Weeds for Farms

     I think anyone into eating natural foods should be a big fan of weeds. They can be an abundant nutrition source, and for whatever reason they haven't lended themselves to commercial agriculture. Most of the time this reason is difficulty to harvest or perhaps very short shelf life.
     This author is the first, perhaps only, weed advocate for the farming community. I wonder what he would think about the current agriculture revolutions, here, the UK, and in Australia?
     One of my favorite points in chapter 6 is how weeds seeds can be used as a cover crop and as a natural, free green manure source. Maybe this could be a good technique for the South?
     Regardless, it's a thought-provoking read.

Weeds: Guardians of the Soil

Mordore - Local Plant Dye

     In an effort to experiment with plant products growing right in my backyard, I harvested some orange honeysuckle flowers. They are the brightest thing around in the wintertime, a beautiful almost fluorescent orange that is rare in nature. The lack of information about Floridian plant dyes online was encouraging, nay, rousing me to try it out.
     Gathered the flowers. It took some time to gather enough flowers for the project, I probably harvested a full pound of blossoms twice. I dried the first batch while locating the rest of the supplies.
     Bought some alum. It is the safest, easiest mordant to use for home dying, as it is a main ingredient in some canning recipes. I think it's also the other chemical found in baking powder. Regardless, it is safe to eat and won't destroy your cooking utensils. It's in the dried herb section of your grocery store.
     Soaked the skirt in alum water in the crock pot on high for a couple of hours, then left to cool overnight.
     Meanwhile on the stove, cooked the blossoms with plain water for several hours - first bringing to a quick boil then left to simmer. Left it overnight. Then strained the flowers out and tossed them on the garden (Waste not, want not. right?)
     The next day, dumped out most of the alum water, then added my cooked blossom dye. Heated the dye with the skirt for maybe six hours in the crock pot on high, while I ran some errands. Came back, stirred the skirt a bit, left it, came back, strained out the dye water.
     Ran the skirt through the rinse and spin cycle in the washer, then into the dryer with the other clothes. And done! Really, it wasn't very much work, all said and done. And the color is very interesting.
     Next on the agenda is cherry laurel leaves. Maybe the fruits too. But will have to be very careful because of the cyanide precursors in that plant. And who knows what the color will be for the next recycled Goodwill white clothing?
    It's not a bad photo, the skirt really is that strange brass color. It's lighter in the sunlight, and I suspect it will fade with washing.   

What is Alum, really?

     Alum is the common name for a salt that is most easily found in the spice sections of some grocery stores. Individuals that are well-versed in home canning principles will recognize the name, since it is a common ingredient in some pickling recipes. It is made by mining bauxite, then refining it into alum.

Baking

     Potassium aluminum sulfate, or potash alum, is also half the base of baking powder, another useful cooking ingredient. Baking powder leavens, or raises, quick breads, muffins, and pancakes, without dramatically changing the pH, and therefore taste, that baking soda would. The alum in baking powder is activated as the dough reaches higher temperatures. The other half of baking powder is baking soda (sodium bicarbonate).
     Years ago bakers in England used to add it to their breads, not as a leavening agent, but to make the dough seem whiter. A practice we would abhor now, it has been made illegal there. However, it is not illegal here. It kind of makes you wonder how they 'bleach' flour and make white bread so white.

Personal Care

     Along with aluminum chlorohydrate, it is added to some deodorants as a safe astringent, as it kills odor-causing bacteria. Many people are against the use of alum in this way, since it is possible that it gets absorbed into the skin and contaminates the body. Aluminum compounds supposedly neither hurt nor harm cells, but the science is still out on that opinion. It is known that aluminum can be absorbed from deodorants and can cross the blood-brain barrier.

Leather tanning

     Tanning animal skins is a fairly complex skill. The alum comes in at near the end of the process, where it can be mixed with washing soda, the cleaned, dry skin can either be immersed in the mixture or have it painted on as a paste. Alum is used in tanning to remove moisture, prevent rotting, and produce leather.

Dyes

     Alum is known to be one of the least toxic of the metallic fabric mordants. A mordant is a chemical used to help to adhere dye to fabric. It is also considered to be the all-purpose mordant, as hand-dyeing is a largely artistic and experimental endeavor with no two results being alike. Iron impurities in alum can change color outcomes, making for a dull piece. Alum is recommended for all protein fibers, like wool, and most cellulose fibers, like hemp. There doesn't seem to be a recommended mordant for cotton.

Pickling

     Alum is used in pickling recipes to keep the vegetables more crisp. Washington State University says, "Calcium and aluminum salts improve pickle firmness by combining the pectin to make the cucumber more resistant to softening. Alum (aluminum potassium sulfate) has been shown to cause a slight increase in pH and a significant increase in firmness when used at levels up to ¼ teaspoon per pint."
     It can be used in wastewater treatment to 'grab' larger particles, making them sink, which makes them easier to filter from the wasted water.
     Given its wide variety of uses, this little chemical makes a very interesting addition to your preps and pantry.

Exerpt from a School Assignment

     When our ancestors came to colonize / farm / homestead / practice religious freedoms / explore other pursuits here in North America, they mercilessly slaughtered and subjugated the local people, eventually pushing them onto small pieces of land in seemingly uninhabitable areas. Our local natives were wiped out by biological attacks (perhaps unintentional, but who can say?) and then pushed into the thick swamps of the Everglades, places where no conventional buildings or farms could be placed. Their historic homes, our freshwater springs, were turned into tourist attractions and high-dollar housing, though our state has been slowly buying back the springheads. And we generously (guiltily?) allow them to operate casinos in our cities.
     So... then we have the half of the one percent that controls the economy of the United States. And then we have the people paying the majority of the taxes that run our government, and that turns out to be about 20% of the population that resides in the middle and upper middle class. This group can be colorfully referred to as the Debt/Tax Serfs that finance the status quo. The 1% pays very little of our taxes. Everyone always thinks that we should tax the rich more, and whenever a country takes that tactic, the smart rich simply leave that country and diversify themselves.
     More than 9 million people are on (paid) disability from the office of Social Security. The number grows by about 3% every year, so next year we will have about 300,000 more people on disability than this year. How does that number continue to increase when our population is relatively stable? To put that 9 million into perspective, the combined population of Pasco and Hernando County is about 640,000 people or 7% of 9 million. So everyone you personally interact in a day, week, or year, is less than the number of people receiving government aid.
     It is imperative to understand that no one in the government cares about the average people. In fact, it would be in their best interests if large segments of our population were to die out, so as to make life better for the elites. We are not in Perikles’s Athens, we are part of a global society. And we are largely consumers instead of producers, which is a problem for the American citizenry’s continuing well-being.
     So what is the solution, what’s the answer, how can we solve this? One solution is “to renounce debt, go off the financial grid, and escape serfdom by fashioning a low-cost lifestyle in the cash economy. At what point do productive people tire of supporting parasitic financial and political Elites and millions of people who aren't working themselves to the bone to pay taxes and service debt?” Another solution is to turn from consumer to producer as much as possible. Another idea is move more toward a barter economy, which disallows much taxation.

     Perhaps personal aspirations should be much more important to most people’s career than corporate aspirations. Check out what this Lakota tribes-woman is doing to help her people. The work is absolutely inspiring.

Urban Homesteading: Quail

     Quail are probably the niftiest native but domesticated backyard birds available. I have been tossing around the idea of getting quail versus chickens, but considering I will need to buy 100% of their feed, quail seem like the best choice. They are quieter and take up very little space, and even more prolific than chickens in terms of meat and eggs.
     Quail could also serve as cat and dog food with hardly any preparation in the event that we were unable to buy pet food. If that day seemed close on the horizon, rabbits, quail,  and chickens would be raised in every back yard. Quail are insectivores beyond par, it would behoove all of us to raise insects (mealworms, black soldier fly, cockroaches, grasshoppers) to feed our microlivestock healthfully. Although there is not much common knowledge on the topic, cockroaches would probably be the easiest to raise, since they can live on cardboard and mulch, right?

     The young man over at Florida Hillbilly has written a number of articles featuring knowledge he has learned from raising quail in his backyard. This kind of secondhand experience is priceless, and makes for interesting reading even if you aren't interested in quail...yet. Florida Hillbilly's Quail

Cowpeas, Black-Eye Peas, Vigna unguiculata

Uses: Edible, Forage, Legumes, Xeriscaping. Native to: West Africa
     A true survival food, the cowpea is grown for its edible beans and leaves. It's a nitrogen-fixing legume, which allows it to grow in extremely poor soils. In addition, it's one of the best fodder plants for the deep south.
     Not only do cowpeas grow very well in this area, it seems that wildlife has very little interest in them. This can be a boon when squirrels and birds frequently do their best to defeat even the most resilient of gardeners.
     Plant cowpeas in the early spring, around the beginning of March if no additional freezes are reported. Plant them again at the end of September. They are a short-season annual that only needs about 3-4 months to produce a whole crop of beans. The beans germinate faster if soaked in clean water for 2-4 hours before planting. If desired, innoculate with additional nitrogen-fixing bacteria, but this step is not necessary in order to get good results. Grows very well in the full sun provided they plants have enough moisture to prevent wilting.
     Cowpeas have also been shown to be an excellent green manure and annual cover crop, as they grow in poor soil and have a short growing season. Supposedly they arrived in the US via the slave trade, and are still a New Years Day traditional holiday food in the south.
     Mine are originally from the grocery store, and I have been growing them now successfully for a while. I'm attempting to hybridize some cowpeas that particularly enjoy our weather and soil, though I have been amending the soil with rabbit manure for some time as well. This variety is low-growing and bushy, and can be planted very closely together to maximize your growing space. They are very well-behaved little plants, and will stay where they are placed. At the end of their cycle the beans and plants politely die and dry right on the plant, making harvest very easy.

Timber for Florida's Future

   I may have already said that I ardently believe that Florida's natural state is forested, and that it's weather and plants do everything they can to return the state to a forested system, time and again. Perhaps we should work with nature instead of against her, and plan Florida's agriculture to its forests and not to cattle pastures and tomatoes. After all, citrus trees can be part of a silviculture system, when properly managed.
     In the not-so-distant past we were all about growing timber, and some parts of North Florida still are. The construction lag has reduced the timber industry nationwide, but there will always be a need for lumber. Moreover, there are dozens if not hundreds of native and exotic trees that can be used to produce high-quality lumber products.

Grow a Forest in 3 Years

      This amazing essay was written in 1964 by an agricultural professor in Athens, Georgia. He outlines some information gleaned from their test site, which uses the American Sycamore tree, a member of the maple family, to very quickly produce high-quality timber and rough cellulose. The species grows very well in the entire east side of the country, is relatively pest-free, and can produce maple syrup and mushrooms as a by-product (read: secondary income). It grows quickly from seeds and is a prolific producer. The trees are even great at growing where other timber species can't or won't.
     I'm not advocating large fields of trees, but I am advocating some parts to life that can be more sustainable. What about permaculture farms that grow pecans, citrus, persimmons, cacti, pines, and other useful trees in polycutures? With processing facilities nearby or on-site, the value added could be enormous.

     Another favorable long-term study for commercial growth of Sycamore and Sweetgum in the deep south.

Florida's Department of Making Water Gardeners Sad

On this list, all the plants are illegal.

These species can only be grown in licensed, permitted, and inspected nurseries which have taken measures to ensure no possibility of escape for these plants.

     While some of these plants are unfamiliar, others are sources of human and animal nutrition that should not be disallowed in non-tender areas. For example, non-native water hyacinth is a favorite food of manatees and is reported to be well-received by cattle, goats, and rabbits. It's one of the main plants that I wanted for my pond, since it has beautiful tropical flowers and is edible. A few other plants of making people sad are water chestnuts, water spinach, and water lettuce.

Greenfest 2014

     Greenfest 2014, a fundraising event held by the gardener's at Plant Park, at the campus of University of Tampa, will be Saturday March 29th and Sunday March 30th, from 9:00 AM to 4 PM. They will feature hundreds of plant vendors, guest speakers, and a children's activity area.

Spiderwort, Tradescantia spp., Asparagus of the South

Uses : Edible, Forage, Xeriscaping. Native to : Eastern North America.
     There are several Tradescantia members that look similar, notably T. virginiana and T. ohiensis. The good news is that they are both edible. The bad news is that when anyone thinks of Tradescantia, they usually think of the striped (Wandering Jew) or purple (Purple Heart, Moses in a Boat), which are inedible.
     These purple beauties will bloom all spring, but each flower  is only open for a day or so. They are very successful, some might even say invasive, and can survive some mowing. The best practice is to relocate these hardy perennials to a flower bed in the full sun.
     Rabbits do enjoy eating them, along with some humans. Green Deane says:

     "Its leaves do not change in flavor as the plant ages. The leaves are good for salads as well, or in soup and stews but they are mucilaginous. The stems can be braised like asparagus. The flowers, at one time favorites for candying, make very pretty blue additions to back yard salads."