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January 4, 2010
· Meet Tokyo’s ‘rock star’ of veggie farming
· US launches high tunnel project for urban areas
· Small farms measured by the yard (front or back)
· Calif. man touts cooling shelter for farmworkers
· Bad year for biofuel industry ends on a sour note
Meet Tokyo
By
Etsuo Asano is
The 65-year-old
On the day I meet him he wears a dark brown velour, collared shirt tucked smartly into faded blue jeans that bear witness to his earth-intensive trade. He also dons an army-green conductor's hat with a rhinestone encrusted patch of the word "Fresh." Though small in stature, broad-chested Asano appears as if he could move a horse. His deeply tanned hands move quickly, confidently.
He ushers me into the cramped test kitchen he keeps on the
farm. This is the "lab," he explains, where chefs can experiment with
his latest vegetable creations on the spot. The walls are plastered with
photographs of Asano and the many famous food personalities who have made the
pilgrimage to his
Several photos are of the renowned French chef, Pierre Gagnaire, whose eponymous
There are also countless photos of Japanese celebrities, both major and minor, who come to his farm to "touch the earth," as he says. These are his groupies. "They come to escape the enormous stress of their busy lives," he explains, adding with a chuckle, "Sometimes they even help out."
Behind every rock star is an able and trusted manager. In Asano's case, that's Kentaro Uneta. The two met 15 years ago when Uneta was in charge of sourcing produce for a high-end fruit-and-vegetable chain shop.
"Asano is a great talker," said Uneta, "and I was drawn to him for his passion for farming." Soon, Uneta began dropping by the farm even if he had no business to conduct, the two often talking late into the night. A fast friendship and partnership was born.
The pair's first success was rucola. "Asano was seeking ideas for a new vegetable to grow," Uneta explains, "and I suggested rucola." Up for the challenge, Asano obtained seeds himself and proceeded to scatter them all over his greenhouse, tending to the soil in his usual manner. "The result was amazing," said Uneta, "but at that time we didn't really know what to do with a greenhouse full of rucola, no matter how good it was."
Uneta knew he had something
special, and now he just needed to find the right audience. He had an image
that Aoyama was a swanky area, so he bought a restaurant guidebook and
proceeded to knock on the doors of restaurants in the upscale
"The first place I walked into was a restaurant run by Yoshimi Hidaka, who now heads Ristorante Acqua Pazza in Hiroo," he explains. "After just a few bites, Hidaka immediately said 'leave all the rucola you brought in today.' " The rest is history; their rucola was an overnight success.
The pair began to expand into other areas, such as exotic
carrots, radishes and radicchios, and word began to spread in
Now, when deciding which vegetables to grow, Asano considers not only the needs of chefs but also the experience of restaurant-goers. "People get dressed up for a nice dinner out, and they expect a little more," he says, adding, "and it's my job to give them a bit of drama with my vegetables."
But what's the secret to Asano's farming? If you ask him, don't expect a straight answer and be prepared to be fed — well fed. The always-smiling and jovial Asano would rather offer samples of his brightly colored and tasty vegetables than discuss soils or farming techniques.
He first offers a plate of raw carrots — of no less than five colors, including black, yellow and white. Next, he serves up a cheese-topped vegetable casserole crammed full of iridescent radishes and still more carrots. Finally, after yet another vegetable dish, we head outside.
Touring the fields of Asano's farm is like entering an artist's studio. But the shyness of a reclusive artist is not here. He rips from the ground specimen after specimen, eager to show his masterpieces. His face beams in the late-evening sun as he offers samples cut with his ever-present pocketknife. One small radish he slices in half reveals a purple and yellow core. Its taste is sweet and of minerals.
It's hard to keep up with the sprightly farmer, who moves
from crop to crop with the speed and agility of someone much younger. We come
to one of his latest efforts, an enormous alien-looking plant with a rather
misleading name, "petit vert," or
"little green." The plant, a hybrid of Brussels sprouts and kale
developed in
We end our tour in his daikon radish patch. He pulls from the earth a deep purple 35-cm specimen and hands it to me. I struggle to hold on to the mountain of "samples" he keeps generously offering.
A light drizzle sends us back into the cozy comfort of his test kitchen, where he seizes on the opportunity to offer even more vegetables. This time it's endives and Castelfranco radicchio, an edible flower resembling a head of lettuce with red and purple speckles. Both are delicious.
I try one final time to glean a few secrets from Asano on his farming. He tells me a story instead. When a Chiba Prefectural Agriculture Experiment Station conducted a test of his soil, the report came back showing it was nutrient poor. "I could not have been more pleased," says Asano surprisingly. "That means I haven't added anything unnecessary." Herein lies at least one secret to his craft.
While most farmers worry about feeding their soil with
nutrients (which often means chemical fertilizers), Asano focuses on achieving
a "mineral balance," as he explains it. To do this, he uses crushed
oyster shells and a sprinkling of deep-sea water from off the coast of
"Life came from the sea," he tells me, "so what better place to get the basic ingredients for my soil." He also does his best to leave the vegetables alone, in what he likes to call "untended farming."
And while his approach means some vegetables are smaller in size than those grown in nutrient-rich soils, the difference is in the taste. Everything I sampled during my memorable visit to Asano's farm was remarkable for its rich, almost sweet taste.
Whatever he is doing is obviously working.
US
(USDA) WASHINGTON – Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan announced a new pilot project under the 'Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food' initiative for farmers to establish high tunnels - also known as hoop houses - to increase the availability of locally grown produce in a conservation-friendly way.
Merrigan and other Obama administration officials highlighted opportunities available for producers in a video posted on USDA's YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07vtMJgp0no , which shows high tunnels recently installed in the White House garden.
"There is great potential for high tunnels to expand the availability of healthy, locally-grown crops - a win for producers and consumers," said Merrigan. "This pilot project is going to give us real-world information that farmers all over the country can use to decide if they want to add high tunnels to their operations. We know that these fixtures can help producers extend their growing season and hopefully add to their bottom line."
The 3-year, 38-state study will verify if high tunnels are effective in reducing pesticide use, keeping vital nutrients in the soil, extending the growing season, increasing yields, and providing other benefits to growers.
Made of ribs of plastic or metal pipe covered with a layer of plastic sheeting, high tunnels are easy to build, maintain and move. High tunnels are used year-round in parts of the country, providing steady incomes to farmers - a significant advantage to owners of small farms, limited-resource farmers and organic producers.
USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) will
provide financial assistance for the project through the Environmental Quality
Incentives Program (EQIP), the EQIP Organic Initiative, and the Agricultural
Management Assistance program. NRCS will fund one high tunnel per farm. High
tunnels in the study can cover as much as 5 percent of 1 acre. Participating
states and territories are
To sign up or learn more about EQIP assistance for high tunnel projects, contact a local NRCS office.
Small farms measured by the yard (front or back)
(sacbee.com)
– Deborah Woodbury, Vonita Murray and Darcy Zloczewski are farmers in their
Their produce business, DeVoDa
Gardens CSA, is unusual in the
In exchange for giving up yard space to vegetable
production, DeVoDa's
"It's been really fabulous," said Cherie Porter, citing the three colors of beets and three colors of carrots that grow in her yard.
Porter and her husband, Dan, don't seed, weed or irrigate.
They enjoy the fruits of DeVoDa's
labors and the interest the garden has generated in the neighborhood around
their historic
DeVoDa started in April after the falling economy put all three of its founders in tough financial straits. Woodbury and Murray had jobs in the field of architecture and lost them.
"The building industry is almost at a standstill," Woodbury said. "I cannot find a job."
Instead, she found information about a
She told Murray and Zloczewski about it.
"We just kind of jumped into this," Woodbury said.
Community-supported agriculture – there are a dozen or more
examples in the
What sets DeVoDa apart is that they don't have a farm site.
The Porters had already tried one CSA but weren't happy with the quality.
"It fell below our standards," Cherie Porter said.
Then they heard about DeVoDa, which was growing food right in their neighborhood.
"In theory, everyone could literally walk to where they get their fresh organic produce, and we love that," Porter said.
That's the theory anyway. DeVoDa is starting with a less-grandiose vision.
They have nine subscriber gardens in
Those who provide the land get the same share as the $20-per-week members, plus a small "picking garden" – about 10 percent of the full plot – to harvest at their pleasure.
They pay DeVoDa only to establish the gardens.
There is a waiting list for people who want to add their
yards, in
"Heaven forbid we sign up 50 and have only vegetables
for nine," said
That may be what happened to the S.F. model. It sprouted, grew like crazy, got tremendous publicity and then apparently wilted and died, leaving unhappy subscribers.
DeVoDa is trying to avoid that fate.
"Our challenge now is to make it economically viable," Woodbury said. "It's a struggle. It isn't as income-producing as we'd like."
If they succeed, they will be pioneers.
Local Harvest, a Minnesota-based CSA network, tracks 3,100 community farming projects around the country. Only two were using the yard-farming approach.
One was the
On its Web site, the
To succeed, the DeVoDa women are
turning for help to whomever is willing. They have
approached, among others, Soil Born Farms, a CSA with land in
"It's a great idea to try something new," said Sean Hagan, farm manager of Soil Born.
He and Barnett both pointed out that there are inherent pitfalls in the home-farm CSA.
Securing water, dealing with urban pests, traveling to and harvesting from multiple locations can all be tricky.
On the other hand, there are benefits you can't get elsewhere.
"What I love about doing it in people's gardens is the sense of community it creates," Woodbury said.
People stop to watch and talk, taking a kind of ownership in the neighborhood farm.
Though the Porters have lived in their home almost 30 years and the garden has existed just a few months, they have seen the same thing.
"We have always known a few people, but since the garden has gone in, I have never met so many neighbors," Porter said. "The kids in the neighborhood love it."
And though it is not yet lucrative, the women find it's good for their own families, too.
"My boyfriend said, 'I didn't sign up to marry a
farmer,' "
Calif.
(AP via Yahoo! News) – After watching grape harvesters toil in the vineyards on a summer day without shade, Garth Patterson was inspired to get them some relief.
The
Patterson has trademarked his "Cooling Station," which runs on a generator and features NFL-quality misting fans that can reduce surrounding temperatures by 25 degrees. It seats 12, holds up to 300 gallons of water and features an emergency shower.
"It has huge potential in farming, construction and emergency services," said Patterson, a former fan distributor. "It allows them to sit in the shade and cool off."
Patterson, 56, said he hopes to fill a need as
In May 2008, a pregnant teenager, Maria Vasquez Jimenez, died from heat stroke as she pruned grapevines for more than nine hours in nearly triple-digit heat. The death prompted California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and other state officials to call for stronger farmworker protections, but the effort since then has been uneven.
This year, inspectors found dozens of laborers toiling in the fields with little or no shade or water during a heat wave. Eight farm labor contractors were shut down for violating heat-illness prevention rules.
Yet last summer, the state Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board twice rejected emergency rules designed to prevent heat stress. Farmworker advocates wanted shade structures erected when temperatures reach 75 degrees, while farm owners wanted the regulation to kick in at 85 degrees. Construction firms also voiced concerns about how they might be affected by the new rules.
The state safety board is now putting the proposal through a full hearing.
The American Civil Liberties Union has sued the state on behalf of the United Farm Workers and five plaintiffs, most of whom have suffered heat illness or have had relatives die.
Since 2005, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health has confirmed 12 cases of farmworkers dying from heat-related stress.
Patterson's invention could be great news for those who work
Machuca noted that the state has not been able to enforce existing laws that are intended to ensure farmworkers get access to shade and cool water.
CalOSHA would be glad to conduct an assessment of Patterson's trailer if he contacts the agency, spokeswoman Erika Monterroza said.
Patterson characterizes his trailer is an "asset protection tool" for businesses whose employees labor in the sun because the penalties for failing to properly care for workers can far outweigh the Cooling Station's $20,000 price tag. He also is making sales pitches to home builders, emergency first responders and movie-production crews.
Early models of the Cooling System consisted of chairs, a collapsable table and water jugs. When a local engineering firm built the third prototype, it was deemed too expensive.
Patterson finally settled on Zeiman
Manufacturing in
The Cooling Station was named as one of the top 10 products
of 2010 by World Ag Expo in
Last summer, Patterson's invention was a finalist at the
Bad year for biofuel industry ends on a sour note
(AP
via SFGate.com)
A federal tax credit that provided makers of biodiesel $1
for every gallon expired Friday. As a result, some
Biodiesel's woes come on top of a year of problems for the fledgling biofuel industry — an irony given the push to cut down on greenhouse gases and ease the nation's need for foreign oil. A key driver for the alternative fuel — the high cost of oil — disappeared as diesel prices dropped 18 percent since the beginning of the recession. Then in March the European Union placed import-killing tariffs on biodiesel and other biofuels.
It was a huge hit for
Biodiesel, which is usually blended with traditional fuel, had over the past few years been the fastest growing fuel among fleet vehicles like buses, snow plows and garbage trucks.
Those fleets, however, can shift to traditional fuel, as some have, when the prices of diesel drops.
The biodiesel industry is now operating at only 15 percent of its potential capacity, according to the National Biodiesel Board, largely because the price of traditional diesel has collapsed. There are close to 180 biodiesel plants operating in about 40 states.
The country's largest biodiesel refinery, in
The loss of the tax credit, which helps pay salaries, buy new equipment and in good times to turn a profit, will hit small producers particularly hard.
A one-year extension of the biodiesel tax credit was included in a bill that was approved by the U.S. House recently, but it never made it through the Senate.
Lawmakers say the tax-credit will be retroactive if approved.
Production will cease in
For each of the 12,000 gallons of biodiesel that Francis produces each week, he has received a $1 tax credit to help keep operations going.
His company has been riding out the economic downturn until now, thanks to the tax credit.
"By the time you buy the feedstock and the chemicals to produce the fuel, you have more money in it than you get for the fuel without the tax credit," Francis said. "We won't be producing any without the tax credit."
Ethanol producers, for instance, were hit by a string of bankruptcies, next-generation biofuels were stung by scandal.
This summer a federal jury found that Cello Energy, a next-generation biofuel company that specialized in plants-to-fuel technology, had defrauded investors. That is expected to leave the Environmental Protection Agency far short of the millions of gallons of biofuel it had planned to blend into traditional fuel this year.
VeraSun, the country's second largest ethanol producer, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October and its assets sold. Other ethanol refineries were swept up for pennies on the dollar.
"You could say the entire biofuels industry has had a rough year," said Robert McCormick, principal engineer at the Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
There is little chance that the
Still, ethanol producers appear to be bouncing back and maintain unflagging political support. And the Department of Energy announced last month that next-generation biofuels would get more than $600 million in federal funding.
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