Organic Gardens & Landscapes For All: Biofuels

Organic Gardens & Landscapes For All: Biofuels

Biofuels

Did you know that if we were able and willing to start using all the arable land in the US for the production of biodiesel tomorrow, we still couldn't supply the needs of this country for even a few months.
Conservation is something we can all do, right now, in all aspects of our lives. Belief in the myth of some cheep renewable energy resource just over the horizon is not an answer to the problem of global climate change or our dependence on oil from countries we would prefer not to do business with. We can't consume our way out of a crisis.

Biofuels

The biofuels industry as presently structured is one of the most corrupt enterprises known to man.
More later...

Cover Crops

Good cover crops for this time of year are winter wheat and winter rye. You can broadcast them and leave them bare on the ground or for better results you can broadcast them and cover with wheat/oat or barley straw or lightly till them under. This time of year you’ll have the best results with covering or tilling because the frost can kill the germinating embryos.
Low growing clovers like dutch white clover and sweet yellow clover will work well too if you need the nitrogen fixing capabilities of these plants. They take a lot longer to germinate and you may not see much action from them until spring. Apply them the same way for best results.
If you can’t till or cover and you’re concerned about the frost then you can wait until you have snow cover and then “Frost Seed” the crops right on top of the snow. They will come up as soon as the weather allows them too. Clover can thrive when planted this way since the seeds need scarifying most of the time to do their best. The frost cracks the outer shell making it easier for the embryo to get started.
White clover and yellow clover are, for the most part, very short and won’t bother anything in the garden if they continue to come up and they will attract bees and pollinaters to the area as well as fix nitrogen and croud out weeds during the growing season. Some people plant these clovers as permanent crops in permaculture gardens to keep weeds out of the paths and unused areas.

Natural? Safe? Organic? HUH?

All the products we sell at DIRT WORKS and New England Natural.com are natural products which are safe when used as directed. However, this does not mean that you or anyone else won't have a personal allergic or negative reaction to them. Always use good practice by testing small amounts first and observing to see if there are any negative reactions present like, reddened skin, difficulty breathing etc.. Even peanut butter and wool can be cause adverse effects to certain individuals. I'm not big on store bought beef myself! It gives me a belly ache like you wouldn't beleive.

Testing first is a good idea for anything you buy that might come in contact with you or your pets no matter what it is or where you buy it.

Modern Agriculture

I just attended the annual winter NOFA conference and I learned a lot. I was pleased to see how much the organization had grown over the last few years.
George Bush has truly united this country against himself and his way of thinking. We always came together around issues of food purity and sustainable agriculture but, now, the enemy is out in the open and we have known answers for some of the world's problems from years of research and dedication to one simple idea. Food is the basis of our live's here and a healthy environment is key for sustainable life on earth.
I hope anyone reading this will look for and join a farmer's cooperative in their city or town, or a CSA (Coomunity supported Agriculture) and get healthy food for themselves and their families and get the money they spend on it directly into the hands of those who grow it.
If you don't know where to find an organization like that in your community, you can start one. Clcik the link attached to this post as a beginning. The people at Northeast Organic Farming Association can steer you towards the resources you need.
Healthy food and sustainable farms are too important to leave to the agribusinesses of the world.

WildFlowers Gardens

An excerp from Organic Gardening Magazine:
An ordinary turfgrass lawn can be very demanding and—let's be honest—dull. But you can transform your lawn into an extraordinary display of interesting foliage and blooms that changes each week. Replace the sod with native wildflowers, grasses and ground covers, and you'll have a lawn that needs little more than annual mowing. And, once it's established, a lawn full of native plants almost never needs watering, which will make your lawn the best-looking in your neighborhood when drought turns all the other yards brown. Returning the grassy area of your yard to a meadow of indigenous species will also attract birds, butterflies, and beneficial insects to your yard.