fixed it myself~!
August 26, 2010
HEY – A Quiet moment can produce wondrous results…
I was a lucky shopper at a recent Healdsburg Estate sale & carried out a genuine 1955 Kitchen Aid – Model 3C. It is a beauty & an almost solid metal appliance – made to whip cream, beat eggs, mix cake batter, even make mayonnaise – back in the day when things were built to last forever.
After cleaning it up & admiring it on my vintage kitchen counter, we got around to using it for some whipped cream. The first few moments of service seemed as I remembered just before I put my money down in that original kitchen in Healdsburg …a nice starter speed, then speeding up as I took the dial to a higher setting. We turned it off, added some honey & vanilla – & then it just didn’t act right! The speed seemed variable & unrelated to the setting…oh, darn! Had I just bought yet another thing destined for the landfill? Hmm, maybe I could start a restaurant & put this in the window? Maybe Laurel will do the bakery & SHE can put it in the window?…Thoughts running rampant – until the next day – I took a quiet moment & instead of cleaning, gardening, reading email – I did a thing unusual for me – I decided to try & fix the darn thing!
Turns out it has a nice & tidy simple screw that allows you to open the beater mechanism – which was simply a simple hollow area surrounded by a cog & filled with wadding, some really OLD black grease & a heck of a lot of old cake batter!
A few moments later after dropping the important & irreplaceable screw thingie only once before containing it into a jar lid – I proceeded to clean the area out, apply sewing machine oil to all moving parts & then – deciding for expert advice – I called RJ for some thick grease. Turns out most guys have a grease gun around just for such uses…imagine that! The next day it was brought over & together we determined how much grease to put into the fairly clean wadding, (no, I didn’t change the wadding although it looked vaguely familiar but was not really on my list of things to shop for right now) into the hollow areas plus a little onto the cogs in both parts of the machine works. A few minutes later I was back in business with the Kitchen Aid humming properly at every speed. Now, that is a story that needs to be repeated…
1- I did it almost by myself – using woman’s intuition & a lifetime of some experience with small machines (sewing machine, bike)
2- This older model appliance is made of parts intended to be serviced! That is the real lesson of this tale – we need to find ways to make things again that aren’t meant to be dumped in a year & a day…
3- And…always good to have a grease gun around with some nice fresh light colored real good grease.
4- Must take quiet moments to make life happier & relieve upsets over small things…
5- Got to bake more, or get right person to bake using old yet happily working mixer appliance.
6- Keep RJ around for grease & other great reasons…
See ya in the kitchen,
Annie
The Vanishing Bees
August 15, 2010
THE VANISHING BEES
From the dawn of human society, the nature and origin of the honeybee has awakened the curiosity and interest of man. For the past five million years, this furry insect has been a creature of special sanctity, representing many things such as the human soul, industry, cooperation and the sacred feminine. Our relationship with bees also denotes the most ancient form of agriculture. Pre-historic petroglyphs depict women on honey hunts and Ancient Egyptian farmers floated beehives on rafts down the Nile to pollinate their crops.
And yet today, we live in a state of disconnect. The average consumer has no idea where things originally come from, not even something as vital as our food. They think edibles come naturally shrink-wrapped on a shelf and that the bees are merely stinging insects that make honey, when in fact these prime pollinators are responsible for one third of the food we eat, including most of the fruits, vegetables, nuts and even alfalfa used to feed livestock. In America, this amounts to about $18 billion in annual sales.
Imagine half a million adults skipping town and leaving their children behind. Picture an opened suitcase filled with bundles of cash at a bus stop and yet no robber wants to snatch it. The apiary science mystery known as “Colony Collapse Disorder” displays these very symptoms. Not only do the bees abandon their hive, but the queen and the brood as well. Unnatural. Unheard of. Even the predators that usually raid the hive for honey stay far away. At first, this occurrence sounds like an urban legend or an exaggerated tale. Except it’s not. The situation is both dire and all too real. Bees are disappearing all over the planet and no one knows why.
CCD – Colony Collapse Disorder…what is it? It is disappearing hives, not just dead bees…but, what causes it? Is it from the habits of commercial beekeepers & the overuse of agricultural chemicals? If so – why does a thriving hive in a backyard in our area – with no ag & no hive stress suddenly experience this…
Beekeepers and scientists are still unsure what is causing the loss of so many bees, but the fact is that bees are disappearing at alarming rates all over the world. In the UK, around one fifth of honeybee hives were lost in the winter of 2008/09.
In the USA, approximately one third of hives have been lost over the last two years – around 800,000 colonies in 2007 and 1,000,000 in 2008. If bees continue disappearing at this rate, it is estimated that by 2035 there could be no honeybees left in the USA.
US hive losses have been blamed on Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), a collection of symptoms including large-scale disappearance of bees from the hive, to which a singular cause cannot be attributed.
No-one knows for certain what is causing the hive losses; however there are many theories including:
- pests (such as varroa mites), viruses, bacteria and fungi
- pesticides such as neonicotinoids
- importing of non native bees unsuited to climate
- lack of nutrition and loss of habitats – related to urban sprawl and farming methods
- bad weather, including spells of particularly wet weather or sudden cold spells
- poor husbandry – for example in the USA beekeeping is a large industry, with bees trucked vast distances across the country to pollinate different crops.
A new movie is addressing this pressing subject – in a very engaging way too!
Scroll down for trailer of “The Vanishing Bees”
Here is one story…from my Bee Journal…
June 13th 2010 – Seasonal Hive Checks
I was making the rounds that day of our hives…and, eerily got a call…
David Partch’s hive is dead – gone – disappeared! A thriving colony reduced to several frames of comb with bits if pollen & some uncapped nectar. How weird. Was it the cold, rainy spring – they ate everything & then starved to death? If so – wouldn’t there be bodies in the hive? Is that hive the “swarm” that was caught in my neighbor’s yard, not so unlikely – only a couple of blocks away. The hive was a stack of ready frames, about 20 frames showing comb development, many with pollen stores, some uncapped nectar, the bottom deep box & first shallow box had been brood chamber for awhile – well developed black comb with lots of old cocoons, pollen & yet – now – with a spotty brood pattern of only a few dozen capped cells, & no queen cells.
By the time I saw it today – the wax moths are already at work in one section. 
Partch puts the exodus at after May 31st, last time they can remember seeing bees making regular forage entrances. David says he saw lots of fighting around the entrance before then, and it appeared that they were using the top as an entrance also. Some aggressive behavior toward him as well. .. I have taken the boxes home to expose them or freeze to rid the wax moths, and will create a storage until they are needed or David wants to try again. Too sad. I have taken pictures of the odd white stuff I found on several frames, in most boxes. I thought it was the cappings from the upper boxes, as they were robbed empty. Will I ever know?
See the movie, I am going to as soon as it is out!
And – here is a word on CCD – a short film from Burt’s Bees…
They are a corporation also wanting to help save the bees! I think we are all in this together..the bees are collapsing our culture & economy is collapsing…grow borage for the bees & a garden to feed yourself..NOW!
And – if you need more reasons to support the bees & use honey – here is another video (NPR) about honey – as medicine…
Honey is all right with me! In fact, I am going to open a hive this afternoon…hope I see some extra honey… I might just have a taste…
Bee well,
Annie
Cheap food is not cheap to produce, and easy to throw away
July 28, 2010
This post is a direct steal from “>Oregonlive.com….
Published: Friday, July 09, 2010, 6:10 AM Updated: Friday, July 09, 2010, 1:06 PM
Ben Pittman-Polletta, The Oregonian 
ARKASHA STEVENSON, The OregonianBlanchet House is able to serve over 800 meals a day to homeless and hungry Portlanders with salvaged — but safe and still edible — food delivered by Urban Gleaners. It’s one small way to halt the growing food-waste stream. “Bananas everywhere,” John Campaine says as he steers his white van to the back door of a Northwest Portland restaurant. “There’s way too much bread and too many bananas in this world.”
Every morning before most people roll out of bed, Campaine picks up what he calls “heinous quantities” of still-edible but imperfect food for Urban Gleaners, a nonprofit that each month gathers some 40,000 pounds of discarded food from the city’s restaurants, grocery stores, cafeterias and caterers and delivers it to the hungry.
It’s only a trickle in the swelling river of U.S. food waste.
A new study from the National Institutes of Health says that a whopping 40 percent of what farmers grow ends up in the garbage. That number has increased, too: in 1974, just 30 percent ended up as food waste.
This stinking overabundance, says the study, damages our planet and our health.
The food we toss consumes 4 percent of all U.S. oil and more than 25 percent of our fresh water. Food rotting in landfills produces methane, a potent climate-changing gas. Not to mention the energy spent first delivering, then hauling away uneaten food.
And the marketing of excess food helps drive the obesity epidemic. The increase in waste parallels a 26 percent increase in food available to each American between 1974 and 2003, the years of the study. That translates to 800 extra calories of food available per person per day, even as our population has grown.
Farmers coax their fields with the enthusiastic use of fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides. But while rivers and streams fill with farm runoff, hunger accelerates everywhere, including in Oregon, the second-hungriest state in the union.
The NIH study raises questions about our food production and distribution systems. Do we produce too much food? The wrong kind of food? Or do we deliver it to the wrong places?
Or is it all three?
The NIH scientists set out to examine the roles inactivity and overeating play in obesity. In particular, they wanted to determine if overeating alone could account for an average American adult’s weight gain of 20 pounds between 1974 and 2003. Assuming unchanging activity, they calculated how much a person would have to eat to put on that weight.
“We were wondering if there was enough food in the food supply to account for that,” says Kevin D. Hall, the leader of the NIH team, “and there was more than enough. In fact, it was much higher and it was going up at a faster rate.”
Daily food available increased from around 3,100 calories in 1974 to around 3,900 calories in 2003. Only 300 of these daily calories account for the average weight gain.
That left 500 calories, which led NIH scientists to their “push” hypothesis: excess food pushes its way onto plates, the little bit more that people eat makes them overweight, and the rest goes in the trash or gets wasted along the way.
The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture measures food waste differently than the NIH group. Applying “loss factors” to food availability data, they reduce the amount of food available based on its type and the way it is produced, distributed and processed. Loss factors were last estimated in 1974, so the USDA figures remain at 30 percent.
The conclusions of the NIH study, and the push hypothesis, are supported by a recent paper by researchers affiliated with the World Health Organization. That study predicted the average weight if all the food claimed unwasted by the USDA was eaten. It found the average American would be 5 pounds heavier than he already is.
This year, the USDA is finishing three initiatives to measure food loss — at the farm, retail and consumer levels. The USDA’s more detailed data relies on interviews and self-reports, but reporting on food use changes behavior, so accurate estimation is difficult.
Such difficulties have made food waste understudied. Until the USDA reports are published, the study by Hall’s team contains the most up-to-date information on food waste at the national level.
The research that does exist — with data from the late ’90s or earlier — suggests about 60 percent of food waste is due to consumers, coming from restaurants and households. When it comes to meat, Americans clean their plates. In restaurants, grains and other starchy side dishes get left behind. At home, individuals throw out large quantities of single food items — again uneaten carbohydrates, along with imperfect or spoiled dairy products and vegetables.
In part, consumer waste reflects a mix of media messages. Weight-conscious eaters feel empowered by leaving something on their plates. Shoppers buy more than they need, ignoring what’s already in their pantries. Simultaneously told to eat healthy and bombarded with unhealthy products, Americans fill up on meat and processed foods while their fruits and vegetables spoil.
Ever-cheaper food is also easier to throw away. Consumers can afford to be picky, insisting on perfect-looking produce and throwing out food they fear may be old or bad. Which partly explains the bananas.
“We got all these cases of bananas from Zupan’s that had mistakenly been put in the refrigerator,” says Urban Gleaners founder Tracy Oseran. “If you put bananas in the refrigerator they turn black. But they were perfectly fine. There are those kinds of things over and over again.”
Of course, the hungry don’t have the luxury to throw out black bananas or let vegetables rot, says Jacque Grieve, director of St. Vincent de Paul’s Food Recovery Network. St. Vincent de Paul serves food to 100 teens every Friday in Molalla. The one thing they ask for? “Green salad,” says Grieve. The organization gets about 6 to 12 pounds of it a week. “It’s never enough,” she says.
According to Oseran, the uneven distribution of food needs to be solved. “From where I stand, it’s hard for me to imagine that people could go hungry in this country,” she says. “If we could just redistribute it, there would be plenty for everybody to eat.”
And composting — at home or by the city such as the curbside composting that Portland is testing — may help reduce some environmental impact instead of it being buried in landfills.
Ultimately, though, stemming the tide of food waste may require rethinking the production model. “Unless we address something at the source, why we’re producing so many calories and pushing them through the supply chain, then we’re just gonna increase the food waste,” says Hall. He believes this will involve changes to Depression-era federal policies aimed at feeding a booming population.
“Agricultural subsidy programs have changed farm policy so that it basically rewards overproduction,” he says. “We’ve kind of overshot.”
The food industry will also have to change. “They’re out there to produce profits, and the way to make profits is by producing a lot of cheap food and getting people to buy it as much as possible,” says Jeffery Sobel, a scientist at Cornell University’s Division of Nutritional Sciences. Left to its own devices, the industry makes too many items no one needs to eat — cheap, high-calorie foods like the thousands of new food products introduced each year, and like the pastries, bread and the plentiful bananas that John Campaine collects.
As he will tell you, the “push” is being felt by Portland’s neediest.
“We joke that Portland has the fattest homeless people in the country,” Campaine says, working his way through a breakfast of biscuits and eggs at Blanchet House in Northwest Portland, a nonprofit that houses and feeds the homeless and one of the many organizations that receives food from Urban Gleaners. “When guys first come to the House, they have to be careful. A lot of them end up putting on weight.”
– Ben Pittman-Polletta
© 2010 OregonLive.com. All rights reserved.
Garden Carrot Ginger Soup!
July 14, 2010
Today we had a cool afternoon Garden Party in our Gazebo…sweet shady location -
eating cold carrot soup, fresh salads with iced tea, fruit & cookies!
(Here are some views of our food & garden)
You can enjoy a 3 minute garden party yourself – A trip to the Local Produce market & a recipe for Carrot Ginger Soup in 25 minutes – now, how easy is that? There are lost of ways to make carrot soup – raw, complex, avocado based, chicken stock based…well, I usually make up my own using what I have on hand.
Check out this video on Youtube- the 3 minutes is fun & will give you an idea for dinner!…oh, yes - I substitute raw goat milk for the cream because that is even more local for me…or try coconut milk if you are a vegan – maybe not local, but very good for you & tasty too!
Buy some carrots at your local market or grow some! 
Ginger…well, that is actually possible to grow in a greenhouse or potted plant…but, might be one of those “trade items” we will have to import…enjoy the flavors, good tasting & good for ya!
THE FIRST SHEAF
July 1, 2010
THE FIRST SHEAF
Ever since primitive man learned to cultivate his own crops, harvest festivals — thanksgiving ceremonies and celebrations for a successful and abundant harvest — have been carried out throughout the world.
The celebration of harvest in Britain dates back to pre-Christian times, when the success of crops governed the lives of the people. Saxon farmers offered the first cut sheaf of corn to one of their gods of fertility to ensure a good harvest the following year. Corn dollies (symbolizing the goddess of the grain) were traditionally made from the last ears of wheat to be cut. (Referral link)
Today we cut the first sheaf of the harvest, and in fact – it is the first grain to be harvested in Mendocino County in any great amount in almost 60 years! As the Chaplain of our Grange, I carried a sickle into the field & cut this first sheaf with prayers & thanks for abundance, and with hope that it will continue on into the future cycles – as we sow the seeds of the harvested sheaf once again in the sacred circle of life.
We of the Grange honor this time of the yearly cycle as the bountiful harvest of CERES. The Roman Cereal Goddess Ceres is the giver of life.
I wrote a play using the initiation liturgy of the Grange (Refer to the Manual of Subordinate Granges), and some of it follows here…
We filmed some film footage today in the vineyard- with the intention that a short film about Grange, the reverence for grain & the cycles of agriculture will be made.
~~~~~~
Ceres: Grass is the basis of agriculture. Without it the Earth would be arid, barren waste. It is emblematic of man’s transitory state upon the earth, and of a brighter and more glorious truth. (page 21)
Lecturer: Ceres offers the grain that holds all of humankind in our agricultural ways – from the first ancient wild grasses that were cultivated into bold and heavy grains that can feed many from one field. Ceres lives in the sheaf of wheat, the bundle of corn, the drying rice on the roofs of dwellings. Her gift offers our lives stability – thusly have humans settled in one place with no need to roam nomadically, looking for foods in the wilderness. Ceres represents the first harvests of late summer – as our life cycle turns to Adulthood, both symbolized by the Sickle and the Ripened Grain. We are both Harvester and Gleaner. Secure in our abundance we can begin to practice CHARITY.
Ceres: I am the giver of life, the seed becomes the sheaf, becomes the bread and the feast, from which the seed is saved for planting again. I am all of the cycle in one.
From The Grange Manual: To live in the country and enjoy all its pleasures, we should love rural life. To love the country is to take interest in all that belongs to it – its occupations, its culture, its improvement. To gather the flocks around us and feed them from our hands, to make the birds our friends and too call them by their names, to rove the verdant fields with a higher pleasure than we could have in regal courts and high towers, to inhale the air of the morning as if it were the sweet breath of infancy, to brush the dew from the glittering fields as if our paths were strewn with diamonds, to perceive this glorious temple all distinct with the presence of Divinity, and to feel, amid all this – the heart swelling with and adoration and a holy joy absolutely incapable of utterance. This it is to love the country, and to make it not the home of the body only, but of the soul. These teachings would make any home the brightest and happiest on Earth.
Ceres: Be as a grain of wheat. Begin in innocence in the darkness of your inner thoughts; allow the cultivation of knowledge and then the ripening of wisdom to guide your harvest. Share these grains of wisdom with all you meet. Teach this to the next generation of seeds that they may continue the cycle of diligent labor and reward.
Master: The SICKLE is an ancient and honorable tool. It speaks of peace and prosperity, and is the harbinger of joy. It is used not merely to reap the golden grain of the sheaf, but – in the field of mind and heart and soul – to gather every precious stalk, every opening flower, and every desirable fruit. Thus it is a reminder of honest employment, diligent labor – teaching the present lesson of prosperity and peace, and a prophecy of future plenty and rejoicing. (Grange Manual – page 44, paraphrased)
Lecturer: As we begin the harvest of grains – the rustling corn is waving as ripe and ready for the reapers and gleaners – may we feel as well the attendant lessons. We must reap for the mind as well as for the body, and from the abundance of our harvest, in good deeds and kind words, dispense CHARITY. The grain is ripe and ready for the harvest. It is, however, important that the best of intelligent and skillful labors be employed. Gather only the good seed, both for feasting and for planting in the next cycle. Our associations in life are the fields in which we reap. Use judgment, and while you glean let your example be such that others may profit by it. Cultivate an observing mind; perceive the beauty that everywhere abounds.
Pomona: The harvest time of your life consists not only of that which you take from the seeds planted for your own use – the ripe grains that fall into your hands, but also is a time of CHARITY – sharing the harvest with those in need around you. As flowers and vines have covered the rough paces in nature, so I charge you, cover the faults and failings of others with the mantle of CHARITY. Speak well of others, rather than dwell on their shortcomings. Gather up the sheaves of their virtues, and pass by their faults, just as you gather the good seed, and leave the rest. Such are the great aims, labors and rewards of the planting, the cultivation and the harvest of life. (Paraphrased from page 43)
~~~~~
Note: This wheat is being grown in between the rows of grapes in the Vineyards of the Frey Family Winery. 
The standard 8 feet of row space is most of the land use in a vineyard ,and by planting down the center of this space with vegetables & grains, they hope to see a fuller overall usage of acreage, and a reduction of pests & weeds. I wish them the best of success with this innovation and with luck – the future will see many more California vineyards growing grains!
Harvest festivals in ancient cultures
- The ancient Egyptians celebrated their harvest festival in honour of Min, the god of vegetation and fertility. The festival of Min was held in the spring, the Egyptians’ harvest season. After a grand parade, a great feast was held with music, dancing and sports.
- The ancient Chinese celebrated their harvest festival on the 15th day of the eighth month. The day was believed to be the birthday of the Moon and special Moon cakes stamped with the face of a rabbit (perceived to be the face of the moon) were baked.
- The ancient Greeks worshiped Demeter as their goddess of all grains. Demeter’s daughter Persephone was abducted by Hades, the god of the underworld. Demeter, the source of all growth and life, withdrew her powers from the Earth during her time of grief. Demeter’s refusal to eat or feed the world until the other gods resolved her conflict with Hades over Persephone brought on winter, and no plants or grains could grow. Because Persephone had eaten pomegranate seeds given to her by Hades, she was condemned by the gods to spend half of the year in the underworld and half of the year on earth with Demeter. Every year, when Persephone is in the underworld there is winter, and when she is on the Earth, there is spring and summer.
- The Romans celebrated the Cerelia festival, where offerings of the first fruit of the harvest were dedicated to Ceres (Demeter in Greek). Some believe the festival was held in October, others say that it took place in April, to coincide with the arrival of spring.
P.S. I also hope to obtain some grain for baking into loaves of bread for our annual Harvest Dinner at the Little Lake Grange.
URBAN PEASANTS
June 19, 2010
More chickens, this time in an upscale neighborhood overlooking Lake Washington in Seattle…a beautiful setting for a small coop of clean & well managed chickens…Eric says he has been keeping chickens since 1974 when he was named an “Urban Peasant” by a major publication…I like the term, let’s take back – both the urban chicken & the term Peasant – it is very close to pleasant…a word that pleases me…
JASON’S GARDEN
June 18, 2010
The Backyard Homestead is coming of age! 40 years after the “Back to the Land” Movement took us all out onto our remote 20 acre parcel…
The newest generation to begin farming is making their wave on front lawns, in backyards across America. It is now very hip to keep chickens in town, and the movable mini-coop (Chicken tractor) that can clean up & fertilize a garden bed is a wonderful invention being built just about anywhere!
Jason Bradford – localization spark plug & recently of my hometown – Willits, CA – has moved to Corvallis, OR – in search of a wide & fertile valley to farm organically. His dream is to organize Organic farming for thousands of prime farmland – revolutionize the future of our basic grain crops. As that bigger dream unfolds, he is making a cozy home with wife – Kristin Bradford – a full time MD & very good baker of scratch German Chocolate cakes, 
beautiful young mother of 2 extraordinary boys, a Tai Kuan Do student, ballet dancer extraordinaire, and – well – you get it – these are not your ordinary backyard gardeners….but, wait – they are extra ordinary just as are we all, each in our own way.
So find your extra-out-of-the-ordinary time & dig a patch in your front yard, your side patio, your balcony pot of soil…
plant a tomato & savor the goodness of the connection to your food. Meanwhile, you can get inspired & informed by books such as The Backyard Homestead by Carleen Madigan. 
I have learned something new on every page!
BEES – SWARMS, DISAPPEARING COLONY, DISAPPOINTMENTS
June 13, 2010
It started with my first phone call – while I was out of town, darn it!
SWARM Again!
So – the ‘Queen of the Hood’ – which was the first spring swarm from the Mother Hive last year (2009) has now swarmed twice…or was it another hive that made the first swarm?
The first swarm (was it my hive? I’ll never know)…June 1st
Was found hanging in the neighbor’s fruit tree – just across the fence – low to the ground, & easily taken. Matt Crawley took it away, but rumor is that he lost it…I will check to see if he got it again. Ron took some pix, so I am eager to see them when I return…yes…the swarms happened while I was away to Michigan!
A late & wet spring makes for late swarms, I guess.
I have often wondered if that hive would swarm, it has seems so highly populated, with so much traffic & lots of activity on the front of the boxes…swarm…even though I put extra boxes on top. I am curious – when I open it up – soon – what it will look like inside…have they really used up all that space, or are they predisposed to swarm like their “Mother Hive”?
This latest swarm was caught by Ron – using no protective equipment – into my swarm box I had at ready. Will check the box for frame placement this week. The amazingly fast build of rogue comb into spaces left by lazy beekeepers should not be repeated by those who have done it once already…
A further note – this hive appears to have been reproduced with the traits of its mother hive…swarming twice a year, into a low hanging fruit tree branch…coincidences? Can the Queen carry this type of colony behavior genetically or what?
~~~~~~~~~~~~
June 10th – Feeding the New Hive & the Swarm
MADE A ½ Gal of syrup (1:1) for my gals…the 2 feeders were pretty messed up – the lower (leaky) one was empty but lots of dead bees – I am guessing the weakest ones from the rainy starvation week… the upper feeder was full of fermenting sugar from over a week ago, why didn’t they eat it? I am not sure – but removed the lower feeder – must reline the pans – and cleaned the good one out – replacing with fresh syrup, will check it in 2 days to see if they are partaking. The Blackberry blossoms are now out in force, so there is a good flow on, I am sure….
~~~
June 13th – Hive Checks
David Partch’s hive is dead – gone – disappeared! A thriving colony reduced to several frames of comb with bits if pollen & some uncapped nectar. How weird. Was it the cold, rainy spring – they ate everything & then starved to death? If so – wouldn’t there be bodies in the hive? Is that hive the “swarm” that was caught in my neighbor’s yard, not so unlikely – only a couple of blocks away. The hive was a stack of ready frames, about 20 frames showing comb development, many with pollen stores, some uncapped nectar, the bottom deep box & first shallow box had been brood chamber for awhile – well developed black comb with lots of old cocoons, pollen & yet – now – with a spotty brood pattern of only a few dozen capped cells, & no queen cells.
By the time I saw it today – the wax moths are already at work in one section. Partch puts the exodus at after May 31st, last time they can remember seeing bees making regular forage entrances. David says he saw lots of fighting around the entrance before then, and it appeared that they were using the top as an entrance also. Some aggressive behavior toward him as well. I have taken the boxes home to expose them or freeze to rid the wax moths, and will create a storage until they are needed or David wants to try again. Too sad. I have taken pictures of the odd white stuff I found on several frames, in most boxes. At forst I thought it was the cappigs from the upper boxes, as they were robbed. But – I actually put one in my mouth & it was hard & grainey, not sure what it is. They are irregular sizes & shapes, seems unlikely that they are eggs of any kind – although the hive is filled with small ants doing clean up. Does anyone know?
I checked the new hive, and they have not eaten all of the syrup in top tray. In fact – I am unsure if they have used any of it. There are a lot of bees hanging around in the trays & the entrance, so I assume they are using it. So, I will check & refill with another ½ gallon on Tuesday before I leave. The front entrance is being used, as I counted about 30 bees landing in one minute, so I assume they are doing ok inside .
Attached pictures of the white grains – anyone got ideas? They were on top of the frames also clinging to the outside edges of comb, as if they had been falling down the spaces & got caught by the sticky nature of the comb.
Buying Organic Eggs – what to know…
June 7, 2010
What to Know Before You Buy Organic Eggs at the Grocery Store
One of our favorite breakfasts is Local Fram Eggs..scrambled with lots of garlic & fresh garden greens, especially Dino Kale or Spinach. Some times – if I had made Goat Cheese, we add that too! I know that breakfast lasts for me most all morning & into the afternoon if I am busy & forget lunch until late…
I love buying my eggs from a neighbor or friend & knowing how they were handled & what life the chickens had. I have contemplated geting some chickens, but adding yet another daily task on our little homestead brings resistance…so, local eggs = local economy!
Eggs are one of the most beneficial foods you can eat, and it’s a shame they’ve been vilified for so long in the United States. In the U. S., roughly 280 million birds give us about 75 billion eggs per year, which is about 10 percent of the world supply.
But not all eggs are created equal.
Here’s what Dr Mercola’s site has to say about all of this – in detail…
Eggs from truly organic, free-range chickens are FAR less likely to contain dangerous bacteria such as salmonella, and their nutrient content is also much higher than commercially raised eggs. The dramatically superior nutrient levels are most likely the result of the differences in diet between free ranging, pastured hens and commercially farmed hens.
If you are eating organically, then you have learned how important the diet and care of an animal is to the quality of its meat, and in this case, their eggs. But have you ever thought about what happens to these eggs AFTER they are collected?
You would think that organic eggs would be your best choice when picking them up at the grocery store. However, most states have laws that make them illegal unless all the eggs that are sold commercially are processed in a way that could damage them.
Some states require that all eggs receive a chlorine bath and mineral oil coating before they are nestled into their cartons.
There are vast differences in how eggs are processed and handled, even under the “certified organic” label.
As it turns out, what happens outside the shell is as important as what happens inside the shell, and that is the focus of this report.
Your Egg’s Journey from Hen to Market
Ideally, eggs should be processed the day after they are laid. The USDA requires processing within 30 days of lay. High quality eggs are processed within seven days of lay.
Egg processing involves the following six steps:
1. Egg collecting
2. Cooling
3. Cleaning/Disinfecting
4. Candling (a measure for assessing the interior quality of the eggs whereby eggs are held up in front of a high-intensity light and visually examined; among other problems, cracks can be identified that necessitate disposal of the egg)
5. Grading
6. Packing/Labeling
It is the cleaning process that you as a consumer should be aware of, because in this step, chemicals and contaminants may be introduced that compromise your eggs’ quality.
Why Eggshells are Like Your Skin
Did you know that, like your skin, eggshells are actually a porous membrane rather than an impermeable barrier?
An eggshell contains approximately 7,500 pores or openings. The outer surface is covered with a waxy cuticle (called the bloom when on a chicken egg), sealing the egg and helping prevent bacteria from entering.
Gases are transferred and moisture is lost through these pores.
When moisture is lost, carbon dioxide is also lost, speeding up the breakdown of the egg.[i] Loss of carbon dioxide causes the egg’s pH to increase, which results in thinning of the albumen.
Why is this important?
Because commercial processing regularly destroys this protective cuticle.
As it turns out, it is standard industry practice to wash chicken eggs. Depending on the method of washing, the cuticle can be easily damaged, which leaves your eggs vulnerable to contamination and faster spoilage. The egg industry knows this, so to replace what Mother Nature put there for good reason, they must coat the egg with something—often mineral oil. It’s akin to adding preservatives to processed foods.
Not only is mineral oil a non-natural agent, but it’s a petroleum product that was never intended for you to eat.
Some egg producers use vegetable oil as a more natural alternative.
If you are a culinary talent, you might be surprised to hear that using eggs whose shells were oiled will prevent those “stiff peaks” from happening, because some percentage of the oil seeps into the egg white.
Not all eggs undergo oiling, but many larger producers do, particularly if they are preparing their eggs for long-distance shipment and/or storage.
According to the “incredible edible egg[ii]” website, about 10 percent of all eggs are oiled. I could find no statistic about what percentage of eggs are cleaned in a way that their cuticle has been wiped out, but I suspect it is much higher than 10 percent.
Like your skin, what’s put ON your egg goes INTO your egg. Meaning, whatever the eggshell comes into contact with can cross over this semi-permeable membrane and end up in your scrambled eggs, from chlorine to mineral oil to dish soap — to salmonella.
Your Organic Eggs May Be Chlorinated or Rinsed in Lye
According to A Guide to On-Farm Processing for Organic Producers: Table Eggs[iii], detergents and other chemicals used for “wet cleaning” eggs must either be non-synthetic or among the allowed synthetics on the National List of allowed non-agricultural substances (205.603 of the National Organic Standard).
These synthetics include:
• Chlorine (sodium hypochlorate)
• Potassium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide (lye)
• Sodium carbonate
• Ozone
• Hydrogen peroxide
• Peracetic acid (peroxyacetic acid) — a mixture of vinegar and hydrogen peroxide
These agents serve mostly as sanitizers, rather than washing agents.
If chlorine is used at levels over 4 ppm, it must be followed with a clean water rinse at no more than 4 ppm residual levels. Chlorine itself is relatively benign and breaks down to chloride in your body — which is not much different from the chloride ion in table salt.
However, chlorine can interact with organic materials to form highly toxic compounds called DBPs (Disinfection Byproducts), which can be carcinogenic and mutagenic. And eggs are an “organic material,” which bears the question of what chemical interactions are occurring in a chlorinated egg that have yet to be discovered?
Instead of harsh chemicals, the guide cited above4 recommends cleaning eggs with plain vinegar (mixed with 3 parts water) because it is non-synthetic and quite effective at removing both bacteria and stains on the eggshells (which some people find objectionable).
Some farmers report rinsing eggs very quickly in water, just to dislodge any debris, and believe this is adequate. Others use a dry brushing process — no liquids at all — just a brush, sandpaper, or a loofah sponge.
This dry brushing technique is highly recommended for small producers.
If eggs are rinsed in water, it is very important that the wash water be about 20 degrees warmer than the eggs, and at least 90 degrees F, but not more than 40 degrees above the eggs’ temperature because of the risk of thermal cracking. This proper temperature gradient encourages the contents of the egg to swell and push the dirt out of the pores.
If the water is too cold relative to the egg, the egg can literally “suck in” the washing solution — along with the bacteria in it. Water exposure should be as brief as possible to minimize the potential for contamination, and the eggs dried immediately.
Mineral oil is not listed in the National List of allowed substances.
I think it is unlikely that an organic farmer would choose to use mineral oil, but the regulations are so variable from state to state, and the national guidelines so nebulous, that there is lots of wiggle room.
Scrambled Federal and State Regulations on Eggs
There are different federal and state regulations for egg farmers, depending on what the eggs are intended for.
Eggs that are going to be used in egg products (i.e., those that will be cracked and emptied) are subjected to one set of regulations, and eggs that are sold as “table eggs” or “shell eggs,” which are sold fresh and whole “in the shell,” are subject to another set of regulations.
And then there are state regulations, in addition to federal regulations.
In 1970, Congress passed the Egg Products Inspection Act (administered by the USDA) to ensure that eggs and egg products are safe for consumption. This act imposes specific inspection requirements for both shell eggs and egg products for anyone who sells eggs to retailers (grocery stores, restaurants, hotels, etc.).
In 1972, on-site inspections of all shell egg producers became required quarterly. However, any producer with a flock of less than 3,000 birds is EXEMPT from this act.
Every state has its own specific egg laws, which makes it more complicated to figure out what process your eggs have gone through. Although the USDA does not allow immersion washing (allowing eggs to soak in water), most small producers are not subject to those restrictions.
And most state egg laws do not specify washing methods.
For an extensive list of egg regulatory agencies, you can refer to this USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service “fact sheet.”
Egg Cleaners and Sanitizers
According to the USDA’s publication “Guidance for Shell Egg Cleaners and Sanitizers”[iv]:
“Compounds used to wash and destain shell eggs are potential food additives. Therefore, they are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Unfortunately, FDA does not have any published regulations dealing with shell egg cleaning and destaining compounds.”
Leaves it wide open, doesn’t it?
The publication goes on to give some guidelines for egg cleaning chemicals, basically instructing farmers to use substances that are “GRAS” (Generally Recognized as Safe), but these substances are not limited in any way.
Since organic egg producers are interested in producing high-quality eggs, many of them—especially small, local farming operations—have implemented gentle washing methods that don’t compromise the cuticle.
Interestingly, in Europe, Grade A eggs are not washed. According to the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service[v]:
“This practice is a result of research done in the early 1900s that indicated washing eggs before storage resulted in unpredictable and sometimes deleterious results. However, the length of wash time, cleanliness and temperature of the water and the proper use of sanitizers varied widely in these studies.
Older egg production books do not recommend washing eggs at all. In the past, it was important to protect the cuticle because refrigeration was not always possible.”
To Refrigerate or Not to Refrigerate
Despite what you’ve heard, eggs that are fresh and have an intact cuticle do not need to be refrigerated, as long as you are going to consume them within a relatively short period of time.
In other countries, including most of Europe, eggs are frequently not refrigerated.
In the U.S., refrigeration of eggs became the cultural norm when mass production caused eggs to travel long distances and sit in storage for weeks to months before arriving at your superstore. The general lack of cleanliness of factory farms has increased the likelihood that your eggs have come into contact with pathogens, amplifying the need for disinfection and refrigeration.
Not only that, but as a culture, we are rather “germ phobic” here in the U.S., compared to other countries.
So, IF your eggs are very fresh, and IF their cuticle is intact, you do not have to refrigerate them. According to Hilary Thesmar, director of the American Egg Board’s Egg Safety Center[vi]:
“The bottom line is shelf life. The shelf life for an unrefrigerated egg is 7 to 10 days and for refrigerated, it’s 30 to 45 days. A good rule of thumb is one day at room temperature is equal to one week under refrigeration.”
Eggs purchased from grocery stores are typically already three weeks old, or older. USDA certified eggs must have a pack date on the carton, and a sell-by date. Realize that the eggs were often laid many days prior to the pack date.
For cracking the egg carton dates code, click here.
For more information about how to maximize the health benefits of your eggs, please review my earlier article.
Hello, Big Farma
About 95 percent of the eggs produced in the U.S. come from gigantic egg factories housing millions of hens under one roof.
According to the American Egg Board:
• Prior to World War II, most egg production came from farm flocks of less than 400 hens. By the early 1960s, technological innovations caused a shift from small farms to huge commercial operations.
• There are currently about 245 egg companies with flocks of 75,000 or more.
• Of these 245 companies, 60 have at least one million laying hens, and 12 have more than 5 million hens.
You can only imagine how difficult — if not impossible — it is to keep 5 million hens healthy and happy, under one roof… a clucking nightmare!
This is just another reason you should buy from your local organic farmer.
According to Robert Plamondon’s Poultry Pages[vii], the most common sources of dirty eggs are the following:
• Hens who sleep and poop in the nest boxes
• Hens who enter the nests with muddy feet
• Broken eggs (from insufficient nest litter, or too many hens jammed together)
• Traffic (too many hens coming and going in a small area)
It is much easier to produce clean eggs than to clean dirty eggs.
Preventing dirty eggs is best done through better management of the hens and their nesting spaces, which greatly reduces the need for egg cleaning in the first place.
As the guide states, “Disease prevention in organic systems starts with clean birds.” Your egg farmer should be paying attention to proper nutrition, clean water, adequate housing space, and good ventilation to reduce stress on the hens and support their immunity.
Crowded conditions in factory farms are a major reason why so many commercial eggs have to be bathed in caustic chemicals in order to be “safe” for you to eat!
How Can You Guarantee Clean, Fresh Eggs?
So, how can you tell if your eggs have been washed in chlorine or lye, or in some other chemical, or coated with mineral oil?
You certainly can’t tell by looking at them.
The only way to know if your eggs have been washed or oiled (and using what agents) is to ask the producer — and the only way to do that is to buy from small local farmers you have direct contact with.
It is important to know where your food comes from. And if you don’t ask, they won’t tell you.
The key here is to buy your eggs locally. About the only time I purchase eggs from the store is when I am travelling or for some reason I miss my local egg pickup.
But finding high quality organic eggs locally is FAR easier than finding raw milk as virtually every rural area has individuals with chickens. If you live in an urban area visiting the local health food stores is typically the quickest route to finding the high quality local egg sources.
Farmers markets are another great way to meet the people who produce your food. With face-to-face contact, you can get your questions answered and know exactly what you’re buying. Better yet, visit the farm — ask for a tour. If they have nothing to hide, they should be eager to show you their operation.
Remember, clean and happy chickens lead to healthy eggs.
[i] “Fresh Farm Eggs—Marketing and Regulations” (Agricultural and Natural Resources Fact Sheet #511), Washington State University Cooperative Extension for King County http://king.wsu.edu/foodandfarms/documents/eggfsfnl.pdf
[ii] American Egg Board (AEB) http://www.incredibleegg.org/
[iii] Fanatico, A and Keupper G. “A Guide to on-farm processing for organic producers: Table eggs”
[iv] “Guidance for shell egg cleaners and sanitizers,” USDA Regulations and Policies, Food Safety and Inspection Service
[v] Fanatico A. and Conner B. (2009) “Small-scale egg handling,” National Sustainable Agricultural Service (ATTRA Publication #IP348/346)
[vi] “Storing eggs differs in Europe, America” (May 6, 2009)
[vii] Plamondon R. “Egg quality/egg washing”
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/06/08/why-you-dont-want-to-buy-organic-eggs-at-the-grocery-store-.aspx
JAMIE MAKES A HOME VISIT
June 1, 2010
Just when you thought it was safe to eat some doughnuts & chips…Jamie Oliver shows up & puts it ALL on the table! See it at this link –
Time magazine has some good thoughts on it all too…
There are lots of ideas on how to fool ourselves into eating less – or better…
Even after eating a large meal, we often “make room” for dessert, because a desire for sweets hasn’t been satisfied. Ann Gaba, a registered dietitian at New York Presbyterian Hospital, says that sometimes all it takes is a bit of fruit in a salad during a meal to curb a sugar craving.
Recent Comments