Organic Gardening, Awareness, and
Activism
Gardening is a hobby for
me.
I believe it is very important to be aware of what is
happening around the world. This is something that requires some
effort. Most mass media newscasts seem not to provide much in-depth (or
any) information about a wide range of world affairs. I have listed a few
sites here that might make your search for information easier.
My search for media and information sites has led me to
some interesting sites that provide information about activism and organizations
that work for a better more just world. I hope you have fun here and find
something to increase your awareness. And, I hope your increased awareness
leads to more fun.
NEW Content
War Never Again
3 Reasons Not to Go to War with Iraq,
Southern New England
Indigenous Music Links
Evolving page of links to music calenders, venues, and
artists in southern New England and New York, focusing on acoustic and eclectic
styles.
topics of interest
Gardening
resources
Recreation and Personal
Growth
Alternative Media: Links to information that is not
easily available through commercial news media
Media sites with
streaming audio content
Other media sites with
information and commentary that is not easily available through mainstream news
sources
Awareness will ultimately lead to action,
here are links to some organizations and tools
Activism: links
to effectiveness and organizations that can help you affect positive change,
including a new section on protecting rivers and water quality
I do not believe that indiscriminately spraying toxic
chemicals on food crops is a wise and ethical practice. Since GATT and other
trade agreements overruled many of the protections that our food supply enjoyed,
I have noticed that an alarming amount of supermarket produce tastes or smells
strongly of pesticides and or fungicides. I suggest writing your legislators and
demanding that provisions be added to GATT to protect consumers from pesticide
residues on food. Demand that funding must be increased for the "Pesticide Data
Program" to determine safe levels of pesticide residues permittable on
foods.
I also feel that the mass marketing of herbicides and
pesticides to homeowners should be regulated strictly. Use of these dangerous
chemicals can have serious short and long term negative consequences. Too much
is unknown. Supposedly inert ingredients like carriers and wetting agents may do
as much damage as the more carefully regulated active ingredients. Herbicides
and pesticides simply should not be marketed for profit to uninformed consumers.
Too many homeowners think that if a little is effective, a lot is more
effective. This is not the case.
There is no reason to kill the dandelions in our lawns and poison our
environment in the process. If we can learn to enjoy the beauty of
bio-diversity, our children's health will benefit.
My Favorite Garden crops include:
- Melons: I prefer small red and yellow watermelons to
larger varieties. Yellow Doll and Mickylee are good home
varieties. Mickylee is sold by Ferry Morse and others. Charentais
canteloupe varieties like Charmel taste the best, but don't last very long at
the peak ripeness stage. Try Sweetie Butterscotch melon in short season
areas.
- Peppers: Ultraset from Stokes is my favorite red sweet
pepper. Lipstick from Johnny's is another good choice if you have a short
season and like red peppers. Early Sunsation is a good green pepper that
ripens yellow and Antohi Romanian is a prolific sweet wax pepper that ripens
red. If you like big blocky bells try LaBamba from Harris Seeds.
Arledge is my favorite hot pepper. In the last few years I have grown
many varieties of hot peppers. I have saved seeds from cross pollinated
pepper plants and found the results to be very good. I have one that is a
cross (Arledge x Lipstick) x Hungarian Wax that is outstanding. I have
saved the best seeds from that cross now for 5 years.
- Tomatoes: I have been frustrated with tomatoes due to
diseases including fusarium. My favorites include Sun Sugar, Rose
Quartz, Prudens Purple, Yellow Brandywine, Whippersnapper, Rose, Sandul
Moldovan, and a large pointed paste type called Manny (which I got from
Hockanum Greenhouse in Storrs, CT.) Manny is my favorite tomato overall
for flavor, as well as vigor and meatiness. If you like grape tomatoes try
Jolly. It's large pink and very sweet when fully ripe.
- Garlic, Onions, Companion Plants and Herbs: I have
grown ten types of stiffneck garlic including German Extra Hardy, Leningrad,
Premium Northern White, Music, Purple Stripe, Chesnok Red, Brown Tempest,
Metechi, Bogatyr, Aces Rocambole from a local source. I have grown many
onion varieties form seed including Ailsa Craig. I plant nasturtiums with
squash, blue hyssop with broccoli, flowering coriander with tomatoes and
flowering radishes and raab with cucumbers to help provide insect protection.
Bean Beetles have been my most difficult insect problem. I haven't tried
releasing the specfic type of parasitic wasps that prey on them. Flea
beetles are a difficult pest for me as well. Floating row covers are necessary
in spring to grow mustard family crops and eggplant.
Gardening resources
Tomato Pepper and Other Agronomy Pages
- The On-line
Tomato Vine
- This collection of tomato pages is without equal. An
authoritative WWW source for info on Tomatoes.
- Tomato Mailing List
Information
- If you need still more info on tomatoes
- Firegirl's Chile
page
- Includes a seed exchange.
- ChileHeads
page
- Chile Lovers unite.
- Chile Varieties
database
- Graeme Caselton's database is astonishing
- Vegetable
information
- Texas A&M site; if you have problems with or want
information about specific vegetables this is a good place to start.
- A Multi-state Extension Materials Database: Requires
no password, user fee, or registration
- NewCrop
Purdue
- The Web site of the Indiana Center for New Crops &
Plant Products, at Purdue University. NewCROP provides windows to new and
specialty crop profiles
- Links to every state agricultural institution, also
Federal and International links
- National
Agricultural Library
- links to lots of academic information including
AGNIC.
- The Plant Pathology Internet
Guide Book
- A subject oriented internet resource guide for plant
pathology, applied entomology, and all related fields.
- AgFind
- WWW search engine specifically geared to help users
find agricultural products and services on the internet.
- Agriculture
Online
- Lots of info on farming
- Garlic
Seed Foundation
- Links to resources for East Coast garlic
Growers
Botany and Plant Information
- The Plants Photo
Gallery
- United States Department of Agriculture Natural
Resources Conservation Service provides photographic images of native
plants.
- Plants for a Future- A
Resource and Information Centre for Edible and other useful plants
- Plants for a Future seeks to gather together and
disseminate information on the many useful properties of plants, particularly
those plants which are less common in todays society. One major project has
been the construction of a database of useful plants which contains over 7000
species, which is now available online.
- Connecticut
College Arboretum
- Local for me, great info source and lots of good links
too.
- Southwest-School-of-Botanical-Medicine
Plant Images by Genus
- A thorough listing of medicinal plant images
- American
Herbalist Guild Member Pages
- Links to Herbal Sites of Interest
Organic Gardening Sites
- Northeast
Organic Farming Association
- The Northeast Organic Farming Association is an
affiliation of seven state chapters: Connecticut, Massachusetts, New
Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont.
- Don't
Panic Eat Organic
- This is an especially good organic growing
page.
- Biological Control: A
Guide to Natural Enemies in North America
- Cornell University Web site provides photographs and
descriptions of major biological control (or biocontrol) agents of major
insect, disease and weed pests in North America.
- Sustainable agriculture
Papers
- A Collection of writings on sustainable
agriculture
- Arizona Biological
Control Inc.
- SUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENTAL ALTERNATIVES FOR
GROWERS!
- Organic1's
page
- Organic1 is the organizer behind Undernet #gardening,
his page that has lots of links to organic growing information.
Seed sources: I've had excellent results with all
these
- Johnny's
Selected Seeds
- The best all around selection I know of for seeds and
supplies for gardeners. Their peppers are the best for the north. Valencia
tomato is a winner too.
- Cook's
Garden
- Some interesting salad greens and heirloom vegetables
can be found here.
- Seeds of
Change
- Unusual heirloom seeds from culturally diverse
sources. They have changed since they were bought out a large corporation
known for candy.
- Renee's Garden
Seeds
- Choice varieties for home gardeners
- White Flower
Farm
- Flowering Plants and Bulbs
- Peaceful
Valley
- One of the best sources I've seen for organic growing
supplies.
- Southern
Exposure Seed Exchange
- Very good tomato selection, lots of good heirlooms
peaked my interest here.
- Stokes
Seeds
- Big selection, great prices.
- Thompson and
Morgan
- Excellent flower seed selection,
- Parks
Seed
- Big selection, and lots of info on the web site
too.
- Tomato Grower's
Supply
- This is the best Source I have seen for tomato
seeds
- Logee's Greenhouses,
Ltd.
- 141 North Street, Danielson, CT, 06239, 860-774-8038,
everything you can grow indoors (plus great herbs) in 2" pots
- Fedco
Seeds
- An excellent co-operative source for non-treated
hybrid and heirloom seeds. Great prices too and quantity discounts. Order
deadline March 15.
- Richter's
Herbs
- This is the best source I have seen for herb seeds and
plants
- Nourse
Farms
- A source for high quality, virus-indexed, small fruit
plants: strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, currants and
gooseberries, as well as asparagus, rhubarb, and horseradish.
- Filaree
Farm
- My favorite garlic website. This is the place to find
unusual garlic with lots of information too.
- Territorial
Seeds
- Great selection of seeds for short cool growing
seasons including some real nice garlic varieties.
- Nichol's Garden Nursery
- Herbs, rare seeds and plants including garlic.
- Gourmet
Garlic Gardens
- Another garlic source.
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Recreation and Personal Growth
- American Canoe
Association
- Canoe Poling is one of my hobbies. The ACA Sanctions
races and other events
- 2005 ACA Canoe Poling
Schedule
- Here is a schedule of Canoe Poling races and events
for 2006. This list is more comprehensive and updated more often than the ACA
Page. Look for more poling info here soon.
- Northeast
Paddler's Message Board
- An information and communication resource for paddlers
in the Northeast Region.
- Yang Style Tai Chi
Chuan
- Headquartered in Boston, MA. A Connecticut school is
located in Westerly R.I: classes in Push Hands, Chi Kung, and Tai Chi.
- Southern New England
Indigenous Music Links
- NEW CONTENT: evolving original page of links to music
calenders, venues, and artists in southern New England and New York.
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Alternative news media and information that is not
easily available through commercial media
Political Disclaimer: It is very easy to identify the problems
in our society. Enacting positive change, however requires AWARENESS,
WORK, and VIGILANCE. Many Americans believe that we live in a nation
which automatically guarantees freedom and democracy. I fear that this
has never been the case, we must work hard to maintain and revive democracy,
justice, and truth in the media. This starts with AWARENESS.
Government and news media dominated by money may work to enhance our material
wealth. Too many Americans equate materialism with freedom and
justice. These sites below may help to raise our awareness; they cannot
necessarily provide us with solutions to the problems they identify.
That is the challenge that is before every citizen. Start by talking
with your friends and neighbors, don't be afraid. Believe that your voice
can make a difference. Write to your legislators, BE HEARD! and
ACT!
Media sites with audio content
- World Radio
Network
- Shortwave Radio broadcasting through Real Audio. You
will find international news broadcasts from Australia, China, New Zealand,
Russia, Sweden, Turkey and many others here.
- Freespeech Radio
News
- A daily news program.
- Radio
Netherlands
- Radio Netherlands provides information in a very
listener friendly format.
- Radio France
International
- Radio France International provides informative and
thorough coverage of world affairs
- Deutsche Welle
- Deutsche Welle, the German broadcast service is
available in English on real audio
- Radio Canada
International
- Radio Canada International
- BBC
- The BBC is always thorough.
- OutfarPress
Shortwave
- Highly recommended: one half hour per week, clips from
international short wave news broadcasts
- Radio For Peace
International
- RFPI based in Costa Rica has some very interesting
programming about Central and South America. The audio quality is poor.
- Voice
of Russia
- For another perspective
- Democracy
Now
- Another nightly newscast
- Radio Nation
- From the Nation Magazine
- CounterSpin
- From FAIR, media watchdogs
- Your
Call
- Laura Flanders show on KALW
- Flashpoints
- INVESTIGATIVE News Radio Weekdays from KPFA
- Glen Hauser's World of
Radio
- Glen monitors and summarizes diverse world radio
sources
- ENN
Radio
- Environmental News Network
- Jim
Hightower
- Commentary from a lone voice from Texas
- National Radio
Project
- Attempting to build a sustainable model of independent
news programming. Utilizing voices and perspectives rarely heard in media,
Making Contact focuses on the human realities of politics, the connections
between local and global events, and creative possibilities for people to
engage in hopeful democratic change.
- Mike's Radio
World
- A thorough listing of Shortwave Radio stations
including many that broadcast on the internet
- MIT
List of Radio on the Internet
- This list of radio stations on the internet is very
complete
Other DIVERSE media sites
- The
Nation
- Thorough journalism which addresses topics ignored or
covered up by other media.
- Z magazine
- News and stimulating commentary. Links to Noam Chomsky
Archive are especially valuable.
- Left Business
Observer
- Stimulating information and commentary about our
economy, and how it functions.
- FAIR
- Fairness and Accuracy in Media, thank you FAIR for
speaking truth to power. FAIR also has a great audio segment called Counter
Spin.
- Mother Jones
Magazine
- Thought provoking information and commentary on social
justice.
- Utne Reader
- Sometimes interesting, you be the judge.
- Columbia Journalism
Review
- CJR critiques the media, and reports what the others
wont.
- Boston
Globe's Latest World News
- This is one of the better commercial news pages on the
web.
- Corporate
Watch
- We are committed to exposing corporate greed by
documenting the social, political, economic and environmental impacts of these
transnational giants. We also aim to do something about it!
- Michael Moore's
Page
- Comedy or Commentary? Michael Moore is good at what he
does, exposing the soft underbelly of corporate greed. Producer of "Roger
& Me," "TV Nation," The Awful Truth," and "Downsize This"
- Opensecrets.org
/ The Center for Responsive Politics
- Politicians may not be "For Sale" in the USA, but
there seem to be many who are "For Rent." The Center for Responsive Politics
is a non-partisan, non-profit research group based in Washington, D.C. that
tracks money in politics, and its effect on elections and public policy. You
can learn here who got how much from who. The Center’s work is aimed at
creating a more educated voter, an involved citizenry, and a more responsive
government.
- Essential
Information
- Founded in 1982 by Ralph Nader, Essential Information
is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization that is involved in a variety of
projects to encourage citizens to become active and engaged in their
communities. They provide provocative information to the public on important
topics neglected by the mass media and policy makers.
- Truthout
- Truthout scans various media sources
- Economic
Democracy
- Towards a democratic economic system and media
- Project Censored
- Compiles an annual list of 25 news stories that have
been overlooked, under-reported or self-censored by the country's major
national news media.
- CounterPunch
- CounterPunch is the bi-weekly muckraking newsletter
edited by Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair. Twice a month they bring
readers the stories that the corporate press never prints.
- AlterNet
- Stimulating and value-driven information we need to
create change and good policies.
- Consortium
News
- Committed to honestly informing the American people
about important events, no matter what the political and economic
pressures.
- In These
Times
- Dedicated to informing and analyzing popular movements
for social, environmental and economic justice
- Information
Clearinghouse
- A source of unreported (or under reported) news from
around the globe.
- AlJazeerah
- An Arab and Islamic world perspective
- Arab
News
- From Saudi Arabia
- Al-Ahram
- From Egypt
- Tikkun
- From Israel
- Dahr Jamail's
Iraq Dispatches
- From Iraq
- Angry Arab
New Service
- A source on politics, war, the Middle East, Arabic
poetry, and art.
- Colorado
Campaign for Middle East Peace
- Stated goal: Working to end the U.S.-led sanctions and
bombings against Iraq, and ending U.S. support for Israel's illegal occupation
of Palestinian territories and its oppression of the Palestinian people, in
accordance with international law.
- Grist
Magazine
- Grist tackles environmental topics with irreverence,
intelligence, and a fresh perspective with the goal to inform, entertain,
provoke, and encourage creative thinking about environmental problems and
solutions.
- ENN: Environmental News
Network
- Environmental News Network has been working to educate
the world about environmental issues facing our Earth
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Links to Organizations and Tools to Affect Positive
Change
United for
Peace
Best place to find anti-war related events in your
area
War Resistor's
League
"There is no way to peace — peace is the way." A.J.
Muste
American Friends Service
Committee (AFSC)
A Quaker organization that includes people of various
faiths who are committed to social justice, peace, and humanitarian service
Veterans for Common
Sense
VfCS seeks to inject the element of Common Sense into
debates over war and national security. In an age when the majority of public
servants have never served in uniform, the perspective of war veterans must play
a key role in the public debate over national security issues in order to
preserve the liberty veterans have fought and died preserving.
Not in Our
Name
NiON believes that as people living in the United States
it is our responsibility to resist the injustices done by our government, in our
names
Peace
Pledge
Publicly register your opposition to war on Iraq and
join a coordinated national campaign to prevent a war with Iraq. Join the Iraq
Pledge of Resistance, a nationally coordinated campaign of nonviolent civil
disobedience.
International A.N.S.W.E.R.
Act Now to Stop War & End Racism
Public
Citizen
Founded by Ralph Nader in 1971, Public Citizen is the
consumer's eyes and ears in Washington. They fight for safer drugs and medical
devices, cleaner and safer energy sources, a cleaner environment, fair trade,
and a more open and democratic government.
Pesticide Action
Network
For 16 years, the Pesticide Action Network has
campaigned to replace pesticide use with ecologically sound alternatives.
Thomas
U.S. Congressional Legislative Information on the
Internet
Physicians for
Social Responsibility
A community of conscience committed to eliminating
weapons of mass destruction, preserving a sustainable environment, addressing
public health reform and reducing violence and its causes.
Amnesty
International
Amnesty International
Union of Concerned
Scientists
Working for a cleaner environment and a safer
world.
Worldwatch
Institute
Worldwatch is dedicated to fostering the evolution of an
environmentally sustainable society, one in which human needs are met in ways
that do not threaten the health of the natural environment or the prospects of
future generations.
Human Rights
Watch
We stand with victims and activists to prevent
discrimination, to uphold political freedom, to protect people from inhumane
conduct in wartime, and to bring offenders to justice. Helsinki Watch is a part
of this organization.
American Civil Liberties
Union
The American Civil Liberties Union is the nation's
foremost advocate of individual rights -- litigating, legislating, and educating
the public on a broad array of issues affecting individual freedom in the United
States.
Common
Cause
Common Cause is a nonprofit, nonpartisan citizen's
lobbying organization promoting open, honest and accountable government. Common
Cause represents the unified voice of the people against corruption in
government and big money special interests.
Greenpeace
"Greenpeace continues to believe that determined
individuals can alter the actions and purposes of even the most powerful by
"bearing witness", that is, by drawing attention to an abuse of the environment
through their unwavering presence at the scene, whatever the risk.
Citizens for Tax
Justice
Citizens for Tax Justice, founded in 1979, is a 501
(c)(4) public interest research and advocacy organization focusing on federal,
state and local tax policies and their impact upon our nation. CTJ's mission is
to give ordinary people a greater voice in the development of tax laws. Against
the armies of special interest lobbyists for corporations and the wealthy
United for a Fair
Economy
UFE's work is grounded in the belief that the USA would
be a far more democratic, prosperous, and caring community if we narrowed the
vast gap between the very wealthy and everyone else. They envision an economy
where the distinction between “labor” and “capital” is blurred — where everyone
contributes to society with their labor and everyone benefits from society’s
financial growth. They envision a society in which values, not profits alone,
guide economic decisions.
We the People
We the People page, Jerry Brown's organization is
working to educate people to take back power from the corporate plutocracy. He
is hard hitting and factual. We the People exposes the weaknesses in both
liberal and conservative political thought.
Protecting and Restoring our Rivers and Water
Quality
American
Rivers
A nonprofit conservation organization dedicated to
protecting and restoring rivers nationwide.
Clean Water
Network
The Clean Water Network is an alliance of over 1,100
organizations that recognize the need for strong clean water safeguards in order
to protect public health and the environment.
Center for Watershed
Protection
The Center for Watershed Protection provides local
governments, activists, and watershed organizations around the country with the
technical tools for protecting some of the nation's most precious natural
resources: our streams, lakes and rivers.
Stormwater
Manager's Resource Center
Created and maintained by the Center for Watershed
Protection, the SMRC has everything you need to know about stormwater pollution.
The Nature
Conservancy
TNC works to preserve the plants, animals and natural
communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the
lands and waters they need to survive.
Conservation Law
Foundation
CLF's advocates use law, economics, and science to
design and implement strategies that conserve natural resources, protect public
health, and promote vital communities in our region.
Trust for Public
Land
The Trust for Public Land helps conserve land for
recreation and spiritual nourishment and to improve the health and quality of
life of American communities.
River
Network
River Network's Mission is to help people understand,
protect and restore rivers and their watersheds.
H2ouse Water Saver
Home
Technology to reduce water use
International Rivers
Network
"IRN supports local communities working to protect their
rivers and watersheds. We work to halt destructive river development projects,
and to encourage equitable and sustainable methods of meeting needs for water,
energy and flood management.
Snowball
Earth
Another Twist on Global Climate Change.... Perhaps the
issue du jour may not be all its hyped up to be.
The
Daily Motivator
Last but not least. This isnt about coffee or psyllium
seed, its about keeping on track with a few short words of wisdom updated daily.
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Christopher P. Malik
dontspampolecanoe@yahoo.com
Revised -- 11/24/09
URL: https://polecanoe.angelfire.com/
