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Top Five Most Influential Women of Modern Farming
For most of its long and inglorious history, farming has been a male-dominated profession. Women may have played vital roles, but ownership and decision-making was the exclusive domain of men. According to a recent USDA report, however, that trend is rapidly changing. Over the last three decades, the number of women-operated farms nearly tripled. Currently, around…
Read More »Living Local: Find Your Community
How can you make an impact on your local community? What impact does community have on the local food system and sustainability? Chuck Minguez of Door to Door Organics and Jeanna Kane of the Doylestown Food Co-op explore what it means to live locally. Chuck encourages people to go out and join in the change…
Read More »A Few Good Bugs
It’s high summer and your garden is struggling—again. Your tomatoes and peppers and cucumbers have succumbed to beetles, cutworms, aphids, and slugs. You refuse to use pesticides (you’re a good person and you care about the environment) and you just don’t have time to pick these pests off one by one. You’re ready to toss…
Read More »Spring Mix, from Seed to Plate
Let me first state that Spring Mix is just that- a mix of different lettuces and greens, not a certain type of seed or name of a plant. Some of us (*ahem. Myself*) not familiar with farming and growing things may not have known this. Now that we’ve got that cleared up… I hope you’ve…
Read More »Hydroponics V. Soil
Hydroponically-grown. Soil-grown. Ever wonder what’s the difference? Hydroponic enthusiasts swear by their technology, and soil proponents swear by theirs. But which is better? Is one healthier than the other? And what about environmental impacts? Is one ‘greener’? In hydroponics, water replaces soil as the medium by which plants derive nutrition. A hydroponic system can be…
Read More »Living Local: Know Your Producers!
What does it mean to live locally? How can you be a local citizen? Alex Jones of Fair Food Farmstand in Philadelphia suggests that getting to know your food producer–literally, the source of the food you are eating–will strengthen your civic pride. In her words: My suggestion would be to not only give your dollars…
Read More »The Fruits of CO-OPeration
For members of the Doylestown Food Co-Op, March 22nd was a special day. That was the day of their Grand Opening, the culmination of many years hard work and planning. Their first Grand Opening had been delayed by power outages caused by the February 6th ice storm, making it that much more special. “So many…
Read More »A Salad by Any Other Name…
Why is a salad called a salad? These are the questions we (ok, I) ask ourselves as we chomp into the first bites of locally-grown lettuces this season… “Salad” comes from “sal”, ie, salt. In ancient times (and modern, as well), salt was an ingredient in the salad dressing. As they say, clothes make the…
Read More »I’m Not a Sprout, I’m a Microgreen!
Question: Sprouts and Microgreens are: a.) Basically the same thing b.) Sort of the same thing c.) Two totally different things d.) The preferred diet of the Asiatic Water Buffalo Answer: c.) Two totally different things Congratulations if you got it right! Sprouts and microgreens, while often referred to as one and the same,…
Read More »Living Local: Buying Local, and Knowing from Whom You Buy
Wondering how you can support your local community? Try committing to buying local, and buying from people you know. Lisa White, President of the Doylestown Food Co-op, really encourages people to buy local, as much as possible, as a way to ensure the continued vitality of your community. “I love where I live and…
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