Use your green (unripe) tomatoes!

Growing tomatoes out on the Oregon coast is challenging any year but this season was particularly late.  We are going to end up with a bunch of unripe, green tomatoes and I can’t say that I’m too unhappy about it.  I LOVE cooking with green tomatoes.
When I mentioned this, more than a few people looked [...]

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Suburban sustainability

Brings into question the usefulness of full-blown permaculture for gardeners who rent their homes:

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Growing edamame

I found this on growing edamame:
By LEE REICH
For The Associated Press
No need to ramble on praising the many health benefits of soybeans, their high quality protein, their healthful oil, and so on. We’ll assume you’re not living in a cave.
Let’s also keep quiet about the gustatory alchemy that has been wrought on this bean, transforming [...]

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Green beetle infestation on the artichokes

Meet Cassida rubiginosa…aka, thistle defoliating beetle, green tortise beetle, eucalyptis beetle
After a little creative internet keyword and image searching…the mystery of the artichoke beetles is solved.
Unfortunately, as these links show, some farms have released them as biological thistle control for their fields. Not good news for artichoke growers!
http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/thistlecontrol.html
http://www.ewrs.org/BCWG/aims_and_objectives.htm
Just talked with a woman who bought [...]

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Garden of Eden meets the Sacred Grove

This article from Mother Earth News does a great job detailing an actual permaculture project. The following passage from the article offers a great explanation of permaculture as a sort of a reigned-in wildness where the existing trees and land determine the parameters we may operate within:
To me, forest gardening is exciting not only [...]

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Soil Bacteria Work In Similar Way To Antidepressants

Medical News Today
Soil Bacteria Work In Similar Way To Antidepressants
02 Apr 2007
UK scientists suggest that a type of friendly bacteria found in soil may affect the brain in a similar way to antidepressants.
Their findings are published in the early online edition of the journal Neuroscience.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/66840.php

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Year of the potato

Food prices are soaring worldwide, driven by fierce competition for reduced international supplies of wheat, maize and rice, and other agricultural commodities. As concern grows over the risk of food shortages and instability in dozens of low-income countries, global attention is turning to an age-old crop that could help ease the strain of food price [...]

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Growing wild rice

Wild rice used to be raised throughout the US by native peoples. Now that the price of wheat, corn and domestic rice is going steadily up…perhaps it’s time to consider some alternatives in our home and community gardens.
Personally, I think potatoes and wild rice is the way to go. Here’s some info on [...]

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Dr. Doo, Prince of Poo…

Dan Corum:
Dr. Doo could write theses on feces
Paula Bock
Dan Corum – a.k.a. Dr. Doo, Prince of Poo, Master of Microbes, the GM of BM, Worm Whisperer, Duke of Dung, No.1 of No. 2, Pharaoh of Feces, Shaka of Caca, Turd World Leader and Emperor of Excreta – shares fecal facts about Zoo Doo at [...]

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Google: Got elk poop?

Very funny!
If you Google, “got elk poop,” my blog comes up: www.Google.com
What a gas!

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