Safe, healthy and happy Thanksgiving
Ventura County volunteer encourages residents to garden
A Ventura County UC Cooperative Extension master composter, Lorraine Rubin, wrote a guest column published in the Ventura County Star over the weekend about the increasing popularity of food gardening. She attributed growth in the age-old hobby to high food costs, job losses, hunger, concerns about food quality, climate change and dwindling energy supplies.
Rubin wrote that the acting county director in the Ventura office, Rose Hayden-Smith, is a nationally recognized leader in the effort to boost home gardening. Hayden-Smith, Rubin wrote in the article, "has been crisscrossing the nation giving speeches, granting interviews and blogging like crazy to push the message that our country needs to invest, once again, in local gardening."
The story reported that Hayden-Smith wrote a letter to the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture suggesting a victory garden conference be convened in Washington, D.C., this spring, using as a model the National War Garden Defense Conference held there in 1941, less than two weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
The conference, Hayden-Smith suggested, could outline how a national victory garden program could once again offer food security to Americans by supporting edible gardens in our schools, homes, workplaces and communities.
A World War II Victory Garden poster.
CDFA decides to try gypsy moth eradication in Ventura
The California Department of Food and Agriculture has decided to spray a natural pesticide commonly used on organic farms in the Ventura County community of Ojai to knock down a local infestation of gypsy moths, according to an article in the Ventura County Star.
The gypsy moth was deliberately introduced into the United States in 1868 by French scientist Leopold Trouvelot, who wanted to breed a disease-resistant, silk-spinning hybrid caterpillar. Some moths escaped from his Massachusetts lab and the insect became a notorious pest of hardwood trees in the eastern United States, according to a Wikipedia article on the moth.
Four gypsy moths were trapped in Ojai in June 2007; 15 months later, CDFA placed a five-acre area under quarantine. Among other trees, gypsy moths' presence in Ventura County threatens California native oaks. Star reporter Stephanie Hoops contacted UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor Ben Faber for information about CDFA's planned eradication program.
Faber told the reporter that the pesticide to be used, bacillus thuringiensis kurstaki, is safe and a good way to stop the gypsy moth from defoliating oak trees.
“The thought of our hillsides without oaks is scary,” Faber was quoted. “I hope people would consider the ecological consequences if we let the gypsy moths get away.”
Gypsy moth larvae
Community garden rises from Angora's ashes
The devastating wind-driven Angora Fire of 2007, which destroyed 254 homes near Lake Tahoe, left behind fertile ground for the growth of community spirit. Evidence of that is a new community garden being developed on land where the home of Owen Evans stood since 1978, according to a story in the North Lake Tahoe Bonanza. The home was one of Angora's casualties, but before he died of congestive heart failure in December, Evans decided his lot should be turned into a community garden.
“His passion was the environment,” his daughter was quoted in the article. “I just think this is a really positive legacy for him, something positive the community can embrace.”
The garden will contain native plants, and include demonstrations of defensible space, and proper erosion-control measures known as Best Management Practices.
The article noted that UC Cooperative Extension is developing a set of voluntary landscaping guidelines for residents of the area burned by the Angora fire.
“The goal of this project is to develop a vision for a future landscape that integrates defensible space, water quality, wildlife, and aesthetic values,” the story quoted an article in an Angora community newsletter.
The recession contributes to farmworker glut
One thing farmers apparently will not have to worry about during the upcoming growing season is a farm labor shortage. Slowdowns in the construction and food industries are turning many immigrant workers back to agriculture, according to a Los Angeles Times article published yesterday.
Reporter Jerry Hirsch wrote about a dramatic turnaround in what farmers considered a serious farmworker shortage three years ago. However, UC Davis agricultural economist Phil Martin offered the reporter a different view. He questioned whether the "shortage" was actually the result of a reluctance by farmers to raise wages enough to persuade people to do farm work
"You can't talk about need or shortage without talking about wages," Martin was quoted.
Farmers and agribusiness interests say they can't afford to pay much more than the minimum wage because of international competition, the story said.
"So what happens is that people move on to higher-paying jobs. Farm labor is a job, not a career. When people have other options, they get out of farm work. Construction is a frequent first step up the job ladder," Hirsch quoted Martin.
When higher-paying jobs become scarce, many laborers are forced back to the land.
Ya gotta eat
The slogan for Rally's burger stand, "Ya gotta eat," is probably soothing to American farmers. As Associated Press writer James Prichard wrote in an article about agriculture in the ailing economy, "While people will put off buying houses and cars in a bad economy, they still need food."
The story said the economic downturn could even boost income for food producers who know how to take advantage of the situation.
For the article, Prichard spoke to the director of the UC Agricultural Issues Center, Dan Sumner, who pointed out that the agricultural sector isn't immune to the economic recession.
He said consumers are likely to cut back on goods they perceive as more dispensable (wine? asparagus? organic Saturn peaches?) while continuing to purchase basic agricultural products containing corn, soybeans, wheat, butter or milk. Also, because of the recession, credit is harder to come by. Many growers and producers borrow money to pay for seeds or equipment, or to operate or grow their businesses.
The article included a link to the UC Ag Issues Center Web site.
Saturn peaches are more expensive than traditional varieties.