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A Little Bit About Christmas Tree Farming

Everybody loves a freshly-cut Christmas tree. The smell, the look, the feel of all that winter greenery, right there in your home. But just what all goes into creating that tree? Christmas tree farming seems like it would be easy, but it’s actually quite time-intensive and laborious.

Each Christmas season, between 35 and 40 million trees are sold in the United States alone. An average tree farmer plants around 2,000 trees, of which only 750 to 1500 survive to harvest. It takes an average of 6 to 10 years for a tree to reach maturity. Each tree costs around $5 to $10 from the time it’s planted until the time it’s harvested. Being a Christmas tree farmer can be profitable, but is not without risk.

Planning for the Christmas season begins in earnest in July, but farmers spend 11 months of each year tending to their crop, only really resting, ironically, in December, when all that’s left to do is sell. Spring and summer are particularly busy: farmers spend long hours controlling competition from other plants. Insects and disease can also cause serious damage; farmers often have to quarantine individual trees to save the crop.

Pests can also be problematic: if the fields are left unmowed and unweeded, rodent populations swell, and entire strands of trees can be destroyed.

In non-organic tree farms, trees sometimes need to be treated with herbicides or pesticides, to help control diseases and predation. In organic farms, however, chemicals are not used, requiring more mowing and pruning.

So next time you meet a Christmas tree farmer: give him/her a hug and thank them. It’s hard work!

By admin|December 24th, 2015|News|0 Comments

The Plight of the Indian Farmer

India’s small farmers are in trouble. A perfect storm of climate change, globalization, and government ineptitude is battering away at what was once the country’s most common occupation. The last two decades have seen an explosion in farmer suicides, as indebtedness, crop failure, and usury leave them hopeless and desperate.

The crisis began in 1991, when economic ‘reforms’, exposed Indian farmers to global competition; specifically to the US and UK who receive huge government subsidies. These subsidies drive down prices, resulting in diminished profits and, in some cases, product having to be sold at a loss. Without similar subsidies of their own, the small Indian farmer remains effectively barred from the market.

Those who do remain have to turn to high-cost seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides in order to compete. However, because small farmers in India cannot qualify for bank loans, they are forced to borrow from loan sharks who charge interest rates in excess of 20%. These loan sharks frequently raise rates, so that 40% and even 50% interest is not uncommon. Along with the effects of globalization, it is this ever worsening cycle of indebtedness that has led to an alarming number of farmer suicides.

Since 1995, 270,000 farmers have committed suicide. In 2014, 5,650 farmers killed themselves, roughly 4.3% of all farmer suicides. That’s one farmer every 41 minutes. Of these, 21% were directly related to bankruptcy or indebtedness.

Of course, the effects of climate change are not making the situation any easier. Extreme weather events, drought, and heat waves have proven a deadly combination. The drought of 2002, the heat wave in May 2003, the extremely cold winters of 2002 and 2003, the flooding of 2005, and the 23 percent rainfall decline in the 2009 monsoon season—these are just some of the extreme weather events that have taken a heavy toll on crop output.

Other than reversing globalization, the best way to help India’s small farmers is to provide them access to modern farming technologies and methods: biological pest control, mechanical cultivation, crop rotation, and use of green manures and composts. Additionally, the government needs to educate farmers about the various funding and assistance available to them, as well as implement skill-development programs. The government would also do well to develop improved rainwater-harvesting methods, diverting water from perennial rivers. Groups like Save Indian Famers are doing what they can to help widows of deceased farmers, and to help families escape from mounting debt.

The plight of the Indian farmer, though distant, is not so different from our own. As small farmers, we would do well to work against the same forces that are driving so many to despair so many miles away.

By admin|December 11th, 2015|News|0 Comments

Five Exciting New Ways to Use Microgreens

Everyone knows that microgreens make a great garnish. A handful of micro arugula transforms a boring bowl of Chef Boy-R-Dee into haute cuisine. Add a little micro celery to a Hungry Man Salisbury steak and you’re an instant celebrity chef. Even the lowly peanut butter and jelly sandwich can be made gourmet by a leaf or two of smartly-placed red-veined sorrel.
But did you know that microgreens are good for oh so much more?
The following are five wonderful ways to maximize your micros.

Salads

You’ve had a long, ‘grueling’ day at work. You’re craving a salad, but you’re just too tired to do all that chopping. And then you remember those microgreens you bought a few days ago. Thanks to their diminutive size, they don’t need any chopping. Just mix them in a bowl and boom: instant salad! What’s more, different varieties—mustards, cabbages, radishes—can be mixed together to create new and interesting flavors.

Hors D’oeuvres
Nothing says delicious quite like sliced baguette with humus and microgreens. Or water-crackers with chevre and micro arugula. Or those newfangled pretzel-cracker thingies with cream cheese and micro spring onion. Or thinly-sliced apples with cheddar and micro red mustard. Hungry yet?

Pizzas

What better way to spruce up that pizza pie than with some itty bitty microgreens? Micro arugula and micro basil are the obvious choices, but sunflower and pea leaves should not be ruled out. For a spicy, Mexican-style pie, add some micro cilantro or some black bean shoots. There’s only one caveat: apply the micros after baking.

Sandwiches
If the Earl of Sandwich were alive today, his sandwiches would include heaping helpings of microgreens. Mozzarella with tomatoes, micro basil, and olive oil on a chibatta roll. Grilled cheese with stoneground mustard, sautéed onions, and micro watercress. Or cucumber, carrot, tomato, and pea leaves with hummus on rye. The possibilities are endless.

Sunflower Microgreen Balls
This little gem of a recipe is brought to you by Mara Spiropoulos, microgreen enthusiast. Mix 8 ounces of micro sunflower with bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, butter, onion, eggs; form into balls; and bake for 15 minutes. Let cool and serve as either an appetizer or a side dish. You’ll have a ball baking and savoring these tasty concoctions.

By admin|November 13th, 2015|News|0 Comments

Pumpkin Power!

Halloween just wouldn’t be Halloween without pumpkins. Carved or uncarved, they make great decorations, and even better pies, stews, and soups. Pumpkins also have an interesting and unique history.

Pumpkins arrived on the scene between 7,000 and 5,550 BC in Mexico. These early varieties bore more resemblance to gourds or squash than the creased orange Jack-o-lanterns we’ve come to know and love. Their hard skin made them ideal for storing, a fact that was not lost on Native Americans. They were grown along river banks with sunflowers and beans; and, when corn cultivation began years later, in concert with squash and corn using the ‘Three Sisters’ method.

Whether roasted over campfires, baked, parched, boiled, or dried, pumpkins were prepared in a variety of ways. Their seeds were eaten and used as medicine. Dried pumpkin was sometimes used as a flour, and their shells used as bowls to store grain, beans, and seeds. Strips of dried pumpkin were sometimes even woven into mats!

Pilgrims are responsible for the first pumpkin pie, but not the flat-crusted variety we’re used to. After cutting off the top and scooping out the seeds, they would fill the cavity with cream, honey, eggs, and spices, and then, with top reattached, bury the entire pumpkin in the hot ashes of a fire.

No one really knows just how pumpkin carving began, but there are theories. Early Jack-o-lanterns made from turnips and potatoes were used in Celtic celebrations; these contained pieces of lit coal. Europeans who arrived in America noticed that the pumpkin made a good Jack-o-lantern, and the tradition was born.

By admin|October 30th, 2015|News|0 Comments

Why Do Leaves Change Color?

Autumn is a magical time of year. The cooler weather, the smell of campfire, and the changing leaves. If you have the good fortune to live in the Northeast, the changing foliage can be quite dramatic indeed. But just why do leaves change color? What natural forces are at play here?

There are three main factors that determine leaf color change: pigmentation, length of night, and weather. Of these, changes in length of night are the most consequential. As daylight wanes, biochemical processes within the leaves are initiated, resulting in a shift from green pigmentation, to browns, yellows, oranges, and reds. Once the nighttime-length threshold is crossed for any particular given species of tree, the autumnal display begins.

Chlorophyll, the biomolecule that allows plants to absorb energy from sunlight, lends leaves their green color. Throughout the summer, when sunlight is plentiful, chlorophyll is the dominant pigment. As autumn approaches and chlorophyll production slows, however, other pigments—carotenoids and anthocyanins—begin to appear. Carotenoids are responsible for the yellow, orange, and brown colors in carrots, corn, and daffodils; and anthocyanins give color to things like cranberries, red apples, blueberries, cherries, and plums. But while carotenoids are present all through the growing season, anthocyanins are only produced in autumn, in response to excess sugar build-up within leaves. This sugar accrual is due to the gradual sealing off of the veins leading into the leaf; once the veins are fully sealed, the leaf breaks away and falls to the ground.

Though peak fall foliage varies from year to year, it generally begins in late September in New England, and moves southward, reaching the Smoky Mountains by early November.

By admin|October 16th, 2015|News|0 Comments