Photo by Judith Hausman My beans growing in Bob and Karen’s backyard. Around here, book club is the inner circle, the first network to consult for advice on nearly anything: electricians, school board candidates, pie crust. Ours (The Salem Witches) is fluid but committed; there’s always a quorum of very smart women with a list […]
Courtesy Christie Mole During Transition Milwaukee’s Power Down Week in June 2010, members of the Wisconsin transition initiative built a cob oven and baked pizza and muffins. (The group reports that their baked goods were delicious.) The pace of change is accelerating, and much of it is neither encouraging nor hopeful—as is seen most recently […]
The number of farmers’ markets has nearly doubled in the past 10 years. “Locally grown” is a buzz phrase that is no longer reserved for the conscientious consumer. Veteran farmers’ market goers and organic-cotton-tee-wearing yuppies alike are giving local products a more thoughtful glance before making their produce purchases. Despite local produce being all the […]
States across the U.S. are passing electronic-recycling laws that will hold electronics manufacturers responsible for e-waste. Computers and other electronic devices have become a necessary part of every day life in the United States. But if you’ve gotten blue screen of death or lost your entire music collection, you know they don’t last forever. Trashing […]
Our chickens have the run of the yard during the day and have taught me a whole lot about what chickens—or at least, my chickens—will eat.
Courtesy Stock.XCHNG Staking your tomato plant could keep the fruit from sunburning during hot July weather. It’s early July, and tomatoes are already beginning to show off their soft, red flesh. But with heat indexes rising, urban farmers need to put extra care into their tomato plants to see the benefits of a hearty harvest. Pruning […]
The cucumbers in the garden are now producing their usual early summer bounty.
I emphatically am not a cocktail person. For me, a relaxing and civilized alternative to the cocktail is the European tradition of aperitifs.
Courtesy USDA The People’s Garden at Yreka High School in Yreka, Calif., is used to enhance the school’s agriculture and natural resource program. People’s Gardens now exist in all 50 states, two U.S. territories, and three foreign countries, with more than 400 People’s Gardens across the country, according to the USDA. Last year, the People’s […]
This desert cottontail rabbit isn’t Jackson, but it sure looks like him. I take it as an honor when a wild animal chooses my yard as its home. Whether they’re finches nesting in the eaves of the house or Western fence lizards hanging out under the tack shed, I feel blessed when a wild critter […]
