How to make compost

I became interested in compost when I caught sight of a compost bin in my friends kitchen.  Of course I did not know what a compost bin was, so  I simply asked my friend, why she had a bin full of rotting garbage in her kitchen? and she explained to me that she is making her own compost.  I also asked her how she came upon this idea and what made her decide to grow her own compost, she then explained that she has been a part of CSA for some time now, CSA is Community Supported Aagriculture, and learned that this is a great way to help the environment.  The group held a compost making demonstration headed by Helen HO, in Vesta Trateria, this is an Italian restaurant in the neighborhood, and my friend went to see what the demonstration was about and if this was something that she would really be interested in doing.  Because a restaurant was willing to host such an event she thought how dirty or high maintenance can this project be?   Helen HO began her demonstration and gave everyone a pound of worms, a large strolite container, about 66 quarts big.  To start she showed her how to make a composit mixture of browns and greens.  Browns are leaves, newspapers, junk mail, etc.  The greens are vegetable scraps that are left over from cooking.  The greens get placed at the bottom of the container, then the "bedding" which is shredded newspaper.  Newspaper is great to use because it is biodegradable and provides an appropriate amount of moisture and helps absorb the odor.  Then the worms are added and you are ready to begin your composting process.  Since my friend began composting she has cut her garbage down by 50%.  This is mainly due to the fact that her leftovers and table scraps get fed to the worms to make compost.  She also informed me that it takes alot less energy to compost garbage then it does to actually recycle it.  This was very interesting to me because just by walking up my street I see how much garbage people go through a day, if more people started to compost their garbage they can dramatically cut that number down, and help the environment.
How to make compost step by step:
The worms used in compost are red worms, Eisenia fetida or lumbricus rebullus.  These particular worms thrive in the compost bins because they are good at recycling food scraps.
Warm Bin
Step 1: The container should be shallow (8 to 12 inches) with a lid to keep container dark and moist.  For every pound of worms you should have a surface area of a square foot.
Step 2: In the lid of the container drill ten quarter inch holes, for air circulation.
Step 3: Shred newspapers into one-inch strips and soak in water for the bedding.
Step 4: Wring out the excess water from the newspaper strips and place into the container and fluff up to make bedding.
Step 5: Add worms, lay them on top o the bedding and leave lid off warm bin for an hour in a brightly lit room.  Since the worms are sensitive to light they will burrow into the bedding.
Step 6:  Once the worms are settled in the container, add food to the bottom of the bin (greens) tucked under the bedding.
Step 7:  The scraps of food you place in container should be enough to keep container moist, but it may be necessary to add water from time to time.

When feeding the worms, you can feed them a little amount everyday or larger quantities once a week.  Excess vegetables you can keep in the freezer, and the frozen vegetables also provide the right amount of water needed to keep container moist for compost. 

There are problems that can arise when composting, fruit flies appear when fruit scraps are given to the worms for compost.  The rotting peels attract these flies.  This can be managed by limiting the amount of fruit in each feeding and maintaining the moisture in the container.  Also odor problems can occur.  Odors arise from the container being to wet, not having enough air ventilating the container, because the food container is naturally odorous you can avoid it being rancid by avoiding leaving meat scraps, bones, and dairy products because these products all smell horribly when decomposing.

Harvesting
Step 1:  When bedding resembles dark, crumbly soil (About 1 month to 4 months time) it is time to  harvest your vermicompost.
Step 2:  Move contents over to one side of the warm bed
Step 3:  Add new dampened bedding to the empty side, start placing food scraps on that one side.

After a month the worms should move over to the side with the food and new bedding and you can scoop out the worm free vermicompost.  If not scooped out in a timely manner the vermicompost becomes toxic to the worms and they can die.  
Vermicompost is an excellent source of nutrients for you plants and should be diligently.  Even when replanting plants you can use vermicompost to keep plant strong and fertile.

I know that the thought of a bin in your house full of worms and rotting food is not the most appealing idea.  But in reality it has many benefits to the environment and produce we consume.  To learn more about this product you can go to www.nyccompost.org

Organic Thanksgiving

This year my family celebrated Thanksgiving at my brothers house in Woodside.  Him and his wife have been going green for the past couple of years so being a friend to the environment and treating animals humanely is very important to them.  Also my brother and his wife have shares in an organic farm on Long Island called Golden Earth Worm and this is where they get all their fresh produce from.  The turkey that my sister in law prepared was from an organic farm in Vermont, Luis Waite farm, you can find them on http://www.stonewoodfarm.com/   The farm that they have shares in does not grow live stock, so the farm set up share options with other organic farms that allow their shareholders to receive meat and fruit from other organic farms that grow and raise products that they do not have on their farm.  All the vegetables used for this feast were from Gold Earth Worm.  Besides the turkey the rest of the menu consisted of a dairy free butter nut squash soup to start with, and various vegetable dishes.  Their was a harvest medley made up of baby red and baby white potatoes, sweet potatoes, acorn squash, shallots, garlic, carrots, and topped with organic olive oil, salt, pepper, and an herb blend of oregano, rosemary, and thyme.  For the stuffing my sister in law collected different organic breads such as sourdough, white, fresh loaf, and multigrain that was dried in the oven and tossed in olive oil and herbs, organic pork sausage, carrots, walnuts, dried cranberries and apples.  She also used mushrooms, that she purchased from whole foods.  For another side dish their was a mixture of greens, mustard greens, kale, and spinach sauteed with yellow onion and garlic.  For the cranberry sauce, she used organic cranberries from Cranberry Hill organic farm in Plymouth, Massachusetts.  The fresh cranberry sauce was made from cranberries and organic cane sugar boiled in two cups of water and it was absolutely delicious.  The mash potatoes were conventional, because my dad made them, and my family does not buy organic.  All the food that was prepared for our meal was absolutely incredible, it was a nice change from the normal thanksgiving side dishes and an absolute treat to experience the way fresh organic vegetables taste, and you can absolutely taste and feel the difference.  For Desert their was an option of pumpkin, pecan, or apple cranberry pie all made from organic materials.  The pumpkin pie was made from pumpkin that was baked and pured.  Also she added some Chi for spice.  The pecan pie was made from conventional pecans, but the sugar an butter used were organic, and lastly the apple cranberry pie consisted of apples, cranberry's, and cane sugar.  For a healthy topping she made an organic whipped cream, that is vanilla bean paste and organic sugar whipped together to form a fluffy cream, and it really was the icing on the cake, or pie in this case.

After thoroughly enjoying the thanksgiving meal consisting of primarily organic materials and fresh produce, I now realize why it is so important to eat organic.  Not only is the taste and texture of the vegetables different, but the color and size are also very different.  The vegetables fresh from the farm are bigger and richer in color, just by comparison the supermarket vegetables fall inferior and are noticeably less healthy looking.  I think from now on I am going to stick to the organic food plan.  To find out more information about this farm you can find them at http://www.goldenearthworm.com/.

Apple Picking

Recently I was given the opportunity to go apple picking at Wilklow Orchards in Highland, NY. It was about a two-hour drive upstate, but it was worth the trip. The orchard housed several different types of apples I had never heard of before. Supermarket staples Gala and Red Delicious were available, but other types such as Jonagold, Jonamac, and Mutsu were ripe for our picking. We were given a map to identify the locations of the different types of apples. This made it easy to navigate the orchard and seek out particular types we wanted. I was hoping to pick some Granny Smith apples, but this orchard did not grow them.


The apples in my local market, no matter what type, are always either a bright red or green and very shiny. I was surprised to find most of the apples in the orchard had a waxy texture and were a combination of red and green in color.  It became hard to tell the types apart in my bag of apples, because they looked so similar. After wiping the apples clean, we were able to bite into them right away, and they tasted very fresh and natural.   This whole experience made me realize just how important it is to eat fresh fruit and that fruit we are used to buying from the supermarket may not be as healthy for us as we think it is.

To Be a King Crab or a King Crab fisherman that is the question?

     Last night before bed I got caught up in a reality show called Deadliest Catch on the Discovery Channel.  So far I have learned the day and the life of a chicken grower, a turkey inseminator,  and farmers who tend to big companies distributing, beef, pork, and veal.  When talking and taking into consideration cruelty to animals, fish very rarely comes to mind,  and in this incidence the crabs that are being sort out arent the only ones that leave hurt or dead.  So I thought it was important to share a few facts with you about what I learned.
      Fishing for King Crab is carried out during the winter months off the coast of Alaska,  also fishing is done off of Russia and international waters.  The fishing season is very short lasting only from October to January.  Being a King Crab Fisherman is a very dangerous job.  The fatality rate is 90 times that of the average worker and on average one fisherman dies weekly during season.  Because you are out fishing in the Bering Sea, the water is rough and freezing, most deaths are caused by hypothermia and drowning.  Also fisherman encounter very crippling injuries from dealing with heavy machinery.  The pots that they use as traps to catch the crabs weigh between 600 and 800 pounds, if this falls on you are your clothing gets stuck on it while you are trying to throw it over board who can get yourself seriously hurt.  The pots lie at the bottom of the sea filled with herring or codfish as bait, for two to three days waiting to catch the red, blue, or golden king crabs.  When the pot is bought on board, the fisherman sort through it and the crabs that do not meet the criteria are thrown back.  The remaining live crabs are stored in tanks on the boat until it reaches shore.  If the weather is too cold on boat, the crab freezes and bursts open.  Also if left in tank to long the crabs become cannibolistic and kill one another.  When a crab dies it releases toxins that can kill up to ten surrounding crabs and potentionally ruin the fishermans whole catch costing them nothing or ten to thousands of dollars.  Since the seasons are so short, the fishermen try to catch as much as possible to make enough money to last them the whole rest of the year.
     The King Crabs that are then brought to shore and sold don't have an easy road either.  King Crabs are mostly bought by companies that prepare them for you.  If you happen to buy a live crab the appropriate ways of killing them are as follows.  You are to boil the crab in water for twenty minutes, and you hear the crab screaming as it is getting lowered into the boiling water.  Another method is putting the crab in fresh water for thirty minutes or until it drowns.  The third method is turning the crab on the back with the legs facing upward, towards the back of the shell there is a flap and under this flap an opening, you are to stick a sharp screw driver up to the other end of the shell and then flip the crab back over and let it drain out.  All three of these methods are completely awful, and although in cooking recipes they mention this as being the best and least painful ways of killing the crabs, I think that drowning and boiling to death do not come pain free.
     So to go back to my question what is better to be a King Crab or King Crab fisherman?  I really do not know,  it is a very dangerous job with very little benefits, and there is a great risk of coming back empty handed, so is putting yourself in all that danger worth it?  and is it right to put  the crabs in dangerous conditions to be brought to shore and then tortured?  I know that I will definately think twice before ordering fresh crab again.

Is Shake Shack Fast Food?

Hello Everyone, 
          In class on Tuesday we had an in depth conversation on what we consider to be fast food, why we love fast food, and where we can usually find fast food.  Shake Shack is a hamburger joint that quickly swept the borough of Manhattan and now has opened it's first location in Queens, located in Citifield.  Making it a total of four locations in New York, with more to come.  But is Shake Shack fast food?  I had the opportunity to eat Shake Shack last night while I watched a Met game at Citifield.  Although the burgers are pre-made, you will never stand in a line for less then twenty minutes.  I actually know people who work across the street and spent there whole half hour lunch break waiting for one of these burgers.  But it is definately worth the wait.  The burgers at Shake Shack are regular hamburgers, with lettuce, tomato, and you have the choice of adding cheese or not.  Also on the menu they have cheese fries, regular fries, hot dogs, and many options of milk shakes, but aside from that the menu is very limited and consumers usually walk out with just a hamburger and a shake.
          I would'nt consider Shake Shack fast food because there burgers taste fresher.  The burgers arent as big as one you might get from a restaurant for relatively the same price, but it also is not a small freezer burnt processed hamburger that is heated up for your enjoyment.  The burgers at Shake Shack are juicy patties, made up of chop meat.  There isn't much mystery to there meat, because it tastes like something you can very well make for yourself in your own kitchen.   Will it one day be all over, and have drive through's on highways and rest stops?  Who's to say?  I am just happy that it started here in New York City and I had the opportunity to enjoy it before if falls victim to the fast food monopoly.