Gardeners
in the New Millennium will have to take into
consideration the earth changes now occurring: the
blurring of the seasons, increased ultraviolet b
radiation, changes in traditional precipitation
patterns, etc. Several years ago the ozone
depletion averaged 60% at the poles to 4% at the
equator, allowing an additional 12% to 18% UV-b to
reach the earth -- and if anything it is now worse.
In addition, ozone "holes" are now drifting with
increasing regularity across North America, such as
the one which drifted over Chicago and New York in
1995 and the one over northern Europe in 1996, but
we only hear of them well after the fact. Plants
directly under those ozone "holes" receive an
incredible dose of UV-b, and many are
burned.
In general,
the cereal grains and grasses are only moderately
sensitive to UV-b, while all of the most common
food crops are far more susceptible. The lists
below show the UV-b sensitivity in general terms:
if those plants are to be saved for seed, a few
selected plants can be grown in shaded areas,
off-season in shaded greenhouses, etc. But growing
food in bulk now means returning to the food crops
of the past: amaranth, millet and dahlia's are
prime examples. It is to those crops that most of
my garden will be planted this year.
Extremely
sensitive: beans, beets, cabbage, cucumber,
lettuce, peas, potato, pumpkin, onion, spinach,
tomatoes.
Moderately
sensitive: carrots, cauliflower, chicory, collards,
corn, parsnips, radish, wheat.
Partial
solutions to growing the sensitive crops are: grow
only in shaded areas if possible, or shade with
netting; plant main season crops early, or
transplant late; or, switch to UV-b resistant
strains where possible (substitute "Turk's Turban"
edible gourd for pumpkin, for example).
Amaranth (Love Lies Bleeding) and
buckwheat are both grains with a high UV
tolerance.
