Dancing for justice....

Our friend Eli very recently posted this video on YouTube.  As serious as he is for the cause, the vehicle for fundraising makes me laugh.  He is such a good guy and funny besides.

I tried to imbed the video, but couldn't make it happen, so here is a link to click on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aksNFkSVC2M&feature=youtube_gdata

I hope you can take a minute and enjoy Eli dancing.

Garbage...

Another Riverbend garbage dump hearing last night.

Lasted until almost 11pm.

This hearing is to rezone the dump to EFU, Exclusive Farm Use.

Yeah, right.  Like that land can ever  be farmed again.

A travesty and an insult to real farmers and real farms.

Feels like living in a Kafka novel or Alice making her way down the rabbit hole.

For those who don't live around here, this will be amazing, and a little difficult to understand.

Waste Management, the largest international garbage corporation in the entire frickin' world,  is asking to rezone the dump to Exclusive Farm Use so that they can then expand the dump onto land that is currently in farm use. 

Can this possibly be real?  Or did George Orwell make this up?

As I said in my testimony,

 "Let's get this straight, this rezoning of dumpland to farmland will allow farmland to become dumpland." 

 Expansion of the dump onto some of the best farmland in the entire world on the banks of the South Yamhill River.

And the Yamhill County Commissioners will fall all over themselves to approve it.

And it will go to court.

In the meantime Waste Management continues to dump 1000's of tons of unsorted garbage daily 

on the banks of the South Yamhill River, 

which flows into the Columbia River, 

which flows into the Pacific Ocean.

.  

This is Oregon.  

This is the Willamette Valley

This is Oregon's heralded wine country.  

This is lunacy.

And the video below is a sad testament to what happens to garbage when it enters the earth's waters.

A sad testament to the state of the earth and the oceans.

So disappointing....

To find that a product that you like is made by a company with total disregard for truth or concern for the world.  Cranberry juice from Ocean Spray, Larabar Bars, Ginger Beer from Knudsen...all regulars on the shopping list, but not any more.  All of the parent companies have donated to defeat the Label GMO Food Initiative (I-522) in Washington State.  When I have contacted the parent company, their consumer affairs department has sent me a response that is a slap in the face to any thinking consumer.  The latest was from Ocean Spray.

Their response to my concerns about GMO foods...

Thank you for contacting Ocean Spray.  As a grower-owned cooperative, food safety is a top priority for Ocean Spray and understands that some consumers have questions about genetically modified food ingredients.  While cranberries and grapefruit are not products of biotechnology, the sweeteners used in some of our products are from plants that are considered genetically modified. The use of genetically modified (GM) ingredients is not only safe for people and our planet, but also has a number of important benefits.

Many of the most influential regulatory agencies and organizations that study the safety of the food supply, including the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, the American Medical Association, the World Health Organization, Health Canada, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Academy of Sciences, have found genetically modified food ingredients are safe and there are no negative health effects associated with their use.

GM technology adds desirable traits from nature, without introducing anything unnatural or using chemicals, so that food is more plentiful.

It is important for our consumers to know that this technology is not new. In fact, it has been around for the past 20 years, and today, 70-80% of the foods we eat in the United States, both at home and away from home, contain ingredients that have been genetically modified.  If the ingredient label on any food or beverage product contains corn or soy, they most likely contain genetically modified ingredients, as a very high percentage of those crops grown in the U.S. use GM technology.  In addition, a high percentage of other ingredients in the U.S., such as sugar beets, are grown with the use of GM technology as well.

Ingredients grown using GM technology require fewer pesticides, less water and keep production costs down.  In fact, GM technology helps reduce the price of crops used for food, such as corn, soybeans and sugar beets by as much as 15-30%.  In addition, one in eight people among the world?s growing population of seven billion do not have enough to eat, and safe and effective methods of food production, like crops produced through GM technology, can help us feed the hungry and malnourished in developing nations around the world.

Ocean Spray will continue to advocate for the continued safe and effective use of agricultural biotechnology to increase the food supply while lowering cost.  And we will continue to engage in an informative dialogue with our consumers so that they understand the safety, prevalence and benefits of GM technology and can make informed choices for themselves and their families.  For more information, we encourage you to visit www.factsaboutgmos.org.  Thank you for your interest in Ocean Spray.

Sincerely,



And Your Friends at Ocean Spray

My response to their response:

Dear Friends at Ocean Spray,

Oh my, you have drank the kool-aid.

So many "untruths" in your response below.

I don't even have enough time to go through this point by point.

However, I have to say that this sentence all by itself is astounding.

GM technology adds desirable traits from nature, without introducing anything unnatural or using chemicals, so that food is more plentiful.

Really!?  The reason for Round-Up Ready crops is so that more and stronger chemicals can be used.  But then perhaps you don't consider Round-Up to be a chemical.

And desirable traits from nature...do you think that we are all frickin' crazy.  Round-Up ready is a desirable trait for Monsanto, and certainly is in no way natural.

Adding fish genes to tomatoes...natural?  Yup, Mother Nature has a really funny sense of humor.  Eel genes in salmon, yup, as natural as can be.

And as for food being more plentiful, since the advent of GMO in the past 20 years (yup a really long time), food is not more plentiful because of GMO.

My husband just walked in and I asked him to read Ocean Spray's response.  He said, " And I had always had great respect for Ocean Spray."  Note the past tense.

Guess we will be buying our cranberry products from Vincent Cranberries and other growers who do not contaminate their nutritious cranberry products with the addition of GMO sweeteners.

We will, with deep regret, be spreading your response.  

Sincerely, 

Marilyn 

In a statement from the World Future Council, a network of global luminaries who "form a voice for the rights of future generations."

Almost twenty years after commercialization of the first GMO seeds, by far the most widely used are not engineered to enhance nutrient content, but to produce a specific pesticide or to resist a proprietary herbicide, or a combination of these traits. Even in reducing weeds, the technology is failing, for it has led to herbicide-resistant "super weeds" now appearing on nearly half of American farms.

Further evidence from around the world is showing how ecological methods dramatically enhance productivity, improve nutritional content of crops, and benefit soil health, all without leaving farmers dependent on ever-more expensive inputs. The United Nations, through its Office of the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, has documented ecological agriculture's potential in hungry regions to double food production in one decade. Chaired by former World Food Prize awardee Dr. Hans Herren, the 2008International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) report, developed by 400 experts and endorsed by 59 governments, calls for redirection of agricultural development toward such sustainable practices. Agroecology and food sovereignty are emerging solutions shaped and chosen by scientists and citizens worldwide.

Note that the World Food Prize mandate is also to recognize contributors to food "for all people," but GMO seeds make this goal harder to reach. Most GM crops are used for feed for livestock, processed food, or fuel -- products not accessible to hungry people. Moreover, the planet already produces more than enough food for all, and 40 percent more per person than in 1970; yet today 870 million people, still suffer from extreme, long-term undernourishment because they lack power to access adequate food. Developed and controlled by a handful of companies, genetically engineered seeds further the concentration of power and the extreme inequality at the root of this crisis of food inaccessibility. Monsanto, for example, controls 90 percent of the U.S. soybean crop and 80 percent of the country's corn and cotton crops.

Thanks to anyone who read this whole thing.

October, my favorite month.

Layer of fog in the morning,

With beautiful sunny weather in the afternoon.

It doesn't get much better than this.

Yesterday was apple cider making day.

The grinder just chews those apples into little bits,

releasing so much juice that the leftover apple pieces are almost dry.

9 or 10 different kinds of apples make for a yummy juice.

Everyone left with ample cider.

What is in the bags?

Chantrelles.

Yumm!

The staghorn sumac in full color.

What a beautiful October we have had.

Stitch: A thread or line that holds things together.

A year ago, I began a quilt for my daughter's birthday.

Recycled a pieced top from a garage sale. 

The fabric was blah, but a good place to start.

Finished Quilt

 I finished the quilt a year later.

Just in time for her October birthday.

Backed in softest flannel.
Tied with light green wool yarn.

Edged in polka dots.

Some of the Squares:

Great Grandma Edith.
(Thanks, Gayle, for the picture.)
Pictures transferred onto linen,
then sewn onto the quilt top.

The old coat button, a reminder of the button jar

that taught us to count, to sort, to know our colors.

 A partial map of NE Portland.

I, of course, "put a bird on it".

Portland, ORE - Put a Bird on It

 "Everything that slows us down and forces patience,

Everything that sets us back into the slow circles of nature

is an instrument of grace."

The beauty of dog ownership.

You have to slow down, go for walks, love a lot.

Daughter and rescue golden retriever, Rusty.

This square was fun to design and embroider.

Borrowed from Julia.  Thanks. 

Embroidered spider.

 A self portrait,

from the first grade.

Will she recognize herself?

Embroidered self-portrait.

 Stitch: A thread or line that holds things together.

"Let us be grateful to PEOPLE who make us laugh."

Her brother fishing in Grandpa's Maltby pond.

No blanket for her would be complete

without a rabbit.

Random embroidered squares.

Wherever there is a heart, there is a hole in the fabric.

As the quilt becomes older and more tattered, 

more old wool hearts can be added.

It's very heavy, fits a queen size bed.  

One of those winter quilts that will provide weight and warmth.

I hope she likes it half as much as I enjoyed making it for her.

Better than wine! (Updated)

Grapes are picked and destemmed.

The press is ready to take its maiden voyage.

A press made by Cider Bob from Elmira, Oregon

 Grapes go into the press box.

 And the first grape juice comes out!

 It's so pretty.

Tastes so good.

Can't wait to press some apples.

What a great birthday present!

Update:
This is Cider Bob, who is over 80, and his son Dan.
A family operation, they make about ten presses a month.
Signed and numbered, 
 working pieces of art.
We picked the press up at the shop in Elmira, OR.
Both Bob and Dan were there, 
plus a granddaughter who was busy doing some finish work.
Lots of pride in the history of their company
and the high quality of their work.

Harvest Time

September harvest

Scents of tomatos, peppers, squash, beans, 

Hang in the kitchen air.

Tucked away in glass jars

Summer riches made ready for winter.

Tomato Sauce, Tomato Juice, & Salsa

Dried Black, Ying Yang, Peregion, and Kidney Beans

Hot peppers

Kale

Crookneck Squash

Bountiful!

And Beautiful!

Such pretty colors.

The Cornucopia Institute

I have newly linked (see side bar) to the Cornucopia Institute's blog.

The Cornucopia Institute

The Cornucopia Institute, through research and investigations on agricultural and food issues, provides needed information to family farmers, consumers and other stakeholders in the good food movement and to the media. We support economic justice for the family-scale farming community – partnered with consumers – backing ecologically produced local, organic and authentic food.

Lots of good information.  However, the entry that really struck me was the one from August 18th, which opens with, "Why do we need farmers?"  It literally made my stomach hurt to read this piece.

Lots of information about corporate non-food, GMO's etc.

Won't necessarily warm your heart, but might get it beating a bit faster. 

Little things...

I've been thinking about little things.

Little things that lots of people don't notice.

Things like leaf skeletons.

Leaf Skeletons

Things like the 7 porcupine quills

Pulled from Libby's lower lip.

Each end so very sharp.

Porcupine Quills 

This black monarch butterfly caterpillar.

Found in the garden on a dill sprig.

Came close to squishing him,

But decided to find out what he was.

My curiosity saved him.

Black Monarch Caterpillar

So today

When I heard a hummingbird 

Making a big fuss.

I went over to see what the little green thing was on the hummingbird perch.

A praying mantis.

Being somewhat misguided, I thought that the praying mantis was in danger.

Praying Mantis

So I did what any nature loving gal would do.

I removed the praying mantis from his high perch,

and placed him in some lower bushes.

Can you find the praying mantis?
(Just below the middle of the picture.)

The hummingbird continued to come around.

It dived bomb me a couple of times, 

which it has never done before.

It was obviously stressed, 

So I came inside.

Hummingbird

Curious about praying mantis and hummingbirds,

I did a search and found that 

Praying mantis have been known to ambush and kill hummingbirds.

They can kill birds, frogs, lizards, scorpions, snakes, fish, and even small rodents.

Woah!  Perhaps they should be prEying mantis.

I have always liked them, 

But now I feel a little creepy about them.

I'm glad the hummingbird was astute enough to realize

 that the praying mantis was laying in wait on it's rusty garden perch.

And here I thought it was the praying mantis that should beware of the hummingbird.

A good year to garden...

Planted the hops 5 years ago.

First year that the hops actually has hops.

Pepper plants are loaded,

And the corn is coming on.

A great year to be a gardener.

Earliest that we have ever had ripe tomatoes.

Lots of potatoes, onions.

Lots of everything.

A friend once said,

"The only problem with the Willamette Valley is you can't eat it all."

But we can try.

New Word...

Petrichor (/ˈpɛtrɨkər/ or /ˈpɛtrɨkɔər/) is the scent of rain on dry earth.

Our first rain in almost two months.  The petrichor permeates the air as we take a late evening walk.

Not for the squeamish....

The processional.....

An elk cow had been laying just beyond the pond for a day and a half, when we realized that her hind legs weren't working well and she was dying.  A slow death of old age or injury is acceptable. However, our fear was that coyotes would find her before she was dead. So we called the state police and asked that an officer be sent out to put her down.  By the time he arrived, she could no longer walk.  In fact, seemed like she didn't even know that people were near her.

Yesterday morning we watched as her herd came to pay their respects.  The new calves simply laid down in the grass as the herd elders stood for a half hour almost motionless watching her body.  Then the lead cow slowly led the herd away from her, past the pond in a slow procession.

Anthropomorphizing?  Maybe.  But this is what we witnessed.

Wildlife.....

Out by the barn, I saw that something had been digging into a dirt bank. 

Maybe a raccoon or a skunk.  

Looking closer, lots of eggshells.  

About an inch and a half long, and an inch wide.

Also, found a large snake skin.

Thinking that these might be gopher (aka bull) snake eggs.

They are the only snake around here that lays eggs rather than having live births.

No idea what got in here and rummaged through the nest for dinner.

More and bigger wild life.

Lots of elk out today.

Cooling off in the pond.

May all of our lives be a bit wilder!