Is Recession Preparing a New Breed of Survivalist? [Survival Today

I love carrot cake.

For years, a pen pal in Australia sent me the Woman’s recipe news and they use a lot of orange.

I have lost the recipe that I made many times, self rising flour, plus....with a ground up orange in it and dropped by the spoonful in frying fat, kinda like cooking doughnut holes, without doughnuts.

Self rising flour should be used more often, add a little oil and you have Bisquick, or biscuit mix, or pancake mix and it is cheaper.

http://www.eco-living.net/projects/hifcgarage/

[photos]

Ferrocement Garage - page zero
Cultural & Ecological designing

ferrocement garage - front view ferrocement garage - rear quarter view

These pages document my creation of a ferrocement garage/storage building on my land in Hawai’i. Please contact me if you are interested in my ferrocement teaching/consulting services. For additional online information on ferrocement I suggest starting with a visit to ferrocement.net.

[front view of completed building with doors ajar] Though I generally prefer less industrial materials than steel, cement and concrete, after considerable deliberation and research the main attributes of ferrocement seemed the best overall match for my project parameters in this particular case. This was to be a utility building in a humid tropical climate, built entirely by hand, almost entirely without power tools, with no grid power and no water (other than tropical rainfall and what I’d bring in jugs from elsewhere) available on the building site.
I chose to use ferrocement for the shell of the structure for several primary reasons: it is durable in humid tropical climates (very resistant to rot, mildew, termites and other organic-matter-eating critters), has low up-front materials costs, can be built by hand with relatively few and relatively simple tools, and can be shaped creatively and sculpturally to suit site and design considerations. [view of completed building from rear quarter]
[mesh being applied to rebar and wire skeleton] I wanted to build the structure with minimum disruption to surrounding terrain and vegetation. The curvaceous properties of hand-built ferrocment enabled me to use the maximum space available for the building shell without having to take out any of the lovely ‘ohia trees growing close to the wall on the West side (though I did prune a few small lower limbs). Also, the curves in the walls and corners greatly increase the strength of the structure compared to straight lines and sharp corners.
Originally I had planned to also build the roof using ferrocement. As the walls progressed and I contemplated roof fabrication, I realized I did not know enough about the properties of the material to insure success with a self-supporting hand-built roof this large. I also realized I was quite ready to not tie any more wires or mix any more plaster for a while, not to mention the necessary upside-down and overhead plastering! Thus I opted for a metal roof surface with wood stringer and batten framing, enabling me to retain close to my original asymmetrical arched roof design. [stringer and batten roof framing nearly complete]
I plan to experiment with smaller ferrocement roof structures, including using a ferrocement surface as the basis for a “living roof” system. If you have experience with ferrocement under a living roof I’d appreciate any information you’re willing to share.

The following pages show and tell most of the major steps in building the structure. The final page has assorted details not covered in the brief paragraphs accompanying the pictures - information on tools, techniques, mistakes harvested, design process narrative, etc.. Please - continue on!

>>>Survival thread, and a perfect first line of defense. <<<

Yeah, I suppose if you are wanting to make a lot of noise, and have a pickup full of ammo, you might do as much real damage as a 15 round mag of well placed shots.

While you draw all their fire with the toy, I’ll drop them one by one and draw very little of their fire.

Why not a bucket of chinese fire crackers... How many Sherpas do you have to tote your ammo? Totally silly solution as a result of watching too many action movies I assume.

[Complete publication at link]

http://209.85.173.132/search?q=cache:cYccF1nJHuAJ:attra.ncat.org/new_pubs/attra-pub/PDF/sweetcorn.pdf%3Fid%3DOhio+vegetable/biointensive_insect_management&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk

Sweet Corn:
OrganicProduction

[snippet]

Insect pest management
A large number of insect pests can attack
sweet corn. The American Phytopathological
Society’s 1999 Handbook of Corn Insects is
the standard reference (Steffey et al., 1999).
M
ow-down
and roll-
down
methods can knock
down cover crops
and provide a no-till
mulch in vegetable
production.
Page 7
Page 7
ATTRA
www.attra.ncat.org
Among the most widespread and damaging
are corn earworm, European corn borer,
corn rootworm and cutworm.
Corn earworm
The corn earworm (Helicoverpa zea) is the
larval stage of a moth that lays eggs in the
corn silk. Corn earworm is also known as
tomato fruitworm, cotton bollworm and soy-
bean podworm. In most of the country, the
corn earworm is the most destructive pest
of sweet corn. Corn earworm is particularly
difficult to control because it is protected by
the husk while feeding. Organic pest con-
trol strategies focus on variety selection and
planting dates, cultural practices to incre-
ase natural biological control such as para-
sitism and predation, and the use of micro-
bial pesticides.
Management options begin with resistant
varieties. Sweet corn varieties that mature
early, possess long, tight husks extending
beyond the tips of the ears or contain natu-
rally occurring earworm-repelling chemi-
cals in the silks show the most resistance to
earworm attack (Davidson and Lyon, 1987
and Williams and Williams, 1994). Table 3
lists sweet corn varieties known to possess
some level of resistance to corn earworm.
Northern growers can reduce the time
sweet corn ears are exposed to corn ear-
worm by using a short-season variety and
planting early in the season (Wiseman and
Isenhour, 1994). Early seeding is more
effective as a cultural practice in nor-
thern states where the corn earworm moth
is migratory. The moth overwinters in
some growing regions, such as south Texas
and Mexico.
Naturally occurring biological control agents
that prey on corn earworm eggs and larvae
include lady beetles, lacewings, syrphid fly
larvae, big-eyed bug, parasitic wasps and
parasitic tachinid flies (Straub and Emmett,
1992). Farmscaping by developing insect
refugia through establishment of flowering
plants grown in strips and field borders
may encourage these beneficial insects to
stay on the farm.
One farmscaping strategy entails the esta-
blishment of sweet alyssum (Lobularia mari-
tima), a short-lived flowering annual, in
occasional pest habitat strips or field bor-
ders (Grossman and Quarles, 1993). This
flower is particularly attractive to parasitic
wasps that prey on corn earworm, as well
as caterpillar pests of cabbage-family vege-
table crops. See ATTRA’s Farmscaping to

continued...

http://209.85.173.132/search?q=cache:p1AbKWnJzawJ:research.nwic.edu/education/Horticultural%2520Crops.doc+vegetable/biointensive_insect_management&cd=7&hl=en&ct=clnk

This is the html version of the file http://research.nwic.edu/education/Horticultural%20Crops.doc.
Google automatically generates html versions of documents as we crawl the web.

Horticultural Crops

Contents

Unit 1: What is Sustainable Agriculture

Reading: 72 pgs

* Sustainable Agriculture: An Introduction
* Applying the Principles of Sustainable Farming
* Manures for Organic Crop Production
* Introduction to Permaculture: Concepts and Resources

Paper: 2-3 page double space paper on one of the above

Quiz 1.

Unit 2: Fruits

Reading: 225pgs

* Organic and Low-Spray Apple Production
* Insect IPM in Apples: Kaolin Clay
* Organic Grape Production
* Organic and Low-Spray Peach Production
* Organic Pear Production
* Low-Spray and Organic Plum Production
* Persimmon Production
* Strawberries: Organic and IPM Options
* Blueberries: Organic Production
* Organic Culture of Bramble Fruits

Paper: 2-3 page double space paper on one of the above:

Quiz 2:

Unit 3: Vegetables

Reading: 315pgs

* Scheduling Vegetable Plantings for Continuous Harvest
* Flame Weeding for Vegetable Crops
* Organic Allium Production
* Organic Asparagus Production
* Organic Garlic Production
* Organic Pumpkin and Winter Squash Production
* Organic Sweet Corn Production
* Sweetpotato: Organic Production
* Organic Tomato Production
* Specialty Lettuce and Greens: Organic Production
* Specialty Vegetables
* Chinese Water Chestnut
* Resource Guide to Organic and Sustainable Vegetable Production

Paper: 2-3 page double space paper on one of the above:

Quiz 3:

Unit 4: Herbs and Flowers

Reading: 142 pgs

* Edible Flowers
* Sustainable Cut Flower Production
* Ginseng, Goldenseal, and Other Native Roots
* Lavender Production, Products, Markets, and Entertainment Farms
* Considerations for Organic Herb Production
* Suppliers of Plugs for Medicinal Herb Crops
* Woody Ornamentals for Cut Flower Growers
* Phenology Web Links: Sequence of Bloom, Floral Calendars, What’s in Bloom

Paper: 2-3 page double space paper on one of the above:

Quiz 4:

Unit 5: Greenhouse Production

Reading: 298pgs

* Organic Greenhouse Vegetable Production
* Greenhouse and Hydroponic Vegetable Resources on the Internet
* Potting Mixes for Certified Organic Production
* Integrated Pest Management for Greenhouse Crops
* Organic Greenhouse Herb Production
* Organic Greenhouse Tomato Production
* Organic Plug and Transplant Production
* Compost Heated Greenhouses
* Root Zone Heating for Greenhouse Crops
* Solar Greenhouses Resource List
* Sustainable Small-scale Nursery Production

Paper: 2-3 page double space paper on one of the above:

Quiz 5:

Unit 6: Marketing and Business

Reading: 152 pgs

* Evaluating a Rural Enterprise
* Market Gardening: A Start-up Guide
* Moving Beyond Conventional Cash Cropping
* Agricultural Business Planning Templates and Resources
* Enterprise Budgets and Production Costs for Organic Production
* Direct Marketing
* Entertainment Farming and Agri-Tourism
* Farmers’ Markets
* Green Markets for Farm Products

Links on page to the sections..

http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/farmscape.html

Farmscaping to Enhance Biological Control
Pest Management Systems Guide

[snipped]

Insectary Plant Characteristics

Experimentation is the key to finding a successful combination of planting systems, ground covers/mulches, and management practices that work best for the unique soil and environmental conditions of a particular farm and crop.

As a first step, the producer should choose plants that provide good habitat for the desired predators or parasites, and at the same time, do not harbor insects that are likely to become pests. For example, subterranean clover harbors many beneficials like big-eyed bugs, and also harbors relatively few Lygus species pests. Avoid aggressive, invasive plants and those that may act as reservoirs for diseases that attack surrounding crops.
The Nature Conservancy runs a Web site that has a comprehensive list of invasive plants using both scientific and common names. Pictures as well as tips for managing the plants are also included: http://tncweeds.ucdavis.edu.

Cover crops that are good insectary plants include buckwheat, sweet clover, faba beans, vetch, red clover, white clover, mustards, and cowpeas. Herbaceous plants that are good insectary plants and which may be planted in strips include species in the carrot (Apiaceae=Umbelliferae), sunflower (Asteraceae=Compositae), and mint (Lamiaceae) families. (Refer to Appendix A, Appendix B, and Appendix C for detailed information on pests, beneficials, and seed blends for plants that attract beneficials.)

In many instances, floral structure is an important consideration. Beneficials with short mouthparts, such as the tiny parasitic wasps, find it easy to obtain nectar and pollinate plants in the parsley and sunflower families because of the small, shallow flowers these species provide. Plants that possess extrafloral nectaries (nectar sources outside the flower), such as faba beans, cowpeas, vetch, and several native ground covers, provide beneficials with easy access to an important food source in addition to the nectar and pollen of their flowers.

Cowpea Pullquote

Recent work in Georgia investigated the importance of different food sources—extrafloral nectaries, honeydew (a liquid emitted by whiteflies, aphids, scales, and leafhoppers, composed of unused portions of plant sap as well as certain waste products of the insects), sucrose, or no food sources—on Microplitis croceipes, a parasitoid of the corn earworm in cotton. (7) Important findings included:

* Retention of the wasp and parasitization rates were highest in cotton plots in which wasps were able to feed on extrafloral nectar.

* Retention of the wasp and parasitization in patches with honeydew was comparable to patches without food—probably due to the rapid decrease in quality of honeydew as it dries, combined with low quantity per site and general low detectability of this food by the parasitoid. Honeydew is scattered about randomly within a field and on a plant. Extrafloral or floral nectaries, on the other hand, are always found at the same location on a particular plant, making it easier for beneficials to locate this food source.

* Important characteristics of an ideal food source in the field are high quality, high quantity per site, high detectability, and high predictability of the food location. Nectar sources possess all these qualities.

To summarize this research, some species of parasitic wasps will stay in an area with nectar sources—either floral or extrafloral—and this results in a higher parasitization rate of host pests in that area. This makes sense, because the wasp can spend more time hunting for hosts and less time hunting for food. Many crop plants do not provide sufficient food for hungry parasitoids. As a consequence, parasitoids will disperse from target areas in search for food. After feeding, parasitoids may not return to original target areas, especially when the distance between food and host locations is too great or when the food locations also harbor hosts. (7) Because nectar sources are so important to many beneficials, non-invasive plants with floral or extrafloral nectaries might be considered prime candidates for use in farmscaping.

A study in California (8) revealed that beneficials in fact do feed on nectar and pollen provided by insectary plants, and will move up to 250 feet into adjacent crop lands. Further research is needed to determine the optimum spacing of insectaries within a particular crop and ecosystem so that parasites spend most of their time controlling pests (as opposed to searching for food) and producers know how much land insectaries will require and where they are most effectively placed.

The appearance of beneficials should be timed to coincide with peak need for biological control of pests associated with the main crop. Another way of looking at this is that an insectary crop should grow and bloom at a time that best meets the needs of beneficials for pollen, nectar, or alternate hosts. Strategies to prolong bloom include planting cover crops in strips on successive planting dates. Planting a mix of plants, particularly perennials, that bloom in succession and that meet the habitat needs of desired beneficials is another farmscaping option. It may be helpful to develop a diagram, such as the one in Appendix F, when planning habitat that will have something in flower year-round.

The migration of certain species of beneficials from the cover crop(s) to the main crop is sometimes associated with senescence (or post-bloom period) of the cover crop. In these instances, mowing the cover crops in alternate strips may facilitate their movement while the remaining strips continue to provide refuge for other beneficial species. Sickle-bar mowers are less disruptive to beneficials than flail mowers and rotary mowers.
Mulches

Although this publication generally focuses on living habitat, clearly some beneficial organisms, such as spiders and ground beetles, benefit from mulches (or a habitat that mimics some of the effects of mulches, such as that found in “no-till” fields). Much of the benefit lies in the fact that mulches provide overwintering habitat for these organisms in a moderated microclimate. (9)
Trap Crops

A related strategy in farmscaping is the selection of plants that attract pests. These “trap crops” can then be plowed down or managed in some fashion that takes advantage of a vulnerable stage in the crop pest life cycle. See Appendix D for examples of farmers using trap crops.

Back to top
Farmscaping for Birds and Bats

Birds and bats are important insect predators, particularly during the spring when they are raising young. Their activities complement each other. Birds are generally active during the day and feed on caterpillars and other insects, while bats feed during dusk and into the night on mosquitoes, moths, and other nocturnal insects.

Birds and bats are both amenable to living in artificial shelters—free-standing or attached to a building. This could be a slightly modified structural component of a building, such as nest shelves along eaves for barn swallows (10) or a spaced board attached to a beam for bat habitat. Bats, frequently found in man-made structures, prefer places that are warm, dry, and protected from disturbance. (11)

Both birds and bats will benefit from having a small pond or body of water on the property or nearby. Bats require a watering area ideally 10 feet long, as they drink “on the fly.” Birds will be content with birdbath-size and larger water bodies.

One difficulty in farmscaping for birds is that some birds’ diets change from insects to seeds (or to fruit) after they have finished rearing their young. The following table lists some bird species that may be considered for farmscaping efforts.
Table 1. Bird Species Comments (10, 12, 13)
Bluebird Nest boxes should be located 5-6’ above the ground-best facing a tree or artificial perch. Place multiple houses 30 yards apart to allow individual birds to establish territories. The opening should be 1.5” in diameter.
Chickadees Feed mostly in hedgerows and wooded borders. Nest boxes best located near or in trees, hedgerow, etc., 5-15’ above the ground. Will overwinter.
Wrens Feed on insects on ground and plants. Locate nest box close to stick piles and garden. Generally a summer resident only. Opening should be .75” in diameter.
Barn Swallow Attracted by nest shelves under eaves or other structures. Beware of droppings. Opening should be 1.5” in diameter.
Robin Common insectivore, but consumes small fruits and cherries.
Starling Common insectivore, but will eat small fruit and hollow out large fruit (apples). May forage in large flocks.

Bats not only eat insects that are a nuisance to humans (a small brown bat can devour up to 600 mosquitoes in an hour), but can provide significant agricultural pest control services. In one season, a typical colony of about 150 big brown bats in the Midwest eats 50,000 leafhoppers, 38,000 cucumber beetles, 16,000 June bugs, and 19,000 stink bugs (11)—not to mention thousands of moths such as adult cornborers, earworms, and cutworms.
Bat Housing

BatThe easiest way to construct bat housing is to simply add a sheet of plywood to a barn or house wall with ¾” spacers between the sheet and wall. Placing the long axis of the plywood vertically will allow for greater temperature variation in the bat space. (See Useful Contacts for contacts who know about bat habitat and housing.)

Other construction considerations include (11):

* Use exterior-grade plywood with exterior-grade staples and bolts.

* Minimum bat house dimensions are 32” tall, 14” wide, with 3–6” landing pad below the opening.

* Provide 1–4 roosting chambers, spaced at ¾”. Landing pad and roosting chamber should be roughened or have a durable textured surface for the bats to grasp—no sharp points to tear bat wings!

* Front and side venting should be appropriate for local climate.

* All seams should be caulked to avoid leaks.

* Treating bat houses with diluted bat guano or allowing some weathering of a new bat house may help attract new “renters.”

Considerations when locating a bat house (11):

* Any place that already has bats is best, particularly agricultural areas (vs. urban areas) due to insect abundance and habitat variety.

* Place the bat house near water—within a quarter mile is ideal.

* Place it near some sort of protective cover like a grove of trees—don’t place houses in a grove of trees, but 20–25 ft. away due to predator concerns, and at least 10 ft. above the ground.

* Don’t place bat houses near barn owl boxes—the barn owl is a bat predator. Place the two types of boxes a fair distance from each other facing in opposite directions.

* Do not mount bat houses on metal buildings (too hot for bats) or in locations exposed to bright lights.

* In California, bat houses in barns and on the north and west sides of buildings have had the greatest rate of occupancy. This may not be true for locations in other parts of the country.

* Paint the exterior with three coats of outdoor paint. Available observations suggest that the color should be black where average high temperatures in July are 80–85° F, dark colors (such as dark brown or gray) where they are 85–95° F, medium or light colors where they are 95–100° F, and white where they exceed 100° F. Much depends upon amount of sun exposure; adjust to darker colors for less sun. (14)

For further information about bats and bat houses, contact:
Bat Conservation International
P.O. Box 162603
Austin, TX 78716
512-327-9721
www.batcon.org

or contact:
Rachel Freeman Long
Yolo County Farm Advisor
UC Cooperative Extension
530-666-8143

Back to top
A Recap: Steps to Farmscaping

continued...

http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/complant.html

Companion Planting: Basic Concept and Resources
By George Kuepper & Mardi Dodson
NCAT Agriculture Specialist and Project Intern
July 2001 (Reviewed in 2009)
ATTRA Publication #IP125/71
The printable PDF version of the entire document is available at:
http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/PDF/complant.pdf
10 pages — 669 kb
Download Acrobat Reader
Abstract

Companion planting is based on the idea that certain plants can benefit others when planted in near proximity. The scientific and traditional bases for these plant associations are discussed. A companion planting chart for common herbs, vegetables, and flowers is provided, as is a listing of literature resources for traditional companion planting. An appendix provides history, plant varieties, and planting designs for the Three Sisters, a traditional Native American companion planting practice.
Table of Contents

* Traditional Companion Planting
* Companion Planting Chart
* The Scientific Foundations for Companion Planting
* Options for System Design
* References
* Appendix: Ancient Companions

Traditional Companion Planting

Companion planting can be described as the establishment of two or more plant species in close proximity so that some cultural benefit (pest control, higher yield, etc.) is derived. The concept embraces a number of strategies that increase the biodiversity of agroecosystems.

Generally, companion planting is thought of as a small-scale gardening practice. However, in this discussion the term is applied in its broadest sense to include applications to commercial horticultural and agronomic crops. ATTRA has another publication, Intercropping Principles and Production Practices, that provides additional information on larger-scale applications.

While companion planting has a long history, the mechanisms of beneficial plant interaction have not always been well understood. Traditional recommendations (see summary chart provided as Table 1) used by gardeners have evolved from an interesting combination of historical observation, horticultural science, and a few unconventional sources. For example, some of the recommendations for companion planting, made around the middle of this century, were based on the results of sensitive crystallization tests (1).

Originally developed by Dr. Ehrenfried Pfeiffer, sensitive crystallization testing entails the mixing of plant extracts with select salt reagents like sodium sulfate or copper chloride. The resulting solution is placed in a controlled environment chamber and allowed to evaporate slowly. The process results in a precipitate that often takes on beautiful geometric forms and patterns. The characteristics of the pattern are studied and interpreted to establish whether the plants are likely to interact well with each other (1). Sensitive crystallization appeals to practitioners of Biodynamics™ (BD) and others who take a more metaphysical approach to nature. Conventional science is much more skeptical of this process as a means to evaluate plant associations.
Table 1. COMPANION PLANTING CHART FOR HOME & MARKET GARDENING (compiled from traditional literature on companion planting)
CROP
COMPANIONS

INCOMPATIBLE
Asparagus Tomato, Parsley, Basil
Beans Most Vegetables & Herbs
Beans, Bush Irish Potato, Cucumber, Corn, Strawberry, Celery, Summer Savory Onion
Beans, Pole Corn, Summer Savory, Radish Onion, Beets, Kohlrabi, Sunflower
Cabbage Family Aromatic Herbs, Celery, Beets, Onion Family, Chamomile, Spinach, Chard Dill, Strawberries, Pole Beans, Tomato
Carrots English Pea, Lettuce, Rosemary, Onion Family, Sage, Tomato Dill
Celery Onion & Cabbage Families, Tomato, Bush Beans, Nasturtium
Corn Irish Potato, Beans, English Pea, Pumpkin, Cucumber, Squash Tomato
Cucumber Beans, Corn, English Pea, Sunflowers, Radish Irish Potato, Aromatic Herbs
Eggplant Beans, Marigold
Lettuce Carrot, Radish, Strawberry, Cucumber
Onion Family Beets, Carrot, Lettuce, Cabbage Family, Summer Savory Beans, English Peas
Parsley Tomato, Asparagus
Pea, English Carrots, Radish, Turnip, Cucumber, Corn, Beans Onion Family, Gladiolus, Irish Potato
Potato, Irish Beans, Corn, Cabbage Family, Marigolds, Horseradish Pumpkin, Squash, Tomato, Cucumber, Sunflower
Pumpkins Corn, Marigold Irish Potato
Radish English Pea, Nasturtium, Lettuce, Cucumber Hyssop
Spinach Strawberry, Faba Bean
Squash Nasturtium, Corn, Marigold Irish Potato
Tomato Onion Family, Nasturtium, Marigold, Asparagus, Carrot, Parsley, Cucumber Irish Potato, Fennel, Cabbage Family
Turnip English Pea Irish Potato

Back to top
The Scientific Foundations for Companion Planting

While conventional agriculturalists and BD practitioners may disagree over the validity of sensitive crystallization research, there is general agreement today on the validity of several mechanisms that create beneficial plant associations:
Trap Cropping

Sometimes, a neighboring crop may be selected because it is more attractive to pests and serves to distract them from the main crop. An excellent example of this is the use of collards to draw the diamond back moth away from cabbage (2).
Symbiotic Nitrogen Fixation

Legumes—such as peas, beans, and clover—have the ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen for their own use and for the benefit of neighboring plants via symbiotic relationship with Rhizobium bacteria. Forage legumes, for example, are commonly seeded with grasses to reduce the need for nitrogen fertilizer. Likewise, beans are sometimes interplanted with corn. On request ATTRA can provide additional information on Rhizobium inoculation.
Biochemical Pest Suppression

Some plants exude chemicals from roots or aerial parts that suppress or repel pests and protect neighboring plants. The African marigold, for example, releases thiopene—a nematode repellent—making it a good companion for a number of garden crops. The manufacture and release of certain biochemicals is also a factor in plant antagonism. Allelochemicals such as juglone—found in black walnut—suppress the growth of a wide range of other plants, which often creates a problem in home horticulture. A positive use of plant allelopathy is the use of mow-killed grain rye as a mulch. The allelochemicals that leach from rye residue prevent weed germination but do not harm transplanted tomatoes, broccoli, or many other vegetables.
Physical Spatial Interactions

For example, tall-growing, sun-loving plants may share space with lower-growing, shade-tolerant species, resulting in higher total yields from the land. Spatial interaction can also yield pest control benefits. The diverse canopy resulting when corn is companion-planted with squash or pumpkins is believed to disorient the adult squash vine borer and protect the vining crop from this damaging pest. In turn, the presence of the prickly vines is said to discourage raccoons from ravaging the sweet corn.
Nurse Cropping

Tall or dense-canopied plants may protect more vulnerable species through shading or by providing a windbreak. Nurse crops such as oats have long been used to help establish alfalfa and other forages by supplanting the more competitive weeds that would otherwise grow in their place. In many instances, nurse cropping is simply another form of physical-spatial interaction.
Beneficial Habitats

Beneficial habitats—sometimes called refugia—are another type of companion plant interaction that has drawn considerable attention in recent years. The benefit is derived when companion plants provide a desirable environment for beneficial insects and other arthropods—especially those predatory and parasitic species which help to keep pest populations in check. Predators include ladybird beetles, lacewings, hover flies, mantids, robber flies, and non-insects such as spiders and predatory mites. Parasites include a wide range of fly and wasp species including tachinid flies, and Trichogramma and ichneumonid wasps. Agroecologists believe that by developing systems to include habitats that draw and sustain beneficial insects, the twin objectives of reducing both pest damage and pesticide use can be attained. For detailed information on establishing beneficial habitats, request the ATTRA publication Farmscaping to Enhance Biological Control.
Security Through Diversity

A more general mixing of various crops and varieties provides a degree of security to the grower. If pests or adverse conditions reduce or destroy a single crop or cultivar, others remain to produce some level of yield. Furthermore, the simple mixing of cultivars, as demonstrated with broccoli in University of California research, can reduce aphid infestation in a crop (3).

Back to top
Options For System Design

Agronomists use the term “intercropping” to describe the spatial arrangements of companion planting systems. Intercropping systems range from mixed intercropping to large-scale strip intercropping. Mixed intercropping is commonly seen in traditional gardens where two or more crops are grown together without a distinct row formation. Strip intercropping is designed with two or more crops grown together in distinct rows to allow for mechanical crop production. No-till planting or transplanting into standing cover crops can be considered another form of intercropping. For more information on no-till planting, request the ATTRA publication Conservation Tillage.
Related ATTRA publications

* Intercropping Principles and Production Practices
* Farmscaping to Enhance Biological Control
* Introduction to Permaculture
* Biodynamic Farming & Compost Preparation
* Conservation Tillage

Back to top
References

1) Philbrick, Helen and Richard Gregg. 1966. Companion Plants & How To Use Them. The Devin-Adair Co., Old Greenwich, CT. 113 p.

2) Boucher, Jude. 2000. Setting a Trap. American Vegetable Grower. January. p. 20, 22.

3) Daar, S. 1988. Mixing Broccoli Cultivars Reduces Cabbage Aphids. IPM Practitioner. May. p. 12.

Back to top
Resources
Traditional Companion Planting

Bob Flowerdew’s Complete Book of Companion Gardening. 1995. By Bob Flowerdew. Kyle Cathie, London, GB. 176 p.

Available online from:
Trafalgar Square Books for $24.95 plus $5 shipping and handling
http://www.trafalgarsquarebooks.com

Carrots Love Tomatoes: Secrets of Companion Planting for Successful Gardening, 2nd edition. 1998. By Louise Riotte. Storey Communications, Pownal, VT. 226 p.

Available for $15 plus $3 p&h from:
Acres USA
P.O. Box 91299
Austin, TX 78709
800-355-5313
512-892-4448 Fax
Email: info@acresusa.com

Companion Plants and How To Use Them. 1966. By H. Philbrick and R. Gregg. Devin-Adair Publishers, Old Greenwich, CT. 113 p.

Available for $9.95 plus $4.50 p&h from:
Bio-Dynamic Farming and Gardening Association, Inc.
Building 1002B, Thoreau Center
The Presidio
P.O. Box 29135
San Francisco, CA 94129-0135
888-516-7797
415-561-7796 Fax
Email: biodynamic@aol.com website: http://www.biodynamics.com

Great Garden Companions: A Companion-Planting System for a Beautiful, Chemical-Free Vegetable Garden. 1998. By Sally Jean Cunningham. Rodale Press, Emmaus, PA. 278 pages.

Available for $13.56 plus $4.48 shipping and handling from:
Amazon Books http://www.amazon.com

How To Grow More Vegetables Than You Ever Thought Possible On Less Land Than You Can Imagine, 5th edition. 1995. By John Jeavons. Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, CA. 228 p.

Contains an extensive companion planting chart.
Available for $16.95 plus $4.50 p&h from:
Bountiful Gardens
18001 Shafer Ranch Rd.
Willits, CA 95490-9626
707-459-6410

J. Howard Garret’s Organic Manual. 1993. By J. Howard Garret. Lantana Publishing Co., Dallas, TX. 203 p.

A fine general guide on organic growing that features a brief table of companion herbs and the pests they repel on page 48. Available for $18 plus $3 p&h from:
Acres USA
P.O. Box 91299
Austin, TX 78709
800-355-5313
512-892-4448 Fax
Email: info@acresusa.com

Raising With The Moon: The Complete Guide to Gardening and Living by the Signs of the Moon. 1993. By Pyle & Reese. Down Home Press, Asheboro, NC. 147 p.

Contains both companion planting charts and a listing of insect repellent plants. Available for $14 plus $3 p&h from:
Acres USA
P.O. Box 91299
Austin, TX 78709
800-355-5313
512-892-4448 Fax
Email: info@acresusa.com

Rodale’s Successful Organic Gardening: Companion Planting. 1994. By McClure and Roth. Rodale Press, Emmaus, PA. 160 p.

Available for $14.95 plus $4.50 p&h from:
Bountiful Gardens
18001 Shafer Ranch Rd.
Willits, CA 95490-9626
707-459-6410

Roses Love Garlic: Companion Planting and Other Secrets of Flowers. 1998. By Louise Riotte. Storey Communications, Pownal, VT. 240 p.

Available for $ 11.96 plus $4.48 shipping and handling from:
Amazon Books http://www.amazon.com

Beneficial Habitats

To avoid redundancy in our publications, anyone seeking further information on beneficial habitats is encouraged to request ATTRA’s publication titled Farmscaping to Enhance Biological Control. This publication also provides additional references for further research. Other ATTRA publications that might be helpful for designing and managing beneficial habitats include Biointensive Integrated Pest Management and Overview of Cover Crops and Green Manures.
Intercropping Research

ATTRA’s Intercropping Principles and Production Practices and Farmscaping to Enhance Biological Control publications are good sources for basic information on intercropping. The following publications should prove useful.

Border effects on yields in a strip-intercropped soybean, corn, and wheat production system. 1996. By T.K. Iragavarapu and G.W. Randall. Journal of Production Agriculture. Vol. 9, No. 1. p. 101-107.

Provides a nice literature review of research to that time on intercropping, highlighting the multitude of factors causing variability in results.

Multiple Cropping. 1976. ASA Special Publication No. 27. American Society of Agronomy, 677 So. Segoe Rd., Madison, WI. 378 p.

“Strip intercropping for biological control.” 1993. By Joel Grossman and William Quarles. The IPM Practitioner. April. p. 1-11.

An excellent synopsis of intercropping. The IPM Practitioner, published 10 times per year, is a benefit of membership in the Bio-Integral Resource Center (BIRC). Annual membership for individuals costs $35. Contact:
BIRC
P.O. Box 7414
Berkeley, CA 94707
510-524-2567

http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/complant.html

n Appendix to Companion Planting:
Basic Concepts & Resouces—Ancient Companions
By Mardi Dodson
Contents

* Introduction
* Corn
* Beans
* Squash
* Cultivation and Planting Designs
* Summary
* References

Introduction

For centuries, many Native American tribes throughout North America have cultivated corn, beans, and squash. The term “Three Sisters” was primarily used by the Iroquois who live in the Northeastern United States and Canada. These crops were considered to be special gifts from Great Spirit and were believed to be protected by the Three Sisters—spirits collectively called the De-o-ha-ko, meaning “our sustainers” or “those who support us” (1).

The Legend of the Three Sisters

The term “Three Sisters” emerged from the Iroquois creation myth. It was said that the earth began when “Sky Woman” who lived in the upper world peered through a hole in the sky and fell through to an endless sea. The animals saw her coming, so they took the soil from the bottom of the sea and spread it onto the back of a giant turtle to provide a safe place for her to land. This “Turtle Island” is now what we call North America.

Sky woman had become pregnant before she fell. When she landed, she gave birth to a daughter. When the daughter grew into a young woman, she also became pregnant (by the West wind). She died while giving birth to twin boys. Sky Woman buried her daughter in the “new earth.” From her grave grew three sacred plants—corn, beans, and squash. These plants provided food for her sons, and later, for all of humanity. These special gifts ensured the survival of the Iroquois people. (2)

This ancient style of companion planting has played a key role in the survival of all people in North America. Grown together these crops are able to thrive and provide high-yield, high-quality crops with a minimal environmental impact. Corn, beans, and squash have a unique symbiotic relationship in a Native American garden. Corn offers a structure for the beans to climb. The beans, in turn, help to replenish the soil with nutrients. And the large leaves of squash and pumpkin vines provide living mulch that conserves water and provides weed control.

Back to top
Corn

Corn is considered the most important of all Native American crops. Originating in South America and Mexico, corn was introduced during the Mississippian Period (600 A.D. to 1450 A.D.) to North American tribes via an intricate series of trade networks. Corn, beans, and squash combine to create a nearly perfect meal loaded with essential vitamins and minerals (2). In addition to its nutritional values, all Native American tribes that grew corn considered it a sacred and spiritually valuable plant.
Varieties

Choosing the right varieties of corn is essential to the success of a Three Sisters garden. The tall, sturdy heirloom varieties work best because they are most capable of supporting the beans. There are a number of Native American heirloom corn varieties to choose from. Traditionally, most of the corn grown by Native Americans is dry field corn, which is used in flour production. Dry field corn is harvested late in the season when the ears have dried on the stalk.

Dry field corn is divided into three categories, dent, flint, and flour corns. Dent corns are adapted best to the Southeast and the Midwest. Dent corn has a distinctive dimple-like dent on top of the kernel when it is fully dried. A dent corn that grows well most anywhere in the United States is the Cherokee Blue and White of the Southeast. Reid’s Yellow Dent is also widely adapted. Bloody Butcher produces blood-red ears of corn on stalks that can reach from 10 to 12 feet (2, 3).

Flint corn grows best in the northern plains region. The kernels of flint corn do not shrink when they are dry. A popular flint corn is Indian Ornamental with colors ranging from purple to yellow. Two popular flint corn varieties are Fiesta and Little Jewels. Little Jewels is a unique, “mini” ornamental with four-inch-long, multi-colored ears and purple husks (3).

Flour corns usually have thinner-shelled kernels filled with soft white starch. Flour corns were developed in the arid Southwest. They are less likely to succeed in cooler northern regions with short growing seasons and in moist, humid areas where they are susceptible to a fatal rust disease. Hopi Pink is a short, drought-resistant corn, with kernels that range in color from cranberry to light pink. This variety has plump, thin-shelled kernels that grind easily into fine flour. A flour corn that works well in northern gardens is Mandan Bride. This variety is also drought-tolerant, with red, blue, yellow, pink, and purple spotted kernels (3).

Corn can be harvested earlier in the season when it is still “green corn.” Green corn is harvested when the corn is still in the “milk” stage, when the kernels are at their sweetest and can be eaten fresh. Varieties that are sweet when young are Blue Clarage, Bloody Butcher, and Black Mexican/Iroquois. Flour corns are usually not eaten in the green corn stage. Two exceptions to this rule are Anasazi and Mandan Red. (3). See Table 1.
Table 1: Colorful Corn Varieties

continues.........diagrams for planting and varieties to plant....

http://www.dnr.cornell.edu/ext/goatsinthewoods/

Goats In The Woods

About the Project

Technical Bulletins

2003 Team Information and Applications
Links

Future Events

Sponsors

Final Report

Other Goat related activity

Wisely-controlled browsing of Northeast woodlands by goat herds may increase incomes and reduce costs to goat owners, decrease woody plant control costs to woodlot owners and reduce the forest area treated with herbicides. This web page shares information on the “Goats in the Woods” (GIW) project. The project was designed to develop a knowledge base for wise browsing in woodlands by meat goats and to disseminate that information.

The project is a joint initiative through Cornell University and Penn State University. Funding has been provided through USDA NE Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (NE SARE), the USDA National Agroforestry Center, and Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station.

For more information on this project, please visit the links on this page or contact one of the following people:

Peter Smallidge
116 Fernow Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
(607) 592 - 3640

Dan Brown
123 Morrison Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
(607) 255 - 4407 tatiana Stanton
132 Morrison Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
(607) 255 - 4503

currently vacant -
Herd Manager

w:
h:

Jim Finley
Penn State University
School of Forest Resources
7 Ferguson Building
University Park, PA 16802
(814) 863 - 0401

Mike Jacobson
Penn State University
School of Forest Resources
7 Ferguson Building
University Park, PA 16802
(814) 863 - 0401

http://www.dnr.cornell.edu/ext/goatsinthewoods/other.htm

Other Goat Related Activity

Sarah Harris’ goats are legal guest workers in the Rio Grande Valley
State Park near La Orilla channel. To the uninitiated, they appear to be
“eating.” In fact, they are “working,” says Harris, who has operated
Western Weed Eaters LLC for nine years. This is the second year the
Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District has brought goats into the La
Orilla area as four-legged, horned, hungry herbicide. The three-year
pilot project is aimed at helping the district understand whether goats
could be a cheap, effective way to clear weeds and fire fuel.

The following links contain the complete article and information..

http://www.abqtrib.com/albq/nw_local/article/0,2564,ALBQ_19858_4606826,00.html

OR

http://www.forestrycenter.org/headlines.cfm?refid=80592

http://www.sare.org/publications/explore/index.htm

Exploring Sustainability in Agriculture
background image Bulletin

What is Sustainable Agriculture?

bulletin cover image

“The best way to communicate the meaning of sustainable agriculture is through real-life stories of farmers who are developing sustainable farming systems on their own farms.”
— John Ikerd, Agricultural Economist Emeritus, University of Missouri

Around the world, farmers and ranchers are experimenting with a different form of agriculture, a more sustainable way of producing and distributing food and fiber.

Their approaches are so varied that they defy a 25-word description. Instead, sustainable agriculture encompasses broad goals, and farmers and ranchers develop specific strategies for achieving them. Using a great variety of farming strategies allows producers to meet their needs: in their operations, their environments and their communities. The primary goals of sustainable agriculture include:

Providing a more profitable farm income
Promoting environmental stewardship, including:

Protecting and improving soil quality
Reducing dependence on non-renewable resources, such as fuel and synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, and
Minimizing adverse impacts on safety, wildlife, water quality and other environmental resource

Promoting stable, prosperous farm families and communities

How producers reach those goals is as different as prairie flowers dotting a Midwest landscape.

A cattle rancher might divide his rangeland into sub-sections for his herd to graze in a rotational strategy to better manage
natural resources like streams and soil while improving animal productivity. A field crop farmer might plant different
crops each season – and include “cover crops,” non-cash crops grown for their benefit to the soil and ability to suppress
weeds – to break up pest cycles, improve soil fertility and cut costs. A fruit and vegetable grower might try a new approach
to selling her harvest, such as directly to restaurants in a nearby city, to gain a larger share of the consumer food dollar.

No single practice works in every field. No one recipe works on every farm. There are thousands of ways to farm more sustainably.
This publication explores just 10. To view 50 in-depth profiles, check out The New American Farmer at
www.sare.org/newfarmer.

The New American Farmer, 2nd Edition
Opportunities in Agriculture Bulletin

cover from The New American Farmer

Hailing from small vegetable farms, cattle ranches and grain farms covering thousands of acres, the producers in The New American Farmer, 2nd edition have embraced new approaches to agriculture. They are renewing profits, enhancing environmental stewardship and improving the lives of their families as well as their communities. The second edition builds on our popular first book, with more than 60 features of successful farmers and ranchers across the U.S. and Island Protectorates.

The profiles in the online version, like the print edition, are divided into four regions. See the left navigation bar to view profiles by region, or to search by state, featured commodities or problems addressed. Or view just the 14 profiles printed since the first edition.

Now, in their own words! View | Listen | Voices from the New American Farmers

http://www.sare.org/publications/diversify/index.htm

Diversifying Cropping Systems
Opportunities in Agriculture Bulletin

Introduction
buckwheat flower
Alternative grains and oilseeds - like buckwheat - add diversity to cropping systems and open profitable niche markets while contributing to environmentally sound operations.
- Photo by Rob Myers

Karl Kupers, an eastern Washington grain grower, was a typical dryland wheat farmer who idled his land in fallow to conserve moisture. After years of watching his soil blow away and his market price slip, he made drastic changes to his 5,600-acre operation. In place of fallow, he planted more profitable hard red and hard white wheats along with seed crops like condiment mustard, sunflower, grass and safflower. All of those were drilled using a no-till system Kupers calls direct-seeding.

“I look at this more diverse system as a tremendous opportunity to decrease chemical use and make more net profit per acre,” said Kupers, who received a grant from USDA’s Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program to offset the risk. Now, he puts his exuberant personality to work as an aggressive marketer of alternative crops – clearing more profits each year while achieving his goal to save soil.

“Economically, I think we’re just about at that point where we can show that we can be sustainable for the short term and the future,” he said. “We put no dust in the atmosphere, there’s no particulate matter, if water does run off our soils, it is clean water.”

Although growing alternative crops to diversify a traditional farm rotation increase profits while lessening adverse environmental impacts, the majority of U.S. cropland is still planted in just three crops: soybeans, corn and wheat. That lack of crop diversity can cause problems for farmers, from low profits to soil erosion. Adding new crops that fit climate, geography and management preferences can improve not only your bottom line, but also your whole farming outlook.

“Continued low commodity prices have gradually driven more and more people to look for other options,” said Rob Myers, executive director of the Thomas Jefferson Agricultural Institute in Columbia, Mo. For some farmers, planting alternative crops has made an “immediate and significant” improvement in income, he said.

Kupers is not the only farmer who diversified his monoculture cropping system to enjoy renewed profits. Members of the Northwest Kansas Farm Management Association, for example, enjoyed average net farm incomes of $50,485 in 1998 – three times that of other Kansas growers – after diversifying their operations.

Next section

http://www.sare.org/publications/bsbc/index.htm

Building Soils for Better Crops, 2nd Edition
Opportunities in Agriculture Bulletin

Preface

To use the land without abusing it.
-J. Otis Humphry, Early 1900s

We have written this book with farmers, extension agents, students, and gardeners in mind. Building Soils for Better Crops is a practical guide to ecological soil management that provides background information as well as details of soil-improving practices. This book is meant to give the reader an appreciation of the importance of soil health and to suggest ecologically sound practices that help to develop and maintain healthy soils.

The first edition of Building Soils for Better Crops focused exclusively on soil organic matter management. If you follow practices that build and maintain good levels of soil organic matter, you will find it easier to grow healthy and high-yielding crops. Plants can withstand droughty conditions better and won’t be as bothered by insects and diseases. By maintaining adequate levels of organic matter in soil, there is less reason to use as much commercial fertilizer and lime as many farmers now purchase. Soil organic matter is that important!

Although organic matter management is the heart of the second edition, we decided to write a more comprehensive guide that includes the other essential aspects of building healthy soils. This edition contains four chapters, two new and two completely rewritten, on managing soil physical properties. We also included four new chapters on nutrient management and one on evaluating soil health. In addition, farmer profiles describe a number of key practices that enhance the health of their soils.

A book like this one cannot give exact answers to problems on specific farms. There are just too many differences from one field to another, and one farm to another, to warrant blanket recommendations. To make specific suggestions, it is necessary to know the details of the soil, crop, climate, machinery, human considerations, and other variable factors. Good soil management is better achieved through education and understanding than with blanket recommendations.

Over many centuries, people have struggled with the same issues we struggle with today. We quote some of these persons in epigraphs at the beginning of each chapter in appreciation for those who have come before. Vermont Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin No. 35, published in 1908, is especially fascinating. It contains an article by three scientists about the importance of soil organic matter that is strikingly modern in many ways. Another example from more than a half century ago: The message of Edward Faulkner’s Plowman’s Folly, that reduced tillage and increased use of organic residues are essential to improving soil, is as valid today as in 1943 when it was first published. The saying is right what goes around comes around. Sources cited at the end of chapters are those we referred to during writing. They are not a comprehensive list of references on the subject.

Many people reviewed individual chapters or the entire manuscript at one stage or another and made very useful suggestions. We would like to thank: Jim Bauder, Douglas Beegle, Keith Cassel, Andy Clark, Steve Diver, John Doran, Tim Griffin, Vern Grubinger, Wendy Sue Harper, John Hall, John Hart, Bill Jokela, Keith Kelling, Fred Kirschenmann, Shane LaBrake, Bill Lieb-hardt, Birl Lowery, Charles Mitchell, Paul Mugge, Cass Peterson, George Rehm, Joel Rissman, Eric Sideman, Ev Thomas, Michelle Wander, and Ray Weil. Special thanks to Valerie Berton, former SARE communications specialist, who wrote the farm profiles, copyedited the manuscript and oversaw production. Any mistakes are, of course, ours alone.

-Fred Magdoff
Department of Plant & Soil Science
University of Vermont
& Harold van Es
Department of Crop & Soil Science
Cornell University

[The chapters are on line in the side bar]

http://www.sharingsustainablesolutions.org/?p=840

Biointensive Mini-Agriculture

For home gardening it means: less work, less irrigation, improved soil, higher yields and no poisons. There are unlimited opportunities in market gardening, mini-farming and mini-ranching. People can have a comfortable income, a high quality lifestyle, provide a great service and a great way to raise children. A lady took a BIMA course, went home to Alaska, prepared her land and grossed $20,000 the first year. Then had a six months winter vacation! Houston with over one million people has almost no vegetable production in the five surrounding countries.

BIMA allows people to feed themselves on a local basis that provides total community food security and is a proven food production system that is ecologically sound, economically viable and socially responsible.

It creates a healthy soil for growing healthy plants to provide healthy food to feed healthy people [KH]. For the human population to be healthy, we need to consume healthy foods [organic] which come from healthy animals eating healthy plants grown in healthy soil [C Scheaffer, VMD/holistic].

Food Production: Agriculture is in a crisis worldwide. The Green Revolution is not ecologically sound, economically viable nor socially responsible. It makes farmers depend on, even an economic slave to, agribusiness and multinational corporations, CargillMonsanto, ConAgra, NovartisADM and others. Their goal is to control the world’s food supply from research to production to consumer by controlling seed, fertilizers and chemicals. These seed must have chemicals sprayed on them to produce and seed can not be saved for the next crop. Other corporations are beginning to market irradiated food which may be dangerous to our health. [Request: ÒWho Will Feed The WorldÓ by email, 12 pages of articles; www.nfu.org; www.moffa.org; www.inmotionmagazine.com; AGRIBUSINESS EXAMINER -Monitoring Corporate Agribusiness. Free from: Avkrebs@earthlink.net] The Congress, President, USDA [^partner in a GEg patent?; 30,000 grants; onjy 34 for organic, family farming], most land-grant colleges and most ag extension services are part of the problem rather than part of the solution and uses our tax dollars. The world’s farmers can produce all the food the world’s population requires, regardless of how high it goes, using BIMA.

^000200000B1100000AEE^B0B, ÒUrban Ag has the potential to provide many benefits to cities - in nutritional improvement, hunger reduction, income generation, enterprise development and environmental enhancement. The poor and unemployed can grow their own food. Farming converts degraded and unkept vacant lots into healthy, green areas. Waste [grass, leaves, trees, sawdust, manure, food waste] can be composted and used on the farms as well as recycled water. City governments must recognize the potential of urban agriculture and accord it the status given to other industries and economic activities in the city.Ó Urban Ag Network, urbanag@compuserve.com. Books: Urban Agriculture - Food, Jobs and Sustainable Cities; A Patch of Eden, H P Hynes; www.cityfarmer.org. Urban gardening is very important socially, economically, esthetically and recreationally. Cultivating Havana: Urban Agriculture; 1999,Food First

Urban Micro-entrepreneurship: Most urban agriculture is directed by NGO’s but there are unlimited opportunities for private BIMA all over every city. Employment is limited and most are low pay. Urban homesteading and BIMA are a realistic option: socially and financially. Book: Entrepreneurial Community Gardens, G Feenstra, 1999.

Economic development is a major concern for most towns and cities. BIMA is very effective economic development. It benefits local people. Thirty experienced families can sell $40,000 each in the local farmer’s market. That is Òcreated wealthÓ. That is $1,200,000 added to the local economy each year. This wealth stays in the city rather than being sent to a corporate office somewhere; even abroad.

Rural: There is a grassroots movement back to family farming. BIMA is the answer and is being used by the many Ônew’ people entering agriculture as well as innovative farmers. Web: //sunsite.unc.edu/farm-connection; www.cfra.org.

Micro-entrepreneurship: Employment opportunities are limited and most are low pay. BIMA is a realistic option: socially and financially.

Organic: Gardeners and farmers have been organic since the beginning of agriculture until the discovery of certain chemicals in WW II [to kill people then, insects now]. No one has the right, moral or legal, to poison the air, soil or water. ÒOrganic gardening and farming is more than avoiding chemicals. The organic method requires a change of attitude and a different thought process.Ó [H Garrett, DMN; www.whitehawk.com/dirtdoctor]. Organic does not require the purchase of any outside inputs except seed and maybe organic fertilizer. The present generation knows nothing about raised beds or organics because their fathers and grandfathers have used chemicals since the 1950s. Therefore, they must be taught. [Read: From The Good Earth, M Ableman; Web: www,purefood.org; www.foodsecurity.org]

Note: A salesman sales chemical fertilizers, insecticides, herbicides, etc to a farmer and gets paid by the chemical company from the sale. Promoters of organic gardening and farming have nothing to sale.

Raised beds: They have been used in Asia [Indonesia, China, Vietnam, PNG], Latin America [Mexico, Guatemala, Bolivia, Peru], Europe [France] and USA [NE Indians] for centuries. I saw a few while living in Guatemala. Because of chemicals they were abandon but there is a worldwide movement back to using them. 80,000 km2 are being restored in Peru/Bolivia. They work.

Everyone should use and I teach:

A. Organic, biointensive, double dug, permanent raised beds with green manure/cover crops/mulch/-compost. This can double or even triple the yields while reducing the labor by half compared to traditional gardening. This works [USA: Chadwick Garden & market garden, Ecology Action, MOA, NFRDC; Mexico, ECOPOL; Philippines, IIRR; Kenya: Manor House Ag Center; Chile: Centro de Educac^on y Tecnolog^a; Vietnam: VACVINA] and the proof is there for all to see.

B. Organic, biointensive, permanent raised beds using no-till, green manure/cover crops/mulch/-compost. This works and the proof [Honduras: COSECHA, CIDICCO; Japan: M Fukuoka,; IIRR: Philippines; Chile, CET; USA: M Cain, AR] is there for all to see.

BIMA boasts two advantages no other production system can claim. First, it is easier on the soil than mechanized methods. Second, it is the least expensive method in terms of capital outlay. For very small farms [mini-farms] this method is not only economically viable but superior to the alternatives. Jeff Rast, Center for Small Acreage Farming, Countryside Magazine, Nov/Dec 98.

Only hand labor with hand tools are used but with sufficient land use power hand tools, scythes, wheel hoes with implements, push planters and spreaders, etc. A plow [moldboard, rototiller, etc] is never used. [Read: Plowman’s Folly, E H Faulker; Weeds-Control Without Chemicals, Walters. Video: Necessity of Organic Resides, R Parnes]. Transportation can be a bicycle, tricycle, quadracycle [pickup and/or passengers] with trailers. [Info: address above].

C. Organic, permanent raised beds [80Ó-100Ó wide] with green manure/cover crops using no-till machinery. Axles are extended to fit over the beds so the wheels run in permanent tracks. This works and the proof [Morrison, USDA/ARS, TX; Deep Bed Farming Society, CO; S Groff. PA; EPAGRI, Brazil] is there for all to see. [Video: No-Till Vegetables, S Groff]

D. Agroforestry: Trees [food, oils, chemicals, medicinals, spices, beverages, crafts, lumber, forages, firewood, windbreaks, industrials, etc] should be a planned crop. www.winrock.org; www.treesftf.org; www.unl.edu/nac.

1. Forestry: Forest must not be cleared but manage-harvested for natural crop production using raised beds for specific crops. This works and the proof [Brazil: Instituto de Permacultura da Bahia, Costa Rica, IANI] is there for all to see.

2. Alley Cropping: Raised beds between rows of trees. This works and the proof [USA; Nigeria, IITA; Philippines, IIRR, BMRLC; Costa Rica, IANI] is there for all to see.

Without a water system, bucket drip irrigation should be used. A kit [US$25 ppd] irrigates 200 feet of vegetables by filling a five gallon bucket each morning and each evening. Two kits will irrigate enough vegetables for a family of seven on a vegetarian diet during the dry season. [Kenya]. Can be adapted to irrigate trees, etc. [Video: Third World Irrigation Update, free with first kit or $5 ppd.]

Financing: Requirements for beginners: handtools, seed, fertilizer, water, misc for $400 or less. Micro-loan programs [no collateral required. failures-2%], cooperatives, ag incubators, foundations may be needed. Contact: The Intervale Foundation, 802-660-3508 fax 3501

Cooperative: tools for loan, purchase in bulk and sell, rent land, farmer’s markets, library, training classes, micro-loans, savings bank, rent value-added processing plant, etc for members only.

Land: Use land, free, owned by individuals, companies, churches, governments, schools, non-profits and the tax office [Repossessed land in Lubbock TX may be farmed free]. People will donate land to non-profit groups. The food bank in Lubbock TX has been given: various vacant lots, 25 A orchard; 5 A. farm and Jan 99, 48 A urban farm.

BIMA can produce flowers, dyes, vegetables, nuts, fruits, trees, grains, fibers, herbs, spices, medicinals, oils, teas, sweeteners, fragrances, seeds, ornamentals, industrials [lubricants, brooms, gums, waxes, oils, rubber, emulsifiers, chemicals, paper], forages, feed grains, farm animals. Market gardening has a average gross sales of $8,000 per acre with a few as high as $30,000 with value-added. A family with 2-15 acres can earn a very nice income.

Schools/Youth: Most young people do not know enough about agriculture to know whether they are interested in it or not. They should have some exposure to all of it. Should feel close to nature. 1. Gardens: Every school [primary, junior high, high school] should have a gardening project in every classroom. Foodworks, VT; Mountain School, VT; www.connriver.org/mountainschool. Home Schoolers should have a cooperative garden. [Yellowrose School, TX; request: BIMA-Youth; Our Wonderful Youth; www.ahs.org; www.national.org.

2. Market Garden/Mini-Farm: Every high school should have a BIMA training program as a career choice. [not part of Vo-Ag/FFA]; www.cityfarmer.org; AR - anp@iocc.com; Chicago HS for Ag Sciences; Read: Entrepreneurial Community Gardens,: Growing food, skills, jobs and communities. Freenstra, McGrew, Campbell, 1999.

3. Mini-Ranch/Dairy: Many students will not garden but prefer livestock. It is a rich educational experience to witness mating, birth, maturing, dying and having to nurture animals. Read: Explorations in Urban Animal Ag, HPI

Training: BIMA should be offered in all youth detention centers, prisons and jails [C Marcum, SF County Jail, CA]. Others: homeless [Homeless Project, Fresh Start Farms, HGP, CA], gang members [video: City Farmers, Survival in the Urban Landscape, 412-528-4839], welfare-to-work, etc. Most people want to work; not take handouts. They should be trained as should those seeking new careers, second jobs or part-time work. They have a choice of micro-entrepreneurship or employment.

1. Market Garden: One food bank offers training for up to three years.

2. Mini-Farm: Training in additional crops and value-added.

3. Mini-Ranch/Mini-Dairy: Some people prefer livestock. [St Anthony’s Dairy, vallcorn@rp.net.net]

URBAN:

1. Home Garden/mini-ranch: Every home should have a garden to produce food for the family and forage for small animals for meat. This assures that the family, especially the children, do not consume chemicals. With experience, a family can grow all their vegetables on 1000 ft2. Additional beds can be used for forage for small farm animals.

2. Market Garden: High value, labor intensive crops are grown.

3. Mini-Farm: Additional crops requiring more land but less intensive labor. Some of these crops are particularly adapted to value-added.

4. Mini-Ranch: Use raised beds for forage/grain. Small animals are in pens which are over the beds and moved down the beds daily for grazing or cut and carry. HPI has a bee project in Chicago. Houston has hundreds of livestock. [DMN, Nov 98]. If neighbors do not complain, the city authorities probably won’t. Raise quiet animals [no roosters], keep clean [no odors] and give each neighbor eggs or meat or vegetables every month. Mini-ranching requires a little more investment and land but less labor.

5. Mini-Dairy Farm: Raised beds for forage/grain. HPI has a dairy goat project in Chicago. There is a goat dairy in downtown Houston. Use milk goats, dairy sheep and miniatures.

RURAL:

1. Market Garden: Has more acreage and uses larger hand tools or power hand tools. The farmer who is willing to change can find a very profitable niche.

2. Mini-Farm: Larger scale. Grow volume and/or industrial crops which require more acres.

3. Mini-Ranch: Raised beds for forage/grain. Small animals are in pens which are over the beds and moved down the bed daily for grazing or cut and carry. Small livestock includes miniature swine [40#] and beef [15 meat and dual purpose breeds]. There is a demand for organic, farm raised meat, eggs, raw milk, etc.

4. Mini-Dairy: Use raised beds for forage & grain. Space for large dairy animals. [cattle, water buffalo, goats, sheep] Grow all feed. 50 cow dairy supports two families [CISA, PA].

Marketing: There is a nationwide, grassroots movement to buy local, buy fresh, buy organic. There are many ways to market but the following are the best.

1. Farm stand or curbside stand: Customers coming to you is low cost marketing. People will drive to a farm to buy fresh food.

2. Farmer’s Markets: The US government issues funds to families which must be used only for fresh fruits and vegetables and used only at a certified farmer’s market. The USDA grants permission for farmer’s markets to operate on government property. Put them in housing projects. Web: www.ams.usda.gov/directmarketing

3. CSA-Community Supported Agriculture: Customers pre-purchase shares of produce.

4. Value-added: Use family labor to process in some way what is grown to increase the selling price. Examples: solar dried fruit/vegetables, jams/jellies, crafts, milk/cheese, dried flowers, etc. [equipment manufacturers: Cecoco, Japan; milk processing, rafy-s@pladot.co.il].

5. Cooperatives: Enalbles the mini-agriculturists to work together to do what they can’t do individually in marketing and/or value-added processing. [example-cheese making, jelly, etc]

BIMA Workshops:

Gardens/Mini-Farms workshops of 1 -4 days are available anywhere at anytime. They are practical and how-to. I take two reference books [English, Spanish, French, German, Russian, Hindi, Arabic] to donate, drip irrigation samples and order free magazines [Spanish, English, Portuguese] if there is a library. Demonstrate raised bed construction, mulching and drip irrigation. Show videos/slides and networking. Display: books, periodicals, newsletters, tools.

The only opportunity to learn practical, how-to BIMA is in my workshops or in TN [gardening or mini-farming] on-farm workshops [five days each] in June. Contact for info. Ken Hargesheimer

I ask one favor of every person who gets this; pass it on to as many others as possible to encourage them to use organic gardening and farming. Encourage the schools to teach it.

Request: BIMA-A Sustainable Farming System; BIMA-Info & Ideas [five pp], BIMA-Third World, BIMA-Youth, Bucket drip kits by Email or SASE.

Can you imagine the beauty of your community with all vacant lots/land in mini-agriculture, wildflowers, wildlife, forest, prairie, stream riparians
Tropical Small Farms

We must remember that one factor of the “Green Revolution” around the world was mass migration of small property-owners to the cities to swell the slums ( Sao Paulo Brazil now has 15 million people, at least half of which are rural refugees). So when the Industrial Agriculture mega-business people talk about “feeding the starving millions” they omit to mention that these millions are starving because they were forced off their lands by an agricultural model which was too expensive and too destructive for small farms to hold up under. Our experience in Brazil mirrors what is said here about the small farm. We have seen examples of successful small farms of 3-4 hectares of agroforests ( which is the appropriate model in the tropics) earn US$300-400 per month, with practically zero costs other than family labor. This means a comfortable margin of profit which permits a very good life indeed. Marsha Hanzi. Instituto de Permacultura da bahia Brazil. hanzibra@svn.com.br

* Gaviotas - A Village to Reinvent the World, Alan Wiesman
* Entrepreneurial Community Gardens Freenstra
* Natural Pest Control Andy Lopez Andy@invisiblegardener
* Garden-Ville Method Malcolm Becyk
* Organic Manual Howard Garrett
* Organic Gardener’s Composting Steve Solomon Out of print, Reprint in Fall 99
* Farmer’s Earthworm Handbook David Ernst
* How To Grow More Vegetables Than You Ever Though Possible on Less Land Than You Can Imagine, John Jeavons bountiful@zapcom.net Spanish, French, German, Russian, Arabic, Kiswahilli
* Plowman’s Folly E H Faulkner
* Weeds: Control Without Poisons Charles Walters, Jr
* Growing Produce Family Style R Yoder 330-852-4687 [market gardening]
* Rebirth of The Small Family Farm Gregson, Box 2542, Vashon Island WA 98070, $10 ppd
* Solar Gardening Poisson 800-762-7325
* Cold Weather Gardening Frank Ours Box 371, Parson, WV $7 pp.
* From the Good Earth M Ableman
* Four Seasons Harvest, Eliot Coleman
* Winter Harvest Manual, Eliot Coleman
* New Organic Grower, Eliot Coleman
* You Can Farm: The Entrepreneur’s Guide, Joe Salatin
* Salad Bar Beef, Joe Salatin
* Pastured Poultry Profits: Joe Salatin
* One Straw Revolution, M Fukuoka, Japanese
* Natural Way of Farming, M Fukuoka, Japanese
* Road Back To Nature, M Fukuoka, Japanese

GARDENS/MINI-FARMS NETWORK

TTU: BS-Agriculture; Ecology Action: BIMA Workshop 97

TX: Lubbock, Dallas, Hereford, Nazareth, Happy, Amarillo

MS: Oxford; FL: N Ft Myers

Mexico, Rep. Dominicana, C^t^ d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Honduras Box 1901, Lubbock TX 79408-1901

Tel 806-744-8517; Fax 806-747-0500; minifarms@aol.com

Workshops in organic, biointensive, raised-bed gardening, market gardening, mini-farming, mini-ranching worldwide in English & Spanish

Several interesting links here:

http://www.google.com/search?q=Biointensive+Mini-Agriculture&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

http://www.sharingsustainablesolutions.org/?p=832

Great Garden Tips

Bees or Wasps in the HouseSpray the insect with hair spray. The spray will stiffen their wings and they will plummet to their death.

Black Flies or GnatsWater soil with a mix of 1 teaspoon of ammonia and 1 quart of water. Do this every 3 days for 3 weeks.

Alcohol SpraysUse for aphids, mealybugs, scale, thrips and whitefly control. Mix ? cup Isopropyl alcohol (70%) with 1 cup water and spray on leaves and pests. Alcohol can burn the leaves of certain plants. African Violets and Apple trees are sensitive to alcohol sprays. Test a few leaves on your plant before you spray the whole plant.

Caterpillar Deterrent Citrus SprayCaterpillars don’t like the taste of citrus, it’s bitter chemicals run the caterpillars off.To make a citrus spray, grind up the rinds and seeds of any citrus fruit. Soak over night in 2 cups of water. Strain out the pulp, add 2 t liquid soap to mix. Spray on plants.

Garlic Oil SprayUse for control over aphids, cabbage loopers, earwigs, June bugs, leafhoppers, squash bugs, and whiteflies. * Mince 1 bulb garlic * soak in 2 t mineral oil for 24 hours * mix 1 pint of water with 1 T liquid soap * add garlic mix to water and soap * Mix throughly * Strain out garlic and place into a jar for storage Use 1 to 2 T garlic oil mix to 2 cups water. Spray plants covering all leaf surfaces.

Fire Place AshesUse wood ashes from your fire place to control any soft bodied bug such as pear slugs and regular slugs. Sprinkle the powder where ever these creatures travel. The powder dehydrates the slugs and they die.

Low-fat For AphidsTo control aphids apply nonfat dried milk, mixed according to the box, onto the leaves of your plants. The aphids get stuck in the milky residue and perish.

Slug TerminatorSpray slugs with a mix of 1 part vinegar and 1 part water to terminate your slugs. Mix vinegar and water into a trigger sprayer and spray directly onto the slug. They will die almost immediately. Also spray the ground around your plants and any hidden slugs will come out of the sprayed soil and die.

Drunken SlugSet a shallow pan of beer (the darker the better) out into the garden where the slugs hang out. They can not resist the taste of beer and crawl in and drown.

Slug trapUse a plastic pop bottle to catch slugs. Remove the lid, cut the pop bottle just below the curve of the neck all the way around. Invert the neck piece and staple it inside of the main piece. Throw in some slug bait or some beer and set in the garden where the slugs are doing the damage. The slugs can crawl in but don’t crawl out.

Slug StopperSprinkle a ring of moth crystals around the base of your plants to keep the slugs from eating your plants. The slugs as well as cats, dogs and raccoons will stay away from these plants.

Weather Forecasting CricketsYou can tell the outside temperature in Fahrenheit by counting the number of chirps made by a cricket in 14 seconds then add 40 to it.

Earwig CatcherEarwigs like dark, tight places to hide in during the day. Lay some corrugated cardboard out in the garden where you have had earwig damage. The earwigs will climb into the cardboard to hide during the day. Collect the cardboard and burn it.

Codling Moth BrothTo catch codling moths, use a mixture of 2 parts vinegar and one part molasses. Place this mixture in a tin can and hang it in the apple tree. Clean out the moths and place more mix in the can when needed.

Fly CatcherTo catch flies, place a piece of meat in a jar. Using a quart jar, place a small piece of meat and ? inch of water into the jar. Punch a few holes big enough for the flies to crawl in, into the lid of the jar. Screw on the lid and set in a good fly location. When the fly crawls in, it can’t get out. Clean out the jar when the smell gets to strong or it gets full of flies.

Yellow Sticky TrapsTo catch white flies, gnats and aphids use STP motor oil treatment or honey. Smear motor oil treatment or honey onto bright yellow plastic and place it amongst your plants with bugs. When the plastic gets full of bugs, wipe them off and reapply STP motor oil treatment or honey and set the trap out again.

How to Get the Skunk Smell off of Your Pets * 1 quart 3% Hydrogen Peroxide * 1/4 cup baking soda * 2 teaspoons baby shampooMix up solution. Thoroughly wet dog and shampoo in. Let sit for 5 minutes then rinse. Be sure not to get the solution in the dogs eyes. The percentage of Hydrogen Peroxide is not strong enough to bleach the dogs hair.

Protect Your Grapes from the BirdsJust before your grapes ripen when the birds start to get into them protect your crop with plastic grocery bags. Punch each bag full of air holes. Slip a bag around each bundle of grapes and staple to hold bag in place.

Spank Your Fruit TreesFor more fruit production, take a rolled up newspaper and spank the day lights out of the trunk of your fruit trees. This action loosens the cambium layer and more sap will flow up to the tree producing more fruit. This is for more fruit the following year.

Mini GreenhousesWhen you first place your seedlings out you will want to protect them from to much wind, sun or frost. A gallon milk jug with the bottom cut out and the lid off is the perfect mini green house for setting out your plants. If it is going to frost, just put the lid on for the night. If the jug keep blowing off, cut off the top of the handle. Next run a stick through the handle, this will secure the jug to the stick. Push the stick down into the ground to anchor it. The wind will not pick it up now.

Mini Shade HouseWhen first setting out seedling the can be wind burned or sunburned. To help the acclimate your plants to the great outdoors you can protect them with a mini shade house. Cut out a 18 inch by 24 inch piece of woven fence material, being sure to leave the extra wire that sticks out when you cut it. Bend it into the shape of an arch. Cut a piece of burlap 20 inches by 26 inches. Hook the burlap over the ends of the fence material. Set the whole unit over your transplanted seedlings. Leave this over them for a week to harden off your plants. This is great for working people because you never build up heat under this covering so you don’t have to take it off during the day if the sun shines to hot.

Dress up Your GardenUse old panty hose for tying up your plants. The panty hose are strong and will not cut into the tender stems.Another use for old panty hose is to place them over the heads of your cabbage. As your cabbage grows the panty hose will stretch.

Canned CornTo keep birds and squirrels from eating your corn, place aluminum pop or beer cans on your corn ear. Prepare the cans by cutting off the tab end. Next punch air holes all the way around the can. When you see birds or squirrels getting into your corn, slip a can over each ear until it is ripe.

Eggshell PlantersEggshells make great plant starters. When you crack your egg, just take off the tip of one end. Rinse out the shell and poke a small drain hole into the bottom of the shell while it is still wet. Fill shell 3/4 full of potting soil and plant seeds. When it is time to plant out just crush the egg shell and plant into the ground. The egg shell adds lime to help feed the soil and plant.

Mildew on Your PeoniesSprinkle your peonies with cinnamon to stop molds and fungi. Tokyo researchers have found that fungi will not grow in the presence of cinnamon.

Clothespin for RosesTo avoid being stuck when working with roses, use a spring type clothes pin to hold the stem instead of your fingers.

Baking Soda SprayUse baking soda to control fungal diseases, especially black spot on roses.Dissolve 1 t baking soda in 1 quart of water, add 1 t liquid soapSpray entire leaf surfaces of plants every 3 days for 21 days. Reapply after every rain.

No Room for a Garden?If you want to grow a tomato plant or a cucumber plant and you have no room. Get a bale of straw, poke some holes in it and pour compost into the holes. Plant your vegetables right into the bale. Water when needed. The decomposing bale will feed your vegetables all season.

Soak Your Feet or Feed Your TomatoesEpsom salt is great for getting your tomato plants to produce large crops of tomatoes. It also helps to prevent blossom end rot. Use 1/4 cup around the base of each tomato plant every year.

Easy Sowing of Small SeedsSeason salt or spice shakers are great to use to sow small seeds. Place your tiny seeds in the shakers with some fine sand and shake away. The sand helps to evenly distribute your seeds so they don’t end up in one pile.

Quick Sprout CarrotsSoak your carrot seeds in a glass of warm water for 24 hours. Drain off water and place carrot seeds evenly on several wet paper towels. About ? inches apart. Layer the paper towels in a glass baking dish. Place a sheet of plastic wrap between the layers. Cover the whole dish with plastic wrap. Place in a warm location for about a week. When you start to see little white sprout coming out of the end of the carrot seed it is time to plant them. Place the paper towel in the garden row. Cover lightly with soil and water lightly. Your carrots should be up in a few days.

Rid Your Sidewalks of Weeds and GrassTo kill weeds and grass in unwanted places such as the cracks in your side walks, pour boiling salt water directly onto the weeds or grass for an instant kill.

Hammer Those Tough WeedsFor those hard to pull weeds, hook them with the claw end of a hammer and pull.

Pickle Those WeedsTo kill weeds in areas that you don’t plan to plant anything you can use a solution of vinegar and salt. * 1/4 cup vinegar * 2 t salt * 1 quart water Spray weed until soaked. Heat of the day is best.

Fizzy BubblesTo clean the dirt and stains out of the crevices and cracks of your hands. Drop two denture tables into 2 cups of warm water. Soak your hands for 15 to 20 minutes. It will also remove the dirt from under your nails and will also soften your hands.

I invite you to use this guide as a first step in developing you own garden survival list. Mentally walk through the garden season and list all of the items you use. If any of them are “modern appliances” you will need to think of a man powered replacement or back up system. Contact your local county extension agent and find out what pests lurk in your neck of the woods. Get the supplies you will need to eradicate the pests that will plague your garden. Find a gardener to buddy up with. There should be several experienced gardeners in your area. Go ask them some questions. Find out when they plant, what they plant, what pests they deal with, what kind of fertilizer they use, be sure to take notes. Most gardeners love to talk about their gardens. Go to the library and find some books on gardening. The ones you like have the book store order for you. Fore thought and preparation is the key. It is very possible for us to feed our families from our garden.

http://www.sharingsustainablesolutions.org/?p=828

Organic fungicide and pesticide

5 teaspoons of baking soda to 1 gallon of water is an effective fungicidethat works especially well on Black Spot and Powdery Mildew and Kelp and Seaweed sprays work well as pesticides against spider mites ,aphids , white flies , and thrips. Also they quoted a study done in the 60’sthat the above also increases resistance to stress and frost.

Ron The One Who Walks Two Paths

>> Yeah, I suppose if you are wanting to make a lot of noise, and have a pickup full of ammo, you might do as much real damage as a 15 round mag of well placed shots. <<

In Country, its ancestors were mounted in AC-47’s and known as “Spooky” and “Puff” . did not want to be on the receiving end ..

great scene in “Predator” aka Rambo style shootup.

http://www.sharingsustainablesolutions.org/?p=259

Herbs: As Used By Native Americans

AMERICAN MISTLETOE - Phoradendron Glavescens:

Is used in folk medicine as antihypertensive and sedative. Toxic, unsafe.
AMERICAN ELDER - S. Canadensis (Honeysuckle Family):

Bark and roots produce black dye, leaves a green dye, and berries a purple color. Syrup from berry juice was a remedy for coughs. Indians made tea from flowers and drank it as a mild laxative or diuretic and to promote sweating. Elder flower water was used as a skin lotion.
AMERICAN HOLLY - Yaupon (I. vomitoria):

A strong tea was brewed from the leaves and was called “black drink”. It was used in ritual purifications.
AMERICAN CHESTNUT - Castanea Dentate:

Nuts are rich in starch, oils, and Vitamins B & C when eaten roasted or boiled. The nut can also be ground into a flour for thickening soups or baking cakes. Leaves make tea that soothes irritated mucous membranes and relieves cough due to irritation. Leaves, twigs, bark, and flowering catkins are astringents and can be used to control bleeding and to aid healing.
BALSAM FIR - Abies Balsamea:

Is a veritable dispensary for American Indians. Aromatic resin served as salve for cuts, sores, & burns. Is used internally for colds, coughs, and asthma. Inner bark is brewed into a tea as a remedy for chest pains. Twigs, steeped in water acted as a laxative. Indians held bits of the root in the mouth for mouth sores. Needles were placed by the handfuls were placed on hot coals in sweat baths and would be inhaled to clear up congestion of colds and coughs.
BEECH TREE - Fagus grandifolia:

Rappahonnock Indians steeped beech bark in saltwater to produce poison ivy lotion. Bark and leaves have astringent and antiseptic properties.
BIG SAGEBRUSH - Artemisia Tridentata:

Grows in American West. Indians chewed the leaves to ease stomach gas. Tea was brewed from the leaves for stomach disorders as well as colds and sore eyes.
BIRTHROOT - Trillium Erectum:

Indians applied poultices and lotions from the bruised leaves to insect bites and skin irritations.
BLACK BIRCH - Betula Lenta:

Bark has astringent properties used in treating wounds. Oil is applied externally to alleviate pain of sore muscles.
BLACK COHOSH - Cimicifuga Racemose:

Flowers act as insect repellent. Brew made from the rhizome was used by Indians as remedy for menstral cramps and pains of childbirth. A poultice made from rhizome was used as snakebite remedy.
BLACK HAW - Viburnum Prunifolium (Honeysuckle Family):

extract of boiled bark was used as uterine tonic and for relief of painful menstruation and after pain of childbirth.
BLACK LOCUST - Robinia Pseudoacacia (Pea Family):

Indians prepared emetics and strong laxatives from the bark.
BLACK SNAKEROOT - Sanicula Marilandica (Carrot Family):

Indians used it to treat fever and sore throat.
BLOODROOT - Sanguinaria Canadensis (Poppy Family):

Indian name Puccoon. It was used for swellings, aches, and used to paint red on skin and garments. It is unsafe.
BLUE COHOSH - Caulopphyllum Thalictroides (Barberry Family):

Indians ground rhizome with roots into powder and used as a remedy for rheumatism, colic, bronchitis, and menstral cramps.
BLUE FLAG - Iris Versicolor (Iris Family):

Indians regarded it as a virtual panacea and planted it near their villages to ensure convenient supply. They used it as a poultice for treating sores and bruises.
BONESET - Eupatorium Perfoliatum (Composite Family):

Indians isedit to cause profuse perspiration and to loosen the bowels. It was also used to treat fevers associated with colds, influenza, malaria, and similar recurrent illnesses. It was brewed as a hot tea made from the leaves and flowers.
BROOM SNAKEROOT - Gutierrezia Sarothrae (Composite Family):

Western Indians tied stems of yellow flowered Broom Snakeroot and used them for brooms. Leaves of the plant were ground, boiled and made into poultices that were placed directly on rattlesnake bites on sheep.
BUCKBEAN - Menyanthes Trifoliata (Buckbean Family):

This is a perennial aquatic herb. Indians used the boiled roots and stems to make decoction for spitting blood and other internal problems. It was also used to treat skin diseases, jaundice and intestinal worms.
BUTTERFLY WEED - Asclepias Tuberosa (Milkweed Family):

The root was powdered and mixed into paste then spread on sores. Indians brewed a tea from the leaves to induce vomiting in certain rituals. Tea from the root was used to induce perspiration and expectoration in severe respiratory ailments including pleurisy, whooping cough, and pneumonia.
BUTTON SNAKEROOT - Eryngium Yuccifolium (Carrot Family):

Indians valued the plant as an “alexiteric” or antidote.
CALIFORNIA LAUREL - Umbellularia Californica (Laurel Family):

Native to California and Southwest Oregon. Indian tribes strewed leaves around their lodgings to keep away fleas and other biting insects. They fumigated their homes by burning the boughs to ward off colds and made tea from the leaves as a remedy for headache and stomach disorders.
CALIFORNIA POPPY - Eschscholzia California (Poppy Family):

Indians used this plant as a painkiller, especially toothaches. It was also used for insomnia and headache. The plant was cooked in olive oil to make hair tonic for thick and shiny hair (Spanish heritage -hair tonic).
CANAIGRE - Rumex Hymenosepalus (Buckwheat Family):

Indians used the roots to soften their buckskins since it contains tannin. The root was used to make tea for treating diarrhea and as a gargle for easing sore throat. The plant was also used as a source of dye (yellow hue in dyeing wool - stalks are an excellent substitute for rhubarb. This plant is a native of Western
CANKER ROOT - Coptis Groenlandica (Buttercup Family):

A brew was made from the plants bitter tasting rhizome as a gargle for sore throats and ulcerated mouths.
CARDINAL FLOWER - Lobelia Cardinalis:

Cherokee Indians employed the root as a cure for syphilis. This plant was also used an an emetic and expectorant.
CASCARA SAGRADA - Rhammus Purshiana (Buckthorn Family):

Pacific Northwest from British Columbia to Northern California. The bark as stripped from the tree in early spring or autumn. It was dried and aged for at least a year. The bark was steeped in boiling water and drank after cooling to relieve constipation.
CATNIP - Nepeta Cataria (Mint Family):

Catnip was included in the Indian’s inventory of useful plants and did not associate it with the coming of the Europeans. A tea was brewed and used to relieve intestinal cramps, infant’s colic and gas pains. Also used as a mild sedative for relief of insomnia.
CHAPARRAL - Larrea Tridentate (Caltrop Family):

Native to SW US. Indians prepared extract from leaves and used them to purge the body and heal sores.
COLICROOT - Aletris Farinosa (Lily Family):

Indians made bitter tasting tea from roots or leaves for stomach ailments, colic, ysentary, and menstral disorders.
COLORADO FOUR-O’CLOCK - Mirabilis Multiflora (Four-O’clock Family):

Hopi shamans chewed the root to induce visionary trances.
CONEFLOWER - Echinacea Angustifolia (Composite Family):

Indians held this plant in high regard. It was used for snakebite, other poisonous bites, stings, and toothache. Inhaling plant smoke recommended as headache remedy.
COW PARSNIP - Heracleum maximum (Carrot Family):

This was gathered and cooked. The roots were used as a vegetable (young stems can be peeled and cooked or eaten raw. It has many medicinal uses also. Seeds were used in headache remedies, raw pieces of root were stuffed into dental cavities to alleviate toothaches and had many more uses medicinally.
CRANESBILL - Geranium Maculatum (Geranium Family):

Chippewas used dried and powdered rhizome on sores inside the mouth, especially the children’s. Other Indians steeped the plant in water as an eyewash, ate the young green leaves as food mixed with other herbs and water. Powdered rhizome was applied to sores, open wounds and as a poultice to swollen feet.
CULVER’S ROOT - Veronicastrum Virginicum (Snapdragon Family):

Indians used the root as a blood cleanser. It was also used for ceremonial purification to cleanse the body by inducing vomiting by drinking tea made from the plant’s dried root.
CUP PLANT - Silphium Perfoliatum (Composite Family):

This is chewing gum. From the broken stem oozes a blob of resinous sap that dries into a chewy breath-freshening gum - Cherokee burned, cooked rhizome and inhaled the smoke to relieve head cold or neurolgia and made potions from the root for liver problems, fever or just general debility.
DANDELION - Traxacum Officinal (Composite Family):

Indians drank tea of the leaf as a rich tonic and tea from the roots for heartburn. Greens are edible raw or cooked and furnish rich sources of Vitamin A and C.
DOGWOOD - Cornus Florida (Dogwood Family):

Dogwood blooms signaled to the Indians that it was time to plant corn. They simmered the bark in water and used the extract to relieve sore and aching muscles. Tea was also used to promote sweating and break a fever.
EVENING PRIMROSE - Oenothera Biennia (Primrose Family):

North American Native.
FAIRYWAND - chamaelirium luteum (lily family):

Indian women chewed the root to prevent miscarriage. Powdered roots were used as a pain reliever, diuretic, and for uterine disorders.
FIREWEED - Epilobium Angustifolium (Primrose Family):

The Indians ate the young shoots or cooked the pith of the stems for soup and the leaves as a potherb. Dried leaves were also used as a tea.
FRINGE TREE - Chionanthus Virginicus (Olive Family):

The bark was boiled in water and used to cleanse wounds with the extract. Bark was mashed to make poultices to help close wounds.
GARLIC - Allium Canadense:

This plant was relied on to treat snakebite, intestinal worms, and a variety of medical problems.
GINSENG - Panax Cinquefoils L.:

stimulant and tonic taken daily to prevent stress and colds. Dried root can be chewed or powered and brewed as a tea.
GOLDEN RAGWORT - Senecio Aureus (Composite Family):

Indian women found the plant helpful in childbirth. It was taken to speed up a protracted labor.
GOLDENROD - Solidago Adora (Composite Family):

Indians used tea of the leaves for intestinal disorders, leaves and flowering tops for colic, and tea from flowers treated urinary disorders.
GOLDENSEAL - Hydrastis Canadensis (Buttercup Family):

rhizomes and roots supplied Indians with brilliant yellow dye for weapons, clothing and paint for their faces, remedies for inflamed eyes, mouth ulcers, tuberculosis, and edema. Was also used to stop bleeding and hemorrhaging.
GROMWELL - Lithospermum Ruderale (Borage Family):

red dye from roots. Indians used root bark for face and body paint and as a contraceptive.
HACKMATACK - P. Balsamifera (related to Black Poplar):

Indians used resins for aches, pains, sprains, burns, heart trouble, and tumors.
HEMP DOGBANE - Apocynum cannabinum (Dogbane Family):

stems furnish a tough fiber from which Indians wove fishing lines, baskets, and mats. From the root they obtained a heart stimulant, cathartic, and diuretic. Mashed leaves were applied to wounds.
HIGHBUSH CRANBERRY - Viburnum Trilobum (Honeysuckle Family):

Indians discovered the antispasmodic virtues and used it to ease the pain of childbirth, menstrual and stomach cramps. Bark tea was used as a remedy for mumps and as a diuretic by boiling the berries with maplesap. Indians prepared a jelly that they ate as a trail food. They also smoked the bark as a substitute for tobacco. Tea was brewed from the leaves.
HOP - Humulus Lupulus (Hemp Family):

Indians made a sedative from the blossoms. They applied heated, dried flowers to relieve toothaches.
HORSE CHESTNUT - Aesculus Hippocastanum (Buckeye Family):

Indians carried the nuts to ward off rheumatism.
HORSEWEED - Erigeron Canadensis (Composite Family):

Indians favored an extract from boiled leaves to reat dysentery. Was also used as a diuretic, tonic, and an astringent to stop bleeding.
INDIAN PINK - Spigelia Marilandica (Longania Family):

Indians found the root was a cure for intestinal worms.
INDIAN TOBACCO - Lobelia Inflata (Lobelia Family):

Indians used the leaves for smoking to relieve asthma and other lung ailments. The FDA says it is poisonous.
JOE-PYE-WEED - E. Purpureum (related to Boneset):

This was named for the Indian medicine man who was famous throughout New England for using it to cure typhus. It was considered inferior to Boneset in treating fever.
JUNIPER - Juniper Communis (Cypress Family):

Indians believed the tea of twigs cured stomach aches and colds. They applied hot packs of twigs and boiled berries to sores and aches. The berries were also utilized as a diuretic, blood tonic, and for hemorrhaging.
LADY’S-SLIPPER - Cypripedium Calceolus (Orchid Family):

Indians used an extract boiled from the roots for calming the nerves. It was reported the this plant was superior to opium for inducing sleep and that the plant was not narcotic.
LIVERLEAF - Hepatica Americana (Buttercup Family):

North American native.
MAYAPPLE - Podophyllum Peltatum (Barberry Family):

Indians valued it for its powerful laxative effect, treatment for intestinal worms,as a cure for warts and insece it contains tannin. The root was used to make tea for treating diarrhea and as a gargle for easing sore throat. The plant was also used as a source of dye (yellow hue in dying wool - stalks are an excellent substitute for rhubarb. This plant is a native of Western US.
MILKWEED - Asclepias Syriaca (Milkweed Family):

Indians used white sap for skin ailments like warts, ringworm, poison ivy and other skin problems. Extracts from the boiled roots were used for bowel and kidney disorders.
MOONSEED - Menispermum Canadense (Milkweed Family):

Moonseed was used for a diuretic, laxative, appetite stimulant and alterative (drug that favorably alters the course of an ailment). Tea was prepared from the root or a root extract.
OSWEGO TEA - Monarda Didyma (Mint Family):

Oswego Indians of Western New York made tea from dried leaves. It was reputed to be a treatment for colds and sore throats.
PARTRIDGEBERRY - Mitchella Repens (Madder Family):

Indians made tea from leaves to ease childbirth. Nursing mothers applied a lotion made from the leaves to their breats to relieve soreness.
PASQUEFLOWER - Anemone Patens (Buttercup Family):

Dakota Sioux stuffed the sepals up the nose to help halt bleeding and crushed leaves and applied them externally to relieve rheumatism.
PASSIONFLOWER - Passiflora Incarnata:

Southeastern Indians made a poultice of its leaves to help heal bruises and other injuries. Dried fruits and flower tops were the ingredients of many sedatives.
PIPSISSEWA - Chimaphila Umbellata (Wintergreen Family):

Cree name means “it-breaks-into-small-pieces. They used it for rheumatic, kidney, and urinary tract complaints. The Mohegans and Penobscots steeped it in hot water and applied the infusion externally to heal blisters. The Chippewas used a decoction of the root as eyedrops for sore eyes.
PRICKLY POPPY - Argemone Mexicana (Poppy Family):

Comanche Indians used the extract of the seeds to treat sore eyes.
PUMPKIN - Cucurbita Pepo (Gourd Family):

Catawbas ate the fresh or dried seeds as a kidney medicine. Indians planted Pumpkin with corn and used it for medicine and food.
PUSSYTOES - Antennaria Neglecta (Composite Family):

Indians extracted a gum from the plant stalks and used it for chewing gum.
SASSAFRAS - Sassafras Albidum (Laurel Family):

The bark of the roots was used to treat fevers and rheumatism, as a general tonic, and blood purifier.
SENECA SNAKEROOT - Polygala Senega (Milkweed Family):

Seneca Indians used the root as an antidote for rattlesnake bites. They chewed the woody roots and applied the pulpy mass to the bite. They also brewed teas from the roots to control fevers and ease heart trouble.

>>> Self rising flour should be used more often,<<<

I usually use it and omit the baking powder.

any information on an emergency meeting of the FDIC and Banks on Monday ??

saw reference but cant confirm it..

http://www.sharingsustainablesolutions.org/?p=255

Capsaicin - Spice, Medicine and Pepper Spray

Some people tend to use the terms - capsaicin and oleoresin capsicum interchangeably. They’re not the same.
Capsaicin

The most commonly mentioned of the capsaicinoids. All hot peppers contain capsaicinoids. Natural substances that produce a burning sensation in the mouth or on the skin, causing the eyes to water and the nose to run, and even induce perspiration. Capsaicinoids have no flavor or odor, but act directly on the pain receptors. The primary capsaicinoid, capsaicin, is so hot that a single drop diluted in 100,000 drops of water will produce a blistering of the tongue. In pure form it is a white powder with a Scoville heat rating of approx. 16,000,000.

Capsaicinoids are found primarily in the pepper’s placenta, the white `ribs’ that run down the middle and along the sides of a pepper. The seeds are in such close contact with the ribs, they are also often very hot. In the rest of the vegetable, capsaicinoids are unevenly distributed throughout the flesh, so it is likely that one part of the same pepper may be hotter or milder than another part. You can reduce the amount of heat in a chile pepper by removing the ribs and seeds. You may want to wear gloves while doing so. Most particularly when working with Thai or Habenero peppers.

Capsaicin, also known as N-Vanillyl-8-methyl-6-(E)-noneamide, is the most pungent of the group of compounds called Capsaicinoids that can be isolated from chile peppers. It is sparingly soluble in water, but very soluble in fats, oils and alcohol. Capsaicin and Di-hydrocapsaicin together make up 80-90% of the Capsaicinoids found in peppers.

Capsaicinoid content is measured in parts per million. These parts per million are converted into Scoville heat units, the industry standard for measuring a pepper’s punch. One part per million is equivalent to 15 Scoville units. Bell peppers have a value of zero Scoville units, whereas habaneros, the hottest peppers, register a blistering 200,000 to 300,000. The red savina habenero - at 377,000 Scoville units was recognized as the hottest of peppers until recently when some experimentally breed peppers registered hotter.

Oleoresin Capsicum

Oleoresin capsicum, a concentrated essence of hot peppers that is not a synthetic, but a natural food made by an extraction method incorporating techniques similar to the process of making coffee.

An organic solvent called hexane is run through dried ground hot peppers, and the resulting liquid is put through another process to remove the solvent. The remaining oleoresin consists of what is left: the natural oils, color, and heat (capsaicinoids) of the hot peppers. There are several reasons that manufacturers choose to use this product.

One is convenience - they can add a lot of heat to a product with minimum effort. Another is space - oleoresin can be packed into any size of container, from a partial ounce container to a 55-gallon drum, and easily stored. A third reason is stability–this is a sterile product that will remain stable for up to two or three years.

The Scoville Units of this solution can be between 430,000 and 2,000,000. Oleoresin capsicum is an oily liquid containing vegetable oils, coloring agents, and capsaicinoids.

On to the part everyone asks about: How hot is hot?
It was in 1912 whilst working for the Parke Davis pharmaceutical company that Wilbur Scoville developed a method to measure the heat level of a hot pepper. This test is named after him, called the Scoville Organoleptic Test. The unit of measure, Scoville Heat Units, is often abbreviated as SHU.

A dilution-taste procedure. Scoville blended pure ground hot peppers with a sugar-water solution and a panel of testers then sipped the concoctions, in increasingly diluted concentrations, until they reached the point at which the liquid no longer burned the mouth. A number was then assigned to each hot pepper based on how much it needed to be diluted before the panel could taste no heat. The validity and accuracy of the Scoville Organoleptic test have been widely criticized. The American Spice Trade Association and the International Organization for Standardization have adopted a modified version. The American Society for Testing and Materials is considering other organoleptic tests (the Gillett method) and a number of other chemical tests to assay for capsaicinoids. Even so, the values obtained by these various tests are often related back to Scoville Units.

Scoville Heat Unit (SHU) rating of some peppers
0-100

Bell and Sweet Italian peppers

100-500

Pepperoncini peppers

500-1,000

New Mexico peppers

1,000-1,500

Poblano & Espanola peppers

1,000-2,000

Ancho & Pasilla peppers

1,500-2,500

Rocotillo peppers

1,000-2,500

Cascabel & Cherry peppers

2,500-5,000

Jalapeno & Mirasol peppers

5,000-10,000

Wax peppers

5,000-15,000

Serrano peppers

15,000-30,000

de Arbol peppers

30,000-50,000

Cayenne & Tabasco peppers

50,000-100,000

Chiltepin peppers

100,000-200,000

Jamaican Hot peppers

100,000-350,000

Scotch Bonnet & Thai peppers

200,000-377,000

Habanero peppers

Scoville Heat Unit (SHU) rating of some other items
1,000-10,000

Mainline hot sauces

10,000-50,000

Very Hot sauces (containing less oleoresin)

50,000-150,000

Super Hot sauces (containing more oleoresin)

25,000-200,000

Defense pepper spray for people

200,000-350,000

Defense pepper spray for bears

up to 2,000,000

Oleoresin capsicum

16,000,000

Pure capsaicin

As a note from me concerning hot sauces, to the people who enjoy hot sauces Tabasco is usually considered a mild item. If you ever want to get adventurous there are things like Dave’s Insanity Sauce. Chuckle, not for the timid. Warning, if you think munching a handful of raw jalapeno peppers is hot, stay away from this sauce. It’s at the high end of the super hot sauces. Right up there with Mad Dog Inferno.

Medical Uses

It has medical uses? Yes it does. Used for countless years by various native groups and recently -rediscovered- by doctors and pharmaceutical companies.

There is the old standby most people are familiar with - Heet. Zostrix, 0.025 percent capsaicin, and Axasin, 0.075 percent capsaicin, are creams rubbed on the body for relieving chronic, debilitating pain.

Of course you could get some `HALT’ which is sold in some places to be used as a spray into the eyes of dogs. It contains about 0.35% capsaicin. Mix with vanishing cream and you can make your own such medication.

There used to be packets of a powder sold under the name of FireFoot. Its purpose was to be sprinkled in the socks to keep the feet of hikers, bicyclists, campers and so forth warm. Don’t know if it is still around. To make the equivalent, mix 1 part cayenne powder, 2 parts ginger and 3 parts mustard powder. Put a teaspoon in the toe of your sock before putting it on. In 10 minutes to one hour the capillaries of your toes should dilate and your foot warm up.

A tea made of cayenne peppers works well to clear stuffy noses. It is painful but cayenne powder on a cut starts clotting pretty quick. Old remedies my Grandmother and others used.

Consumption of hot peppers causes an increase in mucous production. Many of the common cough syrups contain an ingredient called `guafensein’ (sp?) which is a synthetic similar to capsaicin and is used to boost mucous production.

Hot peppers have high quantities of vitamins A & C. The dried peppers loose some vitamin C but gain A. By weight, green bell peppers have twice as much vitamin C as citrus fruit; red peppers have three times as much. Hot peppers contain even more vitamin C, 357 percent more than an orange. And red peppers are quite a good source of beta carotene.

Capsaicin and oleoresin capsicum as also used as a rubifacient. Which means they cause an increased circulation to localized sites. Thus their use in arthritis creams. They are also finding use to increase fibrolytic activity (blood clotting)

Currently research is being done into the ability of capsaicin to thicken the stomach lining, possibly making it useful as a treatment for ulcers. For the diet concious person, many of the natural weight loss formulas include capsaicin, oleoresin capsicum or a hot pepper powder as an ingredient. These substances increase the body’s metabolic rate.

Medications containing capsaicinoids are being used as an anti- inflamatory agent as the chemicals causes blood vessels to dialate. Capsaicin or oleoresin capsicum is receiving a lot of attention for use as an anesthetic. Repeated exposure of a site to capsaicinoids renders the site numb. Capsaicin destroys `substance P’ which is the chemical nerve carrier the body uses to transmit pain signals to the brain.

In one test targeted at chronic leg pain in diabetics, an ointment containing high levels of capsaicin was applied over a period of weeks. This was a potent solution. So much so, that the volunteers were given morphine to cope with the pain. But after the application period they reported a permanent decrease in the chronic pain.

Because the activity of capsaicin is so specific and it affects only a particular type of neuron, its main clinical use has been in the form of a skin emollient to successfully treat the pain of shingles, diabetic neuropathy, arthritis, rheumatism, fibromyalgia, and other forms of chronic pain.

Capsaicin pastes have been used successfully for ages to treat muscle and joint pains. Today, many people use capsaicin balms for a wide variety of aches and pains, including back pain and tennis elbow.

I’ve used cayenne powder mixed with Baby Oil or mineral oil as a home made balm for years. Another one of those tips I got from Grandmother. Such skin balms to aid in reducing pain typically need to be used 3 to 4 times a day to be effective.

In another application targeted at chemotherapy patients who often develop painful ulcers (sores) in the mouth, a capsaicin containing candy seemed to provide significant relief from pain.

Leslie’s First Aid Kit: Capsaicin Candy Recipe

The sugar in the candy inhibits the burn of capsaicin in the mouth while the capsaicin provides pain relief.
1 cup sugar 3/4 cup light corn syrup 2/3 cup water 1 tbs cornstarch 2 tbs butter or marg 1 tsp salt 2 tsp vanilla 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

In a 2 quart saucepan add sugar, corn syrup, water, cornstarch, butter and salt. Over medium heat, stir constantly till hard ball stage (256F). Remove from heat, stir in vanilla and pepper. When cool enough to handle, butter hands and pull until satiny and stiff. Pull into long strips, cut into 1 inch pieces, and wrap with wax paper.

Just for the record, a couple health cautions.

People with sensitive skins and a lot of allergies should approach the use of capsaicin balms with caution. Try it on a small patch of skin at first, then on a slightly larger patch. Each time allowing several hours, 4 to 6, before trying it again. I am NOT a doctor. However, the use of it as an external balm is something I’ve done for many years making my own balm. And I have seen a few occasions where there was an adverse reaction to capsaicin creams and balms.

One poor lady, the wife of my good and long time buddy, used a stronger mixture I make for myself. She had used a less potent commercial product with success. Decided that if it was good, my more potent mixture was better. So she used some while she happened to be in our bathroom without asking me first, on her neck and shoulders. It literally raised blisters on her skin overnight.

Remember - people are different, exposure to a certain concentration of virtually anything can have drastically different reactions from one person to the next.

Capsaicin does cause a slight constriction of the bronchial tubes and esophagus. Normally this constriction is slight enough so as not to poise a problem. Most people don’t even notice it. However, particularly in the case of capsaicin sprays, someone with asthma can be put into real problems. (i.e. use of pepper spray on someone with asthma MAY become a serious medical problem)

There are some urban legends about hot peppers.

Several medical studies have concluded that hot peppers and other spicy foods do not cause ulcers. Nor do hot peppers cause hemorrhoids, as has often been claimed.

Also, as with anything, beware of the claims of some of the more ardent claims of some herbalists and health food stores. Sheesh, I have read claims that tout hot peppers as able to cure just about everything. I won’t bother to list ALL the claims as the list would be very long.

The uses I have mentioned have medical verification. I don’t know, perhaps I’m just an old doubting Thomas, but some of the claims I have read, with NO medically verified evidence, makes me wonder about the ethics of some product sellers. Let me rephrase that, some of the claims make me certain that some sellers have the ethics of a cockroach. Either that, or there are some unbelievably ignorant people out there.

Controlling the -HOT-

Capsaicin, which is an oil, does not mix well with water. When your mouth is burning, drinking water or beer is not the best choice to cool off your mouth. Just sort of spreads the effect around.

The old standby’s are drinking milk or eating cheese or yogurt. The caisen (sp?) in dairy products neutralizes capsaicinoids. Eating bread or rice is helpful as they tend to absorb the oils. Some people get relief from drinking tomato juice or eating a fresh lemon or lime.

There is a reason that some of the above items are commonly included in Mexican meals.

Those who frequently eat hot peppers develop a tolerance for them and can eat increasingly hot levels of food comfortably. I will vouch for this, personally. I eat things in comfort, enjoying the taste, which are so hot to people such as my wife, that she can’t even smell the food without her eyes watering. Cayenne is just a mild spice to me. When I break out the really hot stuff, she vacates the room. My cure for the burning of hot peppers is to eat more of them.

Pepper Sprays

The irritant in the pepper sprays is oleoresin capsicum, an extract from hot peppers. This is NOT the same as pure capsaicin. I am fairly sure that pure capsaicin, at about 16 million SHU, would be deadly to humans.

The manufacturers tend to be a little misleading in their advertising about the potency of their products. Buyer beware. Looking over the advertisements I notice that one will state `17% OC’ (oleoresin capsicum) without specifying the SHU rating of the OC used. Another might say, `10% of 1.5 million SHU OC’. Another might state, `5% of 2 million SHU OC’. And so forth.

Since the specific OC used might have a fairly wide range of SHU rating (from around 430,000 to 2,000,000), and since only a percentage of the contents of the pepper spray is the active irritant, all this can cause a lot of confusion.

Approximate effective SHU ratings for various defensive pepper sprays

25,000-100,000

Defense pepper spray for dogs

25,000-200,000

Defense pepper spray for people

200,000-350,000

Defense pepper spray for bears

Under the category of defense pepper sprays for humans, many places limit by law the allowable maximum rating. With the higher end often limited for sale only to law enforcement people.

I am not sure that a higher SHU rating for use in defense against people would be truly worthwhile anyway. My personal opinion is that the allowable levels are probably strong enough, for the intended purpose. I tend to look for other features than absolute strength. Canister features such as capacity, distance the spray can be projected, and so forth. I am interested in a new product that sprays a foam mixture that will stick to the body being sprayed. Bought a canister of such a product. Now all I have to do is find a test subject. Any volunteers?

In a previous post someone asked about making his or her own pepper spray and I gave a method I have used in the past to extract oleoresin capsicum. Which does work, just ask a fellow I was sort of angry with at the time. Some OC mixed into a person’s aftershave lotion can produce a very satisfying screeching and hopping around.

I found the following instructions for making OC on the net which seemed to be good (better than mine?) and include it here.

Ingredients:

15 Habanero peppers 1 quart 200 proof Ethanol Or as close as you can get, try Denatured alcohol from the hardware store.

Method:

In a blender, puree the Habaneros in as much Ethanol as possible. Let the mixture sit overnight at room temperature. Longer is better. Pour the resultant sludge through paper towels and place the liquid in a glass container. Begin to the liquid boil slowly using either an electric heating device (naked flames would be dangerous), or a vapor trap to remove the alcohol fumes safely. Continue until 90% of the liquid has evaporated. Remove the pot from the stove and cool. Look for a brick-red oil floating on the surface of the ethanol. If none is present, continue to boil the ethanol away periodically cooling the mixture to look for the red oil on the surface. Once the red oil appears, pour the red oil and the remaining ethanol into a long thin glass cylinder, use an eyedropper to suck off the oil and place it in a clean container. The red oil is fairly pure Capsaicin, probably 40% Capsaicin / 60% Capsaicinoids.

The writer of the above technique stopped there. But if you wish to use this as a spray, one could make about a 10% OC - 90% light mineral oil mixture. Or, you could use isopropyl alcohol.

IMHO, in normal circumstances, one would be better off just buying the commercially produced pepper sprays. More reliable quality, farther projection, safety features on the canisters, etc.

As a last note, capsaicin concentrates of various types can be found in some stores. HALT for repelling dogs, PURE CAP which is sold as a food additive/seasoning, and Squirrel Away (also has various other names) which is used to keep squirrels out of bird food in feeders. Most birds do not -taste- capsaicinoids.
————————————————————————
Copyright layo@compuserve.com 1996?Created: 8/8/1996 Updated?: 4/20/1997

http://www.sharingsustainablesolutions.org/?p=241

Ten Teas From Plants Around You And Their Benefits

All teas unless specified are brewed with 1 teaspoon dry
material or 2 teaspoons fresh material to 1 cup of water.

Always steep. This means pouring hot water over material and letting set for 5 - 15 minutes.

Always dry leaves and roots out of the sun, in dark airy places. Then store in airtight containers.

Persimmon Tea:
The leaves when dried and crushed make a fine strong tea. Can be used all year round. Rich in vitamin C. Used as a healthful tonic.

Sassafras Tea:
Boil fresh roots after washing, until water turns reddish brown. Can be sliced and dried for later use. Claimed by some to be a blood thinner, a blood purifier, to help bronchitis, a stimulating spring tonic. Mostly it is used for pure enjoyment.

Birch Tea (Wintergreen):
Black, yellow and white birch. Dried leaves can be used year round. A large handful of fresh leaves steeped in hot water was drunk 1 to 2 cups a day for rheumatism and headaches. Said to reduce pain of passing kidney stones, and a fever reducer. Cold it was used as a mouthwash.

Blackberry/Raspberry Tea:
The dried mature leaves of these brambles make a good tea. Used to help control diarrhea, as a blood purifier and tonic. Use all year round.

Blueberry Tea:
The dried mature leaves are steeped until cool and drunk 1 to 2 cups per day as a blood purifier and tonic. Also used to help inflamed kidneys and increase the flow of
urine. Somewhat bitter. Use all year round.

Alfalfa Tea:
The dried and powdered leaves and flower heads make a very nutritious tea, but it is somewhat bland. We suggest mixing them with normal teas to stretch them and add nutrition. Its vitamin content >was the reason it was used. Used all year round.

Wild Strawberry Tea:
Use dried leaves normally. Pour several cups boiling water over a handful of fresh leaves in the evening. Cover and let steep overnight. Strain water and reheat in the morning. Believed to help with a multitude of things, from stomach troubles, eczema, diarrhea, etc. According to experts, it is much more healthful than purchased coffee or teas. Use all year round.

Wild Rose-Hip Tea:
A handful of these steeped for 10 minutes, then strained, make a healthful tea. Can be used dried or fresh in season. Instead of boiling, place a handful in cool water overnight, then stain and reheat in the morning. Use all year round. Strong Vitamin C content. Helps with Colds and the flu. Also for sore throat.

Sweet Goldenrod Tea (Anise):
Can use dried or fresh leaves or flowers. Makes a very flavorful tea. Pure enjoyment only!! Used all year round.

Soldier’s Herb Tea:
This common yard weed with green leaves and two seedie spikes was used by the colonials and Indians alike. One teaspoon of seeds per cup of boiling water steeped for 1/2 hour was used for dropsy and jaundice. A tea from fresh leaves (chopped fine), one heaping teaspoon per cup of boiling water steeped for 1/2 hour. For dried powdered leaves, use one level teaspoon and reduce time to 15 minutes. Drunk 4 to 5 times a day until relief was obtained.
Used for gout, to help clean out nasal passages and to slow
menstruation. Also used to expel worms. A tea cooled made from rainwater was used as an eyewash.