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• In gardening and agriculture, an heirloom plant is an open-pollinated cultivar that was commonly grown long ago, but has been largely supplanted in modern times by hybrid seed.
  

Vegetables and fruits that have been grown for decades and passed down from generation to generation have come to be known as Heirlooms or heirloom varieties.

Some experts say that a seed needs to be a least 50 years old to be considered an heirloom. Others believe a seed can not be called an Heirloom unless it is 100 years old or more.

Heirloom plants open-pollinate, which means they are able to reproduce themselves through their seeds, unlike hybrids, which will not yield the same plant from a seed grown from their fruit.

Heirlooms are evolution at its best, as gardeners saved the seeds of their best-tasting and most healthy plants to plant in next year’s garden, allowing the plant to adapt to the region, micro-climate, and pests.

Without the diversity of heirloom plants, with their unique evolutionary characteristics and resistances to diseases and pests, today’s crops—which rely on these varieties to breed resistance into modern crops—are at risk for infestations and epidemics.

The movement to preserve heirloom cultivars has been with us since the 1970s, with non-profit organizations, university agricultural programs and seed manufacturers, as well as small-scale farmers and home gardeners, recognizing the value of keeping a little piece of our heritage alive through cultivating heirloom seeds.

It may prove difficult to find Heirloom varieties in your local grocer or farmers' market. And if you do you will probably pay more as it is more difficult to grow and ship these products commercially. But to grow these precious commodities in our own gardens, while they might prove more challenging, is worth the effort. The hybrids, while widely available, have been bred for certain characteristics at the expense of many of the desirable attributes of the heirloom.

I encourage you to try your hand at growing heirlooms, and start your own tradition of seed saving to pass on down to your own future generation of gardeners.

To your 2007 garden,

Christy
MotherEarth'sFarm.com
VermiCultureNorthwest.com

The gardening season is just around the corner and the best way to get a
jump on the season

is to start indoors. Get those seeds started while Ol' Man Winter
is still raging and you'll be

way ahead of the pack.

Gardener's Supply Company - Free Shipping on orders of $55 or more >>

Rev your engines for a speedy start on the gardening season.

You can get some of your best Organic supplies right here!

For all the extras that you won't find on my site, I love to shop at Gardener's Supply. And with free shipping on orders of $55 or more, you just can't beat that.

My newsletter, Market Monthly News is just about ready to start this years publication. I will be sharing with you, step by step what I do to get an early start and achieve success in my garden. Go here to subscribe.

The catalogs are coming in. If they aren't coming for you please send me a message via my form here on this blog and I will share resources with you to help you get some of the best catalogs available for organic sources for seeds and supplies.

May the sun shine bright on your gardens,

Christy
MotherEarth'sFarm.com

Securing America's Energy Independence Act (H.R. 550) was introduced on January 18, 2007 in the U.S. Congress by Congressmen Michael McNulty (D-NY) and Dave Camp (R-MI).

Here's a brief outline of the provisions of the bill related to solar power:

Residential Solar Tax Credit: Extends a 30-percent tax credit, created in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, for the purchase of residential solar water heating, photovoltaic (PV) equipment, and fuel cell property. Changes the maximum credit to $1,500 for each half-kilowatt of capacity for solar PV equipment and $1,000 for each kilowatt of capacity for fuel cells. Credits may be taken against the alternative minimum tax. Expires after December 31, 2016.

Business Solar Tax Credit and Fuel Cell Tax Credit: Extends a 30-percent business credit, established in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, for the purchase of fuel cell power plants, solar energy property, and fiber-optic property used to illuminate the inside of a structure. Changes the maximum credit to $1,500 for each half-kilowatt of capacity for solar PV equipment. Credits may be taken against the alternative minimum tax. Expires after December 31, 2016.

Accelerated Depreciation: Creates a three-year accelerated depreciation period for all solar equipment eligible for the business solar tax credit.

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Read the full article on the SEIA website.

In a recent email, Janet Wenzel outlined a list of steps we can all take to conserve resources and help limit the impact of climate change. Please share these ideas with family, friends and collegues, and make an effort to implement at least a few of them at home today. Thank you, Janet!

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Hi all- This is not a "chain" email. I put this together. Global warming IS happening. I did some research and put together a check list of EASY things we can do help TODAY. Below are the links I pulled from--you can hit those for more info. Please pass this along to everyone you can. Thanks!! - Janet

Right now the U.S. releases about 40,000 pounds of carbon dioxide per person each year. If we can reduce energy use enough to lower greenhouse gas emissions by about 2% a year, in ten years we will "lose" about 7000 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions per person. We can make a difference.

What you can do on a daily basis- no cost and can save you money:

- Run your dishwasher only with a full load. Use the energy-saving setting to dry the dishes. Don't use heat when drying. Carbon dioxide reduction: 200 pounds a year.

- Wash clothes in warm or cold water, not hot. Carbon dioxide reduction (for two loads a week): up to 500 pounds a year.

- Turn down your water heater thermostat; 120 degrees is usually hot enough. Carbon dioxide reduction (for each 10- degree adjustment): 500 pounds a year.

- Make an effort to turn off lights, TVs and Computers when you leave the room.

- Don't overheat or overcool rooms. Adjust your thermostat (lower in winter, higher in summer). Carbon dioxide reduction (for each 2-degree adjustment): about 500 pounds a year.

- Choose Local. You will not only support your community, but think about how much gas is used and carbon emitted from transportation.

- Reduce waste and Recycle: Buy minimally packaged goods; choose reusable products over disposable ones; recycle. Carbon dioxide reduction (if you cut down your garbage by 25%): 1000 lbs per yr.

Easy things you can do at a small investment:

- Clean or replace air filters as recommended. Cleaning a dirty air conditioner filter can save 5% of the energy used. Carbon dioxide reduction: About 350 pounds a year.

- Buy energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs for your most-used lights. They last 10 times as long. What's more, a compact fluorescent will lower your energy bills by about $15 a year, and by more than $60 during its life Carbon dioxide reduction (by replacing one frequently used bulb): about 500 pounds a year.

- Wrap your water heater in an insulating jacket (but only if the water heater is over 5 years old and has no internal insulation). Carbon dioxide reduction: Up to 1000 pounds a year.

- Install low-flow shower heads to use less hot water. Carbon dioxide reduction: Up to 300 pounds a year.

- Caulk and weatherstrip around doors and windows to plug air leaks. Carbon dioxide reduction: Up to 1000 pounds a year.

- Insulate your walls and ceilings; this can save about 25% of home heating bills. Carbon dioxide reduction: Up to 2000 pounds a year.

- Ask your utility company for a home energy audit to find out where your home is poorly insulated or energy-inefficient. Carbon dioxide reduction: Potentially, thousands of pounds a year.

- Request a green power option from your current electric utility or switch to a retail electric provider that offers green power. Find the program for your state here.

- Drive smart and less. Get your engine tuned up and keep your tires inflated -- both help fuel efficiency. A tune-up could boost your miles per gallon anywhere from 4 to 40 percent; a new air filter could get you 10 percent more miles per gallon. Choose alternatives to driving (public transit, biking, walking, carpooling), and bundle your errands together so you'll make fewer trips.

- If your car has an air conditioner, make sure its coolant is recycled whenever you have it serviced. Equivalent carbon dioxide reduction: Thousands of pounds.

- Plant trees next to your home and paint your home a light color if you live in a warm climate, or a dark color in a cold climate. Carbon dioxide reduction: About 5000 pounds a year.

- Use renewable energy. Going Solar is easier than you think. Companies like Verde Energy (http://www.verdeenergy.com) can put you in touch with the right contractors.

- Choose an efficient vehicle: A car that gets 20 miles per gallon will emit about 50 tons of carbon dioxide over its lifetime. A car getting 40 mpg will emit half that much. When buying your next car, pick the least-polluting, most efficient vehicle that meets your needs.

What is causing Global Warming?
Scientific experts agree that the Earth's climate is changing. Climate change, more commonly known as global warming, is caused by the emission of heat trapping gases produced by vehicles, power plants, industrial processes and deforestation. As these gases build up, they act like a big blanket, over-heating the planet and threatening our health, our economy and our environment. The biggest cause of global warming is the carbon dioxide released when fossil fuels like oil and coal are burned for energy. So when you save energy, you fight global warming (and save money, of course).

Reference Links:
Natural Resources Defense Council
Environmental Protection Agency
Environmental Defense
Verde Energy
Climate Crisis

Wow, I just got an email from one of my very favorite places to shop for gardening supplies. I have been shopping with this catalog garden supplier ever since I got serious with my gardening, and especially serious about organic gardening.


Remember my post, just a couple posts ago about Pharm Pesticides. Well, my favorite place to shop just sent me an email about these products. It read like this:

If Gardener's Supply
is selling this in their catalog,
it's been tried and tested.
And it works!

Now I haven't had the chance to give this stuff a try, because right now we're in the middle of winter, and there's no gardening going on right now. We're just trying to stay warm, me and the worms. But you can be sure, with the first bud swell outside, I'll be ordering some.

Click the pic and let me know what you think.

And Happy Organic
Gardening!

Christy
Mother Earth's Farm / VermiCulture Northwest

Nice video on hydrogen cars: Green cars

Solar power is the process of using the light from sun and turning it into an energy source. It has become a reliable alternative to regular power sources in remote areas. It has even been used in outer space. Solar power is used in homes, lighting, architectural projects, and cooking. It has become even more popular as the cost of fossil fuel continues to rise. Solar panels are designed to collect the power from the sun.

Once solar energy is collected by the solar panels it has to be converted into energy. This can be done by a process called solar thermal application. It involves using the energy from the sun to directly heat air or liquids. The process of photoelectric application involves the use of photovoltaic cells to change the energy into electricity.

Solar power poses no harm to the environment. However, other threats to the environment may affect the ability to use solar power in the future. Global dimming is the result of pollution. It allows less sunlight to reach the surface of the Earth. A recent concern is global dimming, an effect of pollution that is allowing less sunlight to reach the Earth’s surface. Global dimming is caused by pollution particles and global warming.

The Solar Electric Power Association is an organization of electric utility companies and the solar industry. They joined together to find solutions to meet our energy needs. SEPA is a network of more than one hundred companies. Fifty are utility companies, twenty five are solar companies, and the rest are various types of businesses. They share experiences, knowledge, and information about solar programs, They also discuss policies and technology relating to their field.

Is solar energy right for you? There are advantages to using this as a safe alternative to fossil fuel. Solar energy is free. It can be used in areas where electricity can’t be set up easily. The sun is not a resource that is going to be depleted. Disadvantages are that it doesn’t work at night. The cost of creating solar power stations to store such energy is very expensive. In some area of the world, solar energy just isn’t an option because the climate does not receive enough sun light.

More on solar energy http://www.solar-power-infor.blogspot.com/

(Reuters) - Ted Turner, the cable television billionaire and owner of vast land tracts in the U.S. West, is forming a venture with a solar company targeting California and other markets, his office said.

"Our future depends on changing the way we use energy," Turner said in a statement. "We've got to move away from fossil fuels and develop long-term energy solutions that work. Using clean energy technologies, such as solar power, is the right thing to do, and it represents a tremendous business opportunity."

Turner will partner with Dome-Tech Solar, a solar company in Branchburg, New Jersey to create DT Solar, a Turner renewable energy company, a spokesman said.

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Read the full article at Reuters.com.

General Warming Trend, El Nino Contributes to Milder Winter Temps

The 2006 average annual temperature for the contiguous U.S. was the warmest on record and nearly identical to the record set in 1998, according to scientists at the NOAA National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. Seven months in 2006 were much warmer than average, including December, which ended as the fourth warmest December since records began in 1895. (Click here for a high resolution image of U.S. state temperature rankings for 2006. Credit NOAA)

Based on preliminary data, the 2006 annual average temperature was 55 degrees F - 2.2 degrees F (1.2 degrees C) above the 20th Century mean and 0.07 degrees F (0.04 degrees C) warmer than 1998. NOAA originally estimated in mid-December that the 2006 annual average temperature for the contiguous United States would likely be 2 degrees F (1.1 degrees C) above the 20th Century mean, which would have made 2006 the third warmest year on record, slightly cooler than 1998 and 1934, according to preliminary data. Further analysis of annual temperatures and an unusually warm December caused the change in records.

These values were calculated using a network of more than 1,200 U.S. Historical Climatology Network stations. These data, primarily from rural stations, have been adjusted to remove artificial effects resulting from factors such as urbanization and station and instrument changes, which occurred during the period of record. (Click here for a high resolution image of national temperatures for the contiguous United States from 1895 to 2006. Credit NOAA)

An improved data set being developed at NCDC and scheduled for release in 2007 incorporates recent scientific advances that better address uncertainties in the instrumental record. Small changes in annual average temperatures will affect individual rankings. Although undergoing final testing and development, this new data set also shows 2006 and 1998 to be the two warmest years on record for the contiguous U.S., but with 2006 slightly cooler than 1998.

The unusually warm temperatures during much of the first half of the cold season (October-December) helped reduce residential energy needs for the nation as a whole. Using the Residential Energy Demand Temperature Index (REDTI - an index developed at NOAA to relate energy usage to climate), NOAA scientists determined that the nation's residential energy demand was approximately 13.5 percent lower than what would have occurred under average climate conditions for the season.

After a cold start to December, the persistence of spring-like temperatures in the eastern two-thirds of the country during the final two to three weeks of 2006 made this the fourth warmest December on record in the U.S., and helped bring the annual average to record high levels. For example, the monthly average temperature in Boston was 8 degrees F above average, and in Minneapolis-St Paul, the temperature was 17 degrees F above average for the last three weeks of December. Even in Denver, which had its third snowiest December on record and endured a major blizzard that brought the city to a standstill during the holiday travel season, the temperature for the month was 1.4 degrees F warmer than the 1971-2000 average.

Five states had their warmest December on record (Minnesota, New York, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire) and no state was colder than average in December.

The unusually warm start to this winter reflected the rarity of Arctic outbreaks across the country as an El Nino episode continued in the equatorial Pacific. A contributing factor to the unusually warm temperatures throughout 2006 also is the long-term warming trend, which has been linked to increases in greenhouse gases. This has made warmer-than-average conditions more common in the U.S. and other parts of the world. It is unclear how much of the recent anomalous warmth was due to greenhouse-gas-induced warming and how much was due to the El Nino-related circulation pattern. It is known that El Nino is playing a major role in this winter's short-term warm period.

U.S. and global annual temperatures are now approximately 1.0 degrees F warmer than at the start of the 20th century, and the rate of warming has accelerated over the past 30 years, increasing globally since the mid-1970s at a rate approximately three times faster than the century-scale trend. The past nine years have all been among the 25 warmest years on record for the contiguous U.S., a streak which is unprecedented in the historical record.

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Article from NOAA News Online.

A recent study showed that EU citizens overwhelmlingly favor renewable energy technologies over nuclear power and traditional fossil fuels.

The Eurobarometer study, published just two days before the release of the new EU energy plan, shows that 80 percent of EU citizens back solar energy while 71 percent are in favor of wind energy and only 20 percent for nuclear energy.

Read the full story by Helena Spongenberg (EU Observer).