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Tag Archives: food production
A Primer on Creating Soil
A PRIMER ON CREATING SOIL Good agriculture depends on good soil. The problem over the past 10,000 years of our human attempt to live off the land (and especially during the last sixty years or so), is that crops take nutrients from the soil, and without proper husbandry, soil fertility will deplete. The “pseudo-solution” offered […]
How Do You Use Urine?
HOW DO YOU USE URINE? Composting toilets are a great thing. They take what has become a problem in modern systems—human excrement—and make it into something useful: rich compost. Despite simple and effective ways of making composting toilets, humanure does still bring about some controversy with those who are worried about pathogens. Confident composters won’t […]
Outstanding Onions
OUTSTANDING ONIONS Onions (Allium cepa L.), being the most extensively cultivated species of the Allium genus, are a root crop that nearly everyone has heard about, seen, or eaten. However, don’t let their perceived commonness lull you into thinking they’re uninteresting. Onions are quite a fascinating garden vegetable that has some remarkable characteristics. ONIONS OF […]
The Seeds of Agroecology and Common Ownership
The Seeds of Agroecology and Common Ownership The increasingly globalised industrial food system that transnational agribusiness promotes is not feeding the world and is responsible for some of the planet’s most pressing political, social and environmental crises. Localised, traditional methods of food production have given way to globalised supply chains dominated by transnational companies policies and actions which […]
Tree Crops
TREE CROPS For thousands of years, farmers have generally differentiated forestry and agriculture. Forests were either left alone or planted and maintained as a source of fuel and building material. In the best of cases, certain trees also offered forage for livestock and other farm animals. The farm fields were generally kept clear of any […]
The Best Perennial Vegetables
THE BEST PERENNIAL VEGETABLES One of the tasks that I most dislike about the farming life is preparing the raised beds each time I want to plant out a crop of tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, or onion. While I do enjoy eating a fresh tomato from my garden, the tedious, repetitive tasks of preparing the garden […]
Cold Frames, How and Why
COLD FRAMES, HOW AND WHY Before moving to the temperate climate, I’d assumed that winter was pretty much a wash for growing a decent crop. I knew soils were good and summers abundant, all of which led to lots of food storage for getting through winter. I even looked forward to the squashes and pumpkins, […]
A Conversation With Dr. Daphne Miller
A Conversation With Dr. Daphne Miller Daphne Miller: These days I’m focused on the true cost of food. We have the cheapest food in the world. Food purchases make up something like 8% of our GDP. But when you start to factor in all the chronic diseases and environmental impacts—the health footprint of food—then all […]
Go Green Beans!
GO GREEN BEANS! Green, string, snap, pole, or bush, whatever you call these beans, these edible little pods are great to grow in the garden. Green beans (Phaseolus vulgaris), as we think of them, typically grow in two forms. These two main growing forms are what we call bush and pole bean growing styles. Bush […]
The Basics of Growing Food in the Winter
THE BASICS OF GROWING FOOD IN THE WINTER Having spent so much time in tropical environs, I fretted over having to think about seasons, in terms of temperature, when my wife Emma and I decided to give North Carolina a try. Suddenly, we are having to think about frosts much more than wet and dry […]
What We Sow is What We Eat
What We Sow is What We Eat I am lying in a meadow high in the Rocky Mountains. The sun is warm and comforting. I watch the clouds, puffy white in the blue sky, but soon pull a cap over my eyes and enter that state where thoughts swirl through your head and you don’t […]
Organic Pesticides, Biological Controls, and Finding What Can Be Grown
ORGANIC PESTICIDES, BIOLOGICAL CONTROLS, AND FINDING WHAT CAN BE GROWN Bugs are inevitably a part of growing things. While most of the bugs out there are good for the soil and good for your plants, there are plenty of pests that will drive you crazy while you try to salvage a tomato crop ravaged by […]
The Crises That Have Come With Urbanization
THE CRISES THAT HAVE COME WITH URBANIZATION One of the defining aspects of our current civilization and one of the most worrying trends of modernity is our urbanization as a species. When we take the long view of human history, it becomes obvious that for 99% of our history, we have been a rural people, […]
The Complete Guide to Growing Potatoes
The Complete Guide to Growing Potatoes Potatoes need slightly acidic soil, a lot of sunlight and a lot of water to thrive in your garden. The plants are annuals usually grown in zones 1 through 7. Along with growing potatoes in the ground, outdoors, many gardeners are able to successfully grow a crop of potatoes in […]
How Does Your Local Food Grow?
HOW DOES YOUR LOCAL FOOD GROW? CAN WE BUILD A LOCAL FOOD WEB INSTEAD OF A GLOBAL AGRI-CHAIN? Wayne Roberts looks at all the ways local food webs are already growing, ready to become the Next Big Thing in creative disruption. Several weeks ago, I went to and wrote about an exciting international conference in Montpelier, France, on […]
