Rethinking the Meat-Guzzler - New York Times

A very thoughtful and economical article on why we need to eat less meat, by Mark Bittman, the Times' food writer.

I'm not a doctrinaire vegetarian (I willingly eat meat at restaurants or when no other alternative is available), but I have to say the idea that the average American consumers eight ounces of meat per day is, well, frankly disgusting. I assume that is uncooked, but it would still equal two large hamburgers per day, or half a chicken. How in the world did we get to the point where that is the average?

That level of consumption makes no sense: It's expensive, it's categorically unnecessary and even harmful for good health, has horrific consequences for the environment... and, gosh darn it, the real kicker here, most meat that I see sold in restaurants and grocery stores is of low quality and is usually poorly prepared... So, it does not even TASTE good. I remember vaguely the last hamburger I had at McDonalds. It was salty, warm, greasy, and it tasted fine, but not particularly beefy, and it surely did not excite me to eat more...

Rethinking the Meat-Guzzler - New York Times:

"Americans eat about the same amount of meat as we have for some time, about eight ounces a day, roughly twice the global average. At about 5 percent of the world’s population, we “process” (that is, grow and kill) nearly 10 billion animals a year, more than 15 percent of the world’s total.

Growing meat (it’s hard to use the word “raising” when applied to animals in factory farms) uses so many resources that it’s a challenge to enumerate them all. But consider: an estimated 30 percent of the earth’s ice-free land is directly or indirectly involved in livestock production, according to the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization, which also estimates that livestock production generates nearly a fifth of the world’s greenhouse gases — more than transportation.

To put the energy-using demand of meat production into easy-to-understand terms, Gidon Eshel, a geophysicist at the Bard Center, and Pamela A. Martin, an assistant professor of geophysics at the University of Chicago, calculated that if Americans were to reduce meat consumption by just 20 percent it would be as if we all switched from a standard sedan — a Camry, say — to the ultra-efficient Prius. Similarly, a study last year by the National Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science in Japan estimated that 2.2 pounds of beef is responsible for the equivalent amount of carbon dioxide emitted by the average European car every 155 miles, and burns enough energy to light a 100-watt bulb for nearly 20 days."

A quick garden update in pictures

Broccoli di Rapa, strawberries

My herbs and lettuce garden.

Garden happenings...

A warm day today, though that's predicted to change early this week, with temperatures dipping back into the upper thirties. I spent a couple of hours cleaning up the garden, trying to get things back into shape after the path and patio work. I noticed that my carambola and limão 'Cravo' had finally sprouted, and brought them outside to soak up the rays.

My friend Bill picked up me up an 'Owari' satsuma grafted onto Flying Dragon rootstock. I have a couple of other trees on Dragon: A 'Hamlin' orange (our 'native' DeLand orange) and a 'Honeybell' tangerine. The Dragon rootstock is dwarfing, keeping trees to below ten feet -- though from what I've read, the final verdict isn't in on their ultimate size. Bill has a grapefruit that's already at least nine feet in three years. In any case, the rootstock inarguable brings the trees into production earlier -- Bill's trees produced abundantly this year. My two trees went in the ground only last year, so I haven't had any fruits.

At Lowes, I picked up a Sanbokan Lemon (Citrus sulcata) in a gallon pot for ten bucks... I think I'll grow it in a container, at least for this season. I swear, that's the last citrus I buy.

Let's see... In the veg beds: I'm really frustrated with my collards this season. I bought some plants at Lowes and I guess they must have been bum: Planted right next to Rappini, and while the Rappini has grown well, the collards are still tiny. The first salad greens of the season (planted the third week of September, so four months ago) are about to go to seed (which I'll collect). I have a bunch of 'Red Sails' just now coming into harvest size. To ensure salad until mid-May, I planted more 'Summer Glory' lettuce mix (Parks) last week, so when the Sails come down, there will be more rabbit food to replace it. Strawberries have finally started to produce well -- both patches yield a big handful a day. 'Purple Cherokee' tomatoes are just about ripe. 'Little Fingers' eggplant is recovering well from the freeze. Carrots need to be pulled, and 'Sea Foam' chard is ready to pick again.

Finally, I got in the mail earlier this week two figs that were recommended to me on the Fig Forum at GardenWeb: 'LSU Purple' and 'Celeste.' I got them at Johnson Nursery. They were smallish, maybe thirty inches (pruned) and the trunks were chopstick thick. No complaints, since they were only ten bucks each. Right now, they're sharing a large (thirty-gallon) pot. That brings to five my fig varieties: 'Alma,' 'Brown Turkey' and 'Kadota.' Because of their susceptibility to nematodes, the only fig in the ground is 'Alma.' If it grows without much problem, I'll transfer the others into the ground, too.

More Willis, seeds

Notes to self...

Got my Kadota Fig and Sunred Nectarine from Willis last night. Very impressed -- both much larger than advertised and they appeared in good shape. I put the Mission grape, the Hood Pear, the Pomegranate and Nectarine in the ground, and the Kadota in a big pot.

I also planted all the seeds from Swallowtail, except the Blackberry Lily, which needs to spend some time in the fridge. A lot of seeds!

Need to remember to prick the poppies. Candytuft is up, but Strawflowers are still not germinating. Need to plant more Nasturtiums -- between the Brazilians and the cold, only a couple survived.

Damage from the freeze.

My roses fared all right. The same cannot be said of my bananas, brugs, and daturas. And there was a bit of damage to my tomatoes, but nothing serious.

Our patio remodel.

Between the freeze and the Brazilians, my garden's a mess. But I love the new patio and paths that wind through the flower part of my garden.

"Behind the Seeds Tour" at Epcot

With in-laws in town, we spent the a warm day at Epcot. I took the "Behind the Seeds" tour, a tour of the "Living with the Land Boat Ride."

It's Disney's little "how green are we" show ride; I'm not sure I bought the line that Disney is in any way a green enterprise, or that its research will help feed the world. (On $5 a day, African villagers are supposed to buy hydroponic equipment? My support goes to ECHO, which tries to encourage global sustainability and feed the masses through ultra-low-tech methods.)

Let's face it, most of Florida is an environmental wasteland, and at the center of it sits the tens of thousands of acres around the theme parks south of Orlando. (OK, OK, the center is Big Sugar and the sweet corn industry... The parks are just the inner ring.) What's more, I sat through a thirty minute show on global energy sources (hosted by Ellen Degeneres!) that was revolting for its carefully calibrated discussion of global warming and alternative sources of energy. It was like a kindergarten teacher's graduation day address, only instead of five-year-olds, it was gas and oil conglomerates who each had "something special to contribute." Oh, and global warming is a "hot topic"... hah. But at least it didn't hedge on whether dinosaurs are God's way of testing my faith...

I try hard to ignore the waste and gluttonous consumption that Disney represents, because the kids really enjoy it. It's hard for me not to sound like an old man (I'm not!) or a grouch when I talk about Disney and the parks.

Anyway, about the "Behind the Seeds" tour. More for the hoi polloi than the dedicated gardener. Fair enough. The discussion of Integrated Pest Management was mostly about how cute ladybugs are. And I'm not convinced that hydroponic growing is an improvement over old-fashioned dirt and compost. It certainly is cooler. But the demonstration garden had some really impressive vertical gardening involved, and the tropical gardens were very interesting.

Here's a short slide show of what caught my eye. Better yet, watch it on my Picasa account.

Tomato Growers Supply Order...

I'm going to grow a few more tomatoes this spring than last...

#5859 - SunSugar FT Hybrid - 30 seeds.

#5532 - Southern Night - 30 seeds.

#5186 - Florida Pink - 30 seeds.

#3460 - Tomande VFFNT Hybrid - 30 seeds.

Record daily maximum snowfall set at Daytona Beach

Record Report

Statement as of 4:55 PM EST on January 03, 2008

... Believe it or not...
... Record daily maximum snowfall set at Daytona Beach...

A few snow flurries were reported along the Volusia County coast
from around 7 am to 930 am this morning. A brief flurry occurred at
the offical climate site... the Daytona Beach international Airport.
The result of this flurry is a record snowfall of a trace. This of
course piled higher than the old record for this date of none.
2001.

Stay warm, plants!

The coming freeze...

Thirty degrees tonight, twenty-four tomorrow night... At least my fruit trees will get the chill they need.

Shed becomes refugee camps for zonal misfits...

My beloved chard. I harvested a ton today. I have no idea how tender the stuff is, so I decided to pick the large leaves, and heavily mulch the remaining small leaves.

Almost peaceful. Another advantage to growing on trellises and strings -- making these tents was a breeze. I strung Christmas lights up the tomatoes, and added a shop light to keep them warm.

My haunted garden. Bromeliads, gingers, begonias and philodendrons. All of them fairly tender.

Summer flower seed order

From Swallowtail Garden, which has a terrific selection of flowers at prices significantly lower than Thompson-Morgan. I ordered my Torenia seeds from them and was impressed with the quality of the seeds, packaging, and speed of delivery.

Mostly my strategy this year was to order cultivars of natives (like Monarda, Tradescantia and Asclepias) or plants like Penstemon and Agastache that I've seen growing in others' gardens.

BEE BALM, PANORAMA MIX

AGASTACHE, APRICOT SPRITE

AGASTACHE, PINK POP

BEE BALM, PANORAMA RED SHADES

GAURA, THE BRIDE

BUTTERFLY WEED, SOULMATE

OBEDIENCE PLANT, CROWN OF SNOW

PENSTEMON, SCARLET QUEEN

PENSTEMON, TUBULAR BELLS ROSE

BLACKBERRY LILY, FRECKLE FACE

SPIDERWORT, SHIMMER MIXED

MELONS, FASTBREAK CANTALOUPE

ANGEL'S TRUMPET, BALLERINA WHITE

Patio remodel

Old Chicago pavers to match our driveway. Considerably enlarging our existing patio. The workers have been very conscientious -- hardly a plant harmed so far.

Garden Booty...

A midsummer's feast, midwinter. 'Little Fingers' eggplants, some plum tomatoes, a 'Better Boy' (center), 'Sungold' cherry tomatoes (delish!), and 'Rattlesnake' pole beans. Not bad for late December.

Tomato fruitworm damage

(photo from barbcoleus)

Collectively over at GardenWeb Florida Forum, we identified the little worm that's been damaging my tomatoes and eggplants: the Tomato Fruitworm Moth larva (Heliothis zea). The damage isn't severe, particularly this time of year, when the rains and humidity are low. But that damage would be a more serious issue in July. Organic control is good old reliable BT or Spinosad ( Monterey Garden Insect Spray). The Gardener's Guide to Common-Sense Pest Control indicates that Neem should work, too, presumably as an antifeedant.

The damage on my 'Little Fingers' eggplants seems less severe, presumably due to its thicker skin. The damage seems to have been inflicted over a fairly short duration, since new fruits are unaffected.

Panhandle olive grove produces first commercial harvest

My next purchase... I think I'll try large tree pots, buried halfway. That way, I can keep them on the drier side. Willis has three of the recommended olive trees.

Panhandle olive grove produces first commercial harvest

Don Mueller has spent eight years raising an olive grove from a sandy, secluded piece of ground in the Panhandle’s Jackson County.

That’s 220 trees planted, irrigated and nursed through summer grasshopper invasions and winter cold spells, with only what help he could cajole from friends and in spite of doubts that he would succeed. The work has been arduous, the details that needed minding seemingly infinite.

As hobbies go, it is not the easiest choice for a septuagenarian retiree, even one as robust as Mueller. But ask, and he will tell you he has done it happily, just for the joy he gets out of tending that tiny Mediterranean fruit.

Now, the labor is beginning to pay off in other ways, too. Green Gate Groves is wrapping up its first commercial harvest, ending the season with a modest 200 pounds of olives sold to local buyers.

Olive trees in Florida

Rumor is our recently-deceased Greek neighbor up the street raised olives in her citrus grove...

Olive trees in Florida? You bet
Text/photos by Kathy Edenhofer (Master gardener),

If you are looking for a unique item for your landscape, here is something that might peak your interest. Tucked away in Citra is a little jewel of a tree farm owned and operated by Tony and Shirley Valenza. At the Olive Branch Tree Farm they grow and sell olive trees, olives and olive oil. The Farm currently has more than 3,000 trees in stock.

The Valenza family has been growing olive trees in California for more than 80 years and decided to see if any of the varieties would survive and produce olives in the Central Florida area. They have test grown many varieties in the last five years and found at least three that do well in our area. They are Arbequina, Mission and Manzanillo. All three are self-pollinating, cold hardy to at least 12 degrees, and are pest and disease resistant.

*Arbequina - a smaller Spanish olive introduced to the United States in the mid 1990’s. This variety is the earliest of the three to produce fruit, some within three years. The olives grow in heavy clusters and have a high oil content. The trees can reach 25 to 35 feet at maturity, but can be trained and kept lower for easier harvesting.

*Mission - a variety introduced to the United States by way of Mexico in 1769 is the most cold resistant. It has been known to survive temperatures as low as 8 degrees. Its fruit is larger than the Arbequina and is born singly or in clusters and also has a high oil content. Trees can reach 40 to 50 feet at maturity.

*Manzanilla - another Spanish variety introduced to the United States in 1875 with fruit larger than the Arbequina which are born singly. The trees have a low-spreading growth habit reaching 15 to 30 feet at maturity.

Purple Cherokee

The first tomato of the cool/dry season. A 'Purple Cherokee' that I got as a seedling from a local sustainable grower (after Stoopid Kitty ate my seedlings and vomited them everywhere on the furniture).
I like my tomatoes a mite bit greener than perhaps most. I'll eat this one tomorrow, lightly dressed, on a plate of greens, with some chervil and parsley.
Mmmmmmmm.

Low-chill apples for the tropics and subtropics

An interesting overview (click for full-sized version) of the lineage and history of various low-chill apples from this excellent book.

Apples in the subtropics

I read most of Biology of Apples and Pears, and though much of it went way over my head, I learned a lot about apples and pears in the subtropics. The passage (click on it for a full-sized version) above sums up the techniques: 1) Horizontal training of branches to release lateral buds from apical dominance; 2) Leaf stripping to prevent return to deep dormancy; 3) Depriving the trees of water. All these mechanical treatments cause the trees to enter dormancy, undergoing essentially the same physiological changes that cold weather causes up north.

Dormancy, according to this book, is a very poorly understood phenomenon, a result of multiple causes that include, but are not limited to, cold weather.