A Guide to Okra: Ok-RAH-RAH-RAH!
Expert okra enthusiast Chris Smith writes regularly for The Heirloom Gardener, the Mother Earth News blog, and the Farmers’ Almanac blog. His presentations on the versatility of okra have delighted audiences at food and farming festivals and fairs throughout the Southeast. He is the Communications Manager for Sow True Seed in Asheville, North Carolina, and…
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How to End a Food Apartheid
Apartheid ended in 1994, right? Not according to Leah Penniman, a young, black farmer living in the South End of Albany, NY where a modern day apartheid is taking place. At the root of this issue? Food. Or better said, the lack of access to affordable, healthy food options in Black communities across the country…
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How The Great Migration Led to Urban Farming
For centuries, humans have been migrating in search of better land, opportunities, and quality of life. For some, those migrations were voluntary while others were forced to move due to far more sinister circumstances. The Great Migration is one such case. During the 1900’s through 1970, over six million black people left the rural south…
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Make Your Own Kombucha: The Tea Beast Lives
Kombucha. The tea beast. The new and trendy health drink. The combination black tea and bacteria ball that is known to cure ailments, heal emotional wounds, and impress houseguests who happen upon it by accident when looking for the dog treats. What’s better than drinking this wonderful tea? Making your own. The following is an…
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The Apple: America’s Fruit
Did you know that the apple traveled to North America the same way the Pilgrims did in the 1600s? Though apple trees are abundant all across the country, they aren’t native to these lands. Apples have a fascinating and complex history that lead them to become an American symbol. The following is an excerpt from…
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A Community Food Forest: Planning and Managing
As Benjamin Franklin stated, “By failing to prepare, you’re preparing to fail.” A good community food forest will always require robust planning but don’t let that scare you! By breaking down the work into the following five project management phases, you not only establish an initial plan you’ve also developed a dynamic system to allow…
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Okra Recipe: Fabulous Fries
Ever think about eating fries that aren’t made out of potatoes? Why not try okra fries! These easy to make and fun to eat treats are the perfect side to your meal, or you might be tempted to have a whole bowl full. Author Chris Smith pulls this fabulous recipe from Chef Viviane Howard. The…
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How to Design Swales for Optimum Water Flow
Swales are small earthen embankments used to irrigate trees, plants, and pastures. They also capture runoff to help protect soil and plants from excessive rainfall that might otherwise cause flooding and erosion. In the below Q&A, author and permaculture designer, Shawn Jadrnicek, answers questions about assessing your land, building swales near your home, and logistics…
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Feeding Your Pigs: Tips and Techniques
Feeding your animals is a daily and time-consuming activity on a farm. You need to take into consideration the types of animals and their individual needs, along with general best practices. This can seem like a big task to take on, but let’s start with feeding the pigs first! The following is an excerpt from…
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Emergence of the Mechanical Mind and Its Dire Implications
For as far back as we can remember, humans have been driven by the Mechanical Mind – a desire to evolve, to expand, to consume, to manipulate everything around them to meet their needs without thinking about the consequences. Yet some 200,000 years ago, before the advent of agriculture, there was a different view and…
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Treating Hyperthyroidism: Natural Herbal Formulas
Your thyroid is responsible for controlling many of your body’s functions including metabolism, temperature, and controls some hormones. Hyperthyroidism occurs when your thyroid overproduces hormones, which can lead to a variety of diseases including Graves’ disease. Though there are many different medications to relieve the symptoms of hyperthyroidism, there are also more natural options that…
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Give a Dam and Worth a Dam
If you’ve been following our blog recently, you’ve probably read about the myriad abilities beavers have. With the ingenuity to help with things like water conservation, flood damage, and wildfires beavers are one of the few species capable of cleaning up after the ecological destruction caused by humans. If you’re not a Beaver Believer yet,…
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Tips for the Square-Inch Gardener: Vertical Gardening
Do you dream of having your own garden but live in a city or an area with not enough space? Try vertical gardening! Take advantage of plants’ willingness to grow toward sunshine ability to grow in unusual places. There are three techniques involved in vertical gardening: terracing, trellising, and tumbling. Each is designed to maximize…
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5 Reasons You Should Pick-Your-Own This Summer
Summer is here, and the days of fresh vegetables and local harvests are near. But this doesn’t mean only those with farms and gardens should feel the amazingness of picking their own crops. You may recall a moment last year when your friend asked, “Are those your blueberries?” when you brought pie to the potluck.…
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To Hop or Not to Hop?
For you IPA-loving readers, you may be asking yourself if there is any legitimacy to our query: The answer, of course, is TO HOP. But what if we told you there is another way? It’s okay, you can keep drinking your IPA while you read this but by the end, you may be rethinking everything…
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Site Repair: Using the Land’s History
Buying a new property is exciting. You might have hundreds of ideas running through your head about where you want to put buildings or clear away trees or start planting. Immediately starting these projects may not be in your farm’s best interest, though, and can drastically impact the landscape. Often, features like meadows or ponds…
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Reaching Grill Greatness: The Best Meat Temperatures
Have plans to fire up the grill this summer? Want to impress everyone with your grilling skills? Take some advice from the gourmet butcher himself!
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Becoming a Flower Farmer
Springtime is in full bloom, and along with the warm sun, fragrant blossoms, and promise of a long, fun summer often comes the edgy restlessness of spring fever. If you’re considering a drastic career change–ditching those stocks and bonds you sell all day for stalks and petals instead, we have some tips to get your…
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A New Perspective on Our Climate
Tourism, infrastructure, electricity. What do all these have in common? They’re impacted by global warming. We like to think of global warming as ocean temperatures rising and more carbon dioxide in the air. That isn’t the whole truth. Our changing climate is at the root of many large issues, though the connection might have been…
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Making Your Own Okra Cosmetics
Okra, slime is gold! This pod-producing vegetable is a nutritional powerhouse and has been used throughout history for medicinal, culinary and cosmetics purposes. Discover the benefits of okra when eaten or use the slime from okra for glowing skin, thick shiny hair and strong nails, among others. The following is an excerpt from The Whole…
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Minerals in Your Farm’s Water
Minerals from soil and outside water sources find themselves in irrigation systems. When you water your land, these minerals infiltrate the soil and change its composition. Your plants are more impacted by their presence than meets the eye, but what exactly is the relationship? The following is an excerpt from Water in Plain Sight by…
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Getting Started Raising Pigs: Raising Piglets and Piglet Management
Groups of piglets running around a farm or homestead seems like a dream come true. When it comes to making sure each one is healthy and growing properly, it can get chaotic trying to figure out which pig is which. Using identification strategies to keep them organized is not only in your best interest but…
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Building Your Backyard Permaculture Paradise
The award-winning Paradise Lot takes a behind-the-scenes look at how two plant geeks transformed a desolate urban backyard into a permaculture paradise. At the same time, the pair were hoping to each find their own Eve for this special garden adventure. They succeeded on both fronts–creating an urban, food-producing oasis on a tenth of an acre, and…
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Tea for Diabetes and Obesity: Herbal Formulas for Metabolic Conditions
Unhealthy diets, poor exercise habits, and environmental factors have led to a rise in metabolic conditions in the younger generations–a trend that is only increasing. Some of the food we eat contains high amounts of sugars with low nutrition, and when consumed over a long period of time, can be very harmful to your health,…
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Hybrid Hazelnuts – A New Resilient Crop for a Changing Climate
In the face of global threats like climate instability, food insecurity, and water pollution, scientists are looking to how we use our agricultural land for solutions. One such group of scientist-farmers in Minnesota have collectively spent nearly three decades developing what could be the new ecological crop of the future: hybrid hazelnuts. The following is an…
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