Posts by Ashley Lyons
The Vanishing Small Farm
Everywhere, all over the country, all around the world, small farms are disappearing. According to a USDA report, after peaking at 6.8 million in 1945, U.S. farms fell sharply until the early 1970s; by 2002, only 2.1 million farms remained. If you’ve lived long enough, chances are you remember a few of these small farms,…
Read More »Powered by Bicycle: The Future of Sustainable Farming
Everyone knows bikes are a great way to exercise, enjoy the outdoors, or even commute. But did you know bikes can be converted into useful agricultural tools and machines? From weeding, harvesting, planting, threshing, shelling, winnowing—bikes can do it all. And without greenhouse emissions and expensive repair bills. The following are a few ways that…
Read More »The Mysterious and Fascinating Life of Roots
When we think of roots, most of us think of pale, fibrous, slimy-looking tubes whose only purpose is sucking water out of soil. If we’re gardeners or farmers, we also think of roots as food. But roots do much more than siphon water and provide food—they’re the cornerstone of plant function. And in many ways…
Read More »T’is the Season for Spring Mix
The growing season is ramping up, and you know what that means: spring mix! Each year around this time, we see our first delicious harvest of this delicious crop. The variety of fresh tastes and textures are welcome after a long and cold winter. But just what is spring mix? And where does it come…
Read More »What are Phytonutrients?
Spend enough time reading health blogs and you’ll probably come across the word, ‘phytonutrients’. It’s a term that’s often used in conjunction with physical fitness and nutritional health. But what are phytonutrients? How do they work? And why should you care? Phytonutrients are actually a little difficult to pin down. Google defines them as ‘a…
Read More »How to Grow Better-Tasting Vegetables!
Everybody’s had that one piece of fruit or vegetable whose taste just knocked their socks off. Mine was a blackberry given to me by Chef Jess at Triumph Brewery New Hope: it was at the peak of ripeness, perfectly sweet, utterly memorable. But how do you grow tasty fruits and vegetables yourself? What’s the secret?…
Read More »What is Permaculture?
Permaculture is one of those words that gets tossed around almost as often as ‘sustainable’—and is perhaps just as misunderstood. But just what is Permaculture? It sounds intimidating, as if it were some complicated growing practice that only someone with a doctorate in horticulture could understand. But the basic tenants of Permaculture are surprisingly simple,…
Read More »All About Lettuce!
Whenever I think about Blue Moon’s baby lettuce heads I think about Alex Levine, Whole Earth Center’s beloved deli manager. Last year when I delivered the seasons’ first baby lettuce harvest, Alex pulled a glistening head from the box, tore off a leaf, and began feasting—right there in the walk-in cooler. It was the first,…
Read More »A Brief (and Mouthwatering!) History of Risotto
I was never a Risotto fan. In fact, before we started growing Italian rice here at Blue Moon, I can’t even say that I’d ever had the dish. But then one day, resident rice connoisseur Jim Lyons brought some freshly-cooked risotto into our office. I was hooked. Within a week, I was using our Arborio…
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