Posted on 03/23/2008 11:36:40 PM PDT by nw_arizona_granny
Americans finding soaring food prices hard to stomach can battle back by growing their own food. [Click image for a larger version] Dean Fosdick Dean Fosdick
Home vegetable gardens appear to be booming as a result of the twin movements to eat local and pinch pennies.
At the Southeastern Flower Show in Atlanta this winter, D. Landreth Seed Co. of New Freedom, Pa., sold three to four times more seed packets than last year, says Barb Melera, president. "This is the first time I've ever heard people say, 'I can grow this more cheaply than I can buy it in the supermarket.' That's a 180-degree turn from the norm."
Roger Doiron, a gardener and fresh-food advocate from Scarborough, Maine, said he turned $85 worth of seeds into more than six months of vegetables for his family of five.
A year later, he says, the family still had "several quarts of tomato sauce, bags of mixed vegetables and ice-cube trays of pesto in the freezer; 20 heads of garlic, a five-gallon crock of sauerkraut, more homegrown hot-pepper sauce than one family could comfortably eat in a year and three sorts of squash, which we make into soups, stews and bread."
[snipped]
She compares the current period of market uncertainty with that of the early- to mid-20th century when the concept of victory gardens became popular.
"A lot of companies during the world wars and the Great Depression era encouraged vegetable gardening as a way of addressing layoffs, reduced wages and such," she says. "Some companies, like U.S. Steel, made gardens available at the workplace. Railroads provided easements they'd rent to employees and others for gardening."
(Excerpt) Read more at dallasnews.com ...
I’m not sure which is a bigger idiot.
Also, I just read they are trying to give DC statehood - I guess they’ve trashed the Constitution so much that they think they can do anything at this point.
If the radio is pluged into an elictrical outlet this may help:
http://www.agoraquest.com/viewtopic.php?topic=24349&forum=65&keyword2=electronics
Your confuser may have a noisey power supply. In that case distance is yer friend!
FUNGAL DISEASES, TREE CROPS - USA
*********************************
A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org
[1] Laurel wilt, avocado - Florida
[2] Thousand cankers disease, walnut - Idaho
[3] Septoria leaf spot, pistachio - New Mexico
******
[1] Laurel wilt, avocado - Florida
Date: Mon 26 Jan 2009
Source: University of Florida News [edited]
http://news.ufl.edu/2009/01/26/avocado/
New disease may cost Florida’s avocado industry millions
UF researchers are scrambling to develop damage estimates and
management strategies. They have evaluated about 30 percent of the 28
avocado varieties grown in Florida; all have been susceptible to the
disease, though not all have died, said Jorge Pena, an entomologist
at UF. For controlling the fungus or the beetle, researchers are
testing pesticides and repellents, Pena said.
Some redbay trees may be resistant to the disease, said UF forest
pathologist Jason Smith. Researchers will investigate factors
associated with resistance, in the hope that tolerant varieties can
be identified.
The disease was unknown until 2004. The beetle, first found in the US
in 2002, is native to Asia and may have arrived in wood products.
Laurel wilt is in South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. “The disease
is moving fairly rapidly, so it will arrive in Miami sooner or
later,” said Randy Ploetz, a UF plant pathologist.
LW apparently spreads at least 2 ways, Crane said. One is via the
beetle, which expands its range 20 or 30 miles [32-48 km] per year.
Also, because the disease has leapfrogged around the state,
researchers believe beetle-infested firewood has been sold, he said.
LW symptoms include wilted stems and leaves, black streaking in the
wood, and strings of compacted sawdust protruding from tree trunks.
Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services [DOACS] are monitoring
several counties for RAB, said DPI [DOACS Division of Plant Industry].
There’s more at stake than the avocado industry. LW has killed 99
percent of infected redbay trees in many areas, said Smith. Other
species are also at risk. Smith developed a test that identifies
diseased trees in less than an hour, even if the fungus is present in
small amounts. The test will be available to diagnostic labs.
[Byline: Tom Nordlie]
—
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
promed@promedmail.org
******
[2] Thousand cankers disease, walnut - Idaho
Date: Thu 15 Jan 2009
Source: Idaho Statesman [edited]
http://www.idahostatesman.com/life/story/633149.html
Deadly walnut disease hits Treasure Valley
The disease is a circulation-blocking fungus spread by walnut twig
beetles native to the American Southwest. No effective cure has been
found. This disease can kill a mature tree in a year or less. It has
wiped out walnut trees on the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains.
It mainly affects black walnut trees, but English walnut trees also
are vulnerable.
Symptoms of the disease are yellowing, wilting, and browning of
foliage, as if the tree were drought-stressed. These symptoms usually
show up first at the top of the tree and progress downward rapidly.
Leaves that turn brown often remain attached to the twig or branch
after it dies. Trees that showed symptoms in fall may leaf out in
spring, then quickly exhibit symptoms of the fungus infection and
die, or they may not leaf out at all.
The beetles could have spread northward naturally, or they may have
been transported in firewood. Avoiding damaging the bark will help
maintain tree health. Some experts say pesticides applied
systemically can help by killing the beetles, but it must be applied
before the tree is infected.
[Byline: Margaret Lauterbach]
—
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
promed@promedmail.org
******
[3] Septoria leaf spot, pistachio - New Mexico
Date: Wed 14 Jan 2009
Source: New Mexico State University News Release [edited]
http://www.nmsu.edu/~ucomm/Releases/2009/january/pistachio_leafspot.htm
NMSU finds first-ever leaf spot in New Mexico pistachios
The septoria fungus creates small, brown lesions on the leaves. If
enough lesions are present, the tree will have difficulty
photosynthesizing. The fungus does not directly affect the fruit, but
can have a negative effect on yield. Each of the 20 southern New
Mexico pistachio orchards tested by NMSU has been positive for
septoria. Natalie Goldberg, NMSU plant pathologist, believes the
fungus has been present in the state for years.
“It’s of concern,” said Richard Heerema, an NMSU extension
specialist. “The fungal disease is very much weather driven. With our
dry climate we typically don’t see these sorts of things.” He said
the fungus thrives in wet weather. He believes a string of wet
summers have increased its severity in the region, perhaps explaining
why it had gone undetected.
“Because of the level of infection, we need to pay attention to it,”
Goldberg said. “There are some low-risk fungicides available, but
that’s an added input for growers.” She said a relatively dry growing
season could significantly reduce the amount of septoria.
“One of the most important aspects is good sanitation, such as raking
and destroying fallen leaves,” said Elizabeth Gordon, Otero County
extension agent. “Those leaves contain the fungus and will produce
spores that will re-infect the new leaves.” She said many growers
incorporate old leaves into the soil, which ordinarily is a good
practice but not with septoria present.
If [infected] trees are left untreated, they become weakened and more
susceptible to other diseases and could eventually die. This strain
of septoria is pistachio-specific and will not affect other types of
trees. Previously, septoria has been found in Texas and Arizona.
[Byline: Justin Bannister]
—
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
promed@promedmail.org
[Laurel wilt (LW) is a vascular disease affecting species in the
family _Lauraceae_. It is caused by a new fungus, _Raffaelea
lauricola_, described in 2008. LW is spread by the redbay ambrosia
beetle (_Xyleborus glabratus_), which is native to India, Japan,
Myanmar, and Taiwan. Since 2003, LW has caused widespread mortality
of redbay (_Persea borbonia_) in Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida
and has recently also been found on avocado (_Persea americana_).
Thousand cankers is considered a disease complex involving fungal
species of genus _Geosmithia_ and possibly also _Fusarium_. It is
spread by the walnut twig beetle (_Pityophthorus juglandis_) with
subsequent canker development around beetle galleries. This beetle is
native to North America and belongs to the same family
(_Curculionidae_, snout and bark beetles) as the LW vector. This
insect-fungus association is considered to represent a new and
significant threat to walnut species (genus _Juglans_).
Septoria leaf spot on pistachio can be caused by _Mycosphaerella_
(synonym _Septoria_) _pistacina_, _Mycosphaerella_ (synonym
_Septoria_) _pistaciarum_, or _Septoria pistaciae_. These fungi
affect only species in the genus _Pistacia_. _S. pistaciae_ has been
reported to be associated with leaf spot in California, and _M.
pistaciarum_ in Arizona, but item 3 above does not state which
species has been found in New Mexico.
For more information on these diseases please see links below.
Maps
USA:
http://www.mapsofworld.com/usa/usa-road-map-enlarge-view.html
and
http://healthmap.org/promed/en?g=4155751&g=5596512&g=5481136&v=40,-97.6,4
US states:
http://www.census.gov/geo/www/us_regdiv.pdf
Pictures
Laurel wilt symptoms on redbay:
http://www.barkbeetles.org/browse/getimage.cfm?imgnum=2110021
Redbay ambrosia beetle:
http://www.barkbeetles.org/browse/getimage.cfm?imgnum=1413003
and
http://www.forestryimages.org/images/768x512/5383206.jpg
Thousand cankers disease on black walnut:
http://artistictreeworks.com/pagegrafx/pa-img2.jpg
and
http://artistictreeworks.com/pagegrafx/pa-img1.jpg
Walnut twig beetle:
http://artistictreeworks.com/pagegrafx/pa-img4.jpg
Septoria spot on pistachio leaf:
http://www.apsnet.org/online/Archive/PDCoverImages/2004v88/apr_1.asp
Links
Additional news stories:
http://www.alligator.org/articles/2009/01/30/news/local/090130_avocado.txt
and
http://wenatcheeworld.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081201/NEWS04/712016122
Information on laurel wilt:
http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/foresthealth/laurelwilt/resources/pubs/399harrington8-53.pdf
http://apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/abs/10.1094/PDIS-93-2-0198B
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/HS379
and
http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/foresthealth/laurelwilt/index.shtml
Redbay ambrosia beetle information, with pictures:
http://www.invasive.org/browse/subject.cfm?sub=10998 and
http://wiki.bugwood.org/Xyleborus_glabratus
Thousand cankers and walnut twig beetle information:
http://www.ppdl.purdue.edu/PPDL/pubs/walnutthousandcankersdisease.pdf
http://artistictreeworks.com/pestalert.html
http://www.pestalert.org/viewNewsAlert.cfm?naid=65>, and
http://www.wvagriculture.org/market_bulletin/Past_Issues/PDF_Pages/2008/11-08-pg-3.pdf
_Curculionidae_ taxonomy and genera:
http://bugguide.net/node/view/139
Septoria leaf spot of pistachio:
http://www.apsnet.org/pd/searchnotes/2006/PD-90-1553C.asp
and
http://ag.arizona.edu/pubs/crops/az1178/az1178-14.pdf
List of pistachio pathogens:
http://www.apsnet.org/online/common/names/pistachio.asp
All fungal taxonomy via:
http://www.indexfungorum.org/Names/Names.asp
Florida DPI:
http://www.doacs.state.fl.us/pi/
- Mod.DHA]
...................................dha/mj/mpp
Also, you might want to flip the breaker and see if both are on the same circuit. That can cause problems. My computer responds nastily if I get the cell phone near it. It has to do with the speakers. When I turn off the speakers, it goes away. Might try that - turning the volume down doesn’t work.
Another use for diamotaceous earth is to kill intestinal worms. <<<
I have forgotten all the uses that I had for it, but animal feed and even bug control I know that I used it for.
I haven’t taken it myself.
Granny, that plant was owned by Conagra a mega conglomerate corporation into just about anything to make the bucks.<<<
If the bad peanut butter plant was owned by Conagra, who now stands as the owner of the company?
Is some of this deliberate?
Producing those hybrid seeds is a very labor intensive industry, so guess where many of them are produced... India has a huge hybrid seed production industry. <<<
So once again, we will need to rely on a foreign country to supply our basic needs....scary as all get out.
In war time, shipping seeds will not be at the top of the list and all your saved seeds will be all that saves lives.
Americans need to wake up and face the fact that we are no longer a country, but are indeed only a bedroom community of the world.
My area, an 18 mile wide valley, between Laughlin and Bullhead City/Laughlin, Nevada, is considered by the planners as a “bedroom community” for the Laughlin workers.
No money is spent here by the gov, except the 4 lane highway 68 to Laughlin.
We grow like crazy and have for 20 years, a guess would be from 200 to 400 homes 20 years ago to 10,000 homes today and it could be many more.
all serviced by private water companies, trash pick up companies, no sewer or gas lines, it is all septic and butane tanks.
Guess we are lucky to have phone and electric and wouldn’t have that, except the phone company got a big gov grant about 40 years ago and ran phone lines to areas that still do not have homes.
Save seeds, or you will be sorry, should be in all the ads and garden information sites.
List of Recalled Peanut Products
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,489015,00.html
<<<
Thanks for posting this link, I had one from ProMed that was from several links we aren’t to post and couldn’t see how to cut it and make it work.
It has gone international on the recall.
I’m not trying to say that we should be ‘panic buying’ of canning jars, but a goodly supply would surely be reassuring.<<<
You are so correct, buying jars now is wise and you will have them.
I save all glass jars, my sister comes each year and wants to clean out my junk, sorry, my glass stays...
When I made a bulk supply order a few years ago, the salt came in a 20 pound bag, it went into all the odd jars that were not salable, so what if I have a bunch of them, you don’t want to pick up a 5# jar of salt for the daily cooking.
Your post fits what I see in a couple Yahoo canning groups, all last year, almost daily, a new person, who had never canned before.
I learned that all my canning methods were out of date.
Watch the Free Cycle groups, even in Kingman area, which has almost no fruit, I see jars being offered on it.
LOL, I have worn out about 4 pressure cookers and have a big one for canning.
And I used them almost daily, the only one that ever blew the safety, was too full of beef barley soup.
There is still proof of it on the ceiling by the stove.
If things got very bad people would have to hide their gardens as though they were pot.<<<
That is why so many people are planting the wild gardens in the forests and any place they can tuck them in.
When I think of all the pot gardens they hide and grow for years, it makes me think that we should be smart enough to hide vegetable gardens too.
I have long thought that we would need to hide the goats and chickens as well.
People get all upset over the fighting cocks, but few know that if they are allowed to go wild, they will do just that go wild and roost in the trees.
In Wellton, a man told us he was leaving Wellton and to go and get his chickens.....
We later learned they were fighting cocks and maybe crossed with banties, but we got them out of the trees in the Gila River bottom, they did quite well on the bugs, etc that they found there.
Ducks on a pond? Goats in a woods at a spring?
Except here, the Gov. will shoot your goat, if it gets near where the Big Horn Sheep areas.
I talked to the Gov about it and was told that they did not have proof that goats give disease to the Big Horn Sheep, but just in case, death to the goats.
LOL, and of course the goats that I had would take off every day and head for the sheep area/spring.
An attached but out of site greenhouse would be a good idea.
Food is going to be important, even more important than many can imagine.
Your dishpan of spinach or chard, will mean a lot, if you are living on beans and rice.
Think of how much better beans and rice is with a few herbs.
However, I am still looking for the food dehydrator that will be much more useful in the future. I have other thrift shoppers looking for me.<<<
Nothing like a bargain to put a smile on your face.
And then I think of a yellow fine cotton, like silk, dress that I once bought, maybe from India, it never did fit me, but I loved looking at it and always planned to use it, maybe for doll dresses.
Join your local Free Cycle group, give away something and then you can ask for what you need, and might get it....free.
Amendment struck down - ACORN will get their 4.1 Billion.<<<
There are so many news items, that almost scream out,
“Get prepared, you ain’t seen nothing yet”
I can’t get through my emails on a daily basis, without all the thousands from/covering the election, when the computer was down.
Yes, get prepared as never before, with Soros as an adviser to our president, there has to be big trouble ahead.
Plus a faction, of folks are looking at another war with Russia and there is always China and the other communists lurking and ready to do us harm.
Be prepared.
One variety, the “Old Tennessee Muskmelon”, yielded me over a dozen muskmelons, each weighing in at 12 - 14 pounds, and a taste to remember. Baker Creek can be found at www.rareseeds.com. Warning: Highly addictive - too many good choices - Hard to make a decision.<<<
They are a company that many use, the muskmelons sound tempting.
I think they may be what my uncle grew in Texas, when I was a kid, had far more taste than the cantaloupe of today.
If the radio is pluged into an elictrical outlet this may help:
http://www.agoraquest.com/viewtopic.php?topic=24349&forum=65&keyword2=electronics
Your confuser may have a noisey power supply. In that case distance is yer friend!<<<
Thank you for your help, interesting reading at the link.
Yes, the computer has had a new power pack installed last week and more than likely the radios and computer are on the same breaker switch and there is no way I can change that, as I have limited lines to use.
I only use mine only for canning so not much chance of the vent getting clogged from that. I do check it every time I can, though.
If you put a couple of teaspoons or so in a glass of water, it just tastes like dirty water, or water with some clay in it. I just mix it in the cats’ food and they pay it no mind. Worm free cats - no poisons needed! Supposedly it adds useful minerals as well.
I fear the radio and computer are on the same circuit.
No, I can’t change them and am at the limit of how to plug into these old wires in an old mobile.
Thanks for the information, you are more than likely correct.
What is the recommended method for storing seed? Freezer seems too harsh. Just a cool, dry place?
Using a pressure cooker for stews and beans is handy in a hurry, or try a pork roast with a can of pineapple dumped on it.
I can have a pressure pot of beans on the table in 1 & 1/2 hours, I put my spices, onion, garlic, etc in before cooking and add salt later, as I recall they only cook 45 minutes.
Takes just long enough to make a pan of cornbread.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
