-
The Conquest of a Plant: A Brief History of Amaranth
Read MoreColonization raises many weapons at the targeted. First, there are swords and guns, weapons that kill. Then, there are more insidious slower working weapons. Weapons that alienate people from skills that their ancestors have passed down for centuries. Weapons that make people forget what plants provide medicine and which ones poison. These weapons aim to […]
-
Wild Foraging: Cooking With Wild Mustard
Read MoreWild mustard is despised among native plant activist. It smothers native plants and flowers transforming the landscape of the United States. Each plant can produce up to 500 seeds allowing it to spread rapidly. It is also allelopathic meaning its leaves and roots exude compounds that inhibit other plants from growing. When it dries up […]
-
Urban Foraging: Connecting With Our Cities in a New Way
Read MoreBefore it was subdivisions and Home Depots, the San Fernando Valley was citrus orchards. Little of this history remains; an orange grove at California State University Northridge and at Orcutt Ranch, scattered streets with names like ‘Satsuma.’ But, a second look reveals more of this history. Lemon trees dangling fruit in front of apartment buildings, […]
-
What I’m Reading: The Urban Homestead
Read MoreThere is a movement happening in America’s cities. A movement of people who map edible trees in their neighborhoods and eat weeds growing from cracks in the sidewalk. These people can be heard in the tap rooms of microbreweries using words like ‘Araucana’ and ‘Rhode Island Red.’ There are sourdough starters in fridges and worm […]
-
The Tools of Permaculture: A Guide to Permaculture Techniques
Read MoreThis is the third part in my permaculture series. Check out Part I: The Permaculture Principles and Part II: A History of Permaculture and its Movers and Shakers. Permaculture is a thought process. There are many methods employed by permaculturist but these methods do not make the movement. My teacher, Larry Santoyo, likes to say that […]
-
A History of Permaculture and its Movers and Shakers
Read MoreThis is the second part in my permaculture series. Check out Part I: Principles of Permaculture. Permaculture is a process, continually rethought and built upon. It does not belong to any one person or rely on one charismatic leader. However, certain insightful individuals are important to the history of permaculture and to the future of the […]
-
The Permaculture Principles
Read MoreI like to start off my ‘Permaculture Introduction’ workshops by mentioning a few things permaculture is not: Permaculture is not a cult. Permaculture is not about gardening. Permaculture is not the property of a bunch of white guys even though that’s who you usually see teaching it (myself included). Many cultures have grown food, built shelters and met […]
-
Saving Seeds in Thailand
Read MoreStreet Markets are a staple of Thailand. Walking through one is absorbing; mountains of dried chiles, fresh cut flowers swarming with bees, tropical fruits unfamiliar in the West, flopping catfish and neat rows of pig heads. Some of these markets only happen at night, some open at 5 in the morning and if you show […]
-
What I’m Reading: The One-Straw Revolution
Read MoreYou will recognize the similarity in the name, The One-Straw Revolution, and the name of this website. While I take my name from Paul Cezanne’s quote this book has been an influence on my own thinking about nature and agriculture from an early age. Masanobu Fukuoka sees a revolution in one strand of straw just […]
It’s time to plant your winter greens
