Archive for the 'gardening' Category

Think Globally, Eat Seasonally

Published
by
Paul
on May 9, 2008
in action, carbon and gardening
. 1 Comment

veggies.png
As we’ve discussed, it’s better to eat foods that don’t need to be shipped in from far-flung locales. But how do you actually do that? I, for one, have no idea what is in season when. So out of curiosity, I did a Google search for “seasonal eating” and found a really interesting site - www.cuesa.org. CUESA stands for Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Architecture, and they are the people who organize the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market (which you would know about, if you lived in the SF Bay Area).

Anyway, I wanted to point out this really great Vegetable Calendar they have in the ‘Seasonality’ section of their site - it shows what is in season, when. It’s a perfect way to think about what to eat, when. Take a look, and think how you can eat smarter!

Digg Facebook Google StumbleUpon Hugg

Meet the Google Gardener

Published
by
Paul
on May 8, 2008
in gardening
. 0 Comments

lettuce.jpg Did you know that Google has a garden? It was surprising to me, and I work there. Wondering why an internet company has a garden, I sat down with Rebecca Jepsen, Google’s Manager of Culinary Horticulture a few weeks ago, for a discussion over some freshly picked fava beans. I found out that Rebecca is a certified UCCE Santa Clara Master Gardener and has been overseeing Google’s “The Growing Connection Google Garden” since last year.

rebecca_jepsen.jpg

TTMYGG: So, why does Google have a garden?

Rebecca: The “Garden” at Google is multi-faceted. We use it as a demonstration and teaching garden to teach people how to grow their own, fresh, organic, seasonal produce. Here in Santa Clara, we can grow all year long! All produce from the garden is used in [Google’s] cafes. We also want to highlight the importance of growing your own food so that people will understand the importance of preserving the little land that we have left in this country which is viable for growing!

TTMYGG: What’s The Growing Connection?

Rebecca: The Growing Connection (TGC) is a United Nations non-profit organization that is promoting something called “the Earth Box” [the plants in Google’s Garden are all planted in Earth Boxes]

TTMYGG: What’s an Earth Box?

Rebecca: An Earth Box is a self contained growing environment that contains water, strip of organic fertilizer, and growing substrate, but not soil. It also has a cover or “shower cap” which helps elevate the temperature of the soil, and extends the growing season.

earthbox.jpg

TTMYGG: Why is the Earth Box interesting?

Rebecca: The Growing Connection used EarthBoxes in 3rd world countries where the soil is not viable to grow the produce necessary to end hunger, disease, or provide proper nourishment.

[Rebecca gave an example where certain villages in Mexico with bad soil, and whose residents could not grow leafy greens were given Earth Boxes, and because of the vegetables it allowed them to grow, were able to clear up their health issues!]

The EarthBox also allow us to grow on roof tops in the
Bronx, fire escapes in San Francisco, or on balconies or patios around the world.

TTMYGG: What do you grow in the Google garden?

Rebecca: Currently we are growing tomatoes: Early Girl, Sweet 100, Koralik; peppers: Peri Dot, Chicken Heart, Piquin Firecracker; varigated basil, crookneck squash, lemon cucumber, Black Beauty eggplant, fava beans, sugar snap peas, blueberries, grapes, kiwis, many varieties of mint, lettuce, white alyssum to bring in the lady bugs and lacewings that eat the aphids…..

TTMYGG: What is your background?

Rebecca: I have been in the high tech field for 27 years. I have held senior level management positions in sales, marketing and business development.

For the last several years, I have been doing my own consulting with high tech firms. I became a certified UCCE Santa Clara Master Gardener last year, and subsequently became the Project Lead for The Growing Connection Google Garden.

I also do the “Green Tips of the Day” here at Google. I work on composting, School Garden Projects, and on a team to bring ESE (Eco-friendly, Sustainable, Edible) Landscaping to the GooglePlex.

This was a really fun interview for me, and Rebecca and I agreed to follow up with further discussions in the future. Thanks to her for taking the time to talk to me in my first TTMYGG interview, and look for more from Rebecca here soon!

Digg Facebook Google StumbleUpon Hugg

Where have the bees gone? Colony Collapse Disorder, and what you can do about it.

Published
by
Paul
on April 29, 2008
in action, gardening and pollution
. 0 Comments

As many of you, our well educated readers undoubtedly know, starting in 2006, many beekeepers started reporting mysterious disappearance of huge numbers of their bees. One day they would fly off, with 30- 70% never returning again. These losses, caused by a poorly understood malady called Colony Collapse Disorder, have been so severe that 23% of beekeepers in 2006-2007 were effected.

This problem proves yet again how dependent we are with nature, and how our lives are truly intertwined with the well being of the planet. After all, one-third of the food we eat is pollinated by the honeybee. According to The Independent, 90 or so crops they pollinate each year are worth over $14.6 billion dollars in the U.S. alone.

Since the 1980s, our destruction of habitat and misuse of pesticides have caused bee (and other insect populations to decline). But nothing like this, which is killing bees at such a scale that it may actually threaten our food supply.

Luckily, there is some good news. First, a team of scientists from the Columbia University , Pennsylvania State University, the USDA Agricultural Research Service, University of Arizona, and 454 Life Sciences has found a significant connection between the Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus (IAPV) and colony collapse disorder. This is a great breakthrough, although the findings are not yet conclusive, from what I could tell.

Secondly, organizations of all types are pitching in to help. From Burt’s Bees, to Häagen-Das
 to the USDA, many different groups are working to ensure that honeybees keep on pollinating, and so too can you!

What can you do? Here are a few ideas:

  1. Don’t pesticides indiscriminately. Honey bees are out mid-day foraging for nectar, and that’s the worst time to use them.
  2. Plant good nectar sources such as red clover, foxglove, bee balm, and joe-pye weed. Choose flowers that bloom successively over the spring, summer, and fall seasons such as coreopsis, Russian sage, or germander. For more info, the USDA recommends www.nappc.org.
  3. You can actually raise your own bees! Actually, as it turns out, and much to my surprise, beekeeping as a hobby is alive and well. The best way to get started is to visit a local beekeeping association, which you may be able to find through a simple Google search.

Thanks to Scarlett at feedcompany.com for the great post suggestion!

Digg Facebook Google StumbleUpon Hugg

Imported vegetables causing global warming? Well they’re not helping.

Published
by
Paul
on April 26, 2008
in energy, gardening and global warming
. 1 Comment

When you go to the grocery store, do you know where your vegetables come from? It used to be that once upon a time, we used to know what vegetables were in season, when you could get what at the grocery, and perhaps more importantly, what you could not get. Today, thanks to our super-effective global procurement and logistics network, you no-longer need to know. You can basically get anything you want, any time of the year - which is great in some ways - hey, sometimes you just want a strawberry - but it’s not exactly helpful to our global warming.

As they discuss in today’s New York Times the issue of how we all get our food is becoming increasingly important as concern over global warming and consumer demands both increase. 90% of produce in the UK, for instance, is imported. But what can be done about it?

One solution the article discusses is taxing imports - something that might work, except for the fact that, as some grocers argue, it might advantage vegetables grown closer, but which take alot more power to grow. Another solution is educating consumers about the environmental impact of imported vegetables and other goods. Good luck with that. Many people at my work can’t even bother to distinguish between the garbage and recycling bins when one is a totally different color and is readily available.

I happen to think that the only solution to this problem is make sure the costs of carbon pollution is built in to the costs of the energy that we all use. Instead of taxing vegetables or imports, we should tax the carbon content of energy. That way, the price will percolate into everything we do - whether it is hydroponic tomatoes, or whether it’s shipping kiwis from Italy. And maybe we’ll reacquaint ourselves with the natural cycles of the foods we eat.

Digg Facebook Google StumbleUpon Hugg

Viral donations on Earth Day!

Published
by
Paul
on April 18, 2008
in action and gardening
. 2 Comments

earthday.jpgWant to do something quick and easy for Earth Day? Google Checkout is making it easy to donate to ten environmental charities with this special Earth Day site. If you donate, you can invite others to donate, and watch as your friends and colleagues add to the fun on your own personal Google map.

By the way, the cool bag pictured above is what I got when I donated here at work. It’s a Garden in a Bag, and looks awesome.

Digg Facebook Google StumbleUpon Hugg