Earth Talk

In November, the last autumn colors vanish into piles of dry leaves and the prairie hardens itself for the coming winter. Here at Prairierth Farm, the crops are at last all gathered and the cattle will soon be coaxed in from the summer pasture. The once-magnificent summer prairie has become a dismal brown and gray, […]

The big bluestem, dressed in its fall red-wine colors, glows in the late-afternoon sun among the bright-blue New England asters and a scattering of yellow goldenrod. From the center of this acre of prairie, nothing is visible except the sky and the tops of the oaks and cottonwoods along the creek. I like to imagine […]

Dear “Earth Talk”: I’ve heard that some foods are now being irradiated. Why is this done, and what are the implications for our health and safety? — Emily Worden, Monroe, Conn. Food irradiation — used to kill bacteria, parasites, and insects in food and to retard spoilage — is actually not new. Research began early […]

Maybe it’s just me, but fall 2004 closed in a little faster than the calendar suggests. If you haven’t done so already, now is the time to organize your fall composting project to deal with the annual lowerin’ of the leaves. If the ultimate goal is to return the compost to your yard as next […]

‘Tis the season to be wooed. Ardent politicians, like new lovers, fill the air with promises crafted to push our hot buttons and spend money as if it belongs to someone else. Millions are spent on polls to figure out what’s important to us, millions more to convince us they have the solution to whatever […]

Dear Earth Talk: Are raw foods healthier to eat than cooked foods? — Kris Amitzboll, Coledale, Australia Proponents of raw foods, which are sometimes called “living foods,” believe that raw foods are much healthier for the body than cooked or processed foods. Followers of diets based wholly or largely on raw foods claim numerous health […]

“You can’t do just one thing.” So goes the old ecology adage, meaning, of course, that each change that occurs in the natural world precipitates a series of other — often unknown and unexpected — changes. You may know it as the ripple effect. Much of the concern about genetically modified (GM) crops has to […]

Dear Earth Talk: How can I reduce the number and amount of toxins my new baby is exposed to? — Beth Stevenson, Leesburg, Va. Because babies are so much smaller and their metabolisms so much faster than those of adults, proportionally they are exposed to higher doses of toxins from everyday foods and consumer products. […]

One afternoon a sudden squall line sneaked up on us while we were working in the field. You know that feeling — goosebumps on the back of your neck, and you look up cautiously, expecting to see the dark stalker two strides behind. Within seconds, lightning crackled over the timber a half-mile distant and we […]

Most of us natural-farmer types were pleased when the USDA announced that it would develop a set of regulations — the government’s form of a blessing — for organic farming. But many small, diversified producers are now backing away from certification by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It’s not so much a problem with the […]