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 […]
If you are considering apple trees for your urban farm, find out now if your plan is viable. As you scan that stack of mail-order seed catalogs and websites for ideas for this year’s garden, don’t overlook the potential value an apple tree (or several) could add to your urban farm. Developing a home apple […]
I’d love to be writing about all the exciting developments in the garden, but unfortunately, we’ve had rainy and cold weather for a long time, now.
Courtesy iStockphoto/Thinkstock Urban chicken keepers across the country face penalties for not complying with confusing city ordinances. It’s not surprising that urban chicken owners have been the first to run headlong into city laws and ordinances that not only restrict or prohibit keeping hens, but also serve up hefty fines for doing so. While animal […]
Photo by Audrey Pavia Rio, my Spanish Mustang, turned 3 years old this week. As goofy as he can be, he’s been a dream come true. Since the age of 9, I have been obsessed with spotted horses. Since that same age, I’ve also been obsessed with Mustangs. So when I bought my first spotted […]
It’s gray-weather time here in Rapallo, and on good days we all walk around wearing long underwear and a bunch of jackets. I haven’t worked in the garden for at least a month now because it’s not so much fun when everything is cold and wet.
Courtesy Maryland Office of Tourism A proposed ruling in Maryland would require producers of local agriculture and seafood products, like the crabs Maryland is know for, to specify the origin of the product in advertisments. As consumers and producers alike debate the question “What is local?” one state is taking steps to help its citizens […]
Photo by Judith Hausman The new pickles at farmers’ markets are making a real comeback from the traditional dill and bread ‘n’ butter. I also like to add eclectic flair to my preserved produce by making relish. Everything old is, as they say, new again. This weekend, in a traditional Russian deli in Brookline, Mass., I saw pickled […]
Photo by Audrey Pavia All the heavy rains we’ve been having have made a mess of our stalls. Southern California has a reputation for being sunny and warm nearly all year round. And for the most part, it’s true. So when we have occasional bouts of bad weather and complain about it, we are no […]
