Gophinators

Posted on February 27, 2020 by Geri Rhodes

If you attended last week’s presentation by Newt McCarty at the garden and if you bought gophinator traps on his recommendation, you might want to check out these photos. Some of us struggled with setting the traps once we got our order from Trapline, even though we watched the video here: https://www.traplineproducts.com/gophers.htmlFront end of trap

Rear end of trap

Set trap

The key at the front end is to set the little protrusion over the open jaws of the trap. Then, you thread the prong at the rear end through the loop (lower front of the second photo).

Finally you wind the spring and let it catch on the upright prong. Be careful to hold that rectangular trigger down as you wind the spring.

Newt suggested that when placing the traps in the tunnels, face the front end of the trap into the tunnel and press down gently to make sure the trap is well-seated in the dirt. ¡Cuidado! Don’t spring the trap on yourself. As the gopher sends dirt toward the rectangular trigger, the trap will spring.

Regenerative Agriculture

Posted on February 22, 2020 by Geri Rhodes

This article from Edible Magazine features Bob Quinn of Kamut International, who spoke at the Edible Institute 2020 conference at La Fonda on Feb 19, 2020. Quoting Quinn, Edible defines regenerative agriculture:

So what is regenerative agriculture? Though particular features vary among its practitioners, it first and foremost requires food producers to nourish the soil, rather than mine, deplete, or even destroy it, as happens in industrial agriculture. Chemical herbicides and pesticides common in industrial practice can kill organisms in soil, leaving the soil a nearly lifeless medium reliant on artificial nutrients and thus creating an endless, toxic cycle.

Quinn also emphasizes the importance of real organic practices as opposed to “Big Organic.”

As a practitioner and public advocate of organic agriculture, Quinn actively resists the advance of large-scale organic agriculture, or “Big Organic,” which he argues in his book, Grain by Grain: A Quest to Revive Ancient Wheat, Rural Jobs, and Healthy Food, “has mostly gone the extractive commodity route.” To food corporations and other businesses, large and small, that are trying to get into organics, Quinn asks them to assess whether their businesses extract value from communities for commodities or return value to communities. To Quinn, thinking in terms of commodities cannot be organic. “Organic—real organic—requires a whole systems approach,” he insists, “with value regenerated at every stage in the process.”

For more, go here: https://www.ediblenm.com/what-is-regenerative-agriculture/