We started keeping guinea hens about three years ago because we live in the woods, and I wanted something to eat the ticks. Guineas eat more ticks than any other bird, including chickens—probably because they come from Africa, where there are tons of ticks. (We have a few friends from Africa who always threaten to […]
Organic Gardening
My Trip to Seed Savers Exchange in Iowa—Part 2
Heritage Farm, the Seed Savers Exchange (SSE) headquarters, is nestled into a little valley amidst rolling Iowa cornfields. This was the 35th anniversary of Seed Savers and the 30th anniversary of the annual Campout. So the valley was filled not only with glorious gardens but also with, as Diane Ott Whealy—the cofounder—calls them, “diverse seedy […]
A Visit to my Kitchen: Ed Orem from Grower’s First
Today Ed Orem is stopping by my kitchen, to talk about his personal journey from being a sugar junky to an organic freak. Ed “Organic Freak” Orem is the data manager at Grower’s First, an organization that helps farmers and their families achieve a better standard of living across the world. Ed is passionate about […]
How Gardening Teaches Patience
The other day I was weeding my asparagus patch. Asparagus takes three years to get going enough for you to start eating it. The first year you plant asparagus, it takes its good old time getting going, and you have to fight the weeds and mulch like crazy. The second year, the asparagus gets a […]
A Visit to My Kitchen: Author Martha Rose Shulman
Martha Rose Shulman, author of Mediterranean Harvest: Vegetarian Recipes from the World’s Healthiest Cuisine (Rodale, 2010), is chatting with me in my kitchen today. Find out how this burger-loving girl turned into a vegetable-pasta-cooking queen! Martha is the author of more than 25 books. Her articles have appeared in Bon Appetit and Food & Wine […]
A Visit to My Kitchen: Marta Teegen from Homegrown
Marta Teegen, the author of Homegrown: A Growing Guide for Creating a Cook’s Garden (Rodale, 2010), is stopping by my kitchen today. Check out her crisp summer salad recipe and her unusual salt habits! Marta is a trained master gardener and chef. She worked in politics and in the nonprofit sector before pursuing her lifelong […]
Queen Bees, Cellphones, and Colonel Mustard in the Ballroom
By guest blogger Annie Spiegelman (a.k.a the Dirt Diva) A recent study, conducted this spring in India, found a link between the disappearance of honeybees and cellphones. If only it were that simple. Colony collapse disorder (CCD) was found in the United States and various other countries in 2006. Beekeepers started noticing queen bees—normally very […]
How to Start a Compost Pile in 4 Easy Steps
Now is the perfect time to start a compost pile. You can do it fancy or simple. And if you know me, you know I always prefer simple. Compost is the most important thing you can use in your garden to improve your land’s fertility (lawn, garden, and landscape), get rid of kitchen and yard […]
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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