The Environmental Working Group has produced lists of the ‘dirty dozen’ and ‘clean 15’ produce items for most and least contamination by pesticides. Find out what to buy organic – and why – with EWG’s 2011 Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce. They rank 53 popular fruits and vegetables based on their total pesticide loads. … Continue reading
by Martina Our first Fabulous Find: fresh duck eggs from Grassential Farm. A dozen will cost you $6, only a dollar more than the going rate for chicken eggs at the farmer’s market. As you can see from the photo, I couldn’t wait to try them when I got them home! I fried two sunny-side up with … Continue reading
Today I went on a farm tour at Grassential Farm in Potomac, MD. Just a few miles outside the beltway and surrounded by McMansions, this ten-acre farm is incredibly productive with cows, pigs, goats, lamb, ducks, chickens and rabbits. The owner, Matt Rales is a three-year veteran of Polyface, and he’s using all their innovative techniques to get the most out of his land while putting the most back into his land. He’s incredibly knowledgable about soil replenishment and doesn’t mind explaining how his cows eat 1/3 of the grass they graze on and trample 2/3 back into the earth to enrich the soil mixing it with their manure and making it better than before. He prefers the terms restorative and regenerative farming rather than sustainable farming, because sustaining is not enough… Continue reading
By Amanda
I’ve always thought bees were mysterious and wonderful. And when I began to pursue my interests in local sustainable farming, I considered bees as probably the smallest animal husbandry option available. Later, when I found out at this year’s Rooting DC garden event that urban beekeeping was possible, I tracked down people and resources. Continue reading
“The first supermarket supposedly appeared on the American landscape in 1946. That is not very long ago. Until then, where was all the food? Dear folks, the food was in homes, gardens, local fields, and forests. It was near kitchens, near tables, near bedsides. It was in the pantry, the cellar, the backyard.” ― Joel … Continue reading
by Martina According to Joel Salatin’s new book, Folks, This Ain’t Normal, “as recently as 1946, nearly 50 percent of all produce grown in America came out of backyard gardens. Hoeing, pulling weeds, planting vegetables, and then canning freezing, dehydrating, and fermenting accounted for significant family time and energy. Laying by was not an option; … Continue reading
By Amanda
Growing up, I always was interested in animals and growing things. As I matured, I harbored an inner interest in being a farmer. But this was put away on a shelf, as all my perceptions of what a farmer was, how one did farming and how you could possibly get there. Continue reading
A Growing Season 