This is Fascinating

Nearly 300 acres of greenhouses at Moscow’s southwestern edge are a measure of Russia’s change. Warmed by gas and lighted by almost uncountable electric lights, the sprawling complex once fed the party elite, keeping the Kremlin stocked with mushrooms and greens no matter the winters swirling outside. Read on...


<--Look at all these oyster mushrooms!!!

Follow Up on Logging

This article was on the front page of the San Jose Mercury News yesterday. Hope to see you Wednesday.

Harvest in Caracas

Check out this small photojournal on the urban gardens in Caracas, Venezuela. Few, but very beautiful photos...

Blessings

Save BAREC

Howdy folks:

I wanted to post a little something about a piece of land located on the other side f the hill that used to be a UC research facility and is now in danger of being developed. The 14 acre site located in the Valley o the Hearts Delight, is some of the last open space and agricultural land left in the South Bay. Please take a minute to check out the info, updates, and pass the information to anyone you might know in the South Bay.

Blessings

Mike

Public Hearing This Week!!

From my friend Adelia:
Dear Friends & Neighbors,

I just wanted to let you local folks know that a public hearing is being held this Wednesday about the proposal to log a large area in the Los Gatos Creek watershed. Many agencies and scientists have filed official objections to the plan, including three prominent academic fire scientists, the Dept. of Fish and Game, the CA Water Quality Board, Mid-Peninsula Open Space District, and the County of Santa Clara (who has hired biologists, geologists,and foresters who have all filed objections).

The important thing to know is that San Jose Water Company is asking for a logging permit that will allow them to go back into the same area "in perpetuity". This is not a logging proposal that will be completed in 3 years, this will set the management objectives for much of the Los Gatos watershed for potentially our lifetimes, and either make or break the opportunity to turn much of the area into publicly accessible open space.

The public hearing is really the only opportunity for public comment, and it's very important to have a large showing. Please see the NAIL Website for the time and location as well as more information.

Please lend your support by showing up on Wednesday and thank you for listening!

Adelia

¡¡Viva La Revolucion!!

Wall St. in the Trough

Wall Street commodity funds that have been investing heavily in energy futures are now loading up on agricultural commodities like corn and livestock futures. The index funds may be stoking volatility, traders and analysts say, because the agricultural markets tend to be far less liquid than other commodity markets, like energy. Such volatility could lead to higher prices for buyers and sellers of agricultural commodities, including food at the grocery store.

More here.

Intern at OZ FARM, Point Arena Mendocino! (Alix's uncle)

Oz Farm is staffed by a full-time resident manager and three or four interns. The minimum stay for interns at the farm—after a week trial period—is three months, but most stay longer. An intern is assigned a cabin in exchange for 30 hours of work at Oz per week. Intern work is typically a mix of farming and gardening, firewood cutting, trail building/maintenance and other forest management tasks, and cabin maintenance. While prior farm experience is definitely desirable, mainly we are interested in highly motivated self-starters.

Oz Farm grows some 45 varieties of unusual antique apples in its espalier-style orchard as well as a wide variety of vegetables and flowers (Organic Produce). Most of our produce is sold through Farmers' Markets, organic wholesalers, restaurants, and local schools, but we also operate a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program that provides weekly boxes of seasonal produce to local subscribers.

Oz Farm has been a California Certified Organic Farm (CCOF) operation since 1990 and a licensed retreat center in Mendocino County since the mid-1970s. We also do a modest amount of sustainable timber harvesting (Forest Management).

Oz Farm is located in the Garcia River valley, about a 15-minute drive northeast of Point Arena, California, and a three-hour drive north of San Francisco (Map & Directions). The farm lies six miles upriver from the ocean in coastal Mendocino County's cool temperate zone. Summer mornings and evenings can be foggy, but days generally warm up enough for river swimming. Winters can be very rainy.

In addition to our farming focus, Oz Farm's cabins and facilities are frequently rented for family gatherings and weddings, and as a retreat by groups engaging in meditation, yoga, Tai Chi, cooking, art, river studies, environmental activism and the like (Retreats & Cabins). Retreat groups are drawn to Oz because of its quiet beauty, and interns are expected to respect this peaceful atmosphere.

If you are interested in applying for an internship, please send a one-page letter describing your interests and background to: Oz Interns, 201 Buena Vista Avenue East, San Francisco, CA 94117. We mainly want to know what you would like to do on a farm and what you can offer. Thanks!

Cold Snap Destroys Most California Citrus

***Link Updated 01/16, 9:30AM***
***Follow Up (With Pictures) 01/17, 9:45 AM***

As much as three-quarters of the state's citrus crop withered in the field during the cold snap, but nearly every winter crop, from avocados to fresh-cut flowers, has suffered severely. Price hikes still won't be enough to offset the damage, as growers cope with nearly $1 billion in losses following four consecutive nights of subfreezing temperatures. On Tuesday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger asked the federal government for disaster aid from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Small Business Administration for growers and other affected businesses.

Amber Waves of Bland

Dan Barber, chef at Blue Hill in NYC and Blue Hill at Stone Barns--the Rockefeller's swanky sojourn into the land of sustainability, set up with the assistance of Eliot Coleman-- contributes this piece to Sunday's NYT calling for farm subsidies that reward diversity instead of quantity as a means of improving overall food quality and reducing food processing ...interesting despite its impracticalities.

Getting to Market in an Unforgiving Market

This is a fascinating article about Martek Biosciences, a company that manufactures Omega 3 fatty acids from algae. Their products are now turning up in everything from cheezy puffz to baby formula, but not quite fast enough to please investors. It will definitely be interesting to follow the views of the food industry and American public on this company "committed to the discovery and commercialization of life-science based products that promote health and well-being throughout life."
Money quote:
The selling of DHA, then, offers a vehicle for understanding an irony of the modern food industry. The industrialization of food has reduced the presence of omega-3s in the food chain, creating a moneymaking opportunity to any company that can find a way to make up for its absence.

Dinner Plans

For the record, the dinner plans made at game night still stand. Please join Nancy and I at our house for a potluck next Sunday (21st) evening. Arrive by five for a tour while there's still light, food sevenish. Also, please RSVP so I have a general sense of a head count and for directions.
Daniel & Nancy

California citrus growers face big losses as cold snap continues

I know my lemon trees are very unhappy right now. More here and here.

Winter Pruning in the UP

Farm friends and family:

The time is here. Our fruit tree friends are deep in sleep and we have been beckoned, loppers in hand, to give our fruit trees some winter pruning love. Starting at 8:30am on Tuesday the 9th of January, the 7 2nds who are still on the farm, plus any and all past apprentices who would like to participate, are invited to spend some quality time with Orin Martin, dwarf rootstocks, heading cuts, and all the pomes and stones in the Up Garden.

We will be pruning Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday in the Up Garden for the next few weeks, so please come by if you are interested. Any questions, please email...

Federal Subsidies Turn Farms Into Big Business

John Phipps of Illinois did well last year; his farm grossed nearly $500,000. Yet, the government sent him $120,000. The very policies touted by Congress as a way to save small family farms are instead helping to accelerate their demise, economists, analysts and farmers say. (click link for whole article)