Sunday, November 30, 2008
We've Moved!
Please see our blog at http://www.urbanfarmstore.com/blog/
This site also includes all of the posts below.
Thanks!
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
What Should I Grow to Save Money?
Partially because of the current economic situation, many of us are trying to save money and be more self-sufficient these days. Growing your own food at home can be an integral part of this effort. This raises an important question: What home grown crops will give me the most return on my effort?
From a productivity and nutrition point of view, nothing can beat the humble potato. A few spuds, cut into pieces and planted in early spring will soon produce many pounds of nutritious, long-storing food that tastes good and is extremely versatile. Because of its ease of growing, mighty productivity, and climactic adaptability, the potato is the most widely grown subsistence food worldwide. Useful guides to growing potatoes at home can be found here and here and high quality seed potatoes can be ordered here.
Steve Solomon, author of the legendary Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades: The Complete Guide to Organic Gardening
and Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times
, provides a useful chart where he ranks vegtables in order based on approximate value per square foot and the amount of time the area will be gowing the crop. His top 20 are as follows:
From a productivity and nutrition point of view, nothing can beat the humble potato. A few spuds, cut into pieces and planted in early spring will soon produce many pounds of nutritious, long-storing food that tastes good and is extremely versatile. Because of its ease of growing, mighty productivity, and climactic adaptability, the potato is the most widely grown subsistence food worldwide. Useful guides to growing potatoes at home can be found here and here and high quality seed potatoes can be ordered here.Steve Solomon, author of the legendary Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades: The Complete Guide to Organic Gardening
and Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times
, provides a useful chart where he ranks vegtables in order based on approximate value per square foot and the amount of time the area will be gowing the crop. His top 20 are as follows:- Fresh Herbs
- Parsley
- Carrots
- Beets
- Parsnips
- Lettuce
- Salad Greens
- Scallions
- Spinach
- Kale
- Swiss Chard
- Leeks
- Kohlrabi
- Potatoes
- Rutabagas
- Zucchini
- Tomatoes
- Cucumbers
- Peppers
- Cantelopes and melons
Notice what's not on there: things like corn, watermelon and bulb onions. Why? Because they take a long time to grow, use up a lot of valuable real estate, and are cheap to buy at the market. This is not to say that you shouldn't grow them, but a list like this can help you prioritize when you have limited time and space (like most of us).
November Garden Tip
The temperatures are dropping in the Northwest, despite the recent sunshine. Plants are loosing leaves and going dormant and the soil is cooling. Soon the rains will be on the way in earnest.
Be sure that any parts of your vegetable garden not already planted in overwintering plants (like garlic, kale, broccoli etc.) is protected by a cover crop/green manure. These grasses and legumes protect the soil from heavy rains, build soil structure and (in some cases) improve nutrient levels when incorporated in the spring.
It's too late to sow most cover crops because of the cooling soil with the exception of annual ryegrass. This lusty grower is not perennial and invasive like lawn grass and will contribute large quantities of organic matter from both its leaves and 5 foot deep, fibrous root system. Just be sure to turn it over in the spring or mow it down after it begins to send up flowering stalks and plant right through a mulch of the dead plants.
An additional benefit of those deep roots is the grasses' ability to scavenge nutrients that have leeched down to the lower layers of the soil over the past few years.
Be sure that any parts of your vegetable garden not already planted in overwintering plants (like garlic, kale, broccoli etc.) is protected by a cover crop/green manure. These grasses and legumes protect the soil from heavy rains, build soil structure and (in some cases) improve nutrient levels when incorporated in the spring.
It's too late to sow most cover crops because of the cooling soil with the exception of annual ryegrass. This lusty grower is not perennial and invasive like lawn grass and will contribute large quantities of organic matter from both its leaves and 5 foot deep, fibrous root system. Just be sure to turn it over in the spring or mow it down after it begins to send up flowering stalks and plant right through a mulch of the dead plants.An additional benefit of those deep roots is the grasses' ability to scavenge nutrients that have leeched down to the lower layers of the soil over the past few years.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Bird Flu: Backyard Chickens not to Blame
I recently read a fascinating article while researching a paper for my Masters of Science in Agriculture degree. Though not a peer-reviewed scientific article, it is well researched and written by an M.D. The conclusion: backyard chickens and wild birds are not to blame for bird flu, factory farming and the abuse of antibiotics are. Here's the link: http://www.motherearthnews.com/Natural-Health/2007-12-01/Bird-Flu-and-Factory-Farms.aspx
Monday, October 27, 2008
Saturday, October 25, 2008
The Truth About Chicken Feed
Chicken feed, like other feeds, must only contain the ingredients specified on the label and meet the nutritional analysis stated there. These rules give feed producers lots of leeway to use cheap ingredients of questionable nutritional value. This is true even of so-called organic formulas. They are allowed to label generically ("grain by-products, plant protein products" etc) so their ingredients can be anything from grain dust, to ground nut shells, to wastes from distilling and other industrial processes. The feed may technically meet the nutrition information on the label, but it's not the sort of food that chickens evolved to eat.
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