Fodder changes

Over the past decade, climate change scientists have explored the impact of animal byproduct - particularly methane - on greenhouse gasses. Cows' complex digestive systems make them prone to gas-filled burps, and even the UN Food and Agriculture Organization is concerned about their impact on global climate change. As solutions, scientists and policy experts have suggested everything from taxation on emissions to indoor cattle-farming (ugh) to reduce the footprint of the agriculture sector. BBC reports on a new study in the UK on changing cattle feed to relatively purer forms may reduce methane livestock emissions by 30%. Starting at the source of emissions - smart move that other at-fault sectors should ponder as they attempt to address climate change...

Gardening for personal food sovereignty

The Bovine, a Canadian blog focusing on the legal battle against raw milk, ran an interesting article on food sovereignty by Ellen LaConte. While the article comes off a bit too strong for my liking, LaConte offers five reasons that individuals should garden for personal food sovereignty - from oil to monoculture. I'm excited to read her upcoming article on the different terrains of gardening - urban, community, suburban, and more. Take a look, and let me know what you think!

"Under the influence and auspices of the prevailing economy, most Americans have forgotten how to provide for themselves. We've become accustomed to earning money with which we buy provisions. That process is about the have the legs kicked out from under it. Instead of earning money (or its funny-money kin like credit cards) to buy the things we need, we'll need to start providing more of those things for ourselves and each other locally and (bio)regionally. Gardening -- and small-scale farming -- while they will need to be undertaken in a businesslike fashion will be less about doing business than about everyone's having something to eat and more people being busy providing it. And while not everyone will be able to garden or farm, we are all able to get up close and personal with those who do."

Read more at Countercurrents.org.

Home canning... New York style

Ah, the food movement... bringing cooks and farmers closer together and helping people eat fresh, simple, homemade meals, and learning to put up fresh produce and enjoy it throughout the winter. It's the 1970s homesteading movement reborn.

The dear people of New York Times take a classier, if impractical, view of what 'do-it-yourself' cooking is about...

"If you live in an apartment, or tend to let surplus vegetables die in the crisper drawer, you may think that the do-it-yourself food movement does not apply to you. Not so. Making some of your own staples — and a few luxuries, like chocolate-hazelnut paste or better-than-balsamic maple vinegar — is possible, and enormously gratifying."

So, I love the concept. Everyone should get-a-cooking. But since when is Chinese Chili-Scallion Oil or lemons-in-a-jar make-at-home necessities?

Pea planting at the Joshua Farm

Hurray for a Saturday work party (a 'chantier' in French - congers the image of singing while you work!) at the Joshua Farm! The Joshua Farm is a growing urban farm and CSA that engages and employs neighborhood youth each summer. Kirsten, the farm manager, invited folks for a pea planting party on St. Patrick's day, which, thanks to rain and melt, was postponed until this gloriously sunny Saturday.

Kirsten writes: "We planted two varieties of sugar snap peas; in a few weeks we’ll plant some shell peas and some snow peas. Peas are unique for at least two reasons: they are the first seeds to be planted in the ground (at least here at Joshua Farm), and they are one of the few seeds we actually plant by hand (instead of using a seeder). We plant 1 lb. per 75 feet, which is denser than some recommend, but it’s worked for us. We also inoculate the seeds with a beneficial bacteria (rhizobium legumasaurum or something like that) that helps the plants utilize nutrients better (particularly improving the uptake of nitrogen) and thus improving yields.

"I have this terribly unoriginal idea that I’ll take a picture from this spot each week as a measure of growth. I suppose each day would be better, then I could stream them all together on animoto or something, but that sounds like a lot of work. If a watched pot never boils, then maybe a watched seed never sprouts?"

Petty, plastic politics

"Freedom fries prove that a congressional cafeteria can be a powerful political platform. And this week, Republicans re-introduced the plastic foam coffee cup."

Listen: House GOP Reverses Democrats Green Initiative.

Really?