Alcoholics Unanimous Newsletters

May 2006

Dave addresses Peak Oil and high prices for gasoline, converting cellulose to alcohol, alcohol in Sweden, upcoming legislation and more. 

November 2005

My apologies for the long interval since the last newsletter. We have been working very hard these last six months to finish the book and we have succeeded. The book is now at the publisher being edited and then will progress to copyediting and layout with the final steps of indexing and printing. That’s the good news. The bookstore release date is projected by the publisher to be in July, next summer. We are working on having the book earlier for direct sale from us and to the members of Alcoholics Unanimous.

November 2004

So much has been changing so fast in the last year that it's been a challenge to keep up.  We've recently won victories in the tax credit laws for alcohol fuel. All California, New York and Connecticut gasoline now contains 5.7% alcohol instead of MTBE. So those of you who were going only to Union 76 thinking that they were the only ones using alcohol can now widen your choices. Hundreds of new E-85 pumps have opened up in over 22 states and more are being added every day. Due to good market discipline, the E85 wholesalers are demanding that retailers in many areas maintain prices for ethanol at twenty cents a gallon lower than gasoline.  Now that's good PR.

January 2004

Ten months ago, as Bush announced the official end to Combat Operations in Iraq, I stood in a small room piled to the ceiling with old boxes. I decided I had to do my duty as a citizen to take action to make sure such a horrible spectacle never happened again. The vision: to redirect our national energy policy away from wars for oil and back onto clean, renewable, domestically produced Ethanol, where it had been headed in the 1980s under Jimmy Carter. That seemed a long way away.

Our Farm Newsletter Archives

January 31, 2001

Farmer Dave addresses the change in the quality of light as time passes from winter solstice and all of the changes in people and plant reactions due to the quality of light. It's time to really get to work and start planting. He mentions what he has recently learned more about the symphylans pests on Our Farm. Food: red looseleaf lettuce, swiss chard, red potatoes, osaka purple mustard, carrots, brussels sprouts, Hakurei turnip.

February 1, 2001

Farmer Dave addresses the state of the turnips, both babies and ones that have been growing all winter. He also talks of what they are planting on Our Farm as the soil warms after winter. He mentions working with a real estate person to look for different land, and gives his opinion on plants genetically engineered with herbicide resistance (This is bad! It allows farmers to dump up to 4 times the amount of herbicides on the land. Weeds can be dealt with using other methods) Food: red looseleaf lettuce mix, tat-soi, red potatoes, carrots, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, purple broccoli, romanesco broccoli, lemon thyme, arugula, calendula.

Rainy days and the landlady wants Our Farm off of the land so she can get twice the rent from someone else.Now we'll be looking for new land! Farmer Dave puts into words his exciting permaculture vision for the next stage of Our Farm and the International Institute for Ecological Agriculture. Food: red looseleaf lettuce, heirloom purple top turnips, yellow onions, arugula, carrots, endive, Yukon gold potatoes.

The sun is up and beds are being prepared for planting. Spring farm cleanup is underway for farm tours. Pesticides damage nerve insulation imitating Multiple sclerosis. Water spinach, watercress, fava beans will be new additions for eating and shade production in greenhouses. The Country Almanac will be writing an article on Our Farm. A new program will help fund seniors to get CSA shares. Let's stop the government from spraying toxic nerve gas in the county if the Glassy Winged Sharpshooter is found. Food: green leaf lettuce, escarole, rocquette flowers, radishes, red onions, arugula, Yukon Gold potatoes, fava bean greens.

The Country Almanac article on Our Farm is out and it is great! This should help promote us. We are planting tons of vegetable seedlings and flower starts. The soil is getting almost hot enough to battle the root eating symphylans pests. Food: random heads of lettuce, broccoli, borage flowers, radishes, yellow onion, arugula, carrots, red Osaka mustard.

Farmer Dave speaks of the activism he is doing to stop forced neighborhood spray for the Glassy Winged Sharp Shooter. The beds on the main farm are rich and ready for planting. The toads are getting ready to go to work for the farm: hunting bugs, spreading thousands of pounds of fertilizer. We are considering a couple of farms in Half Moon Bay. Farm tour coming soon!

The last beds are being planted. Matadero will be planted for summer/fall. The giant earthworm population has been hard at work making rich compost for us to use. We're planting more vegetables as their turn comes up.   Farmer Dave enlightens a visitor from Mongolia on the dangers of Roundup. Earthday and farm tour coming soon. Food: broccoli, arugula flowers, green and red lettuce, spring onions, red chard, garlic greens, red mustard, baby turnips.

Blessings of rain came just in time for our freshly planted seeds to germinate! It's hard to farm and not plan for the future, knowing we must leave this land. Building up soil at the new farm will be easier with the knowledge we've gained here. The oil companies are jacking up the prices once again·but how? The Food: broccoli, fava beans, lettuce, spring onions, beet greens, carrots, red Russian kale. Article, ãMonsanto Can Steal Farmers Land at Willä

After a cold spring, we are dealing with late transplants and other plants being fooled and bolting early. Plants on the farm are working together to combat weeds. Monsanto blames neighbor farmers of stealing their genetically engineered corn seeds and demands money by lawsuit – and gets the money! The Food: broccoli, fava beans, new red fire lettuce, spring onions, Hakurei turnips, Kobu takana green mustard, red mustard,

May 17, 2001

Cool weather follows the first heat wave of the season. The Food: broccoli, arugula flowers, lettuce, spring onions, russet potatoes, carrots, giant red mustard, oregano. Save Our Environment Action Center Update, work together to protect our environment. The Bush administration wants to reduce the acceptable level of arsenic in our drinking water.

Tomato transplants are in. We planted people's favorites from last year (Mortgage Lifters). We've harvested onions, garlic volunteers from last season, and fava beans. We have visitors from Ghana discussing permaculture and related topics. The Food: Chinese broccoli and komatsuma, red mustard, lettuce, spring onions, young garlic, fava beans, young spinach, nastursiums.

Heat waves are raising hell with some of the crop scheduling. Summer squash and green beans are doing well. The permaculture course took a lesson with a dowser. The Food: rainbow chard, salad mix, onions, green garlic, daikon, oriental greens.

Global warming provides more freak weather. A summer storm has brought rain with several days of cold weather. The landlord at Matadero shut off our irrigation system and thousands of dollars worth of crops are lost. We planted some beds at the farm in Pescadero. Salad and lettuce mixes are doing well due to the shade cloth and frequent sprinkling of water. The two-week permaculture course is coming to a close and we had a great group. The Food:purslane, red Russian kale, speckles lettuce.

WebVan has gone bankrupt (they did a lot of damage to CSA's all over). Home delivery increases isolation and reduces community, something we don't need in Community Supported Agriculture. We picked sweet peppers on the first harvest. Cucumbers are on the vines at Matadero. Squash is slow to produce as of yet. We did the first picking of basil. We will plant more beds over at Pescadero. Watch out Santa Clara for forced pesticide spraying of front and back yards due to Glassy Winged Sharpshooter and the desire to protect the wine industry from disease. The pesticide sprayings will kill all of our natural predators and then we'll have one big pest problem. Plus, exposure of these pesticides to children can permanently damage their brains and nervous systems. The Food:purple ruffles basil, lolla rossa lettuce, baby carrots, frissee, garlic, summer squash, stir fry mix, sweet peppers.

We have finally moved out of Woodside and now must deal with all of the boxes at Pescadero. The tomato tidal wave is coming. The fertile soil at Woodside will feed the grasses and gophers well this winter. The Food: genovese basil, salad mix, baby bok choi, summer squash, swiss chard, sweet peppers, cucumbers.

The alcohol fuel talk at the Solfest went pretty well. The Squirrels at Matadero are eating well on our crops. We are having to throw many peppers away. The tomatoes are late due to the cold summer. The Food: purple ruffles basil, salad mix, bell peppers, cho-ho, summer squash, cucumbers, tomatoes. Recipe: Oriental Noodle Salad with Cashews.

This time of year provides abundant harvest. Plants are all fruiting more than just producing vegetation. Why do we like the fruit of the plant so much? Fruit are sweet and tasty so that we'll eat them and disperse their seeds. Farmer Dave addresses USDA laws on organic certification services that stand in the way of certifiers giving advice to farmers. The wine industry is taking a hit due too the Glassy Winged Sharpshooter. The Food: Genovese basil, corn, mizuna, cho-ho, summer squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, turnips, onions.

Farmer Dave gives examples of the government seizing property from suspected drug dealers, which has been followed by seizure of assets, including land from people for other alleged crimes (even if they had nothing to do with it). He reproduces a letter of someone who disagrees with him on a past newsletter. He also addresses his response to that letter. The Food: purple basil, collard greens, spinach, Anaheim peppers, summer squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, turnips, cho-ho. Recipes: Collards with Crisped Bread Crumbs, Chard and Eggplant Medley, Chard Salad.

Our Farm is nearing its end. After reaching thousands of people, both kids and adults, and sending them out into the world to act on their own and together, we must give up our land due to the fact that we've been renting all of this time (8 years). WebVan, a company with large capital and delivering organic produce to people's doorstep had a big impact on our CSA. We lost 80% of our CSA shareholders. While working extra hard to rebuild our CSA shareholders as those who are committed because of underlying values of health, politics, and environmental concert, Farmer Dave began to experience health problems which led to a diagnosis of diabetes. Farmer Dave goes on in this issue of Meanwhile Back at the Farm to tell the sad story describing the end of Our Farm. The Food: Genovese basil, cho-ho, spinach, beet greens, celery, summer squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, kohlrabi, cabbage, arugula, collard greens. Recipes: Leek and Celery Soup, Braised Celery, Gratineed Celery.

Farmer Dave recaps a talk he heard given by Kevin Danaher (Medea Benjamin's husband and co-founder of Global Exchange). Kevin addressed some of the happenings around the world as the US is caught up in the sadness and fright caused by September 11. He explained the threat of global warming and the mass amount of ice melting and sliding off of the Antarctic continent. This would hugely effect the Bay Area and the agricultural central valley, let alone our economy. Solution: stop fighting for oil and let's start establishing an ethanol fuel production system. This will also create jobs! The Food: Genovese basil, mizuna, lettuce, bell peppers, summer squash, tomatoes, turnips, purple scallions, nappa cabbage, red Russian kale. Recipes: Napa or Chinese Cabbage, Mixed Greens With Cumin.

Farmer Dave addresses the fear that is instilled in the United States of terrorist attacks and the fact that we need to compartmentalize and confine our fears or become paralyzed by them. The military industrialists are more than happy to offer relief of that fear if you'd only be willing to pay the price by surrendering all of your civil rights. He talks about how our food systems are affected by change in policy on what we were told before is ãsafeä for example pesticides and cattle feed lots, because since 9-11, they are now risks to national security. The Food: Genovese basil, arugula, lettuce, bell peppers, summer squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, purple top turnips.

November 1, 2001

Congress is considering a trade bill, which is being proposed for Fast Track, which would make it illegal to label food as genetically engineered or free of genetic engineering. We are at the end Our Farm and Dave gives thanks to so many people who helped make it happen. The Food: Genovese basil, tomatillos, spinach, bell peppers, Anaheim peppers, tomatoes, purple scallions, nappa cabbage, kohlrabis, collard greens, kailaan. Recipes:Green Tomatoes, Anaheim Peppers, Warm Greens Salad, Avocado Tomatillo Dressing, Kohlrabi and Celery Salad, Mustard Vinaigrette, Macedonian Nettle and Cheese Pie, Skordalia (Bread and Almond Dipping Sauce), Tarragon or Basil Green Beans, Zydeco Green Beans (Louisiana style), Green Tomato Pie