Sunday, July 17, 2016

Onions. How To Grow, When To Harvest, How To Harvest, Storage. The life ...



The onion (Allium cepa L., from Latin cepa "onion"), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable and is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium.

This genus also contains several other species variously referred to as onions and cultivated for food, such as the Japanese bunching onion (Allium fistulosum), the tree onion (A. ×proliferum), and the Canada onion (Allium canadense).

The name "wild onion" is applied to a number of Allium species, but A. cepa is exclusively known from cultivation.

Its ancestral wild original form is not known, although escapes from cultivation have become established in some regions.[2]

The onion is most frequently a biennial or a perennial plant, but is usually treated as an annual and harvested in its first growing season.

The onion plant has a fan of hollow, bluish-green leaves and the bulb at the base of the plant begins to swell when a certain day-length is reached.

In the autumn (or in spring, in the case of overwintering onions), the foliage dies down and the outer layers of the bulb become dry and brittle.

The crop is harvested and dried and the onions are ready for use or storage.

The crop is prone to attack by a number of pests and diseases, particularly the onion fly, the onion eelworm, and various fungi cause rotting.

Some varieties of A. cepa, such as shallots and potato onions, produce multiple bulbs.

Onions are cultivated and used around the world. As a food item, they are usually served cooked, as a vegetable or part of a prepared savoury dish, but can also be eaten raw or used to make pickles or chutneys.

They are pungent when chopped and contain certain chemical substances which irritate the eyes.

Onion

Mixed onions.jpg
Scientific classification e
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Amaryllidaceae
Subfamily: Allioideae
Genus: Allium
Species: A. cepa
Binomial name
Allium cepa
L.
Synonyms[1]

 
Roots, leaves and developing bulb
 
Umbel of onion flowers


Taxonomy and etymology

The onion plant (Allium cepa), also known as the bulb onion[3] or common onion,[4] is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium.[5][6]

It was first officially described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1753 work Species Plantarum.[7]

A number of synonyms have appeared in its taxonomic history:
  • Allium cepa var. aggregatum – G. Don
  • Allium cepa var. bulbiferum – Regel
  • Allium cepa var. cepa – Linnaeus
  • Allium cepa var. multiplicans – L.H. Bailey
  • Allium cepa var. proliferum – (Moench) Regel
  • Allium cepa var. solaninum – Alef
  • Allium cepa var. viviparum – (Metz) Mansf.[8][9]
A. cepa is known exclusively from cultivation,[10] but related wild species occur in Central Asia. The most closely related species include A. vavilovii (Popov & Vved.) and A. asarense (R.M. Fritsch & Matin) from Iran.[11]

However, Zohary and Hopf state that "there are doubts whether the A. vavilovii collections tested represent genuine wild material or only feral derivatives of the crop."[12]

The vast majority of cultivars of A. cepa belong to the "common onion group" (A. cepa var. cepa) and are usually referred to simply as "onions". T

he Aggregatum group of cultivars (A. cepa var. aggregatum) includes both shallots and potato onions.[13]

The genus Allium also contains a number of other species variously referred to as onions and cultivated for food, such as the Japanese bunching onion (A. fistulosum), Egyptian onion (A. ×proliferum), and Canada onion (A. canadense).[4]

Cepa is commonly accepted as Latin for "onion" and has an affinity with Ancient Greek: κάπια (kápia), Albanian: qepë, Aromanian: tseapã, Catalan: ceba, English: chive, Occitan: ceba, Old French: cive, and Romanian: ceapă.


Description


The onion plant has been grown and selectively bred in cultivation for at least 7,000 years. It is a biennial plant, but is usually grown as an annual.

Modern varieties typically grow to a height of 15 to 45 cm (6 to 18 in).

The leaves are yellowish-green and grow alternately in a flattened, fan-shaped swathe.

They are fleshy, hollow, and cylindrical, with one flattened side.

They are at their broadest about a quarter of the way up beyond which they taper towards a blunt tip.

The base of each leaf is a flattened, usually white sheath that grows out of a basal disc.

From the underside of the disc, a bundle of fibrous roots extends for a short way into the soil.

As the onion matures, food reserves begin to accumulate in the leaf bases and the bulb of the onion swells.[14]

In the autumn, the leaves die back and the outer scales of the bulb become dry and brittle, and this is when the crop is normally harvested.

If left in the soil over winter, the growing point in the middle of the bulb begins to develop in the spring.

New leaves appear and a long, stout, hollow stem expands, topped by a bract protecting a developing inflorescence.


Historical use


The inflorescence takes the form of a globular umbel of white flowers with parts in sixes.

The seeds are glossy black and triangular in cross section.[14]

Bulbs from the onion family are thought to have been used as a food source for millennia.

In Bronze Age settlements, traces of onion remains were found alongside date stones and fig remains that date back to 5000 BC.[15]

However, it is not clear if these were cultivated onions.

Archaeological and literary evidence such as the Book of Numbers 11:5 suggests that onions were probably being cultivated around 2000 years later in ancient Egypt, at the same time that leeks and garlic were cultivated.

Workers who built the Egyptian pyramids may have been fed radishes and onions.[15]

The onion is easily propagated, transported, and stored.

The ancient Egyptians revered the onion bulb, viewing its spherical shape and concentric rings as symbols of eternal life.[16]

Onions were even used in Egyptian burials, as evidenced by onion traces being found in the eye sockets of Ramesses IV.[17]

In ancient Greece, athletes ate large quantities of onion because it was believed to lighten the balance of the blood.[16]

Roman gladiators were rubbed down with onions to firm up their muscles.[16]

In the Middle Ages, onions were such an important food that people would pay their rent with onions, and even give them as gifts.[16]

Doctors were known to prescribe onions to facilitate bowel movements and erections, and to relieve headaches, coughs, snakebite, and hair loss.[16]

Onions were taken by the first European settlers to North America, where the Native Americans were already using wild onions in a number of ways, eating them raw or cooked in a variety of foods.

They also used them to make into syrups, to form poultices, and in the preparation of dyes.

According to diaries kept by the colonists, bulb onions were one of the first things planted by the Pilgrim fathers when they cleared the land for cropping.[16]

Onions were also prescribed by doctors in the early 16th century to help with infertility in women.

They were similarly used to raise fertility levels in dogs, cats, and cattle, but this was an error, as recent research has shown that onions are toxic to dogs, cats, guinea pigs, and many other animals.[18][19][20]


 
Sautéing onions

 
Large-scale cultivation


Check Out The Wikipedia Page for the rest of the story on Onions



Source: Wikipedia.org https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onion





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CYA Later Taters!
Thanks for stopping by.

Donnie/ Sinbad the Sailor Man

Thursday, July 7, 2016

Aquaponics Basement System Organic/ Food 10 Tips Update Part 2




Urban agriculture is the practice of cultivating, processing, and distributing food in or around a village, town, or city.[1] Urban agriculture can also involve animal husbandry, aquaculture, agroforestry, and horticulture. These activities also occur in peri-urban areas as well.[2] 

Urban farming is generally practiced for income-earning or food-producing activities, though in some communities the main impetus is recreation and relaxation.[3]

Urban agriculture contributes to food security and food safety in two ways: first, it increases the amount of food available to people living in cities, and second, it allows fresh vegetables, fruits, and meat products to be made available to urban consumers. It decreases food deserts.

A common and efficient form of urban agriculture is the biointensive method. Because urban agriculture promotes energy-saving local food production, urban and peri-urban agriculture are generally seen as sustainable agriculture. Another aspect of urban farming, especially in densely populated American cities, is the use of grow-bags to raise a wide range of crops.

 Many apartment dwellers with no yards to speak of, or people with very small yards, will set up these bags on a balcony or thin strip of land. Also, many types of hanging bags are available to plant, expanding the area available for planting.

The bags themselves are made from a variety of materials, including canvas, weed barrier fabric, and polyester, all having semi-porus properties so the soil can drain adequately. The term "Bagriculture" was coined in 1998 by Los Angeles animator and amateur archaeologist Rudy Zappa Martinez to describe this type of agriculture.

The recognition of environmental degradation within cities through the relocation of resources to serve urban populations[4] has inspired the implementation of different schemes of urban agriculture across the developed and developing world. From historic models such as Machu Picchu to designs for new productive city farms, the idea of locating agriculture in or around the city takes on many characteristics.






An urban farm in Chicago


A small urban farm in Amsterdam

History

 


Huerto (vegetable garden or orchard) Romita) organization dedicated to urban agriculture located in the La Romita section of Colonia Roma, Mexico City.
Community wastes were used in ancient Egypt to feed urban farming.[5] In Machu Picchu water was conserved and reused as part of the stepped architecture of the city, and vegetable beds were designed to gather sun in order to prolong the growing season.[5]

Allotment gardens came up in Germany in the early 19th century as a response to poverty and food insecurity.[6] Victory gardens sprouted during WWI and WWII and were fruit, vegetable, and herb gardens in US, Canada, and UK.

 This effort was undertaken by citizens to reduce pressure on food production that was to support the war effort. Community gardening in most communities are open to the public and provide space for citizens to cultivate plants for food or recreation. A community gardening program that is well-established is Seattle's P-Patch.

The grass roots permaculture movement has been hugely influential in the renaissance of urban agriculture throughout the world.

The idea of supplemental food production beyond rural farming operations and distant imports is not new and has been used during war times and the Great Depression when food shortage issues arose. As early as 1893, citizens of a depression-struck Detroit were asked to use any vacant lots to grow vegetables.

They were nicknamed Pingree's Potato Patches after the mayor, Hazen S. Pingree, who came up with the idea. He intended for these gardens to produce income, food supply, and even boost self independence during times of hardship. During the first World War president Woodrow Wilson called upon all American citizens to utilize any available open space for food growth, seeing this as a way to pull them out of a potentially damaging situation.

Because most of Europe was consumed with war, they were unable to produce sufficient food supplies to be shipped to the U.S., and a new plan was implemented with the intent to feed the U.S. and even supply a surplus to other countries in need. By the year 1919 over 5 million plots were growing food and over 500 million pounds of produce was harvested.

A very similar practice came into use during the Great Depression that provided a purpose, a job, and food to those who would otherwise be without anything during such harsh times. In this case these efforts helped to raise spirits socially as well as to boost economical growth.

Over 2.8 million dollars worth of food was produced from the subsistence gardens during the Depression. By the time of the Second World War the War/Food Administration set up a National Victory Garden Program that set out to systematically establish functioning agriculture within cities.

With this new plan in action, as many as 5.5 million Americans took part in the victory garden movement and over 9 million pounds of fruit and vegetables were grown a year, accounting for 44% of U.S.-grown produce throughout that time. With its past success in mind and with modern technology, urban agriculture today can be something to help both developed and developing nations.

Facts

  • 50% of the world's population lives in cities.[7]
  • 800 million people are involved in urban agriculture world-wide and contribute to feeding urban residents.[8]
  • Low income urban dwellers spend between 40% and 60% of their income on food each year.[9]
  • By 2015 about 26 cities in the world are expected to have a population of 10 million or more. To feed a city of this size at least 6,000 tonnes (6,600 tons) of food must be imported each day.[10]
  • 250 million hungry people in the world live in cities[11]

A tidy front yard flower and vegetable garden in Aretxabaleta, the Basque Country

Resource and economic

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), has defined urban agriculture as:[12]
[A]n industry that produces, processes and markets food and fuel, largely in response to the daily demand of consumers within a town, city, or metropolis, on land and water dispersed throughout the urban and peri-urban area, applying intensive production methods, using and reusing natural resources and urban wastes to yield a diversity of crops and livestock.
The definition of urban agriculture as an industry that responds to the nutritional demands of a city, from within that city, with the use and reuse of that city's resources while acknowledging economic and resource use does not reconcile aspects of regional health, food security, and application of grassroots organizations.
(This definition is based on the work of Luc Mougeot of the International Development Research Centre and used in technical and training publications by UN-HABITAT's Urban Management Programme, FAO's Special Programme for Food Security, and international agricultural research centres, such as CIRAD.)



A vegetable garden in the square in front of the train station in Ezhou, China

Environmental

The Council on Agriculture, Science and Technology, (CAST) is an international consortium of scientific and professional societies based in Ames Iowa that compiles and communicates credible science-based information to policy makers, media, private sector, and the public. CAST defines urban agriculture to include aspects of environmental health, remediation, and recreation:[13]
Urban agriculture is a complex system encompassing a spectrum of interests, from a traditional core of activities associated with the production, processing, marketing, distribution, and consumption, to a multiplicity of other benefits and services that are less widely acknowledged and documented. These include recreation and leisure; economic vitality and business entrepreneurship, individual health and well-being; community health and well being; landscape beautification; and environmental restoration and remediation.
Modern planning and design initiatives are more responsive to this model of urban agriculture because it fits within the current scope of sustainable design. The definition allows for a multitude of interpretations across cultures and time. Frequently it is tied to policy decisions to build sustainable cities.[14]

Food security

Access to nutritious food is another perspective in the effort to locate food and livestock production in cities. With the tremendous influx of world population to urban areas, the need for fresh and safe food is increased. The Community Food Security Coalition (CFSC) defines food security as:[15]
All persons in a community having access to culturally acceptable, nutritionally adequate food through local, non-emergency sources at all times.

Source: Wikipedia


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CYA Later Taters
Thanks for watching.
Donnie/ Sinbad the Sailor Man  

Aquaponics Basement System Organic/ Food Grade Overview 101 Part 1 of 2




Aquaponics /ˈækwəˈpɒnɨks/ or pisciponics is a sustainable food production system that combines a traditional aquaculture (raising aquatic animals such as snails, fish, crayfish or prawns in tanks) with hydroponics (cultivating plants in water) in a symbiotic environment.

In aquaculture, effluents accumulate in the water, increasing toxicity for the fish. This water is led to a hydroponic system where the by-products from the aquaculture are broken down by nitrogen fixing bacteria, then filtered out by the plants as vital nutrients, after which the cleansed water is recirculated back to the animals.

As existing hydroponic and aquaculture farming techniques form the basis for all aquaponics systems, the size, complexity, and types of foods grown in an aquaponics system can vary as much as any system found in either distinct farming discipline.[1]

History

 

Aquaponics has ancient roots, although there is some debate on its first occurrence:
  • Aztec cultivated agricultural islands known as chinampas and are considered by some as the first form of aquaponics for agricultural use[2][3] where plants were raised on stationary (and sometime movable) islands in lake shallows and waste materials dredged from the Chinampa canals and surrounding cities are used to manually irrigate the plants.[4][5]
  • South China and Thailand who cultivated and farmed rice in paddy fields in combination with fish are cited as examples of early aquaponics. These polycultural farming systems existed in many Far Eastern countries and raised fish such as the oriental loach (泥鳅, ドジョウ),[6] swamp eel (黄鳝, 田鰻), Common (鯉魚, コイ) and crucian carp (鯽魚)[7] as well as pond snails (田螺) in the paddies.[8][9]



Diagram of the University of the Virgin Islands commercial aquaponics system designed to yield 5 metric tons of Tilapia per year.[10]
The development of modern aquaponics is often attributed to the various works of the New Alchemy Institute and the works of Dr. Mark McMurtry et al. at the North Carolina State University.[1]

Inspired by the successes of the New Alchemy Institute, and the reciprocating aquaponics techniques developed by Dr. Mark McMurtry et al., other institutes soon followed suit.

Starting in 1997, Dr. James Rakocy and his colleagues at the University of the Virgin Islands researched and developed the use of Deep Water Culture hydroponic grow beds in a large scale aquaponics system.[10]

The first aquaponics research in Canada was a small system added onto existing aquaculture research at a research station in Lethbridge, Alberta.

Canada saw a rise in aquaponics setups throughout the ’90s, predominantly as commercial installations raising high value crops such as trout and lettuce.

 A setup based on the deep water system developed at the University of Virgin Islands was built in a greenhouse at Brooks, Alberta where Dr. Nick Savidov and colleagues researched aquaponics from a background of plant science.

The team made findings on rapid root growth in aquaponics systems, on closing the solid waste loop, and that because of certain advantages in the system over traditional aquaculture, the system can run well at a low pH level, which is favoured by plants but not fish.

The Edmonton Aquaponics Society in Northern Alberta is adapting Dr. Savidov's commercially sized system to a smaller scale prototype that can be operated by families, small groups, or restaurants. They intend to further develop the closed solid waste loop.[11]


Vegetable production part of the low-cost Backyard Aquaponics System developed at Bangladesh Agricultural University
The Caribbean island of Barbados created an initiative to start aquaponics systems at home, with revenue generated by selling produce to tourists in an effort to reduce growing dependence on imported food.[12][13][14]

In Bangladesh, the world's most densely populated country, most farmers use agrochemicals to enhance food production and storage life though the country lacks oversight on safe levels of chemicals in foods for human consumption.[15]

To combat this issue a team led by Professor Dr. M.A. Salam at the Department of Aquaculture of Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh has created plans for a low cost aquaponics system to provide chemical free produce and fish for people living in adverse climatic conditions such as salinity-prone southern part and flood-prone haor area in the eastern region.[16][17]

Recent years have seen a shift towards community integration of aquaponics, such as the nonprofit foundation Growing Power that offers Milwaukee youth job opportunities and training while growing food for their community.

The model has spawned several satellite projects in other cities, such as New Orleans where the Vietnamese fisherman community has suffered from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and in the South Bronx in New York City.[18]

In addition, aquaponic gardeners from all around the world have gathered in online community sites and forums to openly share their experiences and promote the development of this form of gardening.[19]

Source: Wikipedia.org

More to come on This and Hopefully I will have some of my own videos to show on my attempt at building a working open air Aquaponics system this year.
Somebody Come and Play Today! Earn as You Learn, Grow as You Go!

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