Mulberry

Blog relocated to Wordpress

2008-08-22T18:52:00.000-07:00

In favor of better organization, ive moved the blog to wordpress
http://mulberry5.wordpress.com/

Malaysia, not so idyllic of a homeland

2008-08-18T12:37:00.000-07:00

Outside of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia is paradise. My brief memories of the place, growing up and returning through out my life, have always been rich and intense. Urbanization may have lifted the majority of my family into lofty white collar jobs, politics, and propelled my mother (who was born on a rubber plantation) to raise my sis and I in the Bay Area - perhaps the most progressive and modern place on this planet. Often when I think back on Malaysia, I imagine it to be the ideal goal of all modern nations in terms of cultural pluralism and social harmony.

It is a country where I remember going down the street of modern Kuala Lumpur as a kid to get freshly made roti from a street vendor tightly placed between the bus stop, the hardware store, and a boulevard pedestrian bridge. The vendor was still there when I returned much older and although I had not noticed color when I was younger, I'd come to realize that the vendors were South Indian brothers who not only spoke fluent Malay, English, and their native Tamil, but also Cantonese! They had grown up amongst Straits Chinese and, familiarly, between themselves, the bothers only spoke Cantonese.

Of course, Malaysia is not so rosy as I would like to think. It is not so hard to see the issues that modern Malaysia (and especially its citizens) must deal with now that they have progressed past their hyper modernization following independence in the 60s and federalization in the 70s. Mainly it seems like they have to finally contend with the autocratic government, which had been a useful tool in propelling the country into first world status in the decades prior, but now use their centralized power to oppress. Oddly, the country is a Federal Constitutional Elected Monarchy where the executive branch is the Monarchy, whose throne is elected every 5 years. That's pretty awesome. What is not so awesome is that the country is hardly a democracy, if best it is a republic and in truth it is ruled by the political elite. The opposition party has never held power since independence and two recent, peaceful pro-democracy rallies had been ruthlessly curtailed by government sanctioned police brutality.

The worry is that the country is not entirely corrupt nor is it run by utterly unsavory characters. People do get arrested for political reasons and the country does heavily censor its media, but by comparison, America has FOX news and the executive powers since 911 have been questionable. Much in the same way, Malaysia's problem lies in its addiction to centralized power, its weak judicial branch, and its legislative branch, which is not entirely elected by the population.

Now that I've started looking back at my homeland, I've started to find some, not many, but some activist organizations working to improve the country. There are environmental groups and political groups, and indigenous power groups too. Hearing about these folks really makes part of me ache to return and lend a hand. This is monumentally frustrating as I've made up in my mind to lay a stake down on this land as my land. Coming from an ancestry of migrants, Haka (the guest people), Deojo (the river people), Mongolians, National Chinese exiles, and now Malaysian immigrants makes me really tired of always running from instability and oppression. I can't tell what would be more honest: to return to Malaysia - a country and society I hardly understand, or carving out a place for me here in the US, a society that does not recognize me.

Notes (thank god for Wiki):

Jeff Ooi. Member of Parliament, political blogger and dissenter.
BERSIH (Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections). Held a Nov. 2007 rally, list of member organization here.
HINDRAF (Hindu Rights and Action Force). Active force against racist government policies, political corruption, and autocracy. Held a Nov 2007 rally, which led to the arrests of HINDRAF leaders and supporters under the Sedition Act (obviously inciting further pro-democracy action)

can't seem to find a Chinese action organization, seems like they are part of the establishment.

Racism Abound Spanish Olympic Team

2008-08-17T14:19:00.000-07:00

I am not even going to bother posting the picture on this blog, its needlessly frustrating to look at. Those whom have not already got wind of it by news ought check it out on, appropriately incised, Angry Asian Man culture blogger here.

In all honesty, the photo an incredibly trivial thing to get upset over especially when put up against such atrocities as the Jena 6, the murder of Matthew Shepard, FOX New's repeated "confusion" of Obama with Osama, etc etc. And to make light of it, I remind myself that these events along with the Spanish team photo were all well televised. This means of course that the majority of Americans disprove, which means that I am not alone.

However, the Civil Rights Movement in our country diminished into Multiculturalism and birthed such monsters as Political Correctness, Affirmative Action, and Model Minorities. We still exist in this cultural setup and there is no avenue for improvement. Some people suggest assimilation and point out the many affluent suburbs where rich minorities live side-by-side with rich white folks and together enjoy the American Dream. You know there is something rather disturbing about it all when those communities begin excluding poor Hispanics and Blacks. This is nothing new precisely because the majority of people (as well natured as they might be otherwise) are self centered, fearfully bigoted, and, unduly stressed by our consumer economy, greedy for security. Someone has to be on the bottom in the end.

That being said, it sure as hell is not going to be me and if I gave a damn about the rest of the Asian American population (whom likewise does not give much a damn about each other either), I'd say it might as well not be the folks I get ethnically lumped with either. Lets pause for me to admit that I am being facetious. We Asian Americans, I admit, tend to have a very annoying respect for authority - something I believe is culturally bred into us.

It is not a unique trait to Asian Americans, impoverished, marginalized, and uneducated people tend to have this same problem. It explains why some poor people like voting Republican, why my Asian cowboy boot wearing Uncle argues against Unions while complaining about discrimination, and why I see Hispanics with the Minutemen... Some people seek approval and this implies servility. Americans, however, respect strength and power, which likely explains why 150 years of dumb Asian immigrants working themselves to death building such small things as the railroad and the agricultural economy of California failed to leave a lasting stamp of respect on the American consciousness. Now all I have to inherit from their work is this ol' Slanty Eye or horray, the satisfaction of watching William Hung make it bigtime. She Bang!

The solution is disengagement. The water is much too murky and there are too many meaningless terms to contend with. Confronting the problem through Civil Rights eventually drove it under a rock such that it now pops up once and awhile like Roundup does to superweeds. The reality is that there is no issue at all. Racism and bigotry are cultural inventions. They should not just be ignored, but instead they should be supplanted with humanism - err humor. Rather, you've got to recognize that racism is just a mask for ignorance and insecurity and that behind that is an even more hidden need for your approval. These poor folks are just begging you to help them shake a really bad habit - otherwise why would they be coming to say something to you to begin with? In actuality the absolute worse kind of racism is the secret kind. Stealth Racism.

This is the most positive stance I have come up with over the years. It however, relocates the amorphous battle against racism internally where it has always, unknowingly been fought anyway. Minorities and marginalized people should be so lucky to have the opportunity to fight and rise out of such a challenge as incredibly willful, confident individuals.

Live Free Or Die.

Apprenticeships

2008-08-11T23:42:00.001-07:00

Apprenticeship Listing Sites

http://attrainternships.ncat.org/ (incredible listing)
Rural Heritage online (the small farmer's journal folks)
SOIL (canada)
Eatwild.org

What a place to work... Beeves grazing in winter...

Folks to Check Into

Hawthorne Valley Farm (November, March/April) NY
biodynamic, dairy, csa
Maveric Heritage Ranch (year round?) SD (emailed)
grass fed heritage livestock
Broadwater Farm (year round?) PN
grass fed livestock, orchard, csa
Ebert Family Farm (April - Nov) CO
grass fed raw milk dairy, 800 ac pasture, 120 dryland farming (feed?)
Rockin J Cattle (April - Oct) CO
steamboat springs, grass fed, may/june calving, and no hay, and horses...geeze if only it wouldn't be snowing in wintertime so I can go work for them right away
Nicks' Organic Farm (April - Oct) MD
works closely with extension, organic practices research, 170 ac cut pastures in grain, corn, soy, other feeds using machines. grass fed cattle

Beautifully Drawn Life of Chicken

2008-08-11T10:33:00.000-07:00

Lost a second chicken several weeks ago and decided to relocate the scant remainder of the flock to safer ground (ie. the Folk's flock out in the suburbs). This time I believe the likely night-time predator was the infamous drunk crack head. In the face of it I suppose the only thing to do was joke, positively, with the neighbors while moving the coop in the morning. My housemate sent me a great visual journal of a chicken's life growing up to keep my spirits up.

What's the next step? Goats with BIG HORNS to populate the chicken lot. The problem is that I won't be around long and I am going to have to involve the neighbors into this really big responsibility...

Southeast Asian Environmental Movement

2008-08-11T10:08:00.000-07:00

From inquire.net article "The environmental movement in the global South / The pivotal agent in fight against global warming?" By Walden Bello

Occurred in the 70s and 80s
Philippines: nuclear power, dams, marine pollution, deforestation
Thailand: dams, marine pollution, deforestation
Indonesia: dams

Indigenous opposition in Philippines and small farmers and fisherfolk in Thailand lead to the abandonment of the Chico River Dam and Pak Mun Dam projects, respectively.

"In the case of the Philippines, for instance, deforestation was seen as an inevitable consequence of a strategy of export-oriented growth imposed by World Bank-International Monetary Fund structural adjustment programs that sought to pay off the country’s massive foreign debt with the dollars gained from exporting the country’s timber and other natural resources and manufactures produced by cheap labor."

"In Indonesia, for example, the environmental organization WALHI went so far as to file a lawsuit for pollution and environmental destruction against six government bodies, including the Minister of the Environment and Population. By the time the dictatorships wised up to what was happening, it was often too late: environmentalism and anti-fascism fed on one another."

Old Crow Medicine Show New CD!

2008-08-11T00:24:00.001-07:00

I was listening to KPFA's (Berkeley) program "America's Back 40" when I heard them playing a new Old Crow Medicine Show song. Up until that point I had no idea what OCMS was doing, and boy was I glad to know that they were making a new CD and from what I heard on the radio that it was likely to be a really good CD. The song was "Caroline" and it surely had more harmony than their last CD, "Big Iron World" which I did not think was as all together as their previous one, "O.C.M.S." Regardless, its hard for me not to love a band with a voice that sounds like Steve Earle, with fine picking, and awesome lyrics too. "James River Blues" on their Big Iron record really makes me think of "The Mountain" by Steve Earle and basically songs along that subject are surely bound to be great songs. This is with the exception to most all of Tony Rice's ethnic related songs, which make me vomit. I did however like the "Angel Island" one but that's only because I am Asian probably.

Budweiser Clydesdale Commercial

2008-08-10T22:54:00.000-07:00

Caught the Budweiser, Hank the Clydesdale commercial between the Olympics yesterday and I found myself cheering the fake horse on more than the swimmers. If you have not seen the commercial, do, even if you aren't into draft animals as much as me. Its got a horse pulling a train to the rocky soundtrack, it is enough to bring a tear to your eye.

Speaking of draft animals, I got my hands on a pretty awesome publication: "Small Farmer's Journal". I discovered it through http://www.ruralheritage.co m, which also happens to be a great resource for apprenticeships and information concerning draft animals.

The journal has been a really enjoyable read. It is mostly about draft animal or livestock farmers who often happen to be new farmers, and thusly they had a very bumpy road on their way to where they are now. (It also has plenty of good old fashioned etchings of various draft animal implements and a giant picturesque cover with various livestock presented to truly confuse people in the subway).

In the Spring issue, there is a great article about the Farmers of Fourty Centuries, which was this respectful pseudo anthropological book about preindustrial farming practices in China (written at the turn of the 20th century). It is a wonderful paralleling of common interests between the historic author, the modern publisher, their separate readership, and the bygone (?) Chinese farmers. Learning from each other is definately the most lasting and genuine of cultural exchange. In this case, it is even more rewarding to see Americans finding inspiration in the traditional farming, which most Chinese no longer understand. It reinforces the idea of universal human knowledge, which is surely the only solution for a diverse and vibrant, modern society.

Apologies for the major digression. Other interesting articles included one about building hoop houses from recycled piping from oil operations. It is a first hand account and also discusses their usage, which ranged from keeping poultry to tomatoes to winter vegetables.

Another article I enjoyed was "The Sheep Are in The Garden, integrating livestock in the bio-extensive market garden at Natural Roots Farm." It goes through a long discussion about the various forage and green manure rotations that happen between market crop rotations. Of course it is very site specific, but the farmers there in Conway, Mass. discovered that a mixture of Perennial Rye, Forage Chicory, Medium Red Clover, and Ladino Clover worked well when seeded to fallow fields and that a hay mixture of Orchardgrass, Timothy, and Ryegrass was also satisfactory. The rational to the mixture is detailed piece by piece - which is great because it is such a complicated system to inter-seed and rotate forage between already complex market crops. It is also a good kick in the butt for me to get back to finishing that other book I've been trudging through, Making Cover Crops Profitable. That has also been a good, dense introduction into cover cropping, but unfortunately has not been easy to read on the subway when returning from work (zzz).

8 Stockers per Acre in Texas High Pasture

2008-07-29T18:43:00.001-07:00

Under irrigated, fertilized, planted stand of cold tolerant Bermudagrass in Northern Texas. Glenn Reagan, retired rangeland consultant for the Forest Service makes small acreage stockers ranch (120 acres) economically competitive with irrigated corn. High grass growth during spring allows for high stocking rates irregardless of irrigation (rains). This makes me wonder about Kastel's criticism of the Natural Prairie stocking rates in the Cornucopia article quoted earlier (as in it is hard to be a purist without be a zealot).

Obviously there are real problems with irrigation and the 800 lbs of N applied per acre on the Reagan ranch. However, when considering that the alternative to irrigated pasture is irrigated corn production then grass pasturing would seem to be the more responsible land use. On a social level, it is hard to dismiss the profits seen on the Regan ranch. Apparently net yield on the Reagan ranch are 120$ per acre as compared to barely 50$ per acre as seen with corn. Corn that would likely be shipped off to be fed to bovines anyway.

Thinking again on Cornucopia article- Is it possible for all dairy production to be grass fed. Is it possible for them all to be grass fed, unirrigated, and organic? Very likely not, at least not under our current production expectations. I remember reading that the recent droughts in Australia allowed Americans to overtake the international dairy market in powdered milk. I wonder how many tons of powdered milk wait in storage for another favorable market turn? Whatever the case, the solution is going to require an incorporation of organic wisdom into industrial ag to the benefit of producers; as opposed to the market of consumers and agribuisnesses, who have no interest in locally sensible and frugal organic practices.

clipped from www.stockmangrassfarmer.net

"For most dryland ranchers getting their minds to realize that too much grass can be a very bad thing is a difficult task," he said.
Over the whole season starting in early May, he said he averaged eight stockers per acre.
He said the bermudagrass should not be allowed to get over six inches in height. With the extremely fast-growing, sod-forming grass, he said fewer paddocks were better than more.

June 08 Food Crisis Summit

2008-07-29T17:53:00.001-07:00

clipped from www.grain.org

The 10 people involved in the action carried posters contrasting the record profits of agribusiness corporations during the latest reporting financial quarter of 2008 with the estimated 100 million people in the world who now, alongside 800 million or so others, are hungry because they cannot afford to eat. Profits for Monsanto, the world's largest seed company, were up 108 per cent, while Cargill and Archer Daniel Midlands, the world's largest food traders, registered profit increases of 86 and 42 per cent respectively. Profits for Mosaic, one of the world's largest fertiliser companies, rose 1,134 per cent.

Resistence to AGRA

2008-07-29T12:42:00.000-07:00

Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa funded by the Gates and Rockafeller foundation

http://www.gnn.tv/print/3718/Food_Crisis_Which_Crisis

The second version wells up from peasant organizations such as Via Campesina, and is represented by a clutch of eloquent NGOs such as Practical Action, Food First, GRAIN, Movement for the Global South and the World Development Movement. Its diagnosis of the current crisis is far deeper. Rather than being a short term rise in food and oil prices, this version tends to see the crisis as rooted in the longer-term neoliberal project. Food prices in poor countries have been allowed to rocket by the system in which consumers are now embedded – with government run distribution networks dismantled, grain stores abandoned, large corporations dictating prices and highly indebted nations and farmers converting to export crops to earn highly prized foreign currency.

Organic Pasture ends deal with Texas dairy

2008-07-28T23:43:00.001-07:00

Organic Pasture coop members voted to stop purchasing milk from the largest organic dairy in the US, Natural Prairie, following Cornucopia's investigation into the deal. The industrial scale operation in Texas purchases replacement heifers as yearlings from conventional dairies. Under organic regulations it would be very difficult to maintain a calf crop under such high stocking rates without antibiotics and careful treatment.

Unlike Aurora and Dean Foods, Natural Prairie at least observes 'access to pasture' though I am still curious to their pasture management plan with such high stocking rates. Though the real measure is residual so I would assume that maintaining pasture health would be fairly important to an operation which likely owns its own land as opposed to leasing. I can't imagine mowing after grazing would lead to stratospheric harm especially if the forage has already gone to seed and is otherwise dormant.

Accounts of Natural Prairie are third party. Two descriptions of their capacity vary between 4000 to 7200 head with no description to what they are counting exactly.

clipped from www.cornucopia.org

Dean Foods, the $12 billion dairy giant and owner of the Horizon Organic label, and the Aurora Organic Dairy, whose factory farms produce private-label store-brand milk for Wal-Mart, Target, Safeway, Costco, and other chains

Natural Prairie were as high as 7.2 cows per acre. Further adding to the serious questions about the legitimacy of grazing at the giant operation was the fact that they actually mow and harvest hay from the same fields grazed by their herd, increasing the already bloated, effective, stocking rates to a stratospheric level

Agave blooms at Berkeley

2008-07-28T23:00:00.001-07:00

15 years to bloom, otherwise 40-60 years. 18 ft tall flowering stalk and dies after blooming.

clipped from botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu

Cuban Agricultural Revolution

2008-07-28T18:06:00.000-07:00

Happened to pick up an issue of the spring '08 Small Farmer's Journal and found an article about the Cuban agricultural revolution that occurred following the 'special period' of the early nineties. With the fall of the bloc states and the US embargoes, Cuba found itself without oil, farm inputs, pesticides, herbicides, and particularly staple foods. Instead of collapsing as the US must have intended, the regime there reversed their decades of agricultural modernization and sought a pragmatic solution: grow their own food using animal power, animal manure, green manure, and organic farming practices.

"Participatory Plant Breeding (PPB), in which researchers work directly with farmers, has steered Cuban national agricultural practice away from high dependency upon unsustainable elements..."

"In 2003, the Cuban Ministry of Agriculture was using less than 50% of the diesel fuel it used in 1989, less than 10% of the chemical fertilisers and less than 7% of the synthetic insecticides. A chain of 220 bio-pesticide centres provided safe alternatives for pest control. The ongoing National Program for Soil Improvement and Preservation benefited 475,000 hectares of land in 2004, up 23,000 hectares in 2003. The annual production of 5 million tonnes of composted soil by a network of worm farms is part of this process." (http://www.cubaagriculture.com/cuba-agriculture-history.htm)

Agroecology
Right to farm (free lease on state land to all)
Fair wages to farmers (3x more than average worker)
Local production
Farmer-to-farmer training
Communal intellectual property
Oxen schools

Some things to look into:

Deere, C.D. (1996). The evolution of Cuba's agricultural sector: Debates, controversies and research issues (International working paper series, IW96-3). Gainesville, FL: University of Florida Food and Resource Economics Department, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.
Funes, F., Garcia, L., Bourque, M., Perez, N., & Rosset, P. (Eds.) (2002). Sustainable agriculture and resistance: Transforming food production in Cuba. Oakland, CA: Food First Books.
Sinclair, M., & Thomson, M. (2001). Cuba: Going against the grain: Agricultural crisis and transformation. Boston, MA: Oxfam America.

Amish Revitalize Rural Community

2008-07-28T17:43:00.000-07:00

I was gifted an Acres subscription from my boss and there was a great article in the July ('08) issue on rural development. Here's the blurb from the Acres' website:

Rebuilding Community Through Small Farm Infrastructure
A growing Amish community in rural Ohio is proving that the economic "multiplier effect" works and providing an invaluable model for a renewed, grassroots-driven economy.

A community impoverished by market economics is given new life by the influx of Amish farmers who, buying livestock, feed, and seed, provides a renewed base for the local, rural economy. It is amazing how land, which has agricultural and communal value, can so easily fall by the wayside through neglect and stagnation. It is even more amazing to realize that the health of this land is also an impetus to a healthy community.

Society for Range Management

2008-07-22T21:34:00.000-07:00

Professional Accredited Universities

Colorado State University - interdisciplinary, mongolia
Oregon State University - interdisciplinary
New Mexico State University - equestrian center
Texas A&M - no
University of Arizona - management, desert
University of Idaho - grazing management, ecology, invasive plants
University of Wyoming - soil
Utah State University - no

Dead Chicken

2008-07-21T23:21:00.000-07:00

Lost the arucana layer today. Found the bird with a prolapsed intestine and I had to put her down. Reduced my odd intercity flock to two so now they look really lonely on that big empty grass lot in the middle of the city. I'll start finding some little chickies to raise up again, though Im trying not to get bummed out about it least aggravate my first-time-chicken-rearing housemates. Some lessons ought to be learned from this, namely neighboorhood kids can stress the chickens out enough to death and chickens are infact so delicate. Also, I might have seen a chicken butchered before but I've never had to do it myself so that was something quite new to me.

As for making amends all around, this might be a great opportunity to get the neighboor's kids raising some chickies of their own. I'd offered my neighboor's family relatively free run of the chicken lot and apparently they took it to the extreme. Course the kids aren't irresponsible - they are like 12-14 afterall! Its a fault of negligence and mainly my ignorance. To make things right I think Im going to have them raise up two chickens for me and when they are old enough to add to the flock then they can recontinue visitation. This way the chickens will become more mundane, and therefore capable of harm and death. I had intended that my housemates and neighboors would want to keep up the flock when I left the area next year, now I think things might just work out fine in the end.

CSU Rangeland Advisors

2008-07-21T23:10:00.001-07:00

Child (rangeland management)
Roath (extension specialist)
Fern-Gimenez (pastoralistm)

clipped from welcome.warnercnr.colostate.edu

Child, R. Dennis

clipped from welcome.warnercnr.colostate.edu

L. Roy Roath

clipped from welcome.warnercnr.colostate.edu

MARÍA
E. FERNÁNDEZ-GIMÉNEZ

CSU Center for Riparian Ecology Faculty Research

2008-07-21T21:23:00.001-07:00

clipped from welcome.warnercnr.colostate.edu

Trlica, M.J., E.A. Nibarger, W.C. Leininger and G.W. Frasier. 2000. Runoff water quality from grazed and ungrazed montane riparian plots. Pp. 263-268. In: P.R. Wigington, Jr. and R.L. Beschta (eds.) Proc. AWRA's 2000 Summer Speciality Conference: Riparian Ecology and Management in Multi-Land Use Watersheds. Portland, OR.

vampire plant

2008-07-17T08:35:00.001-07:00

clipped from www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org

For this particular species, the scientific name and the English common name seem to be the same. As mirabilis means “wonderful”, it would perhaps seem strange to call it the wonderful puya (especially when so many others are wonderful, too!). Native to Bolivia and Argentina, Puya mirabilis is one of over one hundred and fifty species within the genus. Puya species can be found throughout the highlands of South America and it is the Mapudungun vernacular name for this group of plants that lends the genus its scientific name.

ethanol feedlot

2008-07-16T22:10:00.001-07:00

clipped from thebeginningfarmer.blogspot.com

But, that is not the case. First of all the number of Iowa farms during that same time period has dropped by more than 50% and the net income per farm (after inflation adjustment) was actually 9% lower in 2001 than it was in 1960. I'm not sure if that changes with $7.50 corn or not, but I'm guessing it doesn't because all the inputs have also jumped sky high.

clipped from thebeginningfarmer.blogspot.com

The Food Institute for Food and Development Policy of Oakland, California

A new plant in Nebraska has done just that by adding a 28,000 head feedlot and other new plants are planning on adding even larger feedlots

Beginning farmer blog notes

2008-07-16T21:54:00.001-07:00

clipped from thebeginningfarmer.blogspot.com

Joel Salatin's book, "Everything I Want to Do is Illegal"

clipped from thebeginningfarmer.blogspot.com

"Phipps said in his spring column in Top Producer that there has been little discussion about the long-term impact of an ever-increasing productivity in an industry with a fixed land base."

clipped from thebeginningfarmer.blogspot.com

New Online Magazine: Sustainable Farmer

clipped from thebeginningfarmer.blogspot.com

Jerry Synder, of Sunny Cove Farm