We Need Rain!

Monday, April 30/12

Good morning Everyone!  Hope you are all well and gardening.  I just sent a note off to the local TV weather people. Let's all think Rain!  Best regards,  Why's Woman
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Please, when you report the weather ... find as many ways to be positive about rain as you find to be positive about sunshine.  We need rain!

I appreciate the weather information you give because I garden.  At this time of year your forecast helps me know when to close the cold frame at night or put leaves or sheets over new plants so they are not frost-touched.  Right now, we need rain and we need a positive attitude about rainfall.  Rainfall means food.

You'd have to see my garden to understand just how many plants are growing (and if you want to visit, just get in touch).  Seedling plants (from seed or transplants) are stalled or in trouble; I'm watering them.  I'm watering some self-sown parsley that's come up (way to early in the year for parsley - it came up because of the early warmth).  I'm watering the swiss chard that wintered over; their growth is stalled and they are vulnerable at the small size.  Kale and swiss chard are two vegetables that winter over and produce early leaf harvest prior to sending up stalks and going to seed (which I want it to do so I can save the seed for next year). I'm watching perennial food plants like rhubarb, and will be watering soon if we don't get rain; the rhubarb is mulched heavily and is in healthy soil but will deteriorate in quality soon if there's no rain or watering.   I've had peas come up and they've been now "resting" at 10cm height for the last two weeks.  I used all the captured rainwater we had long ago.  I've been putting tap water in containers for 24 hours (to let some of the chlorine evaporate off) and using this to water the small plantlings in the cold frame, the self-seeds, tiny starts from seeds planted and germinated, the plantling transplants in the vegetable beds. 

More robust, perennial herbs and flowers have come up early this season, but are "waiting" for rain to grow.  Plants know the difference between rainwater and tap water.  I wouldn't know the technical information, but I expect plants' complex systems know the chemical mix they need ... and it's rainwater every time.

When the weather is off, less food is produced in my garden and on the farms 'round about.  Gardeners and farmers are not just anxious about frosts these days.  We are waiting for rain.

Right now, April 30, London and area may not be in drought, in meterological terms, but we need rain.  According to Environment Canada statistics, we had 18.4mm precipitation from April 1 through April 26 (none since).  In March there was 45.9 mm; 26 mm of that was in two rains prior to and including March 12. Going by the rule of thumb of 2.5cm per week it is easy to see this is too little.  In April, we have had less than one week's worth of required rain.  That data is after a funny winter*, with little snow cover ... leading to less run-off in the spring ... less ground water. 

Last evening (Sunday, April 29) Melissa started off the weather forecast by using the phrase "beneficial rain" and I was all excited about the positive term.  In her main forecast, however, every mention of rain was in negative or apologetic terms.

I really would like to hear a forecast that gives some glory to the rain forecast! 

For example, as you give the forecast, tell people the relation between rain and the strawberry harvest that they are looking forward to.  Field strawberries have surely began their growth early this year!  Farmers must be worried about frost already because plants are larger than they should be and may be starting bloom; and now, we've had no rain.  If this continues and blooms come and are pollinated, the strawberries won't develop to saleable size without rain.  Farmers have been planting corn early because of the warmer weather, probably anticipating rain; what's going to happen as the rain stalls? 

I know that letters should be short and to the point.  That's why I put my message in the first line:  Please, when you report the weather ... find as many ways to be positive about rain as you find to be positive about sunshine.  We need rain!

Thank you for the weather news.  I'd like to hear more complicated coverage, including positive views of rain and would love to have rainfall amounts included as much as possible.  I know there's a weekly gardener forecast ... Is there any meteorological model in other cities that monitors rain in gardens instead of "at the airport"?

Sincerely and with very best regards,
(Why's Woman's alter ego)

*And the early warm temperatures we've had!  We had bloom on the pear tree three weeks ago, and while there were insects out pollinating I don't know what pears we'll get because of the frosts we've had now.  Same with the apple, that's just gone through bloom but we've had freezing nights.  I heard on the CBC the other day that the apple harvest in (I think it was) the Georgian Bay area has been devastated, due to early bloom and then cold.

Meeting the future

Hello everyone,

This past weekend I attended two days of training to become a more innovative advocate for the Transition movement.  Transition has to do with preparing for a future when we will be required to use less fossil fuel (because it is decreasing), meet the varied challenges of climate change and economic shift.  The Transition movement looks to have us learn to do with less, be more able to do for ourselves - become more "resilient" - and prepare for change from a positive direction.  After all, it's got to be better to go into a situation with eyes open, and with a positive mindset, than to wait for crisis.  Remember that line from the movie Strictly Ballroom:  "a live lived in fear is a life half lived."  Holding back from fear usually does seem to mean holding back from life.

There were 14 people there, 9 were people I met for the first time.  It's amazing how quickly one becomes comfortable with people when you are laughing together, eating together, thinking together, and taking time to listen to each others stories.

Stories are important.

And there's sure nothing new in that statement!  How old are the cave paintings that tell stories?  The paintings on temple walls that tell stories?

I'm still thinking about how to tell some of the stories from the weekend.

Best regards to all,

Why's Woman

Hello,

This post will be an adventure: blogspot (blogger) seems to have completely changed its look. 

Of course, there was no notice that went out to everyone, saying it was going to change.  And there's no "how to" ... which is the norm anyway.

I find I just tap away on the keyboard and see what happens.

So, here goes!

Best regards,

Why's Woman

Farmers wanted: we all need each other

Good morning everyone,

I was recently browsing the wonderful City Farmer site, and ran across an article by a young urban agriculture entrepreneur [Wanted:Farmers by Dan Allen ].

He seemed to be concerned that people who are just learning to garden and grow food at their homes do not know enough about soil, the plants they grow, and growing conditions to grow food efficiently and abundantly and to develop the health of their soil.

I had my first garden over 40 years ago. I have 6 shelves of garden books. Every year I make mistakes. Every year I do some things well. Every year I learn something. Every year I enjoy what I am doing. Every year I take care of my vegetable garden, myself, my family, and the soil. I also spend some of my volunteer time advocating for urban agriculture, and teaching about gardening. I keep going because I know I'm part of a world-wide web of people who care and are trying to develop healthy, food secure communities.

Urban food gardeners are spending hours of volunteer time slogging through the hoops of city bureaucracies to change regulations that restrict or forbid basics like community gardens or home gardens in sunny front yards, or that restrict compost piles to two units of a base size approximately 1 square yard. We talk to city planners and community organizations that have never heard of the varied types of urban agriculture that happen in our country and in others, for profit and not for profit. (check out www.cityfarmer.info) In Canada and the United States entrepreneurial (paying) urban agriculture projects are only just starting. They are subject to all sorts of regulations at various levels of government, and the change in mind-set - from legitimate food production being able to happen only outside cities, to its possibility within our cities - is only just beginning.

Urban agriculture proponents try to let individuals, communities, organizations and local governments know that food production is not just a satisfying personal endeavor. It is a prudent aspect of food security, and is ideally carried out through an wholistic view of the pleasure and practicality of gardening within a system that continually brings healthy materials back into the soil web for its increased health. This system encompasses efficiency, continual learning and innovation.

Mr. Allen commented: "Farmers are stewards of the soil, experts at maximizing the productive potential of a plot of land, and keen appreciators of effective infrastructure investments." I believe he wanted to express appreciation for full-time, paid farmers who are producing food; and to acknowledge that they learn all the time, think, and care about producing good food. This is good.

You readers won't be surprised that my cynical self took over when I read the full paragraph. She substituted the pitch used by major agrochemical/seed producers: "You are the expert. You need our product to maximize and make profit. You are the best and only person with expertise to do the job right. You need our products to ensure that you do the job right. Leave it to us. Don't you worry your pretty little head about his little lady ..." ooops! I got carried away there!

Corporate concentration took knowledge about food away from people ... made us less able. It's resulted in commodification of seeds, oversize farms, massive fossil fuel use, degradation of soil, and toxins in air, water and soil.

I, and hundreds of thousands of people in North America want to be able again. We want the satisfaction of growing and eating healthy food. Ultimately we are working toward better health and food security. We really do try to understand the big picture. The beginning gardener - tender as any newly emerged plant - does need to know that gardening means labour and long-term. We need to find ways to have that be within a context of encouragement to garden, to have successes and make mistakes, to learn, and to grow something that delights.

We need each other.

Best regards,

Why's Woman

Wanted: Farmers. by Dan Allen, April 13/12 via www.cityfarmer.info picked up from Seedstock http://seedstock.com/2012/04/13/wanted-farmers/

Preparing for the future ... what do you think?

Good morning everyone,

It's been a couple of busy weeks ... with a lot of things unfinished, so my mind hasn't been clear ... the general state of me, and many. Jenna Woginrich's April 6/12 post on her blog Cold Antler Farm (http://coldantlerfarm.blogspot.ca/) caught my attention ... I check in every other day to see how she's doing. She'd written a post about technology, and I guess people were asking her what she saw as the future. I've posted part of her reply below, because it speaks to uncertainty and the wisdom of preparedness ... especially in regards to food. My own fear is that change will be harsh, in which case preparedness is still important and preparation may be even more important (back to Transition movement).

Best regards, from Why's Woman
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Here's Jenna Woginrich:

"What do I think? Well, I'm walking a thin line. I don't think we're going to see the world change quickly and harshly, like some do. But I do think rising gas prices and a shifty economy will make our future far more local and less energy dependant. I would be lying if I said my interest in equine transportation, food storage, clean water, backyard chickens, seed safes, etc was about prepping for the end of the world. I just like this lifestyle. It makes me feel safe and useful. I am not creating a fort against the Zombie Hordes.

"I do think our current lifestyle will go from being cheap and normal to very expensive and abnormal, and in the next few years. It is foolish to think otherwise. I don't think we'll run out of oil or electricity, but I do think if we don't make strides towards more energy independence we are looking at serious trouble. (And I don't mean as a nation, I mean as individuals.)

"The best protection against rising food and gas prices is a safe source of food at home, and a strong community ready for anything. I am for every American learning to use less energy in their homes, driving less in their cars, and producing a substantial amount of food at home. I'm for it not because I'm afraid of the future, but because it seems sensible. I want pantries and larders to be as normal again as walk-in closets. (Come to think of it, walk in closets can hold a lot of food!) I want my readers to have enough set by that if anything scary ever did happen: from ice storms that take down the grid over night to $9-a-gallon gas price spikes: you are all okay. I think expecting everything you need to be at a store and an outside source to home to your rescue is both irresponsible and dangerous. I don't think this is about fear, but about sense. "
The italicized text is by Jenna Woginrich, Cold Antler Farm blog
Check her out at www.coldantlerfarm.blogspot.com

To Make Hope Possible - Transition and Vandana Shiva interview

"To be truly radical is to make hope possible
rather than despair convincing
Raymond Henry Williams, Welsh political scientist

Hello everyone,

I hope that the Williams' comment gives you something positive that stays with you as your day goes along. It sure picked me up the other day when I ran across it.

"...to make hope possible ..." This is an active word, and I'll choose to colour it green today.

Where is hope?

Some of it is with the re-skilling and active, positive attitude of the Transition movement. Get yourself a copy of the new Transition Companion: making your community more resilient in uncertain times, by Rob Hopkins. It's stories from worldwide ... things people are doing to make their communities more aware, more active, more capable. It is also a guidebook for how to develop and maintain an enthusiastic organization or network of people.

Another hope, is Vandana Shiva, founder of Navdanya, seed activist, women's educator. Shiva was in Canada recently. There are two super interviews with her, where she is talking about hope. She was interviewed by George Stroumboulopoulos on International Women's Day. She talked more about her family and background than I'd heard before and cites some of the many small projects that keep her hopeful and active. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=q3d9k23UyQQ

Vandana Shiva was also interviewed recently on The Current (CBC radio show). This is a long interview, with Shiva citing the real and immediate problems there are with our agricultural system and also emphasizing her attitude of hope that keeps her active and inspired.
http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/episode/2012/03/16/vandana-shiva-feature-interview/

Maybe start with her interview with George ... you get pictures, and Shiva is looking great!

Best regards to all of you.

In HOPE,

Why's Woman


Transition London Ontario: www.transitionlondon.ning.com
Transition Network: www.transitionculture.org will link you up with lots of resources, and also Rob Hoskins' blog.

Seed companies - a start

Hello all,

Here's a caution about being too fast with research, and with sending stuff to people over e-mail: fast research can be wrong, and people will post stuff on Facebook without checking with you. Be careful!

I want people to understand broad seed issues, and I believe that it is with accurate information that we make our best choices. So I'll start with this post.

The W. Atlee Burpee Seed company is like most large seed companies: it develops and sells some of its own seeds and also buys seeds from many producers to sell on. Burpee does not buy/sell GMO seeds, from anywhere, according to its owner/CEO George Ball in the article Burpee, GMO And Monsanto Rumors Put To Rest on the Burpee site

http://www.burpee.com/gygg/content.jsp?contentId=about-burpee-seeds

Burpee buys some of its seeds from Seminis, which has been Monsanto-owned since 2005.

It would be hard to not buy from Seminis (that will be another post ... but refer to the Rodale article Monsanto Buys Seminis in the references below. The numbers are probably even more so nowadays).

Sorting through the text of some articles to be time consuming; I've included part of one article in the resources list to illustrate this.

And there's a lot to say about seed monopolies and control of the food system. I'll be adding a couple more posts.

Everything I've read in the last 10 years since I started reading supports the importance of buying organically produced, non-GMO seeds from independently owned seed producers and suppliers, as locally as possible, from people you know and trust.

The rest of this post is a:

(1) short note about Burpee

(2) seed house genealogy

(3) resource list

BURPEE - a few pertinent bits

The current CEO of Burpee seeds, George Ball, is of a family that has owned seed companies since 1905.

George Ball's father and uncle purchased Petoseeds, a competitor of Burpee seeds, in 1968. Petoseeds and Burpee bought from each other (a common practice).

The Ball family (George Ball) purchased Burpee seeds in 1991.

In 1994, Seminis Seeds bought Petoseed. Burpee was then making some purchases from Seminis

In 2005 Monsanto bought Seminis. Burpee continued to buy some of its seeds from Seminis (now under Monsanto ownership)

As of 2012 (as far as I can tell) Burpee remains an independent seed company. Burpee is not owned by Monsanto. Burpee is buying seeds from Seminis, a Monsanto subsidiary. The seeds Burpee buys from Seminis are hybrid seeds, developed through selective breeding. Burpee does not buy genetically modified seeds, according to George Ball's article Burpee, GMO And Monsanto Rumors Put To Rest.

In that same article, George Ball states that "when Monsanto acquired Seminis, neither Burpee as a company nor I, George Ball as its owner, had any financial ownership or interest in either company."

Four Seed Company Histories - oh for a family tree chart to fill in!

W. Atlee Burpee company For its entire history, Burpee market focus has been for home gardeners, not agricultural use seed.

The W. Atlee Burpee Company was founded in 1876 by W. Atlee Burpee (1858 - 1915)
W. Atlee's son David took over the company in 1915 ... It was owned by members of the Burpee family until 1970.
1970 it was purchased by General Mills.
1977 it was purchased by ITT
1991 the company was purchased by George Ball, who is the current owner and CAO.

(George Ball writes: "which I had bought, first with my family in the early 90s, and then from my family, in the late 90s." Saying George bought Burpee in 1991 may be a shortening of a long story.)

2012 George Ball is still owner and CAO of W. Atlee Burpee Seed Company

Petoseed Company

Founded in early 1950s by Howard Peto, former employee of Burpee - Petoseed develops and sells seeds for both home gardeners and for agriculture scale

Early 1960s, Petoseed takes on another former Burpee employee, Paul Thomas, as partner

1968 - G. Victor Ball and G. Carl Ball bought Petoseed in 1968, retaining name

1994 - Seminis buys Peto Seeds

(Maureen Elilzabeth did not find just when the Petoseed name went out of use)

Ball Seed Company now Ball Horticultural (http://www.ballhort.com/ )

Ball Seed Company founded in 1905

G. Victor Ball and G. Carl Ball bought Peto Seed in 1968 (G. Victor is uncle and G. Carl is father of the current Burpee owner, George Ball)

George Ball buys W. Atlee Burpee seeds in 1991.

Anna Ball, sister of George Ball, is owner of the Ball Horticultural which is the current name of Ball Seed Company

Seminis Company

(started by?) Alfonso Romo Garza and bought by Monsanto 2005

1994 (Mexican businessman) Alfonso Romo Garza's company, Seminis, bought several "free-standing companies" including a small watermelon breeding company in Texas, the large corn breeder, Asgrow, of Kalamazoo MI and Petoseed (owned by G. Victor Ball and G. Carl Ball since 1968)

early 2000s - Seminis "divested" non-Mexican seed holdings to one, then another investment bank

(he'd been buying too much too fast - see Rodale article Monsanto Buys Seminis)

2005 - Garza sells Seminis to Monsanto (and stays on as CEO of Seminis)

References

The Legacy of W. Atlee Burpee

http://www.burpee.com/gardening/content/the-legacy-of-w.-atlee-burpee/legacy.html

- an interesting view of how one company's development mirrors the interests of the culture and country it is part of

Burpee, GMO And Monsanto Rumors Put To Rest

http://www.burpee.com/gygg/content.jsp?contentId=about-burpee-seeds

Maureen Elilzabeth's note: The pertinent part of this article is here. The article is on the Burpee Seed Company site, written by Burpee's current owner George Ball.

However, the past that some folks are extremely focused upon has to do with my father’s desire to sell Petoseed, with his brother’s (my uncle’s) approval, as well as that of many relatives such as a brother, sister, aunts and cousins, to an entrepreneur from Mexico named Alfonso Romo Garza. Mr. Romo, as he is called, began in baked goods and then branched out into packaging, cigarettes, beer and insurance. He even founded a business school in Monterey in the late 90s modeled on Wharton—all before reaching the age of 40. He was, and remains, an impressive entrepreneur who, at that time, wanted to diversify from cookies, crackers, beer, tobacco, et al, into vegetables, fruits and grain. He was profiled on page 1 of the Wall Street Journal shortly before the mid 1990s transaction (about ’94-’95). His vision was to help the burgeoning population of small and medium sized farmers primarily in Mexico and elsewhere in Latin America.

Nevertheless, throughout these changes of ownership, Petoseed was always the same—an extremely well-run company, composed of many ex-Burpee breeders and executives, and headquartered in Ventura County in Southern California. It remains so to this day.

In 1994 I was asked by my father, the late G. Carl Ball, to assist in part of the transition by serving on the board with him of the new Mexican company—Seminis—composed of Petoseed and several other free-standing companies Mr. Romo bought, from a small watermelon breeding company in Texas to the large corn breeder, Asgrow, of Kalamazoo, Michigan. I served about a year and then left to focus my energies on Burpee, which I had bought, first with my family in the early 90s, and then from my family, in the late 90s. Naturally, as the president of Burpee, I continued to produce seed, as I have done my entire career, but also bought from any company that could do better than I, including my old friends—and former colleagues—at Petoseed, now called Seminis. (This is the core of my business philosophy: sell only the best.)

In the early 2000s Mr. Romo decided to divest himself of all his non-Mexican seed holdings for reasons of his own, and sold Seminis to first one investment bank, which then sold it to another investment bank, which then sold it to Monsanto in the mid 2000s, about ’04 or ’05.

This sale took place long after Peto Seed began in the mid 1950s by an ex-Burpee tomato breeder, some of whose tomatoes are still loved by home gardeners nationwide, such as Paul Thomas’ ‘Better Boy’. The list of companies that buy from the garden seed department of Seminis, now a very tiny business activity of Monsanto, is long and includes most of the high quality seed sellers, as well as Burpee. We at Burpee never reject serving our customers the best quality home garden vegetable varieties we can either grow or find, and some of the latter include varieties from Seminis. All are still tested at Fordhook Farm in Pennsylvania.

Finally, it is extremely important to note that when Monsanto acquired Seminis, neither Burpee as a company nor I, George Ball as its owner, had any financial ownership or interest in either company. It was that way when Monsanto purchased Seminis and remains that way today. Burpee continues as a privately owned company and, as I wish to emphasize, along with other leaders in the home gardening industry, we seek out suitable seeds from Seminis and other companies that adhere to the rigid guidelines we maintain and require of all our suppliers to you our valued home garden and small farmer customers. If we cannot breed and produce the seeds or plants ourselves, we find those that can.

blog post by Mr. Brown Thumb (Ramon Gonzalez) - this is the post referred to in part of George Ball's article Burpee, GMO And Monsanto Rumors Put To Rest http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/chicago-garden/2011/02/can-you-trust-burpee-seeds.html

The Legacy of W. Atlee Burpee

http://www.burpee.com/gardening/content/the-legacy-of-w.-atlee-burpee/legacy.html

As Geneticists Develop An Appetite for Greens, Mr. Romo Flourishes

Wall Street Journal, By Jonathan Friedland and Scott Kilman, January 28, 1999 http://www.pmac.net/romo.html

The shift from public to private seed systems
A brief history of the development of the seed industry in the United States Rodale Institute website, By Matthew Dillon Posted February 22, 2005

http://newfarm.rodaleinstitute.org/features/2005/0205/seminisbuy/history.shtml

Monsanto buys Seminis
The biggest player in biotech is now the largest seed company in the world following a purchase worth a cool billion. Rodale Institute website By Matthew Dillon (article first appeared in the March/April 2005 issue of Organic Broadcaster) http://newfarm.rodaleinstitute.org/features/2005/0205/seminisbuy/index.shtml

The Politically Correct Tomato Sandwich. George Ball, on Burpee news section, Dec. 2011

http://www.burpee.com/vegetables/the-politically-correct-tomato-sandwich-article10812.html

"Hybrid Veggies are the Cream of the Crop." this article is slightly different and original version of George Ball's Politically Correct Tomato Sandwich article published in the Philadelphia Inquirer

http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/20111223_Hybrid_veggies_are_the_cream_of_the_crop.html

Seminis main website: http://us.seminis.com

About Seminis page: If You've Eaten a Salad You've Eaten a Seminis Product http://us.seminis.com/about/default.asp