• Spring Chicks, The Natural Way

    Spring Chicks, The Natural Way

    This marks the start of our sixth flock to date and the fifth spring that we enter raising chooks as chicks. What’s different about this year however is that for the first time we hatched our…

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  • The Total System Approach and Biodiversity

    The total system approach discourages “treat-the-system” applications that don’t provide sustainable solutions for ongoing pest management that mimics nature. The key to sustainable biodiversity within agroecosystems denotes a balance of natural effectiveness by indigenous populations, multitrophic…

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  • The Central Texas Bioregion Is Bumping With Biodiversity

    Travis County in Central Texas is 30°18′ north latitude and 97°45′ west longitude. The Texas Northern Blackland Prairies make up the majority of my bioregion but the Edward’s Plateau Woodland, Llano Uplift, Limestone Cut Plains and…

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  • Polyculture Farming Must Serve As The Foundation

    Last January I went on a road trip across California with my brother Adam in my Aunt and Uncle’s VW Camper. I remember the awe we experienced as we gazed out the window at hundreds of…

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  • Citrus fruit from rom my garden

    Sustainable Opportunities in Central Texas

    Hi y’all! Hope 2017 has kicked off to a great start! I’m super excited to update you on all of the great sustainable transitions that have happened in the past few months! For those of you…

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  • Chicken Flock Transitions

    It’s nearly December already and we haven’t had our first freeze yet. But, there is a chance that the predictions may be wrong and we have one tonight. For the past 2 years we have had…

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  • How a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Measures Up With Energy Flows For Our Food System

    Figure 1. Life Cycle Assessment (Anctil and Fthenakis 2012). Understanding methodologies in calculating the energy flows of food systems is an essential part of making systems more sustainable and efficient. Is a good tool to measure the environmental…

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  • Cover Crops for Central Texas

    Three cover crops that are perfect for the soil in the Blackland Prairies ecoregion in Central Texas, include buckwheat, peas, and crimson clover. The benefits of peas and clover cover crops include adding nitrogen back into the soil. Peas…

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  • The Dust Bowl Demanded Sustainable Agriculture

    Our first records of weather tracking from the U.S. Weather Bureau were from 1898 for relative humidity, winds and temp. It wasn’t until radiosonde initiatives were launched in 1938 that we were able to test temperature,…

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  • If You Plant You Will Grow

    January, the time when we plan new beginnings. I hope this year, your new beginnings include growing plants! Now is the time to be ordering seeds, here are a few companies that you may like! Mother…

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  • Mid Summer Garden

    Well I don’t think I can ever get caught up in the backyard these days! My gardens have become so large that I’m constantly cultivating the soil! It seems as if just as I’ve finished one thing,…

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  • SNAP, WIC, and Nutrition Build Community Based Food Systems and Food Security

    Turning community supported agriculture into agriculture-supported community would allow community food security to thrive within the local food movement (Ackerman-Leist 2013). Community food security targets the local population and strives to, “make healthy, fresh food available to…

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  • Spring Fever!

    Here in Texas we’ve experienced spring weather for quite some time. You can really tell it’s spring when all the plants are blooming like crazy and there is green growth everywhere! My lemon balm is crazy…

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  • Benefits of Using the Polyface Farm Model in Central Texas

    Organic Red Hard Wheat growing in our largest garden bed and planted as the first crop to build the soil! We purchased this seed from Thayer Feed and Seed LLC  at the Mother Earth News Fair…

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  • Spring Ahead Locavores!

    Spring ahead and become a locavore (Strolling of the Heifers, Inc. 2014)! But apparently Texas is last on the locavore index according to this Vermont organization. Although it’s slightly outdated too, but Vermont is a tiny state…

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  • Support these Organic Farms to Help Transform Our Foodshed

    My bioregion has a lot of growth opportunities and has made great strides within our local foodshed. The biggest sustainable access that anyone can have in relation to their local foodshed is to grow their own produce, like…

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  • Moral Persuader

    Greetings!  It’s been such a long time. So let’s catch up. Well I’m almost done with my second graduate class at Green Mountain College in Vermont. Love the program, Master of Science in Sustainable Food Systems….

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  • Missing Emma

    As we bury our fifth chicken we can’t help but feel loss. She was such a pleasure to watch frolicking on her own, catching grasshoppers, eating grapes, scratching in the dirt… Our backyard hens provide entertainment,…

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  • Bumblebees & Birds

    Sometimes the best things that grow in your garden are the biggest surprises. Like this Peppermint Zinnia with a streak of solid red. How unique and beautiful it is. The butterflies and bumblebees love it too!…

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  • Summertime Primetime

    And the livin’s easy…actually far from it! Especially if you know us and our ridiculous determination. My 35th birthday was amazing! Thank you everyone for your thoughtful wishes and splendid gifts of joy and blessings! I received a…

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