West Virginia Cattle Farmers Build the Local Food Economy They Need to Thrive
Local food is nothing new in Appalachia…but the tradition of self-sufficiency has nearly died out
Food & Water
Biochar! The verdict is in: it works. And you should do it.
We know enough right now to start doing biochar: making it, getting it into the soil, and getting it into the hands of “regular farmers”. We’ll improve as we go along, but just using what is now known, the farmers, soil, crops, and atmosphere will all benefit.
Getting the Stone Rolling
Sometimes it takes someone from the other side of the world to help you realise just what’s on your door step. This is the message at the heart of a growing stone walling revolution in Zimbabwe.
Mycophile Summer
One of my goals and accomplishments for this summer, to learn the stories and tales of as many mushrooms as I could.
Permaculture and the Myth of Scarcity
"[While] the transitional period may involve temporary food shortages and real hardship, permaculture methods can easily feed the peak world population of perhaps 10 or 11 billion we’ll see by mid-century."
Multi-Functional Plants for the Permaculture Garden
If you have a choice of planting a tree, shrub, vine, herbaceous plant, or groundcover that only has one function or another species that fills that desired function and also provides three other benefits, why wouldn’t you plant the more functional species?
California Neighborhood Food Act Signed
On September 26, Governor Jerry Brown signed SELC’s Neighborhood Food Act, AB 2561, and several other bills seeking to promote local and sustainable food systems in California.
Recommended Reading for the UN International Year of Soils 2015
If you never thought ‘dirt’ could be interesting or ultra important, UNU’s Robert Blasiak recommends a fascinating book demonstrating how soil management has impacted the rise and fall of civilizations.
Plowing Bedrock: How bad is soil erosion in US cropland?
A statement in JM Greer’s blog last month challenged everything I thought I knew about soil management in American cropland.
Why Bother Composting?
Composting can seem pretty complicated. Depending on who you talk to, or what you read, you will find tons of different advice on how to get just the right “brew”.
UN-masking Climate Smart Agriculture
As women, men, peasants, smallholder family farmers, migrant, rural workers, indigenous, and youth of La Via Campesina, we denounce climate smart agriculture which is presented to us as a solution to climate change and as a mechanism for sustainable development.
Seeds of Resilience, Seeds of Sovereignty
In this episode, Local Bites interviews ecologist and renowned seed conservationist, Dr. Debal Deb on the value of traditional seeds in an unstable world.
