Lettuce From the Garden, With Worms

By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
The New York Times
Growing up on a farm near Yamhill, Ore., I quickly learned to appreciate the difference between fresh, home-grown foods and the commercial versions in the supermarket.
Store-bought lettuce was always lush, green and pristine, and thus vastly preferable to lettuce from my Mom’s vegetable garden (organic before we called it… »

Garden Spot of the World

A question about the town motto sparks an organization, beautification and community involvement
By SUSAN WILLIAMSON

A little over four years ago, my husband and I found our retirement nest: 10 acres with a creek, pastures and blueberry bushes in Rural Hall, North Carolina. After settling in, we noticed that the local welcome signs proclaimed Rural Hall… »

Going Brown

While the rich go green, the rest of us can jump on this bandwagon
By MICHAEL VAN HALL

I’m looking for people who live in low-cost to no-cost housing, by choice, to feature in my next book, titled Shacking Up. When I asked blog readers to send me leads, I was disappointed with their responses.
I did not… »

Tell the Pesticide Peddlers: We support Michelle Obama’s organic garden

From credoaction.com

The Mid America CropLife Association (MACA) has a bone to pick with Michelle Obama.
MACA represents chemical companies that produce pesticides, and they are angry that - wait for it - Michelle Obama isn’t using chemicals in her organic garden at the White House.
We are not making this up.
In an email they forwarded to their… »

Honesty

POETRY
By KATE BUCKLEY

There’s an honesty to planting,
in saying to seeds,
here’s what I want from you:
grow.
Grow until your heads touch
the tallest slat on the tumbledown wall
and then bud. Break open your heads
and flower, and when that’s done,
fruit.
In return, I will give you
meal, minerals, the dung of cloven
animals. I will take measure
of your soil and add what… »