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Good afternoon gardeners. I have been debating all day if I should post this week’s thread. And can’t help myself at this point. I do not like stepping on JADB’s ownership of the thread and I hope y’all and she understands. As many of you know my wife and I are moving from Meridian, Ms to Marshall, Tx and I was not sure I would be able to keep on gardening at the house we are leasing. Peggy has received a written approval letter from the owner for us to put in a small garden. So I will be trying...

It is said that nature abhors a vacuum. Well, according to this report from the Minnesota Daily, nature also abhors factory farms. Large midwestern hog farms have for the last few years been battling a mysterious foam that is forming on top of their barns. In the worst case scenarios, the foam blocks ventilation ducts and the barns explode—yes, explode—killing the thousands of hogs inside. The report reads: The foam traps gases like methane and when a spark ignites it causes an explosion. About a half dozen barns in the Midwest have exploded since the foam was discovered in 2009....

Hungary has taken a bold stand against biotech giant Monsanto and genetic modification by destroying 1000 acres of maize found to have been grown with genetically modified seeds, according to Hungary deputy state secretary of the Ministry of Rural Development Lajos Bognar. Unlike many European Union countries, Hungary is a nation where genetically modified (GM) seeds are banned. In a similar stance against GM ingredients, Peru has also passed a 10 year ban on GM foods.

In the first installment of this two part series, we examine the factors that are influencing how individuals, major corporations, and other countries, are rethinking the most basic, yet vital resource all, water. In part two, we take a detailed look at an increasingly popular alternative to the municipal water system, Rainwater Harvesting. Part two further explores the pros and cons, basic components, and key factors to consider in designing a rain water harvesting system...

Good morning Gardeners!!!! I know I'm not part of your usual cast of gardening threadmasters, but it's afternoon here and the thread hasn't arrived yet! So I'm going to start one, and if it turns out later that I shouldn't have, then I'll appologize really nicely. *Ahem*: The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you. This thread is non-political,...

Good morning fellow gardening Freepers. I'm in need of a good affordable garden tiller and was wondering what you folks think. I used to simply rent one but that option is pretty much out now since nearly all the rental places quit carrying tillers. The one place left that does rent tillers is prohibitively expensive. So, I'm considering just buying a smaller one. The Mantis XP fits my budget and they make a convincing sales pitch (good warranty, free shipping, Honda Engine) but I don't have a clue if they're any good. I'm open to any and all suggestions. I'm...

Champis, the sheep herding rabbit.

This loving mastiff didn’t mind adding one more to her litter of pups, even though it didn’t have a tail to wag and was suspiciously wearing a diaper.

Good morning gardeners! Red Devil here. JustaDumbBlonde and her husband are on their way up to Montana for a well deserved vacation. She should be able to post the thread from her remote Montana location next week.  I am sure she will continue with her plans for a soil structure thread next week. Her Thread subjects are so informative and interesting. Although I have not been real active on the thread, I read each and every post. Y'all have been doing a great job!I should be able to get some sort of a  garden going this year, at our...

I have a dear friend and neighbor who is elderly and not in the best of health. Day in and day out during gardening season she sits at her kitchen table and watches me work in my yard and garden, living vicariously through me. Once or twice a week I'll take her some vegetables and we discuss gardening, which was such an important part of her earlier years. You can see the love of gardening in her eyes every time we have a talk. I asked her one day to tell me the difference between dirt and soil. Soil,...

After the war, social engineering based on Aryan biology was replaced with a blander form of socialism, but its ties to environmentalism and sustainable development continued unabated and grew exponentially in the decades to come. Environmental planners just exchanged brown paint with red paint -- all the while keeping the interior green. German spatial planners played an early critical role in the development of the EU's sustainable development policies ...

SUPPLEMENTAL VOL. 1 USDA Unveils New Plant Hardiness Zone Map The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today released the new version of its Plant Hardiness Zone Map, updating a useful tool for gardeners and researchers for the first time since 1990 with greater accuracy and detail. The new map — jointly developed by USDA's Agricultural Research Service and Oregon State University's PRISM Climate Group — is available online at http://www.planthardiness.ars.usda.gov . ARS is the chief intramural scientific research agency of USDA. For the first time, the new map offers a Geographic Information System based interactive format and is specifically...

On January 25, 2012, The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released the new version of its Plant Hardiness Zone Map (PHZM), the first major update since 1990. See the new map, detailed state specific PHZMs, as well as PHZMs for Australia, Canada, China, Europe, and Japan...

The Texas Department of State Health Services will drop vaccines from the air Wednesday. It's part of the annual effort to protect people and livestock from rabies.

Evidence for Oldest Popcorn in South America Discovered Remy Melina, LiveScience Staff Writer Date: 20 January 2012 Time: 10:50 AM ET They may not have had television sets, but ancient Peruvians did share one part of our movie-watching culture: popcorn. Researchers have found evidence that societies living along the coast of Peru were eating the air-filled snack about 1,000 years earlier than previously estimated — even predating the use of ceramic pottery. Corn husks, stalks, cobs and tassels (pollen-producing flowers on corn) dating from 6,700 to 3,000 years ago were unearthed at Paredones and Huaca Prieta, two sites on Peru's...

It was just a couple of weeks ago that I was really glad that the last of my garden had frozen. Being blessed with a long growing season is not always what it's cracked-up to be. You understand ... gardening is hard work! When it lasts from March or April until December, it can get tedious.Then, yesterday, my first order of seeds that I don't need came in from John Scheepers Kitchen Garden Seeds. Four beautiful little envelopes that sound like maracas; Baby Lincoln Leeks, Tres Fine Maraichere Endive, Beaumont Broccoli, and Large Fruited Mixture Ornamental Gourds.I am stoked.Yep,...

HARRISBURG -- Tuesday evening was showtime for Mark, a burly 6-year-old Belgian draft horse competing in the Farm Show's pulling event. He had trained on a farm in Fulton County with a couple interested in buying him. But his owners decided they couldn't part with the animal, and brought him home before entering him in the state competition. He and his partner pulled a full load in the competition, carrying a sled with more than 8,500 pounds of weight, but he collapsed as he was being unhooked. He was declared dead shortly afterward, from what likely was an aneurysm or...

Good morning everybody! It is cold and clear here in NE Louisiana, zone 8a, we should reach 50° today under sunny skies. We've received several inches of rain in the past 3 weeks, so there will be no garden prep for a while yet, but the sunny sky has a way of getting me in the mood. In last week's thread we discussed our seed and supply catalogs. This week I intended to discuss saving seeds from our own harvests, and starting seeds indoors. In preparing, I actually found a couple of articles that are very informative and give good...

Percy Schmeiser, a Canadian farmer, works on farming and developing his own seeds for 50 years. When his fields were contaminated, Monsanto threatened him, intimidated him, and tried to take his land away. He took them to court.

January is not the most hospitable month of the year to be sure. If you're like me those cold dreary days are best spent curled up in a chair (for the guys that don't *do* curl -- sit there very manly) with a cup of tea (insert the manly beverage of your choice) and a stack of garden catalogs that you need a front-end loader to move (got you with the front-end loader, didn't I?).I've got to hand it to the catalog people, the covers are exceptional this year and, by golly, with all of the $25 to $100 coupons...

Are you ready for the vegetable census? Yesterday I received the “2012 National Agricultural Classification Survey” from the US Dept. of Agriculture. It was accompanied by a cover letter stating (in large, bold font) that my response is required by law; and, if I do not reply, I “may be personally visited.” I am not and have never been a farmer or rancher. My land has never been farmed or ranched. I do, however, have a vegetable garden that I built in 2009. This garden is private and noncommercial. There is no illegal activity whatsoever on my property. The survey...

A heap of dead bees was supposed to become food for a newly captured praying mantis. Instead, the pile ended up revealing a previously unrecognized suspect in colony collapse disorder—a mysterious condition that for several years has been causing declines in U.S. honeybee populations, which are needed to pollinate many important crops. This new potential culprit is a bizarre—and potentially devastating—parasitic fly that has been taking over the bodies of honeybees (Apis mellifera) in Northern California.

2012 National Agricultural Classification Survey

Jerry Dimitman, a retired professor of plant pathology at Cal Poly Pomona who regularly caused an uproar when he showed up to sell his exotic fruit at the Alhambra farmers market, died Dec. 14 of a stroke at his home overlooking the San Gabriel Valley. He was 91. Such was the mystique that he cultivated, along with some of the state's oldest, largest and rarest exotic Asian fruit trees, that he and his family always insisted that his home's location remain unspecified to deter intrusions by overzealous fruit lovers. Many of his crops, such as lychees, longans, pummelos and mandarins,...

I don't think there are any real articles written about this yet. Seems to have occurred about 11 months ago and is just coming to light. The action occurs at exactly the 1 minute mark.As many of you know, I'm a cop. I complain about the anti-cop posts and posters, but I also have the responsibility to bring things like this to light. If this went down, this guy needs to be fired and sent to prison. I have also heard that one of the cops is the son-in-law of the new Mayor.

"And we are finding a lot of people are making wine in their basement and are interested not necessarily in a degree but in the knowledge," she said. Classes will be offered for continuing education as well as for credit, she said. Currently all students are taking classes for credit, she said. The Kent State program, the first in Ohio to offer college degrees related to winemaking, is affiliated with the Viticulture Enology Science and Technology Alliance, founded about eight years ago to serve wineries between the Appalachians and the Rockies. The alliance, at Missouri State University, has partnered with...

Impact Seen As Roughly Comparable to Radiation-Related Deaths After Chernobyl; Infants Are Hardest Hit, With Continuing Research Showing Even Higher Possible Death Count An estimated 14,000 excess deaths in the United States are linked to the radioactive fallout from the disaster at the Fukushima nuclear reactors in Japan, according to a major new article in the December 2011 edition of the International Journal of Health Services. This is the first peer-reviewed study published in a medical journal documenting the health hazards of Fukushima.Authors Joseph Mangano and Janette Sherman note that their estimate of 14,000 excess U.S. deaths in the 14...

While the elites make excuses, citizens cope with theft and destruction. I am starting to feel as if I am living in a Vandal state, perhaps on the frontier near Carthage around a.d. 530, or in a beleaguered Rome in 455. Here are some updates from the rural area surrounding my farm, taken from about a 30-mile radius. In this take, I am not so much interested in chronicling the flotsam and jetsam as in fathoming whether there is some ideology that drives it. Last week an ancestral rural school near the Kings River had its large bronze bell stolen....

Excerpts: In accordance with the World Trade Organization's (WTO) Codex Alimentarius scheme for global food control, the NZ Food Bill, if passed, will essentially transfer primary control of food from individuals to corporations under the guise of food safety. And unless massive public outcry and awakened consciences within the NZ government are able to put a stop to it, the bill could become law very soon. According to NZ Food Security, a group working to protect the food freedom of New Zealanders, the bill will turn growing and sharing food into a government-granted privilege rather than a human right. It...

Good morning gardeners. I hope all of you are doing well and wish you a Merry Christmas. Today’s thread will be the last one I post as the host of the gardening thread. Thankfully the thread will continue to be posted by Freeper JustaDumbBlonde. Not only is she is a very experienced gardener, she and her husband run a large acreage family farm growing corn, cotton, wheat, soybeans and various other crops. Her large kitchen garden is so successful she has set up a roadside stand to sell her produce. I am confident the Gardening Thread will be in very...

An acute butter shortage in Norway, one of the world's richest countries, has left people worrying how to bake their Christmas goodies with store shelves emptied and prices through the roof. The shortfall, expected to last into January, amounts to between 500 and 1,000 tonnes, said Tine, Norway's main dairy company, while online sellers have offered 500-gramme packs for up to 350 euros ($465)... Last Friday, customs officers stopped a Russian at the Norwegian-Swedish border and seized 90 kilos (198 pounds) of butter stashed in his car.

While we were celebrating Thanksgiving, Obama quietly signed legislation on November 18, which removed the ban on horse slaughter and allowing it for human consumption. Why did he change his position on banning the horse slaughter? As we know, President Obama made a campaign promise in 2008 to permanently ban horse slaughter and exports of horses for human consumption. Furthermore, in certain States, the U.S. Federal Government set aside millions of acres of public lands for the indigenous wild horses, or Mustangs. Read more... http://www.naturalremediesmatter.wordpress.com

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman criticized the Humane Society of the United States on Monday, saying he would fight any efforts by its lobbyists to push legislation that could hinder Nebraska's agricultural industry. The Humane Society of the United States opened an office in Omaha last year. A group spokesman has said the new office and state issues director in Nebraska were intended to help small farmers gain access to markets traditionally dominated by larger operations. But Heineman, a Republican, said he did not trust the group's intentions.

The French call pinot noir "the noble grape" and have long considered it a source of inspiration. Now it can also be appreciated as the reason for an extensive, localized climate record. A study found a close match between pinot noir grape harvest dates in Burgundy, sea surface temperature trends and the Western European climate. The relationship could be used to forecast harvest dates months in advance. Yves Tourre, from the Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory in Palisades, N.Y. and the French meteorological service, Meteo-France, in Toulouse, presented research on the significance of a nearly 700-year record of pinot noir grape...

Transportation officials closed a section of Interstate 69/Western Kentucky Parkway for hours Saturday after a group of cows obstructed the roadway causing several collisions in Caldwell County. Spokesman Keith Todd for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet said he was first alerted of the situation around 3:45 a.m. and that there were “an undetermined number of cows loose along Interstate 69.” By 7 a.m., some of the cattle had been rounded up but officials decided to close the Interstate between Exit 12 and Exit 24 near Princeton. Todd said only one motorist had been taken to Methodist Hospital for minor injuries after...

Revisiting the resilient lifestyle… Things finally collapse, and you go to the basement, start digging out survival gear and freeze dry food. You gather the family around the radio, shotgun in hand and begin worrying about how long the “stuff” will last. OR You get up at six AM as usual, open a bag of your favorite coffee, mixing it 50/50 with the chickory root you gathered in the summer. Opening the spout on the Big Berkey water filter, you fill the percolator you picked up at a yard sale, for 2 bucks. You set the coffee on the woodstove...

Good morning gardeners. As many of you may know, my wife is a manager at a Wal-Mart Superstore. About a month or so ago she was approached, via email, by Wal-Mart, informing her that there was a position opening up in one of their stores in Shreveport, La. and they wanted to do a phone interview with her if she was interested. She agreed and did the interview. Well last week they called her back and told her the position was hers if she wanted it. We were given an hour to make the decision. Job wise this is a...

So, I just discovered a product called "strawboard." Apparently it's been used in Europe for 40+ years, but it's kinda new in the US. Some sources say that a typical house requires about an acre's worth of clear-cut timber, which would take about 30 years to replace. That same house (according to these sources) could be built using 18 acres of straw -- which is a waste product from wheat production. I've been searching, but I haven't found any serious problems with using strawboard. Presumably, it doesn't hold up as well to moisture as traditional wood does, but I don't...

Good morning gardeners. I can’t believe it is already December, Brrrrrrrrr! It is 27 this morning in East Central Mississippi and is forecast to be in the mid 60s this afternoon. There are no plans to do any outside work for this gardener today. What needs to be done can wait until Saturday and Sunday when it is supposed to be in the high 60s and into the 70s. Just waiting for Spring now. If you are a gardener or you are just starting out and are in need of advice or just encouragement please feel free to join in...

As I mentioned in a previous entry, I went experimental on this batch of mead. I was concerned that fermentation was stuck and I honestly was afraid I might have to start over. My curiosity finally got the best of me last evening so I decided to sample and bottle it, if it was any good. Here is a list of what you need to bottle your mead. Getting ready for a cold winters night. EVERYTHING MUST BE STERILIZED! Bottles (20-24 per 5 Gal) Corks A container of water big enough to hold the corks Press to place the corks...

Rick Perry 1992 RNC Convention Speech as Texas Ag Commissioner.

For many people, the word eating challenge evokes the iconic scene in the movie "The Great Outdoors,"when John Candy tackles "The Old 96er" to the chagrin of his digestive tract. More recently, the Travel Channel's "Man vs. Food" show has popularized eating challenges, which have increasingly become a strategy for restaurants across the country to make a name for themselves, draw in new customers, and simply have fun. For those testing their fortitude through eating challenges, clearing a plate of outrageously large or spicy meals will often win them a T-shirt, their photo on the wall, and dinner on the...

Good morning gardeners. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday. My day was nice, quiet and lazy. Mrs. RD had to go to work at one pm and did not get off until two this morning, so we will be having our Thanksgiving feast this afternoon. We are having a roasted Turkey breast with the typical side dishes. We usually have a Ham but Mrs. RD wanted Turkey this year so Turkey it is. It is forecast to be in the low 70s today so I may get out and gather up some leaves for the compost and some...

When the Pilgrims landed in 1620, they established a system of communal property. Within three years they had scrapped it, instituting private property instead. Hoover media fellow Tom Bethell tells the story. There are three configurations of property rights: state, communal, and private property. Within a family, many goods are in effect communally owned. But when the number of communal members exceeds normal family size, as happens in tribes and communes, serious and intractable problems arise. It becomes costly to police the activities of the members, all of whom are entitled to their share of the total product of the...

As you sit down with your family on Thanksgiving and consider offering a prayer of gratitude, be aware the turkey at the center of the table may have already been "blessed" – in the name of Allah. Customer service representatives from Butterball, one of America's most popular Turkey brands, confirmed to WND that the company's whole turkeys are – without being labeled as such – slaughtered according to Islamic "halal" standards. "Halal slaughter involves cutting the trachea, the esophagus and the jugular vein and letting the blood drain out while saying, 'Bismillah allahu akbar' Read more: Has your Thanksgiving turkey...

There is nothing subtle about a 200-pound, fat-flanked steer hindquarter slung on a man's back. The sight brings out the red-blooded Neanderthal in even the Mason-jar-wine and skinny-jeans crowd at Oakland's Eat Real Festival in September. Despite the event's civilized sponsorship partners, like Whole Foods and Prius, the spectators roar and whistle as if a gladiator had entered the Colosseum. The charge is visceral, vaguely sexual. "Kill somebody!" one man yells. Staffers hang up the leg by its heel on a hook. "Bring on the ketchup!" "Give us some scraps!" The crowd sees a naked animal carcass, arguably as provocative...

Setting aside the fact that Grover Norquist is an agent of Islamic jihad, did you catch 60 Minutes? Dan Rather would be proud. The only reasonable position one can take is that taxes have to go up. Even "Republican" Alan Simpson says so. No mention of the fact that increased taxes have never been shown to reduce deficits anywhere at any time.

Good morning gardeners. Thanksgiving is next week and I hope all Freepers enjoy a bountiful feast with family and friends. Don’t forget to give thanks, it can turn a meal into a feast. A reminder for those of you who have a frozen turkey, for every 4 pounds of turkey it will take a day to thaw in the refrigerator. A 20-pound turkey will take 5 days so you need to start defrosting it tomorrow. If your turkey will not fit into your fridge defrost it in an ice chest with ice. If the turkey is allowed to thaw at...

Good morning gardeners. Remembering Veterans Day. Here is a big Thank You to all who have served our Country. Just wondering how many of you gardeners are Veterans? It is a Chilly 29 F here in East Central Mississippi. I have been trying to keep up with the leaves falling off the trees and I am hating the pine needles more and more everyday. I don’t use them in my compost pile because they take to long to break down. I pile them by the roadside and the county comes by once a week and vacuums them up. I hope...