The Green Revolution Starts Now

Barack Obama is setting his course in a radical new direction.
As he takes office on January 20th, he'll be holding most of the cards of his "New Deal" close to his vest. We aren't sure what his program will actually look like. But we do know that the issues of global climate change, North America's energy future and international security are on the table.

While each of these issues has been part of the political discussion for many years, my sense is that this will be the first time that ALL of them will be unified by a single major policy maker who has a popular mandate to take action. The resulting period of change could be deep and long lasting.

The political risks are equally large. Attempts to form policy on the incremental issues have failed internationally. Technical, Economic and Ideological limitations have doomed previous attempts to deal with climate and energy issues. That's why I believe that this is the moment for sweeping change. President Elect Obama has made cabinet appointments that show he is preparing to seize the moment. Green energy will finally get a green light.

When Canada's Liberal Leader, Stephan Dion, ran for Premier last Fall, he did so on an agenda that included sweeping reform to reduce Canada's carbon emissions. He must have believed that Canadians in general support high environmental standards and would therefore support his plan. It didn't work out that way. Voters sensed economic panic and couldn't quite fathom how his complicated carbon tax would deliver positive results. There was another problem. Canada is now one of the largest petroleum exporting countries in the world. One hand simply doesn't wash the other.

President Bush also dealt with the questions of sustainable energy, security and the environment in a piecemeal fashion. The result was a sidestep of the Kyoto protocol and the deployment of about a third of Americas' military assets to the Middle East. We have ground troops throughout the region and at least 1 Navy Carrier group in the Persian Gulf at all times. All to guarantee the status quo in global energy markets. The argument for this policy is based on the ideology that government doesn't provide for people, private enterprise does. Therefore, the government should protect private enterprise.

Obama seems to have a very different outlook. He realizes that we don't have to deploy our military to protect a pipeline that sucks oil at one end and our wealth at the other, IF we can develop a sustainable, secure domestic energy industry AND reduce our greenhouse emissions while boosting our economy. He's going to hire the private sector to deliver a tri-fecta.

Some people here in the States are screaming that the Obama plan is socialist. These same people saw no problem with starting a war and then funding private enterprise to run it with no bid contracts. Haliburton was hired on a blank check mission because it was,"the only company big enough to handle the job". Conservatives and Libertarians are now demanding that there be a "market based solution" to the problem. Well frankly, at this time there is no private or international entity who can meet our need for increasing domestic energy supplies for the next 200 years. And there won't be unless we invest in our own interests.

Last week Vladimir Putin brought Europe to it's knees by shutting off one pipeline. If they didn't know it before, the EU knows now that it is vulnerable. On the current basis, NATO can't guarantee security or stability in Europe unless it intends to invade Russia. The whole global free trade initiative was trumped by the Russian gas company.

This "tweak" at NATO weakness and the conflicts that tie our hands in Iraq, Afghanistan etc. are just a few of the reasons that the table is set for Obama to orchestrate change.

Life is But a Dream

I commented to Laura-Jane at Whimfield that Susan and I are stuck in the purgatory of going back and forth between urban and country living and how oddly depressing that can be.

I'm not sure that will make sense to anyone shivering on PEI right now.

The thing is, we are so attached to our farm and friends in Canada. We mark the passage of our children through the years by the pictures that we share with family and friends each fall. The summers on PEI are the growth rings of our family.
Deeply embedded. Marking our orbital trajectory. Never to be revisited.

Here in Santa Barbara I enjoy working in an interesting field. I provide remote studio services to radio networks from New York, Washington, London, Toronto and Amsterdam. I work with famous people and large studios and I work with small sponsors on creative projects. I do silly voices and serious announcements and write and edit and promote my work in this busy urban metro-world on the beach.

But depression has been my companion since late last summer.
Who am I? Where am I? Who the hell cares?

On Sundays in Santa Barbara, I make a point of working on the farm. I pull up research or look at seed catalogs or read the Small Farmer's Journal or catch up on my organic certification paperwork.

Yesterday being Sunday, I pulled up some new information on the potential for commercial peach growing in the maritimes. I've been working on our peach project for 4 years now. Last May we took delivery and planted our first two varieties in a small orchard. I'm rolling the dice and betting that in 2010 we'll have a crop of fresh organic peaches to sell. That is my dream. Seems reality might actually catch up with me.

So there - you see? I work in this mechanical and virtual reality of a luxury urban landscape that sometimes blinds, burns, and turns its inhabitants to ashes. But I live in a pastoral dream.

We dreamed the farm on PEI. I dreamed a horse onto a trail ride. We dreamed a tractor into the field and we dreamed a peach orchard into a living thing. We have more dreams for green energy, sheep, cows and more chickens.

But (sigh) sometimes I feel a bit like Dorothy in OZ. If life IS but a dream, where the hell am I when I wake up?

And what if I discover that I can't really fly -
on the way down?

Better just keep working on those dreams.

Right now I'm standing in the wet spring grass, moving slowly through the orchard, pruning peach trees for the coming harvest.

Make Friends with a Farmer. Here's Why...

Published online today in the New York Times.
This is what sustainable agriculture is all about.

"Farmer In Chief"

Urban North America is about to be reconnected to food supply issues.

Photos From The Farm

September on the Farm

Autumn Leaves

This summer on PEI was all too short as usual and a quite bit wetter than normal! After the basement flooded, Post Tropical Storm Hannah dumped another 3 inches of rain on our farm in Eastern PEI.

So, when the weather cleared and the fields dried enough for me to slog through, I found soggy potatoes but glorious beet greens and swiss chard! Lots of our yellow beans went un-picked until it was too late for me to bring in a top quality product. The beans showed rust, and other effects of too much water. Letting them hold too long on the plant also meant they were past their tender best. So out to the compost they go!

Sweet corn finally came in - but too late in the season to do much good. We had an acceptable level of corn worm damage and nice size ears from plants otherwise stunted earlier in the season by lack of rain and some fertility/rotation issues I need to solve.

My last few days of work on the farm have focused on cleaning up the rows that were fallowed this year and the crops that were finished for the season. I take up a lot of this material by hand (weeds, plants, etc.) and mix it into compost. The compost works for two years and is then applied to planting rows.

It was beautiful on Friday morning when I went to the shore to pick up a manure spreader load of sea kelp for the compost pile. This rich source of micro-nutrients and biological energy mixes well with the horse manure we collected over the summer and the fresh green waste (the old bean plants, cukes, summer squashes, windfall apples and weeds). All are combined in layers with spoiled hay and then the fun begins!

Nothing better than coming out on a frosty Autumn morning to see steam rising off the compost pile! It's tremendous to be able to watch the process that creates fertility as bacteria, water and oxygen become a bio-engine that sterilizes and breaks down the mixture into healthy soil ammendment!

The farm business was slow this year. Despite our success at Dundas and at our periodic market table in Murray River, the number of visitors to eastern PEI and customers at our gate lane was well below what it has been in former years. I'll let tourism PEI determine why, but I think it's fair to guess that the high cost of fuel, parity of the US dollar and confusion about border crossings etc. made it tough for Americans to make the trip.

The number of visitors from Quebec, who often exclaim their appreciation at finding an organic farm on their island tour, also seemed to be fewer this past year. Though the visitors we did receive from Quebec were lovely and enthusiastic and made me aware that I really need to learn to at least name our produce varieties in French.

Even so, we did have some success in ways that are important to our business. We used our logo and the PEI organic producers co-op label on our bagged products and were rewarded by repeat business from people who recognized our branding.

We also found new ways (for us) to use machines for planting, how crop rotations can be improved and how companion planting can improve resistance to pests and improve yield.

So, all in all we made progress on the land and kept things moving ahead.

Summer on the Farm

When winter goes so slowly it seems impossible that summer could fly so fast, but here we are headed for the end of August already!

We started with weeks of dry weather. But the last week of July flipped us into a pattern of rain every day for the last 3 weeks! This has been tough on us since picking was first delayed and then became impossible to put off, regardless of the field conditions. Also, plant diseases become a problem when the leaves can't dry out for days on end. We had two consecutive days last week when it rained 12 hours straight each day. I guess when the poles melt the water has to go somewhere.

This weekend we'll be setup at the Provincial Plowing Match in Dundas, Prince Edward Island. We'll be picking and packing for the next few days to get ready for the Friday, Saturday and Sunday Farmers Market. If you're in eastern PEI we hope you'll stop in for the fun.

For those of you, "from away" this event is a good old fashioned country fair with a carnival midway, music, animal showing, craft judging and etc. And yes, the event is centered around the plowing competition and the naming of the "Queen of the Furrows".

To win, this lovely young woman must not only have charm and poise. She must be able to plow a furrow. I'd like to see Miss America try that one on for size.

Here are some pictures from the past few weeks on the farm:


Blueberry Pickers

Wild Raspberry Dude.

Annie Picks (and eats) berries

Cherry Pickin'

Bills, Burns, Birthdays and Birds

Hello from the Farm! Well, we've been on the go since my last posting. Now it's Sunday. Time to visit with the neighbors and share all the goings on. So pull up a chair dear and join us. Now, This first picture is the view from the shop/studio where I write this blog, fix leaky garden hoses, sharpen chain saws and record audio for The Production Room. Not too bad a spot eh?


This is our fine automobile. Every year, we're required to get a vehicle inspection on this lovely 1995 Dodge Caravan. This year, she failed miserably. Rusty doors, worn tires, bad front suspension, cracked windshield were all on the list. We decided a few dollars for repairs and another summer of driving made more sense than borrowing money does these days. So, in exchange for less debt and a provincial stamp of approval, we slapped on some used parts and were on our way. Nice, huh?


Well, the title says, "Burns", and it was bad! A week ago today I was rushed to emergency Hospital in Montague for 2nd degree burns on my leg and foot. No fun!
I was brewing tea - for iced tea - in preparation for bringing hay from the field into the barn on a hot day. Two liters of boiling water shattered the glass pitcher I was brewing in and landed on me! The pictures aren't pretty so I'll just post this snapshot of the toolbar/table planting rig we used to set in plants a couple of weeks ago. It worked like a charm. I'm on then mend now and feel fortunate not to be scheduled for skin grafts!


Susan and I celebrated birthdays this week! She one day before mine. We always feel glad to be home on PEI and lucky to see another summer as we whirl around the sun each year. Perhaps this year seems even more special as teenager gets another summer closer to leaving home and the other "youngfella" heads into grade three this fall. I hobbled into the field to pick Susan a bouquet of wild flowers on her birthday. Just this morning I was greeted by this bank of roses and their gentle perfume in the front yard.


We also had a lot of bird news this week. Our little black hen, named "Black Magic Woman", was dragged off to her doom late one night by something wild. It was either a coyote or a fox, both of whom have been noticed skulking about in the night. Annie the wonder dog dozed through the entire affair, being less than clued in about the entire shepherd/farm dog thing. Teenager heard a loud "squawk" and that was all the certain evidence there was. But now we have three ducks to add to our menagerie. They come to us from a friend who said these drakes we're being picked on at his place and could use a break. So we herded them down the lane to the pond this morning (Annie, showing us her herding skill) and into the pond they went. They took to it just like...well,like a duck takes to water!

This week we'll be picking herbs, sweet peas and possibly some beet greens along with a nice steady supply of salad greens. Sure could use some rain! Everything is a bit dry now. But the tomatoes are "comin' good" and a bit of dry heat is pushing them into flower already!

Until next time, best regards from Dunn Creek Farm!