Much as we might like to believe otherwise, winter is not yet over. Central Ohio, where we live, is staring down a winter storm warming capable of 2-4 inches of snow tonight. Cold days, and the sniffles that come with them, often continue right into spring. As soon as we come inside from chilly...
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The theme of February’s Home Ec gathering was Got Roots? The tasting table in Columbus this month included a delightful variety of roots and preparations, showing off just how adaptable this vegetable family is. We were treated to home-grown sunchokes aka Jerusalem artichokes from Como Yarden, served roasted with other roots in a home-grown pepper...
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Julia Child has been hanging out in an envelope in my seed box since August 2010. I saved her seeds from a sexy homegrown tomato and they laid in wait through a couple disappointing gardening seasons until now. I planted sixteen taupe seeds still stuck to their drying paper towel in two rows. After...
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I don’t know about you but when I hear gnarly economic words like sequestration and furloughs I want to duck and cover. When politicans and political writers are using them, I return to my instinct because will what those folks yammer about that actually affect me? Turns out, proposed furloughs from the sequester could...
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Oh, lard. Mention the word and some people turn up their noses, remembering days of eating cookies that tasted like pork. Others are curious, having never eaten lard to their knowledge. And then there are those of us whose faces break into knowing smiles. All About Lard High quality lard is a pure-white fat....
Read more →Yesterday I wrote about my introduction to Restoration Agriculture at the 2013 Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association conference. Below are summaries of two other valuable sessions at the same conference. What the OEFFA conference offers beyond these planned sessions are real conversations with wise, experienced farmers and enthusiastic innovative personalities. I am still...
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Mark Shepard, author of Restoration Agriculture and founder of Restoration Agriculture Institute, presented the workshop “Designing Your Perennial Farm” at the 2013 Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association (OEFFA) conference. Below is the summary of what I learned today. Fundamentals of Restoration Agriculture The key principle of Restoration Agriculture is to observe nature and...
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