Sunday, February 16, 2014

The Modern Farmer Magazine


There are a lot of gardening/farming magazines out there. Each have their niche audience - Urban Farm (people with less space and more money), Mother Earth News (people with more space and less money), Organic Gardening (people with more space and more money…and chablis…JK).  I've tried  all the above, and they are all good for different purposes. But my wife just brought home something that really caught my eye.

The Modern Farmer instantly caught my attention. Very well designed magazine with nice "eye feel." Seems like the Dwell of farming/gardening. Great photos and graphics abound. The covers almost seem more like what you would find on an art publication. Very eye catching. The articles range from product reviews to profiles of farmers all over the world…including the third world. There are also more scientifically focused articles which focus on deeper issues associated with food production. There are articles on farmers market ettiquette and articles on wasting food. The latter featured some pretty cool websites or apps. A Scottish one caught my attention. It's whole  purpose was to find recipes that would utilize whatever you had in your fridge. Kinda cool. Maybe useful. And it's Scottish, so…It's gotta be good. Other articles focus on Corn Mazes, growing in winter, and eating roadkill.

The website gives a feel for what the magazine has to offer: http://modernfarmer.com .

The next issue will feature a look at the reindeer ranching Sami in Finland and northern Scandinavia. Already looking forward to that one!

Saturday, February 8, 2014

Spring Is Coming...I hope

Soil Testing

Finally got our soil tested. Now I just have to figure out what it means. You pack up a few cubic inches of dirt - from various parts of your garden. Send it off to the VA Tech Soil lab with a 10 or so bucks and a few days later you get an email with all this info.