I just can't afford it.

That was always my excuse not to buy organic foods. My budget will never be able to support those who farm organically. It can barely support all the food we go through as it is!

Now that I've spent the winter in Bakersfield, and watched all the cropdusters in the air, my thought has turned to "How can I afford to not buy organically grown foods?" The volume of pesticides/herbicides I've seen sprayed is pretty amazing. And not in a good way. So, what's a mother to do when her heart and head want one thing, but her budget demands another?

Garden. Yep, garden. I've been working on a small garden for a couple of years. It's not much, but I usually get a few tomatoes and zucchinis. This year, though, I'll be getting strawberries, chives, green beans, and hopefully some corn, too! These plants will be free: free from pesticides and herbicides. I compost most of my vegetable matter, along with egg shells and shrimp tails, throughout the year. I have to improve the soil in my yard, it's very pebbly and not well-developed since I live on the side of a mountain. I do occasionally add synthetic fertilizer, but it's in pellet form, so doesn't adhere to the fruits.  I don't need herbicides; I have a weeding tool and two good hands. I haven't needed pesticides yet. I hope I never do.

Everyone can garden. There are so many different products out there for indoor or small scale gardening! I haven't tried any of these, so please don't take this list as an endorsement, it's just what I can think of at the moment.  There's the topsy-turvy, the countertop herb and lettuce gardens, and countless websites about urban gardening. With so many resources available, truly anyone can have a garden.

Not only do you gain the benefit of knowing what is on your food, but gardening is inexpensive. At a time when food costs just keep going up, I am glad to find a way to make them head back down. Think about it: Four average-sized on-the-vine tomatoes are $2.99/lb. At ~2 lbs, that's almost $6! Those same $6 can be used to buy seeds and a container, or a plant already started.  Instead of 2 lbs of tomatoes, you can easily harvest 6 lbs or more, potentially much more if you choose seeds.

If you want to add global benefits, start with transportation costs. You don't have to drive to the store. As more people grow their own tomatoes, fewer tomatoes will be produced, and fewer trucks drive to the market. Fewer pesticides are sprayed, with lowered airtime for the dusters, and fewer chemicals will be produced in the first place. If you compost as well, that means less waste heading to the dump, and again, fewer trucks.

See? Gardening in your yard or on your balcony or in your kitchen is a very "sustainable" thing to do. It's the ultimate in local foods. Just walk out your door, and go pick something yummy.

Doing Good Work

 What a week.  Just in the last couple of days, a new challenge popped up at work.  With all the rain the project area received, it was not surprising to have water ponding in the natural areas.  At first, though, the major challenge was simply not to get the equipment stuck.  However, as most of the area began to dry (there's been sunshine for a whole week!) we started to notice that many pools or puddles remained.  Suddenly, we realized that those that remained were likely not just due to wet conditions, but probably should be classified as "vernal pools."  This was new, and opened a huge can of worms.

Vernal pools, along with other types of wetlands, require a 300' buffer around them, inside of which no equipment may penetrate.  This put enormous restrictions on where drill points could be placed, as well as travel lanes to get to them.  So, Monday morning we began moving points.  TOC and its contractor were not very happy about this.  Some people tried to convince us it wasn't that important.  They wanted to be sure the drills could keep working, since they are production-based.  However, we knew that not only did we need to make this decision for the safety of our backsides, but also for theirs.  Vernal pool and wetland mitigation is not cheap.

By Monday afternoon, we had moved all the points necessary to finish the day's assigned production.  Someone who had earlier tried to get us to lower our standards finally said, "Good work, Bios.  All the drills are running."  It sure was nice to hear.

Birds I've Seen

Having been inspired yet again by Mr. Greg, and the numerous birds I've been seeing here in watery Bakersfield, I decided to post a list of the various species I've seen lately.  These are all from home (somewhere in Los Angeles) or at the project site, north of Bakersfield.



Long-billed curlew, Numenius americanus

Black-necked stilt, Himantopus mexicanus

Mourning dove, Zenaida macroura

Red-crowned parrot, Amazona viridigenalis

Greater road-runner, Geococcyx californianus (he was sunning himself)

Burrowing owl, Athene cunicularia

Anna's hummingbird, Calypte anna

Loggerhead shrike, Lanius ludovicianus

Western scrub-jay, Aphelocoma californica

Northern mockingbird, Mimis polyglottos

Vesper sparrow, Pooecetes gramineus

Western meadowlark, Sturnella neglecta

Great blue heron, Ardea herodias

Great egret, Ardea alba

Snowy egret, Egretta thula

Black-crowned night heron, Nycticorax nycticorax (I've seen several juveniles, too)

Mallard, Anas platyrhynchos

Northern pintail, Anas acuta

Northern shoveler, Anas clypeata

Cinnamon teal, Anas cyanoptera

Northern Harrier, Circus cyaneus

Red-tailed hawk, Buteo jamaicensis

Swainson's hawk, Buteo swainsoni

American coot, Fulica americana

Killdeer, Charadrius vociferus

The links all go to the Cornell Ornithology Lab website "All About Birds."  This is a fun site with lots of FAQ's, some great photos and video, and various sounds from lots of birds.  Check them out!

Ethics, and whatever happened to right and wrong being easy?

Remember when we were little, and knowing right from wrong was easy?  Pushing your way onto the slide: wrong.  Sharing the last cookie with your friend: right.  See?  Easy.  What happened?

The other day, I got a call from my supervisor letting me know I should report for work the following day.  (Our schedules are somewhat unpredictable.)  "But," he said, "you need to know that 'The Oil Company (TOC)' has decided to continue working, outside the B.O.'s recommendations."  The B.O. is the biological opinion agreed upon between the federal and state governments and TOC before the project began.  The B.O. states that when the area receives more than 1" of rain after Nov. 1 (the project area got 5 inches in December alone.  That's the whole year's worth, and not even in the rainiest month!), the biologists must monitor reference sites for germination of plants that are endangered or threatened ("listed plants".)  Once these plants have germinated, the project is supposed to stop until the plants have flowered and then new avoidance measures will be put into action. 

Here's the dilemma, though.  We can't tell which plants have germinated.  We can see the mosses and the grasses, none of which are in the listed plants.  However, we can't identify any of the cotyledons that are popping up.  So, TOC is going to keep going as if nothing is growing yet.  What do we do?  If we say, "Sorry guys, we disagree and will not help you until they flower," then they'll find someone else.  We lose our jobs.  Not only that, but if someone is willing to do it for them, what else will they be willing to compromise on?  Will they cut other corners?  Or do I say, "I'll agree to keep walking with you, but that's it."  Does that weaken my standards?  Am I flip-flopper?

I got an inkling of how important my job is last week.  I met a woman in the elevator at the motel where I stay after a 10-hour day.  "Do you work for the oil companies?" she asked.  "Sort of," I said.  "I'm a biologist that makes sure they don't run over any critters."  Her eyes widened and she asked "Do they get punished when they run over something?  What happens to them?"  I explained that per the agreement, they are given a quota that they are allowed to "impact," but that anything over the quota will result in a fine.  Just before I got out of the elevator, she said, "Keep up the good work."

That's the dilemma.  Am I doing good work if I keep working?  Or should I step aside and let someone else keep going, not knowing what else they'll give up along the way.  I won't say what my choice was.  I want to hear your thoughts.