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12 Activities for the Temperate Homestead
12 AUTUMN ACTIVITIES FOR THE TEMPERATE HOMESTEAD For those who have followed my articles over the years, you might be aware of two things: A recent relocation and the fact that, in fact, I do not yet have a homestead of my own. My wife Emma and I spent quite nearly over two years in […]
Global Climate Change & Its Link to Soil Organisms
GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE & ITS LINK TO SOIL ORGANISMS When people think of the consequences of global warming, most jump to the melting ice caps and death of beloved polar bears. We know that as our Earth undergoes climate change, it’s adversely affecting the ecological balance in complex ways. For the first time, however, a […]
The Need to Limit Energy Use
THE NEED TO LIMIT ENERGY USE ENERGY: AN ADDICTION OR A NECESSITY? Energy is arguably the most defining aspect of industrial civilization. For the first couple hundred thousand years of human existence, our ability to affect the world around us was limited by the amount of energy the human body can produce. It is estimated […]
Soil Erosion and Its Monetary Cost
SOIL EROSION AND ITS MONETARY COST The modernized food industry has pushed farming practices to the back burner in the eyes of consumers. Still, the majority of our food comes from the land. That being said, the issue of soil erosion isn’t making front pages, but amongst those that lobby around organic farming and environmental […]
The Importance of Guilds and Nitrogen Fixers
THE IMPORTANCE OF GUILDS AND NITROGEN FIXERS How is it that the natural world provides excessive abundance while not relying on any external sources of nutrients? Nature produces her own fertility needs, firstly through accumulating organic matter on the soil surface which protects the soil, adds to the layer of humus, and stimulates the biological […]
Manure: An Overview of This Shi…ning Addition to the Garden
MANURE: AN OVERVIEW OF THIS SHI…NING ADDITION TO THE GARDEN Organic gardens really benefit from manure, and that is no mystery. However, it’s important to be aware of what kind of manure is at your disposal because they are not all equally desirable. Some manures, dare we say, are choice garden additions, while others take […]
The Perks of Raising Chickens
THE PERKS OF RAISING CHICKENS For many people who have grown interested in gaining a certain sense of autonomy through taking responsibility for growing a part of their own food, a simple backyard garden or even a container garden on your window will is considered a good place to start. Making the leap from growing […]
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 […]
Traces of Pesticides Discovered in 75 Per Cent of the World’s Honey
TRACES OF PESTICIDES DISCOVERED IN 75 PER CENT OF THE WORLD’S HONEY Residue from potentially harmful pesticides has been discovered in 75 per cent of honey sampled from around the world, according to a study conducted by Swiss scientists that was published in the journal Science in October 2017. The researchers sampled 198 different honeys […]
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 New Surburbanism
THE NEW SUBURBANISM Many people in industrial societies live in the suburbs which are really neither city nor country living. Many people have openly criticized the suburban way of life as the apex of consumer lifestyle highly dependent on fossil fuel input. Suburban life is a sort of pseudo-rural life where affluent middle and upper-class […]
Questioning the Growth Economy
QUESTIONING THE GROWTH ECONOMY If you have ever driven through rural Kentucky or Ohio or Pennsylvania, chances are you have run across a horse drawn carriage with a group of people who appear to have emerged from the 1700´s. Many Amish and Mennonite communities still ardently and stubbornly maintain a pre-technological and pre-industrial lifestyle despite […]
What Defines Appropriate Technology?
WHAT DEFINES APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY? OUR CURRENT ADDICTION TO TECHNOLOGY If there is one defining aspect of our modern civilization it´s that we are a technological species. Compared to other organisms with whom we share this planet, we Homo sapiens aren´t exactly well adapted to long term survival. We have no coat of fur to keep […]
The Cost of Food Insecurity
THE COST OF FOOD INSECURITY In many developing countries, undernutrition is a recognized – and well documented – crisis. However, with increasing urbanization, another health concern is beginning to emerge as people choose to consume foods of convenience rather than exert the effort it takes to grow their own produce. While nutritious foods are still […]
