Green Island

The busy gardening part of the year is mostly over. Now we are deep into the waiting for the harvest.

It’s no secret that I am an insufferable New York wine advocate. I am willing to suffer most tragedies for a chance to knock back some local sauvingon blanc and Blue Point oysters with a view of the Peconic Bay.

That being said, one can only visit so many wineries in a day without developing wine fatigue or wearing out one’s welcome on the LIE.  So when I found out that New York Vintners is having a NY wine event, I was excited by the combination of NYC foodie scene and NOFO wines. It is to be noted, however, that many of my favorite biodynamic farms (Shinn, Jamesport, Macari, et al) are not represented. Still, I often feel that NYC is reluctant to accept that the North Fork makes excellent wines. This is a nice step towards resolving that issue.

The New York Vintners event is on July 27th from 6-9 and costs $25 dollars per person. Here is the link:  http://newyorkvintners.com/p-5383-act-locally-discover-enjoy-support-new-york-state-wines.aspx?utm_source=New+York+Vintners+List&utm_campaign=89f55e083e-NewYorkState&utm_medium=email

Enjoy! Drink locally!

Everybody loves the beach–sun, sand, water, even the sharks have personality. But one thing no one loves is a sunburn. That’s why million of people pack up a precious stash of SPF 80 and slather it all over their body. Unfortunately, a high SPF number or a trusted brand name do not guarantee safe sun exposure. In fact, many sunscreens contain dangerous chemicals that may actually cause skin cancer!

So what is a consumer to do? Muddle through a bevvy of confusing research? Cover yourself in ski pants at the beach? Accept your destiny to become a burnt slab of bacon on every beach outing?

Fortunately, Environmental Working Group has done what the government has refused to do and what consumers cannot do on their own. It has compiled a list of hundreds of sunscreens, tested and rated them for effectiveness and safety. You can look up your current sunscreen and see if it works or–if you’re like me–sit with mouth agape at the utter uselessness of the product you’ve been spending so much money on!

Another helpful feature of the website is its “Hall of Shame” which lambasts several popular sunscreens as well ad the FDA. I urge you to check it out

Review this incredibly helpful consumer website at this address:http://www.ewg.org/2010sunscreen/

Happy sun bathing!

There’s nothing but bad news lately. Wars, rumors of wars, and the worst oil spill in our nation’s history. The facts–if there are any–are grim. And the truth that the Gulf Coast may be uninhabitable, unfishable for a generation, is too awesome to comprehend.  BP fumbles and lies. And the United States government is forced to rely on these criminals because they are unable to put together a response team.

What could be worse than this disaster? Not learning from it.

First, I think the lessons on our dependence on foreign oil are obvious. But we still do not invest in clean energy start-ups that need the cash. Meaningful financial reform must include incentives for investors to put money into businesses who create products and services rather than rewarding Wall Street gamblers who make money on investing money into complex products that, in the end, bankrupt Americans–both literally and figuratively.

Next, those proponents of “small” government are now the ones yelling for Obama to do something. I want him to do something too, but I have this gnawing feeling that he is doing all he can. And what the American government can do is quite limited. Apparently we are good at destroying things, but not so good at building things. As a liberal who blamed George Bush for the catastrophe of Katrina, I am now wondering if he did all he could, too. It’s the inadequacy of our response that is so shocking.

I’d like the public sector to prepare for disasters in a real way, and to be flexible in its definition of disaster. We have, in our Gulf Coast, what may be the worst environmental disaster since Chernobyl. We have to be able to protect ourselves.  FEMA? Where are they?

Finally, I want the citizens of the United States to stare, unflinching, into this dark abyss created by a cynical and uncaring corporation. BP has been cited for safety violations for years. Now, 11 men have died, and an entire ecosystem is being destroyed–from Florida to Texas.  To make matters worse, BP executives are lying and minimizing the damage. On today’s Early Show, BP executive Doug Suttles declared that he did not believe that there are giant plumes of oil in the ocean. It was a bold, infuriating lie.  The private sector is incapable of telling the truth, let alone having all the answers. We need government to protect its citizens–and our environment–form the gluttonous excesses of pernicious corporations.

I also hope to see more public outrage. I know many people are concerned, even heartbroken. But we need more action.

People still fill up at BP gas stations.

I don’t know how the Gulf Coast, or the Obama administration, or our nation, will recover from this. We are witnessing true devastation. BP has already changed us for the worse. I hope they can also change us for the better.

Dear President Obama:

Although I have been a supporter of yours, a volunteer and one of your many “grassroots” campaign contributors, I am rethinking my commitment to you and your party because I am absolutely disgusted that you are still trying to defend drilling off of our shores.

Sustainable energy must become your top priority.

We are desperately in need of clean energy. When you express support for off shore drilling you sound like you are beholden to BP, Exxon/Mobil, or any other oil company around.

Whose side are you on? All your slick little tricks, videos and websites aren’t working–because nothing is actually happening on the ground.

The Gulf coast–and all Americans–needs substance not style. Get to work!

Sincerely,
Candyce Kannengieser

The strong winds that rattled our area over the weekend briefly knocked our our lights and brought down several large tree limbs. I claimed two that fell on a nearby street and caried them home for my new garden project — growing edible mushrooms.

A recent article in the New York Times inspired me. Plenty of information is available online to demystify the idea of mushroom gardening, and the cost of entry into the project is pretty low. The two large maple limbs were free and the mushroom spawn cost me $40 with shipping for 100 shitake plugs and 100 pearl oyster plugs.

Our front yard is on the north side of our property, so the house casts a cool shadow over our ornamental shrubs. My plan is to innoculate these limbs — one with shitake and the other with pearl oysters — and place them behind a shady bush near the driveway. They won’t be visible fom the street, but they will be accessible for maintenance and harvesting.

I purchased my mushroom spawn from Fungi Perfecti at fungi.com. They were one of the vendors mentioned in the NY Times article and they sell a variety of products and spawn. I chose what are called plug spawn. Plug spawn are wooden dowels that have been innoculated with mushroom spawn. I will have to drill holes into the maple limbs and insert the plug spawn. It could take six to nine months for mushrooms to fruit. Patience is required for this project.

Mycologists believe that mushrooms play an important role in their ecosystems. They act as filters for the soil and they aid in recycling nutrients from dead plant life. Gardeners should consider them as essential species for their plots. Whatever their value in the circle of life, I want to grow them because they’re delicious.

You can find more information by following these links.

fungi.com
Do-It-Yourself Mushrooms (NY Times article)
www.fieldforest.net

And to help you all out, I have a link to a flier made by the Organic Consumer’s Association.

The International Energy Agency reports that world demand for oil will hit a record high this year. The projection, which was published by the IEA in it’s monthly Oil Market Report, was reported by Reuters last week. Here is a link to the article. I can’t publish a link to the original report because that requires a paid subscription.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE63C1CV20100413

Around the same time that the IEA published it’s analysis, the U.S. military reported that world oil output will not meet rising demands. The report by the Joint Forces Command, entitled Joint Operating Environment 2010, says, “By 2012, surplus oil production capacity could entirely disappear, and as early as 2015, the shortfall in output could reach nearly 10 million barrels per day.” Here is a link to the report.

http://www.jfcom.mil/newslink/storyarchive/2010/JOE_2010_o.pdf

The report is frank about the political and economic instability that serious oil shortages will bring if current trends continue. It does not discuss the environmental consequences of our dependence on oil, nor does it need to. The picture of the future that it paints is bleak.

Our hunger for oil to feed the world economy needs to be curtailed quickly and radically. Alternative fuels are as important to global economic growth and political stability as they are to curtailing climate change and pollution. Our civilization needs to invest in them or face dire consequences.

Jamesport Vineyards has long been a popular stop on the North Fork wine trail. It’s a place I’ve visited many times and I always considered it a fun, friendly destination. In recent years, I’ve been happy to witness the winery change in interesting ways. Most notably, Jamesport’s wines have improved. Once familiar for it’s riesling and merlot, they have become accomplished makers of cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, pinot noir, and Bordeaux style blends. I highly recommend their East End Merlot, which sells for less than $20 a bottle and is a respectable, interesting wine. This year, they will introduce petit verdot to their repertoire. It is such a difficult grape to grow that it has fallen out of favor in Bordeaux, so it’s exciting that this wine will be produced on the North Fork.

The vineyard’s commitment to conservation is just as interesting a change as it’s improved wines. Jamesport Vineyards is not an organic farm, nor do they claim to be biodynamic like Macari or Shinn. Still, Jamesport strives to be responsible by reducing the pesticides, fungicides, and artificial fertilizers that it uses on its crops and land. Farmers that strive to minimize their interference with the natural process of growing their grapes, in my opinion, tend to produce better wines. The care that they express in their farming techniques is reflected in the quality wines that they make.

At Jamesport, they take it an extra step. They also take care in the oysters they serve. One of the pleasures of stopping at Jamesport is the opportunity to sip their wines and dine on a plate of fresh oysters. To ensure that oyster stocks are not depleted, Jamesport donates part of its proceeds from the sale of it’s Cinq table wine to the SPAT Program. A spat is a juvenile shellfish, and the acronym stands for Southold Project in Aquaculture Training. It is run by the Cornell Cooperative Extension in conjunction with the community in eastern Suffolk County to ensure that shellfish stocks in the Peconic Bay area are not depleted.

Wine bottle recycling is Jamesport’s latest conservation program. In exchange for wine bottles from local vineyards, they are offering discounts on their wines. It’s a fun program that engages their customers and will probably draw many into their tasting room this year.

Details about Jameport’s conservation efforts can be found on their website.

www.jamesportwines.com

Take action! Press the Department of Justice to break the Monsanto monopoly! And watch a great video! Happy Earth week!