All you need for your garden are straw bales (not hay), newspaper to go underneath the bales for weed control, fertilizer for conditioning, some potting soil and a trowel for making planting holes. A soaker hose on a timer placed on top will come in handy since the hardest task is to remember to water daily.

To make the garden, place the bales with the cut end of the straw facing up. A couple of weeks before planting begin the composting process by watering the bales daily. To speed the process, on days 3 to 7 sprinkle ½ cup urea (46-0-0) over the surface. Cut this back to ¼ cup on days 7 to 9. A good organic alternative to urea is blood meal. Keep the bales damp on succeeding days. They are ready to plant when you can stick your hand into the middle of the bale and it has cooled to body temperature.

To plant seedlings, simply make a hole, tuck the plant in and fill the extra space with a little potting soil. To plant seeds, place a small layer of potting mix on top of the bale and plant the seeds according to packet directions. As the plants grow the straw will continue to break down and supply nutrients, but it’s a good idea to supplement with a liquid fertilizer every few weeks.

Visit StrawBaleGardens.com for some great information.

Download this great guide from Washington State University on how to start a straw bale  garden.

(Source)

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Not all plant problems are caused by insects or diseases. Sometimes an unhealthy plant is suffering from a nutrient deficiency or even too much of any one nutrient. Plant nutrient deficiencies often manifest as foliage discoloration or distortion. The following chart outlines some possible problems. Unfortunately many problems have similar symptoms and sometimes it is a combination of problems.

Be sure you eliminate the obvious before you kill your plants with kindness.

• Check first for signs of insects or disease. 
• Foliage discoloration and stunted plants can easily be caused by soil that is too wet and drains poorly or soil that is too compacted for good root growth. 
• Extreme cold or heat will slow plant growth and effect flowering and fruit set. 
• Too much fertilizer can result in salt injury. Your plants may look scorched or they may wilt, even when the soil is wet.

For a definitive diagnoses, contact your local cooperative extension service.

Plants require a mix of nutrients to remain healthy. Nutrients that are needed in relatively large amounts are called the macronutrients. Plant macronutrients include: nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, calcium, sulfur and magnesium.

There are a handful of additional nutrients that are required for plant growth, but in much smaller quantities. These micronutrients include: boron, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum and zinc.

All of these nutrients are taken in through the roots. Water transfers the nutrients from the soil to the plant roots. So one requirement of sufficient plant nutrition is water. A second requirement is the appropriate soil pH for the plant being grown. Each plant prefers a specific pH range to be able to access the nutrients in the soil. Some plants are fussier than others, but if the soil pH is too acidic or alkaline, the plant will not be able to take in nutrients no matter how rich your soil may be.

Plant Nutrient Deficiency Symptoms

Macronutrients

Calcium (Ca)

• Symptoms: New leaves are distorted or hook shaped. The growing tip may die. Contributes to blossom end rot in tomatoes, tip burn of cabbage and brown/black heart of escarole & celery.
• Sources: Any compound containing the word ‘calcium’. Also gypsum.
• Notes: Not often a deficiency problem and too much will inhibit other nutrients.

Nitrogen (N)

• Symptoms: Older leaves, generally at the bottom of the plant, will yellow. Remaining foliage is often light green. Stems may also yellow and may become spindly. Growth slows.
• Sources: Any compound containing the words: ‘nitrate’, ‘ammonium’ or ‘urea’. Also manure.
• Notes: Many forms of nitrogen are water soluble and wash away.

Magnesium (Mg)

• Symptoms: Slow growth and leaves turn pale yellow, sometimes just on the outer edges. New growth may be yellow with dark spots.
• Sources: Compounds containing the word ‘magnesium’, such as Epson Salts.

Phosphorus (P)

• Symptoms: Small leaves that may take on a reddish-purple tint. Leaf tips can look burnt and older leaves become almost black. Reduced fruit or seed production.
• Sources: Compounds containing the words ‘phosphate’ or ‘bone’. Also greensand.
• Notes: Very dependent on pH range.

Potassium (K)

• Symptoms: Older leaves may look scorched around the edges and/or wilted. Interveinal chlorosis (yellowing between the leaf veins) develops.
• Sources: Compounds containing the words ‘potassium’ or ‘potash’.

Sulfur (S)

• Symptoms: New growth turns pale yellow, older growth stays green. Stunts growth.
• Sources: Compounds containing the word ‘sulfate’.
• Notes: More prevalent in dry weather.

Micronutrients

Boron (B)

• Symptoms: Poor stem and root growth. Terminal (end) buds may die. Witches brooms sometimes form.
• Sources: Compounds containing the words ‘borax’ or ‘borate’.

Copper (Cu)

• Symptoms: Stunted growth. Leaves can become limp, curl, or drop. Seed stalks also become limp and bend over.
• Sources: Compounds containing the words ‘copper’, ‘cupric’ or ‘cuprous’.

Manganese (Mn)

• Symptoms: Growth slows. Younger leaves turn pale yellow, often starting between veins. May develop dark or dead spots. Leaves, shoots and fruit diminished in size. Failure to bloom.
• Sources: Compounds containing the words ‘manganese’ or ‘manganous’

Molybdenum (Mo)

• Symptoms: Older leaves yellow, remaining foliage turns light green. Leaves can become narrow and distorted.
• Sources: Compounds containing the words ‘molybdate’ or ‘molybdic’.
• Notes: Sometimes confused with nitrogen deficiency.

Zinc (Zn)

• Symptoms: Yellowing between veins of new growth. Terminal (end) leaves may form a rosette.
• Sources: Compounds containing the word ‘zinc’.
• Notes: Can become limited in higher pH.

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Cauliflower is just one of the many cruciferous vegetables that may be able to treat cancer, according to a study coming from Rutgers University.

Cauliflower contains glucosinolates and thiocyanates — both sulfur-containing phytonutrients that cleanse the body of damaging free radicals. It also contains a substance called sulforaphane (SFN), a compound known to inhibit the occurrence of some cancers in rats caused by carcinogens, primarily colon cancer.

In the Rutger’s research, it was found once again that diet does matter in cancer prevention:

“Our research has substantiated the connection between diet and cancer prevention, and it is now clear that the expression of cancer-related genes can be influenced by chemopreventive compounds in the things we eat,” said Kong, a professor of pharmaceutics in the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.

Even the American Cancer Society admits that more than two thirds of cancers can be prevented with lifestyle modification, and this includes diet. In this particular study, mice fed a diet high in sulforaphane, the substance naturally occurring in cauliflower and broccoli, enjoyed fewer cancerous tumors, polyps, and smaller tumors in the their colons. After three weeks, the mice fed sulforaphane had a 25% decline in tumors and those given double the dose had a 47% decrease in cancerous tumors.

The results are obvious, “Our results showed that SFN produced its cancer preventive effects in the mice by inducing apoptosis (programmed cell death) and inhibiting proliferation of the tumors; however, it was not clear what mechanism SFN employs to accomplish this,” Kong said.

Just how vegetables like cauliflower (and other cruciferous vegetables) help to kill cancer cells is still unknown, but Kong’s team found that SFN suppressed certain enzymes or kinases that are highly expressed both in the mice and in patients with colon cancer. The researchers concluded that this enzymatic suppression activity is the likely basis for the chemopreventive effects of SFN.

Along with cauliflower’s high levels of SFN, it is also a powerful antioxidant with high levels of vitamin C and vitamin A, also known as cancer inhibitors. Researchers also believe that if you consume cauliflower and turmeric spice together, you can prevent or eradicate prostate cancer totally. The scientists, once again from Rutger’s, tested turmeric and it’s active compound known as curcumin along with phenethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC), a naturally occurring substance in certain vegetables such as watercress, cabbage, winter cress, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, kale, cauliflower, kohlrabi and turnips. They found cancer-preventative qualities in the duo.

There are many varieties of cauliflower that you can enjoy to help prevent colon and other cancers. You can find orange, green and purple varieties along with the more commonly known white. Cauliflower doesn’t need to be relegated to the vegetable tray at parties either, there are hundreds of delicious recipes here.

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Tomatoes, which are actually a fruit and not a vegetable, contain a number of valuable nutrients, and according to recent research, organically-grown tomatoes are even more nutritious than their conventionally-grown counterparts.

One of the most well-known nutrients in tomatoes is lycopene — the compound that gives tomato its deep red color.

Lycopene is a vital anti-oxidant that has been shown to have potent anti-cancerous activity. This compound is not naturally produced in your body, so it must be supplied via your diet.

Other fruits and vegetables also contain lycopene, but none has the high concentration of lycopene that the tomato boasts.

Interestingly, when cooked, the bioavailability of lycopene increases rather than decreases, as is the case with many other raw foods, as heat has a tendency to destroy valuable nutrients.

That said, you’re best off avoiding canned tomatoes and tomato sauces as can liners tend to contain potent estrogen mimics such as bisphenol A (BPA), which is also a toxic endocrine disrupting chemical. Your best bet is to make your own organic tomato sauce from scratch, or buy organic sauce sold in glass jars.

Organic Tomatoes have 139 Percent Higher Phenolic Content, Study Shows

It seems perfectly sensible that food grown in healthier soil with natural fertilizers and no synthetic agricultural chemicals would be more nutritious. This is common knowledge among farmers, yet this age-old, common sense wisdom is greatly suppressed in the United States in order to protect the large-scale industrial farming model.

According to a recent study published in the journal PLOS One, growing tomatoes according to organic standards results in dramatically elevated phenols content, compared to tomatoes grown conventionally, using agricultural chemicals.

The researchers compared total phenol content in organic and conventional tomatoes grown in nearby plots in Brazil. This allowed for a more accurate comparison of the tomatoes, as both varieties were grown in similar soil- and climate conditions that might otherwise affect nutrient content.

According to the authors:

“This study was conducted with the objective of testing the hypothesis that tomato fruits from organic farming accumulate more nutritional compounds, such as phenolics and vitamin C as a consequence of the stressing conditions associated with farming system.”

The organic tomatoes were found to contain 55 percent more vitamin C, and 139 percent more total phenolic content at the stage of commercial maturity, compared to the conventionally-grown tomatoes. According to the authors:

“[T]his seems consistent with the more than two times higher activity of phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) we observed throughout fruit development in fruits from organic farming.

Taken together, our observations suggest that tomato fruits from organic farming experienced stressing conditions that resulted in oxidative stress and the accumulation of higher concentrations of soluble solids as sugars and other compounds contributing to fruit nutritional quality such as vitamin C and phenolic compounds.”

Today’s Vegetables Aren’t as Nutritious as They Used to Be…

There was a trade-off, and that was size. The conventional tomatoes were significantly larger. However, while many unaware consumers equate size with quality, this simply isn’t the case. At least in the case of organic tomatoes, you get more even though it’s in a smaller “package.”

This does tend to hold true for other organic produce as well though. According to research published in 2009, American produce, while larger than ever before, contains fewer nutrients and tastes worse than it did in your grandparents’ days.

In fact, the average vegetable found in today’s supermarket is anywhere from 5 percent to 40 percent lower in minerals such as magnesium, iron, calcium and zinc than those harvested just 50 years ago. As the featured study suggests, jumbo-sized produce contains more “dry matter” than anything else, which dilutes mineral concentrations.

Other Studies Have Also Shown Organic Fruits and Veggies Are More Nutritious

Previous research has also shown there can be a nutritional difference between organic- and

conventionally-grown vegetables. For example, a 2003 study in the Journal of Agricultural Food Chemistry found that organic foods are better for fighting cancer. And in 2005, scientists found that, compared to rats that ate conventional diets, organically fed rats experienced various health benefits. Rats that ate organic or minimally fertilized diets had:

• Improved immune system status
• Better sleeping habits
• Less weight and were slimmer than rats fed other diets
• Higher vitamin E content in their blood (for organically fed rats)

Other studies assessing the nutritional composition and difference between organic and conventional produce include:

• A 2010 study conducted by PloS ONE (partially funded by the USDA), which found organic strawberries to be more nutrient-rich than non-organic strawberries
• In 2009, the American Association for the Advancement of Science featured a presentation on soil health and its impact on food quality.Conclusion: Healthy soil leads to higher levels of nutrients in crops
• Even the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conducted their own behavioral study that found higher risk of ADHD in children with higher levels of organophospates (pesticides)

But perhaps one of the best studies out there on the benefits of organic versus conventionally-grown foods is the 2007 Quality Low Input Food Project— a $25-million study into organic food, and the largest of its kind. The researchers grew fruit and vegetables, and raised cattle, on adjacent organic and non-organic sites, and discovered that:

• Organic fruit and vegetables contain up to 40 percent more antioxidants
• Organic produce had higher levels of beneficial minerals like iron and zinc
• Milk from organic herds contained up to 90 percent more antioxidants

The results were so impressive they stated that eating organic foods can even help to increase the nutrient intake of people who don’t eat the recommended five servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Besides the potential for improved nutrition, other reasons for choosing organic, and ideally locally-grown food include better food quality, better taste and, in the case of local food: increased freshness since the food has not traveled over thousands of miles.

Another Important Boon of Organic = Reduced Toxic Load

Many “health” experts insist there is little difference between organic and conventionally raised produce, but their arguments are flimsy at best. For example, a 2012 meta-analysis by Stanford University received widespread media coverage, and with few exceptions, conventional media outlets used it to cast doubt on the value of an organic diet. You had to be a reader of alternative media to get the real scoop on this study…

In a nutshell, the meta-analysis, which looked at 240 reports comparing organically and conventionally grown food (including 17 human studies), found that organic foods ARE safer, and probably healthier than conventional foods — if you are of the conviction that ingesting fewer toxins is healthier and safer for you. Interestingly, the Stanford study also found that organic foods tend to have higher levels of phenols, specifically.

While I believe organic foods grown in healthy soils can be more nutritious than their conventional counterparts grown in depleted soils with synthetic chemicals, a major benefit of organically grown foods really is the reduction in your toxic load. Agricultural chemicals, such as synthetic fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides, can cause a wide variety of health problems, including:

• Neurotoxicity
• Disruption of your endocrine system
• Cancer
• Immune system suppression
• Male infertility and miscarriages in women

The Health Benefits of Tomatoes

Tomatoes are rich in flavonoids and other phytochemicals that have anticarcinogenic properties. They’re also an excellent source of lutein, zeaxanthin, vitamin C, which is most concentrated in the jelly-like substance that surrounds the seeds, as well as vitamins A, E and B-complex vitamins, potassium, manganese and phosphorus. Other lesser known phytonutrients found in tomatoes include:

• Flavonols: rutin, kaempferol, quercetin
• Flavonones: naringenin, chalconaringenin
• Hydroxycinnamic acids: caffeic acid, ferulic acid, coumaric acid
• Glycosides: esculeoside A
• Fatty acid derivatives: 9-oxo-octadecadienoic acid

Getting back to lycopene — a carotenoid antioxidant that gives fruits and vegetables like tomatoes and watermelon a pink or red color — this is one nutrient you’ll want to be sure you’re getting enough of.

Lycopene’s antioxidant activity has long been suggested to be more powerful than other carotenoids such as beta-carotene, and recent research revealed it may significantly reduce your stroke risk (while other antioxidants did not). The 2012 analysis followed over 1,000 men in their mid-40s to mid-50s for more than 12 years.

After controlling for other stroke risk factors, such as older age and diabetes, they found that men with the highest blood levels of lycopene were 55 percent less likely to have a stroke than those with the lowest. Other antioxidants, including alpha carotene, beta-carotene, alpha tocopherol (vitamin E) and retinol (vitamin A), showed no such benefit.

The high blood levels of lycopene were said to be a marker for intake of tomatoes and tomato-based products, as these are a particularly concentrated source. It’s estimated that 85 percent of dietary lycopene in North Americans comes from tomato products such as tomato juice or tomato paste. In addition to lowering your risk of stroke, lycopene from tomatoes (including unsweetened organic tomato sauce) has also been shown to be helpful in treating prostate cancer.

Tomatoes Must be Eaten with Fat for Proper Absorption, and Two Other Caveats

Lycopene is a fat-soluble nutrient, which means eating it with some dietary fat is essential in order for it to be properly absorbed. So a slow-cooked tomato sauce that contains olive oil or another source of healthy fat, such as grass-fed beef, may be an ideal source.

One caveat: when making your tomato sauce, start out with fresh tomatoes, as canned tomatoes typically have a lining that contains bisphenol-A (BPA) which is a potent estrogen mimic that have been linked to a number of health problems, including diabetes, heart disease, heightened risk of breast and prostate cancers, neurological effects, reproductive problems and obesity.

The current US federal guidelines put the daily upper limit of “safe” exposure at 50 micrograms of BPA per kilogram of body weight. According to endocrinologist Dr. Fredrick vom Saal, a tin can contains around 50 mcg of Bisphenol A (BPA), and when the cans contain acidic food such as tomatoes, it will leach more BPA from the liner into the food. According to Consumer Reports’ testing, just a couple of servings of canned food can exceed the safety limits for daily BPA exposure for children.

So, ideally avoid canned foods entirely and stick to fresh fruits and vegetables, or switch over to brands that use glass containers instead. One other point: if you eat a lot of ketchup, you might want to consider choosing an organic version (as well as one that is unsweetened, as regular ketchup is a common source of sugar and high fructose corn syrup). Organic ketchup has been found to contain 57 percent more lycopene than conventional national brands.

Cooked Tomatoes May be Better than Raw

Tomatoes differ from many other raw foods in that cooking them may in fact be better than eating them raw. Research shows that cooked tomatoes (such as in tomato sauce or tomato paste) not only increases the lycopene content that can be absorbed by your body, but also increases the total antioxidant activity. In one study, when tomatoes were heated to just over 190 degrees F (88 degrees C) for two minutes, 15 minutes and 30 minutes:

• Beneficial trans-lycopene content increased by 54 percent, 171 percent and 164 percent, respectively
• Levels of cis -lycopene (which is a form easily absorbed by your body) rose by 6, 17 and 35 percent, respectively
• Overall antioxidant levels increased by 28, 34 and 62 percent, respectively

Return to ‘the Way Things Were…’

The simplest way back toward health is to focus on whole, organic foods, grown or raised as nature intended. Meaning, it’s grown using sustainable farming practices, and without the use of chemical additives, pesticides and fertilizers. You can even grow your own. Picking the types of seeds can go a long way in helping your garden be plentiful and even determines how juicy or hardy your vegetables are. Heirloom seeds are seeds that have been carefully cultivated to produce the best plants possible; they’re hardy and bountiful. You can find packages containing 26 of the popular heirloom seeds in my Heirloom Variety Seed Collection, available in my online store.

As the featured study attests, fruits and vegetables grown according to organic standards are typically nutritionally superior, but even if they weren’t, organic produce will limit the amount of toxic residues you end up consuming, which is a major benefit in and of itself.

As for tomatoes, they’re one of the most potent sources of lycopene, shown to have anti-cancerous activity and the potential to reduce stroke risk. Just remember to consume your tomatoes, whether raw or cooked, with some type of fat, such as olive oil, since lycopene is a fat-soluble nutrient. Also remember to choose organic varieties, whether whole tomatoes or tomato paste, ketchup or sauce, and avoid anything that comes in a can, since the acidity of the tomatoes will increase toxic BPA release from the liner in the can.

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