Our Organic Northwest

Grass Farmers Put Burning on Hold For Olympic Trials

June 20, 2008

EUGENE, OR/During the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials in Eugene, Willamette Valley grass seed farmers have agreed not to burn their fields. The Western Environmental Law Center is asking: why not ban it altogether? KLCC’s Rachael McDonald explains.
 
The temporary ban on field burning is to protect athletes’ health and keep the air smoke-free for visitors from around the world. Attorney Charlie Tebbutt has sent a letter to Governor Kulongoski asking him to use his authority to ban the practice outright for the sake of residents, whether they’re athletes or not. He says legendary runner Steve Prefontaine himself asked for a ban in 1975 after getting sick from the smoke at Eugene’s Hayward Field.
 

NWPR Series Part 4: Organic FAQs

This is the transcript of a series that aired on NWPR the week of June 19, 2008.

 Intro:

 "Our Organic Northwest" is a series of conversations on-air and   online about organic agriculture in the Northwest.

  Today, we answer more of your questions about organic agriculture.   Correspondent Glenn Mosley spoke with Brad Jaeckel, the project manager for   the organic farm at Washington State University in Pullman.

Mosley:

What does organic mean, anyway?

Jaeckel:

Organic means that the food that is labeled as organic meets USDA standards. And these are national standards that have to be followed if   a producer wants to label their food organic, and that name can only be used   if it is such, so to meet those standards a producer has to follow the   guidelines and they're going to be different for every type of situation.   Fruits and vegetables are going to have different standards then a meat   producer, or a dairy producer, or a processor. So each of those different   types of outfits have to follow standards. For fruits and vegetables, the   main things that we have to watch out for are non-approved applications, in   particular herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers.

Are Organic Foods More Healthy?

From the Mayo Clinic:

"Many factors may influence your decision to buy — or not buy — organic food. Consider these factors:

• Nutrition. No conclusive evidence shows that organic food is more nutritious than is conventionally grown food. And the USDA — even though it certifies organic food — doesn't claim that these products are safer or more nutritious.
• Quality and appearance. Organic foods meet the same quality and safety standards as conventional foods. The difference lies in how the food is produced, processed and handled. You may find that organic fruits and vegetables spoil faster because they aren't treated with waxes or preservatives. Also, expect less-than-perfect appearances in some organic produce — odd shapes, varying colors and perhaps smaller sizes. In most cases, however, organic foods look identical to their conventional counterparts.
• Pesticides. Conventional growers use pesticides to protect their crops from molds, insects and diseases. When farmers spray pesticides, this can leave residue on produce. Some people buy organic food to limit their exposure to these residues. Most experts agree, however, that the amount of pesticides found on fruits and vegetables poses a very small health risk.
• Environment. Some people buy organic food for environmental reasons. Organic farming practices are designed to benefit the environment by reducing pollution and conserving water and soil.
• Cost. Most organic food costs more than conventional food products. Higher prices are due to more expensive farming practices, tighter government regulations and lower crop yields. Because organic farmers don't use herbicides or pesticides, many management tools that control weeds and pests are labor intensive. For example, organic growers may hand weed vegetables to control weeds, and you may end up paying more for these vegetables.
• Taste. Some people say they can taste the difference between organic and nonorganic food. Others say they find no difference. Taste is a subjective and personal consideration, so decide for yourself. But whether you buy organic or not, finding the freshest foods available may have the biggest impact on taste."

Read the entire article on Mayo Clinic's Food and Nutrition Site.

The EWG Produce Guide

An Environmental Working Group simulation of thousands of consumers eating high and low pesticide diets shows that people can lower their pesticide exposure by almost 90 percent by avoiding the top twelve most contaminated fruits and vegetables and eating the least contaminated instead.

• Nectarines had the highest percentage of samples test positive for pesticides, followed by peaches and apples.
• Peaches had the highest likelihood of multiple pesticides on a single sample followed by nectarines and apples.
• Peaches and apples had the most pesticides detected on a single sample with nine pesticides on a single sample, followed by strawberries where eight pesticides were found on a single sample.
• Apples had the most pesticides overall with some combination of up to 50 pesticides found on the samples tested, followed by peaches with 42 pesticides strawberries with 38.

Sweet bell peppers, celery, lettuce, spinach, and potatoes are the vegetables most likely to expose consumers to pesticides.

The vegetables least likely to have pesticides on them are onions, sweet corn, asparagus, sweet peas, cabbage, broccoli, and eggplant.

The five fruits least likely to have pesticide residues on them are avocados, pineapples, mangoes, kiwi, and bananas.

Read on for the full list and how to download a consumer guide of your own.

Everything You Need to Compost with Worms

(This post is lifted "whole cloth" from the Spokane Regional Solid Waste system site.)

Worm Composting

Reduces waste disposal costs.
Raises worms for fishing.      
Has no foul smell or pests.
Provides a convenient method for converting kitchen vegetable wastes into a rich organic fertilizer for house and garden plants. A worm composing system can be easily started by following these five steps:

Make a Worm Bin :
Wooden, plastic or metal boxes or tubs may be used.  The container should be 8"-12" deep and of a size to accommodate the amount of garbage you produce.  Approximately one square foot of surface area is needed for each pound of kitchen vegetable wastes per week.  For example, a 1'× 2' × 3' box will serve a family of 4 to 6.  Detailed instructions for constructing your own bin are included and more help may be obtained through the Master Composter program, 625-6800.

Add Bedding:
Bedding holds moisture and provides a medium in which the worms can work and the garbage can be buried.  It must be light and fluffy enough to allow air exchange.  Worms actually consume bedding as well as the kitchen vegetable wastes.  Bedding can be made of shredded newspaper, shredded corrugated cardboard, peat moss, or leaf mold.  Bedding must be well soaked in water and wrung out before adding to the bin. You may add a handful of dirt every time the bedding is changed although it is not necessary.

Add Worms:
Red worms are the most satisfactory and efficient type of worm to use for composting.  The worms need adequate temperature, moisture and ventilation.  The optimum temperature Is from 55-77 degrees.  Remember, an active worm bin must be kept in a heated garage or basement during the winter to prevent freezing.  The worm population increases (or decreases) according to how well they are fed.  To determine the number of worms needed to populate a bin, figure one pound of worms for each pound of kitchen vegetable wastes produced per day.  Worms process their own body weight of organic matter each day.

Bury Garbage
Kitchen vegetable waste which can be composted includes vegetable and fruit scraps, egg shells, bread products, coffee grounds and tea leaves.  Meat, bones, fats, and dairy products should not be composted.  It may be helpful to keep a plastic container near the kitchen sink to collect scraps.  Keeping the container uncovered will prevent odors but may attract fruit flies.  About twice a week, the contents may be buried in the worm bedding, rotating around the box utilizing a different area each time.  Be sure to cover all of the worm food with bedding.  If your bedding dries out a sheet of black plastic can be laid over the surface to retain moisture.

Harvest Compost
While there are several methods of harvesting compost and adding new bedding, the most convenient is to move the compost to one side of the bin and add new bedding and garbage to the other.  Replacing the plastic sheet on only the half of the bin containing the new bedding will allow the compost to dry out some.  The worms will migrate to the fresh material and the compost may be removed and replaced with new bedding. This migration may take several weeks.

Note:   Kitchen vegetable wastes compost well in a worm bin and yield valuable worm castings compost. When adding kitchen vegetable waste to your outdoor compost pile you can create odors and attract vermin and other unwanted visitors if the wastes are not buried in the middle of the compost bin. Be especially careful if you add kitchen vegetable waste to a compost bin. Burying kitchen waste In the ground causes similar problems and is illegal in the City of Spokane.

This system is designed for composting vegetable food wastes using red worms. Food wastes and worms are “bedded” in shredded and moistened newspaper, cardboard, peat or brown leaves. The worms turn both food wastes and bedding into a high-quality compost suitable for use on house plants, seedlings or general garden use.

To maintain this system simply rotate burial of food wastes throughout the bin. Every 3-6 months compost should be moved to one side of the bin and new bedding added to the empty half. At this time start burying wastes in the new bedding only. Within one month worms will populate the new bedding, finished compost may be harvested and the rest of the bin can be rebedded. During the winter, worm bins should be kept in a cool indoor space such as a basement or warm garage to avoid freezing. A properly maintained worm bin is odorless. Bins may be placed in a shady outdoor space the remainder of the year. Flies may be controlled by placing a sheet of plastic over the bedding.This bin can be built for about $35 with new wood and hardware, or less using recycled materials such as old wood boxes or other containers. Any worm bin must have drains I\in the bottom and a tight fitting lid to keep moisture in and pests out. If you plan to bring your bin into your living area, place a layer of remay (also known as row cover), on the bottom of the bin, before adding the bedding. A starter batch of worms may be purchased at a small additional cost, or find some in an old compost pile. Call the Recycling Hotline, 747-0242, for sources for worms and remay.

Materials:	Tools:
1 - ½" treated sheet of plywood	Tape measure, skill saw or rip hand saw, hammer, saw horses, long straight edge or chalk snap line, screwdriver, and drill with ½" bit.
1- 12 foot 2'×4
1 - 16 foot 2'×4
2 lbs. 6d galvanized nails
½ lb. 16d galvanized nails
2 galvanized door hinges	Use eye and ear protection.

Measure and cut plywood as indicated in drawing above. Cut the 12 foot 2'×4 into five pieces: two 39", two 23", and one 20" long. Nail the 2'×4s together on edge with two 16d nails at each joint as illustrated in the Base Frame diagram. Nail the plywood base piece onto the 2'×4 frame.

Cut four 1 foot lengths out of the 16 foot 2'×4. Take each plywood side piece and place a one foot 2'×4 under each of it’s ends so that the 2'×4 is flush with the top and side edges of the plywood, and nail the boards into place. Nail the side pieces onto the base frame. To complete the box, nail the ends onto the base and sides. To reinforce the box make sure there is a nail staggered at least every 3 inches wherever plywood and 2'×4s meet. Drill twelve ½" holes through the bottom of the box for drainage.

To build the lid, take the remaining 12 foot 2'×4 and cut it into two 45" pieces and two 20" pieces and lay them flat (short pieces on the inside as indicated in diagram above) so that the plywood top is inset from the edges of the 2'×4 by 1-½" all the way around the perimeter. Nail the plywood onto the 2×4 securely. Place the hinges on the backside of the box at both ends on the 2'×4s, and on the under side of the 2'×4 lid frame, so that the lid will stand upright when opened.

Bees' Uncertain Future

A few weeks ago, Anna King reported that bees are playing a role in what is expected to be a poor cherry harvest this year. The reason: the weather was too cold for them to pollinate. Bees are critical to the livelihood of thousands of people in Washington State and this year, we're facing cold weather AND a continuing phenomenon called colony collapse disorder.

Image taken by Esther Anderson.

The Washington State Beekeepers Association estimates overall statewide losses to the disease at between 35 percent and 50 percent in recent years. With eight of 10 of Washington’s most valuable crops – including apples – being “bee dependent,” Colony Collapse Disorder left unchecked could jeopardize the state’s agricultural economy.

Soil Erosion and Direct Seeding: A WSU Student Production

Students Ben Herndon and Jordann Byrd of Washington State University's Edward R. Murrow School of Communication composed this video about direct seeding on the Palouse:

Urban Gleaning in Portland, Oregon

We ran across this video on UTube. Perhaps it will inspire you to organize a "gleaning party" of your own!

Oregon Wine Industry Funds Research

August 14, 2007

SALEM/The wine industry in Washington and California is supported by research programs at major universities. Now, Oregon growers are on track to get the same.

Image taken by Jen Bebensee.

Chris Lehman reports.

Native Woman Tries to Carry on Traditions in Modern World

SOUND: Pounding roots

KING: About 30 Indian women and girls sit peeling and pounding edible roots at the longhouse near Pendleton. They gathered the traditional food in the Blue Mountains and are preparing the roots for a feast. To help with the tedious work, they listen to music.

SOUND: Hopi tape

KING: Usually, an elder would lead the group in song. But this music is recorded on a cassette. It’s coming from a boom box. And it’s not Columbia River tribal music. They’re Hopi songs, from the Southwest. That’s because none of the women here know their tribe’s songs. Marjorie Waheneka says boarding schools, parents who didn’t teach their children, and social pressure to be less Indian have weakened Native American culture and tribal knowledge. She feels a real sense urgency to pass on tribal traditions before they’re gone.

WAHENEKA: Down in Warm Springs I was visiting with my brother and I was asking him how the horse herds were doing. He said, ‘Well we have to compete with the computer, and video games, and music he said and girls. He said, ‘We don’t have any young cowboys anymore to help us round up. We’re losing that cowboy image and the wild horses.

KING: Just like wild horses, it’s hard to pull young girls away from their boyfriends, cell phones and sports activities to dig roots in the mountains. But Waheneka says she’s trying the best she can to be patient.