After a week or two of rain and cold temperatures, known in New England as Mud Season, we are now into full summer with 80 degree temperatures. Technically it's not summer for another month, but close enough. Tomatoes that are hardened off (gradullay accustomed to the harsh UV of the sun and the temperature extremes of night and day) can be planted outdoors now with almost no risk of frost kill.
Already growing in our gardens outdoors are:
strawberries (blossoms forming now)
Concord grapes (flower bud clusters forming -lots of them!)
apples (several varieties- blossoms fading now)
asparagus (We've already harvested two batches this spring.)
chives (ready to harvest)
garlic (from outdoor overwintered bulbs)
leeks (second year for seed)
chocolate mint
cilantro (tender to frost, but it self-seeded from last year and I guess it knows when it's safe to start growing)
lemon thyme (ready to harvest)
oregano (ready to harvest)
lovage (ready to harvest)
wintergreen (growing wild throughout our forest)
rosemary (freshly planted)
blackberries
garlic chives (ready to harvest)
(I had also planted Jerusalem artichokes, but they were eaten by moles (or voles or some other such little burrowing beastie)
Today, May 26th, I planted:
red cabbage
summer squash (yellow straight-neck)
cucumbers (Marketmore)
fennel
pickling cucumbers
tomatoes (roma, brandywine red, and another indeterminate heirloom variety whose name escapes me at the moment)
In the house I have:
1 large brandywine red tomato which I plant to grow throuhg the fall and into winter as long as I can keep it healthy and fruiting
6 miscellaneous miniature hot pepper (chili) plants in an Aerogarden
two freshly cloned brandywine red tomato plants
Those are the edilbes that we have growing at present. I'll add more soon, beets, green beans and others to be determined.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Bartering turkey for rabbits
In addition to vegetable from our gardens, we raise both chickens and turkeys for eggs and meat. Recently, we traded with another family we know. We gave them a dressed turkey a few weeks ago, and today they gave us the first of two dressed rabbits. That way we both end up with a wider variety of locally grown food than we would if we only ate what we raised ourselves.
We are lucky to live in a rural area where there are many small farms, and farmers' markets at least four days a week with easy driving distance, so we have access to a wide variety of localy grown produce and other food products. Bartering, however, lets us trade something we have in abundance with someone else in a similar circumstance with different commodities.
At any rate, we are looking forward to our rabbit dinner. I was surprised to see how big the rabbit is, it has much more meat than I thought it would. The only other dressed rabbit i had seen up close was a wild rabbit from a hunter about 30 years ago. It was much thinner and smaller than the domestic meat rabbit which we just received.
We are lucky to live in a rural area where there are many small farms, and farmers' markets at least four days a week with easy driving distance, so we have access to a wide variety of localy grown produce and other food products. Bartering, however, lets us trade something we have in abundance with someone else in a similar circumstance with different commodities.
At any rate, we are looking forward to our rabbit dinner. I was surprised to see how big the rabbit is, it has much more meat than I thought it would. The only other dressed rabbit i had seen up close was a wild rabbit from a hunter about 30 years ago. It was much thinner and smaller than the domestic meat rabbit which we just received.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Food Supply Safety: Exploding Melons
This article about exploding melons in China points out another reason to try to grow as much of your own food as possible and to buy the rest from trusted, preferably local sources. In many countries laws governing which chemicals can be used on food crops or even livestock intended for human consumption are very lax. Even if such rules are in place, enforcement is often spotty at best.
In the case of this specific example, farmers in China were adding excessive amounts of forchlorfenuron on their watermelon crops. This chemical is designed to make the fruit grow faster, rapidly expanding its size and weight. For crops sold by the pound, this can mean additional profit for the farmer.
While forchlorfenuron is used in the United Stated for certain fruits such as kiwi and grapes, amounts are regulated. In China, it seems, at least some farmers got the idea that if a little is good, more is better. While much of the fruit so treated has burst and become worthless, thanks in part to the heavy rains that magnified the effect of the chemical causing the melons to grow so quickly that the rinds split open and ruined the crops in the field, different weather conditions could have resulted in a different outcome.
Here are the USDA safety findings for forchlorfenuron. Studies on animals show that it can result in low body weight, low birth weight, and some significant kidney problems in animals. No comprehensive human tests have been conducted. It's not clear how much of the chemical was being used in China or what concentrations were found int he flesh of the fruit. So there is no way of knowing how the dosage compares to that used in the animal tests.
This, unfortunately, is not the only case of tainted food supplies from China and other sources. Melamine has been found in milk, eggs, baby formula and other food products in China. In one famous case, a supplier was even marketing the toxic by-product of plastic manufacture as a protein content enhancement to food processors. Because a chemical in it mimics one tested for in protein tests, it essentially caused a false positive result in protein testing for foods.
Only a very small percentage of food entering the United States (or even food produced within the United States) is ever tested for these kinds of contaminants. As a consumer, you simply can't know what's in most of the food you eat if you buy food produced in large commercial operations, especially those from regions where the existence or effectiveness regulations and oversight is dubious, at best. If, however, you grow your own food, you are in control of what goes in it. If you buy from local farms, you can often actually visit them as see their operations or at least talk to someone from that farm and ask questions abotu their practices.
Eating local foods, gardening and raisng your own food are not just good for the environment, they can protect you, individually, from the risk of dangerous chemical contaminants that may be added to the food supply without your knowledge or consent.
In the case of this specific example, farmers in China were adding excessive amounts of forchlorfenuron on their watermelon crops. This chemical is designed to make the fruit grow faster, rapidly expanding its size and weight. For crops sold by the pound, this can mean additional profit for the farmer.
While forchlorfenuron is used in the United Stated for certain fruits such as kiwi and grapes, amounts are regulated. In China, it seems, at least some farmers got the idea that if a little is good, more is better. While much of the fruit so treated has burst and become worthless, thanks in part to the heavy rains that magnified the effect of the chemical causing the melons to grow so quickly that the rinds split open and ruined the crops in the field, different weather conditions could have resulted in a different outcome.
Here are the USDA safety findings for forchlorfenuron. Studies on animals show that it can result in low body weight, low birth weight, and some significant kidney problems in animals. No comprehensive human tests have been conducted. It's not clear how much of the chemical was being used in China or what concentrations were found int he flesh of the fruit. So there is no way of knowing how the dosage compares to that used in the animal tests.
This, unfortunately, is not the only case of tainted food supplies from China and other sources. Melamine has been found in milk, eggs, baby formula and other food products in China. In one famous case, a supplier was even marketing the toxic by-product of plastic manufacture as a protein content enhancement to food processors. Because a chemical in it mimics one tested for in protein tests, it essentially caused a false positive result in protein testing for foods.
Only a very small percentage of food entering the United States (or even food produced within the United States) is ever tested for these kinds of contaminants. As a consumer, you simply can't know what's in most of the food you eat if you buy food produced in large commercial operations, especially those from regions where the existence or effectiveness regulations and oversight is dubious, at best. If, however, you grow your own food, you are in control of what goes in it. If you buy from local farms, you can often actually visit them as see their operations or at least talk to someone from that farm and ask questions abotu their practices.
Eating local foods, gardening and raisng your own food are not just good for the environment, they can protect you, individually, from the risk of dangerous chemical contaminants that may be added to the food supply without your knowledge or consent.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Chicken Breeds: Research First!
Before anyone steps into the ongoing learning process of becoming a backyard chicken owner, it is absolutely imperative that they do a little research first. After you have acquired a basic understanding of what it takes to raise happy, healthy chickens, you need to research chicken breeds.
I got a phone call from a complete stranger the other day that highlights why researching chicken breeds before buying them is so important. This woman called me in desperation. She had an assortment of different chicken breeds including Cornish X chickens that she acquired at the beginning of April this year, about 7 weeks ago.
She was nearly frantic about the Cornish X chickens. She told me, as I could have guessed, that they were much, much larger than the other breeds of chickens she had acquired at the same time. They were not active like the others, and she feared for their health after recently reading that Cornish X left to continue growing are prone to severe leg injuries and even heart problems because they have been bred to gain weight faster than ordinary chickens and to achieve a total weight far in excess of what most other breeds can ever reach. This strains the ability of their legs to hold them up and strains their hearts and other organs which have to deal with their rapid growth and very high body fat content.
She said that here 7 week old Cornish X birds were already about ten pounds in body weight. For most chickens, adult weight is less than that. She said she recently read about the potential for these birds to have health issues and wanted to sell them to someone who would use them for meat birds. She said she was constitutionally unable to butcher the chickens herself, even though she knew it was probably the most humane thing she could do for these particular birds.
Lest you think I am overstating the case, let me tell you that I have seen cases where owners of Cornish X chickens have let them get to 10-12 weeks of age. A significant percentage of these birds develop severe and painful leg problems. These problems include legs actually breaking under the bird's own weight and other debilitating structural injuries. Chickens are simply not engineered to get that big. While a careful feeding regimen can slow their growth and postpone some of these health issues, that's only a delaying tactic.
I could not take the chickens off her hands because I am using a strict quarantine policy now. In my first year of chicken keeping, I did add adult chickens from other flocks to my flock. In one case, after adding some new birds, I had a couple of them die mysteriously exhibiting symptoms of a contagious poultry disease. I could have lost my entire flock and ended up with the pathogens present in my soil for any future chickens I raised. Fortunately, that wasn't the case and the rest of the flock is doing fine. In any case, I resolved that I would not risk bringing in chickens from any other flock again. I simply can't know their health or the conditions under which they were raised. The risk to the health of the rest of my birds is just too high.
The woman who called me wanted to know how to sell her Cornish X broiler chickens to someone who would butcher them humanely for food. I suggested the Farm & Garden section of Craigslist. It is quite common to see chickens of various ages available for sale there and most buyers are fairly knowledgeable.
Taking the responsibility of raising and caring for any animal whether it is a family pet or a farm animal ultimately intended for the dinner table should not be taken lightly. Just as you wouldn't get a dog without knowing if it were a pit bull or a Chihuahua, you shouldn't acquire chickens or any other animal without first researching the specific breed so that you fully understand its needs and basic characteristics.
Cornish X (also called Cornish Cross) chickens are a hybrid breed specifically designed to be used for meat. They grow extremely fast and are not built to last into adulthood. While it is possible for Cornish X chickens to live into adulthood if raised under the right conditions, it generally requires special care from an experienced chicken owner who knows the specific inherent liabilities of the breed.
I got a phone call from a complete stranger the other day that highlights why researching chicken breeds before buying them is so important. This woman called me in desperation. She had an assortment of different chicken breeds including Cornish X chickens that she acquired at the beginning of April this year, about 7 weeks ago.
She was nearly frantic about the Cornish X chickens. She told me, as I could have guessed, that they were much, much larger than the other breeds of chickens she had acquired at the same time. They were not active like the others, and she feared for their health after recently reading that Cornish X left to continue growing are prone to severe leg injuries and even heart problems because they have been bred to gain weight faster than ordinary chickens and to achieve a total weight far in excess of what most other breeds can ever reach. This strains the ability of their legs to hold them up and strains their hearts and other organs which have to deal with their rapid growth and very high body fat content.
She said that here 7 week old Cornish X birds were already about ten pounds in body weight. For most chickens, adult weight is less than that. She said she recently read about the potential for these birds to have health issues and wanted to sell them to someone who would use them for meat birds. She said she was constitutionally unable to butcher the chickens herself, even though she knew it was probably the most humane thing she could do for these particular birds.
Lest you think I am overstating the case, let me tell you that I have seen cases where owners of Cornish X chickens have let them get to 10-12 weeks of age. A significant percentage of these birds develop severe and painful leg problems. These problems include legs actually breaking under the bird's own weight and other debilitating structural injuries. Chickens are simply not engineered to get that big. While a careful feeding regimen can slow their growth and postpone some of these health issues, that's only a delaying tactic.
I could not take the chickens off her hands because I am using a strict quarantine policy now. In my first year of chicken keeping, I did add adult chickens from other flocks to my flock. In one case, after adding some new birds, I had a couple of them die mysteriously exhibiting symptoms of a contagious poultry disease. I could have lost my entire flock and ended up with the pathogens present in my soil for any future chickens I raised. Fortunately, that wasn't the case and the rest of the flock is doing fine. In any case, I resolved that I would not risk bringing in chickens from any other flock again. I simply can't know their health or the conditions under which they were raised. The risk to the health of the rest of my birds is just too high.
The woman who called me wanted to know how to sell her Cornish X broiler chickens to someone who would butcher them humanely for food. I suggested the Farm & Garden section of Craigslist. It is quite common to see chickens of various ages available for sale there and most buyers are fairly knowledgeable.
Taking the responsibility of raising and caring for any animal whether it is a family pet or a farm animal ultimately intended for the dinner table should not be taken lightly. Just as you wouldn't get a dog without knowing if it were a pit bull or a Chihuahua, you shouldn't acquire chickens or any other animal without first researching the specific breed so that you fully understand its needs and basic characteristics.
Cornish X (also called Cornish Cross) chickens are a hybrid breed specifically designed to be used for meat. They grow extremely fast and are not built to last into adulthood. While it is possible for Cornish X chickens to live into adulthood if raised under the right conditions, it generally requires special care from an experienced chicken owner who knows the specific inherent liabilities of the breed.
Monday, May 16, 2011
Fragrant viburnum
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| Fragrant viburnum (Viburnum carlesii) in bloom Photo by Brad Sylvester, copyright 2012. |
Since the first time my wife saw the flowering bush there, she wanted one for our yard. Unfortunately, we hadn't been able to find one at an area nursery. We finally got a small one in 2009 and planted it beside the back deck of our house. The idea is that the fragrance of the viburnum will waft up as we sit out on the deck in the springtime, especially when it gets bigger.
Once it finishes blooming this spring, I'm actually going to take some cuttings from the fragrant viburnum and propagate it. I'd like to add a half dozen more of them around the yard. While some plants are relatively easy to root without rooting hormone, I find that most trees and woody bushes do better with some rooting hormone applied. I have a powder version containing 0.1% Indole-3-butyric acid. For a yield of six new plants that actually take root, I'll probably take 12 cuttings, so that I end up with too many rather than risk too few.
The Fragrant Viburnum (Viburnum carlesii), sometimes called Koreanspice, grows about six feet tall and six feet wide. Some specimens can get larger if conditions are right. They are hardy in growing zones 4-7. The one we've had for a couple of winters here on a mountain in southern New Hampshire is doing quite well and has had no evidence of winter die-off.
The flowers are a light pink to white. Like many plants that put on such effusive displays, the flowers of the fragrant viburnum are short-lived. In a couple of weeks, they wilt and fall away. Like the forsythia, next year's flowers are formed from growth that occurs shortly after this year's flowers drop off the plant. Unlike the forsythia, however, the viburnum tends to grow a bit more slowly and with more control. If pruning is needed, it should be done in the spring after the fragrant flowers have died away.
Monday, May 9, 2011
4H auction and broiler chicks
The 4H club is an organization designed to develop leadership in young people with a strong focus on agriculture. They offer summer camps and many fine youth programs throughout the country. The 4H club in Pomfret, Connecticut, holds an annual auction to raise funds for the camp. We have attended every year for at least a decade since my son went to summer camp there and had a wonderful time.
This year, my wife went while I stayed home to work. She ended up buying 50 Cornish X (also called Cornish Cross) broiler chicks. She paid $22.50 for the entire lot of 50 chicks. That's about 47 cents each. These same chicks will cost you about $1.87 plus postage from a commercial poultry breeder and are often sold for between $5-6 each locally. They are a special proprietary breed and are only available through breeders licensed by the breed owner.
The particular trait that makes this breed of chickens desirable is that they grow amazingly fast. Cornish X chickens are ready to be butchered in 6-8 weeks after hatching. At that point, you'll expect a 4-5 pound dressed weight. That makes them much more economical than ordinary breeds which might take 5 months to reach their finished size.
The downside to the Cornish X breed is that they grow so quickly by a combination of genetics, eating continuously and not moving around enough to burn calories. Others who have raised them said that if you don't put their drinking water a few dozen yards away from their food, they'll never get up and walk. They are reported to simply sit in front of the feeder trough, eat and sleep. If the ground is bare dirt, as feeder areas often are, that means they sit in the dirt and mud, and even their own poop for days at a time. Now this only happens when they are older and nearing their harvest weight and their are ways around it.
As chicks, Cornish X birds behave much like any other. A little less active, a little more voracious at the feeder, but pretty much ordinary. As they grow and put on weight, they become less and less active. By moving the feeders, separating water from food, and making them move around in order to get what they want, you can keep them somewhat active. I'll report back with my own experience with this breed once we get them and start them growing.
At any rate, the other downside of Cornish X chickens is that the excess weight and fat is a heavy load on their hearts. If allowed to continue growing to full adulthood, they tend to die, presumably of heart attacks. This, say other Cornish Cross owners, starts to become a significant risk at around 12 weeks old. Furthermore, the Cornish Cross breed is a hybrid. Reportedly, it is derived from mixing four separate breeds of parent stock. I don't know the exact combination. That means that Cornish X don't breed true. If you were to get some that survived long enough and were able to breed them, the resulting chicks would be a hodge-podge of all possible variations of the four parent breeds, but not fast-growing Cornish X chickens.
Cornish X, therefore, are suited to one purpose: being raised for meat. They may be the most efficient feed to body weight converters in the world of agriculture, outperforming tilapia, pigs, cows, and just about everything else. People who are not prepared to butcher them, should not have Cornish X chickens.
This will be our first direct experience with raising this breed although we have raised other breeds of chickens and have seen Cornish X's at other local farms. We'll keep them separated from our older (egg-laying) flock, for their own protection. Adult chickens don't take well to the introduction of new chicks unless there's a fierce mother hen to defend them, or a gradual secure introduction can be made over time.
This year, my wife went while I stayed home to work. She ended up buying 50 Cornish X (also called Cornish Cross) broiler chicks. She paid $22.50 for the entire lot of 50 chicks. That's about 47 cents each. These same chicks will cost you about $1.87 plus postage from a commercial poultry breeder and are often sold for between $5-6 each locally. They are a special proprietary breed and are only available through breeders licensed by the breed owner.
The particular trait that makes this breed of chickens desirable is that they grow amazingly fast. Cornish X chickens are ready to be butchered in 6-8 weeks after hatching. At that point, you'll expect a 4-5 pound dressed weight. That makes them much more economical than ordinary breeds which might take 5 months to reach their finished size.
The downside to the Cornish X breed is that they grow so quickly by a combination of genetics, eating continuously and not moving around enough to burn calories. Others who have raised them said that if you don't put their drinking water a few dozen yards away from their food, they'll never get up and walk. They are reported to simply sit in front of the feeder trough, eat and sleep. If the ground is bare dirt, as feeder areas often are, that means they sit in the dirt and mud, and even their own poop for days at a time. Now this only happens when they are older and nearing their harvest weight and their are ways around it.
As chicks, Cornish X birds behave much like any other. A little less active, a little more voracious at the feeder, but pretty much ordinary. As they grow and put on weight, they become less and less active. By moving the feeders, separating water from food, and making them move around in order to get what they want, you can keep them somewhat active. I'll report back with my own experience with this breed once we get them and start them growing.
At any rate, the other downside of Cornish X chickens is that the excess weight and fat is a heavy load on their hearts. If allowed to continue growing to full adulthood, they tend to die, presumably of heart attacks. This, say other Cornish Cross owners, starts to become a significant risk at around 12 weeks old. Furthermore, the Cornish Cross breed is a hybrid. Reportedly, it is derived from mixing four separate breeds of parent stock. I don't know the exact combination. That means that Cornish X don't breed true. If you were to get some that survived long enough and were able to breed them, the resulting chicks would be a hodge-podge of all possible variations of the four parent breeds, but not fast-growing Cornish X chickens.
Cornish X, therefore, are suited to one purpose: being raised for meat. They may be the most efficient feed to body weight converters in the world of agriculture, outperforming tilapia, pigs, cows, and just about everything else. People who are not prepared to butcher them, should not have Cornish X chickens.
This will be our first direct experience with raising this breed although we have raised other breeds of chickens and have seen Cornish X's at other local farms. We'll keep them separated from our older (egg-laying) flock, for their own protection. Adult chickens don't take well to the introduction of new chicks unless there's a fierce mother hen to defend them, or a gradual secure introduction can be made over time.
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Wild edibles: Japanese Knotweed
As I was driving along today between Rochester and Dover, I noticed many thick stands of Japanese knotweed beside the road. The plants are at the perfect stage for eating just now (early May) in New Hampshire. If I had time to stop, I could have harvested bushels of the stuff. I'm not a big fan of the taste when eaten raw although many are, but adding a sweet component to the sour knotweed in something like a knotweed-strawberry pie makes it quite good.
Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica or Polygonum cuspidatum) is a very common invasive plant in New England and throughout the United States. At first glance it looks something like bamboo, and is sometimes even called American bamboo even though it is not a member of the bamboo family. It grows very rapidly during the spring and summer, then dies off in winter. The roots survive, however, and even a small root fragment can produce a new plant.
Japanese Knotweed is often found along roadsides because of the way in which it propagates. Snow plows here in New England often catch a bit of the roadside dirt, including knotweed root fragments and push them further on down the road. In the spring these travelled roots produce plants in the new location, and eventually spread to form a new stand or thicket of knotweed.
Japanese knotweed is actually being harvested and used commercially now. If you look on the ingredients of a bottle of the health supplement resveratrol, you'll see that the reseveratrol is most likely extracted from Japanese knotweed.
The young shoots of Japanese knotweed can be eaten. They have a sour taste, not unlike rhubarb. That's because they contain some of the same chemical make-up as rhubarb. Those with a sensitivity to rhubarb should therefore avoid knotweed as well.
Anyway, the point of all this is that because Japanese knotweed is a virulent invasive species, it is one of the wild edibles that you can harvest with wild abandon. If you pull up all the available shoots from any given patch, that's ok with knotweed, but definitely not ok with native wild edible plants. Even though you are not likely to get all the roots to eradicate the knotweed patch, you'll still be slowing down its spread at the very least.
When knotweed gets larger it is more fibrous and woody like real bamboo. So it must be harvested young to be eaten. They are good up until they get about two feet tall, just peel off the thin stringy layer on the outside and chop off the leaves at the top. You can cook them up as a substitute for rhubarb in most recipes or eat them raw.
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Japanese knotweed
Photo by KENPEI
Creative Commons Attribution, S-A 3.0
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Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica or Polygonum cuspidatum) is a very common invasive plant in New England and throughout the United States. At first glance it looks something like bamboo, and is sometimes even called American bamboo even though it is not a member of the bamboo family. It grows very rapidly during the spring and summer, then dies off in winter. The roots survive, however, and even a small root fragment can produce a new plant.
Japanese Knotweed is often found along roadsides because of the way in which it propagates. Snow plows here in New England often catch a bit of the roadside dirt, including knotweed root fragments and push them further on down the road. In the spring these travelled roots produce plants in the new location, and eventually spread to form a new stand or thicket of knotweed.
Japanese knotweed is actually being harvested and used commercially now. If you look on the ingredients of a bottle of the health supplement resveratrol, you'll see that the reseveratrol is most likely extracted from Japanese knotweed.
The young shoots of Japanese knotweed can be eaten. They have a sour taste, not unlike rhubarb. That's because they contain some of the same chemical make-up as rhubarb. Those with a sensitivity to rhubarb should therefore avoid knotweed as well.
Anyway, the point of all this is that because Japanese knotweed is a virulent invasive species, it is one of the wild edibles that you can harvest with wild abandon. If you pull up all the available shoots from any given patch, that's ok with knotweed, but definitely not ok with native wild edible plants. Even though you are not likely to get all the roots to eradicate the knotweed patch, you'll still be slowing down its spread at the very least.
When knotweed gets larger it is more fibrous and woody like real bamboo. So it must be harvested young to be eaten. They are good up until they get about two feet tall, just peel off the thin stringy layer on the outside and chop off the leaves at the top. You can cook them up as a substitute for rhubarb in most recipes or eat them raw.
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