HR 875, the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009, holds the distinction of inspiring suspicion among progressives and conservatives alike. The proposed legislation was prompted by concerns about recent incidents such as the spate of deaths from contaminated peanuts. People are genuinely concerns that America’s food safety system is broken. Yet instead of viewing this […]

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Katherine Price writes in Salon that she and many friends who belong to CSAs end up letting veggies they don’t like rot. Kale and turnips seem to challenge her the most.
Price interviewed experts for recipe suggestions. But she didn’t sound convinced. So why not take the veggies you don’t like and drop them off at […]

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There is great danger and tremendous sadness when powerful words lose their meaning and intent. Please bear with me as I walk you through concerns that the words we use to describe healthful, sound and humane farming practices in the United States are being drained of their meaning, one by one, as we attempt to […]

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Michelle Obama understands the importance of fresh food. She’s planning to break ground today for a new veggie garden on the South Lawn near a fountain. The food will be used in the White House kitchen. California chef Alice Waters, a fan of locally grown, organic, seasonal food, is credited with exposing the Obamas to […]

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I promised to keep you apprised of my progress in using empty eggshells as pots to start my seeds indoors. The photo on the right shows you that my mesclun (salad mix) is thriving.
Again, the beauty of using these eggshells is that: (1) they are free, (2) they add calcium to the soil, and (3) […]

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The seeds planted in the eggshells are on a
warming pad in my basement (brrrr).
The traditional trays upstairs do not need
any supplemental heat.

One of my favorite magazines, Backhome, recently ran a cover story about using eggshells to sprout seeds. Their beautifully lit picture shows perfect seedlings emerging from neatly topped brown eggshells. Needless to say, my […]

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John Benson wrote me to offer a second opinion (and some tips) on growing upside-down (topsy turvy) tomatoes:
Growing tomatoes upside down is the latest twist on a traditional home garden vegetable. The most common question surrounding these hanging planters is, “How well do they work?”
Last summer, Bonnie chronicled her own attempt to grow tomatoes upside […]

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