Big Picture Agriculture

Garden Interview with Barbara, Part 6.

K. McDonald — Fri, 24 May 2013 12:02:09 +0000

Today is the sixth and last part of this Friday series of interviews with gardening expert, Barbara. Today, Barbara covers many subjects for us, including preservation of garden produce, her favorite tool, and her favorite gardening books. If you missed any of the previous posts in this series, they are linked below: Garden Interview With [...]

Harvesting Watercress in 1920 in Canada

K. McDonald — Thu, 23 May 2013 14:16:21 +0000

Chinese man picking watercress in High Park, [Toronto, Ontario.] Credit: John Boyd. Library and Archives Canada. May 15, 1920. (Note that Thursday is Luddite Photo Day at B.P.A.)

Federal Reserve Bank Farmland Price Reports

K. McDonald — Wed, 22 May 2013 15:18:54 +0000

The first quarter Federal Reserve farmland price reports have been released . . . 1) Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis: In this banking district in the first quarter of 2013, the value of quality farmland decreased by 2.3 percent since previous quarter, and the value of pastureland decreased by 5.1 percent from previous quarter. [...]

3 Picks: Draft Horses, Human Microbiome, Bacteria as Calculators

K. McDonald — Tue, 21 May 2013 12:20:18 +0000

Norwegian Fjord horses. 2010. Wikimedia. A roundup of agricultural-related news from around the Web. . . 1) Farming with Draft Horses in Vermont: Anne Raver for the NYTs wrote a lovely article about a couple who farm with draft horses in Vermont — as do 400,000 other farming operations in North America. The reasons are [...]

3 Picks: E15 and Ozone, Bug Protein, FAO Predictions

K. McDonald — Mon, 20 May 2013 12:18:26 +0000

source: wikimedia Readers, as posting is always lighter here during the summertime, I’m switching to a different news format as of today. From here on out, for the summer, you can expect more frequent news posts such as this one, instead of the long list that I’ve been providing on Mondays. Here’s to a fabulous [...]

Denver Botanic Gardens Mid-May 2013

K. McDonald — Sun, 19 May 2013 15:37:54 +0000

I made up this photo collage following a Friday visit to the Denver Botanic Gardens. I’ve always liked to use “toy” cameras such as the Holga and Lubitel but it’s not worth messing around with film anymore, so recently I paid (very little) for a Japanese keychain digital camera that looks like this: As you [...]

Barbara’s Garden Interview, Part 5.

K. McDonald — Fri, 17 May 2013 16:31:12 +0000

Readers, note that today’s portion of this 6-part interview with gardening expert, Barbara, reveals how she approached starting a new garden after moving to a small town along the Columbia River in Washington State. Since she has established so many gardens in her lifetime in so many different locations, I think her priorities and the [...]

Brisbane Poultry Farm 1918

K. McDonald — Thu, 16 May 2013 14:22:16 +0000

Poultry farm at Mt Gravatt, Brisbane, Australia. c. 1918. Queensland State Archives. (Note that Thursday is Luddite Photo Day at B.P.A.)

Sugar and Salt

K. McDonald — Wed, 15 May 2013 16:32:18 +0000

“Sugar cane pressing with a water buffalo.” Okinawa, Japan. June 2004. Photo credit: Flickr CC via Globalism Pictures This post is to point you towards a great photo series on sugar and salt from “The Big Picture” over at the Boston Globe. The series shows us the labor involved so that these two food staples [...]

Developing Global Agricultural Small Scale and Urban Food Production Systems

K. McDonald — Tue, 14 May 2013 17:20:43 +0000

Last week I had the opportunity to visit with Colorado State faculty member, Dr. Ajay Jha, who travels extensively to help create ideal small farming operations. His primary objective is to find profitable models for sustainable, nutritious, local urban and small acreage food production. He feels this is where the need is since half of [...]