FROM SCRATCH CLUB

If you caught my previous post, then you already know I’m trying to start a micro farm this year called Little Sparrow Farm. In mid March I started my seeds with some grow lights in my basement. In late March I went out-of-town for a week and my husband was in charge of the seedlings. […]

Its ‘spring’ (although I have a foot of snow on my lawn) and its time to start thinking about finally making that jump into Backyard Chicken Land! Whether you hatch them yourself or buy from a local farmer you trust, we have insights from two contributors that have lots of experience: Liz and Jillian. We […]

This week I could finally go out and check on my bees since I buttoned them up in the fall. I went out with some jugs of sugar syrup and the feeder boxes. Some people feed their bees all winter, but where my two hives are located I couldn’t really get to them all winter. […]

FSC Contributor Amy Halloran takes on an a podcast journey to explore the Northeast grain system. Amy’s series on scaling up the northeast grain system provides a wealth of information and serves as an incredible introduction to the world of local grains, and in this episode we continue that conversation. Grains are often left out of the locavore […]

The following is the very basic tale of how I’m starting my own micro-farm in Ballston Spa. It’s called Little Sparrow Farm, and yes, it’s named after Dolly Parton. Last summer I was telling a friend how I was going to be ordering a lot of garlic. The amount I ordered ended up being over […]

While the debate about gun control rages around us, we are quietly getting ready for the zombie apocalypse by planning our garden instead of amassing weapons.  I am not a survivalist, but I do like the idea of being able to eat a nutritionally balanced diet out of our garden in case there is a […]

When I first started gardening, I couldn’t imagine planting anything in the fall. Sure, I knew about tulip bulbs, but I thought of putting them in the ground as winter storage, kind of like keeping your sweaters safe from moths in summer. I couldn’t wrap my head around plants that didn’t follow the path of […]

As I write this I’m certain one of my hives has hive beetles and there’s a hurricane that might hit us early this week (Editor’s Update: 10/30/12 Hurricane Sandy did not hit us as expected in Upstate New York, but others in CT, NJ, PA, and of course NYC & the 5 boroughs where not so […]

We have been wandering in the desert of home wheat production for three years now.  We could see the mountaintop, but were not sure we could get there.  Although it is not that hard to grow wheat, harvesting, threshing and milling all present real technical problems to overcome for home growers. We learned how to scythe, then […]

I recently got back from a crazy five-day trip to the D.C. area. In that time, I spread some DIY Bacon love to Maryland where I taught a private lesson on bacon curing, I got to hang out with the wonderful Celia from On Cardamom and Cast Iron, and see the sights from the windows […]

There has been a lot of discussion, and media hype, about the Stanford University School of Medicine Meta Analysis published in the Annals of Internal Medicine on September 4th, on whether organic food is more nutritious than conventionally grown food. (Definition Note: A Meta Analysis focuses on contrasting and combining results from different studies, in the hope of identifying patterns […]

MEET OUR MAPLE SYRUP FARMER: MOUNTAIN WINDS FARM Farmer: Randy Grippin Location: Berne, NY Produces: Light and Dark Maple Syrup, Maple Cream and Candy, Pastured Eggs and some berries/vegetables. # Acres: 140 55,000 linear SF of pipeline 1291 taps hung with tension wire, on 1291 trees of Sugar and Black Maple In Business: 6 years […]

Editor’s Note: Our monthly local-grain-love-fest with Amy Halloran is back with the 8th installment in her Scaling Up The Northeast Grain System series. You can read her previous seven pieces here. In this installment, Amy comes full circle and visits the mill & bakery where her gain-love began. -Christina +++++ I went to Wild Hive […]

The idea for these summer farm tours started a long time ago, when my husband and I began baking bread for farmers markets in 2004, meeting farmers and enjoying their fresh wares, while simultaneously learning more about the toxins that are an inarguable by-product of our industrialized food-system. As the years progressed, we asked questions, […]

Editor’s Note: Welcome Josh & Stefanie Rockwood of West Wind Acres, a meat farm in Charlton, NY, as Community Voice Guest Contributors. They will bring us insight into the world of being sustainable and humane meat farmers using a full-fledged rotational grazing system with all their animals. If you haven’t listened to our latest podcast, […]