Photo courtesy FoodCorps FoodCorps fosters child nutrition education through the creation of school gardens. Schoolyard community gardens are the centerpiece of one burgeoning organization’s mission to grow a new generation of participants in the sustainable-food movement. Part of the AmeriCorps network, FoodCorps burst onto the scene last year with support from a federation of partner organizations, including […]
Photo by Audrey Pavia Bodhi is surprisingly athletic. If I were a rural farmer instead of an urban one, I’d have several barn cats that would spend their days stalking mice and chasing butterflies. But I have an urban farm, which means I not only have to worry about coyotes eating a barn cat, but […]
Photo courtesy of iStockphoto/Thinkstock Nonprofit groups are feeding the hungry by gleaning. For gleaning groups, the sight of unwanted fruit rotting on the ground beneath tree branches represents an opportunity to make a difference. Gleaning, the practice of harvesting unwanted or leftover produce, is not new, but it is becoming more popular as a means […]
Photo by Rick Gush The pomegranate (Punica granatum) tree growing in our garden is the only one of our fruit trees that I grew myself. That’s because rooting pomegranate cuttings is just so easy. Six years ago, I took some cuttings in the fall from a pomegranate growing in a neighbor’s yard and stuck […]
Discover these four common weeds in your urban farm and learn how to kill them.
Photo by Judith Hausman Summer corn and tomatoes make a warming winter dish. Time to screw open those canning jars and excavate the freezer to make use of the delicious trove you took such care to put by in late summer. Now, when you really need it, you can release the heat you built up in […]
Photo courtesy iStockphoto/Thinkstock Hotel culinary staff seek out fruits, vegetables, dairy items and meats at farmers markets and local farms. At some hotels, food choices are the result of culinary staff trolling farmers markets or dialing up local farms in search of juicy fruits, earthy vegetables, artisan dairy items and mouth-watering meats. A few months before […]
Photo by Audrey Pavia Milagro and Rio tell me they love me. I’ve been in love with horses since I was a little girl. This unending passion started at around age 9 and never quit. For most of my horse-loving childhood, I rode rental horses at stables near my house. I’d fall in love with […]
Control or monitor insects by using a square yellow sticky trap.
Learn what to do about fungal diseases before they destroy your tomato crop.
Photo by Rick Gush Finnochio, or fennel, is now one of my favorite vegetables. I never ate Florence Fennel, also known as Sweet Fennel or finocchio in the Mediterranean, before I moved to Italy, but now, it’s one of my favorite vegetables. I know the herb fennel from the wild stuff that grows all over […]
Image courtesy of iStockphoto/Thinkstock The rise in popularity of farmers markets has been a boon for farmers and consumers alike. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, there were 7,175 farmers markets operating throughout the country by mid-2011, a 17 percent increase over 2010. And the trend shows no signs of slowing down. But the […]
