Last September we visited our friend Pat Wilborn at his aquaponics farming project outside of Port Washington, WI, and shot some video of his operation under construction. Pat is determined to discover whether growing vegetables in a 96-foot-long greenhouse using poop from yellow perch for fertilizer is economically feasible. As I’ve written elsewhere, Pat is […]
When I wrote about the cold frame heater I’d just made, I didn’t mention that the other side of this story involves the several hundred thousand red wiggler worms I’ve got living in plastic buckets in the garage. They aren’t squatters. They are there because I built an insulated room for them and now I’d […]
“Giving, in all its forms, might be the key to creating heaven on this earth” ~Two-bit Guru~ Throughout the growing season the earth gives us gifts: peas and lettuce early, potatoes and dry beans near the end, but if we didn’t give to the earth along the way, the harvest wouldn’t be nearly as abundant, […]
With all the gloomy events and prognostications in the world today, it is immensely refreshing to hear Nic Marks sharing his research and his thoughts in this TEDtalk, “The Happy Planet Index.” Marks cites five things to do to be Happy: Connect with other people Be active Take notice of what is going on in […]
Worm tea may have had its origin in a series of eight agricultural lectures given in 1924 by the spiritual scientist, Rudolf Steiner. These teachings are available in his book “Agricultural Course: The Birth of the Biodynamic Method.” To my way of thinking, Steiner thoroughly understood the link between the spiritual and physical realms. He […]
This is the day folks give thanks with prayers of appreciation for roast turkey, for the stuffing, for the cranberry sauce, the potatoes, the gravy, the rolls, the pumpkin pie, the veggies, even including the squash that normally has no chance of appreciation at all as compared to the corn or the peas. We might […]
View part I here. By the 19th century the Western world was busily developing a mechanistic view of life. No doubt many culprits contributed to the undoing of Mother Nature but one character worthy of attention is Baron Justus von Liebig. Justus von Liebig – Image courtesy of Wikipedia In around 1840 von Liebig invented […]