The Hot Spots for Organic Food [1]

• May 2, 2009 NYTimes metrics section of the business pages

The graphic linked here surprised and pleased me. I have driven through western Ohio and seen the ditches sprayed with killing herbicides. I have seen the miles of herbicide and pesticide sprayed croplands and I have read about the confined animal feeding operations in Ohio. But somehow tucked in with all these big ag operations, organic farming seems to have landed a foothold in Ohio. Take a look at the graphic linked in the NYTimes article. We have a way to go, but it is telling.

If you think that buying organic at the grocery - things such as Earthbound Farms organic meslun or purportedly organic fruit from Oregon is "the way"... imagine that your organic produce, grains and legumes might come from Ohio. We've got a way to go, but if more farmers take the leap, in three years, we could be as densely organic as Vermont, Maine or Wisconsin. Imagine an organic urban food revolution where demand drives supply in Cleveland. Three years from now, thousands of local organic urban growers transforming Cleveland into orchards, vineyards, vegetable beds, grain fields... Hmm... "Cleveland gets a perm" (Cleveland gets permacultured).

There's a bright golden haze on the meadow,
There's a bright golden haze on the meadow,
The corn is as high as an elephant's eye,
An' it looks like it's climbin' clear up to the sky.

All the sounds of the earth are like music,
All the sounds of the earth are like music,
The breeze is so busy it don't miss a tree,
And a ol' weepin' willer is laughin' at me!

Oh, what a beautiful mornin',
Oh, what a beautiful day,
I got a beautiful feelin'
Ev'rything's goin' my way.
Oh, what a beautiful day.

Rogers and Hammerstein (abridged)

Here's something I learned from an attendant at a recent permaculture design event. Peaches grow best in Northeast Ohio because of the "heat sink" provided by the lake. I didn't get a chance to ask about this further. Does anyone out there have the science background to explain this to me. I love peaches (my mom's family grew them in Georgia). Peach orchards in Cleveland neighborhoods? Excellent! OK... could we grow figs here [2]?