Gail Nickel-Kailing, February 18th, 2014 
Many women in farming have had to develop their own production techniques, their own farming methods, and even their own animal breeds and bloodlines. And in the US, we’ve seen women become experts, teaching other young women to farm, and leading the food movement in small livestock production equal to or even beyond the contribution of academics with little or no field experience. We highlight four women farmers raising small livestock (one of whom has retired after 44 years of sheep farming) to recognize the commitments they have made to what is essentially “women’s work” – that is, small ruminant husbandry.
Read more: Women Hold Up Half the Sky*
Gail Nickel-Kailing, February 17th, 2014 
Why would I make noodles when I can pop into my neighborhood grocery and get them for less than $2 a pound? And that question has a logical answer: Because if I make them, they are fresh, and I know exactly what goes into them.
Read more: Noodles: Like Mama Used to Make
Gail Nickel-Kailing, December 2nd, 2013 
Erick and Wendy Haakenson, and their son David and his wife Kristin, are farming in a floodplain skirted by the Snoqualmie River. An active farm nearly for 25 years, Jubilee Biodynamic Farm is home to one of the largest and oldest Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs in the state. Jubilee is an intensively managed, diversified farm comprised of 14 acres of fruits, vegetables, and grains and around 35 acres devoted to beef cattle, pigs, sheep, chickens, and ducks.
Read more: This Much and No More – Jubilee Biodynamic Farm: Small is Beautiful
Gail Nickel-Kailing, October 30th, 2013 
In a region that once supported 480 dairy farms and a rural agricultural landscape, now fragmented by 40 years of residential development, Nash Huber has pieced together 450 acres of rich farmland, almost all of it leased. Through the use of land trusts, restrictive zoning, conservation easements, and leasehold agreements, it has been protected from future development.
Read more: Nash’s Organic Produce – Making the 100-Mile Diet An Everyday Choice
Gail Nickel-Kailing, September 27th, 2013 
Whether it’s the urge to start a small bakery to sell a better loaf to the community or just a wish to make and eat a better loaf of bread than that available at the grocery store, the poor quality and poor nutritional state of our daily bread sends hundreds to gatherings like the Kneading Conference West to learn more.
Read more: The Business of Bread and Baking: Kneading Conference West
Gail Nickel-Kailing, August 26th, 2013 
Quinoa, a pseudo-grain closely related to a North American weedy plant, Lamb’s quarters (Chenopodium album), was first domesticated about 5000 years ago on the high plains surrounding Lake Titicaca. August 12-14, 3102, researchers, seed breeders, and growers from 22 countries, the US, and Canada participated in International Quinoa Research Symposium, a platform for debate over access to seeds and seed genetics and an information exchange about research projects around the world.
Read more: Quinoa: The Passion and The Politics
The Snoqualmie Valley Farmers Cooperative, this week made their first delivery of organic produce to 21 Acres Food Hub to be distributed to 100 low-income, home-bound seniors in Seattle.
Read more: New Snoqualmie Valley Farmers Co-op Delivers Organic Produce to Seniors
Walk past any college laboratory and you could probably identify the subject at hand by the smell. The chemistry lab reeks of chlorine and sulfur, the biology lab sends off whiffs of formaldehyde, and even the botany lab smells earthy, fruity, and sometimes sweet. But never have such wonderful odors come from a lab until you pass something called the Bread Lab!
Read more: The Mad Baker in the Bread Lab
Freshly ground whole grain flour is alive – and lively – according to Dr. Steven Jones, WSU Wheat Breeder and founder of The Bread Lab. Age, processing, and chemicals will “kill” your flour, and will give you flour that is “nothing of interest other than to carry other flavors.”
Read more: The Bread Lab: Why Your Flour Should Be Lively
I am a novice baker trying my darnedest to learn how to make good bread. I would rather have bought a book by Michael Pollan called Baked. In his book, Cooked Michael talks about his time with guru bakers, farmers, and millers. He reminds us that to make good bread you only need a few basics: flour, water, salt, yeast, time, and heat. Here’s our take on local and regional grain and flour, and baking bread.
Read more: Dishing on Pollan’s Cooked
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Two Videos You Shouldn't Miss: The Web of Good Food and Human Health
Dr. Jill Clapperton, Rhizoterra, on Soil Health
Biodiversity in plant communities can enhance the well-being of soil, plants, and animals, and ultimately, human beings. That’s good health in the broadest sense.
Daryl Lasilla, Montana Grain Farmer
Daryl Lasilla, soft-spoken organic grain farmer, grows buckwheat, barley, spelt, and lentils in just outside of Great Falls, in north central Montana.
Click here to see more videos.
Spring is Just Around the Corner! Brown Swiss Calves, Hokah, MN
(Click the image for a larger version: 6MB)
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