It’s harmless, except to small rodents that live in corn fields. Elaphe guttata is a constrictor. This one was 3 or 4 feet long. They’re native to the U.S. southeast from New Jersey to Texas. I did not know until that day that corn snakes can climb trees.
Here he is stretched out: Continue reading
Quantum physicist and environmental activist Vandana Shiva
foresees The Future of Food, in three parts.
There are only two applications that have been commercialized in these twenty years of genetic engineering. One is to make seeds more resilient to herbicides, which means you get to spread more Roundup, you get to spread more Glysophate, and you get to spread more poison. Not a very desirable trait in farming systems. Especially since what Monsanto will call weeds are ultimately sources of food.It gets even better from there.
These are illusions that are being marketed in order for people to hand over the power to decide what we eat to a handful of corporations.Vandana Shiva is the keynote speaker at the Georgia Organics conference in Savannah, 11-12 March 2011. There’s still time to sign up!
Here’s Part 1: Continue reading
This item horrified a lot of people:
Animal miscarriages from new fungus or virus in Roundup-read crops?
A reader asked:
What would you say to someone like myself who wants to make a difference but has no clue where to start? I think that is a big question with my generation.Well, there’s the pumpkin dance. But you don’t have to start with that.
HFCS may be the easiest thing to start with, because it’s labelled. Don’t buy any product that has High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) in it. You’ll be surprised how many do. At restaurants, check the condiments, don’t use them if they have HFCS, and inform the wait staff why you’re not. When people ask why you’re doing all this tell them. Here’s some background on High Fructose Corn Syrup and Obesity.
This kind of thing is working: Hunts removes HFCS from all its Ketchups.
About pesticides, buy local and organic food, like at
Whisk.
Ask for local food at other stores.
Help with a community garden. Join a CSA. Write a letter to the editor.
You don’t have to do all of these things; these are some ideas. Start small and just do something. Every little bit helps, and you’ll get more ideas as you go along. Your example will help others start.
Also, don’t feel bad about it seeming intimidating. On the one hand we
have the most sophisticated marketing methods the world has ever known,
fueled by megabucks from transnational corporations. On the other hand we
have, er, a few college professors like Michael Pollan, a few farmers who
observe and analyze like Joel Sallatin, a few poets like south Georgia’s
own
Janisse Ray, and so on. Even so, local and organic food is one of
the few industries that has kept booming right through the economic
downturn. People actually want food that’s good for them and tastes good!
Fortunately, around here we also have Georgia Organics! More about that later.
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Gretchen buys meat, fresh vegetables, ginger, cereal, chicken, sausage, and
bacon at Whisk Organic Market in Valdosta.
Also Newman ginger cookies.
She says Gracie says people who come in often don’t understand
organic fruits and vegetables aren’t always the most beautiful ones.
But they’re tasty!
Here’s a playlist of videos of proprietor Gracie Crane Douglas talking about her store.
More pictures of
Whisk Organic Market
in a flickr set.
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Pictures by John S. Quarterman, Lowndes County, Georgia, 19 Feb 2011.
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Bryan Walsh writes in Time that
Foodies Can Eclipse (and Save) the Green Movement:
Even as traditional environmentalism struggles, another movement is rising in its place, aligning consumers, producers, the media and even politicians. It’s the food movement, and if it continues to grow it may be able to create just the sort of political and social transformation that environmentalists have failed to achieve in recent years. That would mean not only changing the way Americans eat and the way they farm — away from industrialized, cheap calories and toward more organic, small-scale production, with plenty of fruits and vegetables — but also altering the way we work and relate to one another. To its most ardent adherents, the food movement isn’t just about reform — it’s about revolution.Food is something that affects everybody, and now that people are starting to realize that the mainstream food supply is poisoned: Continue reading
Picture by John S. Quarterman of garlic planted by Gretchen Quarterman, Lowndes County, Georgia, 8 Jan 2011.
Something is living in there: Continue reading
So
first you pick and cook the beautyberries,
then you
strain them and cook them again,
and finally, you
can them in jars, as you can see Gretchen doing in the video linked
through the little picture to the right.
Here is one batch of beautyberry jelly jars:
Pictures and preserving of beautyberry, Callicarpa americana, by Gretchen Quarte rman, Lowndes County, Georgia, 17 Oct 2010
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So far we’ve picked and cook the beautyberries.
Now we want to pour it through a strainer to get out any remaining stems or skins.
That’s why it’s going to be jelly, not jam.
This strainer is an old pillow case.
First get it nice and bubbling.
Then strain it as in the first picture above.
Then cook it some more and add sugar.
To be continued….
Straining and cooking of Callicarpa americana by Gretchen Quarterman, Lowndes County, Georgia, 16 Oct 2010.
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