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Spring gourmet
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sustainable food production
Summer Weeding
Weeding in the summer is all about species maintenance
The Animal Lover's Dilemma: A Quest for Sustainable Farming Techniques
Elizabeth Van Deventer has been on a quest to find the answer to sustainable farming and an ethical diet most of her life. Follow along as she discovers the impacts of producing tea, palm oil and fruit, and how she eventually settles on a lifestyle that is in tune with the earth and all of its creatures.
Sorghum Revival: Shared Memories of Sorghum Production on an Amish Farm
Arthur Bolduc shares his story of experiencing life near an Amish community in Ohio, where he enjoyed the exciting process of sorghum production firsthand.
Chef Paul Fehribach To Revive Great Lakes Food Culture
Paul Fehribach sees history in food, cooking methods and recipes and he's planning a Chicago restaurant that will source 100 percent locally and champion the historic foods and recipes of the Great Lakes region.
Is Sustainable Food Affordable?
Help us discover ways to achieve an affordable sustainable diet.
Puyallup Speaker Spotlight: Ann Larkin Hansen
Ann Larkin Hansen of Storey Publishing will present four workshops on sustainable farming and bugs at the Mother Earth News Fair, an annual sustainability festival, June 4-5, 2011 in Puyallup, Wash.
Raising Chickens Grows More Popular as More People Seek Sustainable Food
Consider these simple steps for making your backyard flock-friendly.
New School Teaches Heirloom Poultry Production, Marketing, Breeding and More
The Sustainable Poultry Network and Western Piedmont Community College have combined forces to create the American School of Sustainable Poultry Husbandry, an intensive poultry workshop for anyone interested in poultry production, marketing, breeding, hatching, cooking, etc.
Compost Manure to Avoid E. Coli and Other Foodborne Pathogens
Foodborne pathogens such as E. coli can be spread by uncomposted manure from grain-fed cattle on high-concentraton factory farms. The E. coli outbreak in northern Germany reminds us to look twice at the quality of our manure.
The Unsustainability of Local
A few months back I heard a comment on an NPR radio program that really caught my attention. The program was about the local food movement and at one point the guest on the show said, "Now remember - just because it's local doesn't necessarily mean it has a smaller carbon footprint. That Argentinian apple that was shipped on a barge with thousands of tons of other apples may actually have required less fuel per apple than the apple than came from a few hundred miles away in the back on a farmer's pickup."
Food Policy Councils Advocate for Community Food Security
Cities, counties and states across the country have created food policy councils in response to their concerns about future food security in their communities. The councils work to coordinate local food efforts, such as farmers markets, to develop a sustainable food system.
See Food, Inc. for Free!
PBS will air Food, Inc. on TV Wednesday, April 21 at 9 p.m. Eastern.
Speak Out Against NAIS
Tell the U.S. Department of Agriculture to abandon their efforts to create and enforce a National Animal Identification System. We've made it easy for you with sample wording and directions on where to submit your comments.
Better Living Through Chemistry?
Have you ever wondered why our food has become so industrialized? Where some of those chemicals that are in almost everything, came from?
Sauerkraut is an effective and delicious way to store cabbage and add something "fresh" to the winter months
Illegal Front Yard Vegetable Gardens: Des Moines Considers Home Garden Ban
Des Moines, Iowa, gardeners may soon find themselves in hot water with their City. A local resident recently took front yard veggie growers to task for what the resident feels to be unsightly lawn growth. Beets and berries, it seems, do not have the same aesthetic appeal as a green, freshly-mowed front lawn.
RawCreations: More Carrot than Cheesecake
Our thoughts on the gluten free, dairy free, soy free desserts from RawCreations.
Sustainable Restaurant Association Greens Dining in the United Kingdom
Restaurants in the United Kingdom can be evaluated and accredited based on choices such as purchasing ethical meat and dairy products, choosing fair trade coffee, monitoring energy use, supporting community charities and serving tap water.
PASA Conference to Address Sustainable Farming and Our Food System
The Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture's upcoming annual conference on sustainable farming will focus on how to achieve sustainability in our food system, as well as the future of agriculture in general.
Congress to Cut Conservation Funding?
Congress is accused of bait-and-switch tactics when they propose millions in reductions to the conservation-related program assistance that helped pass the 2008 farm bill.
Locavore: A Word to Live By
Guest blogger and longtime advocate of sustainable food Gwen Roland reflects on the new popularity of local eating, and highlights some of the innovative local food projects funded by Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) grants.
A Few Reasons to Love Plum Organics
One of our "14 Sustainable Food Companies You Can Trust," Plum Organics is good for your baby's health and the health of the planet.
Eat Local When Eating Out!
Restaurants are at the vanguard of thoughtful sourcing, choosing local, sustainable farms and cooking seasonally.
Antibiotic Resistant Superbugs: The Chicken That Threw Me a Change-Up
According to FDA data, the quantity of antibiotics sold for livestock use in this country continues to rise, topping 29 million pounds in 2011. This has a direct effect on the efficacy these same drugs will have on us. Sam Spitz has personal experience with a resistant illness and FamilyFarmed.org asked him to tell his story. It's a cautionary tale that should have us all making better food choices. Read how we can all influence the campaign to end the misuse of antibiotics in livestock and keep antibiotics working for us when we need them!
Making Marmalade
Making delicious homemade marmalade from Seville oranges.
Meat Shopping Made Easy
It's hard to shop responsibly sometimes, especially for meat. There are so many different label claims that it's hard to remember which are meaningful and which are just fluff. Here's a handy reference card that will give more power to your purchases.
Let's Pay Farmers to be Good Stewards
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is seeking comments on how to implement the new Conservation Stewardship Program. Here's the lowdown, plus instructions on how to submit your opinion — it's easy!
Get Your Local Food From a CSA
Pass the cold, wintry months with warm thoughts of how you can eat more local food while supporting sustainable agriculture this coming season.
Who Will Benefit from the National Animal ID System?
The National Animal Identification Plan will be easily implemented by large factory farms, but it means trouble for smaller operations. Will the system really keep us safe from disease, or will industrial ag and tracking system manufacturers be the only beneficiaries?
10-Day Local Food Challenge
Could you eat only food grown within 100 miles of your home for 10 days? Learn more about this challenge and why you should consider taking it on.
Saving Energy Canning Tomatoes
Learn how to use less energy canning tomato products.
Grow Where You Are: Community Partnerships Support Local Food Production
Grow Where You Are is a social enterprise focusing on assisting communities in creating local food abundance systems. After creating small-scale urban food systems nationally and internationally for over 15 years, we see that even the most effective systems can be easily dismantled without land security. We propose supporting local growers in a transition to home ownership with a dynamic web of community partnership.
Reader Callout: What Are Your Favorite American-Made Hard, Salty Cheeses
Readers suggest favorite hard, salty, American cheeses.
Going Green with Nuts.com
Nuts.com, a family-owned business, offers certified organic snacks and superfoods.
Creating an Edible Landscape
There are various means for developing an edible landscape.
Vandana Shiva to Visit Kansas City
Leading food sovereignty activist Vandana Shiva will present "Cultivating Diversity, Freedom and Hope" in Kansas City. Many other farming and gardening workshops and events are planned for April 17-18, 2014.
HR 875: No Need For Alarm … Yet
Relax: HR 875 isn't a bill to outlaw organic farming, as you might have heard. But it's not exactly good news for pesticide-free producers, either. Here are the details.
Woman's Homemade Sauerkraut Highlights Cottage Food Fight in Arizona
Sandy Boyce's sauerkraut was a hit, selling out each week, until her county health department asked her to stop. Across the nation, regulations can prevent small-time home producers from distributing their 'cottage foods' to the public.
The Facts About HR 875, 759 and 1322
More on the much-feared food safety bill, HR 875, and its Congressional counterparts.
Solar Food Drying 2012
Solar drying experiences in 2012, including tomato varieties Principe Borghese and Long Tom.
What's More Important - Organic Food or Local Food?
Both organic and local food are important if we want to eat nutritious and delicious food. Furthermore, our current food system is in jeapordy because petroleum and water supplies are dwindling and climate change is resulting in more extreme weather.
The Urban Food Forest: A Groundbreaking Trend in Urban Agriculture
Urban food forests and public gardens provide communities with an edible landscape for everyone to share. These public fruit forests are the new trend in urban agriculture and play an important role as sustainable local food systems in their communities.
Know Your Egg Shed, Part III: Egg Miles
Egg miles: the distance eggs travel from hen to table.
Winter Woods Work Can Be Fun and Satisfying
Whether you have a small grove of trees or acres of woods, this manual will guide you through the right methods to care for and sustain your land.
Why You Should be Eating Bugs and Other Gross Things
Western culture has taught us to eat all the wrong things for all the wrong reasons.
Early Spring Foraging: Violets
Violet leaves are one of the best wild edible salad greens. Their pretty, edible flowers are only in season for a few weeks.
Cold-Weather Foraging: Field Garlic (Allium vineale)
During the coldest months of winter, field garlic is still ready to be harvested. Even when the ground is too frozen for digging up the savory bulbs, the leaves can be used like chives.
Real Food Find: Pomegranate Golden Balsamic Vinegar
You'll love our recommended real food find: pomegranate golden balsamic vinegar from California.
Sustainable Food Lessons From Kenya
In Kenya, even for middle class families, much of what ends up on the dinner table is grown or raised at home. With food prices rising, more and more Americans are looking towards ways of growing some of what ends up on their table at home. Both in terms of personal health, and the environment, this is a very good trend—it's a food source as local as you can get.
Dear Mr. President-elect
Sustainable farming expert Michael Pollan has some words of wisdom for the next president of the United States.
Left-Over Lasagna Trumps Sugared Cereal for Breakfast
Food labels are confusing, but you can be sure that processed foods with many ingredients are not as healthful as whole foods. Here is a explanation of processed-food ingredients and some suggestions for healthful breakfast foods.
Delicious and Beneficial: Water Kefir Soda-Making 101
What exactly is water kefir soda? Well, I describe it as pop that makes you forgo buying cans from the store, all while making your tummy happy. The experts call it a "probiotic beverage made with kefir grains that consist of bacteria and yeast existing in a symbiotic relationship."
Recipe Box: Wild Blackberry Scones
These sweet, wholesome scones come together in a flash and make use of August's abundance of wild blackberries.
Black-Eyed Peas and Greens for Good Luck
Eating black-eyed peas for luck on New Year's reminds me of my grandmother's kitchen. Every year since I have had my own garden I include as many of these easy to grow southern staples as space allows into my garden plans and you can, too.
Let's Make Granola
Healthy homemade granola; easy on your budget, good for your family.
Local Economics
D Acres offers alternative economics. We are the 99&: join us.
Honey Business Yields Sweet Rewards for Reader
What began as a hobby for her young son turned into a lucrative honey production business for beekeeper and MOTHER EARTH NEWS reader Alissa Brandemuhl-Zengel.
Statement on Chicken Ordinances
We strongly support keeping a few chickens (hens only) within city limits. Feel free to use this statement if you're working to get an ordinance passed to allow chickens in your city.
To Industrial Corn, We're Addicted!
Government subsidies to corn growers results in foods that are less expensive then they should be, resulting in people eating more than they normally would.
Know Your Egg Shed, Part II Egg Production
Egg production in family flocks vs. factory farms.
A Look at Our Materials Economy: One Stuffy System
In this video, learn how the production and consumption of stuff affects the environment and community health.
Biofuel Grasses Spark Criticism
Two grasses under consideration for biofuels in the United States are considered invasive species that may do more harm than good.
Goats: Udders and Hand Milking
Hand milking and the ease of doing so, always lends itself to many questions. I try to answer some of the most commonly asked questions in this post.
Blume Distillation Offers Appropriate-Scale Distillation Equipment for Farmers and Communities
Blume Distillation debuts appropriate-scale biofuel distillation equipment that will allow farmers, entrepreneurs, municipalities and communities to produce their own alcohol fuel from a variety of readily available fuel stock sources.
Whole Foods is First Retailer to Rate Green Cleaning Products
Most Americans believe that cleaning products are required to list ingredients on labels. They're not. But Whole Foods is taking matters into its own hands with a color-coded rating system that holds manufacturers accountable for green claims.
Homegrown Fridays 2012
Eating only homegrown foods on the Fridays in Lent.
The Great Food Race
Chicago and New York City vie to be the first to pass a green food resolution.
Early Spring Foraging: Garlic Mustard
Garlic mustard has spicy, delicious leaves, flowers, seeds, and roots. It is an invasive species that may be harvested without sustainability concerns. In fact, you'll be doing your environment a favor if you eat this plant!
Eating Healthily: Where to Begin
We may find it overwhelming to know where to begin in teaching others to eat healthily. People attempting to eat healthier find it difficult to know where to begin. "The Dirty Dozen" fruits and vegetables gives us all a place to start.
Help Solve the Real Food Deficit
Kashi, the natural food and lifestyle leader, will support organizations that provide education and greater access to healthy foods in cities across the U.S.
Organic Coconut Sugar and Honey Crystals
Organic Coconut Sugar is made from sap collected from the freshly cut flower buds of organic coconut palm trees grown on small, sustainable farms.
When to Use a Nonreactive Pan Instead of Aluminum Cookware
You'll need to choose a nonreactive pan, such as stainless steel, when cooking acidic foods, such as tomato sauce.
Pop Culture: How to Make Soda Syrups, 3 Ways
Resist popping tabs this season and get familiar with the ultimate cola cure: soda syrups made from fresh fruits and herbs.
Foraging Wild Peppergrass for a Native Spice
Peppergrass, a native North American plant in the mustard family, adds a spicy kick to recipes. Here's how to identify, sustainably harvest and use peppergrass.
Whole Foods Market to Carry Multi-Functional, Eco-Friendly 'GreenBox' from ECOvention
ECOvention, LLC announced today that as of August 2010, more than 30 Whole Foods Market locations in the Rocky Mountain region will use the multi-functional, eco-friendly GreenBox to serve take-away customers at their brick-oven pizza counters.
Whole Foods Submits Products for Non-GMO Verification
Whole Foods Market commits to verifying it products as free of genetically modified organisms. Natural Home editor-in-chief Robyn Griggs Lawrence explains the grocer's commitment to providing natural and organic products.
Making Pickled Chinese Cabbage, Japanese Style
A traditional fall recipe for the Japanese version of sauerkraut.
Dear 2011, This Year I Resolve To. . .
Simran Sethi explores resolutions for healthy eating and offers a resource, The Cleaner Plate Club.
Food is Love
Simran Sethi enjoys the fruits of late summer at a local farm dinner.
Coal's Hidden Cost: $345 Billion
A new study finds that generating electricity from coal costs taxpayers $345 billion each year, making renewable energy start to look like a bargain.
Does "Made in the USA" Mean It's Sustainable?
Americans equate products made in the USA with sustainability and often choose American-made products over other options, a study finds.
How Bad Is Monsanto?
Coporations continue to purchase interests in seed industries. Could this be a problem?
Busted: Sustainable Forestry Initiative Label is Greenwash
A ForestEthics report calls out the American Forest and Paper Association-backed Sustainable Forestry Initiative label for not protecting forests.
How to Save a Million Dollars With a Sustainable Lifestyle
Most American homes are codependent with a lifestyle-support-system of roads, wires, pipes, lines of credit, satellites, and a collective identity determined by the supply side. Yet just about any household budget offers continuing opportunities for creating a healthier, less expensive lifestyle that's also easier on the environment.
Considering Individual Perspectives to Create a Sustainable Future
Publisher Bryan Welch's conviction that we need a better vision for our future led him to consider the way we form images, which led him to holograms. Humanity's perception of its present world and its vision for its future are formed from billions of individual perspectives. Each individual human being possesses a unique vision, a single point in the light field. Each perspective records the person's place in space and time. Each point of light forms a complete image, a complete vision for the future. When we reproduce the light field projected by those billions of unique visions, we get a three-dimensional picture of humanity's combined vision. Effectively, we can't perceive the future in three dimensions without taking into account the entire light field. Find out more about how we can use this idea to create a model for a sustainable future that can be applied across the globe.
Taking the Steps We Can to Live More Sustainably
In most cases, we can't do all of the things we would like to live more sustainable lives — at least, not all right away. We can all do something, though, and making the choices and taking the steps that we can is an effective, satisfying way to make our lives more self-reliant and better for the planet every day.
Petroleum Products Preferable to Biodegradable Plastics? Say It Isn't So
A new study has found that biodegradable plastic's rapid rate of decomposition could cause the release of methane, a greenhouse gas. The study's authors suggest that petroleum-based products might be preferable. We need better alternatives than that.
California Bill Would Legalize Hemp Production
A bill that would make hemp production legal in California would create jobs and opportunities in the financially strapped state.
FDA Takes Another Look at Nanotechnology
Despite their widespread use, nanoparticles are not well classified, regulated or even understood. Fortunately, the FDA is signaling a turn toward more accurate classification and rules for their use.
Summer Loving
Simran Sethi looks back at her New Year's resolution: to nourish herself.
Heritage Foods USA Launches Initiative to Support Goat Dairies
Fifteen family farms and over 50 restaurants have committed to participation in No Goat Left Behind, a new program developed by Heritage Foods USA.
Blueberries: Fountain of Youth
Blueberries are a true fountain of youth. This article will introduce you to the health benefits, how to grow, how to harvest, and how to eat this wonderful fruit.
Introduction to Fermentation With 'SandorKraut'
Fermentation expert Sandor Katz (aka SandorKraut) gives a cultural and historical introduction to fermentation practices, including the nutritional benefits of homemade sauerkraut and other fermented foods.
DIY Ginger Bug and Lacto-Fermented Soda
Make your own "ginger bug" and natural soda from nothing more than ginger root, sugar, water, and fruit juice. The ginger bug, soda starter culture of healthy bacteria, consumes the natural sugars present in fruit juice and causes carbonation to make a fun experiment and soda pop you don't need to be afraid to give your children.
Four Questions for a Sustainable Society: Does it Create Abundance?
The only practical means of creating abundance in our world requires examining the ratio between our capacities and our desires. Our capacities can be measured. Our desires can, presumably, be adjusted to fit within our capacities. And if we fit our desires within our capacities with some room left over then abundance is possible.
Four Questions for a Sustainable Society: Is It Beautiful?
If we need a vision for a sustainable future then we need a lot of people to contribute their own ideas and energy to forming and realizing that vision. If we are to attract the energy of millions of people to the task, then we must start with beauty in the frame.
Four Questions for a Sustainable Society: Is it Repeatable?
Fairness and repeatability share this essential value: They can be visualized today, even when sustainability cannot. If we make fairness and repeatability part of our criteria for decisions today, they contribute to sustainability in the long-term even if they don't provide permanent solutions.
Four Questions for a Sustainable Society: Is it Fair?
The highest goal of politics might be to instill a sense of fairness in society, since that sense of fairness promotes tranquility, productivity and prosperity. The cooperation that undergirds a healthy society — the social contract — is based on a sense of fairness. Without it, a society is unhealthy and unproductive and, ultimately, ceases to exist. As the next big challenges facing our species will be global challenges, considering fairness from a global perspective will be one key to creating true sustainability.
Photo of the Week: Chipmunk Contemplation
This little chipmunk ponders about how much food to store for the coming fall and winter seasons.
Welcome to Relish!
Relish is a blog about celebrating delicious alternatives to America's industrial food system.
The Super Green List: Safe, Sustainable and Healthy Seafood Is Possible
The Monterey Bay Aquarium updates The Super Green List, a guide to helping you choose healthy and safe seafood from more sustainable waters.
Woody Harrelson Partners With Step Forward Paper
Step Forward Paper is a new type of paper made most from wheat straw (80 percent to be exact) with the remaining 20 percent made of Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified wood fiber.
How Do You Support Sustainable Farming?
Here's a helpful guide to help you make sustainable choices while shopping or out to eat. What else do you do to support sustainable farming practices?
Female Farmers Get Down and Dirty
Look out guys — these women really know what 21st century farming is all about.
Update on Conservation Reserve Program Opt-outs
Decision from the USDA: Farmers won't be allowed to break their CRP contract without penalty.
Urban Homesteading – Think Local
Wherever you live, you can practice sustainability and share your successes with your neighbors.
Fairmont Hotels: The Ultimate Green Luxury
Natural Home editor-in-chief Robyn Griggs Lawrence reviews the sustainably minded Fairmont Hotels.
Veteran Green Building Editor Wins Hanley Award
BuildingGreen.com founder and Environmental Building News editor Alex Wilson wins Hanley Award for Vision and Leadership in Sustainable Housing.
Small Homes: More Bang For Less Buck
Living luxuriously doesn't necessarily mean living large — at least not in these homes — and reducing a little waste doesn't hurt, either.
A Journey to Sustainable Living and a Self-Reliant Lifestyle
Luke Dinan, a young man from Toronto, Ontario, is forging his way towards sustainable living and a self-reliant lifestyle; a path we can appreciate, strive for and maybe contribute to.
Sustainable City Living
The book Toolbox for Sustainable City Living: A Do-It-Ourselves Guide is a collection of skills, tools, and technologies usable by urban residents wanting to have more local access and control over life's essential resources.
Asking Questions to Build a Better Future
Asking if an idea or action is fair and repeatable is one way to determine if it will be useful in building a beautiful, abundant future.
Using Questions as a Guide to Creating a Sustainable Future
In business, we build a vision of the company at its most successful and we articulate a set of questions to guide us toward that vision. If it works, more or less universally, in business, then why couldn't we apply it to other large, complex undertakings?
Montana Radio Company Presents The Cool Green Home
Missoula, MT company awards home owners sustainable products.
KOR Launches Nava — The Bottled-Water Killer
KOR Water has announced the reusable Nava filtering water bottle.
Freekeh Foods Debuts Organic Freekeh Line
Delicious Roasted Grain is Kosher, Naturally Vegan, Made in the USA and Now Certified Organic
Forage for Wild Food and Enjoy Bugs! And Barnacles and Cattails, Too!
You can find free food, such as wild carrots, cattail roots and crawfish, right in your neighborhood fields, swamps and creeks, and under rotten logs.
Putting the Community in a Community Garden
Describes the process of forming a community garden from the physical and energetic standpoints. The power of teamwork, the joy of accomplishment and the building of a feeling of group unity are described.
Green New Year's Eve: What Are Your Tips for Hosting an Eco-friendly Party?
Check out these tips and share your ideas for welcoming 2010 with a green New Year's Eve party.
Tough Times? Grow Your Own Food!
As more Americans tighten their belts to save a penny or two, many are finding they can save money by growing food-producing gardens.
Making Sun-Dried Tomatoes in a Solar Food Dehydrator
After spending several years drying food in an electric food dehydrator, I built a SunWorks solar food dehydrator to try and create truly sun-dried tomatoes.
USDA's Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food Website Launches
The USDA kicks off its Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food initiative.
You are What You Eat: Be Something Better
The creators of Food Inc. make a great effort to teach their audience about where our food comes from and about the effects of our industrial food system. After seeing the documentary, MOTHER EARTH NEWS blogger Jenna Woginrich was inspired to write her own argument about the way we view and consume food - and ask: Will those who most need the education ever see the film?
Another Reason to Avoid High Fructose Corn Syrup: Mercury
After testing 55 common food products containing HFCS, researchers found mercury in nearly one-third.
More Americans Buy Bulk Foods
Bulk food sales rose 15 percent in 2009 and are expected to keep growing through 2010. That will keep a lot of packing out of the landfill.
The Final Rule on COOL
It's official: The USDA has finally hammered out the details on country of origin labeling. The rule will take effect March 16, but some say it could use a little tweaking first.
Using and Storing Eggs
Learn how to store eggs properly, how to freeze eggs for long-term storage and how to use eggs in different kinds of recipes.
The 80/20 Rule of Homesteading
This current situation is a perfect example of the 80/20 rule of homesteading: 80 percent of your time, energy and effort is spent on maintenance; 20 percent on progress towards the dream. A majority of your time homesteading is spent covered in chicken poop, squashing potato bugs, figuring out why gas isn't getting to the carburetor in the ATV and shoveling snow after dark by headlamp.
Cub Cadet Debuts RZT S ZERO Electric Zero-Turn Riding Mower
The all-new RZT S ZERO is available in select markets and will be headlining the Cub Cadet Test Drive Experience Tour.
Connecting the Dots Between Envelopes and Clearcuts
ForestEthics exposes Sustainable Forestry Initiative Greenwash, catalyzing growing corporate trend and grassroots consumer movement to avoid SFI.
Sustainable Agriculture, Farming, Gardening, and Food: A Resource List
This listing links to information resources related to sustainable agriculture, organic farming and gardening, and growing and buying good, safe food.
Sustainable Cork Flooring: Elegant and Eco-Friendly
Sustainably harvested cork creates a beautiful flooring material that's competitively priced with other kinds of sustainable flooring.
Down a Dirt Road
Hello to my new life and good-by to the old.
Seventh Generation Commits to Sustainable Palm Oil
Seventh Generation commits to using sustainable palm oil in all products by 2012.
Is Sustainability an Impossible Dream?
We claim to live sustainably if we can harvest or extract the earth's resources without depleting or permanently damaging them. By that standard, no one in a country that devours coal, oil and water—and uses up a quarter of the earth's resources—can live sustainably.
Have It Your Way
Be aware: Living sustainably can be hindered by homeowner association rules.
Help a Small Organic Gardening Company Grow
An interview with the founder of a small organic gardening business that focuses on education and helping gardeners go organic. Learn more about this company and vote for it to win funding from a small business competition.
The Manure Diaries
Manure-spreading day is a big event on the farm, for everyone from the chickens to the border collies. And it's part of a wonderful seasonal cycle that's the foundation of self-reliance and sustainability.
Attend A Winter Conference
Many sustainable agriculture groups sponsor conferences in the winter. Learn more about these opportunities to continue your learning and broaden your network.
We Want Your Input: Sustainable Oysters
Readers suggest sustainable oyster sources.
Sustainable Flooring Options
How to choose a sustainable flooring product. Review of sustainable flooring used over time and links to more material choices.
3 Great Pregnancy Skin Care Products
Jessica Kellner, editor of Natural Home and Garden Magazine, shares three pregnancy skin care products that will help prevent stretch marks and keep your baby belly soft and smooth.
Food First Delegation Explores Slow Food and Sustainable Agriculture
Tour will highlight food and farming systems in Italy's northern piedmont region.
What does true food safety look like?
Join the conversation about the best way to ensure a safe food supply.
Day Two Starting Strong
Today's FAIR attendees will be well prepared to grow, make and preserve their own food and, as Joel Salatin encourages, get out of the Industriall food system.
100 Mile Food Plan
What would you do if the trucks stopped coming to the grocery stores? Find out how a community college class project spurred students to make plans for just such an experience.
Finding Places To Store the Harvest
Find the best places to store your harvest in your home through the winter.
Taste Test of the Week: Kopali Organics Snack
We're trying it before you buy it! Now Relish, one of our weekly blogs, will feature taste tests on various organic foods and snacks. This week we're featuring Kopali Organics snacks in Goldenberry. Read on to find out what we thought!
How Do You Make Fresh Produce Last Longer?
Readers share tips, tricks and recommended products for keeping produce fresh longer.
The Root of Our Food Contamination Problems
What's behind the food contamination issues plaguing us of late? Poop. Plain and simple. The Cornucopia Institute weighs in.
Taste Test of the Week: Kaia Foods Premium Raw Granola
We're trying it before you buy it! Every week Relish — one of our weekly blogs — features taste tests on various organic foods and snacks. This week we're featuring Kaia Premium Granola in raison cinnamon, dates & spices and cocoa bliss. Read on to find out what we thought!
Do You Have a Favorite Place to Learn About Food Preservation?
Share your favorite places to learn about food preservation.
Local Food Sovereignty Ordinance Passed in Maine Community
The community of Penobscot, Maine, has declared their local food sovereigny in a move to bypass restrictive state and federal regulations.
Rooting a New Livelihood
New Roots for Refugees, a program in the Kansas City area, helps fleeing refugees establish a new home and contributes to the local food system.
Are You a Wild Food Forager?
Readers share tips and stories about wild food foraging.
The Real Beginning of Winter
Putting into practice those great intentions: Living on preserved hard work and home canned peaches these short days.
How to Smoke Your Own Chipotle Peppers
How to make chipotles and other smoked peppers using a biochar trench.
Boulder Brings New Idea to Food Distribution
Boulder Food Rescue is a non-profit what is helping to redefine food waste in America.
Enjoy Fall Flavors With Healthy Sweet Potato Recipes
Sweet potatoes are vitamin-packed powerhouses, and have a sweet, rich flavor that lends itself to a variety of recipes. From fun sweet potato biscuits to a traditional molasses sweet potato pie, use these healthy sweet potato recipes to enjoy one of fall's best flavors.
Tea for the Bees, Tonic for the Soul
Honey bees, the Boston tragedy, and our power to create the world we've been waiting for.
Why is There an Energy Crisis?
A BIG issue in everyone's lives today is increasing fuel costs. The seriousness and scope of our energy problems calls for an all-out effort for sustainable solutions, starting as soon as possible.
Students Design Sustainable Homes on Reservations
Passive solar design comes to Navajo families, as architecture students build homes on Utah reservations.
Including Animals In Your Diet
Animal products provide vitamin B12 in your diet, which is necessary for a healthy nervous system. Learn what and how much you would have to eat to meet your daily B12 need and other considerations for adding animals to a sustainable diet.
Regenerative Agriculture
Focus on Food records an episode from Chaffin Orchards and discusses sustainable farming and the ethics of eating meat.
First Experiments In Natural Building
Eric, Michael and Loren decided to build a winter shelter from natural and re-used materials two winters ago, their first ever natural building experiment. This is an account of that experience that changed their lives in mysterious and unforeseen ways (for the better!).
Eco vs. Ego: Giving Up Activities That Hurt the Environment
For many people, going green seems like a daunting task, but in reality, a few simple lifestyle changes is all you need.
Permaculture as a Global Solution
Permaculture is at the heart of the solution of many environmental crises. Permaculture is alive with the possibilities of positive change.
Feast Days And Potlucks
Celebrate meals with homegrown or local food. Tips for making your celebration gatherings zero-waste events.
Organic Herb Farm Wins Case Against Pesticide Drift
Jacobs Farm in Santa Cruz, Calif. was recently awarded $1 million in damages for lost income due to pesticide drift.
12 Rules of Raking
Save time and avoid blisters and burnout by following these common-sense guidelines this leaf season.
2009 Farmers Market Grants Are Available
Secure grant funds for your farmers market, community-supported agriculture program and more by applying to the USDA by April 27.
Taking the Energy Evangelical Tour on the Road
Cam speaks to a group of university students about "sustainable" development...
Find Farming Internships and Apprenticeships
Looking for a farming internship or apprenticeship? Search the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Center's online directory of farming internships and apprenticeships to find one that interests you.
We're Not From Around Here
Where is the strange and wonderful place this homesteader describes? And how do you get there?
'Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation' by Tradd Cotter
In 'Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation,' author Tradd Cotter offers readers an in-depth exploration of best organic mushroom cultivation practices, shares the results of his groundbreaking research, and offers creative ways to apply cultivation skills—whether the goal is to help a community clean up industrial pollution or simply to settle down at the end of the day with a cold Reishi-infused homebrew ale.
A Personal Perspective on Oregon's Sustainable Farm Movement
John Clark Vincent excerpts from his book Planting A Future: Profiles from Oregon's New Farm Movement and shares information about new developments in sustainable farming practices coming out of the state of Oregon and the Pacific Northwest. His interests range from seeds to slow food and include pretty much everything in between the two as they relate to Oregon's sustainable farm movement.
How to Wrestle a Wild Hog on to Your Dinner Table and Other Sustainable Living Practices
All-natural pork from wild hogs is safe to eat, has wonderful flavor and could feed the world. Here's how to trap them in the wild.
Getting to Know the Farmers at Winter Green Farm, Part 2
The six owners of Oregon's Winter Green Farm have effectively navigated the journey from homestead to successful biodynamic farm. This profile of Winter Green Farm has been excerpted from "Planting A Future: Profiles from Oregon's New Farm Movement."
Remembering 'Harvest of Shame'
This is a must see film about the poverty America's migrant farm workers faced 55 years ago. Although many of these scenes are far from pretty it can be used to inspire and motivate people to support their local and sustainable farms.
Agriculture and the Environment
While productivity is often the name of the game at large farms, local food, minimal environmental impact and healthy conditions for farm workers also are hot topics today. Yet, our agriculture — and our living — have a greater impact on the environment and the life it supports than these issues alone address.
Sailors For the Sea Creates Environmental Lesson Plans For Young Sailors
Sailors for the Sea presents its new Rainy Day Kits teach young sailors to care about marine ecology and the environment with fun, interactive games.
Why Do You Value Your Heritage Breed Livestock?
We know why we love heritage breed livestock, but why do you?
Getting Started With an Organic Garden
Experiences getting started gardening in the 1970's and suggestions for beginning your own projects in 2012.
In Her Boots: Sustainable Farming for Women, by Women
The workshop series "In Her Shoes: Sustainable Farming for Women, by Women" will provide on-farm, women-led sharing of resources, experiences and inspiration to further connect, encourage and support female organic farmers, entrepreneurs and agricultural leaders. These all-day workshops will be in Wisconsin and Minnesota, and each will cost $20 and include lunch.
A Recycled T-Shirt that Prevents Green Washing
ECO360 Trust produces sustainable T-shirts made from 100% recycled PET plastic water bottles. ECO360 Trust is a campaign of the non-profit Institute for Sustainable Communication.
A Biofuel-Powered Hybrid Home on Wheels by Sunray Kelley
SunRay Kelley's Gypsy Wagon is an exciting, sustainable home on wheels built from a camper vehicle.
Starting a Flock of Chickens: 5 Important Tips for Success
For first-time chicken owners (or even for experienced chicken enthusiasts), selecting, purchasing, and preparing for your home chicken flock can seem like a daunting task. After thirty years of raising chickens, here's Forrest Pritchard's personal guide to ensure your new flock remains safely tucked beneath your wing so you can start a flock of chickens without worry.
Oregon's Deck Family Proves Family Farms Can Be Sustainable
In addition to raising livestock in a healthy and humane way, one of John and Christine Deck's goals is to help reestablish family farming as a viable economic endeavor.
Your Backyard Farmer Transforms Yards into Organic CSAs, Part 1
Donna Smith and Robyn Streeter provide daily proof that an abundant amount of organic produce can be grown in urban and suburban yards of all sizes. But getting this ground-breaking operation off the ground was not easy.
Your Backyard Farmer Transforms Yards into Organic CSAs, Part 2
Donna Smith and Robyn Streeter provide daily proof that an abundant amount of organic produce can be grown in urban and suburban yards of all sizes. Part 2 of this excerpt looks at some of the challenges of farming 25 different locations.
Choose the Best Cat and Dog Food
Here are things to consider when choosing your cat or dog food.
How Long Will Fresh Eggs Keep Without Refrigeration?
Get expert advice on how long fresh eggs will keep without refrigeration.
A COOL New Rule
Country of origin labeling will be required on many types of meat, fruits and vegetables starting Sept. 30.
Looking for Work? Find a Good Food Job!
A new job-finding website, Good Food Jobs, can help you find meaningful work in the food industry.
Simple Beet and Balsamic Salad
This simple beet salad will make a beet lover out of you!
U.S. Food System Provides Extra Calories: Policy Implications?
Is it possible that the sheer extra number of calories produced by our food system could be partly responsible for the extra number of inches being tacked on to our waistlines? Is it possible that, by directing subsidies to the production of commodity crops used to produce grains and oils, our current agricultural policy is contributing to the obesity epidemic.
Good Food News: Better School Lunches
The Child Nutrition Act will improve school lunches. Readers share homemade school lunch ideas.
Have You Stopped Eating a Food for Health or Other Reasons?
Knowing that MOTHER EARTH NEWS readers are often health-conscious and choose to grow their own food, we're curious: Have you cut back or eliminated certain ingredients or foods from your diet? If so, why, and what effects have you noticed as a result?
Double Chocolate Stout Cake
Just in time for Labor Day, a dessert made with beer--Double-Chocolate Stout--that everyone will love.
Do You Work in Food?
Readers share resources and information about their food-related jobs.
Tradescantia - A Common Little-Known Wild Food
Nyerges shares his years of experience about a little-known plant, Tradescantia fluminensis, and how it can be used for food. It has apparently never been described as a food plant in U.S.wild food/ethnobotanical literature.
How Do You Save Money on Groceries?
Readers share tips for saving money on food.
Salmonella in Tomatoes Still an Issue
Still anxious about the Salmonella found in tomatoes? Although some cases have been reported as recently as late June, don't let it stop you from enjoying fresh, seasonal tomatoes.
Eat Smart—for You and the Planet
Natural Home editor-in-chief Robyn Griggs Lawrence explains the environmental effect of consuming too much meat and offers tips on how to incorporate more vegetarian meals into your diet.
The Sweet Sound of Lids A-Popping
The work of growing, harvesting and preserving your own food comes together in the satisfying instant when canning lids pop. Don't leave the kitchen until you've savored the sound of a job well done.
Collect Windfall Apples
Collect apples from old homestead trees for the best in flavor for sauce and pies.
Homegrown Fridays 2013
Exploring preparing meals of only homegrown food.
Annie's Expands its Organic Pasta Offerings with New Bernie's Farm Macaroni & Cheese
Annie's is expanding its line of wholesome comfort food favorites with a new, kid-friendly pasta product: Bernie's Farm Macaroni & Cheese, made with 100 percent real cheese and certified-organic pasta in a variety of shapes featuring life on the farm. Like all of Annie's products, Bernie's Farm Macaroni & Cheese contains no artificial flavors, synthetic colors or preservatives.
Trade as One Introduces Ethical Products Delivery Service
Trade as One, a company that makes it easy for consumers to build ethical products into their lifestyles, is launching a one-of-a-kind fair trade food subscription service.
Pieday Lime Coconut Cream Pie
This "award winning" pie takes a little time, but is well worth the effort. Substitute lemon if you're not a fan of lime.
A Cardboard Solar Food Dehydrator
Drying food is a good way to eat local produce all year, and if you make this solar food dehydrator for yourself, you'll be well on your way to delicious meals during colder months.
Sick Chickens to Blame for Salmonella Outbreak
In eggs from a healthy chicken, proteins found within the egg white control the growth of dangerous bacteria. If a chicken is infected with salmonella, the proteins can't protect you.
Easy Peaches Freezing Tip
Here's a quick and easy tip for freezing peaches.
Carrington Farms Introduces New Organic Flax Hemp Blend and 12 oz. Coconut Oil
Carrington Farms, the creators of delicious 100 percent organic, non-genetically modified health food products, continues to reach outside of the box to provide healthy flax seed blends and cooking oils that are not only good for consumers but are affordable and taste great!
Dark Chocolate & Smoked Paprika Ice Cream
If life is giving you heat, take to the kitchen and make ice cream. It's better than store-bought, and much easier than you think!
Pesticides for Dinner
Concerned about pesticides in your food? The Pesticide Action Network's online database helps you understand which carcinogens and pesticides are present in 89 common foods.
Farmers Market Etiquette
Want to know more about the food at your farmers market? Here's some advice from the farmers themselves.
Sweet Corn - Cornmeal Crust Pizza
Goodbye corn-on-the cob, hello sweet corn pizza!
Overwhelmed by My Garden
At this time of year, Cam feels a little overwhelmed by the gardening chores ahead of him.
Drying Herbs in a Solar Dehydrator
We've succeeded at drying herbs and greens in our SunWorks solar dehydrator, which promises to make future meals all the more flavorful and nutritious.
EVENT ALERT: Chefs Collaborative Summit
The Chefs Collaborative National Summit will bring together leaders from around the country for conversations and workshops about our food and food systems. The Summit provides a great opportunity for chefs interested in sustainability to engage in meaningful conversation, continue their education through practical workshops, and share expertise from the culinary field.
Canning Stories: Why Do You Can? What Do You Can? We Want To Hear Your Firsthand Reports
Readers who love canning share their firsthand reports about the foods they can at home, and why.
Earth Week Special From Worm's Way
Want to Save on Earth-Friendly Products? Check out Worm's Way's sale by clicking on the Earth Week banner at WormsWay.com and enjoy up to 20 percent off your purchases.
A Growing Trust
In this section you will find stories of real farmers across the country that made it work. You'll find their story, how they did it and who helped them. We hope these stories will inspire and educate new farmers, as well as land owners and community members to become involved in the new agrarian movement. A growing trust.
The Case for Using Sustainable Building Materials
Recently, I had an epiphany in a building supply center. Even though I've been in the building trades for over 35 years and made countless trips to purchase building supplies, this trip was different.
Shrimp and (Really Good) Grits with Greens Recipe
Recipe for Southern-style shrimp and grits, made with superb Floriani Red Flint grain corn.
Two Good Chairs: Preserving Resources, Amplifying Delight
The "One Good Chair" competition winners, announced at Winter Las Vegas Market, demonstrate that minimal materials can result in maximum comfort.
Hay Day
The accumulation and storage of hay is an essential summer task.
Organic Farming Conference Returns to Wisconsin
The Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service (MOSES) hosts its 23rd annual Organic Farming Conference, February 23-25, 2012, at the La Crosse Center in La Crosse, Wis.
How to Find Local Food and Farmers
Check out these great searchable databases and other resources for finding local food and farmers.
Millions Oppose Approval of Genetically Engineered Salmon
Nearly 2 million people sent comments opposing genetically engineered salmon to the Food and Drug Administration, stating that GE salmon is bad for the consumer, the environment and the native fish.
A Salute to Food Heritage in France
France puts a premium on preserving its food heritage. Here's one example of that country's many food heritage sites, this one in Brittany.
SunWorks Solar Food Dryer Now Available
Looking for a better way to preserve all that garden produce without a hot kitchen canning project? A new solar food dryer promises to dry food fast and save energy and money using the sunshine in your back yard.
The Fight to Require Labeling of GM Foods: Prop 37 Puts Political Fuel Behind the American Food Movement
Michael Pollan's New York Times editorial, "Vote for the Dinner Party," explains why California's Prop 37 is an essential element in the fight to require labeling of GM foods.
Mechanical Tenderization Makes Rare Steak Risky
The process of mechanically tenderizing steaks creates a food safety hazard by transferring bacteria that otherwise would be limited to the surface of a steak to the entire cut of meat, inside and out. Rare steak lovers, beware.
The Fabulous Food Garden Contest
Your attractive food garden could win you $500 and a chance to be featured in MOTHER EARTH NEWS.
Aunt Patty's Rolls out New Product, Organic Creamed Coconut
GloryBee Foods announces today that the company adds Aunt Patty's Organic Creamed Coconut to its selection of natural foods.
Eateries and Drinkeries: The Oldest Food Heritage Sites Around
Some of the most enduring food heritage sites are those devoted to the basics, eating and drinking.
The Beginning of a Root Cellar
A root cellar slowly is dug by hand, with the goal of increasing our homestead's food preservation and storage capacity through the winter.
Food Heritage in a Single Old Photo
A sepia photo of a North Carolina family in front of their farmhouse reveals food heritage.
Study Links Genetically Modified Food With Tumors, Premature Death in Rats
A new Canadian study shows a link between consuming Roundup-contaminated water and/or GM corn and increased likelihood for illness and premature death in rats.
Introducing Find Good Food on HOMEGROWN
HOMEGROWN.org introduces Find Good Food, a new page that includes national and state-by-state resources for locating family farmed eats near you. Read it! Share it! Add to it! Make it your own—and help make it even better.
Green Goods: Useful Products and Gifts
An index of previous posts that have referenced green products. These posts have covered building- and home-related products, as well as chocolates, books, and other types of goods. Many of the products mentioned in these posts would make good gifts.
Growing Food Hidden in the Forest
Author Rick Austin shares gardening advice from his book, "Secret Garden of Survival – How to Grow a Camouflaged Food Forest."
Exploring Regional Food Systems
When Rachel Zegerius, camp program manager, set out to overhaul the food purchasing system at our small camp in Southwest Michigan five growing seasons ago, I began building relationships with the local farming community from the soil up.
Learn to Grow Food
These resources will help you learn how to grow food and start a garden.
Food as Local as Your Body
Beyond the global, environmental and social impacts of eating local, feeding your organs healthy fuel buys you precious time on earth.
Preserving Vitamins Through the Lean Months
People have found many techniques for preserving vitamins in winter, which still work today. One of the most basic involves fooling plants, as it were, into thinking they are not dead yet.
Strawberries Are a Bargain At Any Price!
Michelle knows how much work it is to grow strawberries.... and she's happy to be able to buy them at any price!
How to Render Lard
If you're a fan of real food and real fats, learn how to render lard the easy, old-fashioned way.
Easy Refrigerator Pickled Garlic
Making pickles can be time-consuming, but this method for easy garlic pickles couldn't possibly be any easier. Or tastier!
How Do You Avoid BPA in Canned Foods?
A Consumer Reports study finds high BPA levels in Del Monte, Progresso, Campbell's, Annie's Homegrown, Eden Foods and Vital Choice canned foods.
Help Hunger with Just a Click
Check out the Hunger Site to give 1.1 cups of food to the hungry.
Drying Corn and Canning Tomatoes During the Great Depression
Preserving food was a must during the Great Depression. Doris Zicafoose relates memories of drying corn, canning tomatoes, the necessity of a water bath canner and the joy of acquiring a pressure canner.
Two Chickens Become Four Chickens!
Cam gives an update on his new chickens!
Mamma Chia Introduces Chia Squeeze
Mama Chia organic chia seeds are infused with delicious fruits and vegetables to create a convenient, fun and tasty snack for active souls of all ages.
Homegrown Food without the Work
New businesses are springing up catering to folks who want their food homegrown, but without the mess of tending to the garden themselves.
Nominate Your Favorite Local Food Producers and Products
Readers suggest local food products and local food producers to our community.
Battleground Ohio: Issue 2 and Farm Animal Welfare
The voting outcome of Ohio's Issue 2 is seen as a win for industrial agriculture.
Quit Working So Hard – Plant a Food Forest Instead!
Rather than toiling away with annuals, consider creating an edible perennial food forest.
The Organic Center Responds to Study Challenging Benefits of Organic Food
According to a team from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, organic food is not nutritionally superior to conventional. We know this isn't true, and here's an excellent response from The Organic Center.
The USDA Food Guide Pyramid: Operative or Obsolete?
In 2005, the USDA MyPyramid was introduced as an updated version of 1992 USDA Food Guide Pyramid. While nutrition experts pointed to flaws in the original pyramid, many have found significant flaws in the new food pyramid as well. These graphics have played a key role in nutrition education for American children, but as they continue to be reformatted and reworked, will Americans lose their faith in the USDA?
How to Clean Cast-Iron Cookware
Learn how to clean cast-iron cookware that's old and crusty, and get some tips on seasoning cast-iron cookware to revive it even further.
Do You Know What's in Your Extra Virgin Olive Oil?
The University of California at Davis has released a report that shows how misleading the label "extra virgin olive oil" can be.
Thoughts On Food - From My Swing
Contemplations on what we eat and why we pay close attention to our food.
Teenaged Mutant Ninja Mushrooms
It's been quite a fall for mushrooms around here...
My Newfound Appreciation for Country Music
Cam learns to appreciate country music.
Thank God I'm a (Transplanted) Country Boy
Cam has a great deal of respect for farmers.
The Basics of Making Your Own Dog Food
Why are we feeding our dogs the same exact dog food every single day? Why are we feeding our dogs overly processed food when we try to eradicate processed foods from our own diet? Here are a few basic steps to switching your homestead dog over to a more natural diet.
Taste Test of the Week: Organic Valley Pasture Butter
Organic Valley's new Pasture Butter is a standout among cultured butters and organic food products. This is one of the few products available today that respects Mother Nature by paying attention to the seasons, not to mention the needs of our food-producing animal friends.
The Price of Food and Oil
The price of food and oil are interminably linked. We are seeing this in our trips to the supermarket: every time we go, it's more expensive. What's a body to do?
An Imaginary Journey Through Industrial Food
Take an imaginary journey from the High Arctic to California, as we examine food insecurity, waste, hunger, and culture clash.
Grain Prices to Hit Crisis Levels, Earth Policy Institute's Lester Brown Predicts
Aquifer depletion, rising temperatures, population increase and ethanol production are conspiring to send grain prices soaring and could lead to a world food crisis, Earthwatch Institute president Lester Brown predicts.
Chicago Food Heritage Site Reimagined as 21st-Century Food Hub
A Chicago food heritage site — a meat-packing plant built in 1925 — becomes a 21st-century, net-zero producer of food.
Favorite Organizations: Slow Food, and Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance
Since getting the homestead functional, we have focused on food - local producers, access to food and ways to educate and communicate. This blog describes a couple of my useful and favorite organizations, Slow Food and the Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance.
Two Brothers Grow, Hunt and Forage for All Their Own Food for a Year
For calendar year 2015 brothers Edmund and Garth Brown are eating only food that they have produced on their farm or bartered for from a neighbor. To do this successfully they must raise and butcher their own meat, hunt, forage, and cultivate a large vegetable garden.
Tree-Planting Season
It is a busy time for planting here. Not tomatoes, peppers, or squash, though. We got in our order of trees from the Missouri Conservation Dept. last week. In the past, we had planted mostly walnut, but we have a good enough supply of our own walnut seedlings that we are focusing on native trees that could use a boost to restore the forest to what it once was. So we are planting pecan on the bottom areas, shortleaf pine on ridge tops where the soil is poor, and burr oak on the better upland areas.
Why We Farm
It is a regular occurrence, a question we're asked: Why do we do all this work?
Living The Sustainable Life: Interns, Building With Trash, and So Much More
Who would think it's possible to discover the artist in me, incubate a business, plus milk goats, grow a garden...all in one unforgettable summer. I'm a rich woman by any standard.
Asking and Waiting: Seeking Answers to Disrupt the Disease Process of Global Warming
How feeding the hungry amounts to action on behalf of a planet on fire with a toxic yang imbalance.
Biochar: Not All it's Ground Up to Be?
Incorporating charcoal into the soil helped Amazonian farmers grow better crops, and its new industrial version is promoted as a panacea for both agriculture and the global climate. Those claims are not realistic.
"Grow a Sustainable Diet" — the Book!
"Grow a Sustainable Diet" is an upcoming book (spring, 2014) that helps you plan what to eat and what to grow, feeding you and the Earth while maintaining a small ecological footprint.
Rethink Everything
Every now and then we need to re-evaluate our thoughts, just as we re-evaluate our things. Learn about making cloth Christmas gift bags and find out how walking barefoot in the grass is good for you.
Our Greatest Challenge: Breeding a Productive Chicken!
With just about every breed of standard bred, heritage poultry, we have work to do. They are not producing like they once were.
'The Farm Then and Now' by Douglas Stevenson
"The Farm Then and Now" by Douglas Stevenson tells the story of The Farm: an intentional community that has defied the odds, blending idealism with a practical approach to create a model for sustainable living.
Uncork Sustainably When You Wine and Dine
While you may already look for eco-friendly organic wine when you select a bottle, you're probably not aware of the environmental implications of opting for a wine closed with natural cork in lieu of a less sustainable synthetic stopper.
Sustainable Farming with Reynaldo Ochoa: Rainforest Hero
Reynaldo Ochoa, the subject of a new short film, grows with a goal of teaching and practicing permaculture unique to an individual's region, emphasizing sustainable farming as opposed to "slash and burn" agriculture.
Releasing an Accidentally Trapped Skunk
Organic gardeners often need to remove mammal pests such as groundhogs and raccoons. Like many, I use live traps. How to deal with a skunk you accidentally catch, without getting sprayed?
Find Sustainably Harvested Wood
If you're getting ready to build a home or begin a woodworking project, consider building with sustainable wood products. With help from the Sustainable Forestry Initiative and the Forest Stewardship Council databases, you can locate sustainably harvested wood.
Teeter-Totter for Sustainable Living
Daniel Sheridan found a way to turn children's energy into electrical power with a see-saw that generates electricity. The see-saw should generate enough electricity to light a classroom for a whole evening after only five to 10 minutes of use.
Eat Less Fish--From Better Sources
Worldwide fish consumption is at an all-time high, so take action by eating only sustainably harvested seafood from ethical sources.
What Does "Rainforest Alliance Certified" Mean?
The Rainforest Alliance Certified seal has been popping up on coffee, tea, cocoa and fruit products all over the world. So what exactly does this certification signify? We've investigated.
Small Scale Forestry for the Homestead
Our work in the woods starts long before we get the chainsaw and axe out; by being in the woods, observing and contemplating. We're looking for healthy trees that we can help to thrive and that will be of benefit in the future.
New Holland Announces Contest to Win a 5-year Tractor Lease in the Boomer 555 Contest
Beginning July 1, 2011 and continuing for the next five months, legal residents of the U.S. and Canada can enter to win a five-year lease of a New Holland Boomer 30 compact tractor and loader with the industry-leading Boomer Guard5.
Beautiful, Rustic Dog Fence
This rustic, resourcefully sustainable dog fence fits right into the landscape. Before you install a fence, look around your place first to see what's already available.
My journey from monoculture farmer to homestead beekeeper
I briefly describe my journey from a kid on a large 2000 acre alfalfa farm in the west to a homestead beekeeper in the midwest, on our 35 acres that we call BeeLanding.
Making More Dirt: Compost Management
Managing compost now allows for more productive use the following season.
Saturday .... In the Woods
Even after 15 years, Cam still loves heating his home with wood that he cuts himself.
Improve Soil with Cover Crops
Managing Cover Crops Profitably, 3rd Edition, is now available in print and by download from the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program. Learn how to make your soil perform at its very best!
The Most Sustainably Managed Woodlot in North America
Cam describes why his method of harvesting firewood from his woodlot is the most sustainable way.
'Farming the Woods' by Ken Mudge and Steve Gabriel
In Farming the Woods, authors Ken Mudge and Steve Gabriel teach readers how to fill forests with food by viewing agriculture from a remarkably different perspective: that a healthy forest can be maintained while growing a wide range of food, medicinal, and other non timber products. Forest farming is an invaluable practice to integrate into any farm or homestead, especially as the need for unique value-added products and supplemental income becomes increasingly important for farmers.
Maine Leads the Way with Unique Farms
Mary Quinn Doyle shares a background about how she became involved in a volunteer project traveling around Maine for over two years visiting over 180 unique farms to take photos and write stories about them for an educational book and website.
Build a Greener Future with Earth-Sheltered Homes
Learn about the different types of earth-sheltered homes and why you should consider digging in the ground to find your next residence.
Getting to Know the Farmers at Winter Green Farm, Part 1
Originally founded as a homestead in 1980 by Jack Gray and Mary Jo Wade, Winter Green Farm has grown to become a successful biodynamic farm in Oregon's southern Willamette Valley. This profile of Winter Green Farm has been excerpted from "Planting A Future: Profiles from Oregon's New Farm Movement."
Ideas to Strengthen Your Farmers Market or Help Get One Started
Farmers markets are becoming more common every day, but many fail after a year or so, and others are having trouble getting off the ground. Here are a few ideas from a couple of long-time Oregon farmers market pros that might help keep your market going strong.
Building a Better Chicken Tractor
Our quest to make pasture egg collection more efficient.
The Austerity Conundrum
While conservation is neccessary for providing for an ever-growing human population, it alone cannot solve our problems. In fact, it may distract us from the real issue at hand.
Seven Springs Speaker Spotlight: Doug Van Haitsma, Micro Farmer
Doug Van Haitsma of the Mon Valley Initiative will present a workshop on micro farms at the Mother Earth News Fair, an annual sustainability festival, September 24-25, 2011 in Seven Springs, Pa.
Healing the Earth
Self-dubbed "lunatic farmer" Joel Salatin describes how sustainable living and more conscientious agricultural practices can mend and revive a planet pushed near the brink.
Puyallup Speaker Spotlight: Rene' Skaggs
Rene' Skaggs of the Pierce Conservation District will present a workshop on increasing pasture productivity at the Mother Earth News Fair, an annual sustainability festival, June 4-5, 2011 in Puyallup, Wash.
Puyallup Speaker Spotlight: Christy Hemenway, Honeybee Expert
Christy Hemenway of Gold Star Honeybees will present a workshop on beekeeping at the Mother Earth News Fair, an annual sustainability festival, June 4-5, 2011 in Puyallup, Wash.
Puyallup Speaker Spotlight: Daniel Kosel, Rancher
Daniel Kosel of Red Poll Cattle will present a workshop on Red Poll Cattle Ranching at the Mother Earth News Fair, an annual sustainability festival, June 4-5, 2011 in Puyallup, Wash.
Puyallup Speaker Spotlight: Joel Salatin, livestock expert
Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms will present a workshop on localized food systems and pastured livestock at the Mother Earth News Fair, an annual sustainability festival, June 4-5, 2011 in Puyallup, Wash.
Puyallup Speaker Spotlights: Kirk Haffner, Solar Power Expert and Jeff Swotek of the USDA
Kirk Haffner, solar power expert, and Jeff Swotek of the USDA will present workshops on solar power and USDA programs at the Mother Earth News Fair, an annual sustainability festival, June 4-5, 2011 in Puyallup, Wash.
Puyallup Speaker Spotlight: Darrell Frey, Permaculture and Bioshelter Design Specialist
Darrel Frey, permaculture specialist, will present workshops on permaculture and bioshelter design at the Mother Earth News Fair, an annual sustainability festival, June 4-5, 2011 in Puyallup, Wash.
This Little Pig Went to Market: Puyallup Speaker Feature, Cheryl 'the Pig Lady' Ouellette
Cheryl "the Pig Lady" Ouellette will present workshops on meat processing, growing meat for market, free-range pork, and growing what you love at the Mother Earth News Fair, an annual sustainability festival, June 4-5, 2011 in Puyallup, Wash.
Puyallup Speaker Spotlight: Steven Moize, Seventh Generation Farmer
Steven Moize of the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy will present a workshop on rotational grazing at the Mother Earth News Fair, an annual sustainability festival, June 4-5, 2011 in Puyallup, Wash.
Maine's First Net-Zero Energy School Under Construction
The new home for Friends School of Portland will be only the third school in the United States to achieve Passive House certification.
Prepare for Pesticide Spray Season - Part I
What is Pesticide Drift? "Pesticide drift" is the movement of a pesticide through the air away from the intended target. You might actually see the drift in the form of a mist. You may smell it. But it can be invisible and odorless. The spray may be applied from the back of a tractor — referred to as a "rig." Or it may be applied from a spray plane or helicopter.
Corn and Coreopsis: Sustainable Solutions
A new approach to conventional agriculture would unite not only row crops and prairie plants, but farmers and environmentalists.
Pushing limits
With an understanding of your limitations, you can operate more safely and efficiently. Training in timber cutting techniques can greatly expand your capabilities
Homegrown Wedding
A wedding using homegrown and local food and no disposable items. Decorations were things already on hand. The ceremony took place in a field and the reception was in a barn...and there was love-lots of it!
Growing Calories
Grow to fill yourself up from your garden. Potatoes will give you the most calories in the least space and are an important part of a sustainable diet.
How I define Sustainable Beekeeping
My brief discription of sustainable beekeeping
Living Off Grid - A Look at Sustainability
A quick look at different ways to be sustainable whether you are off grid or not.
On Growing All Your Own Food
Thoughts on growing all your own food. How much space is required and other things to consider.
Living Offgrid Affordably 9: Finally, Something Goes Up
We finally see walls and a loft floor.
Living Offgrid Affordably 14: Enough Rest, Onward Ho
Our humble abode begins to take shape.
Forest Succession Success
Regeneration of trees on a harvested area give hope for generations to come.
Practicing Agriculture and Building Community at Fiddlehead Farm, Part 2
With extensive training behind them, Rowan Steele and Katie Coppoletta make the choices that lead them to begin farming at Fiddlehead Farm in Corbett, Oregon.
Practicing Agriculture and Building Community at Fiddlehead Farm, Part 1
Rowan Steele and Katie Coppoletta have embraced the profession of farming and, in turn, have discovered a way of living that suits them perfectly at Fiddlehead Farm in Corbett, Oregon.
Adaptive Seeds Works to Reclaim Our Seed Heritage, Part 1
Adaptive Seeds, originally inspired by an international seed sharing project, sells public domain, open pollinated seeds. Most of its seed is adapted to the Pacific Northwest and similar season northern climates.
'Adaptive Seeds' Works to Reclaim Our Seed Heritage, Part 2
Adaptive Seeds, inspired by an international seed sharing project, sells public-domain, open-pollinated seeds. In Part 2 of their profile, Sarah Kleeger and Andrew Still commit to Adaptive Seeds full-time.
Oregon's Deck Family Proving Family Farms Can Be Sustainable, Part 2
In addition to raising livestock in a healthy and humane way, a major goal of John and Christine Deck and their children is to help reestablish family farming as a viable economic endeavor. Part 2 looks at the challenges faced when kids leave home.
6 Questions to Ask Before Buying a Green Home
A list of the 6 most basic questions to ask before a buyer purchases a green home.
From Organics to Fermented Food, Whistling Duck Farm Is a Southern Oregon Pioneer, Part 1
Located in the heart of southern Oregon's Applegate Valley, Whistling Duck Farm has built a legacy of organic farming innovation in this rugged and independent part of the the state, and now it's growing a successful fermentation business.
Spring Pruning
Pruning perennials is essential for plant health and vigorous production.
Farmers in Training: A City Dweller Gets Lessons in Harvesting, Milking and the Meaning of Life
The place I call home these days is The FarmSchool, a fertile 180-acre strip of ridge top in Athol, where 15 student-farmers are spending a year learning the ins and outs of growing food, managing forests, and raising animals for meat. I arrived at the farm in October, just as the leaves were reaching their peak brilliance. The Farm School — which offers three-day programs for schoolchildren, a summer camp, a full-time middle school, and the apprenticeship program I'm in — takes us through all seasons of farming, weaving together class work and on-farm training.
Changing the Context of Transportation
Cuba's bike transformation was the result of a change in context induced by external forces. It was a disruptive event that forced them to adapt. Here in America, a land of such excess, no such sudden disruption looms (nor could it be predicted, I believe). Our transportation context is centered on the car. Our culture and economy are "driven" by the car. So, how do we create a culture of transportation that is dominated by bicycles?
Teaching Homesteading--in a Nutshell
Growing Local Food is a new book that encompasses all the needed basics to grow plants, keep heritage breed animals and bees. The author is a homesteader and physician who gives the readers the basic information to grow or find nutritious, local food
Loss of Food Skills Ongoing
The further degradation of our societal food skills are examined here, with small town food craftsmen becoming an endangered species, in this case, my local butcher.
Even the Drinks Are Local? Try Farm-Fresh American Hard Cider This Season
Support America's artisan cider makers by putting locally made sweet and hard apple cider on the Thanksgiving table this year.
April To-Dos
Spring tasks around the homestead.
A Tool For the Trade
In praise of the garden fork.
Food Co-Op Promotes Bartering, Sustainability
Forming a food producers and artisans cooperative brings together farmers, crafters and consumers hoping to revitalize their community, preserve skills and continue the economy of neighborliness
Children in the Garden
Allowing children the space to discover the beauty and wonder of plants through tending to their own garden builds character, teaches responsibility, gives insight into the beauty of nature and fosters their connection with where their food comes from.
Living a Resilient Urban Life
FamilyFarmed.org Good Food Festival & Conference partner Vicki Nowicki shares her experience living, learning, and teaching on her suburban permaculture homestead.
New Farm Bill Could Undermine Conservation, Nutrition
Proposals to weaken the links among conservation, farming and fair access to food would worsen the problems of U.S. agriculture.
Sunshine Tea
Making great sunshine tea is easy if you follow a few simple guidelines for contents, quantities, and water.
It's a Miracle!
I separate the fact from the fiction with use of soluble fertilizers.
How to Sustainably Harvest and Eat Delicious Daylilies
Daylilies are usually appreciated for their showy flowers, but they also provide four different tasty ingredients. Wild food forager Leda Meredith shows you how to use the edible parts of the plant.
Canning Will Wear YOU Out
Canning is the penance for spring, when you couldn't stop yourself from putting out one more row of tomato starts. Canning is the human's attempt to make the hottest days of the year even more sizzling indoors than they are out.
Swans and Doughnuts
Have you ever wondered what is in an "industrial" doughnut?
How to Tell When Meat is "Off"
Hmmm - not feeling so well. Was it those chicken wings?
Potato Bracelets Are a Hot Seller
As the youngest member of a new local food producers and artisans cooperative, 11-year-old Grace is learning business skills while perfecting her artistic talents with homemade jewelry, pot holders and more.
Smoked Peaches Recipe
Smoked peaches make a great stuffing or sauce for grilled chicken or pork.
Sorrel Soup Recipe (Schav)
"Schav" is a traditional Russian-Eastern European soup of sorrel and potato that is refreshing served cold, and heartening served hot.
Local Tabbouleh Recipe
We refer to this Mediterranean side dish as "local" because you can probably find all of the ingredients close to home. Here, sorrel is a perfect local substitute for the lemon juice usually called for in tabbouleh recipes.
Cream of Cauliflower Soup
A healthy comfort food!
Hearty Venison Chili Recipe
Use venison to create a pot of rich, meaty chili perfect for warming up on cold, fall days. So good, there won't be leftovers to freeze.
The Love of Local Food
One thing that gardening has done to me, as to so many others probably, is that I've started to pay attention to where the food on my plate comes from, and usually the answer is "from our garden."
How to Keep Fall Crops Fresh
Dig in to our wealth of food preservation resources to learn how to keep fall crops edible well into winter.
Kitchen Composting
These tips will help you keep your kitchen compost free of rotten smells and fruit flies.
Ecotourism in Florida, Part 3: Florida Keys Green Accommodations and Island Cuisine
The adventure in the water, on the water or on dry land does stop with the ecotravel activities in the Florida Keys, many of which help preserve and conserve the very things we came to see. Some of the lodging options – and restaurants or food options – are an adventure in and of themselves.
Say Yes to Local Self Reliance But No to Localism
As important as it is to improve life locally, such efforts will not work their way up through the world's economy to solve our biggest problems.
Invasive Pests May Pose Threats to Your State
Pennsylvania is under federal quarantine due to the threat of Emerald Ash Borers. Raising awareness and getting the facts are important. However, getting to the root of the problem may be as simple as supporting local food systems.
Cook It Raw Serves Up International Cuisine
The annual Cook It Raw competition showcases international cuisine and local agriculture.
Last Minute Pantry Gifts for the Holidays
Ten easy holiday pantry gifts that you can make at the last minute.
Greek Country Bread Recipe
This heavy artisan bread is full of flavor, and will be ready by dinnertime if you start right now! The unexpected flavor comes from good quality honey olive oil and barley flour.
Understanding the 'Certified Organic' Label
What does "Certified Organic" mean? Food labels can be befuddling, but we're here to help. Learn the standards that guide the "Certified Organic" label.
New Legislation on Antibiotics and Agriculture
This coming Tuesday, March 17, new legislation will be introduced in an attempt to protect Americans from antibiotic resistance. The Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act of 2009 will end the use of certain antibiotics in agriculture unless animals are sick.
Reader Poll: Which One Sounds Like The Most Fun?
Readers vote on whether they think making beer, mustard or pickles sounds like the most fun, plus which seems easiest.
Swine Flu: Scary but Avoidable?
Swine flu may or may not be the pandemic that cable newscasters are proclaiming - but why take chances? This most recent health scare is yet another reminder that eating local, organic food - preferably raised by a source you know and trust - is just a smart thing to do.
Seasonal Recipes for April Wanted
Share your spring seasonal recipes for the month of April.
Winners of the Fabulous Food Garden Contest
Winners of the Fabulous Food Garden Contest have been chosen. See who the lucky prize recipients are!
How I Found the Meaning of Life, Alone, in a Strawberry Patch
Cam contemplates the meaning of life while picking strawberries.
Green Tomato Relish Recipe
How to make canned green tomato relish.
A Real Food Challenge: October Unprocessed
You can save money and improve your helaht by making more foods from scratch in your own kitchen. Sign on for October Unprocessed, and kick the processed food habit for one full month (at least for starters!). Check out some deliciously simple recipes to get you started.
Turning an Afternoon of Cooking into Weeks of Healthy Eating
Follow these five easy steps to create several weeks worth of meals in one afternoon.
The Pecking Order Here at Sunflower Farm
Cam discovers that his chickens have unique personalities....
Greenest Pizza In Town
Pizza Fusion is one of the 10 finalists in Co-op America's People's Choice Award for green business of the year. The company uses only organic ingredients and delivers its pizza with hybrids.
Homemade Cat Food: Feed Kitty Some Spring Herbs
Treat your cat to fresh spring herbs when you whip up this healthy homemade kitty food.
White House Launches Farmers Market
The White House will launch an open-to-the-public farmers market.
Reusable Food Covers to Help Lower Plastics in Waste
Every year, Americans use enough plastic wrap to cover the entire state of Texas (EPA). Plastic wrap and other food covers are almost impossible to recycle and contain harmful chemicals that can seep into our food. CoverMate™ Food Covers provide a simple, cost-effective and environmentally friendly solution.
Urban Homesteading: Fresh Peaches from the Local Farmers' Market
Look for local foods, such as fresh peaches, from your local farmers' market to make delightful summer desserts such as peaches and cream.
A Collection of Responses to Stanford's Organic Food Study: Organic Food Is Worth It
Are organic foods healthier? In the wake of a media frenzy revolving a "study" by Stanford University claiming to answer this question, many people were left wondering. Benefits of organic food go beyond the vitamin content: The overwhelming amounts and types of pesticides in our food play a major role in many shoppers' decision to go organic.
Zombieland Comes to Sunflower Farm
The drought conditions at Sunflower Farm are making Cam rather cranky.
How to Make Fruit Sauce
Use freezer-damaged fruit to make tasty fruit sauces.
How I Ended Our Drought
Ranting about the drought worked! We got rain here at Sunflower Farm!
The Dangers of Bud Nip in a Compact Sweet Potato Project
The dangers of bud nip (Chlorpropham) and the effects of chemical herbicides on the food you're eating come to light in a potato project conducted by a smart, young lady.
Pack a Litter-Free Lunch Using Lunchopolis Containers
Find out how to pack a litter-free lunch using a lunchopolis lunchbox by Enviro Products. The lunchbox containers are BPA-free and can help you cut down on 3.5 billion pounds of lunchbox garbage generated every year.
It's Not the Bugs in Your Food That You Need to Worry About
Cam thinks people worry about the small things (bugs), when they should be more concerned about the big things (climate change).
Have a Green Holiday by Focusing Less on the Red
We offer you some helpful tips on how to have a green holiday this year.
Chocolate and Bacon: What's Not to Love?
Everyone loves a chocolate-chip muffin ... just add bacon for a special treat!
Electrolux Design Lab 2010: Is a Sugar-Powered Portable Stove in Your Future?
The Snail, the winner of Electrolux Design Lab 2010 Competition, saves both energy and space by heating food with magnetic induction.
Turn the Table on Grasshoppers Eating the Garden
Are the grasshoppers devouring the garden that you are working so hard to keep alive? I say fight fire with fire!
The Chickens Have Arrived!
In our ever-growing quest to produce our own food we've acquired two egg-laying chickens!
How Long Can You Make Your Green Tomatoes Last?
Readers share tips and tricks for storing green tomatoes and keeping them longer.
Do You Support the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act of 2009?
Legislation to control the use of antibiotics on the farm is gaining momentum in D.C., and emotions on both sides of the issue are heating up. Tell us what you think of the bill.
Look Ma! I'm a Market Gardener!
Cam loves growing and selling food!
The Art of Saving Heirloom Vegetable Seeds
Heirloom Vegetable Gardening (1997) by Willam Woys Weaver profiles 280 heirloom varieties, with growing advice and recipes. This introdution is the beginning of a series of excerpts to be posted from Weaver's book to walk gardeners through sowing, cooking recipes at harvest and saving heirloom seeds through the winter.
Homemade Reese's
Handmade candies are always better than store-bought. If you're a fan of the peanut butter-and-chocolate combination, mix up these delicious little truffles.
How to Eat Seasonally
These resources will help you learn how to eat seasonal foods in order to save grocery money.
How to Freeze Peppers
Use this simple technique to preserve your bounty of fresh summer peppers.
Preserving the Tomato Harvest
With bumper crops of tomatoes coming, there are some simple ways to preserve the fresh off the vine taste year round, no special equipment required.
Dehydrate or Sun-Dry Extra Summer Veggies
Dehydrating or sun-drying your extra summer veggies is a great way to save the summer bounty for year-round eating!
Add Fungi to Your Homestead Activities
Fungi help your soil, your composting and your plants. Add fungi to your homestead activities and let 'em grow!
Simple Easy Blueberry Milk
Check out this delicious, refreshing treat that comes in handy when there are too many blueberries to know what to do with.
Feta Studded Lamb Gyro at Home
Forget the spit and roast your own lamb gyro in the convenience of your home oven.
Processing Venison Carcasses As Sled Dog Food
One of the secrets of healthy dogs is to feed them healthy food, and raw meat is their natural diet.
16 Ways to Health Hack This Year's Thanksgiving Dinner
It can be hard to eat healthily during the holidays, especially Thanksgiving. Here are a few ways you can make your Thanksgiving meal healthier this year.
How To Form a Successful Cooperative
A small food producers' cooperative in Missouri wins a national award and will share with others how to form a successful co-op that focuses on bartering, sustainability and the economy of neighborliness.
Year-Round Food Production: So Much More Than a Greenhouse
Grow food year round with no operating costs and no waste by using integrated closed loop production in a heat retaining enclosure.
My Best Friend Is a Dehydrator
Dehydrating foods and making the most of the bounty.
Comfort Food on a Cold Winter Evening
Making a roasted-root vegetable pot pie with biscuits in the shape of angels is the perfect comfort food.
Food at the Fair
Wondering what delicious meals and snacks we'll be serving up at the Fair? Wonder no more! See what food options will be offered by Seven Springs Mountain Resort and Fair exhibitors.
Seven Springs FAIR Meal and Snack Options
The menus for the Seven Springs FAIR have been finalized!
The Anthropology of Food
Food is the most universal symbol of America's age of excess. The average American's dinner comes from five different countries, with a combined airfreight and ocean freight mileage tab that often exceeds 10,000 miles. At least three-fourths of that meal is processed and packaged, its nutrients stripped away and replaced by texturizers, sweeteners, and flavor "enhancers."
It's Garlic Scapes Season: Try This
You'll love this recipe from William Woys Weaver for garlic scapes sauteed with tomatoes, white wine and sheep's milk cheese.
Unsafe Food
Cole remembers some of the not-so-great things he saw in supermarket meat departments.
Land-Grabs or Development Opportunities — What Do You Think?
When you run out of land on which to grow food and fuel in your own country, is it OK to buy cheap land in a third-world country?
Backyard Wild Morels
Finding wild morel mushrooms growing in our urban backyard means plenty of marvelous meals.
My Love Affair With Garlic
Garlic is a very labour-intensive crop to grow but the rewards are worth it!
The Peak Oil Leisure Time Connection
Cam considers how Peak Oil will affect our lives....
Sorting, Classifying and the Heartbreak of Wasting Food
Cam has been busy harvesting and sorting potatoes.
The Chestnut Harvest
September brought a huge chestnut harvest that I delight in gathering and eating.
Earth Building in Thailand
I had heard there are thousands of new earthen houses in Thailand. That really amazed me, so I set out to learn the details about the modern earth building movement in Thailand.
Low-fired Brick
Low-fired brick is a very sustainable building material with low embodied energy. They are made with locally procured clay and fired with rice hulls, a by-product of growing rice. Brickyards are located near urban areas to minimize transport costs.
Throwback Thursday: DIY Holiday Decor That Graced President Obama's Guest House
Two years ago, the Natural Home & Garden staff had the honor of decorating President Obama's guest house with sustainable and handmade holiday decor. Try some of these "president-approved" projects yourself!
Sustainable Neighborhoods and Communities: Initiatives, Certifications, and Developments
An overview of groups, initiatives, planning certifications, and neighborhood developments that promote sustainable communities, including Transition initiatives, ecovillages, One Planet Communities, LEED for Neighborhood Development, and others.
New Global Initiative to Cut Food Waste, Plus Ways to Reduce Your Own 'Foodprint'
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has started a global campaign to help reduce food waste worldwide.
Whatever Happened to That Old Diner?: Preserving Food Heritage
Our mission in preserving food heritage is to research, collect, preserve, and then explain America's food heritage and historic sites likely cannot be done without help. Want to contribute?
Exploring a Pioneering Blueberry Site Preserved in New Jersey
Tucked in the pines, this preserved New Jersey food heritage site is where cultivated high bush blueberries were born.
A Historic Bakery in Jaffa Produces Pastry and Peace
Established in 1879 by an Arab-Israeli family, Abouelafia Bakery continues to make history.
A Well Preserved Florida Shell Mound in St. Petersburg
Ancient Florida shell mounds, early days of bar-b-que, and all that.
Urban Roots: Community Gardens Making a New Detroit
The documentary Urban Roots takes a look at how city farming is transforming the city's vacant lots into community gardens, ultimately changing the community as a whole in the process.
Super-Simple Solar Food Drying
Solar food drying is incredibly easy with a solar food dehydrator, which requires very little effort to make perfectly preserved produce.
Iodine Rich BõKU Products May Help Guard Consumers From Radiation
With all the recent panic about radiation contamination, our loyal BõKU customers felt safer, and more protected, with BõKU's nutrient dense support.
Cheers to Pumpkin Beers!
Happy Halloween! Now pop open a pumpkin beer.
Top 10 Reasons to Visit the Farmer's Market
As farmers markets open across the country, here are 10 good reasons to get out and support your local farmers. (The freshest seasonal food is just a part of it.)
THIS BEER + THIS CHEESE Will Blow Your Mind. Seriously.
Hoch Ybrig cheese from Swiss cheese maker Rolf Beeler is a standout on its own, but here are some delicious ideas for pairing it with honey, wine and beer.
Smithfield Foods, Exposed
Smithfield's hog farms produce a lot of meat and make a lot of money, but at what cost? Can we continue to look the other way as they pollute waters, abuse animals and terrorize their neighbors?
Winter's Fast Food
There's no need to go to the grocery food in the winter if you have stored food in a root cellar, freezer or canning jars. Most of the work of preparing this food has already been done and so that winter meals are easy, nutritious and delicious.
U.S. Honey Processors Charged with 'Honey Laundering'
Five people and two U.S. honey processors were charged with 'honey laundering'. Investigators found illegally imported honey from China.
Preserving Food Through Winter With a Homemade Root Pit
Judy Mimranek shares her father's time-tested tip for digging a root pit and covering it with layers of straw and cow manure in order to store fruits and vegetables through the winter.
Seed Libraries: Challenges and Opportunities
Seed libraries are meeting new challenges that point to the need for better education and understanding with the public, and with those charged with enforcing seed laws. Learn about the opportunities that are open in this evolving social movement.
Preserving Tomatoes and Apples With a Homemade Solar Food Dryer
A homemade solar food dryer allows you to dry tomatoes and apples for delicious and nutritious winter snacks and addition to your meals.
Vote With Your Dollars to Enrich Your Community
Although the concepts of fair trade, buying local and buying organic food are used to aid the economies of developing countries, these same three concepts can help our local communities become the healthy communities we can thrive in.
Institutional Food
Hospitals traditionally are famous for their terrible food. A recent experience shows it has not changed much.
Eat These Birds to Keep Them Alive!: Developing Sustainable Poultry Flocks
So, what makes a flock of poultry sustainable? What is standard-bred poultry? If you purchase chicks from a hatchery, are they true to the breed? Why does every hatchery sell Rhode Island Reds and they all look different? Why do the Cornish Cross meat chickens have so many problems? Raising standard poultry is the only true way to improve the sustainability of quality local food while preserving the strength of Heritage poultry.
Why We Celebrate Earth Day
Don't miss these featured documentaries showing on PBS's Earth Day programming.
Gutter-Planted Garden Greens
It was becoming pretty obvious the crowding and lack of light were real limitations to my mini garden. Then, the idea of a trough on the windowsill came to mind, combining a way to water all the plants uniformly and efficiently all at once. Great, now how to make this trough? Wood? Sheet metal? The choices all seemed expensive, clumsy, prone to leaking...then the light bulb went on in my head: gutters!
Towards Perpetual Motion Machines-Part 3
A 3-part series on sustainable comfort systems for heating and cooling homes using passive solar design, solar electric power, system controllers and newly popular heat pump technology.
Hands-On Guy Makes Pellets Burn Efficiently in Airtight Woodstove
Steve explains how one practical guy invented a way to burn pellets efficiently without an expensive pellet stove
Healthy Farms: The Answer to a National Superweed Crisis
Monsanto's Roundup Ready system transformed typical weed problems into a national superweed crisis, only healthy farms can correct the damage done.
Take a Bite of Farm Aid!
The Farm Aid concert is a chance for us to shine a spotlight on these people who work every day to put good food on our tables.
Introducing The Principles of Permaculture Design – Using Nature as our Teacher
Maddy Harland writes about principles that underpin our understanding and practical application of permaculture. She relates them to designing a green home and garden but also explains how permaculture can help us to create more sustainable lifestyle
Transplanting Brassicas
Transitioning seedlings from indoor starts to outdoor plants
Yogurt-Making & Bread-Baking
Homestead skills of yogurt-making and bread-baking increase your independence from grocery store aisles and international food conglomerates.
Drill baby, drill...for efficiency
Now's the time to redouble our efforts to tap into energy efficiency. The potential is huge and the benefits are even greater.
Monsanto's False Advertising
Monsanto, the world's largest producer of genetically modified seeds and the toxic herbicides used to drench them, is calling itself a supporter of sustainability. You're kidding, right?
Photo Essay: A Sustainable Treehouse Community in Costa Rica
Take a photographic tour of Finca Bella Vista, a sustainable treehouse community in Costa Rica.
Living on a Self-Sustaining Farm in Mid-20th Century Virginia
This blog post tells what life was like on the self-sustaining farm of Olen and Anna Mae Showman located in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia during the middle of the 20th century.
Spring Harvest
Harvesting abundance in the early spring.
Seventh Generation Debuts Recycled Cardboard Bottles
Laundry detergent manufacturer reduces plastic by 66 percent in new easier-to-recycle bottles made from recycled cardboard and newspaper.
Piles of Dirt
Taking care of compost is essential to healthy soil and good food.
Turning off the Power
Monitoring energy use has led to increased motivation for conservation
Chicken Tractors
Use of a mobile chicken tractors allows us to keep the birds on fresh ground and stay on top of the weeds.
Pigs in Paradise: Tasting the Good Life at a Biodynamic Farm in Costa Rica
Finca Luna Nueva in Costa Rica's verdant San Carlos agricultural region is a dynamic, living example of permaculture and biodynamic farming, where every being is part of a system that nurtures the body and the soul.
Spring Planning
Starting flats of seedlings begins this year's growing season.
Enriching Activities Offered in the New Year
Solar Energy International (SEI), the National Wildlife Refuge System, and the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service all offer events to educate participants in varying pursuits. This blog provides links to activity calendars and workshop schedules.
Coffee and Climate Change
Farms which have earned Rainforest Alliance certification go beyond conserving the environment and improving the lives and livelihoods of farm workers; they also help to curb climate change.
Organic Gardening and Rainwater Harvesting: Sustainable Living by Example
Engineer Venkappa Gani leads by example when it comes to sustainable living. His entire backyard is an organic garden, an edible landscape that borders his rainwater harvesting tank collectors overlooked by solar panels that power his home (and more!). Gani is dedicated to sustainability, a word he lives by everyday at his suburban home in Austin, Texas.
Interacting With Animal Husbands at the 2011 Mother Earth News Fair
Animal Husbandry tent experiences from Day 1 of 2011 Mother Earth News Fair.
Earth Ovens, Heirloom Tomato Tasting, and Milking Practice - Oh My!
Aside from the great stage presentations, the exhibitor booths have a lot to offer FAIR attendees.
Towards Perpetual Motion Machines - Part 2 of 3
A three-part series on sustainable comfort systems for heating and cooling homes using passive solar design, solar electric power, system controllers and newly popular heat pump technology.
My Exotic Daily Life
While many of those visiting our Hostel are farmers and homesteaders themselves, some come from that "city culture" and seem to take their first hesitant steps outside of a flatly paved driveway when they arrive at our place. Wide eyes, a sense of adventure.
Winter Carrots
Eat carrots from your garden all winter! A little planning goes a long way toward more food with less work. Learn how to start with a winter cover crop of rye, with carrots following next in the rotation, maturing by the time the first frost.
A Father's Legacy of Natural Living
One of my earliest vivid childhood memories is sitting on my father's lap as a young girl reading the magazine together in the 1980s and all throughout my childhood. He would read aloud while I studied the pictures of passive solar building, vegetable gardening, sheep shearing, building your own sugar shack and the beautiful array of topics which he read to me frequently. Those images, along with the camping trips in the mountains, the whitewater and canoeing excursions, and our family trip to Alaska, have been etched in the catacombs of my childhood memories and have sculpted the person I have grown to become.
Garden Washing Station
Set up a washing station in your garden. Rinse your veggies there, saving the water for the garden and keeping your kitchen clean.
Using A Piteba Oil Press
Learn about using the Piteba to press your own homegrown oil.
Books: Gardening, Permaculture, Ferment, and Chickens
Book reviews by permaculture educator Cindy Conner. Learn about Sustainable Market Farming, The Art of Fermentation, The Permaculture Handbook, and The Small-Scale Poultry Flock.
Planning For Eating
Begin your garden planning with what,and particularly how much, you want to eat. Take a look at what you are eating now and go from there.
Living Offgrid Affordably: Before Breaking Ground
Let's stop for a minute and think about what we are doing!
Living Off-Grid Affordably: Breaking Ground (Kind-of)
Turning liabilities into assests.
30 Steps to Energy Efficiency - Step 4: Turn Down Your Thermostat
There are two situations which do not require you to be heating your home: when it is warm and when you are not at home. Since it is still a bit chilly outside, you may want to consider setting up a routine of turning down the set temperature on your thermostat when you head out in the morning and when you go to bed.
Wood Foam May Be the Answer to Eco-Friendly Insulation
Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Wood Research in Germany have developed a new type of insulating foam.
Replace Soy with Mealworms as a Protein-Rich Animal Feed Supplement
Soy is currently the leading source of protein in most animal diets, but mealworms offer a more efficient and sustainable alternative.
Native Prairie Plantings Can Be Established Without Using Herbicides
Herbicide residue can linger in soil and ground water for years. Use these proven methods of strategic burning, grazing, cover crops, mowing and "frost interseeding" to establish your native prairie, and avoid harming wildlife.
What America's Most Walkable Suburb Can Teach Towns Everywhere
Suburban life has always been synonymous with long hours in the car. That's changing now. Arlington, Virginia, shows how feet on the street helps a community thrive. Learn about how Arlington is promoting walking through city initiatives as well as 10 more cities that are striving to make their communities more walkable.
Food Prices See Steepest Increase Since 1974
Slower growth in crop yields, high oil prices and use of food crops to make biofuels could push food prices higher for the next year and beyond.
If You Eat, Breathe, Drink Water or Care, It's Time to Make Noise About the Farm Bill
The U.S. Farm Bill will be renewed in 2013 with a plan to cut major funding to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
Poor Dietary Habits Kill More People Than Smoking
Studies show unhealthy dieting kills more people than alcohol, cigarettes and drug use combined.
From the Trees to the Seas
Plant life along small streams starts a food chain that stretches all the way to the ocean.
Bricks and Potatoes
As I go along, I pull out pebbles occasionally, but only one large stone. Time and time again, however, my hands pry free the remnants of bricks. As late afternoon turns to early evening and my work for the day is nearing completion, a collection of the ruddy-colored artifacts is stacked to one side. The sight of them calls up something nostalgic in me, broken bits suggesting a history that is largely lost.
Foraging and Cooking With Wild Sorrel
How to identify, harvest and cook with wood sorrel and sheep sorrel, both common weeds that have the same exquisite lemon flavor as cultivated French sorrel.
The Pressure Canner: My Favorite Preservation Tool
A pressure canner greatly expands the range of foods that can be safely canned at home.
Find Local Food
These online tools can help you find the best sources for local food, including local farmers markets and community-supported agriculture programs.
Sorrel-Strawberry Sorbet Recipe
For super-smooth sorbet, churn this sorrel recipe in an ice cream maker. For a treat just as refreshing but studded with icy crystals, simply stick the mixture in your freezer. Got kids? Freeze this sorbet in freezer pop forms instead.
Preserving Gourmet Garlic: Dehydration
Learn how to dehydrate gourmet garlic so you can enjoy it year-round.It takes only a few simple steps to turn fat, juicy bulbs into crunchy, golden chips!
Fresh Storage of Produce
For the past few years, we've experimented with different ways of storing food fresh and now we're eating garlic, onions, squash, carrots and beets in June.
How to Make Tangy Sumac Extract
Tastes like lemonade, has the beautiful blush color of rose wine, and comes from a plant that's almost certainly growing near you - here's how to make and use sumac extract.
Under The Stairs
Necessity leads to ingenuity in the creation of root cellar storage.
How to Make Apple Pie Fruit Leather
Food preservationist Tammy Kimbler teaches you how to make apple pie fruit leather from urban-foraged apples.
If You Can Keep It You Can Eat It: Part 1
To grow, keep and eat your own food keeps you away from the food industry, the fossil fuel based agriculture, food stores and logistics.
Cold-Weather Foraging: Sunchokes (With Pickled Sunchokes and Mushrooms Recipe)
How to identify, harvest, and eat sunchokes (also known as Jerusalem artichokes). This root vegetable is a native North American plant that is at its best after a few frosts.
What Are You Smoking?: How to Smoke Salmon
Fired up our smoker for the first time and made yummy use of our summer's Kokanee Fish Catch to smoke fish.
Best Foods to Lower Blood Pressure: Think Mediterranean
Exciting new research reveals how certain foods from the Mediterranean diet work to treat hypertension. Learn what researchers have uncovered about which foods to eat to lower blood pressure.
4 Reasons to Avoid Food Preservatives
Processed foods contain a variety of chemical preservatives that have been linked to serious medical conditions. Here's what to look for and how to avoid food preservatives.
Healing With Potatoes
The discovery of an uncommon remedy for blood poisoning in my pantry.
Candlemas: A Midwinter Homesteader's Holiday
Candlemas is an ancient midwinter holiday, when people would take inventory on their stock of candles, pantry food storage and hay in the barn to get the homestead through the second half of winter.
Joel Salatin's Family Opens Farm for a Field Day Celebrating 'Integrity Food'
Joel Salatin and his family open their farm in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley on July 19th to celebrate what he calls "integrity food." Events will feature walking tours of pastured livestock, intensive seminars and demonstrations on rabbit rearing and more.
Lessons Learned On a Seed Farm
Achieving real food independence means gaining the knowledge and skills to grow, harvest and store food. The best way to do this is working on a small, local farm.
Ways to Support the Local Foods Movement
A list of ways we could each show support or teach our friends and family to support the Local Foods Movement
How to Turn Suburbs Into Food Paradises
Ziggy Liloia examines two poignant books, Paradise Lot and Gaia's Garden that turn the idea of needing lots of space to grow ample food on its head.
How Much To Grow
If you know much of each food from your garden you consume each year, you can better plan how much to grow.
Foraging Wild Burdock Stalks
A relative of the artichoke, burdock is a common and versatile wild vegetable.
Nettle: The Stinging Spring Edible
Identifying, harvesting, and cooking the nutritionally complex spring treat, stinging nettle.
9 Things to Do With Dandelions
Unlike many wild foods that take a long search, dandelions are found in almost every wood and meadow. And while many wild plants require special training to identify and discriminate from similar-looking poisonous plants, dandelions can be readily identified by every schoolchild.
Baking Powder Biscuits Recipe
Simpler, more streamlined biscuits from scratch - no buttermilk required.
Cherry Crostata Recipe
This Cherry Crostata Recipe is a simple, delicious way to use summer's rubies.
Foraging Red Clover for Medicine and Food
How to identify and use red clover (Trifolium pratense), plus a recipe for red clover blossom soda bread.
Garlic as Medicine
Learn how to take garlic as medicine — garlic is a potent natural antibiotic and immune-booster.
Preserving Pork at Home
Preserving meat at home by making pork confit.
Is Your Baby Eating Food That Contains Honey?
Reading label ingredients is a must for your baby's health.
Grow Indoor Winter Crops
It is possible to grow fresh crops through the dark months even without a greenhouse, and even where we live, a thousand miles from the Arctic Circle, where the winter sun brings only brief and meager light.
2011 Predictions: The Rise of the Conscious Consumer
Natural products research firm Compass Naturals predicts shoppers will get savvy; rebel against chemicals, over-packaging, GMOs and animal cruelty; and grow more of their own food.
Six Ideas for Small-Space Gardening
Here are six of my favorite ideas for those of you with small spaces and still want to get your garden on.
Seasonal Recipes for May Wanted
Share your spring seasonal recipes for the month of May.
Small Details in Food Storage Make a Big Difference
It's important to periodically check any canned, dried, or otherwise home-preserved food to make sure it's still safe to eat.
Can organic, sustainable meat producers compete?
Cole discusses the challenges faced by organic meat raisers, as well as the health benefits of consuming organic meats.
Sauté-Blanched Green Beans
Here is an easier way to blanche vegetables, such as green beans, before freezing them.
New Convenient Packets for HEALx Booster and Sunshine Factor Pet Foods
Squeezable packets eliminate the need to measure.
The Generation Fresh Movement Celebrates Home Cooking
McCormick pumps up flavor and encourages healthy changes.
The Public Doesn't Want What's for Dinner
A recent survey revealed that Americans are largely unaware of the presence of genetically engineered food in their diet, yet they maintain negative opinions about the safety of these GE foods.
Reusable Canning Lids
Our experiences in learning to pressure can and use reusable canning lids.
How Would You Change Food in 2010?
There are a lot of changes we'd like to see made to our food system this year. Add your own.
Backyard Homesteading Memories: Buttermilk Biscuits and Fig Preserves
Anna remembers her grandmother's tasty buttermilk biscuits with fig preserves and her mother's stories of growing up on a small, in-town homestead in the 60s.
Training and Grants for Value-Added Food Product Marketers
Learn about the many kitchen and community projects supported by SARE (Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education), including the training necessary to be able to sell value-added food products at markets.
Feeding Communities With City Farming
A potential solution to rising food prices, food insecurity and the obesity epidemic may call into play raising farms inside the city limits.
What to Do with Windfall Apples
Slightly underripe apples that fall to the ground must be picked up, so why not cut away the bugs and bruises and put them to good use? Here's how to turn windfall apples into supernutritious drinks and snacks.
Genetically Engineered ... Animals?
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is accepting public comment regarding a draft Guidance for Industry #187 — to clarify regulation of genetically altered animals.
Ranch Life in Northern New Mexico During the '60s
Living a ranch life in northern New Mexico in the 1960s consisted of hard work and knowledge. It was not the romantic life that many people imagine it to have been.
No Space? No Excuse! Start to Grow Your Own Food
Having little space is not a reason to not be growing your own food. It's just an excuse. I've been apartment gardening since 2009.
Struggling to Grow Food and Find Work During the Great Depression
C. Murray shares his experiences finding work to support his family as a child during the Great Depression.
Grilled Pumpkin with Rosemary and Sea Salt
This great recipe offers a new way to enjoy pumpkin.
Farm to School Month
Celebrate harvest season by helping bring local food onto kid's lunch trays at schools across the country during Farm to School Month.
Vegetarian and Vegan Thanksgiving Meals
Vegetarians and vegans can enjoy an excellent meatless Thanksgiving dinner. Check out these great vegetarian and vegan recipes and websites.
Centro Ashe Announces Group Trips To Costa Rica
The Roots and Culture Tour is an incredible opportunity for all those interested in working towards a more sustainable and just food system to dive into the local food system in the small and amazing Talamanca Region of Costa Rica.
Tips for Seed-Starting Success
You want to start your urban garden from seed this year, but you're not sure where to start because you've only started from transplants.
Eco-Friendly Wedding Series No. 7: Environmentally-Friendly Wedding Food Ideas
In this blog series, I'll guide you through eight sustainable wedding issues — starting with rings, and making stops for invitations and food — that are both easy and fun to remedy. After all, it may be your big day, but that doesn't mean you should forget the big picture. This blog is all about environmentally-friendly wedding food ideas.
This Lawn is Your Lawn: Let's Grow a Food Garden on the White House Lawn
Help grow an organic food garden on the White House lawn. Here are some easy ways you can participate.
Bone Broth Benefits: From Digestion to Joint Pain
From ancient to modern times and across cultures, healers have used the nourishing and medicinal powers of broth, especially bone broth.
Putting Up Basil and Pesto
Fresh pesto is great in the summer, but it's even better in the middle of winter!
How to Save Seeds From Dry-Seeded Crops
How you harvest and save seeds depends on whether a crop is dry-seeded or wet-seeded. Here are the steps for collecting and cleaning seed from a dry-seeded crop like chervil.
Complete Biogas: Food Waste and Biogas, Part 2
Wasting food in the U.S., making biogas, and using food waste to do it ... (Let's not waste all that wasted food!).
What to Do With All That Zucchini
The zucchini harvest overflows. Learn how to preserve zucchini for year-round enjoyment and creative ways to eat it now.
Food Waste and Biogas, Part 3
Summing up: How much food waste makes how much biogas to power what functions around the farmstead?
Creating a Slow Time Movement
Can we start a Slow Time Movement? One that would be like the Slow Food Movement.
Summer is Over, but Ice Cream and 'Jersey' Tomatoes Linger On
Arguably America's oldest ice cream company, Bassetts, is still a fixture at Philly's Reading Terminal Market. Both it and the Jersey Tomato hail from Salem, New Jersey, and therein lies the heritage tale.
What to Feed Wild Birds
You can attract a variety of birds to your yard by knowing what to feed wild birds. Find information on feeding birds and learn different birds' preferences.
How to Save Seeds From Peppers
Saving seeds from peppers is easy. All you need is a pot of water, a drying screen, and peppers. And gloves if you're processing hot peppers...
Canning Summer's Bounty: Easy And Low Tox
Canning is a great way to preserve your own harvest. When canning acidic foods like fruit or tomatoes or anything using vinegar or sugar, you can likely use only a water bath. There are many chemical free canning jars available today for low tox canning.
The Opportunistic Canner
Three essential tools for opportunistic canning.
Preserving Fall Apples
Spend the weekend preserving fall apples before they're all gone.
The Larder
Winter food storage in a naturally cooled space.
'The Wild Wisdom of Weeds' by Katrina Blair
"The Wild Wisdom of Weeds," by wild-foods advocate and author Katrina Blair, is the only book on foraging and wild edibles to focus on thirteen weeds found all over the world, which together comprise a complete food source and extensive medical pharmacy and first-aid kit. Blair's philosophy is sobering, realistic, and ultimately optimistic: If we can open our eyes to see the wisdom found in these weeds right under our feet, instead of trying to eradicate an "invasive," we could potentially achieve true food security and optimal health.
My 10-Day Local-Food Challenge Experience
The options for obtaining locally grown food have expanded in recent years, particularly with farmers markets. Expand your diet beyond your garden and meet the folks who can help you do that and stay local.
How to Extract Seeds
How to effectively remove seeds from vegetables, fruits, flowers or herbs isn't always obvious. Or easy. Sometimes you have to get creative.
How to Store Carrots Under Straw for Winter
Not being a fan of frozen or canned carrots, I began to wonder how to store carrots under straw for winter to enjoy organic carrots throughout the winter. Living in Central