Faith in a seed

I dream gardening by habit.
Not in my genes, or from childhood training, but cultivated through an adult lifetime of passionate, if self taught, interest in the subject of green and growing things.

Confession: my enthusiasm for most of life has been on auto-pilot lately.
This has been an exceedingly long Michigan winter, but, unlike my usual practice I've only closely read maybe two of the cascade of garden catalogs that found my mailbox this year... and only ordered from one.

But with Spring comes Hope, and sometimes just following through the patterns that have been imprinted is the solution to getting through the foggy times.

Snow is in the forecast, and it's too cold outdoors to enjoy pruning the shrubs, so today I sat down at the computer and listed my plans for the growing season - if only revealed by the signs and hints found in seed and plant lists which I'll share with you now:

Seeds From Richters (Canada)

Ambrosia Seeds 1.60/pkt 1.60
Chia SowNatural(tm)Seeds 2.30/pkt 2.30
Cumin, Black Seeds 1.20/pkt 1.20
Honesty Seeds 1.20/pkt 1.20
Marigold, Lemon Gem Seeds 1.60/pkt 1.60
Marigold, Orange Gem Seeds 1.60/pkt 1.60
Scullcap, Baikal Seeds 1.40/pkt 1.40
Thyme, French Seeds 1.60/pkt 1.60
Wolfberry, Chinese Seeds 2.30/pkt 2.30

Herb Plants From Companion Plants (Ohio)

3 x Acorus calamus (SWEET FLAG (bareroot)) = $9.00
Longevity: HP (in USDA Zones 4 to 11)
Lighting Conditions: PS-FS
Average Height: 5 feet

1 x Santolina rosmarinifolia (Santolina rosmarinifolia) = $4.50
Longevity: HP (zones 6 to 9)
Lighting Conditions: FS
Average Height: 2 feet

2 x Salvia scleria (CLARY SAGE) = $9.00
Longevity: B (zones 4 to 9)
Lighting Conditions: FS
Average Height: 2 feet

2 x Marrubium vulgare (HOREHOUND) = $9.00
Longevity: HP (zones 3 to 8)
Lighting Conditions: PS-FS
Average Height: 18 inches

3 x Salvia clevelandii (BLUE SAGE (Cleveland sage) = $13.50
Longevity: TP-HP (zones 8 to 10)
Lighting Conditions: FS
Average Height: 3 feet

Woodie Plants From Genesee County (Michigan) Soil Conservation District

1 Tamarack (Am. Larch) $2.00 ea
Native. Full sun, moist to boggy soil, fast growth 40-80'.

4 Elderberries $3.00 ea
Full sun to shade. Moist, rich soil. Variable growth to 8'.

2 Serviceberries $3.00 ea
Native. Full to part sun, average soil. Moderate growth to 15'.

1 Hazelnut $3.00 ea
Full sun, average soil. Medium fast growth to 10-15'.

Vegetable plants requested from Pat Whetham's Organic Farm CSA

3 okras
3 eggplants
6 cabbages
1 tomatillo


Seeds from 'Rack Packs' / a.k.a. 'impulse purchases'

Borage (Cook's Garden)
Sunflower 'Sunspot' (Thompson & Morgan)
Thyme, Old English (T&M)
Banana (T&M)
Olive (T&M)

And finally, seeds that found me by chance:

Lemon seeds - from a Meyer lemon.
Basil 'Serata' - from MHA conference.
Parsley Italian Dark Green - from MHA Conference.
Fenugreek seeds - from Sharon Paulsen, GCHS Herb Study for January, 2009.

exploring the disconnect

This is part one of three. I've subscribed to Cooking Up A Story who posted this interview. Here's how:
Click on the video to go to the video on YouTube, then hit the subscribe button. YouTube will send you updates in your e-mailbox weekly or however you decide. A great way to keep up with the things you care about.

I love free samples

Have you read Tina Sams' The Essential Herbal magazine? or followed her blog or visited the Yahoo group she organized? You should check it out - Tina, and by extension her family, are manifesting a herbal life - and she shares the fun (and education) with a journalist's flare for 'writing the life'. The following was in my Google Reader this morning - a free sample of The Essential Herbal Victory Garden edition to download (from a year ago). I suggest Tina send a copy to the Obamas!



Tina wrote:
Free Issue of The Essential Herbal to Download
from The Essential Herbal Blog by Tina Sams

Last year at this time we did an issue that was devoted to the need to scale back, plant a garden, reduce, reuse, and recycle. The cover is a collage of posters from the Victory Garden campaigns of the 1940's. The issue is sold out, and now these topics are getting huge coverage. We were just a little too early.

So - we'd like you to download it and enjoy it. The link is:
http://www.essentialherbal.com/MarchApril2008forweb.pdf

Share it. Forward the link. Send it to your friends, and post it on the lists and forums you participate in. Post it to your own blog and share it with your readers. Help us spread this issue far and wide!

Happy Spring!

Yes!

I do wonder if you think (as I do) that this talking head (interviewer) is completely clueless? Wah! Would the Obama's actually eat food that they actually grew? Oh My! (Oy vey!)

Don't those kids look like they're having fun? I can't wait to get out in the yard and tromp around a bit. Soon.

I do have some garden-y questions, though. I wonder if they had a soil test done? I wonder if they know the number of their local Cooperative Extension Service for advice? And how does Michelle Obama manage to look so gosh darn elegant, even while digging a garden with a bunch of schoolchildren!

It looks like a lot of work - all of that sod removal is kind of old fashioned labor-intensive thinking. The really cool latest and greatest thing would have been to lay down some cardboard or newspapers and layered with some good compost. The "lasagna" method. The article does mention raised beds - no need to dig sod, if that's the case.

But no beets! I wonder if Mr. Obama has ever had a nice piece of chocolate beet cake, or beet greens wilted in a pan with a little olive oil and garlic? He is said to have an open mind!

This will be a positive and fun story to follow as it progresses. Hope they don't neglect to reign in that mint! Is there a compost pile? Will they be canning and sharing recipes?
How about baby beets cooked with honey, orange juice and orange peel?

The New York Times Dining section has a nice article about the Obama family's new White House veggie garden, and a garden layout (here's a link).

UPDATE:
Here (link) is an interesting discussion of the Obama White House vegetable garden.

MHA Conference - Educational Displays

The herb and garden vendor rooms are crowded with shoppers, but I like to check out the display tables in the education room. My friend Lois has done a great job organizing the project, and for the past few years she has encouraged a better participation with fine results.
Herb groups from all over the state bring in educational displays - focused on a single topic, the herb of the year, or whatever their local group is doing to promote the use and enjoyment of herbs.
A nice time can be spent reading the displays and learning from other groups.
I took a few photos to share.

Thursday Report: Michigan Herb Associates Conference

Just a taste - make a plan to go next March!


Why "Bay" on the sign? That's the Herb of the Year for 2009. Most of the beautiful herb plants in this display were auctioned to raise funds for the terrific 4-H Children's Garden on the campus of Michigan State University. But during the conference they fill the auditorium at Wells Hall with a hint of Spring.


My apologies to John Forti - I must have erased my photo of him at the podium and just got his back here. The conference theme this year (the 22nd year of annual conferences for this great group) was "The Joy of Herbs - Then and Now", and Mr. Forti, who is a garden historian and museum curator of the historic landscapes at Strawbery Banke, (previously at Plimoth Plantation) came through with a very informative talk outlining the history of herbs, "Heirloom and Herb Plants - Living History".


Author Felder Rushing makes any conference a party with his enthusiasm and wit. I missed his turn as banquet speaker the evening before, but my friend Lois told me she hasn't laughed so hard in years.
Mr. Rushing does a terrific job of softening the edges of his very sharp commentary. He makes a point with a smile and a nudge - real gardeners spend time working in their gardens, they have innate taste for beauty, and they can find it in "dirt", and in the slow lane, and with very little cash. They pay attention. They experiment. They share.
They don't follow a garden plan as much as live a gardening life. But he puts his ideas out there in such a way as to make everyone happy. Like all good speakers, he brought more to share than we could get through in one hour - but to watch about a quarter of his slides go past without commentary - thinking of the great stories we'd miss, almost hurt. Nothing like keeping 'em wanting more!
He ended his talk with a reference to the classic "The Day the Earth Stood Still" - I hope while all of my friends were laughing out loud, that they took home his message of leaving a garden heritage for our children, as was done for us.


Is this a great photo, or what!
My prize photo. Notice what's under Felder Rushing's arm? An issue of Tina Sam's Essential Herbal magazine (link). Tina asked members of her Essential Herbal Yahoo group to send in photos of themselves reading the magazine. I though this garden celebrity photo would be a real treat for her and a small thank you. I never would have the chutzpah to ask a speaker for a photo, but last week Tina made a generous donation of magazines that I passed out to all of the herb groups who participated in the educational displays and a whole year's worth of issues to auction in the silent auction fundraiser. Generosity deserves a thank you.
I won't break your computer with another photo of Felder and me, but I'll sure treasure it.


The very same Peppermint Jim that gave a much-praised and peppy talk to the Herb Society's Tea last year.
On a serious note - Peppermint Jim Crosby from the Crosby Mint Farm (link) near St. Johns, Michigan - who is the bounciest character around - spoke on Wednesday, but Thursday after the plant auction he gave away some minty prize packages and I heard for the first time the story of the trials of his fourth generation heritage farm. Small farmers just don't get a break in our dog-eat-dog world, and the Crosby mint farm was going into foreclosure. The banker actually told the family that foreclosing on their farm would be a "victory." Can you stand it!
If you'd like to help save the family farm, go to the website and order some of Peppermint Jim's pure mint essential oil.



Coleen French from French Garden Creations subbed for Jean Riggs who was sick. I really wanted to hear Jean talk on Bay, the herb of the year, but Coleen is a fine speaker, very informative with a lot of visual aids, and her topic was using Lavender. BTW, Coleen sends out a great e-newsletter where she sells her wonderful soap. I must say, Coleen's soap is the reason why I never got into making my own herbal soaps. Why try to top the best?





Appetizers (delicious) Using Herbs, by Sheila Rae - talk about enthusiastic!



The tasty end to another flavorful herb conference. Tomorrow I'll post photos of one of my favorite features of the conference - the educational exhibits.

Stand up for the honey bees

I get email from NRDC. I happen to believe we are part of the ecology of the earth, not standing outside of nature and observing it. (I guess that makes me a dirty hippie liberal, and I'm proud to be one.) If you have an open mind and think there is something we can do to correct the wrongs we have wreaked on the natural world, the NDRC is a place to start.

Here is an NDRC e-mail action alert: you can help the honey bees from the comfort of your keyboard. As a nation, we'll have a hard time feeding ourselves without our pollinators. I know, honey bees are not native to North America. They are European imports, but so are many of us. We brought them here for agricultural purposes, and much of our fruit, nuts and vegetables depend on their health. We can't backtrack on the fact that we are here and honey bees are here. But we can be more responsible about how we grow our food supply.
I know as a backsliding Advanced Master Gardener and past state certified pesticide applicator (for educational, not personal, purposes) that a lot of home gardeners use Imidicloprid for various reasons, many not valid reasons. People want easy, immediate cures for whatever problems arise from (many times) inappropriate choices we make in our gardening. But I don't want to get bogged down discussing that here. Let me just say, there are thought processes that should accompany much of gardening that just aren't widely taught or subscribed to, as a function of the gardening-horticulture-agricultural industry. (Who do you think pays for pesticide research? Not any hedge fund managers or dot com millionaires that I know of.)

Commercial use of both honey bees and pesticides is an ancillary issue, but the thought processes on these issues start at home, in our gardens, and in how we talk to other gardeners and widen in in concentric rings to the decision makers.

Now that we have voted for change (was it the wars? the economy? or just the pendulum resetting? I don't know) we have a chance to stop the downward spiral or deregulation and underfunding of key agencies (the David Stockman-Grover Norquist plan to undermine the commons in favor of privatization and a return to a lawless Wild Wild West.)
Perhaps with scientists back in their rightful place in government, we could become responsible for our actions once more, thinking of our legacy. I'm just sayin'...

1. Read that bag of pesticide you are tempted to buy this spring.
and 2. Buy organic. Especially the fruits and vegetables listed below. The people who are changing their business model to offer certified organic produce deserve us to put our money where our mouths are.


Now, back to the honey bees issue...

Tell the EPA to protect honey bees from a toxic pesticide (link)

Bee pollination is responsible for about one-third of the food we eat, helping to produce about $15 billion worth of crops in the United States every year. But honey bee populations are in serious decline, with devastating losses caused by factors such as colony collapse disorder, parasites and pesticide exposure.

Even though the EPA classifies the pesticide imidacloprid as highly toxic to honey bees, it nevertheless approved its use in 1994. France banned several uses of imidacloprid in 1999 over concerns about its effects on bees, but here in the United States imidacloprid is still used heavily on many crops pollinated by honey bees, including broccoli, blueberries, carrots, grapefruit, cucumbers and avocados.

Although the EPA is currently reviewing its approval of imidacloprid as required by the Pesticide Registration Improvement Act, the agency's work plan lacks many important details on how it will assess risks to bees. In addition, the EPA has put the review on an unreasonably slow timetable, with a final decision not expected until 2014. In the meantime, high-risk uses of imidacloprid will continue, threatening honey bees as well as other important pollinators.

The EPA is accepting public comments on this phase of the project through March 17th.

What to do
Send a message (link), before the March 17th comment deadline, telling the EPA to protect honey bees and other pollinators from high-risk uses of imidacloprid by strengthening its plans for risk, toxicity and exposure assessments.

Use our sample text or write your own
March 8, 2009
Docket # EPA-HQ-OPP-2008-0844, Office of Pesticide Programs

Dear Office of Pesticide Programs staff,

I urge the EPA to conduct a thorough registration review of the pesticide imidacloprid that properly assesses risks to honey bees and other pollinators.

The EPA must require the manufacturer to submit multi-generational studies of chronic toxicity looking not only at the impact of imidacloprid exposure on adult bees, but also at its effects on bee brood development and survival. Your agency also must incorporate into its risk assessment information concerning imidacloprid levels in the pollen and nectar of plants that receive systemic imidacloprid treatment as well as in hive materials. This information is needed to determine the extent of bees' exposure to this pesticide.

Finally, I urge the EPA to speed up its schedule for the registration review and cancel any uses of imidacloprid that are found to pose high risks to bees and other pollinators. Our food security depends greatly on pollinators such as honey bees. The EPA therefore should ensure that these beneficial insects are protected from high-risk uses of toxic pesticides.



The Natural Resources Defense Council is a nonprofit environmental organization with 1.2 million members and online activists, and a staff of scientists, attorneys and environmental experts. Our mission is to protect the planet's wildlife and wild places and ensure a safe and healthy environment for all living things.
For more information about NRDC or how to become a member of NRDC, please contact us at:
Natural Resources Defense Council
40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011
212-727-4511 (voice) / 212-727-1773 (fax)
Email: nrdcaction@nrdc.org
http://www.nrdc.org

Preserving last season's garlic harvest

I harvested too much garlic last year.
Gave it away to good cooks in the family, planted cloves from the best heads (last September), used (still using) plenty of fresh in cooking, and I even did that little whey fermentation experiment with a quart of those cloves.
But I still have garlic in my garage.
And spring is coming.

So yesterday I dragged out the trusty dehydrator.
I cleaned, peeled and chopped about three layers of garlic cloves and dried them for about 6 hours. With a little cheapo dehydrator like this one, as the food dries you need to watch it occasionally to make sure it stays nice - move it around a bit to distribute the hot spots. I consolidated the 3 layers into one for a final round.
It dried down to about a third of it's size.



Today I ground it into a powder.
Use a coffee grinder - I have three - one for coffee beans, one for dried green herbs, and the third for spicy things like spices, peppers and now, garlic. I ground a little kosher salt in the first batch thinking it would aid the grinder by adding a little tooth... but saw I didn't need to do that - just add the salt (if you want garlic salt) at bottling. Very little salt is in this product, but I thought it might keep the powder from clumping later on.



This Stuff is Good.
I Know How It Was Grown and Processed.
And It is a Thrifty Use for those smaller cloves of fresh garlic that won't keep their quality for much longer.
If I can do it, you can do it!

Mead Update 2

The bubbling slowed down considerably. It is interesting to shine a flashlight beam through the side of the bottle and watch the movement in the liquid as it ferments. It's alive! she said in her best mad scientist imitation.
But the time comes when most of the sugars have been converted to alcohol, and it is time to decant into a clean bottle for mellowing or aging.

Here's a shot of the thingie that Herb uses to measure the specific gravity in his winemaking. Hey, did I tell you he won another medal - a silver - in the 2008 Great Lakes International Cider and Perry Competition, Non-Commercial "Other Specialty" class 28-C, with his spiced apple wine made with apples grown by our favorite local orchard, Porters!

two living American heroes

...for the reality based community, that is.
Here Bill McKibben introduces Wendell Berry at the (CCAN) Chesapeake Climate Action Network's Artists for the Climate conference.
Go to Organic Consumer's Association website (link) to get inspired.

cute fun

Not Hannah (link) pointed out this fun site ... make your own superhero. The Strange Masked Philanthropist? s'okay!
I wish!
So, Who are you? Hey, it was 17 degrees this morning (and 29 right now). The only gardening I can do is indoors!

Hey Not Hannah, we have the same taste in wings!

hmmmm - where does the Google trail lead today...

I was Googling around looking for a website with a volume to weight converter for calculating how much dried herb to buy for our dried seasonings class in June. I make my own dried herbal seasonings blends for the family, but to volunteer to give away my own stash of herbs to a dried herb class, in June, no less - and to have extra packaged herbal seasoning blends to sell for the Herb Society's fundraisers, we need to buy packaged herbs. Not as good as homegrown, but the students will need material to work with.
We have a group account with Frontier, and I recommend their products.
Anyway, to make a short story long, I was Googling along and on the Blotanical dot com website ran across this video ... on another topic, but worth watching. Not that I watch FOX television, but this video confirms my aversion to Faux news, and my distrust of corporate milk. What was that I was saying about Monsanto?

Mead update

It's bubbling. Herb wrapped a jury-rigged 'blanket' around the jug to retain the warmth. Not in the instructions, but it seems to be working.

Another Stepping Stone

Blue flowered and patterned teacups this time (along with color coordinated, scavenged stained glass and store-bought glass tiles).
Just needs three coats of sealer, but I wanted to post the photo today to brighten up the scene.
Doing these small projects does give some focus during the long winter.

I don't know how well these broken china steppers will hold up to foot traffic out in the yard; I'd like to learn more about other people's experience. For one thing, I'm guessing they will need to be coated with a sealer every year as insurance. The other china decorated stone that I put outdoors seem to be holding up for now but it hasn't been walked on. Maybe I'll put them in a spot where traffic is light and thoughtful, like in my herb garden.

I thought about taking them to place around the demo herb garden at the Extension for a point of interest during the garden tour. That could still happen, but I just found out the "Gardens in Thyme" weekend at Crossroads Village, where I promised to teach some classes about making homegrown herbal seasonings, was scheduled for the same weekend as the Master Gardener garden tour, where I usually hang out at the demo garden to answer questions, so I'm torn in two directions.
Why do they do that?

Wear A Leek for Saint Dave Today

Or a daffodil! Here's a photo of the first garden stepping stone I ever made - it's seen the passing of many winters and I keep it in a spot where the snow melts earlier. Signs of spring are beginning to occur - the snowdrops and some early winter aconites are forming flowers, though they haven't opened yet, and the primroses and seed packets have arrived at Meijers, to bring home with the groceries.



March 1, Wear a Daffodil or Leek for St. David of Wales
From Wikipedia.com:
"Saint David's Day . . . is the feast day of Saint David, the patron saint of Wales, and falls on March 1 each year. The date . . . was chosen in remembrance of the death of Saint David on that day in 589, and has been celebrated . . . since then. The date was declared a national day of celebration . . . in the 18th century.
"On this day many Welsh people wear one or both of the national emblems of Wales on their lapel to celebrate: the daffodil (a generic Welsh symbol . . .) or the leek (Saint David's personal symbol). The association between leeks and daffodils is strengthened by the fact that they have similar names in Welsh, cenin (leek) and cenin Bedr (daffodil, literally "Peter's leek").
"In south Wales males usually wear leeks while young girls wear daffodils; in the north the daffodil predominates."

A Tough February

Two gardening friends died and another friend lost her dad within the past week. Made for kind of a sad passing of time here, and this cold, gray and brown, rag tag winter is no help to the spirit. Oddly enough, both friends were named Linda and both had suffered the indignity of cancer for several years. Both Lindas would put you at ease with their unobtrusive, common humanity. One Linda was one of the most graceful women I've ever ever known. And the other Linda was a lot like me in many ways - odd and quirky - only she was pretty, and had a great, subtle, self deprecating sense of humor that some people just didn't 'get'...
They were both people who loved their lives, even though they weren't dealt "winning hands".
I usually dig up some excuse to miss funerals. I really hate funerals but this time I forced myself to go to a "viewing" and just seeing a few of my living friends there provided a small warm glimmer in the gloom.
I subscribe to the Sierra Club's "Daily Ray of Hope" - it consists of a daily beautiful photo paired with a thoughtful quotation. Coincidentally this was the latest quotation, from another memorable character:

"Participate joyfully in the sorrows of the world. We cannot cure the world of sorrows, but we can choose to live in joy. "
-- Joseph Campbell

catching up and spring cleaning the old files

Admittedly, this is an old collection of Youtube videos of a Michael Pollan interview but I might as well post it here to listen to again some time.

food for thought

Punctuating the nutritional crisis that already exists for America’s poor, a new study documents that an average family’s maximum food stamp benefits fall far short of what families need to afford the USDA’s “Thrifty Food Plan.” Robustly sustainable, locally oriented and regeneratively organic food production must be a policy goal everywhere people are hungry, in U.S. cities and countrysides, and around the world.
The report:
http://c-snap.org/upload/resource/RCOHD_Report_Final.pdf

There seems to be a cognitive dissonance in politicians who won't rise and applaud, on camera and in front of the world, the line in a speech that says the children of the working poor will receive a renewal of their health benefits. How pro-child, pro-family is that? Something is very very wrong in this country.

First they came for the free range chickens ...

(I know, not funny.)

A pause for a political vent. This issue is too dear green to post on the cranky blog.
The world of organic oriented folk is waking up to the fact that Big Brother didn't retire to the ranch with George W.

First a little background:
The UN supports organic agriculture (link). Here is a good summary of the global issue of organic farming versus corporate agribusiness as it relates to sustainability.

So what are we doing in America, the land of the free?
NAIS.

Like I've said for ten years now, Monsanto is Satan.
Monsanto bills being rushed through Congress, set to destroy organic farming.
by Linn Cohen-Cole
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Monsanto-bills-being-rushe-by-Linn-Cohen-Cole-090217-758.html
and
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Monsanto-and-the-Schoolmar-by-Linn-Cohen-Cole-090214-935.html

Learn more here:
http://www.organicconsumers.org/nais_faq.cfm
Take action link is in top right hand corner of page.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has been working for over five years to force a National Animal Identification System (NAIS) onto American animal owners.
NAIS does nothing to improve food safety for consumers or prevent animal diseases. This program is a one-size-fits-all program developed by and for big Agribusiness. NAIS will increase consolidation of our food supply in the hands of a few large companies and put the brakes on the growing movement toward local food systems.

Follow this link to take action today!
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/642/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=26665

Sample letter:
Docket No. APHIS-2007-0096
I urge the USDA to withdraw its proposed rule to implement portions of the National Animal Identification System (NAIS), Docket No. APHIS-2007-0096.

The proposed rule mandates the NAIS Premises Identification Number (PIN) as the sole means of identifying properties for USDA animal health purposes. The proposed rule also mandates the use of the NAIS numbering system (i.e. the "840 numbering system") for eartags using official animal identification numbers. Tags using other numbering systems would be required to be linked to a NAIS PIN.

The draft rule is seriously flawed for multiple reasons:

1) Does not substantiate the alleged benefits to animal health. USDA makes general claims about the benefits of identifying locations where animals are kept, but the agency does not address the ability of existing programs to meet this purpose, nor how the proposed rule would improve the capability to identify locations.

2) Ignores the costs and burdens. The proposed rule would substantially increase costs for livestock owners and taxpayers. Costs include the development and maintenance of a massive database; purchase of 840-numbered tags by animal owners; changes by state agencies to make existing programs consistent with the rule; and increased federal government intrusion into the lives and daily activities of farmers and other animal owners.

3) Violates individuals' religious beliefs. Amish, Mennonite, and some other individuals have religious objections to the universal numbering system under NAIS.

4) Creates disincentives for people to seek veterinary care for their animals and participate in existing disease control programs. The proposed rule lists four animal disease programs-tuberculosis , brucellosis, scrapie, and Johne's - and will also impact others. These programs include provisions for veterinary care through vaccinations and testing. Animal owners who object to NAIS may avoid participating in these programs, thereby increasing health risks to the public and farm operations.

5) Adds to the confusion. This rule is the latest in a series of ambiguous and often contradictory documents that the USDA has issued on NAIS. This has created enormous confusion over the intent of the USDA and problems for both animal owners and state agencies.

Moreover, the proposed rule is a significant step towards implementing the entire NAIS program. Thus, the agency should address the fundamental question of whether it should be implementing NAIS at all. In addition to the problems with the draft rule listed above, there are many additional objections to the entire NAIS program:

1) No significant benefits: USDA's assertions that NAIS will provide benefits for animal health are not supported, and actually contradict basic scientific principles.

2) High costs for animal owners and taxpayers: These costs include: (1) the development, maintenance, and update of massive databases; (2) the costs of tags, most of which will contain microchips; (3) the labor burdens for tagging every animal; (4) the paperwork burdens of reporting routine movements; and (5) the costs of enforcement on millions of individuals.

3) Impracticality: The databases to register the properties, identify each animal, and record billions of "events" will dwarf any system currently in existence.

4) Waste of money: The USDA has already spent over $130 million on NAIS implementation, but has yet to develop a workable plan for the program.

5) Diverts resources from more critical needs such as disease testing, disease prevention through vaccination and improved animal husbandry practices, and disease detection in currently uninspected livestock imports.

6) Damage to food safety efforts: NAIS will not prevent foodborne illnesses, such as e. coli or salmonella contamination, because the tracking ends at the time of slaughter. Food safety is better served by focusing on programs such as increased testing for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE or Mad Cow), improved oversight of slaughterhouses and food processing facilities, and increased inspections of imported foods. Programs such as the NAIS are unfair burdens for small, organic and sustainable farms.

Another stepping stone

This one was so easy - it took no time at all to make it. The country quilt-ish looking tile in the center was the inspiration for the colors I chose (along with the limitations set by my small stash of tiles. In fact, the brown tiles on the edges were a last minute decision due to the lack of enough red, blue or green to finish it off. But I like the brown tiles there, go figure.)
I mixed a country blue acrylic paint into the dry grout instead of investing in grout colorant, hoping for a blue grout - but it turned out kinda bluish gray. Which is okay.

I picked the center tile up for pennies at a garage sale years ago, thinking it would be a cute refrigerator magnet, but I never got around to gluing a magnet on the back of it. A good use for some of those kitschy decorative tiles that turn up at the thrift store ... I just found three tiles there with a 1960's Pennsylvania Dutch theme that must have hung in some homemaker's kitchen for decades. They're almost too cute to use for a stepping stone, so I'll hang onto them for a while before I decide how to use them. I love kitsch, but they'd sure make a cool series of stepping stones.