Organic strawberry production...version 2.0

I've been quite busy over the weekend and havent had time to write a post, but I thought it would be nice to post those pictures.

Summer is here and the strawberries are growing!













Enjoy!


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Sol Invictus... The invincible sun... Now that's a powerful statement. We wake up in the morning seeking it's light, it's heat. It's energy is the source of all life on earth, human, animal and plant life. It provides the photosynthesis necessary for plant growth, and plants are the beginning of the life cycle. The are eaten by herbivores, which are in turn eaten by carnivores, which then die, decompose, and through this process provide the nutrients necessary for the cycle to start over again. We have for long tried to harvest the power of the sun. Agriculture, solar ovens, solar panels, solar dryers. Even humans harvest the sun's energy and the vitamins it's rays provide. The sun is the single largest source of energy on this planet. A few hours of sunshine, if we knew how to propery harvest it, would provide all of the electricity we consume in one year on this planet. Oil compared to the sun is like a bicycle compared to the space ship we will be able to build a century from now. Photovoltaic technology is rapidly advancing and solar panels are way more efficient now than they used to be. But one form of solar panel has existed forever and is by far the most efficient; plant leaves. Plants are extremely efficient at transforming sun light into carbon mass through the process of photosynthesis. I'm a super cropper. Super cropping is the art of adding efficiencies where they did not previously exist. It's the art of creating methods to better exploit the energy provided by our main star. The art of spreading these leafy solar panels in such a way that they cover more space in any given area. Agriculture is going vertical. It NEEDS to go vertical. Going vertical means we start to think in cubic feet instead of square feet. It means we can grow more, and I mean much much more vegetal life than using conventional methods. Practically speaking, it allows us to bring farming back to the city, close to where the food is consumed, with the countless benefits associated with that. It opens the door to cultivating crops that were impossible to grow before. It also allows us to grow crops indoors during the cold season, using artificial sunlight provided by high intensity discharge lights. What was economically not viable using conventional methods now becomes profitable when we can grow multiple times the number of plants using the same light energy. It keeps jobs local. It keeps our food clean, pesticide free, herbicide free, gmo free, affordable, nutritious. It's a game changer. Such is the power of the invincible sun. Khaled

The Supercroppers on nutrition

Food...nutrition...health...

Hard to deny the link between those elements..
But in our society, these elements are weirdly aligned.

We eat food for the nutrition. The very nutrition that feeds us. That fuels the different parts of the human machine. The macro and micro nutrients that oil the wheels of life.

Funny that, given the importance of this, we do not pay more attention to what it is we really eat.

Let me explain...
In a previous post, I referred to "cancer in a berry"...You might have thought I was exagerating. I wish I was.

That strawberry starts it's life in a field somewhere in California. The land is tilled, then fumigated. WIth methyl bromide.
Methyl bromide is a fumigant that was banned by the Montreal convention years ago. The US still uses it but will be phasing it out shortly. With reason...

Methyl bromide kills and sterilizes everything. 2 meters deep. Rodents, insects, weeds. It kills anything alive. As you have guessed, it's extremely potent.

...and toxic....for humans. It's a known carcinogenic chemical. For the ozone. It's known to severely attack the natural protective layers of our planet. But they use it anyway.

The berries are then planted through a black plastic tarp and grown that way. They are then picked way before they are ripe. That's in order to ship them firm. They are often picked white and then turned red with ethylene gas.

They are not bred, cultivated and picked for flavor. They are grown in a way that suits the industry. Not the consumer.

Back to nutrition...
Strawberries, like all fruits and vegetables, develop flavor and nutrition in the last 10% of their growth cycle. When they ripen. When they reach their real color. Naturally. That's also when they get their flavor.
That berry that gets picked the way we currently grow contains about 60% of the nutritious elements it would if it were ripened on the plant. It will lose 20% of this during transport. It will lose another 20 or so percent on the grocery shelf waiting for someone to buy it.

By the time you use it after it has sat in your fridge, it pretty much contains 0% nutritious elements.

But the chemicals do not dissolve or dissipate. Since they are not organic elements, they do not break down. At least not before a long long long time.

Cancer in a berry...

Khaled

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sufficienty quality food is an inherent right of every living being

Food....what this blog is all about...

Or is it?

More or less...let me explain.

It indeed is a major component of this blog, of what I do that provides me with material for this blog, of our lives in general...We need x amount of calories everyday...no way around that.

All calories aren't made equal though.

I may seem obsessed with agriculture ( Ok I am, just a bit, and yes I am still mentally sane), but my interest comes more from the freedom that comes with it. The freedom to have sufficient food...the freedom to have access to quality, nutritious food....the freedom to disconnect from the food-for-profit that stems from the unfettered capitalism our society is so entangled into.

Now I hear the accusations of communism in the backdrop...

I said unfettered capitalism, not capitalism. I believe profit can be pursued without the need to destroy everything and everyone in the process. I believe in morality. I believe in balanced systems that bring about a balanced society.

We often feel like we are recipients of whatever the corporate food systems bring to us. I hit the supermarket and grab a head of lettuce, because it's what's available on the shelves...It's gotten to the point where we have accepted that toxicity is part of the deal...Between price, quality and taste, we feel limited in our resources in such a way that it seems inevitable that one of those variables will take a beating. Understandably, quality does...We all want to keep some enjoyment out of our foods, which, again, is not unexpected.

My beef is with the forces that keep pushing the idea that a compromise is an absolute necessity. That you can have quality and taste, but the price will take a beating. That we can have good prices and taste, but then quality takes a beating....you get the picture.

This is the 5th economy. This is what will save us from economic destruction. What will keep our food dollars and jobs local. What will empower us and future generations, make us healthier, smarter, more energetic.

We've had resources, then manufacturing, then services..Then came technology. And then what? Nafta and globalization were pushed upon us as something that would make us all more prosperous. We were told it was the globalization of profit, opportunity...It really was the globalization of labor...try competing with an auto worker in China....We were duped.

Food production may seem like a backward step...and it would be if we were to go at it the old way, the oil way, the chemical way.

But we are going at it the natural way, the creative and ingenious way, the high tech way.

We are not farmers....we are Supercroppers...

And to give you hope, here's a shot of one of the ingredients of today's lunch...fresh, organic, tasty, nutritious baby lettuce mix..




Have a nice HyperLocal day everyone!

Khaled

Vertical urban farming explained

Urban farming...that's what's in these days...
And then you wonder...what exactly does that mean? Why is it a subject that only seems to grow in interest?
Grab your popcorn and have a seat...and I don't mean that GMO crap they sell at your local WalMart!
We are all waking up to the reality of the foods we eat..chemicals, freak GMO crops, never ending increases in pesticide and herbicide dousing...increased weed and bug resistance to spraying.....massive price inflation...
I know that talking about prices gets your attention :P with reason...
3% food inflation? Gimme a break...staple foods have doubled in price in the last few years... Who are they kidding? And the quality is ever decreasing...
I was talking food with my buddy Jay the other day...I kindly referred to the supermarket strawberries as "tasteless, nutrition-less cancer in a berry"
If you don't believe me, do a little research on methyl bromide..
I'm a supercropper. I develop urban farming methods that are low in labor, highly efficient and productive, and totally organic. Operation designed to be run by a single person, with no machinery, while removing the barriers of high cost for organic, high quality tasty and nutritious foods.
They say efficiency is intelligent laziness....that's what I do in a nutshell. Did you know that the current farming methods produce 1 calorie for every 10 calories injected as an input? I strive to do just the opposite...10 calories per calorie of effort.
We are brought to believe that producing enough food for local consumption is not possible...that we will never achieve food security...that organic is for the rich because production costs are too high.
Follow me as we deconstruct that myth...
Follow me as we bring about a real food democracy :)
I'll end this first post with a few pictures. Pictures that expose the lie...A hint of what we can do if we choose to believe. Pictures that give us hope :)
And those wild strawberries and that baby organic lettuce was just like it looks; insanely delicious :)

Enjoy!

Khaled