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Recent Posts Tagged With 'agriculture'
New Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack
Obama's new Agriculture secretary has already made some steps to promote local food. First, is a stricter interpretation of a labeling directive in the last farm bill. Mexico and Canada both oppose such "country of origin" labels, since meat packer...
The Farms Race
While the world's nations vie for control of affordable energy, another equally important commodity may cause conflict in the future - food. And perhaps more importantly, the fertile land on which food is produced. This article highlights cash rich...
Peanut Butter Recall
For the past week, the FDA has been investigating a Salmonella outbreak in peanut butter. See their website for up to date information and specific product recalls.January 18, 2009: The Food and Drug Administrat...
Local Harvest
I found a great site for locating "local" food in your area. Localharvest.org lists farms and CSAs from around the country, just enter your zip code and they'll point you in the right direction. Also don't forget to check out Eatwild.com, as well, ...
Sugar and the Environment
High Fructose Corn Syrup has a bad reputation for many reasons; both its health and environmental effects have been derided quite a bit in the last few years. As I examined in this post, some of these have more merit than others. Before one decides...
FARM!
FARM! from Anthony-Masterson on Vimeo.Here's a short documentary about young, sustainable farmers in Georgia....
Farmer in Chief
Here is the counterpoint to yesterday's post, Nutrients for Life. "Farmer in Chief" is an open letter to our next President, written by Michael Pollan, the author of In Defense of Food. He outlines his vision for modifying American agricultural pol...
Nutrients for Life
I like to provide a wide range of viewpoints here at TOTC, and while I believe that organic methods are very important, there is something to be said for the sheer power of conventional agriculture. As farmland continues to dwindle, more and more pe...
Biofuel's Effect on Grain Prices
Maybe ethanol isn't the only thing that can affect corn prices..."When you have something come in like Lehman Brothers going bankrupt, then it influences your market. Those kind of things are impossible to build into your business plan," said Krug. ...
The Self-Sufficiency Handbook - and a Few "Deep Thoughts"
The Self-Sufficiency Handbook: A Complete Guide to Greener Living. Alan and Gill Bridgewater.As I have said many times before, I truly doubt the existence of a complete self-sufficiency book. While this text boldly proclaims as such in the title, I ...
It's Not Easy Being Green
I just happened upon an episode of an interesting show called "It's Not Easy Being Green", on the Sundance Channel. According to their website, the first season shares a family's quest to become self-sufficient and more environmentally aware. In the...
Farmland.org Blog Contest
My loyal readers may remember this post where I highlighted the American Farmland Trust. They are running a "Friends of Farmland" blog contest through the end of September, and I would love to be included in their next newsletter. So, if you don't ...
Dwarf Fruit Trees
I planted a dwarf fig and lemon tree back in June. I thought I would show some pictures of their progress. Both have grown quite a bit, but the fig tree has been especially prolific....
No Farms, No Food
I just received my snazzy "No Farms, No Food" bumper sticker in the mail today. You can get yours at http://www.farmland.org/.Every year there are 1.2 million acres of farmland lost in America, mostly those that are closest to population centers. ...
Basic Country Skills
Storey's Basic Country Skills. A Practical Guide to Self-Reliance. Highly Recommended.As I noted in this post, self-sufficiency may become increasingly necessary in the future. In that same post, I reviewed a very good primer on self-sufficiency. ...
Organic Pest & Disease Control
Organic Pest & Disease Control. Taylor's Weekend Gardening Guides. Highly Recommended.I picked this book up to research the control of tent caterpillars. We had quite an outbreak this year, and I wanted to get a leg up on them. I have a feeli...
Dirt Cheap Gardening
Dirt Cheap Gardening. Rhonda Massingham Hart. Recommended. From the title alone, I knew this book was right up my alley. The combination of gardening and frugality is a winning combination in my view. Like any hobby, gardening can become qui...
Case Closed?
It turns out it was the peppers all along... After lifting the tomato ban back on July 17th, the FDA claims that the Salmonella Stpaul outbreak originated from raw Mexican jalapeño and Serrano peppers. US peppers are not part of the recall, as wel...
Organic Farming
Organic Farming: Everything You Need to Know. Peter V. Fossel. Recommended.For anyone who has dreamed of quiting one's day job and retiring to an idyllic life in the country, perhaps the thought of starting an organic produce farm would be the way ...
Skyscrapers of Corn?
Probably not in the short-term, considering the cost of real estate would make such a venture cost prohibitive, but interesting nonetheless.http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/15/science/15farm.html?_r=1&oref=sloginThis link probably won't work becaus...
Is Ethanol Getting a Bum Rap?
Here's a Business Week article from May '08 that provides a level and even tempered report on the present state of ethanol.Ethanol is taking a tumble. Once hyped as a magic brew for reducing both oil addiction and global warming, alcohol made from co...
Salmonella Update
The latest report on the Salmonella 'outbreak':http://edition.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/07/09/salmonella.tomatoes.ap/I turns out is definitely is not solely tomatoes, yet not jalapeños alone either: Raw jalapenos caused some of the illnesses,...
The Other 'Black Gold'
Compost. Claire Foster. Recommended.As I recently mentioned in the Self-Sufficient Life post, there are many topics and skills that may be beneficial to learn, and most are complex enough to warrant their own book (maybe several) and perhaps a lot o...
I Think It's the Salsa
As mentioned in this and this post, the North American Salmonella outbreak is confounding FDA investigators. They are scouring fields, packing and shipping facilities; taking samples of water, soil and fruit. Still, there is no smoking gun...But th...
Lock in the Freshness
Ball Blue Book - Guide to Home Canning, Freezing & Dehydration. Recommended.Anyone that has a garden of any appreciable size quickly realizes that bumper crops can be a mixed blessing. The large abundance normally comes in a very short window o...
The Self-Sufficient Life
The Self Sufficient Life and How to Live It by John Seymour. Recommended.Doomer Alert: I have been trying to expand my knowledge of simpler times, in the off chance that peak oil (or any one of the other ulcer-forming scenarios) really does end civi...
Give 'Em the Boot
My garden is a little behind due to the area's less than optimal planting season. None the less, I'm excited to see how the tomatoes do in their respective pots. I've had little success growing tomatoes in these conditions the past two years; usua...
Hanging Gardens - 6/30/08
I haven't posted an update on the hanging planters in a while...so here we go. Last time I mentioned the extreme heat was causing quite a bit of stress to the plants. Strangely, this was more prominent in one bag versus the other. With some closer...
Salmonella Outbreak Continues?
It seems that the lowly tomato may not be to blame after all. Truth is, no one knows for sure, and the cases continue to climb. FDA officials are not sure if the record number of cases are due to tomatoes that are newly harvested, germ transfer in ...
Hanging Gardens - 6/14/08
A gardening update...the heat has been hard on the plants in the hanging bags. It has been difficult to keep them sufficiently watered. I have a feeling the plants may be getting too much sun at their present location, as well. Nevertheless, ther...
