In May, I purchased six seed packets containing different varieties of heirloom soup beans from Seed Savers Exchange in Decorah, Iowa. The spring's warm, moist garden soil encouraged the seeds to sprout and begin the rapid ascent skyward, curling their tendrils to grasp the trellis's grid until autumn's natural dehydrator signaled harvest time. A fifteen-month…

As far back as my memory takes me, I remember the words of my father. "Make sure there are two or three eyes in each chunk and place them in the row cut side down." He was teaching me how to prepare and plant seed potatoes. We planted many. Enough to carry us through the…

Shiitake mushrooms. Meaty texture and flavor. Nutritionally beneficial. Pricey. So, I decided to grow my own on logs. The best time to inoculate is in the spring, therefore on April 23, 2014, I ordered 100 shiitake mushroom mycelium plug spawn. 100 vibrant orange and yellow Chicken of the Woods mushroom plugs, too. From Fungi Perfecti…

As I began my fall garden cleanup today, my mind drifted back to May when my garden soil was still cool from the spring thaw. Not yet warm enough to direct-sow the heirloom "Crystal Apple" and "Poona Kheera" cucumber seeds that I had purchased at Seed Savers Exchange during our visit to Decorah, Iowa earlier…

An article in a July/August 2012 issue of Natural Home & Garden Magazine "planted the seed." I knew that one day I would visit Seed Savers Exchange in Decorah, Iowa. Then, one day came. Dick and I spent an afternoon and a day on this first weekend in May 2014 at SSE's annual spring plant…

Dick was reading ArbLIFE Spring 2014, a publication that we receive in the mail through our Northland Arboretum membership. (The Northland Arboretum is a 583-acre nature preserve located within the city limits of Brainerd/Baxter. It is the site of a former 40-acre landfill that closed in 1972.) He showed me an article titled, "A Fungus…

Chickens do not handle stress well. It can hinder their growth and adversely affect egg production. Although a chicken's breed factors into its personality, creating and maintaining a calm environment will help to produce mellow chickens with friendly dispositions. It will prevent what I refer to as "Chicken Little" hysteria. A small cardboard box within…

It happens just that quick. One little trip to the farm store. It began this morning. Dick had noticed that area farmers were set up in the parking lot outside the Tractor Supply Store selling goats, rabbits, chicks, pullets (female chickens less than one year old), and cockerels (male chickens less than one year old).…

A new magazine. In a shop thirty miles southwest of Atlanta in a community called Serenbe. We had gone there to have lunch and a cupcake to celebrate Dick's birthday at the Blue-Eyed Daisy Bakeshop. I purchased that copy of Modern Farmer Issue 02 Fall 2013 in Serenbe. I ordered backcopies of Issue 01 Spring…