Hunting Morel Mushrooms

Even for mushroom-hunting novices, morels are easy to identify. Hard to find, but easy to be sure you’re not getting something poisonous! They’re really well camouflaged and are very hard to see in the leaf litter around the base of of a tree. Learn more about morel hunting in Minnesota.

West Africa: Women in Agriculture

Fatou Batta, Co-Coordinator for West Africa from Groundswell International, spoke recently in Seattle about the causes of food insecurity in Africa, particularly in Burkina Faso; the role of rural women in agricultural production and food security; the challenges rural women face; and some of the solutions they have developed.

New GMO Lawsuit – This Time Suing Monsanto

Lawyers are busy trying to deal with new challenges from manufacturers of genetically engineered seed crops. There are two in the works now: one against the USDA charging that they did not handle the approval of genetically modified alfalfa in a lawful manner. The second is is a preemptive move that challenges the right of Monsanto to charge farmers whose plants have become contaminated with Monsanto’s genetically modified seeds with intellectual piracy. The Cornucopia Institute is a plaintiff in both cases, and Mark Kastel speaks about these issues.

San Francisco Public Library Lends Seeds AND Books

The San Francisco Public Library is launching a pilot program at the Potrero Branch where residents can “check out” seeds, borrow books, tap into databases, and find other information sources about urban gardening. The process is simple: residents choose from a list of vegetable seeds available in the Seed Library collection, borrow them, and plant their seeds. After they have harvested their crops, they save the seeds from the heartiest and healthiest of their harvest and return the seeds to the same branch.

Voices From the Farm: Good Fences Make Safe Pastures

Lea McEvilly, nearly lost her ewe, Mama, and lamb, Sure to Go, to the sale barn after the wandering sheep had to be brought home at the end of ropes. That didn’t stop Lea. Just barely outweighing the lamb, with no idea how to build a fence, and shorter than most of the posts, she simply did it!