Food & Water

Agricultural heritage across the millennia

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Let’s turn the clock back 4,000 years. Woolly mammoths roam the Arctic tundra, Stonehenge is under construction, and the Sahara is still largely a vegetated savannah landscape. The entirety of humanity consists of just 27 million people — smaller than the population of today’s Tokyo metropolitan area. And at this time, somewhere in the ancient Sumerian city-state of Ur, a scribe is engraving a series of cuneiform tablets with what is now the world’s oldest known example of a legal code.

Playing Possum

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So I have something to tell you all. With much hesitation and trepidation, but with encouragement from my wife and my good buddy Bill, I bring you the story of why I have blood on my hands. Two nights ago I had to kill a possum. I did not do it because I wanted to, or because I thought it would be fun, but because I was defending my chickens.

To crank or not to crank

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People intuitively view agriculture as the root of domination because intensifying food economies made possible large surpluses which could then support elites and their servants. As indeed they did. But the link with agriculture is conditional.

Beekeeping relieves land degradation in Kyrgyzstan

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In Kyrgyzstan’s Pamir-Alai mountains, remote villages are tucked high among the awe-inspiring panoramas of one of the world’s most rugged biophysical environments. Short bursts of summer and long winter dormancy ensure that the ecosystem, and the livelihoods that it supports, exist in a delicate balance.

When Agriculture Stops Working: Ten Recommendations for Growing Food in the Anthropocene

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Now, despite my best efforts to look into the crystal ball here, I fully expect there will be a lot about the future of human food acquisition that will surprise me…and perhaps even in a good way! But in light of all the known troubles bearing down on us, I think it’s just plain suicidal to muddle on as-per-usual and hope it’ll all be OK.

When agriculture stops working: A guide to growing food in the age of climate destabilization and civilization collapse

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As the toxic trappings of industrial civilization crumble around us, agriculture is set to regain its place at the forefront of our daily American lives.  …And won’t we be surprised to find out that it barely works anymore!  So perhaps it’s time we re-think our modern food-acquisition strategies in the face of the massive changes bearing down on us.  …And I mean REALLY re-think them.

My book – Edible Perennial Gardening!

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I have been researching and growing perennial veggies since 2005 and blogging about how I do this for a couple of years. My aim has always been to be able to find out as much as I could and then to share it with as many people as possible. To this end I have also been writing a book about the veggies and the garden and am really happy to be able to say that this project is now in the final stages and the book will be published in November!

Eating for the cure

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You’ll need a pretty high tolerance for research studies and medical lingo to get through Autoimmune: The Cause and The Cure. But then if you or someone you love is suffering from an autoimmune disease such as chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, lupus or even type 2 diabetes, then you’ve probably already learned to deal with jargon-filled medical research and advice.

All Roads Lead to Permaculture

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Like many other people, when I first encountered Permaculture I thought it was just about gardening – incorporating fruit, nut trees and other edibles into your landscape, using mulch, and composting. And yes it is true that all these are a part of Permaculture, it is also so much more! Permaculture is an ecological design system that helps to connect all aspects of our lives. From the food we eat, the water we use, or the fuel that keeps us warm, Permaculture can help us obtain the necessities for life in ways that work with the Earth and promote the long term health of the planet.

When you can’t dazzle’em with brilliance, baffle’em with definitions

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Actually, Jason Godesky is rather brilliant; his 30 Theses deserve a good look. He struggled mightily with defining horticulture and agriculture, did not quite get it right, but made a lot of good points. Can I do better? Or at least, can I come up with something that will enable us to communicate more clearly about these matters? With trepidation, I am giving it a shot. The purpose of this post is not to find the Right and Correct definition, but to untangle the definitional knots so that we can talk with one another and get somewhere.

Urban Ag: Taking steps toward political ecology

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Practitioners of urban agriculture have a lot to be proud of, including forming part of a “food movement,” which is increasing in size and influence. People are questioning food systems conventions and the dominant forms of food production (industrial farming) and distribution (globalized trade) are being opposed more and more by communities around the globe. Urban agriculturists—with their claim for a viable alternative to the broken food system—seem to have at this moment a certain cultural cachet.