Bonnie O'Neill (guest) 1258008561|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
in discussion Connect with people! / How to start a community garden » Deterring Deer
Thank you so much for the helpful information!
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Bonnie O'Neill (guest) 1258008561|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
in discussion Connect with people! / How to start a community garden » Deterring Deer
Kendra Byrom 1257368500|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
in discussion Connect with people! / How to start a community garden » Deterring Deer
Bonnie-
Here is some info I found, hope it helps!
"How To Make Your Garden Unappealing to Deer
Making a garden objectionable to deer is achieved primarily by treating the garden with various mixes that make the vegetation taste bad or smell bad. Hot pepper, sulphur and eggs are all common ingredients to mixes that are sprayed onto the plants or around the garden to keep deer from dining on your plants.
There are a variety of formulas and products. Some are specific for various regions and species of deer. If you want to use this method of deer control, we recommend you survey neighbors, local agencies or universities for recommendations on what works.
Many people report that bars of soap, particularly "Irish Spring" are very effective at keeping away deer. Reports include leaving it in the box and hanging it up where deer eat or cutting it into slivers and placing in on the ground around the plants. Because deer fear humans, human hair placed into a cloth bag and hung in the garden has been shown to be effective for some. "
"How To Choose Deer Proof Plants
Unfortunately, no plant is truly deer proof. If food is scarce deer will eat whatever they can find. However, that being said, there are many plants that deer won't eat if other food sources are available. By creating your garden from these choices you will minimize the affect deer have on your garden. The following lists include numerous plants, but your local nursery or agricultural agency may be able to suggest additional choices that are suitable for where you live.
Annuals:
Ageratum
Dianthus
Petunia
Alyssum
Forget-me-not
Periwinkles
Angelonias
Foxglove
Poppy
Begonias
Geraniums
Salvia
Calendula
Globe Amaranth
Snapdragons
Celosia
Heliotrope
Stock
Centaurea
Larkspur
Sweet Basil
Cleome
Lobelia
Verbena
Cosmos
Marigold
Zinnias
Dahlia
Morning Glory
Indigo Spires
Datura
Nasturtium
Mealy Cup Sage
Dusty Miller
Parsley
Perennials:
Ageratum
Dicentra
Mallow.Hibiscus
Alliums
Digitalis
Marguerite
Amaryllis
Dusty Miller
Mealy Cup Sage
Amsonia
Echinops
Mexican Bush Sage
Anemone
Epimedium
Mexican Hat
Angel Trumpet
Eupatorium
Mexican Honeysuckle
Artemesias
Indigo Spires Salvia
Mexican Mint Marigold
Aruncus
Euphorbias
Mexican Oregano
Astilbe
Ferns
Mints
Autumn Sage
Goldmoss Sedum
Monardas
Baptisia
Gray Santolina
Monkshood
Bearded Iris
Green Santolina
Oenothera
Blue Plumbago
Gypsophila
Ornamental Grasses
Boltonia
Hellebores
Oxeye Daisy
Bouncing Bet
Honeysuckle
Peony
Buddelia
Hummingbird Bush
Perovskia
Campanula
Iris Germanica
Polmonium
Candytuft
Jerusalem Sage
Prickly Pear Cactus
Catmint
Lamium
Rock Rose
Clematis
Lantana
Rosemary
Convallaria
Lavender
Soapwort
Copper Canyon Daisy
Lavender Cotton
Split Leaf Philodendron
Coral bells
Leadwort
Texas Betony
Coreopsis
Linum
Wedelia
Cranesbills Dianthus
Lupine
Wisteria
Trees & Shrubs:
Agarita
Hawthorne
Primrose.Jasmine
Barberry
Heaths and Heathers
Rhododendron
Bayberry
Japanese Boxwood
Sassafras
Boxleaf Euonymus
Japanese Maple
Scotts Pine
Boxwood
Japanese Yew
Silverberry
Bush Germander
Lilac
Smoke Bush
Chamaecyparis
Mt. Laurel
Sotol
Clethra
Magnolia
Spirea
Cotoneaster
Mugo
Spruce
Daphne
Nandina
Texas Mountain Laurel
Evergreen Sumac
Oleander
Texas Sage
Firebush
Paper Birch
Upright Rosemary
Elderberry
Pineapple Guava
Yaupon Holly
Esperanza
Pomegranate
Yucca
Goldcup
Herbs:
Borage
Germander
Sweet Woodruff
Chives
Lavender
Tansy
Chili Pepper
Mints
Thyme
Comfrey
Rosemary
Valarian
Echinacea
Rue
Wintergreen
Eucalyptus
St. John's Wort
Wormwood
Garlic
Sage
Yarrow
Garlic Chives
Santolina
Bonnie O'Neill (guest) 1257315696|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
in discussion Connect with people! / How to start a community garden » Deterring Deer
Last month I planted some lettuce and some deer ate it. What is the best way to deer proof your garden? Are there any vegetables deer don't like?
Bonnie ONeill 1257300728|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
in discussion Connect with people! / Recipes Galore! » Three Bean Salad with Quinoa
Three Bean Salad with Quinoa
- 1 cup uncooked quinoa
- Salt and ground black pepper
- 1/2 pound green beans, trimmed, cut into 2-inch pieces, cooked and rinsed in cold water
- 1 1/2 cups frozen Shelled Edamame, thawed
- 1/2 cup chopped roasted red peppers
- 1 (15-ounce) can Kidney Beans, rinsed and drained
- 1/4 cup Italian Dressing
- 1 teaspoon dried tarragon
Bring 1 3/4 cups water to a boil in a small pot. Stir quinoa and a pinch of salt into water (Just follow the directions on the bag or box). Reduce heat, cover and simmer until liquid is absorbed (15 to 20 minutes). Uncover and let cool. Put cooled quinoa, green beans, edamame, peppers, kidney beans, dressing, tarragon, salt and pepper into a large bowl and toss well. Serve chilled or at room temperature.
Kendra Byrom 1250614448|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
in discussion Connect with people! / In the news » National Community Gardening Week
National Community Gardening Week announced
August 6, 5:36 PM · Lisa Greene - Gardening Examiner
Growing fresh and healthful foods
is one goal of community garden projects. The U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack proclaimed that August 23-29 would be National Community Gardening Week, as he encouraged Americans to connect with the land.
One of the goals of the community garden project in general is to educate everyone about where food comes from. It's stunning to hear children (and even adults) who have no idea that the produce at the grocery store was actually grown in the dirt.
"Community gardens provide numerous benefits including opportunities for local food production, resource conservation, and neighborhood beautification," said Vilsack. "But they also promote family and community interaction and enhance opportunities to eat healthy, nutritious foods. Each of these benefits is something we can and should strive for."
There are thousands of community gardens nationwide including "The People's Garden at USDA headquarters on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The USDA also offers resources to community gardens such as grants, technical assistance of the garden site, and informational materials aon gardeing and food production methods.
Kendra Byrom 1247859893|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
in discussion Connect with people! / In the news » Community Gardens Act of 2009
The Community Gardens Act of 2009
Introduced in the House on July 15, 2009, the Community Gardens Act of 2009 allows (but does not mandate) the USDA to create a grant program to help groups or organizations start, build, and run community gardens. It is meant to encourage healthy lifestyles, help make fresh fruits and vegetables more easily available to communities, help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and educate the values of community gardening to the public. Non-profits, state and local governments, community development organizations, Native American or tribal groups, and technical, educational, and outreach institutions can apply for grants that can be used for such reasons as construction of community gardens, community outreach, and operating the gardens.
For more information and to view the text of the legislation, please visit: http://www.thomas.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:h.r.03225:
Kendra Byrom 1237844953|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
in discussion Connect with people! / In the news » WHITE HOUSE ORGANIC GARDEN
March 20, 2009
Obamas to Plant Vegetable Garden at White House
By MARIAN BURROS
WASHINGTON — Michelle Obama will begin digging up a patch of the South Lawn on Friday to plant a vegetable garden, the first at the White House since Eleanor Roosevelt’s victory garden in World War II. There will be no beets — the president does not like them — but arugula will make the cut.
While the organic garden will provide food for the first family’s meals and formal dinners, its most important role, Mrs. Obama said, will be to educate children about healthful, locally grown fruit and vegetables at a time when obesity and diabetes have become a national concern.
“My hope,” the first lady said in an interview in her East Wing office, “is that through children, they will begin to educate their families and that will, in turn, begin to educate our communities.”
Twenty-three fifth graders from Bancroft Elementary School in Washington will help her dig up the soil for the 1,100-square-foot plot, in a spot visible to passers-by on E Street. (It is just below the Obama girls’ swing set.)
Students from the school, which has had a garden since 2001, will also help plant, harvest and cook the vegetables, berries and herbs. Virtually the entire Obama family, including the president, will pull weeds, “whether they like it or not,” Mrs. Obama said with a laugh. “Now Grandma, my mom, I don’t know.” Her mother, she said, will probably sit back and say: “Isn’t that lovely. You missed a spot.”
Whether there would be a White House garden had become more than a matter of landscaping. The question had taken on political and environmental symbolism, with the Obamas lobbied for months by advocates who believe that growing more food locally, and organically, can lead to more healthful eating and reduce reliance on huge industrial farms that use more oil for transportation and chemicals for fertilizer.
Then, too, promoting healthful eating has become an important part of Mrs. Obama’s own agenda.
The first lady, who said that she had never had a vegetable garden, recalled that the idea for this one came from her experiences as a working mother trying to feed her daughters, Malia and Sasha, a good diet. Eating out three times a week, ordering a pizza, having a sandwich for dinner all took their toll in added weight on the girls, whose pediatrician told Mrs. Obama that she needed to be thinking about nutrition.
“He raised a flag for us,” she said, and within months the girls had lost weight.
Dan Barber, an owner of Blue Hill at Stone Barns, an organic restaurant in Pocantico Hills, N.Y., that grows many of its own ingredients, said: “The power of Michelle Obama and the garden can create a very powerful message about eating healthy and more delicious food. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say it could translate into real change.”
While the Clintons grew some vegetables in pots on the White House roof, the Obamas’ garden will far transcend that, with 55 varieties of vegetables — from a wish list of the kitchen staff — grown from organic seedlings started at the Executive Mansion’s greenhouses.
The Obamas will feed their love of Mexican food with cilantro, tomatillos and hot peppers. Lettuces will include red romaine, green oak leaf, butterhead, red leaf and galactic. There will be spinach, chard, collards and black kale. For desserts, there will be a patch of berries. And herbs will include some more unusual varieties, like anise hyssop and Thai basil. A White House carpenter, Charlie Brandts, who is a beekeeper, will tend two hives for honey.
The total cost of seeds, mulch and so forth is $200, said Sam Kass, an assistant White House chef, who prepared healthful meals for the Obama family in Chicago and is an advocate of local food. Mr. Kass will oversee the garden.
The plots will be in raised beds fertilized with White House compost, crab meal from the Chesapeake Bay, lime and green sand. Ladybugs and praying mantises will help control harmful bugs.
Cristeta Comerford, the White House’s executive chef, said she was eager to plan menus around the garden, and Bill Yosses, the pastry chef, said he was looking forward to berry season.
The White House grounds crew and the kitchen staff will do most of the work, but other White House staff members have volunteered.
So have the fifth graders from Bancroft. “There’s nothing really cooler,” Mrs. Obama said, “than coming to the White House and harvesting some of the vegetables and being in the kitchen with Cris and Sam and Bill, and cutting and cooking and actually experiencing the joys of your work.”
For children, she said, food is all about taste, and fresh and local food tastes better.
“A real delicious heirloom tomato is one of the sweetest things that you’ll ever eat,” she said. “And my children know the difference, and that’s how I’ve been able to get them to try different things.
“I wanted to be able to bring what I learned to a broader base of people. And what better way to do it than to plant a vegetable garden in the South Lawn of the White House?”
For urban dwellers who have no backyards, the country’s one million community gardens can also play an important role, Mrs. Obama said.
But the first lady emphasized that she did not want people to feel guilty if they did not have the time for a garden: there are still many changes they can make.
“You can begin in your own cupboard,” she said, “by eliminating processed food, trying to cook a meal a little more often, trying to incorporate more fruits and vegetables.”
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Kendra Byrom 1233869215|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
in discussion Connect with people! / In the news » Agrotherapy: How Farms Heal
Published on Monday, February 2, 2009 by CommonDreams.org
Agrotherapy: How Farms Heal
by Shepherd Bliss
After farming for most of the last sixteen years in semi-rural Sonoma County in Northern California and being raised partly on our family farm in Iowa, I have come to understand that agriculture can serve many functions, in addition to producing food, fibers, and beverages. Some farms especially non-industrial small family farms are places where working the Earth can be good for body, mind and soul. Farms can heal.
"I farm because it is my work, play, church, school, gym, and therapy," my agrarian neighbor Jeff Snook recently said as we exchanged food and plants, as we sometimes do. Farms tend to create relationships with plants, animals, the elements, and humans which can promote physical and mental well-being.
Agropsychology is a growing field of study, whose practice is called agrotherapy. For example, farming has helped me recover from post-traumatic stress from being in the military family that gave its name to Ft. Bliss, Texas, and having served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War era. Living on or even visiting farms puts people in direct contact with nature in ways that can improve mental health.
Though the words agropsychology and agrotherapy may be bulky and relatively new, and perhaps a bit too academic, their practices are simple and ancient. Farms on monasteries and elsewhere have long been places in many cultures where people have gone for both physical and mental relief and healing.
Psychological literature documents that what has been called pet therapy and horticulture therapy can heal. Animals can help comfort people and draw them away from passivity and depression. Gardens are increasingly popular in hospitals for the beauty and healing they offer. People have long gone to nature and the countryside for relaxation.
Regular physical work—essential to successful agriculture-has been proven to enhance mental functioning and health and even extend one's life span. It releases chemicals that make people feel better and stimulates a feeling of well-being.
"Ecopsychology: Restoring the Earth, Healing the Mind [1]" titles a popular anthology published by Sierra Club Books in l996. Its sequel "Ecotherapy: Healing with Nature in Mind" is scheduled to appear this May. It includes chapters with titles such as "Gardens That Heal," "Horses, Humans, and Healing," and "Tailoring Nature Therapy to the Client." Trees, animals, rivers and other natural elements can make good listeners and great therapists. Simply watching and helping plants and animals grow and feeling seasonal changes can be nurturing and lift one's spirits.
Though they do not use the word, recent articles in our daily newspaper, the Press Democrat, report examples of agrotherapy, including the use of animals for psychological healing. "With a year-old retriever at his feet, Iraq war veteran Christopher Hill slept soundly through the night-something the muscular Marine staff sergeant hadn't experienced in four years," reports a recent story headlined "Canine Compassion." Animals can offer protection of both body and soul, and thus increase feelings of safety. Caring for them can help humans care for each other.
Farm Sanctuary [2] titles a new book by Gene Baur, sub-titled "Changing Hearts and Minds About Animals and Food [2]." Long before the professional fields of psychology and psychotherapy developed, people knew that pre-industrial farms in agrarian communities could be sanctuaries where they could go for protection and recovery. Farmers used to have the highest life expectancy of any profession in the U.S., before the advent of chemicalized industrial agriculture.
Farms can provide healing fields-especially for those who have been on killing fields-for damaged animals, including humans. Farm animals and humans, as well as the wildlife that roams farms like mine, can benefit, comfort and even help heal each other.
The national group Farms Not Arms [3], which has active chapters here in the San Francisco Bay Area, and the related Farmers-Veterans Coalition [4] help locate farms for returning veterans, who can find meaningful work and recover from the ravages of war. Various groups use the biblical concept "from swords to ploughshares." Others affirm "from tanks to tractors."
Chickens are the farm animals that I personally find most healing. At our Iowa family farm in the late 1940s, we did not yet have electricity. Instead of radios and televisions for entertainment, we had animals, which I still prefer to TV. They can be funny, as well as beautiful. I enjoy watching and hearing chickens dance, talk to each other, clown around, dig into the Earth with glee, and herald the dawn. Many adults could benefit from learning from chickens how to play more, which can be deeply healing.
Chicken wisdom is based on the alertness necessary for prey to survive. I sometimes take chickens as "Teaching Assistants" to my psychology classes at Sonoma State University, much to the delight of students. Learning how to lighten up, especially in the face of crises, can reduce stress and literally extend one's life.
We can all benefit from having an animal of choice and a plant of choice. Near my chicken village is a field of boysenberries. The beautiful, sweet, succulent boysens are my plant of choice and chickens are my animal of choice; they help me heal better than any drug of choice.
Working outside on a regular basis and listening to hawks and other birds, my neighbor's cows and many other beautiful sounds, like the wind with its multiple dance partners-including the mighty redwoods and the flexible bamboo-has increased my appreciation for natural music. I am often overwhelmed and beaten down by urban and industrial sounds, which trigger the sound trauma that I accumulated from the military. Music, paintings, poetry, and other arts can enhance one's healing.
I began writing about agrotherapy at a gathering of the Veterans' Writing Group, which I have met with in the Sebastopol countryside for over a dozen years. Our book "Veterans of War, Veterans of Peace [5]," edited by Maxine Hong Kingston, includes essays, stories, and poems by some eighty veterans. My contribution is about sound trauma and working to recover from this post-traumatic stress of having sounds trigger my military upbringing and service. The serenity and peace of my farm, where I use traditional hand tools such as scythes and shovels, helps ground and heal me.
Support groups and writing can also be healing. The written and oral telling of one's stories can be regenerative. It is important to discharge some things, rather than allow them to linger only within and thus damage the body, diminish the mind and erode the soul.
In the summer of 2007 I was summoned to Chile by an attorney to appear before a judge in the torture and execution of my friend Frank Teruggi in l973 by Gen. Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship. The testimony went well, but after interviewing torture victims and visiting torture centers, I left earlier than planned to rush home to my small farm. I could not wait to be with my chickens, who welcomed me back with flapping wings and exuberant cackles, and to walk among the healing redwood, apple, and oak trees.
Sometimes dealing with people is just too much, especially when they are mean, cruel, and even deadly. Times come to take it to the trees, vegetables, animals, and elements. They can hold it. Weeds help me. Pulling them out can release anger - better than punching someone. Livestock appreciate attention and vigorous conversation. They bark, bellow, howl, scream, and make all kinds of sounds; they listen better when one yells back, which can be a release.
We live in an uncertain, challenging time of diminishing resources and a growing global food crisis. Many veterans are returning from wars, some with deep mental wounds. Those wars and their damage are likely to continue and perhaps even escalate as competition for natural resources, such as water and energy sources, expands. Farms can help returning warriors to re-enter civil society and be productive contributors.
We face unprecedented and unpredictable threats, such as chaotic climate change, petroleum and other natural resources depletion, vanishing pollinating bees, rising oceans, thinning forests, and a host of other dangers. Such perils are good reasons to grow some of one's own food, which can also help relieve various forms of suffering. For those wanting to survive, growing at least part of one's own food by gardening or farming would be prudent and help enhance one's security.
What some people call a "Recession" seems deeper even than a Depression-more like a Collapse, which is likely to cause substantial financial, physical, and psychological damage to people. Farms, rural areas, and helpful agrarian communities can be good places to absorb the hits that are likely to come our way.
Connecting to the land and seeing beauty can help alleviate anxiety and restore a damaged soul. Farming and gardening can be effective therapy for the slings and arrows of bad fortune that befall people.
Plus that, instead of paying for professional therapy, on a farm one can have meaningful work, produce an income, and feed one's self and family.
Dr. Shepherd Bliss farms in Northern California and teaches psychology part-time at Sonoma State University. An essay of his on agrotherapy was recently published in the new University of Hawaii Press anthology "Enduring War: Stories of What We've Learned" and another will be published in May in the Sierra Club Book's "Ecotherapy: Healing with Nature in Mind." He can be reached at ude.iiawah|ssilbs#ude.iiawah|ssilbs [6].
Article printed from www.CommonDreams.org
URL to article: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/02/02-5
layna 1229103171|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
in discussion Connect with people! / In the news » Underfed and Undernourished
layna 1227039881|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
in discussion Connect with people! / In the news » Farming the City
