Well I Have All This Kale...

At our farm we harvest some of the freshest ingredients we will ever be able to cook with. But what to do with bag of kale, beets, or wild arugula besides a simple salad? The sites Food52 and FoodRepublic are full of excellent recipes that will allow us to create amazing food from the ingredients we grow. Instead of kale chips, one could find a recipe for crispy coconut kale topped with salmon, or peanut kale udon noodles. Food52 also posts useful articles on specific food preparations and college-worthy articles such as “3 Ways to Make Toast Without a Toaster”.  Food Republic hosts articles on the progresses of noteworthy chefs, food trends across both the country and the world, including propagation of little known cultural dishes. So if its to complete a food and use project, or just interest in current food innovations, check out these websites for some insight.

-Gabe Gennarelli (6th)

Farm Update Post Storm

Over the last week the North Bay has experienced heavy rain storms paired with high winds. Both the wind and the rain caused for large pools of water to form all over the north bay, with winds blowing branches and debris all over the place. In the past, the RHS farm has turned into a mud bowl when faced with rain, as the pathways flooded and open areas became mush.      This time however, the farm held up very well with little to no damage to important areas of the farm. Preparing for the storm, Mr Stewart had his classes lay down organic matter in the trouble spots of the farm, to help soak up the rain water and eliminate flooding. This worked well and the paths proved to be in great condition after the storm, showing little signs of damage. The school side of the hoop house, which had been a problem area in the past, looked great after layers of carboard and wood chips were added. A culvert runs along the entire east side of the farm, it is designed to be the low point on the farm, so water will pool naturally and flow out. The culvert really helped drain water that could have pooled on various parts of the farm into one easy to control area. The only problem spot in the garden seemed to be the class gardens along the tennis court fence, which pathways between beds had not been forified well enough and tuned to mud. The plants in the class beds looked fine for the most part, except that some wind had tipped over some of the more tall Kale plants.      The farm actually looked pretty good after the rain fall, with all of the plants looking very green and healthy. With just a few improvements to the farm before the next rainstorm, we will be ready to handle anything! By: Stephen Nelson (6th)

Civil Eats: A Review

12/8/2014

Civil Eats: A Review

    Civil eats is an activism centric website devoted to the promotion of sustainable agriculture practices and exposing the injustices of the food world. With articles exposing ag-gag laws that unconstitutionally prevent journalists from documenting the inner workings of our food system, the problems of “food deserts” or areas without access to fresh foods, and innovative sustainable farm techniques to name a few.  The site is also devoted to building relationships between citizens and their local farmers, as well as promoting youth interest in sustainable agriculture systems. Back articles such as Freshly Squeezed: The Truth About Orange Juice in Boxes underline some of the unknown aspects of our food and agriculture system that show how consumers are misled by businesses. Articles such as “Pesticides taking toll on farm workers” both show the negative effects of pesticides on our food and health but also how dangerous they are to our agricultural workers when safety is not prioritized.

    Civil eats is an important site to educate us on aspects of the agricultural system that are purposely concealed from us. By better understanding these shady practices we can begin to take step to change our actions and show our dissatisfaction in the form of action or consumer-side activism “voting with our dollars”. If these topics interest you, or maybe you just want to see some cool interviews with chefs, then check out some of these links or go to civileats.com.

http://civileats.com/2009/05/06/freshly-squeezed-the-truth-about-orange-juice-in-boxes/

http://civileats.com/2014/09/12/can-you-trust-the-natural-label/

http://civileats.com/2013/08/09/pesticides-taking-toll-on-farmworkers/

-Gabe Gennarelli

Honey and Bees

Honey and Bees

Right now all I can think about is how much I want some honey.

Over the last few weeks we have been hearing a lot about honey, and the bees that make it. We have watched a movie (More than Honey) and had a number of people from the Planet Bee foundation and from UCSF come in to class to talk to us about bees, their honey, their pests, and how much we need them in our lives.

As much as I love honey, we could all probably live without it. However, bees are responsible for pollinating at least 30% of the worlds crops. Many delicious fruits (tangerines and apples), as well as a number of nuts (hazelnut and walnut), grains (buckwheat) and vegetables (avocado and broccoli) would all probably die out without bees to pollinate them. Beyond the vegetables, many of our cattle are also fed with plants or grains that are pollinated by bees, so they would also be affected. Clearly this is not a desirable outcome, but over the last decade or so, bee populations have been shrinking rapidly as a result of disease and the mysterious colony collapse disorder where many bees suddenly decide to leave the hive and queen.

Bee hives are populated by the queen bee and the worker bees, both of which are female, and drones, the males.

Queen bees lay approximately 1,500 eggs a day and can store multiple types of sperm in their abdomens, ensuring diversity within the hive. Drones don’t do any of the work in the hive and only live for the chance to mate with queen bees from other hives. Once the drones mate, they die, and any remaining drones will be killed off by the worker bees before winter. Although the worker bees do all the work and the drones are necessary for mating, the queen is clearly the most important part of the hive, which is what makes colony collapse disorder so strange. Normally the worker bees would never leave a queen behind because they would have no one to lay fertile eggs, but this phenomenon is becoming more and more common.

Another reason for decreasing bee populations is pests and disease. The most prevalent and dangerous pest for honey bees is the varroa mite which bites bees on their necks and feed on their blood. However, foulbrood, when bacterial spores infect larvae, and deformed wing virus are also serious issues.

One speaker from UCSF came in to tell us all about zombie bees which are bees that have fly eggs hatching inside of them and eating their way out. These flies cause the bees to fly out at night, gather around lights, and wander around in circles, much like the zombies they are named after. Many beekeepers are forced to feed the bees antibiotics to ward off these pests and diseases, and now most bees in America can’t survive without antibiotics.

Clearly the falling bee population is a problem, but sustainable small scale beekeeping may be the answer. Regardless, if something isn’t done soon, we will end up like the people in China who have to hand pollinate all of their fruit trees.

Lets hope that we can get a beehive for our farm!

New Green house/Hoop house Installment!

Through the last month or so, our class has been constructing a ShelterLogic greenhouse.  This has been a pretty big undertaking, and there have been many changes in the course of actions we have decided to take.  We have had many volunteers helping us with the putting up of the hoop house outside of class, however the putting together of the structure has been an in class effort as well, with our building group providing help to those who volunteered.  The house will offer a good, safe place for the plants to grow in the winter.

ShelterLogic greenhouses are  very sturdy with steel stabilizers designed to give solid  anchoring for the frame.  With dimensions of 10 x 19 x 8, the ShelterLogic is known for being relatively easy to erect, as it comes with step-by-step instructions.  Coming with a cover that, has zipper flaps for adjustable temperatures, and protects the plants from harmful UV/UVB rays. Although the cover has not yet been added, this will surely be a helpful asset on the farm.

-Julien Almond