I'm certainly no farmer. I work at a computer all day. So it's odd that the books that get me most jazzed up these days are not about the big problems of the day -- the economy or politics or climate and energy. They're about farming. For me, that's a real about face. I used to revel in the skulduggery of the Koch Brothers and scorn the subtleties of heirloom … [Read more...]
Your fossil fuel free garden
It's the first season for our Transition group's community garden, but already we've taken to calling it the Fossil Fuel Free Garden. The tagline is an easy way for us to make the point that not only do we expect our fellow gardeners to stay organic (no chemicals, please) but that we have the additional requirement that no power tools be used at the garden. This may sound … [Read more...]
Raising a garden bed: build or buy?
As part of our local Transition group's efforts to make local food more widely available in our town, my wife Lindsay has been helping organize a new community garden. The site is a lot that has been vacant as long as anyone can remember. You can imagine that there was a lot to do before planting: finding the property owner and convincing him to host the garden on his lot; … [Read more...]
When disaster strikes: looting or love?
"A powerful riposte to those who argue that in difficult times people become more selfish and turn on each other. Beautiful," says Rob Hopkins about a video from a New Zealand town recently leveled by an earthquake with a plucky community spirit. It makes dramatic TV to see angry mobs brandishing Glocks, busting store windows and pushing shopping carts full of bottled … [Read more...]