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Join Our List
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Vol.
II, Issue 4
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Feb. 27, 2008
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Welcome to our seventh "News Today for a Sustainable
Tomorrow" newsletter. We strive to bring you important, timely
information about urban agriculture, energy issues, sustainable
practices, and more.
In this issue, you will find articles on peak oil and food, SPIN
(S-mall P-lot IN-tensive) Farming, Your Backyard Farmer business in
Portland (OR), global warming's effect on drying up Lake Mead (a major
water supply in the Southwest USA), and more.
The beauty of Troy Gardens, and our organization called Friends of Troy Gardens, is that we not only
provide an opportunity for people to grow their own food locally in our
community gardens or purchase locally produced food from our organic
farm, but we also educate children and adults about how to grow food
and eat nutritionally.
As always, please consider a membership or an individual or continuous monthly gift. Our programs only
exist, because of your generosity. So please give generously. With a
$100 gift or more, you will receive a FREE copy of our NEW CD, Troy
Gardens Journal, a $15 value. With a $150 gift or more, you
will receive a FREE copy of the 600-page Real Goods Solar
Living Sourcebook, a $35 value.
For Our Future,
Bob Gragson, Editor
Executive Director
Friends of Troy Gardens
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PEAK
OIL AND FOOD
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 Report from
ASPO-USA
"US wheat inventories have now reached a 60-year
low and wheat prices have risen by 50 percent in the past month. Global
wheat stocks are expected to fall to a 30-year low shortly. With global
oil production relatively stagnant as the demand for more oil from Asia
and the Middle East continues to grow, biofuels production has been
plugging some of the gap.
"Food and energy are converging so that to a
considerable extent they can be used interchangeably as dictated by
market forces. In the last six years, land for biofuels has increased
from 12 to 80 million hectares worldwide as subsidies and national
policies mandating their use are driving the biofuels substitution for
oil. The US is offering subsidies of $.50 to $1 per gallon and the EU
is attempting to reach a 10 percent biofuels target in the next three
years.
"Many knowledgeable observers are worried and are
predicting that famines will break out in the underdeveloped world
during the next 18 to 24 months, due to declining availability of
grains for export and worsening climatic conditions. The recent snows
in China are believed to have caused considerable crop damage and
Beijing is becoming increasingly concerned about the prospects for
feeding its 1.3 billion people.
"All this suggests that policies mandating the use
of biofuels and biofuel subsidies may have a very short half-life as
the reality of inadequate food supplies overcomes cries of "energy
independence." The elimination of mandates and subsidies would put
more pressure on petroleum products and force prices still higher"
(Whipple, 2008).
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SPIN
FARMING
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 Gross
$50,000 Annually
on 1/2 Acre
If you don't think you can make money out of a
relatively small plot in your back yard, go to http://www.spinfarming.com
and read all about how these folks in Canada gross $50,000/year on
one-half acre in a city -- and its not even one contiguous half acre,
it is scattered around town in 20 plots. There's a lot of expert advice
available. You're not going to make $50,000 your first year, or even in
your first several years. But you will earn income and as your skills,
production, and customer base increase, you will earn more economic and
food security.
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BACKYARD
FARMER
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 A Yard
Begets Groceries
"Donna Smith and Robyn Streeter, collectively
called Your Backyard Farmer, are just beginning their
second season in business and already are in the black -or should we
say green.
"Their formula: transform ordinary yards into
personal farmers markets, leaving weekly harvests in wicker baskets on
clients' doorsteps. Their vision: create a city of self-sustaining
minifarms that could maintain whole neighborhoods in the case of an
emergency or natural disaster.
"During the gardening high season, March 15 until
Thanksgiving, Smith and Streeter are busy lugging soil and tools all
over Portland [Oregon]. Each garden they create and maintain is
personalized based on the household's needs and tastes.
"At first the pair, who both have degrees in
horticulture and are passionate about organic gardening, thought they'd
start a community-supported agriculture farm, but the legalese of land
and water rights was discouraging. So, instead, they decided to farm on
land that already is owned, i.e., backyards. . . .
"Your Backyard Farmer's average customer is a family
of four who loves the idea of eating local, organic produce but can't
make it to the farmers market every week and finds New Seasons or Whole
Foods a little expensive.
"For approximately $40 a week (prices vary with
size of the yard and household) Your Backyard Farmer is committed to doing just
that. The only requirements are ample space - 20-by-20 feet is the
minimum - that receives six hours a day of direct sunlight."
(Myers, 2007)
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 In Less
Than 15 Years
"Lake Mead, a key source of water for millions of
people in the southwestern United States, could go dry by 2021, a new
study finds.
"The study concludes that natural forces such as
evaporation, changes wrought by global warming and the increasing demand from the
booming Southwest population are creating a deficit from this part of
the Colorado River system.
"Along with Lake Powell, which is on the border
between Arizona and Utah, Lake Mead supplies roughly 8 million people in the
cities of Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and San Diego, among others, with
critical water supplies.
"The system is currently only at half capacity
thanks to a recent string of dry years, researchers say.
"The study's findings indicated that there is a 10
percent chance that Lake Mead could be dry by 2014 and a 50 percent
chance that reservoir levels will drop too low to allow
hydroelectric power generation by 2017. There is a 50 percent chance
the lake will go dry by 2021, the study says.
"Researchers say that even if water agencies follow
their current drought contingency plans, those measures might not be
enough to counter natural forces, especially if the region enters a
period of sustained drought or if human-induced climate changes occur as currently
predicted.
"'We were stunned at the magnitude of the problem
and how fast it was coming at us,' said study coauthor Tim Barnett of
the Scripps Institution of Oceanography of the University of California
at San Diego. 'Make no mistake, this water problem is not a scientific
abstraction, but rather one that will impact each and every one of us
that live in the Southwest'" (Thompson, 2008).
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MAKE A
DIFFERENCE
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 Your Support Is Important
It
is your generosity that makes Friends of Troy Gardens work for all of us. Your
gift will enable us to add more educational offerings, educate 600
school children at Troy Gardens and in public and private schools and
expand our children's education program, provide sponsorships to
low-income individuals and general support to our gardeners in our 330
community garden plots, continue restoration of five acres of prairie
and forest, further develop and increase production at our organic farm
and CSA with 110 household-members, and more.
- $50
provides a low-income gardener a garden plot for a season,
- $100
provides a service-learning opportunity for an at-risk youth,
- $150
provides a low-income child hands-on participation in our Kids
Gardening Program,
- $250
provides a free workshop for 25 community members in our Natural
Areas Restoration Program,
- $430
provides a low-income household a CSA share from our farm for a
season, and
- $1,000
provides a low-income teen participation in our eight-week Farm
and Field Program or a 150-hour educational training opportunity
for a college student.
Please support our work and our vast array of programs
with a one-time or monthly donation, a gift to our endowment fund, or by becoming a member. You will be helping educate thousands of
people each year with the skills necessary to make a sustainable future
a reality.
With a $100 gift or more, receive
a FREE copy of our NEW CD, Troy
Gardens Journal, a $15 value. With a
$150 gift or more, receive a FREE copy of the 600-page Real
Goods Solar Living Sourcebook,
a $35 value.
Thank you for your support.
- Make
your contribution online,
or mail to: Friends of Troy Gardens, 3601 Memorial Dr., Bldg.
14, Rm. 171, Madison, WI 53704.
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FAMINE
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 The Price
of Peak Oil
"Vulnerable regions of the world face the risk of
famine over the next three years as rising energy costs spill over into
a food crunch, according to US investment bank Goldman Sachs. . . .
"Global oil output has been stagnant for four
years, failing to keep up with rampant demand from Asia and the
Mid-East. China's imports rose 14[%] last year. Biofuels from grain,
oil seed and sugar are plugging the gap, but drawing away food supplies
at a time when the world is adding more than 70 [million] mouths to feed
a year.
"'Markets are as tight as a drum and now the US has
hit the stimulus button,' said Mr. Currie in his 2008 outlook. 'We have
never seen this before when commodity prices were already at record
highs. Over the next 18 to 36 months we are probably going into crisis
mode across the commodity complex.'
"'The key is going to be agriculture. China is
terrified of the current situation. It has real physical shortages,' he
said, referencing China still having memories of starvation in the
1960s seared in its collective mind" (Evans-Pritchard, 2008).
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VOLUNTEERS
NEEDED APRIL 26
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 For Our
Isthmus Green Day Booth
We have a
booth for the Isthmus
Green Day Event in Madison, WI, on
Saturday, April 26. We need two volunteers per shift. Shifts are
two hours each. Shifts begin at 8:30 AM (includes set-up), 10:30 AM,
12:30 PM, 2:30 PM, and 4:30 PM (includes clean-up). The event is from 9
AM to 6 PM at Monona Terrace in Madison.
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OUR
INTERNET STORE
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 Books,
DVDs, & CDs - Memberships
& Gifts
- Buy
from Us
- Support
Our Programs
Our Internet store makes it easier for you to support
our programs. Whether you are near or far, buying from our Internet store
makes sense. With your purchases and donations, you help support a
nationally-recognized model for local multi-use sustainable land
development.
For more information about our program, be sure to read the end of this
newsletter. Also, be sure to visit our informational website that describes our
programs in detail and our Internet store which boasts an extensive
list of resources for local community food production and food
security.
Thanks for your interest, and thanks for your support!
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NEW TROY
GARDENS CD
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 Be
Inspired, Support Our Programs
Troy Gardens
inspires us. If we are writers, the gardens become our muse. If we are
musicians, the land brings us new songs. The newly released CD, Troy Gardens Journal,
contains spoken excerpts from our board member Marge Pitts' collection
of essays by the same name, enhanced by six original songs written and
performed by Maury Smith, who also produced the project.
The CD's 12 tracks mark the passage of the seasons at Troy Gardens, and
cast a glance back to the project's organizational beginning. These
stories and songs offer a nourishing taste of hope. In these times when
"the big garden" that is our world seems to be bleak and
getting bleaker, we celebrate the solace and strength found in
relationships, in community, and in our "little gardens" at
Troy.
The Troy Gardens Journal CD is available now.
Proceeds will help support the work of Friends of Troy Gardens.
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GOODSEARCH
& GOODSHOP
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 1 Cent to Us for Each Browse
Did you know
you can make a donation to Friends of Troy Gardens every time you
browse or buy products online?
You may already be using the exciting new Internet search engine called
GoodSearch. If you do, every time you search the
Internet, Friends of Troy Gardens or other non-profit, school or
charity of your choice earns a penny. Friends of Troy Gardens is
already earning money through this innovative cost-free method of
fundraising. If you are not already using GoodSearch, just go to www.GoodSearch.com to find out how.
And now you can also use GoodShop.com, a new online shopping mall which
donates a percentage of each purchase to your favorite cause. Although
here at Friends of Troy Gardens we don't recommend shopping as therapy
or entertainment, we all need things from time to time, and often
online shopping is more ecological than a trip to the store. So the
next time you need something online, look for it first through the
GoodShop.com mall.
More than 100 great stores offer travel, clothing, electronics and more
through GoodShop, so that every time you place an order, you'll be
supporting us. Target, Macy's, Travelocity, Best Buy, Nordstrom,
Staples and over one hundred other retailers will donate a percentage
of each purchase you make to Friends of Troy Gardens!
Just go to www.goodsearch.com and be sure to enter Friends
of Troy Gardens as the charity you want to
support.
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GREEN
JOBS
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 Job
Search Sites for You
For
environmental positions throughout the world, the following are some
good websites for your review:
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Friends of Troy Gardens, is a 501(c)(3)
charitable nonprofit organization, in Madison, Wisconsin. On 26-acres
of urban property, we integrate community gardens, an organic farm, and
restored prairie and woodlands. (On an adjacent five acres is
mixed-income green-built co-housing developed by the Madison Area
Community Land Trust.) Altogether, Troy Gardens is a unique,
nationally-recognized model for sustainable multi-purpose land use.
Friends of Troy Gardens' environmental
education programs include a nationally recognized leadership program
for teenagers and an award-winning children's garden. Local residents
care for 330 family garden plots in our Community Gardens. Volunteer
stewards restore and maintain native tall grass prairie and maple
woodlands in the natural areas. Each growing season, 110 households
pick up weekly bags of fresh organic vegetables from our Community Farm
(CSA).
Be sure to visit the Friends of Troy Gardens Web Store.
References:
Evans-Pritchard, A. (2008). Why the price of 'peak oil' is famine. Daily
Telegraph (February 9, 2008). Retrieved February 26, 2008, from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/money/2008/02/07/cnoil107.xml.
Myers, B. (2007). A yard begets groceries: Entrepreneurs turn clients'
land into household pantry. Portland Tribune (March 13, 2007).
Retrieved February 26, 2008, from http://www.portlandtribune.com/sustainable/story.php?story_id=117346673927891500.
Thompson, A. (2008). Lake Mead could dry up by 2021. LiveScience
(February 12, 2008). Retrieved February 26, 2008, from http://www.livescience.com/environment/080212-dry-lake-mead.html.
Whipple, T. (2008). Peak oil and food. Peak Oil Review 3(6). Retrieved
February 13, 2008, from http://www.aspo-usa.com/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_download&gid=626&Itemid=66
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