A Year of Global Birdwatching: The Thrill Of the Chase
When Arjan Dwarshuis first heard of the “Big Year,” the legendary record for birdwatching, he was twenty years old and he was sitting on the roof of a truck in the Andean Mountains. In that moment he promised himself that, someday, somehow, he would become a world-record-holding birder. Ten years later, he embarked on an incredible…
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A New Perspective on Diagnoses & Treatment: Only Different in Degree
Celia Farber, who was an intrepid young reporter in the 1980’s, was the first journalist to question the official narrative and dig into the science of AIDS. She reported on the “evidence” that was being continually cited and repeated by health officials and the press, the deadliness of AZT, and more. Throughout, Farber’s reportage was largely…
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Exploring the Benefits of Natural Burials: Back to Basics
In becoming the world’s first “punk undertaker” and establishing the Green Funeral Company in the UK, Ru Callender and his partner Claire challenged the stilted, traditional, structured world of the funeral industry; fusing what he had learned from his own deeply personal experiences with death, with the surprising and profound answers and raw emotion he…
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How to Create A Rodent-Free Planting Bed
Are rodents like mice and squirrels ruining the vegetables and crops you’ve worked hard to cultivate? Fear not! Expert gardener Dani Baker has offered a few tips to help you keep a rodent-free planting bed this growing season. The following is an excerpt from The Home-Scale Forest Garden by Dani Baker. It has been adapted for the…
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15 Questions to Ask When Designing Your Garden
There are a lot of things to take into consideration when designing your garden: When to plant, where to plant, how to plant, and so on. In order to answer these questions, you first have to answer a much broader one: “How can I work with nature to make this garden regenerative and sustainable?” If…
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A Recipe for Homemade Ginger Beer: The Old Fashioned Way
Ginger is a spice perfect for any time of year. Its fragrance can perk up everything from chai tea to apple pie. This humble root can also add a gentle kick of heat to stir-fries or soups. The natural yeasts in the root can also be used to kick start a bubbly ginger beer. Give…
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Get Started With Tillage: Choosing the Right Crops
Interested in getting started with tillage? All you’ll need is a spot, some soil, and some crops to make your vision a reality. But deciding exactly which crops should make the cut might actually take more work than you think. When it comes to deciding on which crops to till, it’s important to keep in…
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Open-Source Agriculture: “Hacking” the Farming Industry
Whether we like it or not, technology is quickly evolving and continues to be an integral part of our everyday lives. This leaves us with a choice: we can either allow ourselves to be dominated by this new technology, or we can harness its potential and use it to understand and improve our shared environment.…
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The Mystery Behind Meat Labels: Got “American” Beef?
Where does the beef we consume actually come from? And why does it matter? When we purchase beef, we may not consider everything that took place before the package hit the grocery store shelf. However, where and how cattle are raised can have a big impact on the quality of meat and the overall well-being…
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From the Eyes of An Undertaker: Grieving & Healing
“Death is not my friend, neither is it my enemy; it is my destiny.” – Ru Callender When he became an undertaker, Ru Callender undertook to deal with the dead for the sake of the living. As the world’s first “punk undertaker,” Callender and his partner challenged the stilted, traditional, structured world of the funeral industry…
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Open-Source Systems: How Communities Can Help Promote Regenerative Agriculture
The Great Regeneration, by farmer-technologist Dorn Cox and author-activist Courtney White, explores unique and groundbreaking research aimed at reclaiming the space where science & agriculture meet as a shared human endeavor. By employing the same tools used to visualize and identify the global instability in our climate and our communities, the authors identify ways to accelerate…
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Sightings While Cycling: A Journey Through Nature
During a time when many of us faced the prospect of little work or human contact, renowned naturalist Nick Acheson found a sense of peace and purpose in his pursuit of the wild geese that filled the Norfolk skies on their seasonal visits from Iceland and Siberia. With an interest in protecting the future of…
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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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How to Open A Sacred Space
When individuals embark on a Shamanic journey, opening a sacred space is first step they should take. But what exactly does it mean to open a sacred space? And how does it work? In her latest book, author and gardening expert Maria Rodale explains how this simple practice can enhance journeys and help strengthen our connection to…
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Farming for the Long Haul: It Takes a Village
It’s almost impossible to achieve farming for the long haul without a group of caretakers behind the scenes, making sure everyone’s needs are met. For hundreds of years, women made up these “caring communities,” supporting families, making food, and bettering community life. Though the makeup of these caring communities has changed over the years, the…
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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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Magic Within Every Garden: Sharing the Love
When we garden, we establish a close relationship with every element: the plants, the soil, and even the creatures that interact with them. And while some elements of this activity are less-than-glamourous, the collaboration cultivated between the garden and gardener is one of pure beauty. In the excerpt below, author Maria Rodale discusses how simply changing…
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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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The Upstream Questions: What We Ask Of Science
“Climate change asks us questions that climate science cannot answer,” — Dougald Hine When it comes to climate change, it seems as if there are always new questions arising: How did we get to this point? How can we stop it? What’s next? Unfortunately, there is no black-and-white, straightforward answer to any of them —…
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The Scoop on Spoon Carving
There’s no better time than the present to pick up a new hobby! And with the new year just starting, sticking to a new hobby can be an easy and achievable resolution. One possible new hobby you could try out? Spoon carving. The following is an excerpt from Carving Out a Living on the Land…
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Maize vs. Graze: Is Corn Dangerous For Cattle?
One of the biggest misconceptions floating around is that vegetable production is a more environmentally friendly alternative to meat production. However, studies show that the practices used in conventional vegetable farming may be more destructive than those used to produce meat. Growing corn, specifically, can lead to many destructive outcomes; however, a large majority of our…
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Seeds of Hope: Striving For A Sustainable Future
Over the years, many of our world’s most flavorful vegetables have become extinct for a variety of reasons; however, these lost crops and their seeds may be the secret to gaining global food security and achieving a higher level of overall wellness. So how can we get them back? What can we do to ensure…
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Chelsea Green Staff Picks for Your 2023 Reading List
From the enlightening and thought-provoking to the quirky and fun, we, the Chelsea Green employees, have the perfect list to get you started on your next read! And if you’re looking for more, you can check out our full list of staff picks here! Mini-Forest Revolution We’ve long heard that we need to plant…
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Chelsea Green’s Guide to a Healthy Year: New Year, New You
Did you start the new year off with a health-inspired resolution? Are you trying to eat better and exercise more? Or looking to improve your digestive health and—by extension—your physical and mental well-being? We have blog posts that will help you with your health and wellness journey! Take a page out of some of our…
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A Conversation On Climate Change: Which Path Will We Take?
Dougald Hine has spent most of his life talking to people about climate change. And then one afternoon in the second year of the pandemic, he found he had nothing left to say. Why would someone who cares so deeply about ecological destruction want to stop talking about climate change now? In the excerpt below, Hine…
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