Platte Prairie Farms - EcoSystems Management

Grand Kids on the Bridge to Shanti Garden

 Thursday afternoon all three of my daughters and four of my five grandchildren helped me plant sweet potatoes and pull weeds at Shanti Garden. Jordan, the youngest boy asked question after question reminding me of the dialog I had with my Grandpa on many occasion. Grandpa was a farmer whose family was driven off the farm in one of the Wall Street meltdowns around 1914.  These shenanigans (one of my grandpa’s words) are still going on, but that’s another blog. My family is such a blessing and I am so grateful for their love.

 My daughters are no strangers to my farming projects. Back in 1986 a friend and I started a ‘truck garden’ on his 40 acres in Cannon Hollow Mo , north of St Joe.   We grew organic sweet corn and tomatoes.  His father was from Oklahoma Indian country and taught us to put fish heads and guts in the holes when we planted the tomato transplants.   Wish I had time to fish like we did in those days.  Um well no I don’t. I love what I’m doing right now but the fish heads would really be good to have.  When the golden bantam corn cornels were sweet with milk I would fill the back of my pickup and drive to St Joe. My daughter’s Melissa and Jenet would go door to door in the neighborhoods and sell grocery bags of a dozen ears for a dollar as I drove the truck down the street slowly.  I remember Mr  Dattilo who drove his vegetable wagon behind a mule on the street in front of my childhood home. He was my model.

 I’m making sure my grandchildren are exposed to the same experiences, out in the sun, in a Guard  Den. Getting fresh food from the hands of a loved one.

We need to look at the models and wisdom of our forbearers and the people who lived on Main Street, our elders. I’m going to give up on Wall Street, they don’t get it.

I just realized how important the zucchini has become to my life.  It not only nourishes me but provides part of my income. When it’s in season I eat it almost every day. I like to chop it up with whatever else I can pull from the garden and stir fry in a little olive oil. I usually put it in a wrap with some salsa and greens. I harvested my first last Saturday and added it along with  turnips, onion, garlic flowers, sweet potato from  last year’s harvest, arugula,  kale, mountain mint, basil, and borage to the cast iron skilled.  I just love it, a constantly shifting pallet of flavors centered around my friend, zucchini. Bless you my friend, may the squash bugs meet   my ‘watch dog’ praying mantises and leave us be.

Creek House keyhole potaoes and peas

First I want to thank all the wonderful volunteers who have lent their energy and spirit to creating all the beautiful CSA gardens.  Your efforts will benefit Hillcrest Transitional Living Center, Kansas City Rescue Mission, Society of St Andrew   and Harvesters. You truly bring the Community to the CSA movement.

In Your Yard CSA has become very popular and folks all over town want to participate. Gale and Jennifer who live next to Katie and Dan‘s Shanti Garden had a fenced plot in their back yard not being used. They were excited by Shanti Garden  so now I have added Gratitude Garden to our  growing List. It’s already planted with tomatoes including heirlooms Cherokee Purple, Brandywine and the luscious Black Japanese Truffle. Of course I planted my favorite Raven Zucchini.

The corn is up at Martins Orchid Garden along with winter squash and zucchini.  I need to paper and mulch between the hills this weekend.

 We finished the slanted deer fence at Shanti garden. Oh these grand experiments, what fun. Will the deer feast elsewhere or will we pay a ‘wildlife tax’ to them.

Sylvia and Will helped me finish most of the mulching at Circle of Hope garden. Need another quarter load of mulch and two weeks worth of newspapers. We will build some interesting bamboo and jute bean and cucumber trellises- art in the garden.

Schedule of volunteer opportunities:

Wednesday June 3rd   1:00 – 3 :00   Shanti Garden  

9404 Pleasant Dr - Planting corn, beans, squash and herbs. Prepping sweet potato beds.

Thursday June 4^th    8:00  - 10:00        Circle of Hope    

5314 Waukomis – Weed, plant beans and build  trellises  

11:00 – 2:00   Creek House

6310 Waukomis -  Dig new Potatoes, weed, mulch, plant okra

Saturday  June 6th 8:30-11AM            Orchid’s Garden  

7001 Waukomis – weed eat, paper and mulch three sister hills

Saturday June 6th   2:00 – 4:00PM 41 Street Happening Garden

1014 W 41^st  Prep Sweet  Potato beds

Sunday June 7th   2 - 4 PM        Shanti  & Gratitude Gadens

            Weed, water nurture

Michael making his point

The place was packed Wednesday Evening at Unity on the Plazza as Healthy Food movement superstar Michael Pollan rocked the house. Seemed like every farmers market shopper in the metro was there. I saw a lot of BadSeed customers and Food Not Lawnies galore.

I will broadcast Michael’s talk on 90.1 FM KKFI Kansas City Community Radio Monday June 8th at 6:00PM on the Kansas City Community Forum. You can also listen online at KKFI.org

Check out Michael Pollan’s answer to Vicki Walkers question about the White House Organic Garden  -   Click to Listen

Update: Listen to KKFI’s broadcast of Michael Pollan’s talk at Unity from the All Souls Forum Archives at : http://www.kkfi.org/archives.php?id=7

Food Not Lawns ''Tribal Gathering'

Most gardeners and growers don’t know that they aren’t allowed to use the word Organic to describe their growing practice.  The market farmer who sells at the local farmers market can only call their tomatoes ‘Organic’ if they have been certified by a independent inspection service to be in compliance with the National Organic Program (NOP) standards. The  US Government under the USDA has written rules and regulations to protect consumers and created ‘Standard Organic Labeling for Consumers’.

According to the USDA “The National Organic Program and the Organic Foods Production Act are intended to assure consumers that the organic foods they purchase are produced, processed, and certified to be consistent with national organic standards. ”  

See: http://attra.ncat.org/guide/n_z/nop.html

Those who seek out organic food need to be assured they aren’t being cheated by unscrupulous  hucksters. But that leaves the rest of us who honor the community of life in our gardens without a word to describe succinctly how we grow our food.  At the May 16^th Food Not Lawns Potluck the discussion lead to the fact that Linn can’t call our garden ‘Creek House Organic Community Garden’   because of the regulation.   The beauty of these ‘tribal’ gatherings shown through when Toby suggested the word Norganic, naturally organic as a new descriptor.  Consensus, connection  group mind meld , the community energy becomes greater than the sum of the  members energies, yea it works.

So now it’s Creek House Norganic Communitry Garden. Come on by during the Urban Farm Tour June 28th and feel the beauty.

praying mantis egg case

I’ve been waiting since March for the praying mantis egg cases I purchased from a organic farm supplier to hatch. The instructions said to be patient and I was, kind of. I need these guys and now. Flea beetles are out and hungry.

Some of the Crew

Well last night about ten Pop and hundreds of dedicated little farm workers arrived. They’re friendly and crawl all over me. They tickle. I place some on my house plants and now I have roommates.  I went to each of my gardens today and put them to work. Look out flea beetles and squash bugs. My crew is commin to get ya.

The invisible world around us amazes me. Think of it. The space where your consciousness resides actually contains more microbial cells than human cells. We literally are made of microbes, some in symbiotic relationships others well you know all to well what the flue bug can do. Environmental toxins, growth hormones, prescription poison, food adulteration, pesticides, herbicides and all death-a-cides alter the precarious balance that determines the health of this wondrous community of cells, a human being. Food, Exercise and Community  are your Primary Health Care System. The body was meant to move. We were meant to eat local, fresh, in season food free of petrochemical poisons. When we eat naturally from our place on this earth, with our community, we are in balance with our purpose, vibrant human communities.

Community Activating the Brain –à Muscle connection that flows through our hearts to transform Our World

 The Spring planting season is in full swing.  I love this weather and being outside all day. I have a couple hundred tomatoes and pepper plants to put in.  Corn Beans and squash  and were adding melons to a lot of the bigger gardens.

City of Kansas Sweet Potato Project  in its second year.

Organic  Sweet Potato slips preorder  1.50/doz   purple or orange skin available end of May.

 Great news Missouri Organics is donating a dump truck load of mulch to our No-Till gardens effort. A savings in fuel carbon  for me.

I will be issuing Carbon Offset credits that represent the amount of carbon we are sequestering and eliminating by our growing practices.  The more work by the community the more carbon we can trap in the Fertile Ground we are building. Here is an outline of the program.

Local Carbon Offset Credits.

Goal: Reduction of the carbon footprint of food production and removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Heal the Carbon Poisoning of Gaia.

·         Growing food locally reducing ‘food miles’.

·         Eliminating lawn mowing carbon emissions

·         Eliminating petrochemical imputes using organic agriculture

·         Sequestration  of  carbon in the soil with No Till agriculture

·         Recycling biomass and newspaper into food

·         Building Community and educating neighbors.

·         Marketplace for local carbon credits from regenerative organic growers, home gardens and energy conservation efforts .

The credits will be sold on Platte Prairie Farms website, http://www.prairietrading.com/ .  We will ask for a donation on the available offsets. As the Carbon Economy evolves we will be trading then on the Earth market. A Carbon Audit/ Analysis is in progress to establish a value in Tons of Carbon per square foot. Change in organic content of the soil will be one measurement. Volume of mulch and newspaper added another. Food miles per crop harvested and more.

 Sign up to volunteer on this important climate change  transition work.

 Email: volunteers @prairietrading.com to be added to the newsletter and schedule hours.

 Volunteer Opportunities coming up.

 Saturday May 9^th

1014 W 41^st  Westport area. Three In Your yard CSA’s in a row.

Lay Paper, mulch and build beds. 9 AM - 3PM

Sunday May 10^th

                9404 NW Pleasant Dr

                Shanti Garden,  planting and creating beds. 2 – 5PM

Monday  May 11^th

5314 Waukomis  Dr

Circle of Hope Garden , planting and creating beds. 9- 11 AM

Shanti Garden,  planting and creating beds. 2 -4PM

Tuesday May 12^th

7001 Waukomis Dr

                Martin’s Orchid Garden      building and planting three sisters beds. 9 – 11 PM

                 6310 Walkomis Dr

Creek House,  planting, mulching 1-5PM