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Between every two pines is a doorway to a new world. ~John Muir

The air was abuzz with the drone of chainsaws today, with pieces of giant pine trees crashing to the ground. A crew of tree workers felled every last tree in the yard across the street. Among them were some of the oldest white pines in the neighborhood, a couple of which were at least 24 inches in diameter. They were by far older and larger than my own red pines. One by one, they’ve come down today, their limbs being fed into the gaping mouth of the chipper as I write. Even the dogs are unnerved by the noise and horror of it all. Continue reading →

Eating for Earth

April 27, 2012 By Nourishing Words in Environment, Food Tags: Cheese, Environment, Hungry for Change, Northwest Earth Institute, sustainable cheese production, water conservation 12 Comments

This is the fifth in a series of six posts relating to the discussion series Hungry for Change: Food, Ethics and Sustainability. This week, we explored the challenging and sometimes frustrating world of resource depletion and the many impacts of food production on climate change and the environment. Session Five readings included work by Lisa Hymas, George Wuerthner, Sandra Postel, Tom Paulson, Robert Kunzig, Natalie Reitman-White, Sarah Mazze and Sustainable Table.

The people drawn to participate in our Hungry for Change group (perhaps predictably) are environmentally conscious by nature and are concerned about tending this planet for future generations. Continue reading →

Earth Day Blessings

April 22, 2012 By Nourishing Words in Environment Tags: Earth Day, Rain 18 Comments

It started raining today, finally. We really, really needed rain here.

So I went for a walk in the gently falling mist, before the real rains arrived, to see the woods come alive before my eyes. Continue reading →

Scary Spring

March 21, 2012 By Nourishing Words in Environment, Gardening Tags: climate change, early spring, global warming, New Hampshire 11 Comments

I’ve been having a hard time enjoying spring this year. It’s just all too weird. It started way too early and managed to launch us into the dog days of summer overnight. Hard as I’ve worked to find the silver lining and just enjoy it, I just can’t.

Everything’s out of order. Continue reading →

Sweet Poison: Non-Organic Strawberries

June 23, 2011 By Nourishing Words in Environment, Farming, Food, Healing and Wellness, Local Food Tags: Dirty Dozen List, pesticides, strawberries 18 Comments

It’s that time of year again: time for sweet, juicy local strawberries.

Last year, I wrote about the joy of eating fresh, local strawberries and the risk of pesticides if those berries are grown by conventional methods. Conventionally-grown strawberries are subjected to up to 13 different chemicals, some absorbed into the berries through the roots and some sprayed right onto the berries. Many growers, when asked, talk of their “low-spray” program: a comfort, maybe, but not a real solution. Continue reading →

Simple Strategies for Detox

June 5, 2011 By Nourishing Words in Environment, Healing and Wellness, Herbs, Lyme Disease Tags: chemicals, detox, environmental toxins, pollutants, toxins 23 Comments

Toxins are an unfortunate part of our daily reality. We absorb them, ingest them, breathe them and sometimes create them ourselves. Pollutants in our air and water, along with contaminants and chemicals in our foods, are continually being absorbed by our bodies. Continue reading →

Living Off the Grid: The Strange Satisfaction of Making Do

March 16, 2011 By Nourishing Words in Environment, Farming, Northeast Kingdom, Sustainability Tags: Ben Hewitt, cost of electricity, electricity rate hikes, energy conservation, homesteading, living off the grid, solar 2 Comments

I’m happy to introduce another guest post from Ben Hewitt, following up on his family’s story of living and farming off the grid in Cabot, Vermont. Ben will be a keynote speaker at the Northeast Organic Farming Association’s (NOFA-NH) Annual Conference, coming up this Saturday, March 19 in Exeter. Farmers, gardeners and all who care about agriculture should plan to be there.

In the comments section following my last post on farming and living with a modest off-grid renewable energy system, I promised a more detailed post on the challenges and rewards. Continue reading →

Farming and Living Off the Grid in Northern Vermont

February 26, 2011 By Nourishing Words in Environment, Farming, Food, Northeast Kingdom, Sustainability Tags: Ben Hewitt, Cabot Vermont, energy, farming off the grid, Making Supper Safe, solar, solar hot water, The Town That Food Saved, Vermont, wind energy, wind turbine 9 Comments

With appreciation, I offer another guest post from Vermont farmer and author Ben Hewitt. This post is about his family’s experience living and farming off the grid; be sure to read his recent guest posts about food safety issues on Nourishing Words.

When my wife (then girlfriend) Penny and I were looking for land, we didn’t have a lot of options. This is largely because we didn’t have a lot of money and, even then (1997), they weren’t exactly giving away farmland in northern Vermont. We spent a discouraging year tromping through swampy five-acre thickets, trying to convince ourselves that, with enough sweat equity, we could turn the land into something that felt like 50 arable acres. Still, young and naïve as we were, we didn’t fall for our own lies. Continue reading →

Anonymous Food

February 22, 2011 By Nourishing Words in Environment, Farmers Markets & CSAs, Farming, Food, Healing and Wellness, Local Food, Sustainability Tags: Anonymous Food, Big Organic, food coop, genetically modified potatoes, GMOs, industrial agriculture, meat consumption, Menu for the Future, personal action, vegan, Walmart 8 Comments

This post relates to the Week Two readings and discussion in our local Menu for the Future course. Whether you’re participating here in Concord or with a group somewhere else; following along from afar; or simply have thoughts on this topic—please comment!

Great readings this week! Articles included in the Week Two readings for Menu for the Future explored the progression of agriculture over the last 70 years or so from family farms to today’s huge, industrial farms and the resulting ecological and economic changes. Continue reading →

Food Decisions and Food Rules: Remembering the Pleasure of Eating

February 20, 2011 By Nourishing Words in Environment, Food, Healing and Wellness, Local Food, Sustainability Tags: Big Organic, Food Rules, Local Food, organic, pleasure of food 10 Comments

Good food, bad food. Healthy food, unhealthy food. Lean food, “fattening” food. Local food, food imported from distant lands. Small farms, industrial farms. Whole food, processed food.

The list goes on. Dairy-free, gluten-free, vegan, real food, sugar-free, paleo, vegetarian: All are ways, often for perfectly sound reasons, of drawing clear lines among a dizzying array of food choices. Continue reading →

Nourishing Words

on food, gardening and healthful living

Category Archives: Environment