Courtesy iStockphoto/Thinkstock Before growing season officially begins, visit your local garden center to pick up discounted garden supplies and experiment with plant arrangements. The onslaught of gardening catalogs arriving in the mail can be a welcome reprieve from dreary winter conditions, offering hope for the impending gardening seasons. But along with the promise of spring […]
Until I met her, I hadn't cared much for pigs. Now I'm crazy about Charlotte.
Courtesy Jupiterimages/Comstock/Thinkstock Students in the illiniCarbon Program took a local approach to carbon offsets. It’s the latest spin on thinking globally and acting locally. The University of Illinois has taken carbon offsets—the process by which you determine how much carbon dioxide you add to the atmosphere based on your lifestyle and offset it by investing […]
Photo by Rick Gush Because of the abundance of rock in the soil, Italy is covered with rock terraces, like this one found next door to my studio. One thing that Italian agriculture has in abundance, particularly here in Liguria, is rocks. Except for the big flood plain called the Po river valley in the area […]
Photo by Judith Hausman Don’t think that winter farmers’ markets only have root vegetables for sale. Vendors at Gossett’s winter market sell a variety of produce, including mushrooms. Is everyone smiling at the Stop and Shop? I don’t think so. But on Saturdays at Gossett’s Farm Market in South Salem, N.Y., no one looks grumpy. […]
Courtesy Hemera/Thinkstock Four national agencies collaborated to create the Principles of a Healthy, Sustainable Food System, a shared platform for creating sustainable food systems. Just as a healthy diet requires a mix of different food groups, a healthy food system requires a mix of different organizations. In 2009, national leaders from four agencies—the American Planning […]
I'm teaching my Mustang that there's nothing to fear in the city's streets.
Courtesy Comstock Images/Comstock/Thinkstock Public schools that have implemented school-greening programs can apply for the Green Prize in Public Education from the National Environmental Education Foundation. Public schools across the U.S. that have successfully implemented innovative and sustainable school-greening programs have an opportunity to be recognized for their efforts. The National Environmental Education Foundation, with major […]
Most people might think all those Roman ruins and medieval castles and paintings are the most notable historical artifacts in Italy. Personally, I think the thriving small-farmer culture that still dominates Italy is the most important gift from the past.
Photo by Judith Hausman This corn chowder, last year’s dinner soup, will be my (much-requested) contribution to this year’s soup swap. What has become my annual, all-girl Soup Swap event will take place this Sunday. (I confess I didn’t make up the idea; I stole it from a women’s magazine I rifled in a doctor’s waiting room.) […]
Courtesy Digital Vision/Digital Vision/Thinkstock Men and women are divided on whether buying eco-friendly products really makes a difference. For Michael and Vanessa Martin, shopping for paper towels, dish detergent and tile cleaner often leads to a discussion in the supermarket aisles about the environment. Michael would prefer to spend less on conventional products while Vanessa […]
Photo by Audrey Pavia The Amazing Olivia is quite the hunter Most urban farmers aren’t too concerned with rodent control. A mouse in the house is more of a problem for us urban types than a mouse in the grain room for rural farmers. But as my friend Lisa’s dog Olivia showed me, urban farms […]
