“In the long view, no nation is any healthier than its children or more prosperous than its farmers.” -President Harry Truman Childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the past 30 years. Children and adolescents who are obese are more likely to be obese as adults and are therefore …Read More about Why Changing the Conversation About Food Matters
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From Paper to Pixels
The Edible Learning Lab – all 274 lessons – are now online! More than 3 years ago, Dave and I sat around a campfire in Sedona painting the broad strokes of what would become the Edible Learning Lab and even then we dreamed of it being available online to teachers all over the world. We …Read More about From Paper to Pixels
Crop Rotation Log
Keeping track of your crop rotation plan is a good practice to get into. At Modern Steader we started tracking our crop rotation schedule with a simple Crop Rotation Log to allow us to plan ahead and work efficiently. You can download the PDF of the Crop Rotation Log and fill in the blanks or …Read More about Crop Rotation Log
Building the Raised Planters
Building the Raised Planters for the Edible Learning Lab Our raised planters in the Edible Learning Lab are custom designed for our specific needs. We use short legs so our younger students have good access to the planters. We recommend between 24″ and 30″ for the leg height. We also use shallow planters using 2×8 …Read More about Building the Raised Planters
How Compost Works
To understand how compost works, we must first understand what compost is… Compost – noun 1. The product resulting from the controlled biological decomposition of organic material that has been sanitized through the generation of heat and stabilized to the point that it is beneficial to plant growth. And how is compost produced? (From the US …Read More about How Compost Works
Why Compost Heats Up
There are two primary types of composting: Cold composting and hot composting. The most common form of composting most of us will see at the household or small community level will be a cold composting process that resembles what we find in nature. It is a passive system of composting where organic matter is simply …Read More about Why Compost Heats Up
The Value of Compost
Composting, especially in this day and age, just makes good sense. The practice represents a responsible way to handle waste and reduce our burden on landfills and the environment. Of course, it has a host of benefits for the garden as well. In the Lab, we focus our discussion on several of the core benefits …Read More about The Value of Compost
Composting Methods
Composting is a process that offers a variety of approaches, each having their own merits. Often, small-scale farmers and home gardeners will employ more than one method for composting waste from the kitchen, yard, and garden to minimize waste and recapture those valuable nutrients so they can be reapplied for the benefit of the next …Read More about Composting Methods
The Value of Worm Castings
Worm castings are one of the amazing products from Mother Nature that serve a multitude of purposes, some active and others more passive in their impact on the food production process. Consider this, composting with worms can reduce the waste that makes it into the landfill by 30% for a single household. That would include …Read More about The Value of Worm Castings
Seed Saving by Traits and Characteristics
Saving seed is nothing new, in fact, it’s been a standard practice of farmers for generations. Saving seed helps to contain costs and was seen as a way to maintain control over the process. It’s an expression of self-reliance really. Though there has been a shift in recent years, seed saving is still a viable …Read More about Seed Saving by Traits and Characteristics