By Dan Nosowitz When we think of dangerous gases emitted by cattle, the logical first thought is of methane, let loose into the air by burps and farts to contribute to climate change. But cattle are complex creatures in their diversity of noxious fumes, and the FDA just approved the first drug to treat a […]
By Brian Barth Winter is coming. But don’t go putting your gardening gloves away just yet. Gardening is often treated as a seasonal sport, but it’s possible to play in winter, too—you just have to learn a slightly different set of rules. The first, and most important, step is to understand which crops are best […]
By Dan Nosowitz North Carolina dominates the country’s production in sweet potatoes the way few other states dominate few other crops. The state produces about 60 percent of the country’s total sweet potato crop, more than the next three states—California, Mississippi, and Louisiana—combined. Hurricane Florence’s path of destruction has been fairly well tracked for livestock, […]
By Dan Nosowitz When you think of “family farms,” a nice bucolic image probably comes to mind: something small, maybe lower-budget or lower-tech, run by a family. According to the USDA’s definition, those farms definitely are “family farms.” But so, under this definition, are multi-thousand-acre corporate entities using automated machinery to grow genetically engineered corn. […]
By Brian Barth The federal government still considers it a crime to grow or possess cannabis, but 30 states have now legalized it to varying degrees. Washington, Oregon, California, Alaska, Nevada, Colorado, Maine and Massachusetts have decriminalized weed for recreational use, and similar legislation is under consideration elsewhere. Pardon the pun, but it is high […]
By Brian Barth Santa Barbara-based farmer, chef, and educator Michelle Aronson is an outgoing type. She’s become known among for her friends for a certain party trick: “I would get to know people and on the spot come up with their spirit vegetable.” In May, she took this talent national with the Spirit Vegetable Quiz, […]
By Dan Nosowitz The public seems to loathe Monsanto. A recent poll ranked the company among the 20 most hated in America (nearly every other name on the list is a consumer-facing company the public deals with regularly, like health insurers, telecoms, and airlines) and entire marches are organized against them. As German corporation Bayer […]
By Brian Barth The average American household uses about 320 gallons of water per day, a third for irrigation and other outdoor uses. Collecting the water flowing down your downspouts in rainstorms so you can use it to irrigate in dry periods is often touted as a simple way to cut back. But setting up […]
By Dan Nosowitz There has been much concern in recent years about the encroachment of factory farms onto organic territory; with the premium prices organic foods can bring, many larger farms have engaged in a race to the bottom of quality, trying to just barely squeak above the organic regulations to grab that label without […]
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