Now THIS is Brilliant

Have you ever walked by an old gumball machine and thought: Why is that machine filled up with useless cr*p made in factories in China instead of little seed and compost grenades that I could toss into that vacant lot over there to diversify the plants around here??

Me neither. But I wish I had. Am and thrilled that someone did.

Greenaid, a landscape beautification project started by the Commonstudio design firm, is doing it. They call the little eco-grenades "Seedbombs." They are packed with compost and regionally tailored seeds for wildflowers and grasses. Creators suggest chucking them into a vacant lot or cramming them into a crack in the sidewalk. Learn more here.

(Thnx again, Singleton)

"One kid at a time"

Received this video from my source extraordinaire, Tim Singleton, within the same hour that my Sustainable Agriculture teacher played it for us during a lecture. When forces this powerful collide, I have no choice but to post. Enjoy the refreshing clarity with which this eleven year old discusses the American food system.

Creative

'Green Box' Product Promo (Pizza Box) from Green Box on Vimeo.

Unemployed Americans Not Interested in Farm Work

Last week, I was speaking to an unemployed friend about a now-unconventional work option: farming. Friend elect wasn't super interested in the idea. We spoke specifically about WWOOFing, World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms, but it seems that the whole nation is talking about the topic - the lack of interest or willingness Americans have in farm work.

The AP reports:

As the economy tanked during the past two years, a debate has raged over whether immigrants are taking jobs that Americans want. Here, amid the sweltering vineyards of the largest farm state, the answer is no.

And the few unemployed Americans who apply through official channels usually don't stay on in the fields, a point comedian Stephen Colbert — dressed as a field hand — has alluded to in recent broadcasts on Comedy Central.

"It's just not something that most Americans are going to pack up their bags and move here to do," said farmer Steve Fortin, who pays $10.25 an hour to foreign workers to trim strawberry plants for six weeks each summer at his nursery near the Nevada border. He has spent $3,000 this year ensuring domestic workers have first dibs on his jobs in the sparsely populated stretch of the state, advertising in newspapers and on an electronic job registry.

But he hasn't had any takers, and only one farmer in the state hired anyone using a little-known, little-used program to hire foreign farmworkers the legal way — by applying for guest worker visas.

Since January, California farmers have posted ads for 1,160 farmworker positions open to U.S. citizens and legal residents seeking work.

Only 233 people applied after being linked with the jobs through unemployment offices in California, Texas, Nevada and Arizona. One grower brought on 36 U.S citizens or legal permanent residents. No one else hired any.

Hmph. Here's Colbert's address to Congress:

Most Americans simply don't apply for jobs harvesting fruits and vegetables in California, where one of every eight people is out of work, according to government data for a federal seasonal farmworker program analyzed by The Associated Press.

Little Stinkers!!

By now, most everyone in Maryland has heard about and had several encounters with brown marmorated stink bugs, right? Formerly considered little more than a nuisance, the population of shield shaped insects - widespread in Maryland, Deleware, Virginia and West Virginia - is now said to threaten fruit, vegetable, bean, corn, soybean crops as well as trees and ornamentals. (Smaller populations have been detected in Mississippi, Ohio, Oregon, and California).

The bugs - native to China, Japan and South Korea - are thought to have arrived sans any natural predators via shipping containers in or around 2001. While homeowners are finding more and more of them sneaking inside for the winter, the most damage appears to be in orchards. Associated Press reports:

They are about 5/8ths of an inch long and get their name from their marbled shell (marmorated means marbled). "We're fairly certain now that the primary method of distribution for them is in vehicles — anything from tractor-trailers to motor homes to cars," Jacobs said. "We first had them here, then all the sudden a population cropped up in Portland (Ore.). Like Johnny Appleseed, we're carrying them around and spreading them."

According to a report by the USDA task force, the bugs caused serious damage to apple, pear and peach crops in Maryland and West Virginia last year. Other crops are at risk because the bug has a broad palate. Like other relatively new pests, the bugs thrive because the predators that keep them in check in their native habitats don't live here.

"We expect it to be a really bad year based on the information that came out of working groups and speaking with various entomologists," Cooper said. "The numbers that are being observed in nature are huge, just much larger than anything we've ever seen before."
 

For a real doomsday report about the little guys, check out this FOX News article in which the insects are being referred to as "enemy number one." 
 
Here is some advice about how to treat an infestation in your home but as always, we here at JustSaying remind you that we are not experts and our hearts err on the side of compassion for all creatures (even when we know better) so... if you find that you are battling a bug infestation "of Biblical proportions," call a professional who will know how much treatment or prevention is neccessary and will be able to explain the pros and cons of chemical sprays.

New Photo Series About Challanges Affecting the Chesapeake Bay Watershed

This week, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation in cooperation with the International League of Conservation Photographers opened doors and links to a series of new, never before seen photographs depicting the beauty and the challenges that are affecting  the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

FYI: Rapid Assessment Visual Expedition (R.A.V.E.) = a visual and media assessment designed to address the challenges of modern conservation.

Here is one of the photos, "Rising sea level is drowning what were once vast expanses of wetlands in the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Cambridge, Maryland" by Garth Lenz:

More about Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge here.

Best News I've Heard All Week

Some fantastic scientists at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, West London, have graciously spent the last three years working with more than 200 governments to cut 600,000 duplicate names from the Global Plant List. The Telegraph reports:

"Alan Paton, assistant keeper of the herbarium at Kew, said the information will be vital for any organisation or researcher looking at "economically important" plants, such as those for food and nutrition or medicine. He said: "On average, one plant might have between two and three names, which doesn't sound a great deal, but if you're trying to find information on a plant, you might not find all [of it] because you're only looking at one name. "That's even more critical for economically useful plants: because they are more used, they tend to have more names."

The full results will not be published until the end of the year, but so far the researchers have found 301,000 accepted species, 480,000 alternative names, and have 240,000 left to assess."

Great Bug Watchin' Weather!

Acorn Assault

Careful hiking today, folks.

Just got back from a walk in the woods with the dog and I'm pretty sure we were under attack from the acorn army half the time.

Blackwater: The "Intel Arm" of Monsanto??

This just in from The Nation:

“One of the most incendiary details in the documents is that Blackwater, through Total Intelligence, sought to become the "intel arm" of Monsanto, offering to provide operatives to infiltrate activist groups organizing against the multinational biotech firm”

Those of you close to the staff here at JustSaying will appreciate the irony of all this.

Read more here or in the October 4th, 2010 print edition.