Food and Farms Emerge As a Key Movement of Our Era

    If all politics is personal, as is widely held, then ultimately not much is more political than our food, and the farms which produce it. Everyone must eat, thus everyone has a vested interest in food.

Just now, early in the 21st Century, foods and farms are emerging as a leading-edge political movement. Thousands of college students are awake to the crucial importance of food and farms, and more are awakening.

With food poisoning scares, the ongoing onslaught of genetically modified food products being surreptitiously introduced to our diets, and the mounting evidence of the health and environmental consequences of large-scale, chemically dependent industrial agriculture, the list of reasons is growing for people to become active and take a direct part in ensuring food quality and food supply.

According to a May 23 story in The New York Times, a new wave of students is heading to farms this summer, in search of both work as interns, and social change. The interest in summer farm work among college students has never been as high.

According to the Times, the students come armed with little more than soft hands and dog-eared copies of Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma. They are acutely aware of the gross environmental problems caused by mass-scale industrial agriculture; they want to help bring about change, and to know they are doing something to better the world.

Meanwhile, the dietary forces impelling people to recognize foods and farms as a key political issue are mounting in strength and credibility. According to stories in both Time Magazine and Mother Earth News this Spring, we now have solid, scientific evidence that industrial farming is giving us less healthy food. Produce in the U.S. not only tastes worse than it did in our grandparents days, the evidence shows it also contains fewer nutrients.

Both articles cite a February, 2009 study entitled "Declining Fruit and Vegetable Nutrient Composition" by Dr. Donald R. Davis published in the journal HortScience, 2009.

Davis reports that the average vegetable found in today's supermarket is anywhere from 5% to 40% lower in minerals than those harvested just 50 years ago.

Because of widely used chemical fertilizers and pesticides, modern crops are harvested faster than ever before. But quick and early harvests mean the produce has less time to absorb nutrients either from synthesis or the soil. Meanwhile, monoculture, another hallmark of the Big Ag industry, has also led to soil-mineral depletion, which, in turn, affects the nutrient content of crops.

What can we do? Follow the examples of the new agrarians of the 21st Century They continue to respond intelligently, creatively, and innovatively in backyards, neighborhoods, and with community gardens and farms across the land.

Changing economic conditions represent yet a third force making it likely many more people will be looking for the practical and political pathways being trailblazed by the new agrarians. For example, a May 24 story in The Hartford Courant told of how in the face of drastically changing economics local growers have begun offering CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) shares as a survival strategy to keep their farms alive..

CSA describes an emerging agrarian form that has swept the country in 1978, and that is now well established in Connecticut https://www.agrifarming.in/. The number of CSA farms is barely keeping up with demand. As reported elsewhere, CSA farms have increased dramatically in recent years, with more than 13,000 now operating in the USA according to a census taken by the US Department of Agriculture.

Psst! What to be let in on a little secret? V-E-R-M-I-C-O-M-P-O-S-T-I-N-G. What's vermicomposting, you ask? Well, in a nut shell, vermicomposting are worm farms, and it is changing the future of recycling as we know it! These farms are giving people the ability to limit the amount of recyclable waste that they send to landfills and to create a manageable compost pile comprised of plant based items that will be eliminated with the help of some squirmy, hard working worms! Although the thought of worms may turn your stomach, these amazing little creatures alone have the ability to eliminate a tremendous amount of waste that would otherwise be thrown into a landfill.

There are approximately 4,000 worms in a pound. It takes an average of 24 hours for a worm farm to eat through one half pound of recyclable waste. This type of waste includes vegetable waste and peelings, fruit waste and peelings, egg shells, coffee grounds, paper products and cardboard (including egg cartons). There are a couple of exceptions to the rules regarding what can be allowed inside of worm farms. Any acidic fruit or vegetable (such as citrus or onions) should be given in limited use. Pineapple should not be given at all as in contains a certain enzyme that will actually dissolve the worm.

You can start your own vermicomposting by getting all of the supplies at your local home and garden supply store, or you can search on the web for companies who provide a starter kit for you. Beginning a farm is fairly inexpensive. Most supplies cost approximately $50 and the first batch of worms run about $20. You never have to worry about the worms overproducing as they adjust their mating schedule based on the population of the farm. That's pretty clever, huh? Do yourself and the environment a favor and look into investing in worm farms. The smell is limited (due to the worms water based excrement), it is inexpensive and you can sleep well at night knowing that you put forth the effort to help our world in the fight against pollution and landfill issues.

Installation of Artificial Grass: The Dos and Don'ts.

Today, artificial grass is widely used throughout the world. It not only enhances the beauty of the lawns and gardens, but also helps people to save money and time. However, there are certain things you must not do while installing artificial turfs. The following discussion includes some dos and don'ts of synthetic grass installation.

Do the Things You Are Skilled to Do

Install the artificial turf yourself only if you have undergone proper training. You must know that knowing the process and being skilled in carrying out the process are two different things. If you don't have the right skill and training, hire a professional artificial grass installer. You may feel that hiring a professional would be a costly affair, but the truth is it will save you from the expenses of repeating the installation procedure. A good installer will make sure that you get a perfectly fitted, lush green lawn.

Order More Material

Average people always want to save money on whatever they do. This intent stays unchanged even while installing artificial grass. They tend to order just enough synthetic turf for saving money. The best thing would be ordering a little more artificial turf that what you will actually need. This will not only save you from the risk of not getting the exact shade, but will also ensure that the installation job is done without any halt. If the material falls short, you will need an extra day for completing the installation. This means if the job is done by a professional installer, you will also need to pay them for an additional day.

You Should Not Use Rotary Cultivators

If you are not aware of the exact regulations of installation of artificial grass, you may feel that rotary tillers are best for preparing the area where you are going to install the turf. However, this is not true. Rotary tillers will disturb the soil more than what you would actually need for an ideal installation. Using this equipment will make the soil unsteady and will not support the fake grass turf perfectly. To get the best results, cut the existing grass on the area with a sod cutter. This will allow you to get rid of the unwanted grasses while keeping the soil stable enough for supporting the synthetic grass turf.

Do Not Use Pea Gravels

This is a common mistake that people make while installing fake grasses. Pea gravels are not ideal for acting as base materials of artificial grass turfs. Pea gravel is a smooth textured stone and is round in shape. Generally, these stones slide down when compacted during installation of a fake grass turf. The synthetic grass base material that should be used for getting a perfect finish is crushed lime stone. When compacted, these stones get interlocked producing a more steady base material for artificial turfs.

If you remember the dos and don'ts discussed above, you will successfully avoid the unnecessary expenses and get the lush green lawn of your dreams.

All of us are fond of green lawn outside our house, but we get fed up, with the maintenance of grass and plants, to maintain their look. Why not go for a synthetic grass installation, to get rid of those worries of lawn maintenance.

Follow these simple steps to install synthetic grass.

-Remove the natural grass or plantation from the area where you are planning to install synthetic grass. Preferably use a sod cutter for this task, they cut uniformly across the lawn.

-Install a composite board along the four sides of the area of installation.

-Dig a six inches deep trench along the edge of the area of installation.

-Put the composite board in the trench so the top of the border is about one inch to 3/4" below the top surface of the ground.

-Disable all irrigation lines which were previously used for natural grass irrigation.

-Add one inch self compacting gravel. Add gravel so that it is a quarter inch above the composite border level, keep center of the area little raised. Flat synthetic turf installs look fake.

-Rake the area using a 3 foot aluminum rake. This rake has teeth on one side and the back has a flat blade. Rake out the low spots as best as you can.

-Wet the area thoroughly but it should not flood the area. Wait for around 10 minuets to let it cure the area.

-Now use the plate compactor to make the area even. Use a broom to remove excess material on the edges.

-Spread a weed mat on the area now. Secure it properly so that after installation, it would not bulge out and stays even.

-Add the synthetic turf. The turf is normally available in 15 feet width and you should join it width wise.

-To start the installation, unroll the first bundle, laying it close to the edge and then unroll other bundle by its side length wise. Keep on laying them in this sequence.

-Make The Joints - You can glue your joint or you can use staples. Using glue and professional seaming tape will give the best result https://sodgreen.com/. This makes joint hard to detect. This factor becomes very important if you are installing grass on the playgrounds.

-Now Apply the Infill. The last step in this process is to apply the infill. Infill keeps the blades upright and gives the turf a more realistic look. You may use silica sand, acrylic green coated sand or de-odorizing infills. For most purposes sand works fine.

To apply the infill, use a broom to make the blades stand upright. Then carefully use a flat shovel to apply the infill to the turf. Roughly 1.5 lbs infill per square foot of turf is OK. Now brush again until the infill is evenly distributed.

Wow! You have successfully installed synthetic grass and it is ready for use.