Our Sustainable Northwest

Have a Gardening Question? Ask Chuck!

If you want to identify a plant, or make the perfect landscaping choice, or get away from using pesticides on your garden, we have an expert who can help.

Chuck Cody is passionate about his work as a manager of greenhouses and a myriad of grounds owned by WSU.  He approaches every garden as a microsystem that needs to be balanced. Chuck is a long time proponent of nonchemical, holistic caretaking.  And if he can't answer your question, he'll find someone who can!

Just submit your question here and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.

Making Organic Affordable

 By Emily Easley

"Organic Food" photo provided by www.organictobe.org

If cost was no option, we'd all probably choose to eat certified organic meat and produce.

So what does organic cost? It truly varies drastically from one place to another. Factors include whether you are shopping at a farmer's market or a supermarket.  Food from an organic boutique can be spendy.  Here's one article on the costs of an organic vs. nonorganic holiday meal.

Buying Organic. Here are some tips to stretch your food dollar.

·        Be flexible: take advantage of sale items at your local grocery store.  Look for on sale organic items and compare costs.

·        Join a co-op: cutting costs on organic foods can be as easy as joining a co-op.  Many are as large as super markets and include delis and health and beauty departments.  Plus, they provide excellent sources of regional and local brands.

·        Buy in bulk: purchasing in bulk can cut costs and eliminate wasteful packaging.  Try buying in bulk for commonly used items such as rice, beans, and flour.

·        Farmer’s markets:  like co-ops, farmers markets are a great way to get locally-grown fresh fruits and veggies.  You'll often find a large selection of organic produce, including heirloom varieties of favorites and rare produce not available anywhere else.

Northwest Rich in Berry Varieties

July 15, 2008

"Every child should experience the taste of a sun-warmed strawberry plucked right from its greenery, or a fragrant blackberry picked on a summer morning, for a berry never tastes quite as wonderful as those we popped into our mouths along some dusty road during childhood." Cece Sullivan, Seattle Times Cooking School.

                                     Flickr image taken by RevenueGal.

In The sweet season: Northwest berries on their way Sullivan writes about the many varieties of Northwest berries including wild alpine berries, amber berries, concord berries and brambleberries. There are many blackberry-raspberry hybrids in the bramble family which include olalliaberries, boysenberries, marionberries, loganberries, waldoberries, olallieberries, chehalemberries and sylvinberries.

Gooseberries are a variety of currents, and like many other berries contain potassium, calcium, phosphorus, niacin, dietary fiber and ellagic acid, a natural cancer- fighting substance that  White Currant taken by Vadim Plessky.       does not break down when cooked. Lets not forget about vitamins A, D, and C in those berries. They are great for jamming because of their high pectin content.

In Sweet Season, Sullivan suggests two recipe sources. First is Kathleen Desmond Stang who incorporates our Northwest berries to create delicious recipes in her Northwest Berry Cookbook. Second is Berries: A Country Garden Cookbook by Sharon Kramis which incorporates a variety of fruits and vegetables with images taken by Kathryn Kleinman.

Northwest Berries and Grape Information is another great berry resource where you can learn about varieties of blackberries, cultivated strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, huckleberries, gooseberries and much more.

July and August are prime months for domestic and wild berry harvests, with some available in the late weeks of summer.

If you live in Yakima or travel there, here's a site to direct you to the blueberry harvest.

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.

Biodiversity and the Organic Seed Alliance

What is the Organic Seed Alliance?

Arlie Sommer:

The term biodiversity evokes images of scientists working on arcane, remote projects in exotic places - like rainforests or coral reefs. But the idea behind the term is really quite simple. Biodiversity is the natural state of ecology in all its variety. And although the idea is simple, compensating for generations of mono-crops is not an easy feat.

The Organic Seed Alliance or OSA, based out of Port Townsend, Washington, promotes diversity in agricultural seed. I recently spoke with the Advocacy Director of the Organic Seed Alliance, Matthew Dillon.

NWPR Series Part 2: Addressing Listener Questions re. Gardening and Sustainability

This is the transcript of an interview that aired on NWPR the week of June 4th, 2008.

Intro (Gillian Coldsnow):

This is Gillian Coldsnow with "Our Organic Northwest" a series of conversations on-air and online about organic farming and organic home gardening. Today: a conversation about the importance of soil and soil amendments to organic gardening.

Today, correspondent Glenn Mosely and Project Manager of WSU's Organic Farm, Brad Jaeckel (JAY-k'l) address questions we recieved from listeners after last week's interview:

Story (2:47):

Mosley:
Brad, this is the second in our series and in response to our first discussion a week ago we had a question from a listener who called in and asked about growing vegetables in pots for a small, 2 person family and how best she could do that inside a house, in a green house...interested in lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, things like that.

Jaeckel:
That’s definitely doable on a small scale for folks that don’t have garden space outside and, I actually have a lot of my students that do container gardening and that’s something that you can do even on your porch, which is really handy.  Once the out-time temperatures are above freezing you can move plants in those containers outside. Tomatoes are real a common vegetable that’s grown in containers and they just need to be given enough space to grow throughout the season.  So up to a 5 gallon bucket would be a good size for the tomato.  But you can also grow lettuces, peppers... carrots I haven’t grown in containers, we've had a few people experiment with that this year but... really you could experiment with many different vegetables in containers and doing those indoors, and outdoors.

Mosley:
We also had another listener with a question concerned about the sustainability of organic agriculture.  What do you say to that?

Jaeckel:
Well it’s a big question.  When you talk about sustainability in any area you really want to address three main issues and that includes:
Is whatever your doing sustainable for the environment? 
Is it sustainable economically? 
And is it sustainable socially? 
So when we try to address the sustainability in organic Ag, those are really the three big areas that we're trying to look at, and largely organic Ag has been addressing environmental sustainability concerns.  But also, were concerned about farmers receiving fair wages for there work, and farmers do receive a premium for organic fruits and vegetables so, that’s good.  But also we need to be concerned about wages that laborers are receiving. And is that food staying in the community or is it being transported long distances?  Its really a complex issue, and I think its something you have to take case by case, but really try to address those three key topics when your looking at a certain issue is going to be important.  I think largely organic Ag is working toward being sustainable, but it is a big issue.

outro:

For more information on organic gardening, go to N-W-P-R dot org and click on "Our Northwest". Ask questions about gardening or any agriculture issue that interests you and we'll connect you with an expert. There are also links to resources such as the Master Gardening Program, a comprehensive resource founded here at WSU.

Contemplating An Organic Garden: It's the Berries!

Last summer I had what could be described as a peak experience. Not an emotional peak, or a breakthrough in my professional career. It was a culinary revelation in the form of very small raspberries. Organic ones...grown in the gardens of Washington State University. I bought them during my lunch hour from a small stall set up outside the student union building. I think they cost 4 bucks, which seemed pretty steep for such a small amount. I think it was the dark red color that attracted me.

A musky sweetness rose from the warm mound of little red thimbles in the cardboard carton. After the first bite I knew that I was encountering something very rare and wonderful. The ripe sweet liquid burst from the little globules. The flavor to me was more rich, refreshing and as complex as the best glass of wine. I already buy organic every chance I get. Like many people, I'm concerned about insecticide and herbicide residue. But what has me hooked is the flavor of organic and heirloom tomatoes and berries.

Maybe it was the seemingly endless winter that made me think of digging my hands and feet in black soil and growing a bountiful harvest of gorgeous raspberries. Whatever it is, this year I am preparing to grow a fruit and vegetable garden. And not just any garden: an organic one.

One of our young staff people, Arlie Sommer, grew up among organic produce. Her folks grow herbs for restaurants in southern Idaho. We decided to offer some tips and links that you can use to grow an organic garden. We aim to try to use these resources ourselves as we share them with you.

Cheers and here's to the long days of summer!

Mary Hawkins