Janee Hartman Photography

Janee Hartman is an artist from Chicago who specializes in photographing unique and poignant landscapes.  She shoots both natural and built environments.  Her work is inspiring because she documents specific places in a rapidly changing world.  Some of the landscapes she documents looked very different 10 years ago and are continuing to change with great celerity.  Her work is also important because it shares a view of the natural world that many people haven't experienced.  I've noticed that people rarely support causes which are unfamiliar to them.  Not everyone has had the opportunity to hike in some of the parks and forests that Janee documents, but support for conservation is critical for the preservation of many of these locations.  Janee's work gives you a static window into a dynamic world.

She created the following two images in the Smoky Mountain National Park.

 

The next two images were taken at the Savannah National Wildlife Reguge near Savannah, Georgia.  This unique habitat is especially important for migratory birds.  As humans develop landscapes, migratory birds lose critical resting spots for their southern winter and northern summer migrations.  Migratory birds' reproductive cycles match their migratory patterns.  Without resting grounds, they can neither migrate nor reproduce.

These images were taken in the agrarian landscape of Galena, Illinois.  Janee says that she doesn't select the places that she shoots because her best images happen when she stumbles upon an inspiring location.

In contrast to her bucolic images, she also specializes in documenting architecture.  Her architectural pictures capture landscapes which also change very suddenly, and preserve the spirit of these places.

Visit Janee's website to view more of her talent or to contact her.  She sells prints of her images and is available for free lancing.

Savannah Gardening Nuances

Although Georgia is undeniably awesome (see proof here, here, and here), Savannah does not have the easiest climate for vegetable gardening.  I often hear experienced gardeners who have recently moved to the lowcountry express confusion and frustration about the growing conditions.  There are both problems and advantages of growing food in this region, and some of the problems can be addressed with a little insider knowledge.

1)  The soil here is acidic.

Most of the United States experiences acid rain which can alter the pH of soil.  However, the soil here is acidic to begin with.  Leaf litter from pine trees lowers the pH of soil, causing is to be more acidic.  Many experienced gardeners know that mulching their gardens helps to contain moisture, enhance the aesthetics of the space, and control the weeds.  However, mulching with pine mulch, the most common local mulch, can cause the soil to become even more acidic.  If you mulch, use oak or tree mulch that tends to be less acidic.  Some gardeners add a bit of lime to the soil as well.

2)  The peak of the summer is really hot.

July and August can be pretty sweltering in the lowcountry.  A lot of crops suffer in the intense heat.  Sometimes, the plants will tough it out if they get lots and lots of water.  However, certain crops are nearly impossible to grow well in that kind of heat.  Tomatoes, for instance, usually develop cracks if they are given enough water to survive that kind of heat.  Here's how to reap a heavy harvest despite the heat.  Start your more sensitive plants early or late.  Savannah is cold for so few months out of the year that I try to cultivate 2 major seasons.  You can usually start your tomatoes (and other sensitive plants) as early as late March.  You'll get a good harvest before it gets hot.  If they are especially hardy, you may even get veggies throughout the heat.  Plant a new batch of seedlings in August, and put them in the ground in September.  You can also try your luck with hardy varieties.  Most eggplants and watermelons grow exceptionally despite the heat.

3)  Grass grows like a house on fire.

Most grass species can perform C4 photosynthesis.  Basically, it's an advantageous process in hot conditions.  While C3 plants (essentially, the basic method of performing photosynthesis) suffer, they thrive.  They can crowd your already struggling plants and make weeding a nightmare.  Use oak, or other higher pH trees, mulch.  Also plant cover crops like buckwheat in unused areas.  This will keep the grass at bay, and buckwheat fixes nitrogen so it fertilizes your soil while weeding it for you.

4)  Corporate stores are less strain savvy.

Certain varieties of vegetables are specialized for different areas.  Ask anyone who owns or operates a mom-and-pop garden stores for their recommended varieties.  They usually have valuable suggestions for time-tested varieties.  Home Depot and Lowe's often decide which plants to stock on a corporate level instead of a local level.  This means that the people picking plants for the stores to sell don't always know the climate and soil nuances of the regions where the stores are actually located.  Research varieties and request them if the stores don't have them.

Hopefully this helps to demystify lowcountry gardening.  Do you have any tips or favorite varieties of crops?  I'd love to hear about them!

What the hell is "industrialized" meat?

It seems that people's interest has been piqued by organic and sustainable food these days.  However, I've also noticed that there is a lot of confusion about what constitutes "organic" and "sustainable."  Furthermore, I've heard a lot of talk about "evil," "cruel," and "unhealthy" methods of food production, especially in the meat industry.  It seems that the most natural foods are the best, whereas the most industrialized foods conjure grotesque and unhealthy impressions.  The average American, however, may be so far removed from the processes that make food that they may not even know what's "natural" in food.  For instance, does the average American know the importance of biodiversity in a farm?  Would he or she know that pigs will eat virtually any flesh-- animal, plant, or fungal?  Does the average American know how to kill and dress meat?  Probably not.  Therefore, many Americans can't accurately visualize natural and healthy conditions for livestock.  Although it's a complicated issue, industrial meats tend to be exposed to some common phenomenon which include use of antibiotics, concentrated confinement, and monoculture.  These three factors indicate that meat has not been produced in a naturally healthful way.

Antibiotics are medicines that control bacterial infections by killing off bacteria.  Usually this involves disrupting a cellular process, protein, or structure within the bacteria.  Not all bacteria cause disease; some are beneficial and necessary.  Farmers found that using antibiotics to treat livestock increased survival rates, because fewer were dying due to infections.  They also increase growth rates, because juvenile animals can invest more energy in growing that into their immune system.  However, this means that livestock genetics with naturally weaker immune systems survived and reproduced.  Using antibiotics prevents natural selection from ensuring that the hardiest animals lived to reproduce.  Simultaneously, bacteria that evolved methods and structures to survive antibiotics were naturally selected.  Today, antibiotics are an ingredient in most commercial livestock feeds.

Animals are often housed in CAFOs, or concentrated animal feeding operations.  These are structures which contain animals at the highest density that is both legal and profitable.  Diseases spread more readily in crowded conditions, but animals in CAFOs typically eat antibiotics in their feed.  CAFOs range from cruel to grotesque.  They are associated with unsanitary conditions and poor mental health of both the employees and livestock.

Monoculture exists when only one species of plant of animal is cultivated in an area.  The nature of farming economy today makes it profitable for farmers to specialize in one (or at least very few) products.  Diverse farm ecosystems cycle nutrients and waste which minimizes the impact on the surrounding environment.  Monocultures cause waste to accumulate.  Most CAFOs are monocultures of one type of livestock.  Because they are contained in such high densities, their manure literally piles up inside the building as well as in manure lagoons outside.

Different states in the US have different definitions of organic, and some of them are neither environmentally conscious, healthy, nor humane.  If these are priorities to you, seek meat that is free of antibiotics, has been openly pastured, and comes from a diverse farm.  The easiest way to ensure that these criteria have been met is to buy meat from farmers in your community.

Southern Stuffed Eggplant

I don't cook vegetarian food often, but I probably should.  Recipes like these have so much flavor that I don't even miss the meat when I eat them, and they are very healthy.  I've gotten numerous compliments on my stuffed eggplant from both carnivores and vegetarians, so I think it's a good one.

Start by taking an eggplant and cut it in half.  In Savannah, eggplants are one of the few crops that can really cope with our viciously hot and humid summers.  My eggplants are abundant.  I like to grow the Listada de Gandia, a french strain, and the Rosa Bianca variety, which is an Italian heirloom.  The fruits from both varieties are really pretty with white and purple striations and they are very hardy.  They have a mild and creamy flavor.

Score the halved eggplant with a sharp knife.  Don't cut all the way through the exterior of the eggplant.  Scoop out the flesh with a spoon.  You should have two little eggplant bowls.  Toss the scooped out eggplant flesh into a pan with coconut oil (or whatever oil you prefer).

Mix in other veggies.  I used onion, a spicy pepper, and garlic.  Use whatever is local and flavorful for best results.  Season with pepper.  I don't like to add any salt to my veggies.  Fry them in the coconut oil.  Stuff the fried veggies into the eggplant bowls.

Sometimes I add cheese to the stuffed eggplants (something dry like parmesan is extra tasty).  I didn't have any on hand today though, so I just topped them with some salty breadcrumbs.  Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.  Bake time can vary a bit based on the size of the eggplant.  Remove when the breadcrumbs are golden brown and crispy.

Eat them warm for lunch or dinner.  It makes two perfectly portioned servings, so be sure to share it with someone special.  Bonus points if you eat it al fresco.

Why Georgia Is Awesome, Part 3

Georgia's great because of its rivers!  I know I'm a bit of a river fanatic, but I honestly think it's impossible not to appreciate the diversity of Georgia's rivers.  We've got fast moving mountain streams and broad lazy rivers.

River ecology is really interesting because they all follow a basic pattern.  They typically originate as small, fast moving mountain streams.  This section of the river is usually at a higher elevation and has the clearest water.  The intermediate section slows down a bit and gets cloudier from more accumulated debris entering the river.  Most of the debris is leaf litter from trees.  As it approaches its terminus, the river widens, slows, and gets less clear.  This stretch is usually the most nutrient-rich.

Although almost all rivers follow a pattern similar to that one, they can support very different ecosystems.  Near Savannah, we see a lot of blackwater rivers, like the Ogeechee and Canoochee.  In north Georgia, there are numerous whitewater streams which are a literal contrast to the blackwater.  The Oconee River is one of my personal favorites, and it's one of the longest ones in Georgia.  Plus, it's got a few fun rapids for rafting.

Whether you enjoy fishing, hiking, swimming, boating, rafting, or paddling, I'm pretty sure Georgia has a river for you.  I'm definitely making a point to float down a few this summer.

Ginnie Springs

Ginnie Springs is a destination worth telling people about.  It's located near Gainesville, Florida.  I recently had the opportunity to visit friends in Gainesville, and they took me to Ginnie Springs.  It's located along the Santa Fe River.  The Santa Fe, like the Ogeechee River (another of my favorites!!), is a blackwater river.  The water moves slowly, and cypress forests in the basin shed their tannins to the river.  The tannins stain it, giving it the mysterious pigmentation.  The Santa Fe River is a beautiful one with a unique ecology characteristic of blackwater.  The river flows by several freshwater springs.

The contrast of the blackwater and spring water is immediately apparent.  The spring water is 100% transparent- unlike the dark river water.  I went on a warm day, so the blackwater felt like bath water.  The spring water apparently comes out at 72 degrees year round.  It's cool and refreshing, especially when it's hot out.

Not only is the water striking, but so is the abundance of the springs.  There are some gorgeous ones that are very popular, but also small ones that people don't seem to notice.  I swam in the Devil's Eye spring and another popular one that is a long, deep crack in the ground.  But I also found a few that have no names.  I know for certain that I didn't explore every single spring, but I'm equally positive that they are all worth checking out.

If you're interested in going, you can camp in the cypress forest.  People ride down the Santa Fe in tubes, canoes, kayaks, and paddle boards.  You can even scuba dive in some of the springs.  I struck up a conversation with a couple divers who were going to dive in the crevice and then follow the caves.  They were using rebreathers because they planned to be under for several hours.  I asked them how far they planned to penetrate into the caves.  They said, "At least two miles."  Apparently the caves go for miles and make for crazy dives.  Definitely something to add to the bucket list.

Here's the link for the park's website.

http://www.ginniespringsoutdoors.com/

Agricultural Pollution

Agricultural pollution occurs when a farmer saturates their watershed with excessive nutrient run off.  Agricultural runoff typically comes from either livestock waste or fertilizers.  Both of these materials contain nutrients that help plants and microbes grow, especially phosphorus and nitrogen.  When applied to growing crops, nutrient loading can increase yields and profit.  However, when they are deposited in marine and aquatic environments they cause eutrophication.  Eutrophication results in blooms of nuisance populations, especially algae, followed by crashes.  Eutrophication causes murky green water that is actually congested with photosynthetic life and hypoxic zones beneath the light penetration zone.  Animals that are subjected to the hypoxic zone die and oxygen is further depleted as decomposers respire while breaking down their bodies.

Citizens in North Carolina were outraged when the hog industry invaded their homes and marshes.  In 1992, North Carolina was home to 2 million hogs.  Within 6 years, the state became home to 10 million (North Carolina in the Global Economy).  Facilities called concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs, are machine-like complexes that pack animals together as tightly as possible without harming their profit. Sows are stored in sow stalls so small that the animals cannot even turn around.  In North Carolina, hog CAFOs require lagoons, which are basically cesspools of hog excrement.  When Hurricane Floyd struck the coast of North Carolina, the content of the lagoons contaminated the water supply.  One operation leaked 20 million gallons of hog excrement into the New River in 1995 (North Carolina in the Global Economy).  “CAFOs house them as tightly as possible where they never see grass or sunlight. If you can envision one thousand chickens in your bathroom, in cages stacked to the ceiling, you're honestly getting the picture. (Actually a six-foot by eight room could house 1,152)” (Kingsolver).  Feeding operations like these have no use for the animal waste, so they either store it indefinitely or allow it to seep into the water table either through leaks or during storms.  Uncontrollable animal waste is dangerous for people in the community because it pollutes the water source.  It also threatens the environments that ultimately absorb the chemicals contained in the waste.

 

Traditionally, farms grew both livestock and crops.  When both animals and plants coexisted on the same properties, manure composting was more common than it is today.  Composting is a microbial process that breaks down dead plants and animal waste, thereby releasing organic nutrients.  Once composted, the nutrients can be taken by plant roots.  Farm waste was once produced, composted, and applied to plants as fertilizer at the same facility.  Now most farms either grow crops or livestock but not both.  Furthermore, many plant-growing farms grow monocultures of just one crop, and many CAFOs house one type of animal.  When food production is segregated by species, farms produce massive quantities of useless waste.  Since they cannot use it, they have to store it in manure lagoons, which are unreliable at preventing the waste from entering the water table.

Corn, the primary crop grown in the United States, is a plant with a tremendous appetite for fertilizer.  According to Michael Pollan, traditional methods of growing food were less expensive for farmers but took longer to grow a smaller harvest.  Therefore, farmers treat their plants with synthetic fertilizers that typically include nitrogen and phosphorus.  Vegetable farmers squeeze every ounce of profit that they can from their land by saturating their soil with fertilizers.  Nitrogen is among the most limiting nutrients for plant growth, so fertilizers add it to fields in shocking numbers.  “Worldwide, humans create about 160 million metric tons of nitrogen each year, compared to natural rates of terrestrial biological nitrogen fixation, which are between 90 and 120 million metric tons annually” (Dybas).  American farmers now feel pressure to grow crops using methods that they themselves do not trust for their own health.  Peggy Naylor, wife of a corn farmer close to the Des Moines River, does not drink water from her own well without filtering it through a special reverse-osmosis faucet to remove the excess nitrates from fertilizers on the farm (Pollan).  Sadly, the fertilizers impact the healthfulness of her own resources, but they also flow down the Des Moines River which eventually joins the Mississippi River.  The Mississippi River carries fertilizers accumulated from, “31 states and 40 percent of the contiguous United States” (Dybas). The Mississippi River delta marshes cannot sufficiently filter the quantity of agricultural pollution it is subjected to.  Fertilizer companies recommend using a hundred pounds of fertilizer per acre, but farmers like Peggy Naylor’s husband exceed the recommended use by an additional 80 percent to ensure a lucrative harvest (Pollan).  This may be the quickest way for Naylor to turn a profit, but it’s a short term method.  Ultimately, it is harmful to the environment because it causes eutrophication.  Eutrophication occurs when microbial life grows faster than their habitat can sustain.  It causes nuisance blooms which rapidly deplete oxygen.

Eutrophication can cause nuisance blooms and hypoxic zones on a small scale, but it also causes massive lifeless zones in the oceans.  The Gulf dead zone is a hypoxic zone in the Gulf of Mexico that experiences progressively lower levels of oxygen every summer.  Dead zones destroy and displace marine life.  Either animals flee the hypoxic zones, or they are trapped and suffocate.    Dan Leonard, a clam farmer interviewed by Cheryl Lyn Dybas, sees the impact of farm runoff on his business every year.  Fertilizer runoff is heaviest following spring fertilization, when most farmers have applied it to seedlings and young crops to nourish them for the rest of the growing season.  Populations bloom following the runoff, and the hypoxic zones are most depraved of oxygen by the summer.  Leonard says that, “’Every summer, the dead zone grows, snuffing out more fish, crabs, and other animals.  And we’re the perpetrators of the crime, with our excess fertilizer and untreated sewage and other waste flowing into the gulf’” (Dybas).  Sadly, the Gulf of Mexico is only one of 146 dead zones reported by Cheryl Dybas.  Even more sadly, this figure doubles every decade.  Furthermore, 43 of 146 reported dead zones occur in United States waters (Dybas).  These figures illustrate that popular farming methods in the United States, which transmit untreated livestock waste and fertilizer runoff to the water table, deposit gluttonous quantities of agricultural pollution into oceans and salt marshes.

In addition to causing dead zones, agricultural pollution erodes soil.  R. Eugene Turner describes the effects of nutrient inundation, “One way is that the belowground biomass may be inversely related to the nutrient loading.  Root and rhizome biomass declines with increased nutrient loading in many freshwater, brackish, and saltwater coastal wetlands.”  Because nitrogen and phosphorus are abundant in polluted soils, plants expend less energy developing root structures to seek nutrients.  Instead, they focus their energy on growing aboveground biomass.  Although the aboveground vegetation seems healthy, the soil and sediment disintegrate without the root mats to hold them together.

Farms that keep openly pastured livestock are less likely to accumulate hazardous amounts of waste than CAFO’s because the waste is less concentrated and can break down more rapidly.  A more sustainable approach to farming would incorporate livestock and vegetable growing at the same facility so that livestock waste could be composted on site for vegetable fertilizer.  A system like this does not rely on synthetic fertilizers because the plants get all of the nutrients they need from the compost.  Plants that use industrial fertilizers only absorb about 20 percent of the amount applied to the soil (Pollan).  Livestock waste runs off from both CAFOs and sustainably managed livestock-vegetable farms.  However, more waste runs off from CAFOs because they house far more animals in far smaller spaces and there is typically no need for them to compost the waste and apply it to plants.  Furthermore, farms that rely on compost for fertilizer do not transmit additional nutrients to the water basin, whereas 80 percent of commercial fertilizers, on top of CAFO livestock waste, flows through salt marshes.

Sustainable farming is not only possible but pragmatic.  “According to the USDA records from the 1990s, farms less than four acres in size had an average net income of $1,400 per acre.  The per-acre profit declines steadily as farm size grows, to less than $40 per acre for farms above a thousand acres” (Kingsolver).  Small scale farms do not need to rely on fertilizers in order to make a profit because of three factors.  First, they grow diverse products, instead of monocultures which are susceptible to disease and parasites.  They also use their space more efficiently and carefully, without trashing areas that seem unimportant.  Lastly, they sell more directly to customers than major corporations who have nation-wide distribution through supermarkets. 

Sources

Alvarez-Rogel, J., F.J. Jiminez-Carceles, and C. Egea Nicolas.  “Phosphorus and Nitrogen Content in the Water of a Coastal Wetland in the Mar Menor Lagoon (Se Spain):  Relationships with Effluents from Urban and Agricultural Areas.”  Water, Air, and Soil Pollution, Volume 173 (2006): 21-38.

Butler, Carol A., & Weis, Judith S.  Salt Marshes: A Natural and Unnatural History.  New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.  2009.

Callaway, John C. “The Challenge of Restoring Functioning Salt Marsh Ecosystems.”  Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue 40 (2005): 24-35.

Corman, Sarah S., Charles T. Roman, John W. King, and Peter G. Appleby.  “Salt Marsh Mosquito-Control Ditches:  Sedimentation, Landscape Change, and Restoration Implications.”  Journal of Coastal Research, 28.4 (2012): 874-880.

Dybas, Cheryl Lyn.  “Dead Zones Spreading in World Oceans.”  BioScience 55.7 (2005): 552-557.

Kingsolver, Barbara.  Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.  New York: Harper Perennial.  2007.

Nelson, Joanna L. and Erika S. Zavaleta.  “Salt Marsh as a Coastal Filter for the Oceans:  Changes in Function with Experimental Increases in Nitrogen Loading and Sea-Level Rise.”  PLoS ONE, 7.8 (2012): 1-14.

“Overview.”  North Carolina in the Global Economy.  Duke University Center on Globalization, Competitiveness & Governance, 2011.  Web 18 April 2013.  <http://www.soc.duke.edu/NC_GlobalEconomy/hog/overview.shtml>.

Pollan, Michael.  The Omnivore’s Dilemma.  New York: Penguin Books.  2006.

Stagg, Camille L. and Irving A Mendelssohn.  “Restoring Ecological Function to a Submerged Salt Marsh.”  Restoration Ecology, 18.S1 (2010): 10-17.

Turner, R. Eugene.  “Beneath the Salt Marsh Canopy:  Loss of Soil Strength with Increasing Nutrient Loads.”  Estuaries and Coasts, Volume 34 (2011): 1084-1093.