Sustainable Horticulture

Changes Affecting Horticulture, Both Bad & Good

Posted by sustainable_hort on November 22, 2011  |  No Comments

It was May when I last posted anything. Doubling our farm, taking over as manager of our local farmers market, and unexpected contract work meant no time to write. I am sure you assumed this site died a quiet death like most sites. Ambition usually blinds bloggers to the reality of maintaining a site with original, fresh content. It is partly that…but; I wish it were only that.

Sadly, it is not. When I started this blog, the intent was to focus mainly on the nursery industry and the sustainable model I saw as a future option for growers. But, it is an industry going through radical change, and not a good one. I am working on a draft for an article discussing what has struck a vibrant, positive industry. I am seeing and experiencing it firsthand, on the rural back roads that were the heart of Oregon’s leading agricultural crop. It is a matter of survival for these growers, and not a time for taking chances with any innovation, let alone risking your present production system for one that is still being developed. More on this soon.

Still, as an organic produce grower with a horticultural degree, I see opportunities for those nurseries that can turn to more sustainable production. In the next few months I will update the “Can Nurseries be Sustainable” post (12/23/2009), including the rough tests I ran with several organic container mixes at a local nursery. The results were impressive enough that I want to see more work done in this direction.

And, this site will continue to discuss the innovative future uses of plants, particularly in urban/suburban areas. This includes the diverse “urban agriculture” movement that could change how much of our food is grown and even become a “job creator?”

But, it goes far beyond that! I have been involved in the green roof industry for five years, and, despite the current construction collapse, it is technology for the times. It is just one example of how plants are being used to solve environmental problems. Plants will be integrated into our lives in ways we have not even developed yet…just look at the urban food production skyscraper being proposed by Dr. Dickson Despommier. I will discuss his book, The Vertical Farm, soon…though I have my doubts.

Finally, though there are other sources to find general agricultural information, I will continue to comment on the limitations and negatives of large agribusiness. For instance, the expanding herbicide resistance issue has overwhelmed the promises of easy farming. Even the main stream ag press has acknowledged this, warning its readers that production will need to return to more complex systems. As usual, something that seems too good to be true, finally fails. A return to working with nature, instead of fighting it, will probably turn out to be the best economic investment farming can make.

Anyway, enough for this short post. If any of the above topics interest you, please keep tune. Its good to be back.

Food Prices Rising…Only the Start

Posted by sustainable_hort on May 23, 2011  |  No Comments

With all the recent headlines, the story of rising food prices has been on the news back burner. But, for many people, both here in the US and in most under-developed countries, these climbing costs are much more important than a royal wedding, the Trump comedy series about birth certificates, and, even, the elimination of Mr. Bin Laden. Hunger tends to trump (no pun intended) most other concerns.

Yet, for whatever reason(s), we are seeing food prices rise quickly. We have to go back to the 1970’s to find a similar situation. Then, oil prices and availability were not the key issue they are today. The increases in food prices then were driven mainly by Russian wheat crop failures. But, the pressures on food prices now are coming from rising energy and commodity prices, plus several weather related crop issues. As I have written on this blog, petroleum is more than gas for our cars…it is literally is the foundation material for much of the modern world. The majority of consumer products depend on these substrates at some level. Think plastic!

Food is no exception! The earth’s oil and natural gas are used to produce fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, and plastics; they are used to power the tractors, sprayers, harvesters, and generate heat; and obviously they are the fuel for the trucks, trains and planes that move our food around the world. Whether it is speculation, increasing demand from the China and India, or peak oil’s decreasing output, oil prices will rise in the long term…and food prices can only follow.

I recently attended a talk by Gary Paul Nabhan, author of Coming Home to Eat: The Pleasures and Politics of Local Foods, whose main message was the importance of local “food sheds.” While this is not a new concept, it seems to gain importance as we watch drought, floods, tornados and rising production prices wreck havoc with US agriculture. It is the old cliché “don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” It is in the interest of regions, at least, to be able to produce all the key components of a healthy diet. This idea is catching on.

For instance, here in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, we are seeing a return of wheat, and an organized effort to grow a wide range of beans, now all shipped in from great distances. It is an expansion of the local food movement, one that consumer consider more important than “organic.”

But, for many consumers, price is and will remain the primary consideration. This, I feel as a produce grower, is a misaligned focus. Food “quality” should equal nutrition, not cost. But, there is good news. Recent research indicates local foods, not necessarily organic, can cost less at your local farmers market than the national chain supermarket. And, even at a few cents more, local produce, especially the more delicate “greens” categories, will literally be a week fresher. Turn over those plastic tubs of greens at your local supermarket. While the “use by” date may be days off, I will bet you can see some early deterioration of the produce, particularly the red lettuces. If you store the package a few days, you are eating greens that are ten to two weeks old. Just how nutritious, let alone tasty, can this limp product be? Not much. If you want to read more, check out: www.theatlantic.com/life/archive/2011/05/the-farmers-market-myth/238661.

Food Choices…Ours or Theirs?

Posted by sustainable_hort on March 2, 2011  |  No Comments

Why do we eat what we eat? How do we make our food decisions? Or, more important, who else is “helping” us make those food choices?

As consumers of food, we really need to understand how we got to our present food system from the marketing side, the forces that created our weak, subliminal attachment to food. Read these books and then walk down the aisles of your local supermarket (not around the outside where most of simpler foods are displayed). Take a few minutes and read the ingredients in most of the processed “foods.” I can promise you will never see food the same again.

In her fascinating look at the forces that created our present relationship with food, Kitchen Literacy, written by Ann Vileisis, the scientific, cultural and marketing forces that took us from a hands-on existence with food (unless you had servants or slaves) to one that is carefully controlled by today’s mega-food companies. She examines the arc from eating only seasonal and/or stored foods to the current supermarket cornucopia of “foods,” with their emphasis on calorie count while being made from a long list of industrial “ingredients.” I will take an in-depth look at this book on my blog at www.19thstreetfarms.com in the next couple weeks.

A complementary work is The End of Overeating by David Kessler, MD. He approaches from a different direction, looking at exactly how major food companies have developed foods that appeal to us. Their clever combinations of “fat, sugar & salt” have obviously worked. Just walk down the aisles in any major grocery store and they are there. Thousands and thousands of prepared foods, convenient to use, calorie rich, and seemingly less expensive. After reading this book, I cannot look at any food, commercial or not, without looking at how it matched up to that wonderful marketing triad. Kessler’s sub-title sums up his aim…”taking control of the insatiable American appetite.” Eating can continue to be a sensuous, satisfying, social activity, but based more on simple, seasonal foods prepared at home. The last section of the book explains techniques and strategies to regain our real appetites

While the first two books focused on the whys of what we eat, another new release, The Safe Food Handbook, concentrates on avoiding common contamination issues with food. The food industry has had to deal with numerous food-related outbreaks over the past few years…spinach, sprouts, meat, etc., etc. This has lead to an increased concern about food safety. Author Dr. Heli Perrett’s handbook gives a concise, easy-to-use format for consumers needing an overview of the issues, common problems and, most important, solutions and methods to avoid contamination and illness. It does not cover much new ground. Books like Marion Nestle’s Food Safety and What to Eat cover this area in more depth, with extensive historical background. But, for the average consumer, The Safe Food Handbook provides the crucial information needed to avoid getting sick from common foods.

The first two books can help us eat better but will not solve the upcoming issue…rising food prices. A perfect storm of bad weather, increasing demand from new economies and now the Middle East turmoil threatens to drive up all agricultural production inputs. With most food production and transportation being petroleum-based, so as gas prices break $4.00/gallon, food prices can only follow. And, food has been one of the driving forces in the Middle East uprisings. In fact, some say the self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi, protesting the confiscation of his fruit stand, really triggered these series of falling dominos as “the people” speak up in country after country.

Meanwhile, the whole world will begin to deal with the cost of food, the availability of food, and should develop alternative plans for feeding people as the current system moves toward serious problems. More on this in an upcoming blog.

Nursery Industry Explores Biodegradable Containers

Posted by sustainable_hort on May 31, 2010  |  No Comments

Plastic containers revolutionized plant production. Now a significant percentage of plants are grown in some type of container. At the retail level, containers not only hold plants and soil, but they have become a visual part of the marketing.

Yet, environmental concerns increased with plastic products, both in how they are made and how they become a waste stream. So, container manufacturers began to look at other materials. The challenge was to find materials that could contain the soil and plants as they moved through the production and marketing system, yet breakdown after they were used, usually in composting systems.

Numerous substrates are being used and tested to create a range of biodegradable pots including waste paper, peat, coir, cornstarch resins, wheat, bamboo, and even cow manure.

Finding plastic replacements for containers has become an important research topic, with the American Nursery and Landscape Association (ANLA) starting research several years ago to identify useful container substrates (see below). The key challenge is finding compounds and resins that, when combined, will stand up to normal environmental pressures.

“We need materials that will stand up to the south’s warmer temperatures, heavy irrigation schedules, and high levels of nitrogen,” explained Agricultural Research Service horticulturist Donna Fare. She said these environmental factors work together to break down non-plastic pots in the field. Fare is heading up the ANLA-sponsored research project in McMinnville, Tennessee, which will finally test a chicken-feather based container during this year’s growing season.

Recycled Plastic a First Option
Many nursery container producers have morphed from using virgin plastic to using recycled materials. This is a major step toward sustainability, since it at least recovers the plastic already in use in the nursery industry, plus absorbing some of the consumer waste stream.
For instance, ITML Horticultural Products Inc. has a line of recycled containers, called Elite and Euro System Nursery Containers, made with “100% recycled, indestructible polyethylene material.”

Another example is the Root Pouch containers from Averna and Associates. These pouches are made from polyethylene terephthalate (PETE), which comes from recycled plastic beverage bottles, which are turned into non-woven fabric. It is used to manufacture a full line of nursery containers including propagation liners and various sizes of plantable pouches, available in different densities and degradable life spans.

Finally there are oxo-biodegradable products, which I have not found yet in the industry. Wikipedia defined the plastic as follows:

“Oxo Biodegradable (OBD) plastic is polyolefin plastic to which has been added very small (catalytic) amounts of metal salts. These catalyze the natural degradation process to speed it up so that the OBD plastic will degrade when subject to environmental conditions to produce to water, carbon dioxide and biomass. The process is shortened from hundreds of years to months for degradation and thereafter biodegradation depends on the micro-organisms in the environment.” I am going to look into this more, so keep reading.

What are Biodegradable Containers?

While there are differences between aerobic and anaerobic degradation, “biodegradable” is usually considered as a material can be broken down into its organic components. Essentially, biodegradable materials avoid increasing landfills by eventually returning them to the soil through effective composting.

As a note, the “effective composting” is a key step to making any of these containers actually biodegradable. In fact, some national and international standards have stricter criteria, defining compostable as having three requirements:

• First, again they must “biodegrade” which is defined as “breaking down into carbon dioxide, water and bio mass.”
• Secondly, they must “disintegrate,” so after three months of composting and subsequent sifting through a 2 mm sieve, there is no more than 10% residue remaining.
• Finally, no “eco toxicity,” so the bio-degradation does not produce any toxic material and the compost can sustain plant growth.

Unfortunately, these global standards exist to certify compostable plastics (ASTM D6400) and compostable packaging (ASTM D6868), under controlled composting conditions typically found only at industrial composting facilities. It is uncertain whether many of these new “plastics” will degrade quickly and effectively in standard landfills or backyard compost bins.

Molded Fiber Early Option

But, many decades ago, molded pulp or fiber first found uses in the horticulture industry. Molded pulp products are made from natural cellulose fibers, including waste papers and peat, and are biodegradable breaking down in compost systems and most landfills. These molded fiber products, were often used in early propagation stages in combination with rigid plastic trays.

But, as plants moved into gallon sizes, most growers continue to use plastic pots, especially if they are shipping plants. The early fiber pots were just not rigid enough to withstand damage during handling.

One of the earlier producers of non-plastic containers was active here in Oregon…Western Pulp Products. The company has more than a 50-year history of making containers using waste paper, collected by charitable organizations (“post-consumer”), while other sources are “pre-consumer,” including Kraft, waxed, and other waste paper. Only the metal rings and hanging wires are not decomposable.

“Even the wax paraffin used to bind the pulp will degrade during composting or in the soil,” said sales manager Jim Lee

While their products are not considered “organic,” they can be used to grow organic plants, according to Lee. He said their growers received approval from Oregon Tilth that organic vegetable transplants can be grown in their molded fiber containers but the plant must be removed from the container before it is planted in the soil. 


Jiffy pots are another decade-old name in nursery containers, entering the market in the mid-1950’s. The George Ball Company bought the U.S. rights from the Norwegian firm that developed the technology. They found numerous uses in nursery propagation, becoming a standard tool for growing plants. But, again, they tended to be too fragile for field and shipping uses.

Wide Range of Substrates Now Available
Many of the newer biodegradable containers are actually manufactured by processes similar to the Western Pulp method…a plant based substrate held together with a binding agent. The choice for substrates continues to expand.

One example are the Fertil biodegradable plant pots, made from 100% natural biodegradable wood fibers, composing 80% of the substrate, plus 20% peat moss. Meanwhile, Summit Plastics Company has a biodegradable line, “Eco 360,” that features containers made of corn, wheat and wood fibers.

Another company, T & R, Woodburn, Oregon, is offering a new line of containers called Ecotainable®. Manufactured by Kelmar’s Creations, the products use ‘patented’ bioresin materials, made from wheat, tapioca, potato starches and corn, to form pots and other products.

CoCo Coir Pot, made by Green Neem, is a biodegradable cultivation pot made of coconut fibers, which have exceptionally high permeability to water, air and roots. Coir products are now available through several companies.

Cow Pots is taking a different approach, using “odor-free, 100% composted cow manure” as the substrate. They claim the manure also adds more nutrition when the plant is growing or transplanted.

Fungi Grows Containers
A radically different approach is the EcoCradle products.
The new product is made from agricultural byproducts including cottonseed hulls, buckwheat hulls and rice husk that are mixed with a filamentous fungi — mycelium — as a bonding agent — and allowed to grow inside molds. The mycelium secretes an enzyme that decomposes the organic waste as it grows. After seven days at room temperature in the dark, a compact, ultra light, malleable material is formed that can resist high temperatures, according to company literature.

Downsides?
While there is an increasing availability of alternative containers, most nurseries have been slow to switch from plastic. Even Northwoods Nursery, Molalla, Oregon, well known for its many sustainable efforts, is still using plastic pots.

“We are just not sure they will hold up over a longer time frame,” said Laura O’Leary, sustainable director for Northwoods. While the nursery has implemented other “sustainable practices,” including recycling plastic containers, they are still holding back on moving to these newer options, she said. Like many nurseries, they plan to test new products, hoping to find products that prove tough.

In addition to needing perfect conditions to decompose, some manufacturers are also cautioning consumers that the pots need to be handle correctly when planting to avoid problems.

For example, Bonnie Plants, uses biodegradable pots extensively, with the smaller versions made by Jiffy. They listed the following rules for using their pots:
• To ensure success, drench the pots thoroughly just before planting.
• Remove the shrink-wrap label from the rim of the pot by cutting it with scissors.
• Also tear away the top of the pot so that the rim is not exposed above ground after planting. If the pot dries out, it can rob moisture from the roots when capillary action pulls water up to the dry rim.
• Finally, tear away the bottom half of the pot before placing the plant in its hole to exposes some roots to direct contact with the soil.

Like any new technology, biodegradable containers will need further refinement and testing to create products that growers will use confidently, especially if plants are shipped.

While there are ongoing research projects (see above) testing how well plants grow in these non-plastic choices, work done over a decade ago showed that plants would grow as well, or better, in biodegradable pots. So, it seems that chief concern remains durability. Once that is solved, biodegradable products could have a bright future in the nursery industry.

You can continue to follow this topic here. I am convinced that we will find more and more organic “waste” products that can be turned into various compostable or plantable pots and containers. Ultimately, they will prove their economic advantage.

President’s Cancer Panel Suggests Organic Foods!

Posted by sustainable_hort on May 13, 2010  |  7 Comments

Scooped the New York Times
Well, that is probably an overstatement. But, in my last post on April 26, I discussed the problems Monsanto is having, and the increasingly negative research around the herbicide, Round-Up. Well, on May 3, the New York Times ran a lengthy article by By WILLIAM NEUMAN and ANDREW POLLACK covering the same research and topic. Granted, the article went into more depth, and had some wonderful graphics to explain the resistance situation. Yet, I covered it first here, so I maybe I’d better check their story again for plagiarism.

President’s Cancer Panel Suggests Organic Foods!
But, seriously, the paper did release some important news regarding the state of chemicals in our environment, including our food, and their impact on cancers.

As the New York Times column described this President-appointed panel, it is the “Mount Everest of the medical mainstream.” Columnist Nicholas Kristof wrote on May 5 about the report the panel will release today is “an extraordinary document,”…one that “calls on America to rethink the way we confront cancer, including much more rigorous regulation of chemicals.” This report could have the same impact that the Supreme Court’s decision to legally define CO2 as a “pollutant” had on environmental issues and many industrial practices.

Why? Because the panel is not a known environmental organization, not some left leaning alternative medical group, but one of the most trusted medical evaluators. It was formed and first staffed in 1971 by President Nixon. The current two-member panel, Dr. LaSalle D. Lefall, Jr., a professor of surgery at Howard University, and Margaret Kripke, a professor at University of Texas’ M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, was appointed by former President Bush. They met with nearly 50 medical experts over several years before creating the report.

Their concern, though it sounds measured, will still leave the average person with questions. Since I have not been able to read the full text yet, I will save more comments for a later post. My main point here is that one of the key solutions to avoid problems is to eat organic food. The column stated that one of the panel’s recommendations read…
“Give preference to food grown without pesticides, chemical fertilizers and growth hormones.”

Again, I am not a purist when it comes to the organic vs. conventional argument. I grew up surrounded by orchards (see below), and spraying was a regular event. We did close up the house and wait for a while until the spray had dried. But, still, realistically, I was exposed to higher levels of pesticides that anyone gets today… and I am still relatively healthy. So, while I grow my food and my farm’s produce organically, I was not sure that the chemicals absorbed eating a supermarket diet was a crucial problem. Now I am not as complacent. While I turned to organic growing methods for many reasons, this report seems to add more weight to the consumer side of this equation. It needs to be carefully communicated to, and considered by, the eating public. Yes, everyone.

But, more important is there seems to be at least a partial answer…the expansion and support of a local, urban and regional, food shed where producers (farmers and micro-farmers) sell directly to the end-user…you. Your food is fresher, you know who grew it and where it came from, and it probably tastes better. Meanwhile long-term issues, including energy use and transportation challenges facing the current world food network, are also addressed.

It takes more hands, so it might even create long-term jobs though it tends to be a physical, demanding career. Satisfying, but one that rides with the seasons, can be stymied by weather, and depends on a consumer willing to spend more time and money to get higher quality food. This report may push consumers in this direction.

Saving the Apple
As I mentioned, I grew up in Washington’s Yakima Valley, and apples were just part of my life. They were common in the acres of orchards surrounding my hometown. during my teenage years, I irrigated those trees, I kept them from freezing in early spring, and picked tons of fruit each fall. I fondly remember varieties such as the Winsap, McIntosh and Gravenstein.

A short article in the New York Times covered efforts to save heirloom varieties from extinction. The non-profit group, Renewing America’s Food Traditions (RAFT), has declared 2010 the “Year of the Apple.” RAFT is concerned that we are losing most of the old varieties to a select group of commercial choices. They are offering a 32-page booklet, The Forgotten Fruits Manual & Manifesto, written by Gary Paul Nabhan. Nabhan is best know for his 2002 work, Coming Home to Eat, and editing the more recent, Savoring and Saving the Continent’s Most Endangered Foods.

Just a couple of quick facts he presents in the booklet:
• He estimates we have lost 86% of what was once upwards of 16,000 named varieties.
• 11 varieties now have 90% of market…
•…and 46% of those are Delicious…almost half! Despite their name, they were really created to look good (“bright red and shiny”), have a consistent size, and ship and store well. Flavor is a minor consideration. I know because this is the variety I picked most often, while I looked for other varieties to eat…even then.

If you want to learn more, check the RAFT web site at www.raftalliance.org. Check “resources” and look for “The Forgotten Fruits Manual & Manifesto.” It is a free and downloadable PDF.

Finally, I hope to start soon two new series: An expansion of topics first covered in “Can Nurseries be Sustainable?”, and Green Industry Marketing, with strategies and topics to help nurseries, greenhouse, garden centers and landscape contractors identify, locate and reach potential customers, all the while continually communicating with their existing customers. Both aspects are important for the survival of green businesses.

Show Me the Research

Posted by sustainable_hort on April 4, 2010  |  No Comments

It seems that for decades the conventional agricultural community responded to organic claims with “ show me the scientific research.” That, in fact, was what led me back to Oregon State University many decades ago. I was growing food organically but did not feel I had my science in order. But, their response was valid in a sense. There was not recent research that could back it up. But, if one ventured back to before World War II, there was a body of work (see the earlier post titled Soil Health and Organic Fertilizers for a short list of key sources) that seemed to support organic agriculture strategies.

Time limits me to maybe one long article a week on this blog. But, as I do research for my writing, I come across many interesting and pertinent stories, articles, studies, and books. It is information I sense has a place on this blog. So, at least a few times a month, I will post “Show Me the Research” notes. As a visitor, this will help you identify the more in-depth pieces, from simpler informational pieces. Again, I want to thank everyone for their positive comments.
So, for the first “Show Me the Research.”

First, some more book recommendations. The first is the The Long Emergency, written by James Howard Kunstler. Though is was first published five years ago, its content and message remain topical, maybe even more so today. I first read it years ago, but recently found a used copy, bought it, and have been re-reading parts of it. It is not a diatribe against global warming, though it includes the topic as part of an overall discussion of our economy’s dangerous reliance on petroleum for much of our lifestyle, energy, food and industry. Kunstler clearly shows that petroleum is at the base of many products, and as the world economy moves to duplicate US and European models, it will become a limiting factor. His best-case scenario seems to be that everything will cost more, much more. The alternatives are less comfortable to imagine. Many other books cover some of the same ground, but none are as complete or so soundly based on solid research.

The other work is much newer. The End of Overeating by David A. Kessler, MD, jumps into the current discussion on diet with a slightly different approach. Kessler looks at how and why we eat, clearly showing how food manufacturers manipulate “sugar, fat and salt” to over stimulate our appetites. These “manipulations” work surprisingly well, leading us to both overeat and consume foods that are not as healthy. The dozens of books published on diet topics generally tell us what to eat, but don’t explain why it so difficult to control our eating. A fascinating work by the former commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration who successfully fought the tobacco industry. Now, with this book, takes a lead role in giving us tools to change what Michael Pollen describes as “the catastrophe that is the modern American diet.” Read it and then eat.

• Herbicide Resistance Identified…The Nebraska Rural Radio Association reported that “Kansas State University (KSU) scientists have completed long-term evaluations of a limited number of independent kochia (Kochia scoparia) populations on privately-owned land in western Kansas that are now confirmed to be glyphosate (Round-Up)-resistant.”

In the western U.S. and Canada, Kochia, or “fireweed,” is often found in arid and semi-arid croplands, rangelands, pastures, and non-agricultural sites. Very adaptable, Kochia even grows on saline and alkaline soils. It a serious “weed” and control will now be more complex and expensive. This resistance developed naturally, possibly due to growers using lower rates that left a few tougher plants, not through genetic modification. But, it points to why there is concern about this happening as “Round-Up resistant” crops are planted. I am not saying that genetic modification is all bad, but this type of natural resistance seems to require science to study this closely. This type of manipulation could actually lead to faster development of resistance in the environment.

• Since I also co-own an organic produce farm, I like to see people eat more vegetables. Now more proof fresh, nutritional produce is important…worth more of your food dollar.

1) Carolyn Lister, research leader at the New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research told www.newkerala.com that while fruit has tended to attract the greatest attention and the ‘super food’ label, there is a body of clinical research underlining the significant health benefits of vegetables in both raw and cooked form, with broccoli along with the other brassicas, tomatoes, onions and other alliums proving to be the vegetables with the strongest scientific evidence behind them.

“This evidence varies from in vitro studies through to human feeding studies,” she claims. “Although there is considerable variation in the results of different studies…looking at the summation of results, there is quite strong evidence for benefits to human health of a number of vegetables.”

Lister is a key scientists with the Vital Vegetables program, working to develop vegetables with increased health benefits, using traditional breeding techniques.

This is similar to a new study by researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham has released a study indicating that anti-oxidants – plant-based substances in foods such as broccoli, berries, tomatoes, spinach, carrots, grapes and garlic, are a key in preventing the flu.

“The recent outbreak of H1N1 influenza and the rapid spread of this strain across the world highlights the need to better understand how this virus damages the lungs and to find new treatments. Additionally, our research shows that anti-oxidants may prove beneficial in the treatment of flu,” said study co-author Sadis Matalon.

2) Other work shows “flavonols” might reduce women’s stroke risk. This has been reported by Dutch researchers in the Journal of Nutrition.

“We showed for the first time, to our knowledge, that flavonol intake was inversely associated with stroke incidence,” wrote the researchers. “We conclude that evidence is accumulating that flavonol intake is inversely related to different cardiovascular disease outcomes,” they added.

Despite reporting a potential risk reducing effect of compounds from tea, onions, apples, and broccoli the results should be “interpreted with caution.” The study followed over 110,000 people, noting higher consumption of flavonols, mostly tea in the Dutch population; and from tea, onions, apples, and broccoli in US studies, accounted for the reduction in stroke risk.

Flavonols are “flavonoids,” which also include anthocyanins (berries), isoflavones (soy), flavones (parsley and thyme), flavanones (citrus), flavonols (tea) and proanthocyanidins (berries, wine and chocolate.) Boy I like those last two! An editorial in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (July 2008, Vol. 88, pp. 12-13), echoed that statement, saying the “contribution of flavonones to a person’s antioxidant capacity was significant.”

• Finally, good news for those of us guys who are night people and require multiple cups of coffee to survive the morning.

A recent US study indicates that coffee may boost prostate health. It said “increased intake of coffee may reduce the risk of lethal and advanced prostate cancers by 60 per cent.” The study followed almost 50,000 men for over four years and found that males with the highest intake of coffee had significantly lower risks of aggressive prostrate cancer. The study is said to be the first study of its kind to look at both overall risk of prostate cancer and risk of localized, advanced and lethal disease.

“Coffee has effects on insulin and glucose metabolism as well as sex hormone levels, all of which play a role in prostate cancer. It was plausible that there may be an association between coffee and prostate cancer,” said Kathryn Wilson, PhD, from Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health. The researchers presented their findings at the American Association for Cancer Research Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference late last year.

Well…that’s enough for one reading. See you next week with the second “Show Me the Research.”

What Is Sustainable Horticulture?

Posted by sustainable_hort on March 24, 2010  |  No Comments

This is a quick thank you to all that have checked this blog and made so many positive comments. And more…a short view of where we are headed.

This blog was started to document, explain, revise, suggest and predict where the wide world of horticulture can honestly to create systems to grow plants that do not depend on petroleum based inputs (which at some point become scarce or at least much more expensive), but finds closed systems to supply those inputs. No one is saying it is easy, it still needs work and research, but natural systems are being identified. We just need to rethink some obvious biology, especially relating to soil, and how it has worked “sustainably” for millions of years.

Definitions are tricky…and “sustainability” is seems to be the rule in this case. There are many definitions, the majority of which tend to be bent to service those defining it. But, after reading numerous definitions, it seems to boil down creating ways to grow plants that will without harming workers or future generations later. Many include the definition of “environmental health, economic profitability, and social and economic equity.” This must mean “we must meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” So, “stewardship” requires “maintaining or enhancing this vital resource base (soils, water and closed inputs) forever.”

Certain food and ornamental products have identified with this “sustainable” vision. More than identified, they have built businesses, created organic fertilizers and pesticides, established networks and distribution systems that are a first stage in creating a more sustainable horticulture. It might even lead to a more sustainable agriculture…a different conversation.

Even Miracle Grow, not the most organic product in the world, is now selling two soil amendment products. These miracle products, which the company promotes as containing “organic” components, promise healthy soils that “grow plants twice as large.” The company has recognized the concept, along with much of agriculture, that healthy soil is the literal and environmental foundation of sustainable horticulture, whether in farms or landscapes.

So, this blog first focuses on ornamental plant production. I am working with a wholesale grower in the wonderful Willamette Valley, Oregon, where plants like to grow. It is one of the main reasons I live here today. We are seeing if a grower of shrubs and trees can work towards a sustainable sustainability…one that works economically long term. A key phrase in this sentence is “long term.” And it may mean growing not the largest plant, but the healthiest plant. This is not just speculation, but has a background, starting with the works of Sir Alfred Howard and William Albrecht, and continuing today with the Rodale organization, the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, and ATTRA. I suggest reading New Opportunities in Sustainable Landscapes and Can Nurseries be Sustainable? on this blog, and investigating the references. Let’s keep the discussion going.

At the same time, this site will point to new uses of plants from green roofs and walls, to storm water control with green streets, to growing food on empty rooftops and in our neighborhoods. We find cities planting more trees, urban agriculture sneaking into backyards and along cities edges, plants being used to clean water and air, and cool our heat islands. This is all positive and needs to be recognized as an important environmental strategy, one that can also create jobs. Obviously, without plants, there is no food or air, there is no “us.” So, it becomes important to recognize and utilize plants at every level we can.

Finally, this discussion site will lead to the introduction and testing of organic input products here in the Northwest (with application nationally), and we will be providing some of those products through this site and with advertising support. This all works toward my focus, helping horticultural growers (both food and ornamental) move, step by step, to a sustainable future while still providing the planet with plants.

And, a main test site will be our organic produce operation, 19th Street Farms. Since the links on this template are not working right, just type in “www.19thstreetfarms.com/blog/” to get to the site. I will use this blog for other content, but the site will busy in summer. It is also our CAS/Farmers Market site where we are continually talking with our customers. So look under specific categories for your favorite topic.

MORE COMING SOON…

Pest Invasion Tests Sustainable Strategies

Posted by sustainable_hort on March 21, 2010  |  No Comments

Sustainability requires a careful, optimized use of a farm’s natural systems. Healthy soil, right plants in the right places, IPM strategies and diversity are all used in successful farms. It can and has worked.

But, add an outside/alien invasive force…plant, disease or pest…and that natural system is taxed and cannot respond initially. Response is possible, but it would take at least years, if not decades.

So, the story rapidly developing around the Spotted Winged Drosophila (SWD) deserved the Portland Oregonian’s huge two-word headline…”CROP KILLER.” You may have read or heard about it. This invasive, Asian pest is causing near panic on the West Coast and particularly here in the berry and fruit production areas of Oregon. Florida has also found the pest. Just type the pest name into your search engine to find numerous sites describing and discussing the SWD.

It first appeared last summer and devastated some berry and fruit crops with its “voracious” appetite for ripening fruit. Most flies prefer over ripe or damaged fruit, not ripening ones. The damage destroys the fruit with frightening speed. OSU and other researchers have jumped in. There is and will be an interesting story as scientists, extension and growers race to find some control strategy. It is especially difficult since wild blackberries are common around the edges of the rich agricultural areas, a perfect host plant for the SWD to live and thrive on. Add to this the variety of hosts within any urban environment, many of which are not treated or sprayed…this is a serious test.

What is the test? Well, more precisely, what are the tests?

First, can the agricultural/governmental infrastructure organize an effective response? Do they have resources to bring together an educated, scientific team from various inter-related fields? As a community, or state, we have slowing been strangling our agricultural depth at places such as OSU, ODA, local and regional extension offices. It is a slow death by many cuts. Again, will we still have a coordinated army of specialists to deal with SWD?

Secondly, will the ODA, dealing with other states, be able to keep Oregon’s myriad of horticulture crops moving, both nationally and internationally? It is difficult enough to battle an invasive insect when the potential damage is more limited. But, this pest attacks, from the various descriptions, across the range of berries and fruit. I am trying to find out if they like tomatoes. As a grower, this would change my tried and true systems.

Which leads to a third question…what do the organic growers do?
Conventional growers have a list of weapons that will work. But, it still adds to their projected costs which with most crops would impact bottom lines. Organic growers do not know enough yet to identify even a control possibility. They need to know if “fruit” might later include not only tomatoes, but many varieties…peppers, eggplant, squash. Any organic option will require many applications and this pest is prolific…10 generations a summer, over 100 eggs per female…you do the numbers.

Once all the crops in danger are indentified, then strategies can be developed. In some cases, I may go for a literal cover strategy…closed hoop houses, possibly enclosing with row crop floating covers. But this is a very tiny fly, so there is question what will keep them away?

Meanwhile, this type of challenge seems to support the idea of more diversity in the growing of many crops; and more smaller, local producers serving surrounding communities. This lessens the opportunity for pests moving into vital food chains. I mean, Oregon’s blueberry fields and peach orchards must have looked like SWD nirvana…”here’s a neighborhood we can settle in.”

At this point it’s more questions and a scramble for information. Stay tuned.

Make Sure Your Fresh Vegetables are Fresh

Posted by sustainable_hort on March 17, 2010  |  2 Comments

When we buy vegetables, we hope they are providing important nutrients for our health. Numerous research studies have confirmed that eating a diet rich in fresh vegetables and fruit can help deter certain diseases and other health problems.

A recent research report from England showed that “freshness” is a relative term and that some frozen vegetables can actually be more nutritious that grocery store “fresh” vegetables. This is not really a new fact since there has been other research indicating the same thing.

But, more interesting to me, as an organic produce grower, were the statistics on how “old” many vegetables are by the time they appear in your local grocery store.

The report stated, “80% of shoppers believe the fresh vegetables sold in supermarket are less than four days old.” Yet, the study found that “they can be up to nine days old when they arrive, and remain on the shelf for a further four days.” Then, unless they are used immediately, they can by stored and not eaten until they might be more than two weeks old.

So, how does this affect the nutritional value? The study showed green beans could lose up to 45% of their nutrients, while broccoli and cauliflower lose 25%. Some of the key nutrients lost include vitamin C and glucosinates, thought to block the development of cancer.

It quoted nutritionist Dr. Sarah Schenker who said, “‘the nutritional content of fresh vegetables begins to deteriorate from the minute they are picked.”

But, the process of freezing, storing, handling and transporting of a frozen product in energy intensive. And, freezing changes the vegetables textures and taste, not in a positive way.

So, how can the consumer overcome this situation?…By buying truly “fresh” vegetables through subscription (CSA) agriculture and visiting local farmers markets. Growers selling through these two avenues harvest their crops the day they are delivered or brought to market. Consumers can cut literally weeks off the holding time, making them much nutritional when they are eaten. Add to this the greater variety of produce available through these systems, the support of a safe, local food shed, and helping the local economy…it becomes a win-win-win for everyone involved.

[To readers...If these food and food production topics are of interest to you, please visit my other blog at www.19thstreetfarms.com. This is our farm site that also follows the seasonal progress on our organic farm. I will still occasionally post here, but most of my posts on these topics will appear on the other site.]

Yards Become Part of the Urban Farm Movement

Posted by sustainable_hort on February 19, 2010  |  No Comments

If anyone should know how consumers are changing their relation to food and gardening, it should be the garden writers.
They are avid gardeners themselves, always looking for the next trend, and ready to study today’s food gardening activities. So, when their latest trends research was released, most of us were not that surprised…the American family plans to garden more, for several reasons, all positive.
The Garden Writers Association Foundation (GWAF) recently released a 2010 trends survey that showed “more than one-third of the households surveyed reported plans to increase their edible gardens, while 29 percent said they would plant about the same as 2009.” The same survey indicated that only 1 percent are planting less than in 2009. One trend that remains strong. If you are interested in the entire survey, contact GWAF at www.gardenwriters.org.
Why?…Cost, interest in fresh, local food sources, concern with food safety, environmental issues, and even a return to food as a social connection. More and more, raised beds are replacing those neat, sterile lawns and mixed borders with vegetables, as food take over the summer landscape. This trend was confirmed in a recent AP story…while the general wholesale nursery industry is headed for the dumps, the story states “not all is gloom. Nurseries that specialized in edibles — vegetables, fruit trees and berries — didn’t fall as far thanks to the interest in grow-your-own food.”
As e mentioned, multiple forces drive this changing food market. But, much of it started with what is affectionately called the “foodies movement.” It comes from several waves of new ideas in food, entertainingly and succinctly covered in the United States of Arugula, by David Kamp. An equally entertaining, but more directly useful book is Marion Nestlé’s What to Eat. Her earlier works, Safe Food and Food Politics, are also worth your time and cover the topics in depth. Another recent book, Grub, by Anna Lappe (daughter of Diet for a Small Planet author Frances Moore Lappe), is a shorter, lively introduction to the “urban organic kitchen.”

Bottom line…growing at least some of your food is a growing trend, no pun intended. Urban farming, now being defined, will become an important part of sustainable living. People involved get fresher, healthier food, some extra exercise, and might even save a buck or two.
So, if you are interested in the process, you can follow our seasonal work on our organic produce farm. Just visit and bookmark the 19th Street Farms blog at www.19thstreetfarms.com/blog. That site will cover the food and food growing information, articles and opinion, while this site will continue to look at landscaping, nursery industry, environmental and sustainability topics. Hope you visit both sites.