Great Shape! Inc. In the News

Here we go! Great Shape! Inc. and the SuperKids Literacy Project is making waves in the news.
And I am on my way to participate in this humanitarian mission to empower the Jamaican children and communities with access to education and health care.

http://www.kptv.com/video/21426315/index.html

Reports from the field soon come!
One Love!

October is Harvest Moon

I'm still here, and it's been really busy between work and putting up my harvest. I have about 100 jars of food put up now. The harvest kitchen is almost ready to close for the season. Expect to see me back here soon catching up with photos and commentary for this amazing year of growing food organically. Thanks, and get out there and experience some harvest time! Such a wonderful time to give thanks, this harvest moon. We truly reap what we sow. Experience picking some organic apples and pears, persimmons, grapes, fall raspberries, check it out before they're gone or in cold storage. There's something about picking your own food, it just makes you feel so thankful and lucky to be alive. Plus it's really fun to do with kids, nice memories of going to the orchard with all the sounds and smells of autumn leaves and crispy air and colors, check it out. Rain soon come!

Making Dilly Beans

Here's the recipe I started with. I used 2 dry hot peppas and 5 peppercorns per jar.

You can use any shape of bean, just trim both ends---make yourself one as a ruler for the rest to fit in the jar, leaving 1/2" at the top.

Get all your spices ready, peel and crush the garlic ( I used what I grew), dry hot peppers, peppercorns and fresh dill heads, with seeds or flowers.

Oh, and I used 1 fresh grape leaf at the bottom of each jar, it's supposed to keep them crispy. I laid everything in before the beans, so it'll look nice and show everything.

With the beans loaded, see the grape leaf, the dill and hot peppa peppa.

I usually do one jar at a time, pack, pour in brine and seal, but if you work quickly, and keep those jars and brine hot, you can do it like this.

After 10 minutes in the boiling water bath, here are the beauties coolin on the counter, snappin their lids with that sound of success. This took one hour and I got 7 pints of gourmet, organic, local, artisan, yeah well you get the idea---we're makin our own food to eat and lovin it. Try it, you'll love it too.

Still Life

A recent haul of Sungolds and Matt's Wild Cherry tomatoes from the Earth Box on the porch. Try Sungold, you'll love it.

I got 4 pounds of these for $4 special at Farmers Market for making Dilly Beans (pickled beans), recipe to follow.

One recent day's harvest from the 'big' garden at the Community Garden.

Ites Gold and Green! Peppers and Crookneck, the yellow heirloom squash, fresh basil and garlic.

Freshies from the garden, all cleaned and ready to go. Thanks, Joan, for sharing that problem of too much pac choi, it found a good home.

Blueberry Jammin Part 1

Here's the recipe I'm using for my first batch of blueberry jam. I'm excited. When I saw all the sugar called for, I adjusted amounts. I used about 6 1/2 cups of berries to get the 4 1/2 cups of crushed berries. I crushed them with a potato masher. I used organic raw cane sugar, and organic lemon and lime peel, and fresh lime juice. I've never made this recipe before, but Valerie Bear, at Bear Hollow Blueberry Heritage Farm, where my blueberries came from, said it was a good one.

I got a dozen of these half-pint jars for $5.86 at Winco, cheapest price around I could find, and here they are washed and drying with their lids and rings.

Tools of the trade...get yourself some measuring spoons, a little juicer, measuring cup, couple big containers, couple big pots, and a half ton of organic evaporated cane sugar ($.97/lb. at Winco). It's unbelievable how much sugar you can use in jam. The OG raw sug is milder than the white refined crack grade. In jam, sugar does bring out the flavor of fruit, and it's a preservative. My next batch will be with a low-sugar pectin, and I'll use less than half the sugar I do with this one.

The mashed blueberries are measured and ready in the pot.

Heating up the jars in the canner with the rack in place.

The lids are heating too.

Blueberry Jammin Part 2

How beautiful is that? The pectin is in with the berries now and I'm heating it to a boil. See the recipe, Part 1.

Stirrin in the sugar, then it has to boil hard without sticking for one minute. A heavy pot is good, plus you gotta stir it. Burnt sugar tastes bitter, so this is crucial. Did I mention it's really hot tonight, not the best night for firin up the canner, but that's typical canning weather---that's what makes those fruits so yummy sweet.

The profound moment of jarring has arrived. If you want to can and make all this great food for winter, get a Ball Canning Book. It's only about $7., and it has all these important steps to make sure you will safely put up your food. It's easy, but there are rules to it, like heating your jars, and a bunch of other things, but once you learn the process, you can do amazing things, canning, freezing and drying. Also, there are a few tools that you'll need, like a canner with rack, jar funnel, tongs, and jars. I won't explain all these steps here, because this info is readily available, even online. I love this stuff, I learned it from my mother, and it's really in my blood, literally I think, from eating this way over the years. I give thanks that I'm here and able to pick my food again another year, this amazing organic food that we're so blessed to eat, and put it away for winter. I'm doing more canning this year than freezing because it's better storage for me. I don't even eat that much jam, but you can use this in smoothies, a spoon in fruit salad, in plain yogurt, on cereal and a little in any baked thing for brilliant color and pizazz. Layer a little with peaches and yogurt in a pretty glass.

As I fill each jar, it goes into the canner on the rack, then I'll lower them all at once, make sure there's water to cover them 1-2", turn up the heat and start counting 15 min. when it comes to a boil.

After the 15 min., I lift them out with big jar tongs, put em on a towel away from drafts, and leave them overnight. You hear the lids popping as they seal. Success!
I got 8 half pints done in 1-1/2 hr. time, including setup and cleanup. Today in the store, I saw some fancy blueberry jam that was selling 5 oz/ $4.95. Mine are 8 oz. and organic and with the lemon and lime. Mine probably cost $2. ea. I'm estimating. $40. vs. $16. makes it even sweeter!

U-Pick Blues

Yesterday I headed out to Bear Hollow Blueberry Heaven to pick high bush blueberries for the winter stash. Wow, what a place. These bushes were planted in 1948, they're unsprayed and grown with organic methods, but not certified (it's very costly). I love where these berries live!
At $1.75 per pound, I know I'll be savin some serious dough over Farmers' Market prices. I could get some deals at the market, but they're usually grown with chemicals. Plus, I love to pick. Try it, get out there and see where your food lives, it's pretty cool. Much more interesting than the supermarket.

Blues are a superfood, and these are so plentiful, it's like pickin clusters of grapes. I hope I brought enough money, 'cause it'll be hard to stop!

At the back where I like to pick is this old railroad trestle, usually you can hear some hawks around, songbirds, and there's hardly anyone else here. Guess the heat scared people off. Lucky for me, some of these bushes haven't even been touched.

In about 2 hours, I picked 14 1/2 pounds, these are gallon milk jugs filled to the top. All these cost me less than $24.00. I am so stoked! Home to jam!

Into the kitchen for a ginger beer break, assess the jam recipes and assemble the equipment. Wait till you see how quick and easy this is.

My First Tomato!

"Wake di town an tell di people!" My first tomato off the vine! Major payday with bonus for every gardener, that day when you pick the first one. Kissed by the sun moon and stars, and ripened to perfection! The first one traditionally goes on the best bread you can find, likkle salt & peppa, and that's all you need---make sure you give the spirits some too, give thanks for the harvest....an it's only the beginning.

June Done & Gone!

Was gone for a couple weeks in June---everything still lookin pretty good. Here's the garlic above before I left...

Came home and harvested the garlic, and some shallots. Pretty nice yield (20 bulbs) for that marginal land strip. Garlic is like a 'free' crop---plant one bulb (a dozen cloves) in the fall, and by next June you've got a bulb for every clove you planted, that's 12x return, not a bad investment return in these dire economic times. Plus, it's pretty pest resistant and care-free. And, besides being the essential ingredient in nearly everything I eat, it's got natural anti-biotic and anti-viral properties. And...if that weren't enough, it'll keep vampires away too. Try some. At $5.00/lb. I'm doin well with this harvest. I grow the 'hardneck' strains because they keep the longest, that matters if you grow a lot more.

Two weeks later, and check the squash tub, wow. I have baby crooknecks already.

Remember the tomatoes with beans on the left and cukes on the right? They're climbing up the poles and growing like mad. Pretty sight to come home too.

The front of the main box again. I don't know about those potato bins (left). Everything is growing huge except for them. Won't know how they worked till I dig for the taters, nothing yet.

A Look at June

In 2 weeks, my sign is almost overtaken by the tomatoes! Check the small green mater lower right.

These photos were all taken June 15 at the community garden---the big box with heirloom tomatoes above, you can still see the tops of the cages but they're growing so fast.

I needed one more tub for my fave, Yellow Crookneck Squash, and got this for $5 at Home Depot, it's around 20 gal. and took a full 2 cu. ft. bag o dirt. Yellow Crookneck is an heirloom squash--if you pick em small, you can keep up with them. Plus the male flowers are dee-lish too.

At the other end of the box, more tubs---on left, tomato with pole beans at the back so they can climb up onto that arbor which now has peas, and they've been feeding me for weeks. On the right, another heirloom tomato with cucumber at the back to climb up the arbor eventually or hang down. That's another potato in between.

The front of the big box, with more tubs of potatoes (black) and tomatoes (green), looks pretty wild!

Vandana Shiva on the Future of Food & Seed

To me, seed is sacred. Vandana Shiva says, "Seed by its own nature creates abundance." She's one of my heroes. Watch this video and see why for yourself, and why she says "to save seed for the future is our highest ecological duty on earth".

She spoke in Portland at the Organicology Conference last February. Thanks to Tilth and the other wonderful organic companies and nonprofits who organized this gathering.

Web Video of the Week: A Silent Forest (full movie) - The Threat of Genetically Engineered Trees

Web Video of the Week: A Silent Forest (full movie) - The Threat of Genetically Engineered Trees

Like we didn't have enough to deal with already, we need to pay attention to this: Open nature is the testing ground and we are the guinea pigs. This is an award-winning documentary starring respected geneticist, David Suzuki. They're discussing the facts around "Frankentrees": Sterile trees (that means no pollen, no fruits, no seeds) that are also pesticides themselves (that means whatever feeds on the leaves etc. gets sick and dies), and are resistant to herbicides (or Roundup Ready as Monsanto calls it). Sound scary? It is. I was prompted to act in this way when I heard on NPR's show Marketplace, that Monsanto, as a sponsor, is now claiming to be a leader in Sustainable Agriculture! PLEASE! They fine farmers for saving their own seeds, and sue farmers for 'theft of intellectual property' if any of their 'patented' canola pollen (for example, Percy Schmeiser in Canada) is found on said organic farmers' land. They are now the largest seed monopoly in the world.
Vandana Shiva explains Monsanto's patented illogic and doublespeak in this video with eloquent detail.

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Biotech vs. Organic: Who Wins?

This post is taken from www.change.org
and Natasha Chart's blog in the Sustainable Food section, a 3-part series on "The World according to Monsanto"

"From the Center for Food Safety:

Washington D.C., February 11, 2009 - A new report released today by the Center for Food Safety and Friends of the Earth International warned that genetically modified (GM) crops are benefiting biotech food giants instead of the world's hungry population, which is projected to increase to 1.2 billion by the year 2025 due to the global food crisis.

The report explains how biotech firms like Monsanto are exploiting the dramatic rise in world grain prices that are responsible for the global food crisis by sharply increasing the prices of GM seeds and chemicals they sell to farmers, even as hundreds of millions go hungry.

The findings of the report support a comprehensive United Nationsí assessment of world agriculture ñ the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) - which in 2008 concluded that GM crops have little potential to alleviate poverty and hunger in the world. IAASTD experts recommended instead low-cost, low-input agroecological farming methods.

... "GM seeds and the pesticides used with them are much too expensive for Africaís small farmers. Those who promote this technology in developing countries are completely out of touch with reality," he added.

"U.S. farmers are facing dramatic increases in the price of GM seeds and the chemicals used with them," said Bill Freese, science policy analyst at the US-based Center for Food Safety and co-author of the report. "Farmers in any developing country that welcomes Monsanto and other biotech companies can expect the same fate - sharply rising seed and pesticide costs, and a radical decline in the availability of conventional seeds," he added.

GM seeds cost from two to over four times as much as conventional, non-GM seeds, and the price disparity is increasing. From 80% to over 90% of the soybean, corn and cotton seeds planted in the U.S. are GM varieties. Thanks to GM trait fee increases, average U.S. seed prices for these crops have risen by over 50% in just the past two to three years. ...

The world's poor can't afford this. They need low cost solutions that have a chance at profitability even when the fertilizer budget runs low."

The Marley Coffee Company Open for Business

The Marley Coffee Company is now officially open for business. Started by Rohan Marley, one of Bob Marley's sons, it is the first sustainable, ethically-farmed, organic and ital Blue Mountain Coffee Company in the world. Watch this great video for the inspiring story: "One Cup of Coffee": The Marley Farm Story.
If you drink coffee, or you need a nice gift for someone who does, please consider supporting this company and buy some coffee. It's even very reasonably priced, $15.00 for 12 ounces. Compare that with the non-organic and foreign owned Blue Mountain coffee and it's a great price. Choose from these blends: Lively Up!, Mystic Morning, Jammin Java, Simmer Down, and One Love. Each sale supports the community at the Marley Farm, and their educational projects with children at the Soccer Academy (created by the Marley Coffee Foundation), and Chepstowe Basic School in the area.

Growing the Menu

You can use 'successive planting' to create lots of food and happy plants. Successive planting: think a constant supply of fresh greens, scallions and herbs and a long harvest of things like beans, peas, tomatoes, peppers, squash, cukes. If you keep replanting the greens and do a couple smaller plantings of beans and peas, and then plant a couple different varieties of the others, you can "extend your harvest". Above, you can see from before, the bright green lettuce is almost gone. As I take those out, I put in peppers and more baby lettuces.

Above, that beefy little tomato shares some space with those red beets on the right. I figure it'll be a while till the tomato needs that much room. And the beets are something you can eat small, medium, large, early, midseason and late.

Here a tomato shares the pot with some cukes; they'll be trained up the back of the pot and onto the pea trellis, and the tomato has its own cage.

On the left side, 2 lacy Mizuna greens with a pepper plant fill in after lettuce was harvested. The mizuna will be done by the time the pepper gets big. I can eat any leaves that get in the way! And a couple potatoes on the right. I can pull those when the pepper needs the space.

Successive: The pole beans are just coming up to follow those peas on the fence. I tucked them in here and there where the peas were thin.

A happy family of speckled red lettuce, shallots, peas and baby onions. They'll all be maturing at different times, and I can harvest as needed.

Portland, City of Roses

Founded in 1917, Portland’s International Rose Test Garden is the oldest official, continuously operated public rose test garden in the United States. In the beginning, even though World War I was raging in Europe, hybridists sent roses from around the world to Portland’s garden for testing and to keep the new hybrids safe from being destroyed by the bombing in Europe. The primary purpose of the garden is to serve as a testing ground for new rose varieties. Portland's Rose Festival, in its 102nd year, kicked off this weekend and the first roses on my porch are happenin too.

The nose knows when a rose is a rose. To me, roses aren't complete without that powerful damask fragrance, so I choose them accordingly. This red one is Mr. Lincoln and his velvety dark red petals are surpassed only by the classic fragrance---he's a keeper! Drink in that fragrance---in the 'language of flowers', roses mean love.

This one's a climber, Golden Showers, with a fruity rose fragrance and nice form. I like it because it's resistant to black spot and other foliage problems too.

True, it's not a rose, but since it's on the porch blooming right now, this pretty clematis, "Dr. Ruppel", deserves some show time too. Plus, roses and clematis just go together so well.

My prize beauty, "Aloha". A super duper fragrant pink, the fluffy petals are light on top with a darker reverse, AND, as if that weren't enough, she's also an heirloom 'own root' rose, not a hybrid. The bush on my porch came from a cutting I took off the mother plant---that's the beauty of 'own root' roses. The foliage is really healthy, and the form divine, life is good.