Chelsea Green Blog
Farming & Homesteading
Black Rural Land: 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 land and earth she felt at home. But what did that mean? Was the land trying to tell her something about…
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Composting: Breaking Down the Core Principles
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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Hydroponic Versus Soil Growing: Which Should You Choose
You probably learned when you were young that plants need soil to get the essential nutrients needed to grow. However, there is another way you can give your plants what they need to flourish. A hydroponic system uses water-based fertilizer as opposed to soil fertilizer. This practice is relatively new to farmers, though it is…
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Types of Tomatoes: Deciphering the Many Varieties
If you love tomatoes, you probably already know just how many varieties of these delicious summertime staples there are. But do you know what makes each one unique? Or how to cultivate them depending on your growing environment? No? Well then sit back and enjoy the read! The following is an excerpt from The Greenhouse…
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How to Use Climate Maps to Navigate the Winter Harvest
Continuing to grow your crops and harvest them well into the winter months seems like an impossible task. How can they grow when weather conditions are far from warm sunny days? It’s all about adapting to what the season gives you. With the proper techniques and studying the patterns of your area’s climate, growing and…
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Four Books for Growing Food in Winter
Don’t let cold weather stop you from enjoying and growing food! For many, the coming of winter simply means cultivation moves indoors or under cover. Small farmers, homesteaders, home gardeners, and commercial growers can extend the growing season by following just a few of the techniques outlined in the books below. And, there’s no need…
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In Remembrance: Matthew Stein
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Matthew Stein, author, environmentalist, MIT-educated engineer, green builder, and beloved member of the Chelsea Green family. Matthew died on December 19, 2018, while out in nature pursuing one of his many passions, rock climbing. In 2000 Matthew published his first book with Chelsea Green,…
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Healthy Culture, Society and Mother Earth: Agri-Culture
In Call of the Reed Warbler, Charles Massy’s stunning observations of interaction between nature, culture, and society is nothing short of eye opening. “By arrogantly having placed ourselves outside the functional operating parameters of Earth’s systems, we now see nature and the Earth as separate from us and so just available for use – while all the…
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Build Your Own Cold Frame, Part 2: Get a Jump on the Planting Season
The design of the cold box is the most important thing to keep in mind if you want it to be an effective tool for growing crops in the winter. Though it may seem like a complex task making a structure to shield against the winter chill, it’s a lot easier than you think. You…
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An Interview With Eliot Coleman: The Original Organic Pioneer
With over fifty years’ experience in agriculture and a penchant for inventing new tools and techniques, Eliot Coleman has solidly established himself as an organic farming pioneer. He has authored several books on his practices, including The Four-Season Harvest, The Winter Harvest Handbook, and his magnum opus, The New Organic Grower, which will celebrate its…
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Chelsea Green Publishing: A Year In Review
It’s been quite the year here at Chelsea Green! We opened our first international office in London, England, launched a brand new website, published a ton of amazing books, welcomed new Grasshoppers to the team, and so much more! Grab a cuppa, settle in, and join us as we look back on what a great…
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Chelsea Green Authors in the News: Extra, Extra, Read All About It!
One of the most rewarding parts of our job is working with an amazing roster of authors who are not only leaders in their fields but also passionate about spreading their knowledge to the world. So, when those authors are featured in the news talking about their books, sharing wisdom and insight, and getting people…
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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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Vermicast Structures: Worm Real Estate
When you were little, you may have created homes for worms using twigs and leaves. It might surprise you then to learn that farmers all over the world are still doing that but on a much bigger scale. Farmers rely on earthworms to create vermicomposting systems and where the worms live and grow are the…
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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 specialize in resilience. 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 her…
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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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Farming Against Nature
When you’re walking around the grocery store looking at all of the different vegetables, it’s probably hard to imagine that a century ago there was twice the amount of options to choose from. Hundreds of years of growing crops and infusing the soil with chemicals have depleted the dirt of the essential nutrients needed to…
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The Importance of Planting Cover Crops
If you want to improve your soils, one of the most important things you can do is to plant cover crops. Not only do they provide diversity they also help to increase the amount of carbon in your croplands – an essential component of stimulating photosynthesis. But to understand which crops to plant, and when,…
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Vegetable Farm Tips: The Keys to Efficient Veggie Production
If the idea of running a vegetable farm sounds daunting, you’re not alone. How can you ensure success while also being environmentally conscientious? What can you do to simplify techniques and reduce expenses? Where do you even begin? Well, young farmer, we’re here to help. Eliot Coleman, a pioneer of organic gardening, has identified the…
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Homesteading Skills: The Gateway to True Freedom
We wanted to touch on some of the important homesteading skills you may need to use on any given day. Some are learned while others are passed down from homesteader to homesteader, all are important. In this excerpt from The Nourishing Homestead, author Ben Hewitt talks about why these skills are important to pass down…
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Recipe: Fall Harvest Garden Fries
Got a lot of root veggies in your fall harvest? Garden fries are an easy and delicious way to use them up! Enjoy them sans sauce, with ketchup, or if you’re looking to impress dinner guests pair them with a garlicky leek dipping sauce. Bon appetit! The following recipe is from Cooking Close to Home…
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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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Celebrate Homesteading Month with Chelsea Green
That’s right, September is International Homesteading Education Month, and throughout the month we’ll be publishing some of our favorite homesteading tips, techniques, recipes, and more. We’ll be featuring some of our favorite homesteading authors including Ben and Penny Hewitt, Beth and Shawn Dougherty, and Carole Deppe. We’ll also be sharing a few sneak peek excerpts from…
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A Call for Regenerative Agriculture: From the Group Up
Farmland covers 38 percent of the Earth’s land area and is a major contributor to climate change. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Soil and plants have the capacity to store huge amounts of carbon in the ground, thus how we grow food can be one of the key solutions to our climate…
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