Thorium!

Our media is not built around effectively and accurately disseminating the facts to the public.  Our media is built around putting your eyeballs on their print or their website and keeping them there.  And the best way to keep you there is to scare you to death.  - Kirk Sorensen



I know this has little to do with gardening, but the benefits we may see from thorium will drastically change the world, and possibly the way we garden.  Imagine abundant energy, abundant clean water, and sustainable hydroponics!


Watch this video to learn more!
http://youtu.be/qLk46BZfEMs


Thorium has long been rejected as a nuclear fuel - Why?  Because uranium produced weapons grade platonium and we knew how to use Uranium.  Why experiment - Right?

Why then am I getting excited about thorium?  It's because both India and China are committing to building thorium reactors!  It's been done before with total success but the Atomic Energy Commission lost interest because it's useless for building bombs.  India has finalized their plans and will soon begin construction and plan to have a 300MW prototype in operation by 2016!  

With that being said here are some statistics

    World Energy Demand 2009

    5,000,000,000 tonnes coal
   31,000,000,000 barrels oil
5,000,000,000,000 m³ natural gas
           65,000 tonnes uranium

1 Kg Thorium = 13,000 barrels oil


2.2% of fossil fuel is used by freight trains .   1 Ton of cargo can be moved 430 miles on a gallon of diesel.  Hydrogen is twice as efficient as diesel  I'm guessing that means by weight.  Guess what - Hydrogen can be a product of a thorium reactor!

A coal plant releases 100 times the amount of radiation as a nuclear power plant producing the same amount of energy - Scientific America

Amazing isn't it?  Nuclear has gotten such a bad rap for so many years.  
It's actually a lot safer too. This chart shows natural and man-made sources of radiation
 

Check this out - Thorium is a very concentrated source of energy.  
1 gram = all the energy you use this year!

 Thorium is abundant and found with rare earth materials that would further benefit our energy efficient technology.  Remove the restrictions over mining thorium in the USA, and we would have a win/win.



 

We seem to be falling short when it comes the using this technology
















 It's much less expensive to build molten salt reactors that use thorium than it is to build light water reactors that use uranium.  Once a good design is finalized they could be mass produced unlike conventional Uranium U235 technologies which can only be cast in Japan.





And there are other benefits!
Almost no economic penalty to desalinate sea water.  There is an abundance of thorium, and it is a waste product of rare earth mines therefore the cost of fuel is very cheap.  The cost of Molten Salt Reactors (MSR)  is many times less expensive that light water reactors.  There is no possibility of a melt down and MSR require very little education to run - in fact they do not even require supervision for months at a time.  The process creates insignificant amounts of transuranics (the dangerous stuff). The temperatures are higher which is why there is no need for high pressure water.  The turbines are smaller and more efficient creating more power.  Thorium does not produce materials that can be used for weapons so it's a low security site.

Other products can be made besides electricity.    Hydrogen can be made which in turn can be used to make ammonia for agriculture.  Finally sustainable hydroponics!

With a little chemistry synthetic fuels such as methanol for gasoline or dimethyl ether for diesel can also be made




Transuranics (the dangerous stuff)



The thorium cycle generates only 1% of waste in comparison to conventional Uranium U235 technologies which run into other problems.



Thorium provides safety and less problems





It's really sad and deceptive that oil companies claim to be promoting green technology such as Algae bio-fuels, wind, and solar when Thorium reactors are far more efficient, less expensive to build and maintain. Why?  Maybe it's because they know these can't compete with oil.  These methods are prone to failure.

Thorium can compete and will provide the world with cheap, clean, safe and abundant energy on a smaller foot print while providing clean water and hydrogen as well as other hydrogen products for fuels.  We can breakup carbon dioxide, disassociate water to create hydrogen, ammonia, and make fertilizer and desalinate sea water for crops and residential use.  All of this at extremely low cost, and very little damage to our environment.  Thorium is so abundant that we will not run out of it for thousands of years!

If there was a lot of energy and it was cheap and not harmful to the environment, what would you do that you are not doing now?

Exxon Mobile attempting to improve their image.

 Oil companies spread rumors and untrue ideas about nuclear energy.  Campaigns like the one below are intended to scare the public.  But even Light Water Reactors are safer and less damaging to the environment than coal, gas, or oil.  Which have been well know to explode, and spill and coal mining is not only dangerous and unhealthy, it's destroying vast areas of pristine forests.

This report was given to JFK in 1962.  The government had the information, and designs to built Thorium Reactors, but the information was suppressed.  Who might want this information suppressed?  There had already been a reactor working for 4 years in the 1960's.   Instead of making progress we abandoned this technology, and now it's being developed and patented by India and China.   We still have a chance to set this right but our politicians bow to the demands of big oil.

We live much better lives today because we learned how to use carbon.  What about thorium?  Thorium has a million times the energy density of a carbon hydrogen bond.

Watch this video to learn more!
http://youtu.be/qLk46BZfEMs

There's still time to plant your winter crops

 Redwood Seeds has these to offer
 &
Johny's Select Seeds recommends these winter vegetables.

Glyphosate Alternatives

Let me acknowledge that glyphosate is only the "Active Ingredient" listed on many herbicides, and that it's actually the unlisted adjuvants that we need to be concerned about. Unfortunately the regulations only require safety testing of the active ingredients even though the adjuvants have been found to be 1000 times more toxic.  The only other dangerous ingredient in RoundUp that I know of is polyethoxylated tallowamine POE-15. 

In an effort to avoid using glyphosate I did some research on how the kill weeds around ornamental landscape plants, pathways and driveways.  I still and always will object to Glyphosate and 2-4-D being used on or near vegetable gardens.

Here are the methods I was able to discover:

Pulling weeds by hand, and sheet mulching.  This is great for a small area


Zinc Sulfate mixed 1-1/8 oz per gallon will treat 4 sq ft.  At $12 per 10 lbs this works out to about $0.35/sq ft.  Yikes!

BurnOut Weed & Grass Killer made of a special blend of citric acid and clove oil and other patented synergistic components. If I try this product I'll post the results, but from what I've read this too only stunts the plant and leaves the roots to grow again.  If you have used this I'd like to hear about your results.

Weed Dragon is a large propane torch.  Reviews state that they are effective at temporarily removing the weeds, but repeated treatment will be required to eventually kill more persistent weeds.   Attacking the weeds again several days later seems to be advised.
The Weed Dragon delivers a 400,000 BTU while the mini delivers 25,000 BTU.  The later uses a small disposable tank, and is easily held by one hand where as the former uses a 20 gallon tank and is often accessorized with a cart.  There is also a 2.5 gallon model that is worn like a back pack.
Apparently 1 gallon of propane will last about 1 hour depending on how high the flame is turned up.  Not all models have a flame adjustment. 


Vinegar, salt, & soap mixed at 1/2 gal vinegar, 1/2 cup salt, 1/2tsp liquid dish soap will also kill weeds.  This mixture costs about $6.00/gal.  I don't know what the application rate is supposed to be, but I used it as I would use Roundup. After several applications there was only a few blotches otherwise the plants were healthy.

I mentioned this did not work and someone else told me I had the recipe wrong and absolutely guaranteed that her formula as shown above would work.  Below are the results after spraying 5 times over 8 days.  The large broad leafed plant shows only a small amount of damage.  The grass lost color but regained its strength soon after the experiment was over.

I did find that I could pour a couple ounces directly on the root area for excellent results, but causing the soil to become incapable of supporting plant life is not what I'm after.  Even Roundup leaves the soil in better shape than this.

I hate the idea of supporting Monsanto or any biotech bent on destroying the earth with GMO and toxic chemicals.  But they do seem to have the only spray on products that will kill weeds.  How poisonous these herbicides are is a matter of debate.  During the past 30 years I've never been particularly careful about handling Roundup or 2-4-D, and I don't seem to have been affected, but I've had friends who were in Vietnam that were severely harmed by defoliants.

Of course I'm not advocating that we ingest it.  Only a crazy person would do that right?  Oh yeah our GM foods have been modified to resist Roundup and therefore hugh amounts of the stuff is sprayed on our food.  This I object to, but spraying my driveway seems okay to me.

It seems too cruel but I may have to do my own experiments with Roundup.  The group of good and natural folks I would like to be able to include myself in say that Roundup destroys the life in the soil.  Somehow I doubt this.  Over time, the glyphosate can be tied up by cations in the water or it can be biodegraded by bacteria. [1] By spraying the leaves of a plant, those chemicals are taken down into the roots and might poison some of the microbiology,  but with all the bull that I've been feed about vinegar I simply don't trust the disinformation any longer.

Here's the thing.  Don't make up the facts just to make you case.  Some organic herbicides such as herbicidal soaps and oils have been found to be more harmful to aquatic life than Roundup.  The EIQ (Environmental Impact Quotient ) of Roundup is only 15.3 (on a scale of 1 to 100).  [2]. 

Making up your own facts does more harm then good.   It doesn't work for Monsanto and it does not benefit the fight for a clean world.  This poor lab rat was fed Roundup.  Let's get real, nobody puts Roundup on their food like table salt except maybe the farmers using GM seeds.  So buy organic.

But don't tell me vinegar kills weeds and that it's just as good as Roundup because it's not. 

1. http://www.walterreeves.com/gardening-q-and-a/roundup-breakdown-in-tap-water/
2. http://www.sustainable-gardening.com/archives/403

Buying Healthy Food

Buying healthy food is becoming quite a challenge.  It may surprise you to know that even baking powder can contain GMO.  At the bottom is a list of ingredients to be wary of from
http://responsibletechnology.org/ShoppingTips-2013.pdf?key=35730635
 
Studies in cell research have demonstrated the mechanism by which micro RNA from genetically engineered foods may alter organ function in humans.  This means that these studies have found that micro RNA can attach to the receptor sites of our DNA!

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3351922/

Several stores have good reputations for selling Non-GMO.  Whole Foods and Costco should be praised for their efforts.  But just because the package says 'Organic' you may still be buying GM food.  This is because some foods come from China where there is no testing.  But in an exploratory fashion, Whole Foods Store goes the extra step by testing those foods!

I'm have mostly negative feelings about buying seeds from Seminis because even though they claim to sell Non-GMO seeds they are a subsidiary of Monsanto.  My preference is to avoid putting any money in Monsanto's pockets.  On the other hand if Seminis does well it may wake Monsanto to the fact that we prefer not to be poisoned.  Imagine that! 

Another reason to avoid buying from corporations like Seminis is they sell hybrid seeds.  These seeds are protected by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office or by the USDA’s Plant Variety Protection Office.  This means you can not and would not want to use the offspring seeds from your crop. While you may not plan to use the seeds you are still supporting world wide ownership of our food supply when you buy from a company that restricts further use of the seeds. Buying seeds from a company such as Redwood Seed Company  ensures the seed you plant are open pollinated (OP) so you too can save your own seeds.   Redwood encourages their customers to save seeds and even goes so far as to offer free classes about how to do it!  I like people who share and would prefer to see them excell because of their fearless trust in mankind and their product.

So here's the list.  Some of these may sound kinda strange.  Like baking powder.  I never knew it has corn starch in it.  As you can see GM comes in many products you might never suspect.  Right near the top is aspartame.  It contains phenylalanine which may be manufactured with the aid of genetically modified micro-organisms (escherichia coli). This process has been used industrially in the USA for many years.

Another wake up call about ascorbic acid – it is synthesized from corn syrup. - See more at: http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/is-your-vitamin-c-the-real-deal-or-a-gmo-wannabe/#sthash.j4uUQjaA.dpuf

Another wake up call is ascorbic acid.  I never would have guessed it is synthesized from corn syrup.  The problem with this unnatural Vitamin C is that is not discriminatory in its anti-microbial abilities as it also wipes out good bacteria or probiotics in the gut.  Whole foods based vitamin C does not harm beneficial intestinal bacteria in the same way as synthetic vitamin C does.

There are so many things that we've been lead to believe are good for us.  Well they may be, but if they are the product of GM, then we really need to know.  Would you have questioned vitamin B12, vitamin E, isoflavones or lysine? 

Another wake up call about ascorbic acid – it is synthesized from corn syrup. - See more at: http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/is-your-vitamin-c-the-real-deal-or-a-gmo-wannabe/#sthash.j4uUQjaA.dpuf

  ascorbic acid (vit C) Aspartame
 (also called
 AminoSweet®, NutraS-weet®,
 Equal Spoonful®,
 Canderel®,
 BeneVia®, E951)
 baking powder
 canola oil
 (rapeseed oil)
 caramel color
 cellulose
 citric acid
 cobalamin (vit B12)
 colorose
 condensed milk
 confectioners sugar
 corn flour
 corn masa
 corn meal
 corn oil
 corn sugar
 corn syrup
 cornstarch
 cottonseed oil
 cyclodextrin
 cystein
 dextrin
 dextrose
 diacetyl
 diglyceride
 erythritol
 Equal
 food starch
 fructose (any form)
 glucose
 glutamate
 glutamic acid
 glycerides
 glycerin
 glycerol
 glycerol monooleate
 glycine
 hemicellulose
 high fructose corn syrup
 (HFCS)
 hydrogenated starch
 hydrolyzed vegetable
 protein
 inositol
 inverse syrup
 inversol
 invert sugar
 isoflavones
 lactic acid
 lecithin
 leucine
 lysine
 malitol
 malt
 malt syrup
 malt
 extract
 maltodextrin
 maltose
 mannitol
 methylcellulose
 milk powder
 milo starch
 modified food starch
 modified starch
 mono and diglycerides
 monosodium
 glutamate (MSG)
 Nutrasweet
 oleic acid
 Phenylalanine
 phytic acid
 protein isolate
 shoyu
 sorbitol
 soy flour
 soy isolates
 soy lecithin
 soy milk
 soy oil
 soy protein
 soy protein isolate
 soy sauce
 starch
 stearic acid
 sugar (unless cane sugar)
 tamari
 tempeh
 teriyaki marinades
 textured
 vegetable
 protein
 threonine
 tocopherols (vit E)
 tofu
 trehalose
 triglyceride
 vegetable fat
 vegetable oil
 vitamin B12
 vitamin E
 whey
 whey powder
 xanthan
 gum
 Popcorn is NOT GM

Summer is the Time to Plant Winter Squash!

Winter squash takes about three months to mature.  For a September harvest it's time to plant!

Remember squash are heavy feeders so add plenty of compost below and around each plant

Time to choose your brassicas for late summer planting. 

Weeding

Ray has documented an experiment where he weeded one section of his garden and let the other go natural.  So what do you think?  Is weeding just for show or does it help your plants grow better?

This link will start his video at the point where he shows his experiment.
http://youtu.be/Zl_zxmqQ1EU?t=8m48s

Or you can watch the entire video about compost tea nutrient extraction which is different from brewing compost tea for microorganisms. 

Easy Tea Brewer

Last year I build a compost tea brewer that created a vortex. Time has taught me a few things and today I rebuilt the brewer to make the whole operation a lot easier.
The whole vortex thing is impressive and fun to watch but I really don't see the benefit.  If you are into the mystical power of vortex then this design is not your cup of tea  (Like the pun?)

Once the tea was made transporting to the garden became a choir that I disliked so much that the tea would often sit too long and ended up being wasted.  The trick was to make clean tea that I could pump through a hose to the garden beds. Experiments showed me that simply placing the compost in a strainer bag did not let sufficient water flow through the bag.

This new design uses an airlift pump to recirculate the tea water through a strainer bag filled with compost. The airlift adds plenty of aeration to the tea.

I built this from parts I had around and will change the 3/4" pipe going to the bag to a 2" pipe for even better flow.   A PVC Slip Coupling on this pipe holds the bag in place with the zip tie just above the coupling.

I also cut the container down to a depth that I can comfortably reach the bottom of.  Cleaning the 33" tall 55 gallon drum was quite difficult and messy since I had to place my head an shoulders into the drum in order to scrub it out.

I'm running the new design for the first time right now.  Cleanup will be easy as removing the bag of compost and wiping out the barrel.  Distribution will be done with a high powered sump pump.  I will be able to spray full strength tea on my plants and water them with an abundance of active microbes.

With this easy brewer I will be far more likely to brew very often.

For those who are looking carefully at the photos you may have noticed the 2" pipe connects through the bottom.  This adds stability to the pipes.  I might not have done this except the original design used this hole to create the vortex.  It think it is a good idea and may even replace the cap that I put on to seal the bottom with a 2" valve in case I should ever want to drain the barrel from the bottom.

Most of these pipes are not glued so they all come apart easily for cleaning.

After using this design I saw a way easily increase the flow so I extended the air lift all the way to the ground.  This design works just as well and turned out to be even quieter than the previous design.  Cleanup is not significantly more difficult so I will keep these changes,  In fact it is so easy that I would not have any trouble making tea every day.