
this image was recorded in the native plant garden as i recall

Bioneers Radio

I was fortunate to hear a fantastic radio show yesterday evening via KSER Everett (WA.). I couldn't move from my seat for the entire show.

info below:

Bioneers Radio
"Revolution from the Heart of Nature"
Series VI

Part 11: We are the Land: The Compact of Kinship
Most Americans agree that the environment must be protected. But what do we mean when we say “environment?” Native peoples say that our sense of connection to the land, expressed in our good wishes to protect the environment, needs to go deeper. Restoring that connection to salmon, elk, rivers, and the land are Native American ecologists and educators Dennis Martinez, Jeanette Armstrong, and Enrique Salmón. They know in their bones that we’re all relatives.

each series of bioneers radio can be purchased at their site. series VI contains 7 cds for $54

Wind Damage

seattle: this is what is left of our clients' majestic red cedar following the windstorms of 12/06
amazingly the tree settled right next to/against the neighbors' entry porch visible in the upper left, the top landing inches short of the wooden fence across their yard

--finally we can take that ivy out!

t'ruth

this look means we're going to have a good day in the garden!

getting our photos up

Raspberry rows
Originally uploaded by organ_leroy.

gradually we're getting our photos up and viewable

here's the rows we're about to get back to, photo taken last spring