2 GOING GREEN | Sunday, April 4, 2010 commercialappeal.

com

What’s in this issue ...

Grass that’s truly green
4 Instead of loading up on chemical
fertilizers and pesticides, give
organic methods a try this year

A greener firm Sex and the garden

7 Collierville’s Morgreen
9 How Jamie Durie makes
has been organic for horticulture appealing to
four years young adults

Leaving no child inside

11 Mississippians rally behind effort to
promote environmental education

Arkansas family
14 Healthy snacks
for children
17 goes hydroponic

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!

Going Green is a special online publication of
The Commercial Appeal. We welcome your comments
and suggestions. Follow Going Green on Twitter at
www.twitter.com/GoGreenMemphis.
Editor: Roland Klose, 529-2776,
goinggreen@commercialappeal.com
The Commercial Appeal Sunday, April 4, 2010 | GOING GREEN 3

The Green Page

Events
Going Green — the environmental digital
edition of The Commercial Appeal — and
Memphis Botanic Garden are partnering to
bring horticulturist Felder Rushing to
Memphis on April 21.
Rushing will talk about using green
practices in the garden at 7 p.m. at the
botanic garden. The informal session, aimed
at novice and veteran gardeners, is titled: “It
ain’t easy going green, ’cept in the garden.”
Admission is $3 for MBG members, $5 for
nonmembers. Proceeds will go to the care and
preservation of the more than 150 species of
trees that make up Memphis Botanic
Garden’s Certified Level IV Arboretum.
For information, call 529-2372. For
reservations, call 636-4111.
Learn more about living green with a new
morning series of informational gatherings at
Memphis Botanic Garden. The free Thursday
sessions are presented by Memphis Botanic
Garden and CA Media, publishers of The Commercial Appeal file photo
Commercial Appeal, commercialappeal.com
and goinggreen.commercial appeal.com. Horticulturist Felder Rushing will
The Going Green Coffee Scene informal talk about using green practices in
get-togethers will be held from 8:45-9:45 the garden on April 21 at the
a.m. on April 22, April 29, May 6 and May 13. Memphis Botanic Garden.

Groups space along the Mississippi, Project Green Fork: A

Coalition for Livable
Communities: The
organization advocates
healthy, vibrant and
economically sustainable
communities.
livablememphis.org or
(901) 725-8390.
Friends for Our
Riverfront: Formed in 2003,
the group advocates
improvement of the public
as well as a clean and
vibrant harbor.
friendsforourriverfront.org or
(901) 496-0736
Mid-South Peace and
Justice Center: Works with
low-income communities in
Memphis to plan and plant
community gardens,
providing area residents with
access to fresh produce.
midsouthpeace.org or (901)
725-4990
community initiative that
helps Memphis restaurant
owners in reducing waste,
lowering overhead and
decreasing their
environmental impact.
projectgreenfork.org.
Wolf River Conservancy:
The nonprofit land trust is
dedicated to preserving the
Wolf River corridor and
watershed. wolfriver.org or
(901) 452-6500.
4 GOING GREEN | Sunday, April 4, 2010 commercialappeal.com

‘Green’
green
grass
of home
Patience is a must
in switching to
organic lawn care
By Jim Coleman
Special to Going Green

THIS YEAR, INSTEAD

OF HEADING to your local
big-box hardware store to
grab bags of synthetic
fertilizer and pesticide, give
organic methods a little
thought. In the long run, it
may be a healthier decision
for your family, pets and the
Avoid the temptation to cut your grass too short.
Mowing grass to about a 3-inch length requires environment, not to
you to mow less frequently and uses less water. mention your lawn.
The Commercial Appeal
Organic lawn care is
nothing new. It’s probably
how your great-great-
grandparents took care of
their lawns. These
methods of lawn care
have slowly been
abandoned in favor of
petrochemical fertilizers,
poor watering methods
and a low-level chemical
war on insects.
If you decide to take
the organic route this
year with your lawn,
patience is a must. A
good healthy lawn
requires a good rich layer
of topsoil, which can be
built up under an existing
lawn naturally over time.
Chemical fertilizers may
yield immediate results
but they also make your
soil more alkaline,
requiring you to adjust
the pH level of the soil.
Provided you have
enough topsoil to allow
your grass to develop
roots, the first step
toward a “greener” lawn
should be a pH test. This
should be done every
year. It will tell you if your
soil is too acidic or
alkaline. You can buy a
pH test kit or you can pay
a lawn care specialist to
test your soil for you.
If you choose to test
your lawn yourself, you
get what you pay for.
Cheap test kits in the $20
Sunday, April 4, 2010 | GOING GREEN 5
If you have bald patches in your yard you
may want to add a little seed to fill them
in, although a good healthy lawn will
eventually fill in any patches by itself.
range can be unreliable of nitrogen-poor soil.
and could have you Once you have the right
adding lime when your balance to your soil, you
lawn is craving sulfur. A should take the time to
quality tester will set you weed your lawn. Weeds
back about $100. Ideally, provide competition for
you want your lawn pH to nutrients and sunlight for
be around 6.5. If it is your lawn and should be
lower you need to add pulled up to give your
lime. If it is higher sulfur grass a fresh start.
should be applied. If you have bald patches
Keep an eye out for in your yard you may
unwanted guests like want to add a little seed
dandelions, too. They are a to fill them in, although a
sure sign of a pH problem good healthy lawn will
with your soil. Once you eventually fill in any
get your lawn’s pH down to patches by itself.
6.5 they should begin to “Fescue seed is
die off. Your lawnmower recommended if you are
and a thick, healthy lawn going to put down seed
will eventually take care of this time of year,” said
the rest. Josh Davis, a lawn care
A lot of clover is a sign expert at Stringer’s
6 GOING GREEN | Sunday, April 4, 2010 commercialappeal.com

Poplar Pointe Garden Center. “The seed heat, but it is also unnecessary. The less
usually takes about two weeks to take you water your grass, the stronger the
root, but with the cooler weather this root system will become as it searches
year it may take up to a month.” deeper for water. Less watering also
Fescue also has deep roots, making it discourages weeds, which love a daily
more drought-resistant. watering. Your lawn should get a deep
Davis also said that the cooler weather watering when it begins to show signs of
will give people a longer stress.
window to lay down their If you have an insect
seed. problem in your yard,
“Generally, mid- natural predators are a
February to mid-March is great way to get rid of
when you want to put them. Not only are birds
down seed. But you can beautiful, but they can eat
probably get away with it their weight in insects.
until mid-April. This year Try setting up a birdbath
everything is about 30 and put out seed to
days late.” attract them.
Mowing is an area If you feel nature is not
where people often make up to the task and you
mistakes. You may think If you have an insect need to take stronger
you are buying yourself problem in your yard, try measures to protect your
time by cutting your setting up a birdbath to lawn, there are organic
lawn to a close shave, but attract birds, natural pesticides available.
you are actually making predators that can eat Davis mentioned grubs
your grass grow faster. their weight in insects. as being a particular
The shorter you cut your nuisance to Memphis
lawn the more it will want to grow to lawns.
make up for what it has just lost. “For grubs, grub beater organic
This puts all the nutrients into the product can be used. It also can be used
above-the-ground growth and nothing to kill a wide variety of bugs. Stinosad,
into the root system, undermining your which is in several different-named
lawn. organic products, is a good all-purpose
Set your lawnmower wheels at their insecticide.”
highest setting possible so your lawn He also mentioned Espoma as a good
will be about 3 inches long after cutting. organic lawn food brand.
This is a nice, healthy length that will “You will want to fertilize your lawn
actually require you to mow less because when it begins to green up around mid-
your grass is not struggling to maintain April to early May,” said Davis.
enough chlorophyll. You can also try spreading a layer of
Longer grass length also requires less compost about an inch deep across your
watering. A daily watering may seem lawn. It will eventually work its way
like the right thing to do, particularly down to your soil, adding organic
during a scorching stretch of summer material.
The Commercial Appeal Sunday, April 4, 2010 | GOING GREEN 7

A growing market

Alan Spearman/The Commercial Appeal

Zachary Walker of MorGreen Nursery spreads organic lawn and garden fertilizer
based on chicken manure at a client’s home.

Morgreen By Jim Coleman / Special to Going Green

Nursery
WHILE SOME OF THE BIG NAME outfits like
relies on
TruGreen and Scotts are beginning to offer organic
organic
lawn care, Morgreen Nursery & Landscape has had
products
the jump on the bigger competitors.
for healthy
“We’ve been doing this for about four years,”
lawns
said Zachary Walker, who manages the landscaping
end of the business for the Collierville business.
8 GOING GREEN | Sunday, April 4, 2010
Alan Spearman/The Commercial Appeal
Katie Bouton tags Autumnalis Cherry Trees.
The nursery and
landscaping company
offers a variety of lawn
and yard maintenance
services like leaf removal,
mulching, as well as
routine treatments to
keep your lawn healthy
and fed. The nursery also
offers a wide selection of
organic products.
“We do just about
everything that needs to
be done to a yard,”
Walker said.
When treating your
yard, Morgreen generally
uses a fertilizer that is
specific to your needs. It
is applied four times a
year and startup can be at
any time. They also offer
treatments for sick trees
and weed control for
beds, in addition to
several other applications
MORGREEN NURSERY
& LANDSCAPE
Address: 468 W. Highway
72, Collierville
Phone: 853-9877
On the Web:
morgreenlandscape.com
for your lawn and yard.
“It’s a little more
expensive because of the
materials used. For a
year, a basic quarter-acre
lot or less usually costs
between $400 to 600,” he
said.
Organic materials are
generally more expensive
because they are of a
higher quality. Chemical
fertilizers, on the other
hand, are usually
petroleum based — good
for oil companies, but bad
commercialappeal.com
“With organics
the results
aren’t overnight,
but they do give
you a healthier
lawn and a more
stable soil.”
ZACHARY WALKER
Landscaping expert with
Morgreen Nursery
for the environment.
Organic products and
services are entering the
mainstream of the
American marketplace,
and lawn care is no
exception. Spraying the
immediate environment
encircling your house
with toxins could have
adverse health effects.
The chemicals used in
these products can also
be consumed by insects,
birds and other animals,
entering the food chain.
Algae blooms in large
bodies of water can occur
as well. Nitrogen-rich
runoff feeds these
blooms, depriving the
water of oxygen.
Walker says that his
customer base has been
steadily growing over the
years.
The Commercial Appeal
“A lot of people are
showing interest in organic
lawn care,” Walker said.
“They are concerned about
the environment. Many of
them are also concerned
because doctors have shown
a link between chemical
fertilizers, pesticides and
cancer. They are also worried
about their pets’ health.”
With Morgreen’s organic
approach there is little to fear.
Over time, the soil is built up
with organic fertilizers and
other materials that
eventually give your grass a
rich, healthy medium.
“With organics the results
aren’t overnight, but they do
give you a healthier lawn and
a more stable soil,” he said.
Stable soil promotes a
healthy lawn, which can
generally crowd out any
weeds that try to take root.
For most yards it can take
up to a year to see the results
of organic treatments.
In this age of instant
gratification, the wait can be
too much for some.
“A lot of people want
good-looking grass and
don’t want to wait. We just
try to educate people so they
see the long-term benefits of
organic care are a lot better.”
Walker also said the wait
can be worthwhile.
“Just like a person wants to
stay healthy, your lawn is the
same way. A lawn is easier to
maintain than repair.”
Sunday, April 4, 2010 | GOING GREEN 9
Sex up gardening?
This Aussie is trying
By Connie Nelson
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Jamie Durie’s a globe-trotting, jet-setting,
celebrity horticulturist.
Maybe the only one.
The former stripper has been a regular on
“Oprah Winfrey,” designed for Charlize Theron,
trained on climate change with Al Gore and hosted
a forum on sustainability
with the Dalai Lama. He
went “Dancing With the
Stars” (he made it
through seven of 10
eliminations) and hosted
the venerable PBS show,
“The Victory Garden”
(the 32nd season). He’s
written five books (all
garden-related), created
his own line of outdoor
furnishings and garden
tools, and founded a
Jamie Durie
landscape company,
Patio, which is designing gardens in 11 countries.
This year, he launched yet another venture: a new
HGTV show, “The Outdoor Room With Jamie
Durie.”
Durie, 40, an Aussie with a killer smile, took a
break from scuba diving in Barbados to talk
about what he learned in Las Vegas, why he’s into
native plants and his hopes for his
travelogue/glam garden show.
Q: You’ve been credited with making gardening
sexy. How do you make geraniums sexy to young
people?
10 GOING GREEN | Sunday, April 4, 2010 commercialappeal.com

A: That’s one of the reasons I Q: What kind of a gardener are

wanted to do “The Outdoor Room.” you?
It combines gardening with travel A: I’m what’s called an abundant
and then I eat all these exotic foods. gardener. I pack ’em in, mate, I pack
Our show appeals to travelers, ’em in. If I see any bare soil, I put in a
foodies and to young people. I’m plant. My clients pay for instant
trying to harvest a whole new gardens. So I want them to walk out
audience for gardening shows. in their garden and say, “This is
Q: So you’re making incredible! I don’t know
plants exotic? which way to look.”
A: We’re all pretty
“I’m what’s called Q: You’re a pretty
much experts on what an abundant outspoken
grows on our street, environmental
but to take the gardener. I pack advocate. Did that
blinkers off and see ’em in, mate, I evolve with your
what’s growing in the gardening?
rest of the world, pack ’em in. If I A: I’ve been aligned
that’s exciting. Plants see any bare soil, I with environmental
really give a sense of groups for 15 years. I
place, and a sense of put in a plant.” trained with Al Gore
escape. to be a climate-change
Q: How did you get presenter. I’ve
into gardening? developed a real love
A: I grew up in the Australian for the Earth.
outback. My dad was a miner and Q: Most eco-friendly gardeners
my mom was a passionate gardener. use lots of native plants. Where do
She had the ability to grow roses in you stand on natives?
the desert soil. It wasn’t until after I A: I try to use natives in every
dabbled in show business in Las garden I do. You’ve got to hit the 50
Vegas that I began to take what I percent mark or you’re not being
learned about lights, sets and responsible. As a horticulturist, you
staging and apply it to the garden. can’t turn your back on your
Q: So how do you design, post- knowledge. You know that if you
Vegas? plant an invasive species, you’re
A: We’re all spatially aware. We going to pay for it somewhere.
know what it takes to feel Q: What’s your take on chemicals?
comfortable in our living rooms. I’m A: It’s lazy gardening. I walk
just translating that to the garden. through the garden stores in America
You have to create a space that’s so and I just can’t believe that there are
comfortable, so private that people shelves and shelves of chemicals used
feel like they could go out and walk to kill. I see people walking around
around naked in their garden. spraying this and spraying that.
The Commercial Appeal Sunday, April 4, 2010 | GOING GREEN 11

Environmental education
No Child Left
Inside Act
promises
greener future
By Karen Ott Mayer
Special to Going Green

Obscured by the heated

debate about the economy
and health care reform,
supporters of a far-
reaching measure, the No
Child Left Inside Act
(NCLI), have been quietly
organizing and gaining
ground.
The legislation,
introduced in 2009 by
U.S. Rep. John Sarbanes,
D-Md., and U.S. Sen. Jack
Reed, D-R.I., proposes
spending $500 million
over five years to increase
environmental education John Guyton of the Department of Wildlife,
for elementary and Fisheries and Aquaculture at Mississippi State
secondary school University is among those leading the effort.
children. Supporters hope
to see the legislation as the NCLI Principals University, is helping lead
approved this year. formed last fall to support the effort.
In Mississippi, a strong the legislation. The basic goal of the
coalition of John Guyton, associate proposed legislation,
environmentalists, extension professor in the Guyton said, is “to get
educators, outdoor Department of Wildlife, children back outdoors
enthusiasts, business and Fisheries and Aquaculture again.”
civic organizations known at Mississippi State Beyond that goal,
12 GOING GREEN | Sunday, April 4, 2010
Olive Branch
Middle
School
students took
an overnight
trip to Crow’s
Neck
Environmental
Education
Center in
Tishomingo
County,
Miss., last
fall.
supporters are addressing
two fundamental
questions: What is
environmental education
and how can it be
evaluated?
When considering
overall health and
education levels in
Mississippi, the initiative
takes on an even greater
importance.
At the February Natural
Resources Initiative
conference, Guyton
presented rather dismal
statistics: Children ages 6
to 11 watch 28 hours of
television each week and
Mississippi ranks last in
the National Assessment
of Education Progress.
In Mississippi, the
Mississippi
Environmental Education
Alliance (MEEA), a
coalition of many
environmental
organizations, is working
with the Mississippi
Department of Education
and the NCLI Principals to
develop an environmental
literacy plan and provide
training for environmental
education standards.
At this point, the North
American Association of
Environmental Educators
(NAAEE) and individual
states like Mississippi are
busy collaborating to
create curriculum
standards. NAAEE is the
national body that
developed environmental
education guidelines.
Guyton’s group has
commercialappeal.com
been attending workshops
and developing a state
curriculum, which would
be required to access
federal funds from the bill.
Federal funds would filter
through the U.S.
Department of Education
and states will be required
to submit a formal
proposal for the funds.
“It all starts with the
schools and we’ll have to
have an environmental
literacy plan in place which
controls how the money
will be used,” Guyton said.
In addition to a plan,
the state will need to
understand how to
evaluate student progress.
Guyton said his group
made a key decision on the
front end of this process.
The Commercial Appeal
“We made the decision that
environmental education
belongs in all subjects and
in all grades.” Currently,
Project Learning Tree and
Project Wild are two
education programs that
many educators follow.
A good illustration of
environmental education
is John Ruskey’s Quapaw
Canoe Company’s canoe
project on the Sunflower
and Mississippi rivers for
underprivileged kids.
Children who
participate in Ruskey’s
program in Clarksdale
make a dugout canoe.
“Kids have to figure the
weight of a log,
determining if it will sink
or not. John has them
keep journals, so they
practice writing, in
addition to using math
and science for the
project,” Guyton said.
Experience has shown
that combining children
and the outdoors can
improve performance and
test scores.
“It’s about creating an
interest and a need.
They’re forced to solve
problems and answer
questions,” he said.
In Oil City, La., the Oil
City Magnet School was
targeted for closure due to
extremely poor test scores.
After implementing an
environmental literacy
Sunday, April 4, 2010 | GOING GREEN
program, the scores began
to change.
The Oil City school is
“an outstanding
example,” Guyton said, of
what can be
accomplished.
“They are blowing the
roof off with the scores,”
he said.
This year, Guyton’s
group will target four
schools — one in each of
Experience shows that
combining children and
the outdoors can
improve test scores.
the state’s congressional
districts — as pilot sites
for the environmental
curriculum with the goal
of comparing 2010
standardized scores to
scores in 2011.
Guyton said many
nature centers are already
aligned with the state
13
curriculum.
Cynthia Harrell,
executive director at
Crow’s Neck
Environmental Education
Center in Tishomingo
County, Miss., has also
been working with
Guyton.
“Crow’s Neck follows
the state curriculum for
teaching. Right now,
there’s no national
standard and each state
has different educational
frameworks,” Harrell said.
Other states have
released their own plans
and Guyton says his group
has reviewed one of them.
Harrell believes that states
could help each other.
“There’s no use in
reinventing the wheel,”
Harrell said.
An avid youth camp
organizer and outdoor
enthusiast, Guyton has
witnessed the genuine
interest and positive
impact nature has on
children.
“At our bug camps, we
conduct night studies that
the kids love. We actually
have kids bring alarm
clocks to camp!”
While work continues
in the woods and camps
of Mississippi, it remains
to be seen if the country
endorses a greener future
with the passage of the
No Child Left Inside Act.
14 GOING GREEN | Sunday, April 4, 2010
EARTH TALK
Treat kids to healthy, natural snacks
Dear Earth Talk: Many “healthy snacks” marketed
for children list “natural flavors” but don’t identify
them. Are these products safe?
Food writer Michael
Pollan recommends
steering clear of foods
that advertise their green
attributes on their label.
According to his line of
reasoning, why give a
child a fruit roll-up when
you can give him or her a
piece of fruit? Only
processed foods need to
advertise what’s natural
about them, whereas an
apple speaks for itself,
providing wholesome
nutrition without the
need for marketing hype.
But most of us depend
on the occasional
packaged or processed
food, so choosing between
the lesser of two evils
sometimes has to be the
way to go. If a product lists
natural ingredients on its
label — anything from real
fruits, vegetables and nuts
to cereals, grains and
other healthy foods you
can recognize without a
food dictionary on hand —
it’s probably better than a
food reliant on artificial
commercialappeal.com
most kids crave sweets,
naturally sweet foods such
as fruits are perfect,” she
said. Real bananas,
oranges, apples, cherries,
strawberries and other
fruits are popular with
most kids. “You can mix in
yogurt or even make a fruit
smoothie with some milk
and a drop of chocolate or
other natural flavors,”
Steendahl suggested.
“One thing to recognize
about children is that if
they try enough types of
natural and healthy snacks,
they will find one that they
enjoy,” Steendahl said.
“The problem is that many
Naturally sweet foods times parents give up
such as fruit are a good trying to find the snacks
way to help kids develop that their kids like and
healthy eating patterns settle for popular junk
early. foods instead.” She
stresses the importance of
flavors and sweeteners. teaching kids which snacks
“One way for your kids to eat and which to avoid
to enjoy healthy snacks is early in life so that they can
to get them started on sidestep obesity problems
naturally sweet foods,” altogether. Nuts and dry
said Christine Steendahl cereals, for example, are
of Kid Approved Meals, good alternatives to chips
which sells menus and and other junk food.
shopping lists to parents According to California-
looking for guidance in based pediatrician and
meal preparation. “Since author William Sears, who
The Commercial Appeal Sunday, April 4, 2010 | GOING GREEN 15

markets his own line of

healthy kids’ snacks called
Lunchbox Essentials,
parents should make sure
that any snack foods they
give their family members
provide both fiber and
protein, which give the
feeling of fullness, and
taste good as well. He
adds that parents should
learn to read labels so they
can tell which products
contain hydrogenated
oils, artificial colors, Photo courtesy of Jill Forrester, Whitton Farms
preservatives and high- Eating locally grown, seasonal fruits and
fructose corn syrup. vegetables is generally accepted as a good idea —
As a last resort for but can seasonal eating make you healthier as well?
especially finicky kids,
parents can find
packaged snacks that
might look like junk food
but are actually healthy
Can eating in season
and nutritious, including
certain brands of fruit
roll-ups and granola bars.
boost your nutrition?
Look in the snack aisle of
your local natural foods By Carlos Alcala
market for such items, McClatchy Newspapers
and don’t be afraid to ask
store personnel for SACRAMENTO — Over a couple of decades,
recommendations. It’s farmers market advocate Renae Best has developed a
important to take your seemingly unique theory that should appeal to
child’s nutrition people who subscribe to community-supported
seriously. Whether he or agriculture or shop at farmers markets.
she ever realizes it, you Both farmers markets and CSAs — which deliver
are setting patterns that produce to subscribers on a regular basis — provide
will enable them to live fruits and vegetables that are locally grown and in
healthier and longer lives. season.
Many experts — not just the growers, but
Send questions to Earth
Talk, P.O. Box 5098, nutrition gurus and writers like Michael Pollan —
Westport, CT 06881 or e- recommend that you eat local food that’s in season.
mail But Best, general manager with her husband for
earthtalk@emagazine.com. Certified Farmers’ Markets of Sacramento, Calif.,
16 GOING GREEN | Sunday, April 4, 2010 commercialappeal.com

seems to be the first to certain times of year

develop this unusual than others,” said
claim: Marion Nestle, a New
She believes produce York University
that is ripe and locally nutrition professor.
available during a Still, Best and Zeller
particular season had other examples. In
provides exactly the winter, kiwi and citrus
nutrients your body are ripe and loaded
needs during that with vitamin C. “The
season. cold and flu season is
For example, she when the things high in
suggests that vitamin C are in the
watermelons are ripe in market,” Best said.
summer when you need Winter is also when
the hydration they you see a lot of foods
provide. Plus, they have rich in beta carotene, a
potassium. source of vitamin A. That would be
“It’s like a Gatorade, but it’s natural,” darker-colored things like broccoli,
Best said. sweet potatoes and butternut squash.
It’s “the innate intelligence of nature,” Best isn’t a nutrition scientist.
according to Janet Zeller, marketing “It was something I stumbled on
manager for the Sacramento (Calif.) purely by coincidence,” she said.
Natural Foods Co-op. She also She started thinking about it after her
encourages in-season nutrition by husband took over management of the
talking about melons’ hydration benefits. markets years ago. It seemed that her
Those who study nutrition are family — eating lots of fresh stuff — got
skeptical, though they don’t knock the sick less than relatives who didn’t have
idea of eating what’s in season. the same access to produce.
“I’m not aware that the nutrients in “Nature just kind of had a plan,” she
fresh vegetables are needed more at said.

Just one thing

Did you know aluminum foil is
recyclable? After you’re done baking a
casserole in the oven, just peel off the
aluminum and crumple it up into a ball. A
quick rinse under the kitchen faucet should
remove any food residue. Toss the foil in
the curbside recycling bin for pickup.
The Commercial Appeal Sunday, April 4, 2010 | GOING GREEN 17

Vegetables — and business —

growing at Ark. hydroponic farm
Southwest Arkansas. The
Micmak Farms’ produce never touches dirt couple moved back to
Batesville in 2002 to raise
By Andrea Bruner greenhouse and saw the
their family.
Batesville Daily Guard future of farming, with
Recently, they
hydroponics.
produced their first “real
BATESVILLE, Ark. — “I was extremely
harvest” of 500 to 600
Five years ago David interested in that,”
pounds of tomatoes,
Hughes never dreamed Hughes said.
Hughes said. Soon the
he’d one day be operating They paid extra to get
farm will be producing up
a hydroponic farm, but he a behind-the-scenes tour,
to 1,000 pounds of
knew he’d have to do and Hughes took notes,
tomatoes a week, up
something. even jotting down the
through July. And that
His family was growing, name on the equipment.
doesn’t include the other
the economy was in a Back at home, he found
veggies. But that’s not
downturn, and it was time the company and ordered
all.
to make a change. Today his own. “So we’re using
The greenhouse has
David and his wife Ami the same equipment they
approximately 1,800 heads
operate Micmak Farms, use at Disney,” he said
of lettuce, with 155 heads
growing vegetables that with a grin.
being produced a week.
never touch dirt. It’s a “I always enjoyed a
The farm also is producing
year-round operation, garden, but this is more
two kinds of cucumbers.
rather than seasonal, and of a business,” said
“We started with
it was David and Ami’s Hughes, who has a
different varieties; we
answer to their dilemma. background in lawn care
don’t know what our
“We were looking for and landscaping.
customers will want,”
another career and our He also previously
Hughes said. The
family was maturing,” managed a transloading
Hugheses are also raising
Hughes said, “so we were facility in West Memphis
zucchini, eggplant,
needing more income.” and worked for Mid-
crookneck squash and
On a trip to Disney South Bulk, an offshoot of
bell peppers.
World, the family visited Silica Transport in Guion.
Hughes said they
Epcot and rode “The Ami attended Batesville
started out with just a
Land” that took riders schools up through 10th
little bit of zucchini, but
through a history of grade, then was home-
it sold out so quickly they
farming. At the end of schooled. David was
knew they’d want to plant
the ride, they entered a raised in DeQueen, in
18 GOING GREEN | Sunday, April 4, 2010
more. “With our lettuce
and everything that we
produce, people say it’s
the best they’ve ever
tasted,” Hughes said.
The Hugheses have
four houses attached by a
“gutter connect” system
so that there are no walls
separating them.
Construction on the
houses began Aug. 14,
2009, and was completed
in just two months. Soon
after that, the family was
planting their vegetables.
The greenhouses filter
all the air coming in,
which helps keep aphids,
white flies and other
insects out. “We don’t
use pesticides,” Hughes
said. “The best way to
not have to use pesticides
is to not let pests in.”
“We have bees that do
our pollinating,” Hughes
continued, leading the way
to a beehive in the middle
Micmak Farms turns out 1,000 pounds of tomatoes and 155 heads of
lettuce a week.
of the greenhouses.
The greenhouses run
on solar power, so in
eight weeks (seven when
summer comes with
longer days and more
sunshine) the tomatoes
are ready to harvest. The
7,200 square feet are
filled floor to ceiling with
1,500 tomato plants, 10
feet high and 12 feet long,
holding approximately
50,000 tomatoes.
When they reach their
full maturity, the plants
will be 25-30 feet long. It
took about four months
for plants to get to the
size they are now, Hughes
said, pointing to the top
branches, where the
blooms are not yet open.
On the next level, the
blooms have opened; the
next, they’re making
green tomatoes; and so
on. Each of those growths
are about a week apart,
commercialappeal.com
he continued. The roots
are immersed in buckets
of Perlite (a specialty
rock used as a growing
medium) instead of dirt.
Tubes run in and out of
the buckets, feeding the
plants essential nutrients
and water via “fertigation.”
The system allows Hughes
to control the pH and
nutrient level as well as the
temperature of the water.
Furthermore, the
amounts in the buckets
are measured to see how
much is going in, and
how much is going out.
“The difference between
what I do here and what
they do in the field is that
I am able to put in trace
minerals,” Hughes said.
“We use 75 percent
less water and fertilizer
than you would in the
field to grow the same
thing.” The tomatoes are
all harvested by hand.
The Commercial Appeal
Chipotle’s success grows from
‘food with integrity’ approach
By Michael Collins
Scripps Howard News Service
Steve Ells just wanted
to sell tacos and burritos,
not become the fast-food
industry’s pitchman for
naturally grown foods.
But what started out as
a simple quest to improve
the pork carnitas sold at
his Chipotle Mexican Grill
restaurants has turned the
chain’s founder and co-
chief executive officer
into a relentless advocate
of naturally raised meats
and fresh produce grown
in an environmentally
friendly way.
“You should be able to
find these kinds of foods
not only in high-end
restaurants and fancy
grocers, but in everyday
food,” Ells said.
Ells goes out of his way
to make sure that such
ingredients are used in
the tacos and burritos
gobbled down by hungry
patrons at Chipotle’s more
than 900 restaurants,
which serve 2.5 million
customers every week.
The restaurant chain,
Sunday, April 4, 2010 | GOING GREEN
“In order to serve
the very best food,
you have to
understand where
it comes from and
how it was raised.”
STEVE ELLS
Chipotle Mexican Grill founder
which last year reported
revenue of $1.5 billion,
served more than 60
million pounds of
naturally raised meats in
2009, including all of its
pork and chicken and
more than 60 percent of
its beef. Chipotle claims
that’s more than any
other restaurant company
in the world.
19
Chipotle also relies
heavily on fresh, organic
produce — locally grown
whenever possible — and
dairy products made with
milk from cows that are
never given the synthetic
growth hormone rBGH.
Ells calls his approach
“Food With Integrity,” and
he says it is shaping not
only the kind of fare served
in his restaurants, but the
way he runs his company.
“In order to serve the
very best food, you have
to understand where it
comes from and how it
was raised,” Ells said.
Ells is embarrassed to
admit it now, but those
kinds of concerns were
not on his radar when he
founded Chipotle and
opened his first restaurant
in Denver in 1993.
Trained at the Culinary
Institute of America, Ells
dreamed of opening his
own full-scale restaurant
but needed a cash cow to
support the venture. He
borrowed $80,000 from
his father and opened a
taco and burrito
restaurant in an old ice
20 GOING GREEN | Sunday, April 4, 2010
cream store in hopes of eventually
funding his grander ambition.
His business plan was simple yet
ambitious: Put a new twist on
traditional Mexican fare and show
the burgers-and-fries generation that
fast food doesn’t have to be highly
processed and flavorless.
Ells sought out fresh meats and
herbs, and added things to his menu
like chili corn salsa with roasted
chilies, lime juice and cilantro.
The restaurant was a hit and put
Ells on track to open a chain of fast-
food eateries. But Ells noticed his
pork carnitas were not selling as well
as other items on the menu, so he
set out to improve their taste.
“I didn’t know how my pork was
raised at the time,” he said. “All I
knew was it was fresh. I didn’t know
where it came from.”
The pork he had been buying came
from what is known as confinement
hog operations — large commercial
farms in which millions of pigs spend
their entire lives in metal pens that
are so small that many can’t even
turn around.
They never breathe fresh outdoor
air or root around in open pastures.
Their waste is often pushed down
into lagoons, where it festers and can
leach into nearby streams. Activists
contend the conditions are not only
deplorable and inhumane, they are
bad for the environment and can
pose a health risk to humans.
Ells’ search for better-tasting pork
led him to Niman Ranch, a network
of individual family farms where pigs
were raised the old-fashioned way,
without antibiotics or added
hormones.
commercialappeal.com
She looks a
little green —
and that’s good
Chemical-free beauty tips
By Leigh Grogan
McClatchy Newspapers
If you want to attach a name and a
face to green living, it would be
Deborah Burnes.
She believes something as simple as
a bar of bath soap shouldn’t require a
degree in chemistry to figure out what
makes the bubbles bubble.
“Simplicity is the answer,” she says.
“You don’t need a checklist to be a
green person.”
Burnes, 45, is the co-founder and CEO
of Sumbody, a skin-care company that’s
committed to all-natural, eco-friendly
products free of chemicals and synthetics.
She’s also written a book, “Look
Great, Live Green” (Hunter House,
$16.95), which goes beyond being a
guidebook to green living. It educates,
explains and, as Burnes puts it, “gets
the elephant out of the room.”
“We’ve got allergies, ailments and
sensitivities we didn’t have 20 or 30
years ago with regard to the products
we use every day, whether it’s shampoo
or soap,” Burnes says.
“Our bodies weren’t meant to bear the
burden of all the toxins we’re exposed to.”
We spoke to Burnes about how going
The Commercial Appeal Sunday, April 4, 2010 | GOING GREEN 21

green is easier than you

might think.
Q: You write in the
book about multitasking
the process of living
green. Where can we
start?
A: I love that word
because it’s simple.
There’s not a big
difference between body
wash, shampoo and hand
wash. A lot of Deborah
advertising is window Burnes says
dressing to entice people her Sumbody
to buy. You can use products
shampoo on your body. show that
Instead of five face going green
creams a day, just use with
one. You save money and skin care is
reduce the amount of easier than
packaging, which is you might
totally out of control. think.
Q: Does going green
mean a chemical-free
soft. I call this the voices with their
makeover all at once?
“chemical conundrum.” pocketbooks. Nobody
And can’t that get
You end up using more wants to be an enemy of
expensive?
products than you need. the beauty industry.
A: I never suggest
Look at your overall That’s why you see
getting rid of everything.
budget. If you swapped celebrities endorsing
For every product that
two products you use for products. Money talks.
you use up that’s heavy
two that are green, you’ll But you can believe in a
on the chemicals, replace
it with one that’s free of eventually use less and product and not have a
artificial preservatives. save more money. clue about what’s in it or
For example, a bar of my Q: Do you think there possible adverse effects.
soap would be more will be a time when the If it’s on “Oprah,” it will
expensive than a bar of use of “bad” ingredients sell.
Dove ($5.95 vs. $1.50). in many of these daily “Look Great, Live Green”
You’ll feel squeaky clean products will be is available at Barnes &
with the Dove, but if you regulated? Noble and Borders bookstores
and at amazon.com. Burnes’
follow that with a body A: In my humble personal care and beauty
lotion, you end up drying opinion, yes. I believe products are available at
your skin trying to get it consumers will use their sumbody.com.