BHM Newsletter
Volume 11      Number 2

February 21, 2009
March 21, 2009
 

INSIDE BHM

The missing issue

Yes, this is the missing issue.

As you can see, the newsletter was produced, but we were so busy last month we simply forgot to send out the newsletter notice.

You'll want to read the tips in this issue before reading the one in the real March issue, since this contains Part 1.

SELF-RELIANCE TIPS

Companion Planting

Part I

Companion planting is placing different crops close to each other on the theory that they will help each other in some way -- such as deterring insects or adding something useful to the soil.

The first writings on the subject go back to the ancient Greeks and there was a revival of interest during the Renaissance. Companion planting has no doubt been used in many a cottage garden throughout history. But in the modern era of chemical fertilizers, chemical pest control, and mass-market agriculture, companion planting fell out of vogue in developed nations.

The idea was revived again in the last decades of the twentieth century by gardeners seeking more natural ways to produce healthy fruits, vegetables and flowers and a healthy ecology.

There are a lot of types of companion plantings -- a lot of reasons and a lot of different ways to practice this interesting diversity.

Some of the categories of companion plantings include:

• Flavor enhancement: Some plants, herbs in particular, may improve the flavor of nearby vegetables. (Basil doesn't only enhance tomatoes on the plate, but may do so in the garden, as well.)

• Hedging a gardening investment: A variety plants in the same space increase the odds that one crop will survive even if catastrophe strikes another.

• Height and shape interactions: Ground-hugging plants like lettuce or strawberries may provide natural, moisture-holding mulch for tall plants like corn. Conversely, tall plants like corn or sunflowers can provide a windbreak or give cover to shade-loving plants like lettuce. Or can become a natural trellis for beans to climb on.

• Nitrogen fixation: Some plants (like many legumes) actually add nitrogen to the soil for the benefit of nearby plants.

• Pest suppression: Some plants exude chemicals that repel insects, undesirable plants, and certain "bad" nematodes or fungi. Some plants may poison, or simply disappoint, insects that try to munch on them. Others are even more clever. For example, some insects seek their target plants by using their sense of smell. Surrounding target plants with stinky companions that mask their odors can chase away those bugs. Garlic, for instance, is so powerful a deterrent that some gardeners will plant a hedge of it around an entire garden plot. Onions may help keep bugs away from your strawberries and tomatoes.

• Positive hosting: Conversely, some plants attract beneficial insects like ladybugs or lacewings or other "good" organisms, which may include "good" nematodes or fungi. Dill, for instance, can attract several types of insects that prey on other insects and not on your plants.

• Trap cropping: Some plants attract insects away from others. The gardener or farmer than removes the pests from the trap plant before it can reproduce, or bags and removes the entire trap plant.

• Pattern disruption: Companion planting is a form of "polyculture" -- meaning an entire mini-ecosystem is considered at once. In modern monoculture -- one crop in one field -- insects and blights can easily spread from one plant to the next. Companion plants interrupt that process.

Chard and marigolds

Some examples, according to Wikipedia

Nasturtium are well-known to attract caterpillars, so planting them alongside or around vegetables such as lettuce or cabbage will protect them, as the egg-laying insects will tend to prefer the nasturtium. This is called a trap crop.

Crops that suffer from greenfly and other aphids may benefit from the proximity of marigolds: These smell bad to aphids and attract hoverflies, a predator of aphids, and are also said to deter other pests. A more complete list of plants that deter insects is listed below.

The use of plants that produce copious nectar and protein-rich pollen in a vegetable garden (insectary plants) is a good way to enhance the population of beneficial insects that control pests. Some insects in the adult form are nectar or pollen feeders, while in the larval form they are voracious predators of pest insects.

History, myth, and confusion

When early European settlers came to North America, they noted that their native hosts grew corn and twining pole beans together. The obvious reason was that the woody stems of the corn plants gave the beans a natural trellis on which to climb. But there was clearly more to it than that; they saw that the corn also thrived in the beans' presence. Science has since discovered the "why" that neither the Indians nor the settlers could have known. Bean roots are friendly hosts to the Rhizobium bacteria, which takes nitrogen -- plant food -- from the air and adds it to the soil. Thus the corn and the beans helped each other.

Since the 1970s, with the growing concern for biodiversity, mulching, organic gardening, crop rotation, permaculture, composting, and other more "earth-friendly" practices, companion planting has been one tool in the home gardener's or market gardener's toolbox.

Basil, cauliflower, beetroots, zinnias and leaf amaranths

Two problems, however.

First, much of what is "known" about companion planting is folklore. Many claims have not yet been verified by controlled scientific experiments, and some claims have been debunked. In other cases (as with beans and corn), science has verified what native farmers have known for centuries. But the bottom line is that, when you venture into companion gardening, you're likely to be doing a lot of experimenting to discover what works for you -- that is, for your particular soil, weather, pest population, plant varieties, and needs.

Second, companion planting is hugely complex. With thousands of varieties of fruits, vegetables, herbs, flowers, and weeks (and make no mistake, both flowers and weeds have a place among the edibles in a companion-planted garden), and with dozens of potential reasons for companion planting, and endlessly diverse growing conditions ... well, once again, the gardener or farmer who opts for companion planting will have a lot of experimenting to do. To give an idea of just one small aspect of the complexities of companion planting, let's return to Wikipedia for a description of how one type of companion planting, called "host-finding disruption" (a variety of pattern disruption) works.

Host-finding disruption and how it works

The host-plant finding process occurs in phases:

The first phase is stimulation by odours characteristic to the host-plant. This induces the insect to try to land on the plant it seeks. But insects avoid landing on brown (bare) soil. So if only the host-plant is present, the insects will quasi-systematically find it by simply landing on the only green thing around. This is called (from the point of view of the insect) "appropriate landing." When it does an "inappropriate landing," it flies off to any other nearby patch of green. It eventually leaves the area if there are too many 'inappropriate' landings.

The second phase of host-plant finding is for the insect to make short flights from leaf to leaf to assess the plant's overall suitability. The number of leaf-to-leaf flights varies according to the insect species and to the host-plant stimulus received from each leaf. The insect must accumulate sufficient stimuli from the host-plant to lay eggs; so it must make a certain number of consecutive 'appropriate' landings. Hence if it makes an 'inappropriate landing', the assessment of that plant is negative, and the insect must start the process anew.

Thus it was shown that clover used as a ground cover had the same disruptive effect on eight pest species from four different insect orders. An experiment showed that 36 percent of cabbage root flies laid eggs beside cabbages growing in bare soil (which resulted in no crop), compared to only 7 percent beside cabbages growing in clover (which allowed a good crop). Simple decoys made of green cardboard also disrupted appropriate landings just as well as did the live ground cover.

Complicated as the process is, the sense of it is simple: Letting "stuff" -- even some weeds -- grow up around desirable plants -- fools flying insects into leaving for friendlier territory. On the other hand, the commercial monoculture approach (one crop surrounded by bare soil) actually helps insects in two ways. First, pesticides gradually "immunize" the flying pests, killing off many but creating pesticide-resistant super-bugs from generations of survivors. Second, all that brown dirt encourages those super-bugs to land on, and destroy, useful plants.

So that's just one small aspect of how companion planting improves agriculture.

Going beyond complexity

Perhaps we've made companion planting look so complex and daunting that you might hesitate to try it. But never fear. There are some simple formulas for the most basic aspects of companion planting (as the famous gardening-book title states, carrots really do love tomatoes, and vice versa). Next month, in part II of this article, we'll concentrate on simple lists of plants that like and dislike each other and we'll include plenty of charts and simple lists to start even a first-time gardener on the way to a diverse, well-managed, and more productive food garden.

RECIPES

Cooking with Storage Foods

The late-winter days have traditionally been times of scarcity for human societies. Most of us are much more fortunate now, having abundance at the local grocery store even when our own crops from the last harvest are starting to be used up. But our ancestors often faced the prospect of starvation, or at least malnutrition, long about now.

Yes, we're more fortunate. But today's worldwide economic wobbles tell us security is fragile. They remind us that we always need to prepare for hard times. So, as we did around this time last year, we're featuring recipes made entirely or primarily from emergency storage foods.

Recipes this month were adapted from several sources, primarily FrugalAbundance.com and Emergency Essentials, where you'll find many more like them. Later this year, we plan a recipe page featuring ways to use up our own home-canned foods before the next harvest. But for now, we're focusing mostly on the purchased emergency goods that form one part of most household preparedness plans. As you know, it's a good idea to integrate these dehydrated and freeze-dried long-term storage foods into your regular diet so you won't be caught in a true emergency having no idea how to prepare anything with that #10 can of TVP (textured vegetable protein) or fruit galaxy.

Feel free of course to substitute your own fresh or home-preserved ingredients into any of these recipes, but it's a good idea to test your preparedness by using as few fresh-bought grocery-store items as possible.

Chunky Apple-Oatmeal Pancakes

3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/8 cup rolled oats
2 tablespoons oat bran
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup freeze-dried raisins*
1/2 cup freeze-dried apple dices*
1 cup apple juice
*Reconstitute before using according to directions on can.

Combine dry ingredients. Add raisins and diced apples. Gently stir in juice until dry ingredients are completely moistened. Pour batter by 1/4-cup onto nonstick griddle. Cook until bottom is brown and spatula slips easily underneath. turn and brown other side.

Makes 8 pancakes.

Ham & Cheese Popups

1 cup freeze-dried ham*, chopped (or ham-flavored TVP dices*)
4 teaspoons dehydrated scrambled egg mix*
1/2 cup freeze-dried shredded cheddar cheese*
2 cans refrigerator biscuits
*Reconstitute before using according to directions on can.

Combine ham, eggs, and cheese. Press biscuits into greased muffin pan, making a well in each. Spoon egg mixture into biscuit cups. Bake at 350°F for 12-15 minutes.

Storage-Food Salad Bar

Treat your family with a restaurant-style salad bar made entirely mostly canned or storage-food ingredients.

Arrange 10 to a dozen of the following items (choose those that you think harmonize well) and arrange them in a choose-your-own display:

Fresh sprouts
Chopped tomatoes
Green beans
Bamboo shoots
Sliced water chesnuts
Bread & butter pickles
Soy (TVP) bacon bits
Black olives
Roasted red peppers
Mandarin oranges
Chick peas (garbanzo beans)
Ham or sausage TVP
Kidney beans
Salsa
Cheese (Parmesan, cheddar, blue, etc.)
Sunflower seeds
Corn chips or tortillas
Canned sour cream & onion dip
Whole mushrooms or mushroom slices
Chopped walnuts
Dried cranberries
Croutons
Dressings of your choice

Scalloped Potatoes

2 cups dehydrated potato slices
1 tablespoon dehydrated onion flakes
2 to 3 cups water
1/4 pound grated cheese (or freeze-dried cheese)
2 tablespoons margarine
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoon dry milk + 1/2 cup water
1/2 cup bacon bits (optional)

Rinse and reconstitute potatoes and onions separately. Sauté onion in margarine until soft, but not browned. Stir in flour, salt and pepper. Add milk, cook until smooth and thick, stirring continually. Add cheese, stir until melted. Remove from stove. Mix potatoes, bacon bits, and cheese sauce. Bake in a casserole dish 20-25 minutes at 325°.

Veggie Sloppy Joe Mix

Mix this up ahead of time, store it in the fridge and use it when the mood strikes you.

1-1/2 cups unflavored TVP
2 tablespoons whole grain cornmeal
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon dehydrated onions
1 tablespoon dehydrated green bell peppers
1 teaspoon dehydrated celery
1 dry mild guajillo pepper, seeded and snipped into pieces (optional, see note below)
1/2 teaspoon dehydrated jalapeno pepper or 1/4 teaspoon dry red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon dehydrated tomato
3 tablespoons tomato powder
2 tablespoons vegetarian beef broth powder or 2 bouillon cubes
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1 packet True Lime or add 1-tablespoon vinegar with water and oil (below)

When ready to prepare your sloppy Joes: *

3 cups water
1 to 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

In a 3-quart saucepan combine 1 packet of sloppy joe mix with the water and oil. Simmer until thickened, about 10 minutes and serve on whole grain buns. Top with cheese.

NOTE: Guajillo peppers are available in large bags in the ethnic section of most supermarkets. They are fat, long and dry. Be sure to remove all of the seeds before snipping them into small bits with a pair of scissons. The seeds have a little bit of heat. The pepper itself is extremely mild, but flavorful. If you don't have any then feel free to leave it out.

Meat-Flavored Veggie Stew

1 to 1-1/2 cups beef, chicken, or ham TVP dices
1/2 cup dehydrated onion
1-1/2 to 2 cups dehydrated stew blend (or fresh or dried carrots, onion flakes, celery or veggies of your choice)
1/2 cup barley
10 cups water (approximately)
1/2 cup rice
Salt, pepper and seasonings to taste

3 to 4 tablespoons flour + 1 cup water

Combine all but the flour and 1 cup of water in large kettle. Simmer 35-40 minutes, making sure rice and barley are cooked. Make a paste out of flour and water, mixing until smooth. Put into stew and stir until juice thickens.

Serves 8.

Lentil Chili Deluxe

1 pound dry lentils
1/2 cup dry converted or parboiled white rice
1/2 cup dehydrated celery
1/4 cup dry onions
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Fresh water to cover
29-ounce can, or two 15-ounce cans tomatoes
12-ounce can, or two 6-ounce cans tomato paste
4-ounce can green chili peppers
1 tablespoon chili powder
1-1/2 to 2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon each black pepper, oregano & cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons oil
More water as necessary

Rinse lentils and place them in a large kettle. Add enough water to cover plus plenty extra. Place the kettle on the stove and bring the lentils and to a boil. Add the rice, dry celery, onion and garlic powder. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 30 minutes. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, chili peppers and seasonings. Mix well. Add more water if the mixture seems too thick. Return the chili to a gentle boil.

Allow the chili to continue simmering for another 15 to 20 minutes to blend the flavorings and make sure everything is soft. Serve hot with cornbread or crackers.

Serves 12.

Shrimp Scampi

8 ounces dry spaghetti, cooked according to package directions
2 tablespoons butter or alternative of your choice
2 tablespoons olive or other vegetable oil
4-ounce can mushrooms, well drained
4-ounce can shrimp, undrained
1 tablespoon dry onion
3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon vermouth or dry white wine or sherry or 1-teaspoon vinegar

Prepare spaghetti according to package directions. Drain well. In a small pot, over medium-low heat, heat together the butter and oil. Add mushrooms. Saute briefly. Pour shrimp (both solids and liquids) into to the pot of mushrooms. Add the remaining ingredients. Simmer briefly until the cheese is melted and the sauce has thickened slightly.

Pour the sauce over the cooked and drained spaghetti. Mix well. Divide between 4 bowls. Top with fried bread crumbs or more Parmesan cheese. Serve with asparagus or peas on the side.

Easy Cinnamon Cake

1-1/2 cups unbleached or all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2-teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinammon
1/2-cup vegetable oil
1 cup reconstituted dry milk

In a medium-sized bowl combine flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon. Stir with a whisk until well mixed. Add vegetable oil and milk. Whisk again until smooth. Turn batter into a well-oiled 8 or 9-inch square pan, or a 7 by 11-inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the top springs back when touched lightly with your finger. Cool, cut, and serve with the frosting of your choice or a simple drizzle of sugar with a little water added to it.

Apple Crisp

3 cups dehydrated apple slices
4 cups water
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1-3/4 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup soft butter or margarine

Bring apple slices to a boil in water. Remove from heat. Mix sugar, cinnamon, and salt and stir into apple slices. Spread mixture in 8 x 8 x 2 inch pan. Sift remaining sugar, flour, and salt. Cut into butter until mixture is as fine as corn meal. Spread as topping over apple slices. Bake at 400° for about 30 minutes. Serve warm or cold with milk or cream if desired.

HUMOR

FREE PUPPIES
1/2 Cocker Spaniel, 1/2 sneaky neighbor's dog.

FREE PUPPIES
Mother, AKC German Shepherd.
Father, Super Dog. Can leap tall fences in single bound.

JOINING NUDIST COLONY
Must sell washer and dryer.

WEDDING DRESS FOR SALE
Worn once by mistake. Call Stephanie.

Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.

If you must choose between two evils, pick the one you`ve never tried before.

My idea of housework is to sweep the room with a glance.

Not one shred of evidence supports the notion that life is serious.

A person, who is nice to you, but rude to the waiter, is not a nice person. (This is very important. Pay attention! It never fails.)

For every action, there is an equal and opposite government program.

If you look like your passport picture, you probably need the trip.

Bills travel through the mail at twice the speed of checks.

A conscience is what hurts when all of your other parts feel so good.

Eat well, stay fit, die anyway.

Men are from Earth. Women are from Earth. Deal with it.

No man has ever been shot while doing the dishes.

A balanced diet is a cookie in each hand.

Middle age is when broadness of the mind and narrowness of the waist change places.

Opportunities always look bigger going than coming.

Junk is something you`ve kept for years and throw away three weeks before you need it.

There is always one more imbecile than you counted on.

Experience is a wonderful thing. It enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again.

By the time you can make ends meet, they move the ends.

Someone who thinks logically provides a nice contrast to the real world.

It ain`t the jeans that make your butt look fat.

If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, & never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be "meetings."

There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."

You should not confuse your career with your life.

Nobody cares if you can`t dance well. Just get up and dance.

Never lick a steak knife.

The most destructive force in the universe is gossip.

You will never find anybody who can give you a clear and compelling reason why we observe daylight savings time.

Never say anything to a woman that even remotely suggests that you think she`s pregnant unless she is wearing clothing with an arrow pointing to her abdomen and the words "Baby on Board."

There comes a time when you should stop expecting other people to make a big deal about your birthday. That time is 12:01 am the next day

The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we ALL believe that we are above average drivers.

Don`t worry about what people think. They don`t do it very often anyway.

Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.

A blonde calls her brunette friend and says, "Please come over here and help me. I have a killer jigsaw puzzle, and I can't figure out how to get it started."

Her friend asks, "What is it supposed to be when it's finished?"

The blonde says, "According to the picture on the box, it's a really cute tiger."

When her friend arrives twenty minutes later, she lets her in and shows her where she has the puzzle spread all over the table.

The friend studies it all for a moment, glances at the box, then turns to the blond and says, "First of all, no matter what we do, we're not going to be able to assemble these pieces into anything resembling a tiger."

Then she takes her head and says, "Second, I want you to relax. Let's have a nice cup of tea, and then....." she sighs, "let's put all these Frosted Flakes back in the box."

You're sitting on the bus when you realize you really need to pass gas but you're still at least ten minutes away from getting off.

As you bear the pain as best you can, it occurs to you the music, especially the bass, is pretty loud, loud enough to provide some audio cover. So you decide to go for it and begin to time your toots to the beat.

After a couple of songs, as you're approaching your stop, you start to feel much better. As you rise from your seat, you silently congratulate yourself on your ingenuity, but as you head toward the front door you notice people are really glaring at you.

And that's when you realize, you've been listening to your iPod.

OTHER STUFF

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Contact Info:

Editor/Letters - Dave Duffy, editor@backwoodshome.com
Web Site - Oliver Del Signore, webmaster@backwoodshome.com