On a previous blog I kept on gardening, I had 14 entries devoted to why I garden — and garden using the methods I currently use. Since then, I’ve misplaced and forgotten a few of the reasons. I also don’t have many of the full posts. For today, I thought I’d simply list the reasons […]
Three quick thoughts: We often treat our soil like dirt. We treat our real food farmers like dirt. We regularly treat ourselves and some communities like dirt.
A handful of years ago, I attended a lecture about what can be done to help reverse the decline in bee populations, which has been going on for quite some time in the northern hemisphere. The lecture, “Bees: The New Buzz,” was given by MacArthur award-winning entomologist and University of Minnesota professor, Marla Spivak. While […]
Tolerating hunger is ridiculous. There is a menu of options to eradicate hunger, meaning more than 37 million Americans would be adequately-fed. Here are just four ideas for you to consider: The National Resources Defense Council reports that 40 percent of the food in America goes uneaten. The report, “Wasted: How America Is Losing Up […]
While my gardening story is full of happiness and learning, that’s not how it starts out. When I was a child — I believe the summer I was to become a kindergartener — I had a terrible accident, resulting in a severe concussion requiring hospitalization for eight days. While I don’t remember the experience, and […]
I’ve been building a real food bookshelf for years. Probably the first two books were ones my mom had when during the summer I first considered myself a gardener some 26 years ago: Carol Hupping’s “Stocking Up” and “Rodale’s Garden Answers.” Since then I’ve purchased additional practical books: from Seed Saver Exchange’s “The Seed Garden” […]
Several summers back, on my first visit to Seed Savers Exchange and early in my heirloom gardening days, I had to ask one of the staff about an issue that was plaguing me. Adult squash bugs were attacking most of my squash plants. I didn’t know what to do.
Yesterday, I mentioned on Facebook that I miss my pup from a few years back, Franco. He and I used to take long walks on the weekend and talk politics. The following is a slightly revised re-post of a conversation he and I had five years ago about real food and real food justice: A […]
Twenty-six years ago, when I first decided to call myself a gardener, I kind of sucked. I knew next to nothing. Companion planting? What? Soil compaction? No clue. Crop rotation? I knew my uncle did it with the corn, alfalfa, and wheat fields. But I had no clue it was a gardening best practice. And […]
If you decide to satiate your hunger midday by eating lunch, you won’t just be choosing to nourish your body or fill it with empty calories. You‘ll also be deciding whether to eat food that will perk up your brain or clog your arteries. By intention or not, your action will support a small farmer […]
