Climate Change Affecting Crops Around the World

Below you will find a list of links to articles on climate change and weather related crop damage. I have just included articles from this year, on damage that happened this year. I have not included any articles on feared or as yet unassessed damage. Since most food enters the world market, and since those who are not able to produce their own local food will need to purchase food from the world market, all crop losses affect each and every one of us. Even, for instance, if you don’t eat anything with citrus or cotton oil ingredients, those who do will need to eat other foods, and that will likely affect the availability and price of all foods. We are all connected, we are all related . . .

Time to get your gardens on! Gardens and gardeners are much more able to adjust for weather and climate change than are large scale farmers. Right now I am starting genetically diverse warm and cool season crops, because we really don’t know what the weather will do . . .

The Florida citrus freeze, 1/11:

http://www.daiseyinsurance.com/images/crops.jpg

Cotton crops destroyed by flooding in Austrailia, 1/11:

http://www.moneynews.com/Markets/CottonSurgesbyExchangeLimitasAustraliaFloodsDamageCrops/2011/01/11/id/382534 (While we don’t think of cotton as a food crop, the oil and the seeds are used in processed foods for people, and livestock feed.)

Freezing weather destroys crops in India, 1/11:

http://english.ntdtv.com/ntdtv_en/ns_asia/2011-01-12/532768299662.html

Freezing weather damages crops in Texas, 2/11:

http://www.oaoa.com/articles/livestock-60396-cold-temperatures.html

Freezing weather effects winter crops in Mexico, 2/11:

http://www.truthistreason.net/mexicos-big-freeze-80-100-of-crops-damaged-expect-shortages-and-higher-prices and http://geology.com/news/2011/winter-crop-damage-in-mexico.shtml

Hail, unseasonable rain damage crops in India, 2/11:

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-02-17/jaipur/28554560_1_hailstorm-unseasonal-rain-crops

Sugar beets and oats damaged by frost in Great Brittan, 2/11:

http://www.fwi.co.uk/Articles/2011/02/01/125304/Crop-Watch-Dealing-with-frost-damage.htm

Cyclones and rain destroy sugar crops in Australia and India, 2/11:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-02/sugar-rises-to-30-year-high-on-speculation-storm-to-damage-australian-crop.html

Tasmania suffers massive crop damage from floods and torrential rain 3/11:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/03/24/3172882.htm

Soy beans damaged by untimely rain in Brazil 3/11:

http://discussions.agweb.com/showthread.php?12004-Crop-damage-in-S.A.

Frost damage to crops in India fuels farmer suicides, 3/11

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_declare-crop-damage-due-to-frost-as-national-calamity-bjp_1514087

Rain and wind damaged wheat crops in Pakistan 4/11:

http://nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Islamabad/18-Apr-2011/Rains-damage-wheat-gram-crops

Hail, wind, & rain damage crops in India, 4/11:

http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/2011/04/16/hailstorms-damage-crops-across-states-in-india/

Hail damages crops in Fresno County CA, 4/11:

http://www.fresnobee.com/2011/04/08/2343218/snow-blankets-mountains-valley.html

Hail damages crops in Minnesota, 4/11:

http://minneotamascot.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2130:crop-damage-plentiful

Digging the Dirt / April in the Garden

Jet Stream on Steroids 
Gardeners and farmers have tried to predict the weather since ancient times. Seers were once sought out in their high mountain retreats, while other folks developed systems for reading nature’s signs--both here on earth and up in the heavens. Eventually, we established the science of meteorology; however, with global warming and climate change, we might be better off with an old fashioned seer.
Doug LeComte, who is a meteorologist with the federal government’s Climate Prediction Center, has suggested that the “jet stream is on steroids.”  Here in the Klamath Trinity region, we are just south of the jet streams current haunts. The jet stream is pumping up the rain. While the Midwest is under continuing threat of floods, we are already nearly ten inches over our average rainfall for the year (measured July 1 – June 30). Gardeners and farmers everywhere are hoping for sun, but the experts don’t agree on how long the rain will continue. Some believe this wet and cloudy weather could last well into our summer months. LeComte says “we’ll have to wait and see. 
We are all hoping up for a nice warm growing season; yet, it might be wise to add a row or bed of adaptable cool weather crops to our summer plantings (think in terms of leaves and roots). They might not provide much produce if the weather turns broiling hot; but our beloved tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers may fail us if the sun takes too long to chase off all these clouds. In case you need some ideas for alternative crops, here is a great book—hot off the press:

Buried Treasures, Tasty Tubers of the World 

This great title from Brooklyn Botanic Garden will spark your interest in all sorts of edible roots for the garden. Over 30 different root crops are covered, and not a single one of them is related to a parsnip, carrot, turnip, or radish. Some of these crops need warmer climates than ours, but nearly half of them are listed as adaptable to our area, and some thrive in wet boggy conditions. Buried Treasures features full color photos of the plants and their resulting root crops. Complete growing information is provided. Tips on available cultivars, nutritional value, and preparation are also included. This small book is well designed, affordable, and would make a great gift for gardeners who want to grow it all. Available from most on line book sellers and by request from bookstores everywhere; Buried Treasures, Tasty Tubers of the World, Beth Hanson – editor, published by Brooklyn Botanic Garden, ISBN 978-1-889538-34-1

Plant now: Jerusalem Artichokes for Heat or Rain 
Jerusalem artichokes actually have nothing to do with Jerusalem or artichokes. They are related to sunflowers, native to North America, and have been used for food by people native to the North East Woodlands and the tall grass plains since ancient times. Jerusalem artichokes are considered carbon-fixers, as they extract large amounts of carbon from the atmosphere, which they use to grow their sturdy stalks and produce an abundant crop. They also scavenge nitrogen and are considered beneficial around compost and manure piles, and stock and animal pens. The excess nitrogen that may be found in these areas can leach into our ground water and our rivers and streams, where it is a pollutant that contributes to unhealthy algae bloom. Jerusalem artichokes absorb the nitrogen and turn it into organic matter. This is a great crop that is good for you and good for the environment also.

These tasty and productive tubers do fabulous here in the Klamath Trinity region. They like full sun but will still produce in partial shade. Watch out, Jerusalem artichokes grow from six to fifteen feet tall, and they have a tendency to sprawl. A sunny spot along a fence or a building makes a good choice, just be prepared to cut any stalks that lean the wrong way. Be sure to plant plenty, as our local gophers will want their fair share. However, they are so prolific that even when the gophers have free run you should have plenty eat and to give away. They can also be planted in raised beds with hardware cloth bottoms or in oak half barrels that have drainage holes. That way you don’t have to plant enough to share with those dastardly little diggers.

Jerusalem artichokes are propagated from their tubers, which can be planted right now. Check with your local nursery or your favorite health food store--many will have tubers or starts available.  The tubers should be planted about three times as deep as they are thick, orientating them in the ground so the most pronounced eyes or buds are pointed up. (If you plant them too shallow they will be more prone to sprawling.) The plants will grow faster, taller, and be more productive in good garden loam, however, you can still expect a sizable crop if you grow them in heavy clay or sandy soil. They benefit from a little summer time irrigation if the weather is dry and the leaves start looking droopy, but they can withstand a fair amount of drought, and they should also survive and produce during cool wet summers. Leave the plants in place until late October or early November. If our fall frost arrives late, the tops will be decorated with tons of bright yellow to orange daisy like flowers. The flowers are great for arrangements, if you can reach them, and they attract butterflies and other beneficial insects.
Once the plants are done flowering or the tops have been killed by frost, you can begin to dig your tubers. Expect each plant to produce five to fifteen pounds! They keep best in the ground, so only dig as many as you want for a few days at a time. (Be sure to leave a few behind, for next year’s crop.) These tubers can range in size from a few ounces up to two pounds each. They are odd shaped and knobby and can be a little difficult to wash. However, they don’t need peeled, and they only have fifty calories per full cup. Jerusalem artichokes taste best raw. They are crisp, sweet, and crunchy. (Think water chestnuts or jicama.) I like to eat them just like an apple. They can also be diced or grated into salads. Cooked, they make great mashed potatoes, and they can be added to soups, stir fries, stews, and casseroles. After cooking they have a mild but distinctive flavor and their texture is similar to cooked parsnips or turnips.

I will offer one small word of caution. The starch in Jerusalem artichokes is in the form of inulin, which is considered very beneficial for diabetics. However, some folks find that eating Jerusalem artichokes feels like having a belly full of beans; especially the first time they give them a try. So start with a snack. Later, if you like, you can think about working up to a whole meal. You will find a gourmet recipe in Buried Treasures, Tasty Tubers of the World, and lots more by searching on the Internet. 

~~~ 

Originally published in the Two Rivers Tribune, April, 2008.  Check the article scans here: April in the Garden, 2008, Two Rivers Tribune.

Reprint rights available. The article can be broken up into smaller pieces if you are looking for filler. I am also willing to do a limited amount of rewriting.

Photo note:  Photos were optimized for printing in black and white on newsprint.  If I search really hard, for publication purposes, I can probably find the full color versions.

Article & photos, copyright Harvest McCampbell, 2008.  For more information on the article please send me an e-mail:  harvest95546 @ yahoo.com (take out spaces). This article may be reprinted or reposted with written permission only.
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Controlling Tomato Horn Worms Organically

I was recently asked about organic solutions to tomato hornworm infestations. They can be controlled through hand picking, thinking like an ecosystem, using crop rotation and soil solarization, as well as growing super productive tomatoes that can tolerate some predation.

Hand picking is often all you need to do. Go out after dark or before dawn with a flash light. Horn worms, slugs, and many other pests do most of their feeding in the dark. You can carry an empty plastic container of some kind, like what peanut butter or yogurt comes in. It will need to be big enough to contain all your “finds.” Then simply pick the creatures off the plants, drop them in the container and put the lid on. If you have chickens, ducks, or guineas--offer them your finds. You will soon learn which sorts of pests they will be happy to devour and which they detest. (By the way, guineas and runner ducks are supposed to get along very well with gardens—you could simply let them into the garden when pests get out of hand, and they will devour the bugs and slugs. Chickens are a little more problematic, leave them in the garden a minute too long, and they will eat your plants down to the roots. ) If you don’t have hungry birds, the container can be left in a sunny place for a few hours, or the contents can be dropped into a bucket of water. These pests are high in nitrogen so consider adding them to the materials used in the compost hole method: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=124895&id=588082483

When you think like an ecosystem, you know that every source of protein and be eaten by something. This is as true for tomato horn worms as it is for any other pests. Toads, wasps, and skunks are your friends--they will search out tomato hornworms and devour them. Skunks might seem a little hard to live with, but if you talk softly and avoid sudden movements when they are around, they grow accustomed to your presence and generally make good neighbors. Loud noises and sudden movement, on the other hand, can trigger their well known defenses.

As crazy as it may sound, wasps also like to be talked to softly, and they dislike sudden movements. When a wasp flies up near you, hold still and let it “scan” you. It will fly back and forth and up and down very close to you, and memorize what you look and smell like. It might even land on your hand or shirt briefly and walk around. If you are calm and quiet, there are usually no negative consequences. They learn who lives near them and can tell friend from foe. I once had a wasp nest over my door, and my son and I, as well as our friends, came and went without any problem. But one day a neighbor came to the door and started yelling and the wasps all flew down and chased her away. Having wasps for friends’ pays very nice dividends. Wasps’ most favorite food is caterpillars. They will seek tomato hornworms, chew them into pieces, and carry any pieces they don’t immediately devour back to their nests for their young. I find wasps to be very lovable neighbors for a number of reasons.

Toads are great in the garden also. They eat caterpillars, slugs, and many other garden pests. Like all wildlife, they prefer slow movements and soft voices. However, unlike skunks who will most likely make their home in a wild place, and wasps who can make their homes just about any place, toads may need you to design some habitat just for them. For more information on developing toad habitat see my article: “Hedging for Amphibians.” http://harvestsgardeningsecrets.blogspot.com/2010/11/hedging-for-amphibians.html

Crop rotation can help control tomato hornworms. Plant your tomatoes as far as you can from the spot where the tomato hornworms bothered them last. The hornworm pupa over winter in the soil. When spring arrives the moths emerge and lay their eggs on your young plants to start the cycle all over again. If you have enough room to let some of the garden be fallow for a few months, do a little research on soil solarization: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_solarization If you set up your solarization in the fall, or before it gets warm in the late winter or early spring, it should rid your ground of the horn worms you have now. However, the adults can still fly in and lay eggs. Some people find that planting garlic and basil can help detour the moths. But this only works if the local population is not too high. The moths’ biological imperative is to find an appropriate home for the next generation. If there is lots of competition for those homes they will hunt for good spots all the harder.

Last but not least you can try growing some super tomato plants that can produce enough food for you and the hornworms. Start with the compost hole method mentioned above: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=124895&id=588082483 Tomatoes thrive on soil prepared in this way. Choose indeterminate heirlooms (see: http://www.tomatofest.com/tomato-questions.html for more information on what this means) and don’t pinch them back or prune them unless it is really necessary (your hornworms will take care of the pruning for you). These tomatoes can out grow a moderate horn worm infestation. You may still need to do some hand picking—and encourage predators is always a good idea, but there should be enough for everyone. (This is exactly what I did last year. Even with a moderate hornworm infestation, by the end of the summer I was pruning armloads of new growth off the tomato plants every week. There was more than enough for everyone!)

If you have any questions, tips, or comments--please feel free to share them here, on my face book photo albums, or on any of my face book threads. You will need to send me a face book friend request, before you can comment there, but I do generally add everyone who asks.

Happy gardening!

Copyright 2011, Harvest McCampbell