EARTH DAY HAS BEEN OBSERVED for 41 years as of today–since April 22, 1970–but long before this important mobilization of millions, other voices helped raise consciousness about our individual, and collective, responsibilities to our environment. [read more…]
organics
I garden without chemical herbicides, pesticides, fungicides...and also without synthetic fertilizers. Some of the basics of that practice are in this archive.
on earth day, looking back–and ahead
April 22, 2011 at 7:30 am
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12 top composting faq’s
March 18, 2011 at 12:08 pm
Q. Do I need to buy a bin to make compost?
A. What method of composting you use should be determined by the volume of material created in the yard (and to a lesser degree, in the kitchen, where vegetable scraps, egg shells and coffee and tea grounds can be collected for the heap, too). I create far too much raw material for a mere bin-type system, the commercially available kind made of metal or heavy plastic or mesh that are about as big as a washing machine. [read more…]
podcast: talking seeds with ken druse
February 10, 2011 at 6:15 pm
IHAVE KNOWN KEN DRUSE FOR MORE YEARS than either of us cares to admit to, so it was great fun recently to be invited to talk about one of our shared favorite topics–seeds–with him on his weekly ‘Real Dirt’ podcast. Like to listen in? Perhaps afterward you’ll want to read the related stories about why I’m ordering from catalogs whose seed is produced sustainably or organically, and how worked up I’ve been getting about genetically modified seed. Of course, I haven’t ordered anything yet. Any day now…
why i called the white house: the alfalfa crisis
January 30, 2011 at 2:37 pm
ICALLED THE WHITE HOUSE Friday to register my horror about the USDA’s decision to allow genetically engineered, or so-called Roundup-ready, alfalfa to be planted without restriction, threatening the purity of the organic food supply. I hope you will call or write, too. The comment line is (202) 456-1111, or you can simply fill in the White House contact form. If you don’t know how you feel about the issue, some links that may further inform (or inflame) you: [read more…]
ray of catalog sun? more organic, non-gmo seeds
January 17, 2011 at 4:37 pm
IN A TIME OF DARK NEWS ABOUT THE SEED BUSINESS, I’m heartened to see some catalogs on my table giving more real estate to organic seed. But why care? What difference does it make if the tiny seeds I start with were organically grown, as long as when I plant them, I follow environmentally sound cultural practices? If you worry about contributing to pollution that “flows upstream”—and if you want a seed that’s well-adapted to your garden if you adhere to organic methods as I do—it matters more than you’d think. What I’ve been learning: [read more…]
links i liked: from bird song, to gmo food perils
January 9, 2011 at 1:43 pm
FROM THE SWEET SONGS OF BIRDS to the scary business of GMO crops and our imperiled food supply, the latest links I’ve been stockpiling are all right here. [read more…]
4 links: help with salty pickles, ticks, seed saving
August 8, 2010 at 7:49 pm
AFTER MY EDGER, MY FAVORITE TOOL IS THE COMPUTER. Mea culpa. The latest harvest: the secrets of Kosher salts, above (and why your pickles taste too salty some years); tactics for going pesticide-free indoors and out—and even how to save heirloom tomato seeds the Amy Goldman way. Sound useful? If I share, will you forgive me all my rooting around indoors instead of being outside on nonstop edging duty? [read more…]
which fertilizer? what’s in the bag
January 20, 2010 at 12:47 pm
BAGGED FERTILIZERS, WHETHER CHEMICAL ONES or their all-natural, organic counterparts, are no substitute for building healthy soil. Though I firmly believe in purchasing only the latter, which are made from renewable resources such as by-products of other industries, I use them as supplements, the way I use multivitamins for myself. I still eat three squares a day, and the soil needs real food, too, not just a booster here and there. [read more…]
2010 resolution: a ‘no-work’ garden?
December 27, 2009 at 2:44 pm
ASK MY FRIEND ANDREW: I will make the same resolution (to label all the plants in the garden) and then break it. My labeling-the-plants pronouncement is a long-standing annual event, as he is sick of hearing me mention. So how about this instead: I resolve to have a no-work garden in 2010. (I thought that would get a laugh from all of you, and maybe even from Andrew.) But here’s what I was thinking: [read more…]
