Canopy Roads of South Georgia

Pumpkin with fire ants

Who knew fire ants like pumpkins?

Picture by John S. Quarterman for Okra Paradise Farms, Lowndes County, Georgia, 11 September 2012.

It was ripe, so I rolled it out of the ant bed, brushed off the ants, and we already sold it.

-jsq

 

Parkinson's and Roundup: latest in a long list

We already knew Argentinian farmers were suing Monsanto about Roundup-induced birth defects, including cerebral palsy, down syndrome, psychomotor retardation, missing fingers, and blindness; we knew Roundup's active ingredient glyphosate was "a risk factor for developing Non-Hodgkin lymphoma"; we knew that Roundup-ready corn causes liver and kidney damage in rats and chickens fed feed including Monsanto corn show abnormal gene expression, and we knew that Roundup-ready corn is toxic to humans. Add to all that: Roundup is a risk for Parkinson's disease.

Sayer Ji wrote for GreenMediaInfo 18 April 2012, Roundup Herbicide Linked To Parkinson's-Related Brain Damage,

Alarming new research published in the journal Neurotoxicology and Teratology supports the emerging connection between glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup herbicide, and neurodegenerative conditions such as Parkinson's disease and Parkinsonian disorders.

Published this month (April, 2012), the new study entitled “Glyphosate induced cell death through apoptotic and authophagic mechanisms,” investigated the potential brain-damaging effects of herbicides, which the authors stated “have been recognized as the main environmental factor associated with neurodegenerative disorders, such as Parkinson's disease.”1

They found that glyphosate inhibited the viability of differentiated test cells (PC12, adrenal medula derived), in both dose-and-time dependent manners. The researchers also found that “glyphosate induced cell death via authophagy pathways in addition to activating apoptotic pathways.”

Roundup herbicide is now a ubiquitous contaminant in our air, rain, groundwater, and food, making complete avoidance near impossible. A growing body of experimental evidence now indicates that it in addition to its neurotoxicity it also has the following.

Modes of Toxicity

Callicarpa, corn

Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) growing next to corn (Zea mays): two very tasty plants!

This corn was planted by Terry Davis from seed kept in his family for 100 years.

Butterfly and tire

So easy a butterfly can do it! Reading the instructions:

Using the pliers:

Zucca to Valdosta Farm Days

Zucca, okra, and sweet potatoes to Valdosta Farm Days this morning, 9AM to 1PM (and pumpkins and peppers), down at the historic Lowndes County Courthouse, Central Avenue between Patterson and Ashley.

Where did she get those zucca? The dogs helped.

John S. Quarterman, Gretchen Quarterman, Brown Dog, Yellow Dog,
Pictures and videos by John S. Quarterman for Okra Paradise Farms, Lowndes County, Georgia, 1 September 2012.

-jsq

The whistleblowers show sued Fox (and lost)

Fox News hired Jane Akre and a couple of other reporters as an investigative unit and did a snazzy promo about that. The first case they investigated was Monsanto's bovine growth hormone, RBGH. This is the whistleblower story behind the Fox Can Lie lawsuit.

ITN in the U.K. reporting about Health Canada's report on bovine growth hormone:

Monsanto's engineered growth hormone did not comply with safety requirements. It could be absorbed by the body, and therefore did have implications for human health. Mysteriously, that conclusion was deleted from the final, published version of their report.

That was for a product that U.S. EPA had approved with little or no testing. Fox's investigative unit had the story, but Monsanto threatened to sue Fox. Watch the video for the details.

Eventually, Akre sued Fox. She won, but Fox won on appeal. An appeal that established that Fox can lie.

-jsq

PS: Owed to Paul Hollands.

Red corn

Actually red and blue:

Actually red and blue
John S. Quarterman, Gretchen Quarterman, Brown Dog, Yellow Dog,
Pictures by John S. Quarterman for Okra Paradise Farms, Lowndes County, Georgia, 28 August 2012.

-jsq

John Quarterman on the Withlachoochee (audio)

Back at the end of March at a river conference in Roswell, Georgia, I was interviewed for a podcast. Here's the audio, and here's the blurb they included:

John Quarterman on the Withlachoochee
Monday, July 9th, 2012

John S. Quarterman was born and raised in Lowndes County, where he married his wife Gretchen. They live on the same land where he grew up, and participate in local community and government.

NPS talks with Quarterman and his observations on starting and strengthening a Withlachoochee Riverkeeper organization at Georgia River Network's 2012 Weekend for Rivers.

The water organization has since been incorporated as the Georgia non-profit WWALS Watershed Coalition:

WWALS is an advocacy organization working for watershed conservation of the Willacoochee, Withlacoochee, Alapaha, and Little River Systems watershed in south Georgia and north Florida through awareness, environmental monitoring, and citizen advocacy.

-jsq

PS: They also recorded another podcast which starts out on what may sound like a completely different topic, but which is actually quite related.

Trying out the solar dehydrator @ Okra Paradise Farms 2012-08-04

Testing out the solar dehydrator with okra, tomatoes, peppers, and a thermometer:

Pictures of Gretchen Quarterman with the solar dehydrator
by John S. Quarterman for Okra Paradise Farms, Lowndes County, Georgia, 4 August 2012.

-jsq

Solar dehydrator, Okra Paradise Farms, 3 August 2012

The sun shines through the window into the lower box, heating air that rises through the upper box, dehydrating fruits and vegetables on the racks. That's the theory; we'll see if it works. Idea shamelessly stolen from Raven Waters; I figure it's his fault if it doesn't work. :-)

Gretchen Quarterman placing racks in the solar dehydrator
Pictures by John S. Quarterman for Okra Paradise Farms, Lowndes County, Georgia, 3 August 2012.

-jsq