Chelsea Green Blog
Community Resilience
Common Applications for Composting with Animals
When you think of a typical farm, you probably think of going out to feed the animals with a bucket of scraps. This has been one of the most common ways to recycle food for many years and helps reduce your waste footprint. However, composting with the help of animals is another technique used on…
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Farming for the Long Haul: It Takes a Village
It’s almost impossible to be a successful community 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 support provided…
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The Phases of Composting
Although the stages of composting are very closely intertwined, each separate one has its own value and needs to be nurtured accordingly. The materials used go through several transformations: physical, biological, and chemical. Understanding each phase of this process is the first step in creating the best nutrients for your plants. The following is an…
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Black Land Matters
As a young black girl, Leah Penniman struggled to understand who she was and where she fit in with the world. There was one thing she did know – when she was connected to the earth she felt at home. But what did that mean? Was the land trying to tell her something about who…
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Who Are We as Farmers?
Recently, farmers have been making the headlines because of the hardships they’re facing to sustain their farms. With larger, corporate farms running smaller, privately-owned farms out of business, it seems like many farmers are fighting an uphill battle. But, despite the small amount of money, long hours, and constant threats from the “big guys” farmers…
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The Evolution of Earth, Humans, and Our Natural Resources
We have long been taught that evolution is a process that occurs gradually over millions of years, that change happens slowly without much attention. We’ve come to learn that in reality, evolution happens in fits and starts — very slowly for long periods, then in sudden spurts of rapid change. It may be triggered by…
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Breaking Down the Core Principles of Composting
Composting is about more than just flinging your food scraps into a heap in your backyard. It’s about figuring out a way to give your unwanted food a new purpose while also helping the environment. And the best part is, the fundamental building blocks of composting systems are the same regardless of scale. The following…
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What is Massive Small?
It’s more than an oxymoron. Massive Small is a framework for urban development that can make cities more sustainable and resilient. But how does it work and does it make sense for the future? The following excerpt is from Making Massive Small Change by Kelvin Campbell. It has been adapted for the web. The Massive Small…
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RECIPE: Soup of Independence and Remembrance
For most people, traditional foods and family recipes are often thought of in the simple terms of comfort foods or those dishes that only make an appearance at the holidays. However, for many, traditional foods are so much more than that. They are a gateway to health and wellness and offer an opportunity to reflect…
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8 Must-Read Books for Your 2019 Reading List
Are you new to the Chelsea Green community and aren’t sure which book to read first? Or maybe you’re a long-time fan and want to continue your binge-reading but need some fresh ideas. Regardless of how you got here, we can help! From the enlightening and thought-provoking to the quirky and fun, we, the Chelsea…
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Car Survival Tips for Severe Winter Weather
Now that temperatures have started to dip below freezing, and most folks living in colder climates have witnessed their first snowfall of the season, it’s time to get serious about winter preparedness. Especially when it comes to driving! The following is an excerpt from When Disaster Strikes by Matthew Stein. It has been adapted for the…
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Making Massive Small Change
For generations, we’ve worked collectively as a society to build our cities into vibrant communities where we can progress and flourish together. Over the years, however, we’ve lost the art of collective and community evolution as our governments step in with their big ideas for urban growth – many of which come at a steep…
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Resiliency: Becoming an Adaptive Human
They say history is bound to repeat itself if we don’t take the time to learn from the past. Our decision-making skills are essential for survival but, for some, it’s difficult to connect the dots between the cause and effect of said decisions. However, in this day and age, it’s important to recognize our strengths,…
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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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Prepping 101: Everything You Need for a Grab-n-Go Survival Kit
We know a lot of people are wondering what’s coming next in the US, as well as the world, given terrorism, politics, and global warming, among other threats. Given the uncertainty, it doesn’t hurt to be prepared at all times. This 72-hour survival kit will help with any initial emergencies and includes medicine, water cleaning…
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A 15-Point Urban Food Manifesto
What if farms and food production were integrated into every aspect of urban living—from special assessments to create new farms and food businesses to teaching people how to grow fruits and vegetables so farmers can focus on staple crops. Urban farming is a story of recovery, of land and food, of people, and of the…
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Lessons in Resilience: How to Plan a Successful Farm Business
Humans are extremely resilient beings. We have the capability to create wondrous things out of seemingly nothing and continuously reinvent ourselves. However, when the world is against us, it may seem impossible to accomplish our goals. Leah Penniman, co-founder of Soul Fire Farm, wanted nothing more than to be able to provide nourishing food for…
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How to Make Your Own Mulch With Fallen Leaves
As the last of the leaves fall from the trees, the time has come for countless hours of raking and hauling before the first snowflake falls. While this may be a nuisance for some, for Will Bonsall, this time of year is his “mulching bonanza.” Though the conventional wisdom about tree leaves is that they…
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The 20 Rules of Slow Democracy
As millions of people head to the polls today to cast their vote, we got to thinking about the idea of democracy and how we need it now more than ever before. But what does democracy look like now and do we need to rethink it? Reconnecting with the sources of decisions that affect us,…
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A Cluckin’ Good Time: Why Chickens Rule the Roost
If you’ve ever wondered what your life is missing, the answer is probably chickens. These feathery friends can help fertilize your soil, mow your lawn, and even lay the eggs you eat for breakfast. What could be better than that? To celebrate our favorite member of the poultry flock we’ve rounded up some wisdom and…
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DIY: Make a Self-Watering Planter
Whether you live in a four-season climate or a small apartment in the city, fresh food at your fingertips is easier than you think! Just follow the directions for this self-watering growing container and you’ll have an abundance of produce in no time. The following is an excerpt from Fresh Food From Small Spaces: The…
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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 to Cheat In an Argument: A Beginner’s Guide
Manners. We were all taught them from a young age, and yet, they are oft forgotten when we find ourselves in the heat of an argument about a topic we are passionate about. Before we know it, we are mere shells of ourselves, using cutthroat tactics to win our case. Unfortunately, our momentary loss of…
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The Endless Arugula Bed
Let’s face it, buying fresh veggies in the dead of winter after growing your own all summer is a bummer. But what if we told you that you could extend your season, save time, AND save money? Ben Falk, author of The Resilient Farm and Homestead, experimented with overwintering a bed of arugula using a…
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How to Build Your Own Root Cellar for the Fall Harvest
As we ease our way into autumn, make sure you are ready to preserve your root vegetable harvest in a soundly constructed, home storage system. In the following excerpt from Four-Season Harvest, Eliot Coleman shares his expertise on building a successful root cellar. For more step-by-step projects to jumpstart your season extension plans, properly prepare…
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