Saturday, December 17, 2011

habitat ~ 12/17/11 ~ Fort Ord - BLM Creekside

Fort Ord Public Lands - Creekside entrance
December 17, 2011

Truth be told, we didn't actually park at the Creekside entrance for this evening hike. We used the old dirt pull-off on Reservation Rd., which we once used regularly before the BLM built a fancy parking lot with pit toilets on Creekside Terrace, shown in the 3rd photo above.

Speaking of the 3rd photo and 4th photo, that's not the pretty shimmer of water in the distance; it's the extensive plastic that farmers use to cultivate strawberries. Strawberries have been Monterey County's most valuable crop for the past 3 years. I had a friend who recently worked at a small organic farm. Even though they didn't use methyl bromide or methyl iodide, they used several hundred pounds of plastic every year. It was a huge expense for them to dump the plastic at the local waste management, but it was "better" than burning all those plastic chemicals to be released into the atmosphere, which according to my organic farmer friend so many other farmers choose to do to save on costs of dumping plastic. There seems to be something inherently wrong with plasticulture. Needless to say, I've long ago not purchased strawberries, be it cheap supermarket, on the side of the road, or expensive organic farmers' market. I believe the environmental costs are too great for such a small fruit. However, I will eat them if they're offered to me. Hmm, maybe I'll try growing strawberries in my mini-balcony greenhouse... which, guess what, is covered in reused greenhouse plastic?

4 comments:

Orchids and Nature said...

I always find your blog interesting.
Have a lovely Christmas.

phyte club katie said...

Oh no! Why did I read the post on the strawberries? They're my fave. And I'll be organic ones use the plastic, too? Sigh...boo hoo. I just got back from Costa Rica which meant reading about the well-known horrors of the banana industry -- there goes breakfast!

Okay, I'll stop whining now. Nice creation of the term "plasticulture". Have a wonderful xmas and happy belated Solstice!

Imperfect and Tense said...

Dang! And there was me assuming that 'organic' meant chemical free and sustainable. I recalled this blog whilst tucking into my starter in an Italian restaurant this evening, where I often have a dish containing asparagus. All year round? O-oh, I'm so guilty. Sorry, Katie :o(

The Tense Towers Team wish you and Andy a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Best wishes, Graeme

Katie (Nature ID) said...

Thank you, David. I aspire to be as active as you! I'm so glad you blog. Merry Christmas to you and your wife, too!

Katie, my apologies. I'm not terribly fanatical about eating only sustainable. Actually, I don't think this is possible here in the U.S... unless you grow your own everything, including grinding your own home-grown wheat, which my mother did until she found out it covers the entire house in fine flour dust. I do eat meat, after all and am on a limited budget. However, it gets me down how an increasing number of local fields are covered in plastic and typically use ozone-depleting and toxic chemicals. I'll try to reply to your "interesting" e-mail, shortly.

Graeme, you've beat me to the punch. Thank you for the holiday wishes, and the same back at you. No apologies necessary. Asparagus is yummy, although the resultant discharge doesn't smell that good.