Nurturing parsley through a Kentucky winter with a very simple cold frame

When gardening in zone 6, special steps are necessary if one wishes to harvest fresh herbs during the winter.  Being a biennial, parsely can survive a winter if insulated.  Initially, I had not taken any step to protect my single parsley plant.  So when I noticed that it was still alive after the first snow had melted away, I decided to protect it with a cold frame.  

Not wanting to spend much money, I settled for a $5 plastic bin.  The tactic appears to have been a success.  I have harvested parsley several times throughout the course of the winter, and the plant still appears to be doing all right.  

Being reluctant to spend money on a greenhouse or any kind of fancy cold frame, plastic bin cold frames seem like a highly appealing alternative.  I certainly plan to try it with other plants in the future.

On the subject of coal . . .

Today, the Lexington Herald-Leader reports on a couple of Kentucky legislators that are taking a stand for the coal industry's right to pollute.  I wish this was a bad joke.

http://www.kentucky.com/2011/02/17/1637938/kentucky-senator-hopes-to-create.html#more

Coal industry continues to influence the University of Kentucky

The sit-in at the Kentucky Governor's office featuring author Wendell Berry, recently made national news.  The destructive practices of the coal industry, with mountain top removal being the most notorious, are steadily becoming more exposed.  However, around the same time as the protests at the Governor's office, the University of Kentucky announces a state sponsored effort to promote "Energy Clubs" (http://uknow.uky.edu/node/14583) at Kentucky colleges and universities.  While a greater understanding of energy issues is generally laudable, the statement hints that a key part of this effort is to promote "clean coal technologies."  While it is disturbing that the university would use a catch phrase from the coal industry lobby in its official communications, the ability of the very same lobby to exploit the University of Kentucky has already been well demonstrated (google “Wildcat Coal Lodge”).  Moreover, the statement quotes the president of the University of Kentucky Energy Club, parroting the language of coal advocates in questioning the use of solar and wind energy in Kentucky.  Kentucky obviously doesn't have the solar thermal potential of the southwest or the wind resources of the plain states.  But that does most not mean that solar and wind technologies are not useful here, even though the coal lobby wants you to think otherwise.  To be fair, the statement is not exclusively about coal, and I am not saying that nothing good will come out of the "Energy Club" effort.  Nevertheless, academic institutions should not use the propaganda of a very dirty and problematic industry.  Coal is not clean, and no honest assessment of the industry would suggest that it is about to become clean in the foreseeable future.

Photovoltaics, leaf shredding, and composting

Last spring, I bought my first 45 watt solar panel kit from Harbor Freight (http://www.harborfreight.com/45-watt-solar-panel-kit-90599.html).  These panels charges 12 volt deep cycle marine batteries connected in parallel, and these powers a variety of smaller appliances via a DC to AC inverter (as seen to the right of the batteries).   As of now, my little power plant is confined to a small shed in my backyard, and it is currently not practical to draw an extension cord to the house during the winter months.  But even though they do not power household appliances at this time, they are still used to power garden equipment.  Shredded leaves constitute the bulk ingredient of our outdoor compost pail.  While shredded leaves are generally essential to efficient composting, the shredding is particularly important to us.  Our yard tends to accumulate of a lot red oak leaves, which biodegrade rather slowly if left intact.  Rather than disposing of fall leaves, we save them for our composting needs.  And thanks to the solar panels, I can now run my electric leaf shredder without the local electric utility monopoly.

Outdoor winter composting

In central Kentucky, outdoor winter composting is usually a pretty slow affair.  The lower temperatures kill off a lot of the necessary biological activity.  But with a little bit of planning, a lot can still be accomplished.  One strategy is illustrated in the picture above.  The barrel is buried in a hole in the ground and the bottom of the barrel has been cut out.  Hence, the compost is quite well insulated.  Naturally, the most actively composting section of the pail is not readily accessible, which limits the practicality of this strategy.

Nevertheless, it is still possible to use a more conventional compost pail throughout the winter, provided that it is well established and reasonably well managed.  The compost bin (shown in the picture to the left) is an old trash barrel, refurbished and given away by the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government's division of waste management.  With the early February weather being relatively warm and sunny, it seemed like a good day check on the pile's progress.  The picture to the right shows the results of a pile that was started last fall before the first frost hit.  The compost was generated primarily from shredded leaves, along with some fruit, vegetable, and paper waste.  As it turned out, a fairly large portion of the middle of the pile was ready to go onto our new raised beds (see picture below).  The material that did not appear to be sufficiently composted simply went back in the bin. 

In addition to collecting used coffee grounds, composting is obviously a key strategy in building soil during what is otherwise the slow season for gardening.

Waste, by Tristram Stuart

A substantial part of the food resources of contemporary society are routinely squandered.  Tristram Stuart documents how this is happening in farming, fisheries, food processing, at the grocery, and ultimately at the consumer level.  Whether the waste is justified by aesthetic concerns, marketing strategies, or sanitary paranoia, the combined volume of all discarded food is astronomical.  But the absurdity of the waste is also encouraging in the sense that the untapped potential of the wasted food is enormous.  Turning biodegradable waste into compost is an essential aspect of own gardening ventures (see previous blog posts under ‘Gardening’), making it easy for me to relate to this book.  But the book takes the subject far beyond composting.  In addition to the room for frugality in food production and distribution, the book also takes on issues such as biogas and the potential of channeling food waste into livestock feed.  Given the many concerns regarding global issues like overpopulation, resource limitations, and land use, it is perhaps surprising that food waste is not more broadly discussed.  By introducing the issue of food waste in the context of such discussions, this book is making a very important contribution.

Find this book at amazon.com