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...]
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...]