Chelsea Green

Ditch the Pots, Use Soil Blocks!

By Chelsea Green / March 1, 2023 / Comments Off on Ditch the Pots, Use Soil Blocks!

What’s a cheaper, easier, and surprisingly more efficient way to start your seedlings? Soil blocks! If you’ve never used them before, read on to find out how soil blocks work, how you make them, and what advantages they offer over traditional pots and trays. The following is an excerpt from The New Organic Grower by…

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Miso Soup for the Soul

By Chelsea Green / February 21, 2023 / Comments Off on Miso Soup for the Soul

Miso soup is the perfect, soul-healing meal; not only does this soup taste great, but it has amazing health benefits. Add in a little imagination and you can build your own culinary creation on this humble miso soup base. The following is an excerpt from Wild Fermentation by Sandor Katz. It has been adapted for…

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cold frame

How to Start Seedlings in a Cold Frame: Gardening Tips from Eliot Coleman

By Chelsea Green / February 15, 2023 / Comments Off on How to Start Seedlings in a Cold Frame: Gardening Tips from Eliot Coleman

Are you ready to get a jump-start on the gardening season? With a cold frame, you can get started now. A cold frame harnesses the sun’s heat before it’s warm enough to let unprotected seedlings growing outside. Essentially, it consists of a garden bed surrounded by an angled frame and covered with a pane of…

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Chickpea Sprout Hummus: Breathe Life Back Into Winter

By Chelsea Green / February 8, 2023 / Comments Off on Chickpea Sprout Hummus: Breathe Life Back Into Winter

Just because the months are getting colder doesn’t mean you can’t still have homemade hummus with fresh chickpeas; you just have to get creative with it. This hummus recipe uses chickpea sprouts, which are growable indoors and during winter. The following is an excerpt from Wild Flavors: One Chef’s Transformative Year Cooking from Eva’s Farm by…

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Car Survival Tips for Severe Winter Weather

By Chelsea Green / February 1, 2023 / Comments Off on Car Survival Tips for Severe Winter Weather

Now that temperatures have started to dip below freezing, it’s time to get serious about winter preparedness — especially when it comes to driving! Here are some car survival tips to help your vehicle get through the winter. The following is an excerpt from When Disaster Strikes by Matthew Stein. It has been adapted for the…

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Survive the Winter Blues: Grow, Eat and Plan

By Chelsea Green / January 18, 2023 / Comments Off on Survive the Winter Blues: Grow, Eat and Plan

There is no denying it: the days are short and unless you planned for a winter garden, fresh vegetables from your backyard have long passed. But don’t let the winter blues get you down. There are plenty of recipes to last you through the cold season and into the ‘hungry gap’. We’re sharing a few…

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4 Simple Recipes Using Homegrown Sprouts

By Chelsea Green / December 30, 2022 / Comments Off on 4 Simple Recipes Using Homegrown Sprouts

Having a lack of outdoor greenspace doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy homegrown fresh food. Sprouts are a quick, simple, and ridiculously healthy way to keep your localvore appetite satisfied, no matter what season it is. And we don’t just mean tossing them in your salad or on top of a sandwich. No, we’ve got some…

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Ode to Campari (Plus a Recipe for Vodka Negroni!)

By Chelsea Green / December 8, 2022 / Comments Off on Ode to Campari (Plus a Recipe for Vodka Negroni!)

The holiday season is in full swing, and if you haven’t been to a holiday gathering yet, chances are there’s one in your near future. If you find yourself hosting this year, why not spice up the night by offering your guests a cocktail that utilizes Campari? Its herby and fruity flavor is sure to…

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A Warm Winter Meal: Sausage with Potatoes and Cabbage

By Chelsea Green / December 7, 2022 / Comments Off on A Warm Winter Meal: Sausage with Potatoes and Cabbage

It’s the darkest time of year here in the north and the short days have us feeling extra lazy. When it’s already dark out by the time we get home, it’s hard to find motivation for anything other than cozying up on the couch with a new book. So, when we found this easy-peasy recipe…

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How to Preserve Olive Fruit Leather in 5 Easy Steps

By Chelsea Green / September 21, 2022 / Comments Off on How to Preserve Olive Fruit Leather in 5 Easy Steps

Autumn olives are quite the berry. No added sugar is required! Give it a try and keep some delicious and nourishing olive fruit leather on hand for whenever you get the craving. The following excerpt is from Wild Flavors: One Chef’s Transformative Year Cooking from Eva’s Farm by Didi Emmons. It has been adapted for the…

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How to Build a Wood-Fired Oven at Home

By Chelsea Green / September 16, 2022 / Comments Off on How to Build a Wood-Fired Oven at Home

Do you have a love affair with wood-fired pizza? Can’t resist a fresh from the oven loaf of bread? Are always looking for another DIY project? If you said yes, then this one’s for you! Richard Miscovich, bread expert and wood-fired oven builder, offers a few useful tips and general masonry guidelines to help you…

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Lost Nation Cider Pie Recipe

By Chelsea Green / September 15, 2022 / Comments Off on Lost Nation Cider Pie Recipe

Fall means apples: Walking through orchards picking apples, finding wild apple trees, and best of all…eating apples! We’ve had the privilege of publishing many books with delicious apple recipes over the years but one of our all-time favorites has to be the Lost Nation Cider Pie from Michael Phillips’ The Apple Grower: A Guide for…

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gooseberry-pie

RECIPE: Gooseberry Pie

By Chelsea Green / August 5, 2022 / Comments Off on RECIPE: Gooseberry Pie

Have you ever tasted a gooseberry? These unique, tangy fruits are related to currants but have a flavor all their own. Though gooseberries aren’t a common ingredient in pie, they’ll take your dessert to the next level. The following is an excerpt from This Organic Life: Confessions of a Suburban Homesteader by Joan Dye Gussow.…

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4 Dried Tomato Recipes to Enjoy the Harvest Year Round

By Chelsea Green / August 3, 2022 / Comments Off on 4 Dried Tomato Recipes to Enjoy the Harvest Year Round

Have an overabundance of tomatoes? No problem. Preserve your summer harvest and enjoy the taste of the season all year long with these dried tomato recipes! For more recipes using traditional preserving techniques like salt, oil, drying, cold storage, vinegar, and fermentation, read Preserving Food without Freezing or Canning. Tomatoes Dried Naturally Tomatoes Almond oil (or another…

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10 Fascinating Fig Facts

By Chelsea Green / July 28, 2022 / Comments Off on 10 Fascinating Fig Facts

Chances are you’ve heard of fig trees before. Beyond producing fruit, you can find fig trees woven into several different cultures, pieces of art, and works of literature. Given their prominence, you might be wondering what exactly makes these trees so special. Lucky for you, we have the inside scoop on everything fig-related. The following…

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green beans

4 Ways to Preserve Your Green Bean Bounty

By Chelsea Green / July 26, 2022 / Comments Off on 4 Ways to Preserve Your Green Bean Bounty

Harvest season is finally here! If you’re anything like us, you’ve got green beans up the wazoo around this time of year. If you’re looking for a new way to preserve your green bean bounty for the fall and winter months, these four salt-based techniques should help. Here’s to months of delicious green beans ahead!…

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RedRaspberries

The Ins and Outs of Growing Raspberries: Bramble On

By Chelsea Green / June 9, 2022 / Comments Off on The Ins and Outs of Growing Raspberries: Bramble On

Fresh, ripe raspberries picked straight from the garden in the morning. What could be a better start to your day? According to Michael Phillips, author of The Holistic Orchard, growing your own berries is entirely possible for anyone with a bit of space and a passion for the fruit. Brambles grow from the north to…

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Growing Food in the Face of a Hotter, Drier Land

By Chelsea Green / June 2, 2022 / Comments Off on Growing Food in the Face of a Hotter, Drier Land

Climatic uncertainty has become “the new normal,” and many farmers, gardeners and orchard-keepers in North America are desperately seeking ways to adapt their food production to become more resilient in the face of such “global weirding.” The following is an excerpt from Growing Food in a Hotter, Drier Land by Gary Paul Nabhan. It has…

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energy

Energy and Transition

By Chelsea Green / April 20, 2022 / Comments Off on Energy and Transition

The new threshold for green building is not just low energy, it’s net-zero energy. In The New Net Zero, sustainable architect Bill Maclay charts the path for designers and builders interested in exploring green design’s new frontier net-zero-energy structures that produce as much energy as they consume and are carbon neutral. The following is an excerpt…

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climate

An Era of Climate Chaos: Finding Hope

By Chelsea Green / April 11, 2022 / Comments Off on An Era of Climate Chaos: Finding Hope

Scientists maintain that a mere 2 percent increase in the carbon content of the planet’s soils could offset 100 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions going into the atmosphere. But how could this be accomplished? What would it cost? Is it even possible? The following is an excerpt from Grass, Soil, Hope by Courtney White. It has been…

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How to Brew Amazing Beer in Vast Quantities

By Chelsea Green / April 6, 2022 / Comments Off on How to Brew Amazing Beer in Vast Quantities

Wouldn’t it be cool if, after some time and practice, you’re known as the Beer Brewing Master? Your friends gather at your house every weekend to try your latest ferment, eyes filled with wonder. Your homebrewing skills unmatched by all. Sandor Ellix Katz, author of Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods,…

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small silences

Finding Small Silences

By Chelsea Green / April 5, 2022 / Comments Off on Finding Small Silences

Admired by a pantheon of America’s greatest writers and considered one of our most prolific essayists, Hoagland is in a class of his own. He came of age during our country’s literary heyday, learned to write the old-fashioned way — through direct experience in love, travel, and immersion in the natural world — and then…

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A jar of maple syrup and a wooden spoon on a table

How-To Turn Sap and Syrup into Beer, Wine, and Liquor

By Chelsea Green / March 23, 2022 / Comments Off on How-To Turn Sap and Syrup into Beer, Wine, and Liquor

As much as we love to drizzle (or drown, let’s be honest) our pancakes in maple syrup, you may be surprised to learn that a variety of drinks are made with tree sap, with results that will far surpass your typical sugar buzz. Several companies have ventured into the world of sap related alcoholic beverages.…

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Tree Sap: Nature’s Energy Drink

By Chelsea Green / February 15, 2022 / Comments Off on Tree Sap: Nature’s Energy Drink

There’s nothing better than kicking back after a long day with a nice cool glass of tree sap. Sounds sticky, but you might be surprised to hear that sap from maple, birch, or walnut trees is comprised mostly of water with 2 percent or less sugar and loaded with minerals, nutrients, enzymes, antioxidants, and more—an…

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What in the World is a Pawpaw?

By Chelsea Green / December 14, 2021 / Comments Off on What in the World is a Pawpaw?

Do you know what a pawpaw is? A few generations ago, most would say “yes!” You could ask just about anyone and they could tell you what this fruit looked and tasted like, and more importantly, where to find it. But today, the pawpaw remains a mystery to some and entirely unknown to others. With…

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