When I first started writing my upcoming book Organic Manifesto a year ago, I fully expected to have lots of information about how organic foods are healthier for you because they are more nutritious. The more research I did, the more I realized that nutrition is the least of our worries. Aside from the fact […]
Organic Living
The Quest for the Secret of Really Green Pesto, Part 1
The Challenge: A few months ago (well, in the winter, actually), I mentioned in my Organic Gardening magazine column that one of my goals this summer was to discover how to keep pesto really green. Really, really, green. Like the kind you sometimes get in restaurants when it comes out on your plate, and it […]
Fuzz Is My New Buzz
Maybe it’s because I’m getting older (with the granny glasses to prove it), but I’m starting to tire of the whole “buzz”-chasing world. Now, it’s all about fuzz for me. What’s fuzz? It’s the happy feeling and comfort of a warm, soft cashmere blanket, or a place that just delivers the goods over and over […]
Sex, Adventure, and Plant Hunting
It never really occurred to me to wonder how the Latin names for plants were decided, or why and how the British became obsessed with gardening, or even to wonder where the plants in my garden originated (other than the nursery). But my daughter Maya gave me a book to read called The Brother Gardeners: […]
Free the Seeds!
Beware the biotech euphemisms for genetically modified seeds (a.k.a. GMOs, or genetically modified organisms). Anytime you hear people like Bill Gates and other unnamed politicians and business leaders talk about “better seeds” or “improved seeds,” you are hearing them unwittingly promote an evil plot to destroy the planet. While they think they are furthering the […]
Ruthless Gardening: A Must!
Every summer around this time the same thing happens. I head out to the garden after a busy work week (or three), and take a look at my vegetable garden and go, “Oh *%$!” Once again, I have let sentimental, kind-hearted generosity screw up my patch. It starts simply enough, with the idea that I’ll […]
Lead in Lawns: A Looming Crisis
Last week I read that the White House garden’s soil was tested, and they found it contained lead above the safe limits. I know exactly how Michele Obama feels. Twenty years ago—after a few years of putting in vegetable gardens and letting my little daughter play in the dirt—I discovered that my historic urban yard […]
By Popular Demand: My Mother’s Pasty Recipe (with Lard)
I was pleasantly surprised by all the wonderful comments I got for my blog entry about lard. It seems that lard is underappreciated in these modern times—maybe it’s due for a comeback. Anyway, lots of people asked for my mother’s pasty recipe, and here it is, just in time for the July 4th weekend. While […]
Scratch
Raised on America’s first organic farm, Scratch author Maria Rodale learned how to make everyday favorites from, yes, scratch — the way you remember them; the way they turn out best.
Order NowOrganic Manifesto
Drawing on findings from leading health researchers as well as conversations with both chemical and organic farmers from coast to coast, Maria Rodale irrefutably outlines the unacceptably high cost of chemical farming on our health and our environment.
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