By Cate Nelson •
July 30, 2009
Like we needed one more reason to keep nasty pesticides away from our homes and children. They’re linked to respiratory problems and asthma. And a recent study shows that children up to age 7 have a harder time ridding their bodies of the chemicals.
Now a new study shows that kids with childhood leukemia have elevated levels of household pesticides in their urine. The study was performed at the Georgetown University Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center.
These aren’t industrial-level pollutants, either. These are everyday chemicals people pick up at the hardware store and use in their very own backyards.
By Megan Prusynski •
July 22, 2009
You’ve worked hard getting that garden planted and tending it with care, but inevitably nature takes its course and the bugs find those veggies. Is it any surprise they’d want to eat the delicious fruits of your labors? You can’t blame them, after all. But you can prevent pest damage and control problems.
Good ideas have a life of their own. That’s what Paul Baricos, Executive Director of the Hollygrove Growers Market and Farm (HGMF) in New Orleans is learning two years after the Carrolton-Hollygrove Community Development Center (CHCDC) set out to figure out how to bring fresh produce to a neighborhood with no real access to affordable food.
By Becky Striepe •
April 28, 2009
Companion planting is a great way to deter pests without spraying nasty chemicals onto your garden.
Every Easter, I’m in charge of the veggie roast. That means my hubby and I get to hit up local Orlando farmers markets or farm stands on Easter weekend to pick out the goods. This year, we hit up a teeny stand near my in-laws’ house. We got more veggies than the seven of us could eat for under $10. Amazing! We also got to talking with the fellow who ran the stand. He was explaining that some of his onions were a little stained on one side, since the farm grows them alongside their strawberries to ward off pests. This was my introduction into companion planting.
I knew that marigolds would help keep certain bugs away from the garden, but that’s about as far as my companion planting knowledge went. Here’s a list of some other great plant pairings to help keep your garden pest- and chemical-free!
By Megan Prusynski •
March 21, 2009
“The greatest gift of the garden is the restoration of the five senses.” ~Hanna Rion
There is no doubt that human beings have become far removed from the natural world. It could be that this separation from nature is a root cause of many of society’s problems. When we deny ourselves access to the natural world, we lose a part of ourselves, our culture, and our sanity. Want to get it back? One of the simplest ways to reconnect with nature is to dig right in and grow something.
By Sean Daily •
January 29, 2009
GreenTalk Radio host Sean Daily talks with Jules Dervaes of Path to Freedom. Path to Freedom is a grassroots, family operated, viable urban homesteading project established to promote a simpler and more fulfilling lifestyle and reduce one family’s “footprint” on the [...]
How do two trends — the rise of backyard vegetable gardening and the downward spiral of the economy — come together? The Family Care Network in Manton, Michigan, knows how.
The non-profit organization, which just won a $1,000 nutritional grant from the Consumer Wellness Center, will use the funds to buy the seeds and supplies it needs to plant three organic garden plots. When the harvest comes in, it will go straight to the network’s food bank for distribution to needy area seniors and families … giving them, as the Consumer Wellness Center says, “fresh produce instead of the typical canned and processed foods donated to food banks.”
But, wait, there’s more:
By Reenita Malhotra •
December 11, 2008
Ecobrain, a green publishing company offers ebooks, the ideal green reading choice. Ebooks can be instantly downloaded to your desktop. Ecobrain has a series of ebooks that make ideal reading for Ecopreneurs.
EcoBrain.com offers thousands of other titles about or relating to the environment. Their genres include environment, sustainable living, cookbooks, biographies, kids’ books, how-to guides, green architecture titles, organic gardening, composting, fiction and more.
By Jennifer Lance •
October 6, 2008
A new study by O.M. Aguilar, a graduate assistant in the Department of Horticultural Sciences at Texas A&M University, confirms what previous studies and parents know: Gardening with children makes them more sensitive to environmental issues. As reported in LOHAS, the study found:
Test results indicated that children that had any type of experience with gardening had more positive attitudes toward the environment when compared with students that had not gardened. The study showed that hands-on gardening activities are important to the development of environmentally concerned citizens, and that children’s involvement in informal gardening experiences has as much impact on their environmental outlook as involvement in formal school-based programs.
By Megan McWilliams •
September 11, 2008
This is another one of those wonderful books that will get tattered and worn because it is so oft referenced. Food Not Lawns, by Heather C. Flores appeals to food and community activist that is sometimes buried underneath the suited business exterior that I don more days than I would like.
Her approach is very accessible and not aggressive, the writing style is friendly and inspiring, and the hand-spun illustrations are not only descriptive, but fun.
As I read through this book, I started applying sticky notes to areas I want to not only reference for myself, but share with my fiancee who is starting to become somewhat obsessed with our compost experiment in the back yard. There are like 50 sticky notes already . . .
Like we needed one more reason to keep nasty pesticides away from our homes and children. They’re linked to respiratory problems and asthma. And a recent study shows that children up to age 7 have a harder time ridding their bodies of the chemicals.
