At Home in Nature

While every child loves fruit, most love vegetables if they are exposed to them a dozen times or more.  Vegetables are better foods for children than fruits, but the causes of obesity are numerous.  If you have trouble getting your children to eat their veggies, write to me - I have plenty of ideas, from having fun cooking adventures with them to making them pretty on the plate: apetites are increased by more than just sauces!

In the mean time, I read some scary statistics from the new book Ending the Food Fight, Guide Your Child to a Healthy Weight in a Fast Food/Fake Food World by David Ludwig, MD, PhD.They speak for themselves:

* The percentage of overweight children ages six to 11 has doubled in the last 25 years.

* The percentage of overweight teens has tripled.

* One in three American children (30 million kids) are overweight today (and it is predicted that one in two — a full half of all children! — will be overweight by 2010).

* Pediatricians now treat high blood pressure, high cholesterol, “adult” onset (type 2) diabetes, heart attacks, and sleep apnea in children.

* By the time overweight children are in their 20s, they can expect to be diagnosed with diseases that normally affect people in their 60s and 70s, including heart attacks, strokes, kidney failure, and even amputations caused by complications from diabetes.

* Overweight children are discriminated against more than those in wheelchairs or with facial disfigurement.

* Childhood obesity affects the quality of life as much as a diagnosis of cancer does.

* Life expectancy is declining for the first time in human history.

* A typical child sees 10,000 junk food ads a year.

* Modern foods are made by food chemists, not grown by farmers.

* Neighborhood playgrounds, school physical education, and after-school programs have all declined dramatically — while junk food vending machines are now everywhere in schools.

The wildflowers are at their peak display right now as the world begins to prepare for the winter ahead.You can preserve these colorful bits of summer by pressing them and preserving them in a botanical journal, homemade paper, potpourri, laminate them, or many other means of displaying them.

There are many tools for pressing flowers, and while I am sure they work well, none are so cheap as a big heavy book that you already own.To press flowers with a book, first make sure it’s a book you won’t be wanting to read or use for several weeks.Pick some flowers (more on this below).Then place them between two paper towels.You can skip the paper towels, but then you risk miscoloring the pages of the book or having the petals permanently stick to the book.Carefully put the paper towel-flower sandwich in between the pages of the book so that you don’t bend or smash them.You may need to put another heavy book or other weight on top of the book with the flowers in it to help them be flat.

When choosing flowers to press, you can sometimes press the whole thing and sometimes just the petals.The thicker the flower, the harder it will be to press.Whenever you think the flower may be too thick, you can simply remove the petals from the center and press them individually.For example, snapdragons and violets can be pressed whole, but roses and daisies need to have their petals pressed individually.

Check on your flowers every week or so until they are fully dry.If you don’t let them dry out all the way, they will likely get moldy in their display.

There are many ways you can display your flowers.One fun and educational way is to make a botanical journal.To do this, find a pretty blank journal to use, or make your own (you could even make your own paper).Carefully glue each pressed flower onto every other page in the journal.Then, around the glued flower and on the facing page, draw a sketch of the entire original plant it came from, describe the plant and identify what it is called, perhaps even write a poem or some thoughts about the plant or your adventures in finding it, or paste a photo of the plant.Your journal can be quite a work of art!

When you’re doing your grocery shopping next time, here’s a report you might want to consider.The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has recently published its seventh annual “Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce” which presents a list of the produce that has the most and least pesticide residue on it.This does not mean that the produce on the list had the most or least pesticides applied, but rather tests the amount still on it by the time you are ready to eat it.The point of the guide is to allow you to pick which fruits and vegetables you may want to consume in place of others while still getting your daily minimum fruits and vegetables for a healthy diet, NOT to discourage you from eating fruits and vegetables entirely!It is important to note that all the produce, even the “worst” fruit of the list, still falls well below the safe levels set by the EPA, so all of the produce on the list had safe levels.

Here’s the report’s fndings, as published on walletpop.com:

The highest levels of pesticide residue -- and dubbed EWG's "Dirty Dozen" are:

1.Apples

2.Celery

3.Strawberries

4.Peaches

5.Spinach

6.Imported nectarines

7.Imported grapes

8.Sweet bell peppers

9.Potatoes

10.Blueberries

11.Lettuce

12.Kale/collard greens

The produce with lowest levels of pesticide residue as determined by the EWG, starting with what ranked the lowest, are:

1.Onions

2.Sweet Corn

3.Pineapples

4.Avocados

5.Asparagus

Debuting on the list this year is cilantro, which had not been previously tested by the USDA. The data showed 33 unapproved pesticides on 44% of the cilantro samples, which the EWG said was the highest percentage recorded on any items included in the guide since the data tracking started in 1995. Green onions (ranked No. 29), cranberries (No. 36) and mushrooms (No. 39) were also newcomers to the list.

Keeping your animals (or someone else’s) on the correct side of the fence can be quite a challenge.Some kinds of animals are easier to fence in (or out), and some are very difficult.Within a species, some individuals are more determined to escape and some are quite content to stay at home.Keeping them fenced may require some effort and, for difficult critters, some thought.

Take these cows, for example.Right now, they are only about a month old, fairly small and not very strong.They have grass enough, but the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.Without precaution, they might slip through an opening or loose wire in a fence, or when they are older they may break a fence.Cows don’t mind much about barbed wires, and will push them just them same as smooth wire.Our solution? Tires in combination with barbed wire (we would have used regular smooth wire, but wanted to be using a “legal” fence according to state law, so that we would not be so liable if they get out).Why?They could push over the tires, or they could push through the wire.With both, however, they can’t push hard on the tires because they have some fence in the way.And they can’t push through the fence because there are tires on the other side.Additionally, the tires prevent the cows from trying to reach through the fence to the grass on the other side: they can hardly see the grass, much less reach it.

We have a similar fence for our goats, but instead of barbed wire we use strong mesh fence.The goats are better at climbing the tires, even with wire in the way, and are small enough to climb through and around the wire and tires (as are sheep).A good mesh fence that is tightly strung is hard for them to climb, and tires on the other side prevents them from bending the wire out of shape or pushing their way out from underneath the wire fence.With horses we make a fence similar to the goats, or string lines of wire like with the cows but not barbed: barbed wire should never be used around horses.

In addition to the benefit of helping to keep your animals in their fence, tires are also good for providing a windbreak and shade.

It’s dragonfly time again!Though they look ferocious (hence their name), dragonflies are actually very harmless to people, and great for your garden and yard!

Dragonflies are predators and eat lots of small bugs.When they first hatch they live underwater and eat other underwater bugs, especially mosquito larvae.In fact, they are one of the major predators of mosquito larvae.However, they don’t reproduce as often or as quickly as mosquitos, so if when pesticides are applied to ponds to kill mosquitos, they kill the dragonflies too, but the mosquitos will return again quicker than the dragonflies will.

Once they are grown, the dragonflies continue to hunt other bugs.Which bugs they eat depends on the species of dragonfly, but include small bugs like mosquitos and gnats to larger bugs like caterpillars, moths, etc.There are even dragonflies that eat small mammals like frogs!

There are many species of dragonflies, and they are all fun to watch.They are territorial, and sometimes will buzz you if you are in their space (but won’t attack you – don’t worry!).Some fly around to patrol their space, and some find a favorite perch from which to keep an eye on everything in their territory.If you want to find some dragonflies, the best place to look is near standing water, since that is where they reproduce and are most likely to hang out.

A small bale of hay is 50 gallons of material, and sometimes, due to moisture content, density or other quality factors, the weight of the bale may differ.Like a bushel, a small bale is a volumetric assessment.Thus, it is often better to get “heavy” bales than “light” ones, because you are getting more hay for your money.

However, heavy bales are typically sold for more than light bales and the farmer who is buying hay must often do a per-pound analysis instead of a volumetric analysis.If a heavy bale weighing 75 pounds is sold for $10 and a light bale weighing 25 lbs is sold for $10, the buyer of the light bale is paying an additional $1.75 per pound for hay.

Green hay is rarely sold: hay is typically dried.However, a premium on fresh hay ought to be paid because it provides better nutrition to your animals and you do not require as much green hay as you do dried hay.Paying twice as much for green would usually not be unreasonable.If you buy green hay, however, make sure that it is very fresh, and buy frequently.Old green hay that is not stored properly will quickly mold or ferment, which is not healthy for your animals.

Coccinellidae is a family of beetles, known variously as ladybirds (UK, Ireland, Australia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, South Africa, New Zealand, India, Malta, some parts of Canada and the US), or ladybugs (North America). Scientists increasingly prefer the names ladybird beetles or lady beetles as these insects are not true bugs. Lesser-used names include ladyclock, lady cow, and lady fly.

Not all ladybugs are red (other common colors are orange or yellow), and not all of them have spots; those that have spots may have one, several, or many.The number and shape of spots indicates which species of ladybug it is.There are over 450 species of ladybugs in the U.S. alone.

There are lots of myths around the world about ladybugs and their spots. Some have said that it indicates how old they are (a new spot for every year of age).If a ladybug lands on you in Brussels, the spots on that ladybug tells you how many children you will have. Many farmers around the world have believed that the spots on a ladybug tells the fortune of the next harvest, if there are less than seven spots, the harvest will be good. Some people believe that if a ladybug lands on you, you can count the spots and you will soon receive dollars in the same amount as the spots.

The sweet smell of Russian olives can be noticed again, and the delicious flowers are about to set…well, not very delicious fruit.However, now’s the best time to enjoy them on your table!If you like the flowers, and I sure do, now’s a good time for bouquets too.

So surprise someone you love, and make them a fresh wild bouquet! Russian olive flowers, picked as entire branches from the tree, go great in bouquets with grasses.Try picking a variety of grasses for interest, and especially look for brome grass.If you can find some so late in the season, add some lilac branches with their wonderfully scented flowers.The purple lilac and yellow Russian olives are lovely together.

If you like the smell of the Russian olives, you may want to consider also making scented goodies with the flowers.You can use the flowers to infuse soaps, candles, and other products with its fragrance.

About this time of year, farmers begin to sleep a little better.  No risk of frost!  But there are many reasons why people lose sleep.  Analysis of insomnia by Doctors Vallières, Ivers, Beaulieu-Bonneau and Morin in their “Predictability of sleep in patients with insomnia” (Sleep. 2011 May 1;34(5):609-17) indicates that a 3-cluster predictability exists for the disease, indicating at least 3 classes of insomnia.

The Doctors explain “daily sleep diaries were completed for an average of 48 days and self-reported questionnaires once. Three nights were spent in the sleep laboratory for polysomnographic (PSG) assessment. Sleep efficiency, sleep onset latency, wake after sleep onset, and total sleep time were derived from sleep diaries and PSG. Time-series diary data were used to compute conditional probabilities of having an insomnia night after 1, 2, or 3 consecutive insomnia night(s). Conditional probabilities were submitted to a k-means cluster analysis. A 3-cluster solution was retained. One cluster included 38 participants exhibiting an unpredictable insomnia pattern. Another included 30 participants with a low and decreasing probability to have an insomnia night. The last cluster included 49 participants exhibiting a high probability to have insomnia every night. Clusters differed on age, insomnia severity, and mental fatigue, and on subjective sleep variables, but not on PSG sleep variables,” and conclude that “these findings replicate our previous study and provide additional evidence that unpredictability is a less prevalent feature of insomnia than suggested previously in the literature. The presence of the 3 clusters is discussed in term of sleep perception and sleep homeostasis dysregulation.”

The National Sleep Foundation's 2002 Sleep in America poll showed that 58% of adults in the U.S. experienced symptoms of insomnia a few nights a week or more.The causes of insomnia are numerous, ranging from second hand marijuana to physical defects of the brain, but this study presents a new take on this common illness by reducing the number of ways that the body reacts to insomnia – either with more insomnia or less insomnia.

The use of cattle for beef and dairy is not unusual in Colorado, but the training of oxen for draft and pleasure is.Oxen are typically employed on the Eastern seaboard, while mules have been popular a long time in the South.Here in the west and on the Pacific seaboard, horses and oxen are used.This regionalization of animals is not for any climatic adaptations, but because of the expenses of transporting animals and the native experience of the human inhabitants who trained them.

People keep using the animals they are used to as a rule, but breaking in an oxen market in Colorado is not difficult.Besides being superior in nearly every way to draft horses, which are not as strong, gentle, intelligent or courageous as their cattle counterparts, oxen are hardy in more weather and sure footed in the typically dastardly Colorado mud.

Inexperience with oxen abounds.Oxen are not a special breed of cow.Any breed can be used, but only because of their cheapness, Holsteins are typical in the United States.Bulls are more popular than steers, and steers are more popular than cows.Bulls are so popular because people like to breed good oxen, and it is rather difficult to breed a steer (though with the miracles of modern veterinary medicine, it might be possible soon!).

Training a cow into an ox begins early, and it is best if they begin training before they are off milk.Train them as you would a horse, and don’t be surprised when you don’t have to “despook” them.Cows just don’t spook.Also don’t be surprised if they learn how to do all their work before they are 6 months old: cows are much smarter than horses.

Horses have the advantage of being faster than oxen, able to travel faster and further, plow more per hour and otherwise outperform the ox under ideal conditions, but the ox is better for more conditions and can pull heavier weight.

An ox is not driven from behind like a horse, but is led from in front.Reigns are not used, but a wand (not a hard stick, but a gentle tapping device) is used to communicate left, right, faster and slower.Oxen are very tactile creatures!If you are going to use voice commands, they must be very clear and different from each other.

Sale prices of oxen in Colorado are typically twice that as on the East Coast.A survey of oxen prices found that $5000 for a 3 year old team was not outrageous.Asking $1000 for greenbroke 6 month old calves is not out of line.Considering beef prices these days, it makes better sense to not castrate and train them up for the yoke!

In another sign of a new age of business management theory, the Italians have independently rediscovered a principle of American and Japanese management theory, namely that managers should not be higher ranking positions than laborers.Management is a separate trade than any other labor, and requires skill sets in statistics and human sciences.

Doctors Alessandro Pluchinoa, Andrea Rapisardaa, and Cesare Garofaloc in their The Peter principle revisited: A computational study (Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Volume 389, Issue 3, 1 February 2010, Pages 467-472) describe new evidence to support this theory of management:

“In the late sixties the Canadian psychologist Laurence J. Peter advanced an apparently paradoxical principle, named since then after him, which can be summarized as follows: ‘Every new member in a hierarchical organization climbs the hierarchy until he/she reaches his/her level of maximum incompetence’. Despite its apparent unreasonableness, such a principle would realistically act in any organization where the mechanism of promotion rewards the best members and where the competence at their new level in the hierarchical structure does not depend on the competence they had at the previous level, usually because the tasks of the levels are very different to each other. Here we show, by means of agent based simulations, that if the latter two features actually hold in a given model of an organization with a hierarchical structure, then not only is the Peter principle unavoidable, but also it yields in turn a significant reduction of the global efficiency of the organization. Within a game theory-like approach, we explore different promotion strategies and we find, counterintuitively, that in order to avoid such an effect the best ways for improving the efficiency of a given organization are either to promote each time an agent at random or to promote randomly the best and the worst members in terms of competence.”

The American / Japanese system requires that managers be hired separate from laborers, and that instead of promoting a person out of a job in which they excel, to increase their pay.Or better, the pay of their team: no one is truly great without the help of their friends.Punishment by decreasing pay is to be avoided, and managers are held responsible for maintaining productive efficiency and productive quality, not total output.Total output is a function of labor and machinery and to increase total output requires more labor and more machines.

Under the new system, if a team or individual is discovered to be performing outside of statistically sound expectations, the management studies the matter and discovers why.If they are performing for the worse, the causes of that performance is determined and corrected through assistance to the employee: firing employees is a last resort in the new management because, statistically, you are not going to be finding a better qualified or motivated employee, and when the fear of being fired is removed, performance increases.If they are performing better than expected, they are rewarded and, if especially good at their job, employed to teach others how to do their jobs better.

Can't stand any more greens?  You can make paper out of the vegetables in your garden. Here’s how, from ehow.com:

1.Thinly slice the vegetables. The slices can be 0.5 cm to 0.2 inch thick. You can choose from a variety of vegetables like carrot, cucumber, squash, ginger root, potato, radish, turnip or beet.

2.Arrange the slices to form a thin layer between two sheets of tissue paper. Overlap the slices so that there are no open spaces.

3.Place the sheets of vegetable and tissue in a microwave. They should lie flat on the base of the microwave.

4.Put some microwave safe heavy object like a glass baking dish on the sheets. This will prevent the vegetable parchment paper from curling.

5.Heat on high for 1 minute. This will leave the tissue paper wet. Thicker slices of vegetable will need more heat.

6.Remove the sheets from the microwave, and let the vegetable layer breathe for a minute. Replace the wet tissue paper with fresh paper.

7.Repeat steps 3 to 6 until the tissue paper is almost dry.

8.Replace the tissue paper once more. Place the sheets between layers of old newspaper. Let the whole thing stand for a few days on a flat surface with some weight on it.

9.Replace both the tissue paper and newspaper once daily until the vegetable parchment paper is completely dry.

Most people look at grain bins as excellent places to store grain.Not architect Richard Gillies.In his The Adaptation of a Thunder Bay Grain Elevator (2011, Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia) he undertook to understand how best to convert a grain bin into a home.“Informed by research into the history, function, and construction of grain elevators, this investigation develops an approach to adaptation that would inhabit the interior spaces while preserving the sense of wonder and intrigue inherent in these structures. Using a program defined only as the most basic requirements for habitation, spatial possibilities are investigated to augment the aesthetic, monumental, and mysterious qualities of the structure, without domesticating it.”

After beginning with an understanding of the history and purpose of grain bins, Gilles understands their essential aspects, reaching nearly poetic qualities in his thesis: “The history of grain elevators can be traced back to Buffalo, New York in 1842, when entrepreneur Joseph Dart and engineer Robert Dunbar constructed the first grain elevator. This was a wooden structure which housed the elevator and a series of bins.The heart of the new invention – a looped or ‘never ending’ conveyor belt, made out of canvas, upon which large buckets made out of iron had been attached at regular intervals; the whole thing enclosed within a long, straight rectangular box made out of wood and iron… (Brown 2009, 109) It was not until 1883 that the Canadian Pacific Railway constructed the first grain elevator in Thunder Bay (Vervoort 1982, 30), known as the King’s Elevator. This marked the first time that grain from the prairies could take an all-Canadian route to the eastern ports. Prior to 1883 grain was moved south through American routes (Vervoort 1990, 404). The Lakehead grain trade rapidly expanded in the following decades.”

He discovered other adaptations of grain bins, including the transformation of them into a giant musical organ, as a projection screen for outdoor art and movies, and also the transformation of them into residential lofts.The transformation of the former Quaker Oats bin in Akron, Ohio, into Quaker Square inspired him.There, the essential nature of the bin was kept, while allowing for new use.The challenge of transforming storage areas and mechanical areas into habitable areas is no small task!

He begins by opening up the interior with light through slits in the metal siding, and carving out the interior of the storage bins to create a cathedral atmosphere, literally enshrining the essence of the original bin.“Through a process of first subtraction (demolition) and then addition (construction), I have modified the existing concrete structure to include new interior spaces that enhance the sense of scale and add qualities of light…by emphasizing the qualities of space, introducing minimal program, then exploring and representing adaptations that augment the monumental and mysterious. Hopefully this thesis has revealed new spatial experiences that inspire further program options for abandoned grain elevators beyond the usual condominiums and hotels.”

I am so proud to announce that the agricultural and nature newspaper which I assist in editing has now an online edition!  You ought to check it out... www.themeadowlarkherald.com 

Besides covering agriculture, nature science, art and the latest academic news, local politics and news is covered too.  Farming and gardening is made easier with information and news! 

Let me know what you think?

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