Zero House

We are having a crew come over tomorrow to update our garage/play area and it got me to thinking how great it would be to just start from scratch and do everything exactly as you wanted. I did a little digging on the internets and found Zero House which is a kind of pre-fab construction that is totally sustainable and low impact. It looks like something out of the future and yet homey at the same time.

Check it out here: Zero House...

In Defense Of Food

I started reading "In Defense Of Food" by Michael Pollan a great read (at least the first few chapters. It all boils down to this: Eat food, mostly veggies (ugh!), not much meat.

Very simple instructions. Basically it's an arguement against processed, over injected food that hypes nutritionism over basic food from scratch. As someone who lived under the tyranny of the latest food craze as a kid (allthough we did eat very well) I couldn't agree more, except for the meat part which i'm slowly warming to. Being married to a vegetarian sure makes it easier to not have it around the house, but I still crave that sometimes. I just have to learn to kill those cravings.

It's a process, and I'll be writing more about this great book as I finish it off.

I Got 99 Problems, but Organic Veggies Ain't One

Deciding which Organic veggies to buy should be our biggest worries these days. I always want to get Organic but sometimes availability and price are a factor. Below is a list of which veggies are the most important to buy organic (you'll have to trust me on the data source):

1. Peaches

2. Apples

3. Sweet Bell Peppers

4. Celery

5. Nectarines

6. Strawberries

7. Cherries

8. Lettuce

9. Grapes (imported)

10. Pears

11. Spinach

12. Potatoes

Companion Planting Made Easy

Here is a quick guide for companion planting I found on the ol' internets...

Anise- Plant anise and coriander seeds together. They will both germinate more quickly. Keep soil moist and separate when seedlings have grown a little.

Apple - If planted with chives there is less chance of apple scab disease.

Asparagus - Becomes more vigorous if planted with parsley.

Basil - Basil repels white fly and makes a good companion to tomatoes, in the garden & the kitchen. Use 3 basil plants to each tomato plant. Basil also repels flies and mosquitoes, so useful in kitchen, outdoor barbecues. Don't plant near rue. Deters tomato hornworm, aphids, flies and mosquitoes. Slows growth of milkweed bugs and acts as a fungicide.

Beans - Less likely to suffer from beetles if petunias also planted alongside. Grow more strongly if planted with summer savoury.

Beans (Bush) - Plant with sunflowers, they like partial shade and the sunflowers attract birds and bees. All bean types are beneficial if planted with cucumbers, potatoes, corn, celery, savoury because these plants are heavy feeders. Beans create their own nitrogen and are light feeders.

Bee/Lemon Balm - Plant with tomatoes, it improves growth and flavour.

Beetroot - Grow better if planted with onions, kohl rabi, basil, beans, lettuce, cabbage and tomatoes. Planting with onions helps deter some insects and deters weeds.

Bergamot - Attracts beneficial honey bees.

Borage - Plant with strawberries to increase crop. Also good with tomatoes and squash. Attracts bees to the garden. Deters tomato worms, attracts bees, helps growth and flavour.

Broccoli - Planted with dill or mint grows better.

Cabbage family - Cabbage butterfly is repelled by planting rosemary or sage with cabbages. Any member of the cabbage family should also be planted with potatoes, tomatoes, celery, dill, chamomile, sage, thyme, mint, rosemary, lavender, beetroot or onions. All the above are aromatic plants, and therefore deter cabbage worms. Thyme and tomatoes also help control flea beetles.

Calendula (Pot Marigold) - If planted with tomatoes, this repels asparagus beetles, tomato worms and other pests.

Caraway - Long roots help break down and condition heavy soils, can plant near shallow rooted plants. Dislikes fennel. Attracts parasitic beneficial wasps. Caraway dislikes being planted near fennel. Sown with peas, caraway seeds germinate more easily.

Carrots - Carrot fly is repelled if carrots are planted with sage or onions. Also plant with peas, lettuce, chives, leeks, rosemary or tomatoes.

Catnip - Planted on the vegetable garden border, catnip will deter cats from venturing further. Protects against flea beetles, and attracts bees.

Celery - Planted with bush beans, they help each other to grow better. Also good companion with leeks, tomatoes, cabbage and cauliflower.

Chamomile - Compatible with onions and cabbages but don't plant too much. Chamomile tea, made by soaking blossoms in cold water for 1 to 2 days, is excellent spray for damping off. Improves both growth and flavour of onions and cabbages.

Chervil - Chervil improves flavour of carrots if grown with them. Radishes planted near chervil has hotter taste, and improved growth.

Chives - Carrots grow larger planted near chives. Helps prevent apple scab if grown underneath apple trees. Also helps control aphids and black spot on roses. Cooled chive tea made from chopped chives in boiling water helps combat downy and powdery mildew.

Comfrey - Comfrey keeps surrounding soil rich and moist. Rotted leaves and roots mixed with water makes good fertiliser. Improves size and flavour of strawberries if planted nearby.

Coriander - Sown with anise seeds aids germination in both. Coriander repels aphids. Don't grow near fennel as it hinders its seed formation.

Corn - Sowing with beans or peas provides an increased nitrogen supply to the corn (if corn and peas/beans are planted in alternate rows). If sunflowers are planted with corn, the incidence of armyworm decreases. Also plant with potatoes, cucumbers, pumpkin, squash. Vining things like this shade the ground, keeping weeds down, and use the corn stalks to trail up on.

Cucumbers - Plant with beans, corn, peas, radishes, and sunflowers.

Dandelion - Plant along garden border to produce pollen for lady beetles, lacewings, and other predators and parasites. Repels Colorado Potato Beetles.

Dill - Cabbage grows well planted near dill. So does lettuce, corn & cucumber. If dill is allowed to flower it suppresses the carrot crop, if not allowed to flower it is fine. Don't plant near fennel as they may cross fertilise.

Eggplant - If planted with aramanthus, there is less likelihood of insects on the eggplant. Also, beans planted with eggplants repel beetles which would otherwise attack the eggplant.

Elderberry - Plant near your compost heap as it assists in breakdown. Humus from base of elderberries make excellent topsoil.

Fennel - Don't grow fennel in the vegetable garden. It is hated by tomatoes, kohlrabi, caraway and wormwood. If planted near dill may cross fertilise. Repels fleas, so grow it around dog kennel.

Garlic - Planted near roses keeps aphids away. If grown around fruit trees effective against borers. Protects peach tree from leaf curl and apple trees from apple scab. Grown near tomatoes deters red spider mites. However peas, beans, cabbages and strawberries hate it. Garlic spray may be made by crushing 4 cloves and steeping in a litre of water for several days as an insecticide for vegetables and flowers.

Geranium - Plant near roses, grapes and corn. Repels cabbage worm. Oil of geranium prevents red spider mite.

Grapes - Planting clover increases the soil fertility for grapes. Hyssop likewise increases the vine crop.

Horseradish - Helps deter potato bug if planted near potatoes. Can take over so keep restricted.

Hyssop - Good for cabbages and grapes. Helps deter white butterflies. Good insect repellent if planted in vegetable or flower garden. Keep away from radishes.

Lavender - Attracts butterflies. Lavender bags repel mice, ticks and moths.

Leeks - Leeks grow better if planted with carrots, celery or onions.

Lemon Balm - Attracts bees. Improves growth and flavour of tomatoes.

Lettuce - Plant with carrots, radishes, strawberries or peas.

Lovage - All round garden helper. Improves health and flavour of most plants near it.

Marigolds - Plant everywhere! Deter many insects and slugs.

Marjoram - Beneficial on most vegetables planted near it.

Mint - Repels cabbage butterfly, grow near cabbage family or tomatoes. Repels fleas, ants and mice. Keep mint and parsley away from each other.

Nasturtium - Useful insect repellent. Plant around broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage family, radishes, tomatoes, cucumbers and fruit trees. Deters white flies, squash bugs, and are a trap crop for aphids. Limits wooly aphid damage to apple trees if planted in a circle around them.

Onion - Planting chamomile with onions improves the flavour of the onions.

Oregano - Plant near broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower to repel cabbage butterfly and near cucumbers to repel cucumber beetle. Also benefits grapes.

Parsley - Grow near chives, but away from mint. Aids growth of roses, tomatoes, asparagus and carrots.

Peaches - Growing garlic around peach trees reduces the chance of peach leaf curl disease.

Peas - Grow them almost everywhere, peas add nitrogen to soil. Growing interplanted with corn enhances growth of the corn.

Peanuts - If grown with squash or corn will increase the yield.

Potatoes - Plant horseradishes with potatoes to make them more disease resistant.

Pumpkins - Plant with datura to increase the vigour and health of the pumpkins. Also plant with corn.

Radish - Plant with climbing beans, and both grow better. Plant with lettuces, and the radishes become more succulent in summer time. Also plant with peas, nasturtiums and cucumbers. Deters cucumber beetle and other insects.

Rose - Planting chives or garlic with roses protects them from black spot and some pests, including aphids. Parsley protects roses from beetles.

Rosemary - Grows well with sage, improves growth of carrots, cabbage and beans. Don't grow near potatoes.

Rue - Hates basil. Plant near roses, strawberries and fig trees. Effective fly repellent and it repels dogs and cats which hate it.

Sage - Plant near rosemary. Good grown with cabbage and carrots, peas and beans. Keep away from cucumbers. Sage tea can be sprayed on mature plants not seedlings.

Salad Burnet - Good with thyme and mint.

Savoury(Summer) - Grow near onions and beans. Deters bean beetles.

Savoury(Winter) - Useful insect repellent.

Spinach - Plant with strawberries, and base of trellised peas. Spinach benefits from shading of peas and wind protection.

Squash - Plant with corn or nasturtiums.

Strawberries - Planted with borage improves the soil nutrition for the strawberries. Also plant with bush beans, spinach and lettuce.

Tansy - Repels ants, flies and moths. Rub leaves onto fur of dogs and cats to repel fleas. Plant near fruit trees and roses. It concentrates potassium in the soil so good for compost heap.

Tarragon - All purpose garden helper.

Thyme - Attracts bees and deters cabbage worm so plant near members of cabbage family. Beneficial effect on
plants near it.

Tomatoes - Tomatoes grow and produce better when planted with marigolds; the same rule applies to basil planted with tomatoes.

Valerian - Excellent addition to compost heap as stimulates phosphorous activity in soil. Earthworms love it.

Wormwood - Grow by itself edge of garden as inhibits growth of other plants. Spray discourages slugs and snails.

Yarrow - Increases essential oil content enhancing aromatic quality and making more resistant to insect attack.

Water Water Everywhere...

We recently ran out of those little filters on our tap that make our LA water "safe" to drink. We've been going without and I have to say, no third arms or vestigial tails just yet, which was a surprise. My pee does glow though, is that a problem?

I got to thinking about how easy and safe most Americans have it when it comes to drinking water and how 1 in 6 people on this planet have a huge schlep to say the least when it comes to safe, clean water. I found this company called Hippo Water Rollers that help people in developing countries with their daily chore of getting water.

Check it out and maybe donate if you can. It's probably very easy for most of the 17 readers of this blog to get water, let's make it a little easier for someone else.

Hippo Water Rollers Project

Make Your Own Rain Barrel

My wife and I woke up a little early this morning to have a cast and crew over for one of those make over shows (more on that later). When we went out to the backyard to get the table and chairs ready we discovered that they and the ground were sopping wet with dew. A little embarrassing for sure, but it got us thinking about what to do with all that dew and water that accumulates every morning. Well, we've decided to make a rain barrel to collect all of that run-off from the roof and use it water our garden, you'd be surprised at how much water you can collect. After a little research we think that the article below is an easy and fast way to get this up. Let us know if you decide to take on this project and how it went.

Click here for full article...



Here's an update, I found another project page to add to the list! Click Here

Slow Food Movement

I've been thinking a lot about the south of France lately. It's my 2nd anniversary today (Happy 2nd sweety!) and we took our honeymoon to France's Provence region which was amazing. Part of what made it so great, apart from the love of my life being there with me, was the food & wine, something we'll talk a lot about on this blog.

The Slow Food Movement epitomizes what Modern Frontiers is all about. By taking a few easy, slow and steady changes, you can make a huge difference. Don't go out and try and plant the back 40 right now, just try and go to your local farmers market once a month or buy organic when you can.

Slow food is a reaction to "Fast Food" or as they say in france "Merde".
The movement is all about taking time to grow vegetables, taking time to prepare and cook them and of course savoring them while you eat. So take some time this week with the ones you love and cherish a nice dinner together, take a picnic basket out into the fall foliage and have a nice bottle of bio-dynamic wine.

These very simple changes can help move the world in a better direction.

Happy Eating!

Yes We Carve!

...remember to use local, organic and sustainable pumpkins :)...

Interactive Online Garden Planner

We dug up this neat little application that allows you to layout how you'd like your garden set up. Have fun playing with all the features! We sure did.

Interactive Garden Planner

The Beer Mapping Project

Being originally from Wisconsin, we here at MF really love our beer (and of course cheese) but mostly beer. We've found a handy little site called "The Beer Mapping Project" that shows you exactly where you can find local beer. Fresh beer is not only better tasting but better for the planet.

The Beer Mapping Project

Enjoy!

100 Mile Diet

A lot has been written about the 100-Mile Diet and we here at MF think it's a great idea. We've rounded up a great resource so that you can find Consumer Supported Agriculture or CSA's in your neck of the frontier.

Local CSA Finder give this handy tool a whirl and start eating local, organic and great for you food.