Alternative Community Farmer/WPB.FL

Here is a new bail out to save a struggling chicken industry. $40 MILLION  to be spent by the USDA in the times of DEBT DEFAULT  and the downgrading of the economy.LEARN More :

http://business.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474979951317

LAKE WORTH:A S.Florida small town is leading the nation on SUSTAINABLE living by embracing CHANGE and BOLD GREEN ideas like :Reverse osmosis (an approved ongoing project to MATERIALIZE in 2012),Organic Vegetable Gardens( Workshop sponsored  by city commision recently/ongoing debate) -Composting Program of recycling kitchen and yard trash into garden compost(Ongoing Program ,started in June 2010 at the LW Public Service Dept.)PLUS a chain of GREEN ENERGY REBATES, example:Rain Barrels ,compost bins,and much more .

Comes the raising of backyard chicken petition and ensuing debate:

http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/lakeworthchickens

Recently , the city commission approved for the fiirst time an ELECTRIC BILL reduction rate:

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/lake-worth-approves-lower-electic-but-higher-water-1752324.html

Times are hard for the mostly working class community.The elected officials are reaching out and listening  and acting to elevate the struggles and activate solutions.

So, if people want to grow their own food or raise chicken to survive while facing more unemployment ,budget cuts and more financial hurdles, would that be a problem?

At least residents can turn trash into cash by composting and growing vegetale gardens instead of inefficient lawn grass!

Reduction of REGULATIONS and SPENDING BORROWED MONEY VERSUS INCREASE of INNOVATIONS and PRODUCTION of our own food including vegetable gardens and home raised chicken and  eggs might be a SOLUTION to our never ending love affair with CONSUMPTION and SPENDING.

Would the ideas of producing food to create MORE JOBS locally ,be more palatable now ?When we have less cash on hand and more hands to employ and mouths to feed , wouldn't it be a good idea to cut on spending borrowed money and start empowering the community to be self sustainable by producing its own food rather than depending on SOUP KITCHENS and FOOD STAMPS??

You decide!

There are so many speculations and tradings going on as people watch TV and read thenews of the Debt Default Conferences Battles .

I have a friend who depends on social security for a living so he is now starting to grow his own food .He never bothered to do so before untill the latest news started to emerge about the Great Default.

I beleive in sustainability as an answer to our many social and ecconomic problems that used to be tackled with either  borrowing ,defaulting and or denying either or both as an issue.

Comfort zone created by the culture of Hi-TECH from TV to Cellular and counting...gadget wise!

Virtual reality and Actual reality is not same.Sanity and Insanity are not the same.Being Crazy is not Normal.So we are running away from our Problems and shooting instead the messenger .Remeber problem shooting?

So why now the Social Security becomes the focal point after so many decades of debt  .Shall we raise the debt ceiling or rather seal and stop the debt?

One dollar printed costs us forty cents as a debt to the Federal Reserve  which is printing the dollar and making 4o cents for every one dollar printed and borrowed by the government? I am not sure how the math goes , are you?

Farmers do not collect social security , do they?So growing their own food is the only security!

Here are some social security  food for thought :

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43912701/ns/business-eye_on_the_economy/

Now there is a new food pyramid called :myplate.If you did not know about it yet, it is time now to do so.

Here are some appetizers to choose from:

http://www.pcrm.org/newsletter/jun11/usda_food_plate.html

If it is good for you to eat more fruits and vegetables , then it is good news for produce farms and small farmers.But who is getting the subsidies and support to grow more of the produce?Are they the small organic farmers or the Big Agri business especially those who grow the grain for animals and use GMO seeds?

Is there an alternative to the new food pyramid or plate/ Check out :

mypowerplate.com

Bon Appetite

Children and the disabled share one thing in common:Difficulty to EFFICIENTLY  utilize body functional movement in gardening chores.Whether it was the tiny hands , weak and still developing muscles and bone structure of children or the physical disability of the adult .The outcome is the same .DIFFICULTY in pushing,lifting,pulling,bending movement.To adress this we need to adjust the garden to fit into the world of both of children and disabled adults.

A)-HAVE A SAFE GROUND LOCATION :

There are many ways to garden for  children and the disabled.Here are some samples of  tips to choose from:

1-Container Gardening or planting box

2-Raised beds , trellises and vertical gardening accessible with special routes for wheel chairs.

3-Hanging baskets sitting on tables and accessible for wheel chairs.

4-Small pots and containers for seeding and seedlings transplant.

5-planting in bags of top soil placed on elevated ground.

B)-APPLY Gardening ERGONOMICS:

ERGON-OMICS is a GREEK word.The prefix refers to" work injuries "and the suffix to the "study of"!

1-ERGONOMIC TOOLS.There are tools in the market that are labeled as ERGONOMIC , take advantage and buy some.

One must pay attention though and double check the tools by trying them first and feeling them!They must be light and bent at certain angles to fit the grab of the tiny wrists of kids and the vulnerability of the disabled.Some tools are labled ergonomic for the purpose of influencing the PURCHASE DECISION more or less.An experienced  certified horticulturist/gardener or farmer should be consulted prior to making the purchase.

2-Follow ERGONOMIC BODY functional movement:Being a certified massage therapist and a certified master gardener, I speak from my personal experience and education .I studied both the anatomy and physiology of the human BODY  in addition to  Plant botany and gardening as well.I beleive that the positioning of the human body is of the essence.Functional movement of the muscles and body postures are of utmost importance to study and apply what is SAFE while in the farm or the garden to avoid injuries .An ounce of prevention is worth more than a ton of medication .A wise advice can bring you a prize!

Most Horticultural educational proograms, I know of, do not include gardening ergonomics in their curriculum.So, it is best to do your own home work or hire someone who has the know how and the HANDS ON GROUND experience to teach you.I stray away from opportunists and self proclaimed organic gardeners who do not have the appropriate LOCAL EDUCATION and EXPERIENCE! Always consult with your health practitioner before engaging in any kind of gardening or physical work .A gardener must not be a substitute to your DOCTOR.A lot of  gardeners I know of suffer back pain from injuries in the garden or other accidents due to IGNORANCE and wrong body movements or tools utilization.

Your human body is the vehicle that moves you around ,take care of your body first.Be safe.Wear safety garden gear.Drink a lot of water.

Have a Happy and SAFE gardening.

Imagine that the farmers

Their harvests  all ORGANIC

Imagine that the barbers

Grow hair on heads that PANIC

Imagine that the climate

Delicious  as DAAS and HAGEN

Imagine not a STALEMATE

An ACCORD In COPENHAGEN

Imagine that the bankers

Donated all their gold

Built shelters for the homeless

Saved souls from death and cold

Imagine all those who ROBBED US

Our  homes ,our cars and SAVINGS

May all  them  DEVIL EVIL :

Who lived by sword and LIE!

Be dumped from France "TOUR EFIL"

To fall in HELL and DIE!

Imagine TODAY at winter SOLSTICE

ALL FARMERS win their STIMULUS!

Merry Christmass-Happy SOLSTICE -Happy New Year!

Tony

localharvest.org/farms/M20618

In the TIMES OF:NO MONEY,NO JOB, NO HOME,NO FOOD- HARVEST THE  WILD EDIBLES .IT IS for FREE plus :GMO,PESTICIDE AND CHEMICAL FERTILIZERS FREE!Hold on: You forgot one thing,which one is edible and which one  is  poisonous?Aha..you need to be aware and do your homework depending where do you live! In case you are in Florida here arte some incredible edibles from what is leftover from the wilderness.

What is for dinner?

Fetch in the wild for the famous pursalane greens or pig weed, it makes a great  raw salad with wild florida cherry tomato . Or cook it  sauted with wild  onion and garlic  ,add the infamous rounded up dandelion greens weed and the boiled sliced dandelion root .Chop in prickly pear spikless cactus...add sea salt and extra virgin olive oil..mix and serve. YUMMY! Cost:FREE!

The Ubiquious Dandelion (Taraxacum officnale) :Which translates into "official remedy for illness".The seeds travel like parachute and spread all over .It is very rich in minerals and vitamins especiallyA , C and the B chain..It is bitter though especially when eaten raw..to take away the bitterness ,steam it.You risk the loss of the rich minerals and enzymes for the sake of taste!

Prickly Pear Cactus (Opuntia spp.):The pear shaped cactus is a favorite dish when cooked or eaten as a salad among the indigenous peoples of the Caribean, Florida peninsula and the South and Central America .In mexicao it is used along with Aloe vera to treat certain cancers.It is also available in the form of dietery food supplemnts.

During the summer we have a plenty of edible fruit to harvest in the wild like:

Elderberry,coconut,dates,sawpalmetto,grapes.apples,papaya,avocado.

Coconut : Is a good source of vitamins and trace minerals. The natives here used its juice water to combat kidney and liver ailments besides to relinquish thirst.The oil extracted from the coconut is used for cooking and salads besides as an ointmment for the skin and a hair conditioner and fortifier.

Saw palmetto berries:Those fruits from the pigmy palms are a good food for those who have prostate problems .

Elderberry: The flowers and fruits were considered a great source for combating colds and flu.Also the berries were cooked into jelly ,juice,jam and preserve.

There are more and more to explore of the incredible wild edibles..Stay tuned