Potato Chips vs Cement, Another Revelation

The Carbon Trust, http://www.theconstructionindex.co.uk/news/the-construction-index-news/More-carbon-emissions-from-crisps-than-cement, recently announced that more carbon emissions are produced making potato chips than cement. Of course, cement production is greater in the United States than that of chips, but it gives one pause.

How much processed food can we really consume without being accountable. According to Michael Pollan, and his wonderful books such as The Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food, our food has become something produced by the industrial/military complex. You may doubt me and the Carbon Trust, but read any of Pollan's books and you will jump on board.

After realizing that Americans had supplanted the Mexicans as the real "Corn People", I have a hard time cutting into a steak without wondering what horrid life that poor animal lived. Here's a tiny synopsis of how that steer ended up on my plate:

1. Our government decided that paying subsidies to farmers to keep small farms in business was counter-productive politically. They created policies that paid farmers to produce more food by paying them less. The farmers, to make their personal livelihoods possible, planted more food.
2. Excess petroleum products, equipment, and chemicals left over from wars were used for fertilizers, making the need to have animals fertilize the croplands unnecessary and eliminating the need for overwintering crops.
3. Mono-planting depleted the soil, wind took over depleting the top soil, and more chemical fertilzer was needed.
4. Excess corn was produced, so this was used to make biofuel (ethanol, etc.), feed ruminants like cattle (who get sick from eating this mess as their two stomachs are meant to process grasses), feed other animals this same feed, and get made into high frustose corn syrup which is in everything possible in the processed food category from sodas to packaged casseroles.
5. The chicken McNugget or the Hamburger? Not only does it have corn in it, all the flavorings are corn. The liter of soda? That probably has more calories in it than most of us should consumer in two of our three meals.
6. And as we omnivore's evolve and become consumers of corn in such huge quantities it is hard to fathom, we again disrupt the ecology of everything around us.

I was sickened thinking about the poor animals needing antibiotics and other medicines just to tolerate the non-grass meals they are force fed in pens littered with their own manure. I imagine that they are terrified, miss their mothers, spend their last months of a shortened life while their fat becomes 'marbled', confused and abused.

And now potato chips are righteously under attack. Luckily I gave them up years ago, but my point is this. We may be omnivores, but our bodies are rebelling against the massive amounts of grass (corn is a giant grass after all) we are eating. Not only have our body masses ballooned, our hearts and other organs are not able to evolve quickly enough to compensate.

Natural foods, foods you grow and preserve yourself, foods from urban farms, community gardens, farmers' markets and local farms. Support them before it is too late and they are all farming corn.

Potatoes: Planting in a Garbage Can

Potatoes can be grown easily in any container that has good drainage, but a garbage can works well because you have the use of a lid if you need to protect your crop from driving rain or cold.

Items Needed:
1.A standard garbage can
2.Potting soil
3.Gravel or small stones or a stack of newspapers sufficient for a 6" bottom layer
4.Organic, slow release fertilizer
5.Enough potting soil for at least a 15" layer of soil
6.Soil, compost or bark dust sufficient to fill the rest of the container
7.Seed potatoes from a nursery or store bought potatoes with 'eyes'
8.A dish or drip pan to capture water draining from the can bottom

The garbage can (or any container of similar dimensions) should be big enough to allow for planting potatoes at least 16 inches deep and about 6 inches apart. Drill holes in the bottom of the garbage can for drainage or if you don't have a drill, use a large nail and a hammer to make the drainage holes. If you are growing this on a balcony or patio, keep in mind that the water will exit from the bottom. If your can is not going to be sheltered from rain, you may also want to drill holes on the sides of the container on the bottom 6 inches.

Place newspapers or small rocks in the bottom to create a 6” layer to provide drainage. Mix a slow release fertilizer into the potting soil before planting. If you skip this part you will need to fertilizer your plants every two weeks.

Planting the Potatoes:
• Add 6” of potting soil/fertilizer mixture on top of the 6” of papers/stones and water it until it is moist.
• Place the eyes from potatoes on top of this soil layer, facing up, spaced about 4” or 5” apart.
• If you want to increase the number of plants, do not use whole potatoes, but cut them into pieces (each piece should have at least 3 eyes in it)
• Leave each set of eyes with at least an inch of potato to provide nutrients until the sprouts have rooted. If you use cut potatoes, they need to cure before planting.
• “Cure” your cut potatoes by letting them dry out on a paper towel-covered plate. They need to be dry before planting so that the potato piece is somewhat sealed and will not rot when put into the moist potting soil.
• Place the potatoes 4” to 5” apart.
• Cover the potatoes loosely with a 2” layer of soil. If the eyes have already sprouted, cover them with 3” of soil. After the sprouts gain some length, add more soil.
• Water, then keep soil moist, but not too wet
• If the weather gets too cold or there is punishing rain, cover the garbage can at night, but remember to remove the cover the next morning.


Growing/Maintenance of Vines
• The vines will soon begin to grow and as soon as they reach 4 inches tall, cover all but 1 inch of the lowest vine with compost, wood chips or potting soil.
• The soil should also be kept moist, but not wet throughout their growing season. During hot weather you may need to water them everyday.
• Continue to cover the vines in this way until they grow out of the top of the garbage can.
• Once the vines bloom, you can reach in and pick the biggest spuds you can find. New potatoes won't store, but they are delicious for that evening's dinner.
• Wait to do the main harvest until vines turn yellow and die back completely in the fall.
• Potatoes need at least 6 hours of sunlight and take 65 to 100 days to harvest
• Do not water for a couple of days. Place a tarp on the ground, dump out the soil and gently remove your potatoes. The skin is soft, so care should be taken to pick them by hand. You can brush the dirt off gently.

Potatoes generally prefer cooler weather, so the period from September through March is ideal for growing in some areas. You will want to avoid freezing, however, so that may not work in areas like SW Washington. However, growing potatoes in garbage cans allows you to move or cover them when necessary. If you want baby potatoes and live in a cooler climate, you can also get in a late summer planting to harvest around Thanksgiving. Potatoes picked after the vines die back will store in a dark, cool spot for up to six months.

After you harvest the potatoes, the soil will not be suitable for other plantings without being amended with compost and nutrients, so if you decide to grow potatoes next year? Get new potting soil and compost and start fresh. Of course, it’s always a good idea to rotate crops so that the soil is not depleted of nitrogen but with potatoes this is very important.

Can Planting a few trees create a carbon neutral atmosphere for your home?

Here is the nature conservatory’s calculator to determine what your carbon footprint is:

http://www.nature.org/initiatives/climatechange/calculator/

According to planetgreen,they are a magical species:

“They can be used to sequester carbon. The average tree removes 2,000 pounds of carbon from the atmosphere during its lifetime [almost a metric ton]. Trees curb erosion and can clean over 2,000 gallons of water in a year. Trees can also be used for energy-saving purposes. Shading an air conditioner can save you a little under 5% on your cooling bills. If you planted 20 trees per year, you would offset carbon enough to basically be carbon neutral.”

Here are a few cool links:
http://planetgreen.discovery.com/travel-outdoors/plant-20-trees.html

http://slf-web.state.wy.us/forestry/econ.aspx

http://barnyardsandbackyards.com/

The average American creates 20 metric tons of carbon. The average 2-person family in the United States about 53 metric tons of carbon. I estimated our 2-person family might be more like 60 metric tons as we eat meat, drive long distances, use air conditioning and heating, have some high efficiency appliances like our heat pump but mostly low efficiency ones, we are thermostat conscious but our house is completely electric. We rarely fly anywhere, averaging one trip every 3 to 5 years. We don’t use our fireplace, but we do use a gasoline mower.

We recycle about 60% of our trash and I have started composting too, which increases our recycle rate substantially. We stopped getting paper copies of newspapers. We use a gas grill and we do many things manually ourselves. We are not big consumers, and our hobbies are modest and not consumer-oriented but rather consist of doing things. We use the library for books when we can and read on-line. Our clothes last us for years and years. Our landscaping and gardens are organically maintained. Here's another good link: http://statejournal.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=43496

I have been feeling guilty, like a 'less-than' greenie, so I decided to see if our trees would make us carbon neutral. Guess what? An emphatic “yes” is the answer. Of course, I also learned from the Nature Conservancy’s Carbon Calculator that we produce about 36 metric tons living here together, which is lower than a 2 person US family average of 55 pounds. We could probably do better if we tried a little harder.

1 metric ton = 2204.62262 pounds

We have planted about 120+ trees which are good size now, which a 2000 pounds a year would remove 108.862 metric tons of carbon a year if we keep them alive. So we are better than carbon neutral. If we include our woods, then we have about 400 trees, which would mean our combined trees remove 362.87 metric tons of carbon a year from the atmosphere.

Of course, all of us need to do better than carbon neutral if we are going to have a prayer of turning climate change around. So I will be setting some new goals for myself. I've already given up most packaging on food and we only keep bottled water for emergencies now, but there are still ways I can go. Here is a list of simple things for anyone to incorporate:

* Wash full loads of laundry only
* Turn off the water when brushing your teeth or washing dishes by hand
* Buy local and foods in season
* Plan errands that require driving together
* Reduce meat consumption by a day or two or seven a week
* Compost
* Raise your own garden vegetables and herbs
* Cook more often
* Ride your bike when you can
* Carpool or take the bus

Even one little effort is a start. Your descendants' descendants will appreciate it.