Friday 27 April 2012

Farmageddon - A Documentary


Well - if you want to watch an interesting documentary about how the US Government is harrassing those US citizens who’ve made a conscious choice to farm and/or consume their own produce (and specifically raw milk which gets them quite excited it would seem) - this is worth a watch.
Apparently there are only about 28 states in the US that allow raw milk to be produced and sold (for personal consumption).  In addition, the only natural product that is policed as much as raw milk apparently is marijuana!  It’s also completely illegal to transport raw milk across state lines - and this is true of any state.
As a result, one of the farms in Georgia with a loyal customer base some of whom used to purchase the milk and take it home to a neighbouring state, got raided, and the USDA and FDA insisted all raw milk stocks be destroyed in their presence.  Because of this, the farm that was based in Athens, Georgia decided to take this to court in an attempt to have the law changed to allow raw milk to cross state lines.
The FDA moved the court to dismiss the case and in its motion stated that,
a) there is no absolute right to consume or feed children any particular food; and
b) there is no generalized right to bodily and physical health
Is that not incredible?  Not only their points above but the fact that the FDA (Federal DRUG administration) should have a say in whether or not people should buy and consume fresh food farmed and produced locally.
As one of the complainants stated - even if you were to get sick from the produce at least you know where it comes from and can trace it back to the animal within a matter of minutes - how long do you suppose it takes to track the animal your milk came from if you purchased it pasteurized from a supermarket chain?
I’m not saying everyone should drink raw milk but I am saying if a product like Cheetos (I have been partial to them in my time but I challenge anyone to dispute the fact that they are more poisonous than raw milk) is readily available and allowed to cross state lines - surely fresh raw (sensibly produced) milk should be as readily available.
In closing, I would suggest that the fact that the FDA state that “there is no generalized right to bodily and physical health” is an acknowledgement (and in a sense an admission) that raw milk or fresh farmed food in general is going to encourage bodily and physical health - surely that’s something worth fighting for! (and so I also include a photo of our lovely mustard greens growing the our backyard - no cows or raw milk yet - soon come as they say over here!:))


Sunday 1 April 2012

Saving a Flame Tree!

The Poinciana or Flame Tree as it’s called locally, is a spectacular tree that produces the most phenomenal bright red flowers and I’m pleased to say that Tony and I have just saved one!  Sadly it’s not the right time of year for the flowers so I don’t have any photos of what it looks like when it’s in full bloom but I shall endeavour to update the blog once our very own flame tree starts producing.
Two weeks ago, Tony called me to let me know that he had a lovely mature flame tree on his building site (approx 15-16 feet tall) and it was right in the middle of some underground electrical service work they had to do and so it was going to be chopped down and discarded unless I knew of anyone who would be prepared to pay for it’s removal in order to transplant it.
Both Tony and I were very keen to save this spectacular tree if at all possible and so after much discussion decided to see if our strata might be willing to pay for it so we could enjoy the tree in our own backyard.  Initially it looked as though it wouldn’t be possible given the cost of digging it up and transporting it in addition to digging a hole at the other end and filling it with soil can cost anywhere up to around $1,200.
However, given that Tony is on a building site and has a few local contacts with one of the landscaping companies, he managed to negotiate a price of $400-$500 all in (with Tony arranging for the tree to be dug up at his end - easy enough to do on a building site with all the right equipment to hand!).  Of course, no-one could guarantee that the tree would survive the journey or take at the other end but we thought that was a price worth paying if it meant there was a chance to save this lovely tree (photos below of the tree being removed from the job site).


So I’m pleased to report that 2 days after having been transplanted, the tree is looking healthy and we hope it continues to be healthy so that I might post photos of it flowering one day in the not too distant future.  The photo below is the transplanted tree - with alot of  it’s greenery chopped back - this was of course necessary in order to transport the tree.


And, in signing off, I’m pleased to announce the birth of our first aubergine - photo below!  Hopefully more will follow.....