I have a soft spot in my heart for the Kentucky Derby. I’m not a betting kind of woman, or a proponent of mistreating animals in any way, but something about all that glorious horseflesh (especially in high-definition) makes my heart race. My brother (who died of AIDS in 1985) used to have a fun […]
Archive | April, 2010
Slow Death by Rubber Duck
By guest blogger Annie Spiegelman (a.k.a the Dirt Diva) Last month, for my Dirt Diva garden column, I reviewed two fascinating books: Maria Rodale’s Organic Manifesto (Rodale, 2010) and Slow Death by Rubber Duck (Counterpoint Press, 2010) by Rick Smith and Bruce Lourie. After reading these two sobering works, which, respectively, investigate chemical agriculture versus […]
High Season for Gardeners
Anyone who gardens knows that this time of year is probably the most important time of all. Certainly, the local nurseries know it, since they need people just to direct traffic on the weekends. It’s the time for planting, mulching, beautifying, cleaning up, and spiffing up. Hard work now should pay off in lots of […]
Recharging the Batteries in a Favorite Place
I’ve been busy lately. And what I really need is a long vacation. Unfortunately, that’s not going to happen soon. You know when you feel so tired—even when you’ve been getting enough sleep—that you just want to cry? That’s how I felt last Friday…and yet, I knew I didn’t have a restful weekend to look […]
Recipe: Old-Fashioned Chocolate Cake
I always say I’m more of a cook than a baker. My freewheeling, improvisational style doesn’t do well with exact recipes for finicky fripperies. However, a few times a year there are things like birthdays, and so I am asked by my children to bake. They know what to expect by now. It will taste […]
Does Climate Change Exist, and Does It Even Matter?
It amazes me, really, how many different views there can be on any one subject. Whether it’s religion, the best-tasting tomato variety, or the right way to cook a chicken, disagreement is de rigueur. The urge to find disagreements about things is, I believe, human nature. So it shouldn’t surprise anyone that climate change is […]
Plant a Kid’s Garden for Earth Day!
Kids love gardening. What’s not to love? Digging in the dirt, good stuff to eat. Worms. Rocks. Fun stuff. But it’s not just about vegetables. In fact, vegetables are rather ephemeral. Here this year, gone next. Then you have to start all over again. This year, Lucia (age 3 ½) and I planted a magic […]
Donatella Cooks…Really Well!
My company publishes a lot of good cookbooks, so many I can’t really keep up with them all. But the other week one crossed my desk that I decided to open up immediately. It was a picture of “Orecchiette with Broccoli Rabe” that caught my eye. It’s a classic combination that’s so easy to make, […]
Scratch
Raised on America’s first organic farm, Scratch author Maria Rodale learned how to make everyday favorites from, yes, scratch — the way you remember them; the way they turn out best.
Order NowOrganic Manifesto
Drawing on findings from leading health researchers as well as conversations with both chemical and organic farmers from coast to coast, Maria Rodale irrefutably outlines the unacceptably high cost of chemical farming on our health and our environment.
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