These eco-footprint calculators each use different criteria to spit out a calculation of your impact on the planet. More than just a diversion for cube warriors, such a quiz is not just fodder for smugness or alarm. By thinking about the measures used to calculate these footprints, you can decide whether opting for free range meat mitigates your heavy driving, or whether living in a more efficient home might negate some of the impact of your jet-ski. Or something like that...
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This is the time of year when you can really tell who burned out all their gardening energy in a fit of spring exuberance, and who's in it for the season-long haul. These five tricks will help you optimize the food production left in your garden, while providing aesthetic appeal to bring extra beauty to your bounty.
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While it's easier and more frugal to sow the right amount of seed instead of thinning, some crops--like beets--must be thinned as each 'seed' is really a corky aggregation of several individual seeds. On the way home from the community garden with thinnings galore, I noticed one of our many friendly Eastside neighbors out in her home garden. "Wanna beet?" I called.
A non-gardener might have been puzzled or even alarmed to hear as much called out from some random dude on the street. But she didn't miss a beat--"Oh sure, I'd love one--can I offer you some eggplant?" And so go the nebulous, informal connections of our truly local food system,
Continue reading "Potatoes and Peppers and Eggplants, oh my..." »
