plastic bag reduction ... failure

Hello everyone,

Hope this short note finds you well.

For the last while I've been working one day a week for a local market vendor.

I end up having to give a plastic carry bag to about 8 out of 10 people.

Where do these guys think they're shopping?  It's a market.  Bring your bags!

The environment movement has failed on this one.

And how did we end up with people making purchases for $2.70 on debit cards? And whatever happened to the retailers' campaign to tell people that it costs them (via retailers) more to use a credit card for electronic purchase than a debit card ... because retailers are charged more per purchase. 

And how is it that a city the size of this one hasn't a food recovery project like Second Harvest in Toronto?

I'll spare you a longer rant on food waste.

Thanks for letting me blow off some steam here.

Best regards,

Why's Woman

Organic Weed Control - exerpt from Jean-Martin Fortier's book!

Hello everyone!

I hope this note finds you well. I've been taking a break from the political to get out into the gardens, and it's so nice to get away from the computer and research and just get my hands dirty and scratched up. Today an email came in from Mother Earth News which led me to why ~ once more ~ I just love Mother Earth News magazine:

So-called natural organic herbicides claiming to control weeds may do so in the short term, but they destroy the long-term biological health of the soil.

                                                            The Market Gardener, (New Society Publishers, 2014) by Jean-Martin Fortier

I didn't have Fortier's succinct words the other day to tell someone I was gardening for that it had not been a good strategy when her late husband would use "some really great stuff" he had that (supposedly) controlled "just the grass" in her flower beds.  She then went on to say that the Ontario government - in its folly at putting in the Ontario cosmetic pesticide regulations of 2008/9 - had banned whatever it was he'd used.

I'm not sure how I took on the particular gardening job I'm on, but I'll get through it.  I think the person is open to more environmentally sensitive methods.  After all, she loves her garden and says she wants butterflies and bees!  I'm so used to people who aren't already organic-minded, that meeting up with others throws me.  Opportunity!  I'll try to keep that in mind. 

Fortier goes on to say that:

For weed management practices to be both ecological and sustainable, a market gardener should rather look into careful planning for weed prevention and follow with effective and efficient weed control strategies. Dealing with weeds the organic way also takes persistence, the right tools, and innovative techniques.

                                                            The Market Gardener, (New Society Publishers, 2014) by Jean-Martin Fortier

I'm not a market gardener, but I always appreciate a practical, clear gardening book, and Fortier's sure is that.  With so much information that can be used in anyone's home or community garden!

Mother Earth News magazine has an excerpt about organic weed management, from Fortier's excellent book, online here:

I've just ordered my copy of the book from Mandala Books, and it is in the London Public Library too.

Thanks to Jean-Martin Fortier and his wife Maude-Hélène Desroches, who run Jardin de la Grelinette for the book, and thanks to Mother Earth News for bringing the excerpt to us.  They are saving the world in their full time!

Best regards to all of you!

Why's Woman