Daisy Janie

Memorial Day 2012.

Growing Organically | the lowdown on dirt, part 2.

These posts on dirt (Part 1, Intermission) as part of the Growing Organically series are intended to highlight healthy soil vs. unhealthy soil as well as the devastation conventional agriculture has wrought on the world’s farmable land - and, in turn, our food security. How does this relate to cotton? If you remember from a previous post, more of the cotton plant is consumed as a food product than is used for creating cloth. Moreover, the overlay used to describe conventional farming for food is essentially the same as what we would use to describe conventional farming for cotton; likewise for organically grown food and organically grown cotton. And at the foundation of all of this is dirt. I'll be moving from here to a little bit more about organic methods of soil fertility then to seeds.

I will try to maintain these posts as long as possible, but they're already taking far too much time to compile and write. Exactly what I was afraid of. I need to keep my eye on the prize - and I don't have enough time to manage Daisy Janie as it is. sigh.

That is some mighty fine dirt! This picture above was taken in our garden a couple weeks ago. We composted diligently all winter and were rewarded with rich, dark, moist, delicious soil. In that single shovelful, there were 3 big, wriggly earthworms - an indicator that our dirt is teeming with life. As it should be!

Did you know?

• A single teaspoon of productive topsoil may contain 600-800 million individual bacteria from a possible 10,000 species; several miles of fungal hyphae; 10,000 individual protozoa; and 20-30 beneficial nematodes from a possible 100 species.
  • In contrast, a teaspoon of chemically treated soil can host as few as 100 bacteria.
• When our ancestors settled in the US, the topsoil layer was between 3-12 feet deep, depending on location.
  • Today, we have between 8-12 inches - not feet - INCHES!
• We are losing 6.4 billion tons of topsoil per year in the US. About 320 million dump trucks worth of dirt per year.
• In the past 150 years, we've lost 1/3 of the planet's topsoil.
• At today's rate of erosion and desertification, we are losing 1" of topsoil every 28 years.
  • It takes more than a century to create 1" of fertile topsoil.

The rate of degradation and loss of arable land is bad. Very bad. And it makes me more than a little crazy when I think about it too long. As a species, we are working hard to fail and dooming future generations in the process. I am not being dramatic; soil is THEE critical issue. Big Agra will steamroll us into oblivion either because we can't grow food to feed the planet or because we die from cancers their toxic chemical-laden soils have caused or because we lose our fertility altogether also as a result of the same bioaccumulative chemicals (it's already happening to amphibians). Pick one. Meanwhile, their pockets will be filled with money - our money - and for what, for who? It truly makes no sense whatsover. I digress...

By 2050, there will be 9 billion people on the planet. The world will have to produce more food to feed this population than it has in the previous 10,000 years combined. "Soil nutrient depletion, erosion, desertification, depletion of freshwater reserves, loss of tropical forest and biodiversity are clear indicators that much of the natural resource base already in use worldwide shows worrying signs of degradation. Unless immediate investments in maintenance and rehabilitation are stepped up and land use practices made more sustainable, the productive potential of land, water and genetic resources may continue to decline at alarming rates."

So what's happened to the soil?
In the simplest terms, the topsoil is eroding from water and wind due to modern, unsustainable, factory-farming methods: over-over-overtilling, lack of cover crops, lack of real organic matter & nutrients returned to soil, monocropping, and millions of tons of toxic chemical inputs. All of which has created dead-as-a-doornail, dusty dirt (desertification). In fact, the very act of tilling this loose dust with massive machines has effectively added another source of erosion. If a soil is moist, fertile, rich & robust, it can’t blow away; it can’t be washed away, and if a row is plowed, it stays where it’s turned over. This video showing the differences in tilled and no-tilled soil is pretty cool!

Remember the pot of dirt I shared a few weeks ago? Same principles at play that make that pot unable to sustain life. I could add some organic matter (grass clippings, dried leaves, worms, worm castings, etc), and my dead dirt would return to a quality, fertile soil that would stimulate micro-organisms for a longer period of time. This soil would find its own balance in terms of humus and mineral content. Or, I could skip a natural solution by adding bag of synthetic fertilizer to my dead dirt. My short-term results would be great, but the soil would not be enhanced or balanced, and it wouldn't foster the growth of micro-organisms for future healthy soil. I'd just have to keep adding more poison to the dirt to force it do something it should be able to do on its own. Again, this makes no sense to me, but it's exactly how millions of tons of food and cotton crops are grown. It's how corporations have duped us into believing this is the only way to get crop yields big enough to feed our growing population. An absolute untruth! Check Rodale Institute's 30-year Farming Systems Trial. Big Agra farming methods leach every possible good thing from the soil, and then they have to add artificial, toxic, petroleum-based chemical inputs to make things grow.

From Organic Manifesto by Maria Rodale:
"We are dealing with 10 global issues at the moment: food security, availability of water, climate change, waste disposal, extinction of biodiversity, soil degradation and desertification, poverty, political and ethnic instability, and rapid population increase.
The solution to all of these lies in soil management."
   - Rattan Lal, soil scientist, director of Ohio State University Carbon Management and Sequestration Center, 2009

I think it's hard for most people to wrap their brains around the idea that the amount of arable topsoil to which we have access on earth is finite, or that how we're treating it can dramatically affect so many other things (air, water, climate, fossil fuels). Or that we - meaning me and you - should have to change what we're doing to make a difference. On the whole, we are a very immediate gratification / loss averse society: we are more concerned with hanging onto what we have than getting something far more valuable later. But if each of us takes steps to change what we can right here, right now, it will be better for our kids and their kids. (What We Will Tell Them?) Let's be part of the solution, not part of the problem.

• Grow your own food. Don't use fertilizers, pesticides and such.
• Write to your state Senator or House Rep. Demand to know. Demand change.
• READ. Be informed. Don't assume your government or a big corporation has your best interests at heart. They don't.
• Buy local, buy organic when possible.
• Join a CSA.

"Organic agriculture sustains the fertility of soils, ecosystems and the health of the people. It also relies on locally adapted improved ecological processes and cycles, and natural biodiversity. It is therefore important that farmers are encouraged to practice organic farming." 

More info:
Differences in Tilled and No Till Soils / video
The lowdown on topsoil: It's disappearing
Issues: Soil / The Sustainable Table
The Complexity Imperative for a Sustainable Food System / Ted video
The Nation that Destroys Its Soils / Pasture to Profit

before & after | Army jacket.

*color change is only b/c of camera operator goofiness.

The before pic before this before pic should really show my son on Halloween 2009, when he wore it as a zombie Army dude. We picked it out at an Army-Navy store, and I knew I'd be staking this one for my own eventually. 3 years later...

Sort of out of season for my northern hemisphere friends, given that summer is hot on our heels. But maybe some southern hemispherites can use it to adapt a lightweight, canvas jacket.

*sorry for blur. took this in March 2011 and never looked at it until the jacket was already in the 'after' stage! Damn camera operator!
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The jacket fit great across the back and in the shoulders, so I focused on taking in the sides and sleeves to give it a more feminine line.

• I took about an inch off of the width of the sleeves - straight marking, straight stitching. Kinda like debulking.
• I tapered the sides with a sort of hourglass-shaped stitchline that ran from the armhole to the bottom edge of the jacket.  
• I added a vent opening on both sides of the jacket. It's about 5-1/2" long. See below. (Thanks for the vent terminology Betz!)

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To create a vent opening like this one, carefully take out the seam stitching in the desired length. (You may want to add a reinforced stitch where your seamripping comes to an end.) Press the seams so they lay flat. Stitch down one side, pivot, make a stitch or two at the top of your opening, pivot and stitch down the other side of the slit to finish it.

I'll be repurposing an old jersey sheet for my next project!
What are you up to?

J picked out this Airborne patch when we bought the jacket. I left it on there - reminds me of him!

Lancaster Diamond Quiltalong - here we go! #scrappydiamonds

The Lancaster Diamond Quiltalong is on!

• Lancaster Diamond Flickr Group - post your blocks, introduce yourself
• twitter hashtag - #scrappydiamonds
• Pattern & acrylic template available at Ann Holte Quilting.
• Banners for your blog are at the bottom of this post. Please link to the flickr group.

This Quiltalong involves smallish, improvisational blocks, and it's a great way to use up some of your scraps and bits that you can't seem to throw away! There is no one way or wrong way to construct your diamonds! You can make as many or as few as you like - the layout lends itself well to this! Use as many or as few fabrics as you like, too! S'all good....

Post your diamond blocks to the flickr group as you go.

No timelines.
No deadlines.
Go at your own pace.

I plan to work on mine over the summer and see where I am around Sept. 1st.

The pattern Ann Holte created is based off of a sampler quilt made in Lancaster, PA around 1860. The diamonds in that pattern are created using a combination of scrap-piecing, composed patchwork, orphan blocks and unique applique.

Have fun!!
Jan

Below:
1/ The acrylic template used for cutting your diamonds and sashing pieces. 
2/ The project sheet included with the template.

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Banners for you to use on your blogs or facebook page. Please link to the flickr group: http://www.flickr.com/groups/lancasterdiamondquiltalong/

150 x 200

200 x 267

300 x 390

quote | sunflowers know best.

The sun's not shining today, but I turned my face to her as much as humanly possible this past weekend. And it's given me some extra mojo to start my week (or Vitamin D, as some would say)!

I spent most of the day Saturday doing some uber-repetitive, labor-intensive yardwork, by myself, with the tunes cranked. It gave me time to get deep inside my head and turn a few things over in new ways. I had a distinct moment of clarity about something that's been weighing on me... and I feel so light all of the sudden! The hard work regarding my mini-epiphany has yet to be done, but sometimes just seeing the path more illuminated is key to a refreshed, positive attitude.

To all the mamas out there, I hope you had an especially joyful day yesterday! Carry it with you as long as you can!

Growing Organically | the lowdown on dirt, intermission.

Intermission with a movie? Yep! Check out Dirt! The Movie for free on Hulu. 80 minutes and really, really enlightening! (Trailer below.)

From Dirt! The Movie website:

"Dirt feeds us and gives us shelter. Dirt holds and cleans our water. Dirt heals us and makes us beautiful. Dirt regulates the earth's climate. Dirt is the ultimate natural resource for all life on earth.

Yet most humans ignore, abuse, and destroy our most precious living natural resource. Consider the results of such behavior: mass starvation, drought, floods, and global warming, and wars. If we continue on our current path, Dirt might find another use for humans, as compost for future life forms.

It doesn't have to be that way. Another world, in which we treat dirt with the respect it deserves, is possible and we'll show you how.

The film offers a vision of a sustainable relationship between Humans and Dirt through profiles of the global visionaries who are determined to repair the damage we've done before it's too late. There are many ways we can preserve the living skin of the earth for future generations.

Dirt is very much alive. Though, in modern industrial pursuits and clamor for both profit and natural resources, our human connection to and respect for soil has been disrupted. Drought, climate change, even war are all directly related to the way we are treating dirt."

Dirt! The Movie - website

quilt-along for Lancaster Diamond Quilt & Blocks 7-9 of 154.

Block 7 / 154

Quilt-Along ?
There is definitely some interest in a quilt-along for this scrappy pattern (Lancaster Diamond Sampler)! If you'd still like to get in on the action, I will move forward next week with setting up a flickr group for pics. It will be extremely "go-at-your-own-pace" and informal. I'm kind of looking at this as an intermittent summer project, hoping to have all my blocks sewn by mid-August and then putting together the quilt top before September rolls around. Great way to use up your scraps!

You can buy the pattern AND the acrylic template here. I used the the template to cut out these 3 diamonds, and it was a tremendous help!

Please confirm your interest via a comment below or email me at jan [at] daisyjanie [dot] com.

 

Block 8 / 154

Block 9 / 154

seeing | one of each.

One white blossom and one yellow blossom.

Each on a journey to become a juicy, red strawberry.

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I am having major issues with both Illustrator and typepad image uploads this week, which is why I haven't been posting. The sun is shining brightly today, however, and I'm certain that's going to help me resolve these problems!

Growing Organically | the lowdown on dirt, part 1.

As a young, happy newlywed 18 years ago, I was thrilled to have a house and a yard to tend for the first time! In particular, I loved planting pots of flowers each season, to set upon the steps leading up to our Chicago-suburb bungalow - it always added a welcoming touch. Pansies in the Spring; impatiens or petunias in the Summer; and mums in the Fall. I also enjoyed saving money, and I was extremely resistent to the idea of buying dirt each season for the flower pots - I mean, c'mon, it was dirt! Who buys dirt when the pots are already filled with dirt? (Did I mention I was young? And naive?)

That kind of logic got me through the first year. The 2nd year, without any additional, fresh soil added to the pots, the flowers languished after about a week and flopped over and dried up! No amount of water or sun/shade changes revived them. I never attributed their failure to thrive to the old, dead dirt I was using! (My sister tipped me off the following year!)

Plants need good soil to grow - soil that's fertile, balanced with vital minerals and active with micro-organisms. After a few seasons, the dirt in my flower pots was depleted of its nutrients and could not support life. We need life in order to support life! Seems pretty obvious how critical this little factoid is in retrospect.

In home gardens and flower beds, it's relatively easy to cultivate rich soil using organic gardening methods, like composting and crop rotation. There are myriad other ways to enrich and create good garden soil - see links below.

But imagine... just imagine for a second... the thousands upon thousands upons thousands of land dedicated to conventional agriculture across the globe. And imagine how degraded and depleted the soil must be after decades of planting the same crops (mono-cropping) in the same fields, year after year after year. What do you think farmers, who typically eschew organic methods, do to force things to grow in their dirt? That's what we'll talk about next week...

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More reading:
Soil / Organic Gardening
The Dirt on Soil / About Garden Soil
Building Garden Soil / Vegetable Garden Guru
Make Your Own Potting Soil / Mother Earth News
Garden Soil Tips / TLC
Soil Health Indicators / Rodale Institute
How to Create Good Gardening Soil / Expert Village

DJ flickr group | fussy cut bench cushions.

Ingeniously fussy cut bench cushion with Daisy Janie's Geo Grand fabrics by Leigh Norris, Mrs. Traumatron on flickr. Spotted in the Daisy Janie flickr group.

Small scrap packs of all 6 fabrics in the Geo Grand collection are available in the Daisy Janie retail shop. Otherwise, I think these fabrics are pretty much sold out everywhere.

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I won't ever (and I don't want to) react indifferently when I see what marvelousness others create with my fabrics! My stomach does somersaults when I peek in the Daisy Janie flickr group, when I receive an email with images & a sweet story or when I see a link in my statcounter to a blog post someone has shared. Talk about the icing on a yummy cake made up of reasons why I do what I do! Thank you for letting me share it with you.

* big happy sigh *

quilt layouts created from typepad avatars.

Just messing around. Warming-up my brain and nimbling-up my fingers for the week.

Anyone else out there who has thought for years that these placeholder typepad avatars look like fabric swatches???

a door, a floor, a ceiling & some relays.

Door & floor pics taken outside University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archeology & Anthropology. Man, that door was solid, massive and gorgeous - right down to the rusty handles! Taking a pic was as close as I could get to putting in my pocket and bringing it home. There were 3 pairs of these doors on this facade. M and I were both in awe!

The scallop pattern in the stonework below speaks for itself. After seeing this vast expanse of mesmerizing, perfectly imperfect repetition, I appreciated the comparative & relative ease with which I can assemble and disassemble art and pattern repeats in Illustrator.

Below:
At Starbuck's. A very clever, framed, hanging panel of decorative woodworking (not sure what to call it?). It was about 5' x 5' and made the space a bit more cozy. But, it was a dust collector! Can you see it? Eee-woo, which is DiCintio-speak for "ew".

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We were in Philadelphia yesterday for the Penn Relays - the stadium is across from the Museum. If you've been reading my blog for a bit, you know we love our fitness and running over here! J has fallen right in step in that vein. He loves to run, and I love to watch him run. I love watching any running, really! Nothing but legs and guts.

We saw the high school 4x400s yesterday, including our HS team, as well as the USA vs. the World Women Sprint Medley. USA, Russia, Jamaica, Great Britain. It was a nail biter, but the USA ladies took the medal! Freaking incredible athletes!!!

Growing Organically | turn intention into action.

Above:
Clothing labels from organic clothing I have purchased in recent years - turning my intention into action. Putting my money where my mouth and my heart are.
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Assuming you want to make more eco-friendly choices in your clothing, food and general household purchases, do you find that, despite your good intentions, your buying habits haven't really changed? Does your little voice tell you that it's okay this one time because you'll make an effort next time - but there never is a next time?

Why is that? Have you isolated the reason(s) why you keep buying the same old stuff that's not really good for you, the planet or the other human beings who made it? Even though you feel kinda guilty about it?

You have those good intentions for a reason. They're born out of your compassionate instincts that tell you something is amiss and needs your help. The same compassionate instincts that tell you your child doesn't look well, that you should assist an elderly person in a store or that it's a good idea to donate your time, money or stuff to those in need.

Trust your instincts. Figure out what your personal hiccups are that keep you from buying better - and figure out how to override, overcome or outsmart them. I know it's not always easy.... but it's always, always worth it! Let your good intentions turn into action that makes a difference.

More reading:
Environmental Justice Foundation / main website
Pure Citizen / main website

psst... here's a very cool pintuck pillow tutorial.

pintuck pillow in Chain Link fabric from Shades of Grey / Daisy Janie
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Rachael from imagine gnats created this dee-lish pintuck pleated pillow and an easy-to-follow tutorial, which is posted at stumbles & stitches. Rachael took some key photos to complement her instructions! I think you'll find them most helpful if you endeavor to make this design!

Thanks for letting me share this w/ my readers, Rachael! Beautiful work on the project and your tute!!

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You might remember the twisted pintuck pillow I made using 2 different Shades of Grey fabrics, shown below. I didn't create a tutorial for making the entire pillow. Instead, I shared a graphic which illustrated how the effect is achieved. Feel free to reference my old post if another visual might help!

a big ball of eco tips & giveaway winner.

Above:
Word cloud created at tagxedo, using the comments from the Earth Day Giveaway.

Thank you to everyone who entered the Daisy Janie & Two Peas in a Pod Earth Day Giveaways! The earth-friendly tips you offered were incredible! It's uplifting to know so many are doing so much! How did you all get to be so awesome?! Read thru the comments for some eco inspiration!

The winner of Prize Package #1 is commenter #22, Heather, who said:

We have made a concerted effort to reduce our consumption in general and to be conscious of what we do purchase - as much as possible we focus on local food, organics, fair trade, chemical free products, no or minimal packaging, we carry our own reusable shopping bags, we pass on things we no longer want or need and, since my husband is in the recycling industry, we recycle as much as we can. I bike instead of drive during nice-weather months. And we grow more of our own vegetables than we used to. We are trying our best to reduce the pull to "consume" to help the economy. Increased consumption isn't necessarily a good thing.

Be sure to check over at Two Peas in a Pod to see if you won Prize Package #2!