Healthy Garden Food Newsletter
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| Editor: Bev Buckley |
FEBRUARY 2010 |
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| You know it's serious when the water runs out! |
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Here on Tamborine Mountain there is a lot of ill feeling caused by two or three residents who sell water from their underground reservoirs to companies that bottle it and sell it without knowing whether they are depleting a scarce resource. Every day, huge tanker trucks come up the narrow winding roads, collect loads of water and take them back down the mountain to bottling plants. The reason for the angst is that some people believe that water is a previous and finite resource and it is being "wasted" by selling it. It certainly seems true that depletion of the underground reserves near creek headwaters is causing the few creeks that we have, to dry up quickly when we have periods without rain.
A water study, currently being undertaken, is designed to map the water resources on Tamborine Mountain, ascertain how quickly they replenish following rain, and determine the volume of water available. When these facts are known, we will be in a better position to judge whether we have a water scarcity problem or a rapidly topped up renewable resource.
I cannot help but compare the situation here on Tamborine Mountain with what is confronting people in many areas of the world who are experiencing real water scarcity problems.
In Chennai, in southern India, there is a thriving tanker industry, which supplies water to the city's residents. Thirteen thousand tankers haul water to Chennai every day, from surrounding rural areas. Farmers are happy because they get more money for water than they do from their crops. Predictably, water tables are falling and already many wells have gone dry. Eventually, with this level of water usage, the farmers, who have sold their water, will no longer be able to farm their land.
Chennai is not an isolated case. Underground water supplies, world-wide, are being depleted.
The vast Ogallala aquifer under the U.S. Great Plain will soon be depleted. Farmers will have no option but to return to lower-yield dry-land farming.
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In Yemen, the water table is falling by 2 metres per year as water use outstrips aquifer recharge. As a result grain production has fallen by half over the past 35 years.
Falling water tables are already adversely affecting harvests in China, which rivals the US as the world's largest grain producer. The level of the deep aquifer under the North China Plain is dropping 3 metres per year. When the aquifer is depleted, grain harvests will drop by 40 millions tons and China will lose the food supply for 130 million of its people.
India faces an even worse situation. One hundred and seventy-five million Indians are fed with grain produced using underground water supplies. Twenty-one million wells have been drilled and half of these have already dried up.
Pakistan faces a similar situation to India. Observation wells near Islamabad and Rawalpindi show a fall in the water table averaging between 1 and 2 metres per year.
Iran is over-pumping its aquifers by an average of 5 billion tons of water per year. In Mexico, in the agricultural state of Guanajuato, the water table is falling by 2 metres or more a year. At the national level, 51% of all water extraction is from aquifers that are being over-pumped.
With accelerating depletion of aquifers world-wide comes the potential for massive levels of unrest, migration and famine caused by severe food and water shortages. We cannot prevent what is happening on the other side of the world and in areas over which we have no control. We can only influence what happens where we live. We must build communities that operate within the limits of their natural systems.
*References:
Lseter R Brown "Plan B 4.0 Mobilizing to Save Civilization".
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Beans
Beans contain vitamins A, B2, B3, C and K1. When grown in soil containing these elements, beans will be high in manganese, potassium, iron, magnesium, copper, calcium and phosphorus. Beans also contain beta-carotene, folate, tryptophan and omega 3 fatty acids.
Vitamin K1 is essential for maintaining strong bones. It prevents excessive activation of osteoclasts, the cells that are responsible for breaking down bone. K1 is converted to K2 in our intestines by bacteria, which activates osteocalcin, the major non-collagen protein in bone. Ostocalcin anchors calcium modules inside bones.
Beans contain beta-carotene - a source of Vitamin A. Vitamins A and C work together to reduce the number of free radicals in the body. The A+C combination also prevents cholesterol from being oxidised. Oxidised cholesterol sticks to the surface of blood vessel walls.
Magnesium and potassium work together to reduce high blood pressure, whilst folate converts a potentially dangerous molecule called homocycsteine into other, benign molecules.
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Green Beans in Garlic Sauce
Ingredients
1 kg green beans
400 grams of mushrooms
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon of butter
¼ cup of olive oil
¼ cup of fresh Italian parsley
Fresh basil and oregano
½ cup of breadcrumbs
8 cloves of garlic
Method
Top and tail beans and cut into 2 cm pieces. Steam for 4-5 minutes then plunge into icy water to prevent over-cooking. Drain.
Peel and chop garlic and slice mushrooms. In a large skillet, heat olive oil. Add garlic and mushrooms. Add cooked beans, parsley and butter and remaining ingredients. Toss with cheese and breadcrumbs and serve immediately.
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Grow your own BEANS...
... the bio-nutrient way.
Beans are important in your garden. They add nitrogen to the soil through the action of nitrogen fixing bacteria, which live in bean root nodules.
Beans are really easy to grow so if you're a "beginner" this is a really good crop to start with because they grow in both cool and warm climates. Plant beans in the cooler months in warm climates, and in warm months in cooler areas. Planting every three weeks ensures a continuous supply for your family.
Warm soils are required for germination, but excessive heat (over 300C) at flowering prevents pod formation. If you are worried that temperatures where you live are too high for ordinary beans, try snake beans, which have greater heat tolerance.
Depending on the variety you plant and the temperature at the time, beans take between 6 to 12 weeks to mature and be ready to pick. They can grow as a bush or a vine. Climbing beans can grow up to 3 metres in height and they need really strong support. Climbing beans, especially Purple King and Blue Lake are generally more tolerant of humid, rainy conditions than the bush varieties. Both high temperatures and excessive rain reduce yields.
Plant beans directly into the beds in rows. If you use the mounded system we recommend, plant two rows of beans along each mound, each row being as far apart as possible. Plant seeds 10 - 15 cm apart.
Plant into soil to which blood and bone or a good all purpose fertilizer has been added. Avoid adding animal manure, which is high in nitrogen.
Too much nitrogen causes excessive leaf growth. When your beans emerge and start to put out leaves, mulch the soil between the rows and between the bean plants. Ensure your soil has adequate levels of magnesium by spraying your plants with magnesium sulphate (Epsom salts) once or twice during the growth phase before flowers start to form.
When the beans are finished, pull them out and leave in the furrows. They will rot down quickly and make good mulch for the next crop.
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© Growing Healthy Australia 2010.
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