It is time to Comment on New Farm Safety Regs

Mike Tabor’s Farm in Bloom for Spring

A Guest Post by Michael Tabor, Maryland based farmer and activist.

 Note from Tanya: Michael Tabor is  a great friend and one of my mentors in the farming world.  He runs a mixed vegetable farm and is always engaged in making the world a better place.  This piece responds to proposed regulations that could have far reaching impacts on all, sustainable and organic farms nationwide. Mike will be on a panel about this issue at the upcoming Maryland Food and Farmers Association Meeting.

For those of us in the sustainable farm community, we are at the crossroads and the clock is ticking.  There are these new Food Safety draft regulations released by the FDA on January 4, 2013 as mandated by the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) of 2011.  The regs cover everything concerning how we farm:  domestic and wild animals, water, on-farm processing, soil amendments, equipment, tools and buildings.  A mandated response is due by May 16.

If small farmers ignore that deadline assuming we are exempt, it will be a  huge mistake. Small farmers need to speak up now to make sure these rules are workable for farms on our scale.

To understand the regs you need to go to the homepage of the FDA’s Food Safety Modernization Act and spend some time on it.  In a nutshell, everything’s aimed at prevention of some of the consequences of industrialized agriculture. Small farmers need to read the regulations and weigh in to ensure that we can keep running complex mixed vegetable operations without an undue burden of paperwork for each of our crops.   Sustainable agriculture groups are reading through the materials and will come forward with some recommendations for comments.  Small farmers and the consumers who care about us should pay attention and weigh in these rules.  There will be more written about this in the coming weeks.  In the meantime, you can read more about the rule from PASA here or dig straight into the proposed regulations here.

Interestingly, on January 5, when  The Washington Post featured the new FDA proposed regs on its front page, there was another story on page 6 with important lessons about agriculture.  The story was about a India’s Punjab region. The Punjab was the region where the “green revolution” of the 60’s and 70’s happened.  It was there that US Agriculture, determined to “feed the world,” introduced the latest seeds, pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilizers so that hunger, disease and poverty would end in India.  Instead, reports and studies are showing links between that industrialized ag model and an upsurge both in cancer rates and farmer suicides. Now, farmers are dependent on the chemicals and pesticides and the cancer rates continue to rise. In response, there are now movements calling for more sustainable ag and organic models and tougher laws to protect the population.  There is a clear lesson here.

Once, America’s health, ag and safety rates were the model and envy of the world.  Now, our longevity rates have slipped closer to a third world level.  Our seeds, meat and health stats are called into question and often rejected by EU countries.

Yes, we should be aware and react to the FSMA regs.  We also need to bring into the debate the industrial model itself and make that part of our special contribution and insight into this discussion.  If not, we can expect the voice of industrial agriculture to prevail!

Guest Post: More than Slippers

By Cheryl Corson, landscape architect, writer and knitter.

I’ve sewn, woven, and knitted gifts for loved ones for over thirty years. During that time I’ve also sewn backpacks in a factory, paid by the piece, made clothing for a New York City fashion designer, and run my own production weaving business. Beside technical skill, production work and gift making have little in common.

 Knitting and felting a pair of wool slippers for my husband is a much slower undertaking than production work. Because of this, it becomes a gift for me too – the gift of time. He gets slippers; I get hours of quiet time, during which I often reflect on him and our marriage.

 In fall, he thoughtfully selects 2 colors from dozens on the color chart. Once ordered, the wool soon appears in a box on our front porch. We open it, sharing happy anticipation, turning the soft balls of sage green and maroon yarn in our hands, neat paper bands still intact. Then I begin knitting.

 Christmas approaches and I keep knitting until one day, 2 clown-sized slippers slide over my dubious husband’s feet. Into a pillowcase and the washing machine they go for felting. We check them from time to time until they eventually emerge from the hot water exactly his size. I stuff them loosely with plastic bags to shape them as they slowly dry. On Christmas morning, my husband unwraps them and slips them on, playfully pretending to be surprised.

 I like that they keep his feet warm. I like seeing them side by side by his nightstand when he’s not wearing them. They’ve now molded to his feet and have distinct left and right sides. Their daily use and the understated love they embody, set them apart from store-bought slippers, even years later, as the heels have worn and need patching.

 All these knitted, woven, and crocheted objects go well beyond being merely clothes, garments, or apparel, and into the territory of raiments, vestments, and adornments. And in my dictionary, to adorn invokes the word grace, whose own definition is divine love.

 “Grace” gets to the heart of the matter. It explains the deep emotion and beauty binding yarn, maker, and receiver together into the timeless fabric of human history.

wool slippers, knitted & felted

Cheryl Corson is landscape architect, writer and knitter.  Her website is http://www.cherylcorson.com.  You can read other gardening posts by Cheryl on this blog under our guest posts tab here. 

Guest Post: Introducing the Amazing Omer NOMers

I am so happy to have an actual guest post today from the mama, artist and blogger behind those beautiful Omer counters! Thanks to Tzipporah from the Midianite Manna blog for writing this piece and sharing her creative work.

A creative way to Count the Omer

Much like Tanya, I’m a big fan of homegrown, homemade, and creativity. When I combine these with new twists on Jewish traditions and my own parenting style, the results are sometimes pretty tasty. This year, our family will begin a new mitzvah – counting the Omer, the 7 weeks between Passover and the lesser-known holiday of Shavuot. (If you’re Jewish, you might be thinking, “right, the blintz day.”) And we’ll be doing it with chocolate.

I didn’t grow up Jewish, and as a December birthday girl I loved the cheap chocolate Advent calendars my mother bought for counting down to my birthday every year. I sort of felt sorry for kids with birthdays at other times of the year. Now that I’m Jewish, I don’t really miss Christmas, but every once in a while I do miss my birthday counters. So I was really excited when I saw Amy Meltzer’s idea for an edible Omer counter – not only was it authentically Jewish, it had TWICE as many treats! Oh yeah, and I should probably put some in for my son, too.

I used to be an avid fabric artist, but really hadn’t done anything of note for five years – having a kid can do that to your hobbies. Luckily my grandmother’s sewing machine was still working and after a few experiments, I was able to create a re-usable version of Amy’s Omer counters. The only problem was, I really liked it. So I made another one. And then another. Fabric designers are sneaky that way, making all those different colors and patterns so you just can’t stop at one.

So, in about a week and half, on the second night of Passover, we will begin counting the Omer together as a family for the first time – and I’m pretty sure it’s a tradition my son will insist on again next year.

I’ve put the extra Omer NOMers, as I call them, up for sale in my shop. As a thank you to Tanya for inviting me to post here, anyone who mentions when ordering that they found me through this blog will get a free bag of Kosher for Passover candy to fill in the first week! Now I’ve just got to find a hiding place for all the candy that my extremely resourceful five year old can’t find…

Sterling Spring

I am happy to share this guest post by Emily Rosenfeld.  Emily is a self-taught jewelry and Judaica artist living in western Massachusettts with her 6 year old son Jasper and partner Keith.  You can see her beautiful work at www.emilyrosenfeld.com.

by Emily Rosenfeld

The snow is melting.  My little side garden had snow past the windows last month but the white has receded leaving  rosy tipped tulips poking out of the dark wet earth.  Spring is coming.  It snowed big wet March snowflakes yesterday, but the season is turning.

Pewter Tree Locket (www.emilyrosenfeld.com)

In the studio, I am feeling my mind start to wander toward new ideas.  Little sterling birds are starting to form themselves.  Meaningful words are coming to mind.  But when I try to draw what I am sensing nothing comes.  I am not quite seeing it.  It is definitely not time to take out the silver

I am finally realizing that this is making jewelry.  It always starts like this with daydreams while I’m sawing out jump rings or walking down my buildings’ long hall to the sink.  I feel jittery and a little bit at loose ends but I think this is actually creativity, stirring and unclear.  I am remembering not to panic before craft shows when I need to make new pieces.  There are tender shoots that have been growing towards the light, maybe still buried, but growing.  Making seems to be about having faith in the process; trusting that the drawing will translate into three dimensions; that the felted wool will become a little chicken for Lucy’s 2nd birthday.

So, for now, the snow is still melting.  I am not quite ready for the next step and the bulbs are staying blanketed a little bit longer. Maybe the silver bird will actually be a flower or a circle but I know I want it to be small and to hold a word.  That is enough for now.  This year I’m feeling more patient, more trusting, more likely to notice the tiny green leaf that is not yet ready to unfurl.

Spring Cleaning in the Herb Garden

post by Cheryl Corson

I plan my gardening around the sun, and at this time of year I want to be in the herb garden from around 10am and noon when it shines across the corn field and reflects off the yellow brick of our house warming the soil and my back as I work.

I start out with a winter jacket and quickly go back inside for a lighter sweater, heavier pruners, and a little low bench to sit on as I wrestle with last year’s woody lavender stalks. I am decisive, cutting only about 6” from the crown. There are ten lavender plants and after the last one there is a mountain of stalks with pale grey leaves behind me. What would I do in a city garden where I couldn’t throw cuttings behind my back without looking? I massage the soil, removing early henbit and wild onion, revealing clusters of deep green daffodil tips about an inch high. My hands, the plants, and the air are full of lavender scent.

Next is the lemon and orange thyme I planted last year. Already new foliage has sprouted at the long ends of last year’s thin woody stalks, but I cut it back, knowing that it will be fuller and healthier later despite the short term loss. I can take some inside to cook with. Before my hand gets too sore I also do the sage and rosemary. By now the fragrance of all these is heavy in the air. It’s the big reward of working in the herb garden this early. And that’s good because it sure doesn’t look like much yet.  It’s also nice to easily brush away the autumn leaves that have formed dense mats around each plant. The earlier you get out there the less tender new foliage there is to be careful of as you work.

It’s windy and a hawk calls out as it rides the air waves high above the corn field. When I still had chickens this would be cause for alarm and a quick head count, but today I welcome the hawk’s greeting.

I’ve done as much as I can do in one sitting. As I eat some bean soup in the kitchen looking out at what seems like an enormous pile of cuttings for a relatively small garden bed, I ponder whether to use the wheel barrow or the larger wagon to haul it all to the edge of the woods by the vegetable garden.  The sun has gone behind the clouds. I need to get back outside quickly before my resolve fades and the piles are left to blow around like tumbleweed.

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Cheryl Corson is a gardener, writer, and landscape architect.  Her website is www.cherylcorson.com