DIG IN
The latest articles from Chelsea Green and our authors: offering tips and techniques about how you can bring our books to life in your kitchen, backyard, or community.
Relax and Refresh with Country Elderberry Wine
There’s really nothing better than sitting down after a long day with a glass of wine and the sun setting in the distance. Unless of course you foraged for the berries for said wine, crushed them by hand, added in some sugar, water, and citric acid, bottled it up, and waited six months before you…
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How to Make Fermented Farinata: Italian Chickpea Flour Cake
What is Farinata? We’re glad you asked! Farinata is an Italian fried cake made from chickpea flour. Sanor Katz describes it as “a luscious, light, and creamy treat that is almost like a fluffy omelet or soufflé.” The following is an excerpt from Sandor Katz’s Fermentation Journeys by Sandor Ellix Katz. It has been adapted for the…
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Easy Cheeses to Make at Home
Have you always wanted to make cheeses at home, but have never known where to start? Good news! Homemade cheese doesn’t have to be complicated, all you really need is a handful of ingredients and time. The following is an excerpt from Sandor Katz’s Fermentation Journeys by Sandor Ellix Katz. It has been adapted for…
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Energy and Transition
The new threshold for green building is not just low energy, it’s net-zero energy. In The New Net Zero, sustainable architect Bill Maclay charts the path for designers and builders interested in exploring green design’s new frontier net-zero-energy structures that produce as much energy as they consume and are carbon neutral. The following is an excerpt…
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To Garden is to be Resilient
Our gardens provide many things; food for our tables, flowers for our loved ones, even a pleasant way to spend sunny afternoons—but there’s so much more we can gain from our gardens. While we’re planting, weeding, and watering, we’re doing so much more than growing. We are building resilience, from the ground up. The following…
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When it All Comes Together: The Barn Raising
This is the moment the Barn Club has been working towards: the barn raising. As Robert J. Somerville mentions in this excerpt, in modern times the task of barn raising has been given to bigger, stronger machines. But there is something deeply fulfilling about using your own two hands, along with the hands of others,…
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Becoming Farmers
In Our Wild Farming Life, Lynn and Sandra recount their experiences as they rebuild their new home and work out what kind of farmers they want to be. They learn how to work with Highland cattle, become part of the crofting community and begin to truly understand how they can farm in harmony with nature…
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An Era of Climate Chaos: Finding Hope
Scientists maintain that a mere 2 percent increase in the carbon content of the planet’s soils could offset 100 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions going into the atmosphere. But how could this be accomplished? What would it cost? Is it even possible? The following is an excerpt from Grass, Soil, Hope by Courtney White. It has been…
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Say (Vegan) Cheese! Making Spicy Hard Cheese
For the next post in our vegan cheese series we’re trying our hand at spicy hard cheeses! While the base and first few steps of this recipe are very similar to the vegan cheese spread in the last post, there are few extra steps that’ll test your fermentation and cheese-making skills. If this sounds a bit…
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How to Brew Amazing Beer in Vast Quantities
Wouldn’t it be cool if, after some time and practice, you’re known as the Beer Brewing Master? Your friends gather at your house every weekend to try your latest ferment, eyes filled with wonder. Your homebrewing skills unmatched by all. Sandor Ellix Katz, author of Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods,…
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Finding Small Silences
Admired by a pantheon of America’s greatest writers and considered one of our most prolific essayists, Hoagland is in a class of his own. He came of age during our country’s literary heyday, learned to write the old-fashioned way — through direct experience in love, travel, and immersion in the natural world — and then…
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The Ultimate Guide to Garden Planning
It’s that time of year again: garden planning season! If you’re looking for the best tips, tricks, and inspiration for planning your garden, you’re in the right place. From using lowers for pest control to permanent beds to choosing a site, we’ve got the reads you need! 10 Easy-to-Grow Flowers for Pest Control It’s difficult…
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Carrot Cake Applesauce Muffins
If you’re looking for a kid-approved muffin recipe that is just as healthy as it is delicious, then look no further. Leah Webb, author and master chef, has found the perfect substitutes for sugar, grains, and dairy for these delicious muffins. Packed with nutrients AND flavor, they’re the perfect breakfast side or snack. No matter…
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How-To Turn Sap and Syrup into Beer, Wine, and Liquor
As much as we love to drizzle (or drown, let’s be honest) our pancakes in maple syrup, you may be surprised to learn that a variety of drinks are made with tree sap, with results that will far surpass your typical sugar buzz. Several companies have ventured into the world of sap related alcoholic beverages.…
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Is Fasting Good for Your Heart?
Fasting for health isn’t a new concept; people have been talking about why (or why not) to fast for years. The history of fasting goes far beyond this, though, all the way back to our primitive ancestors. Thankfully, we will never have to go days or weeks between catching our food; however, studies show that…
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The Road to Lynbreck Croft
Lynn and Sandra left their friends, family, and jobs in England to travel north to Scotland to find a bit of land that they could call their own. They had in mind keeping a few chickens, a kitchen garden, and renting out some camping space; instead, they fell in love with Lynbreck Croft—150 acres of…
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So What Exactly IS a Croft?
If you’re an American, you may have never heard of a “croft.” Before we published Our Wild Farming Life, a number of our employees didn’t know what a croft was either. Thankfully, Sandra Baer and Lynn Cassells give us a rundown of what exactly a croft is, and a brief history of crofting, too. The following is…
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Eating Okra All Winter
Okra is an extremely productive plant and, if you choose to grow it, you’ll enjoy the fruits of your labor all year round! Let the winter weather inspire you to try okra in a different way—dehydrated and fermented. The following is an excerpt from The Whole Okra by Chris Smith. It has been adapted for…
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The Phases of Composting
Although the stages of composting are very closely intertwined, each separate one has its own value and needs to be nurtured accordingly. The materials used go through several transformations: physical, biological, and chemical. Understanding each phase of this process is the first step in creating the best nutrients for your plants. The following is an…
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Growing Cold-Hardy Cranberries
Cranberries! These hardy little berries are great to grow if you live in a colder climate. Authors Scott and Allyson say “It’s pretty amazing that this small fruit, which is too sour to eat out of hand, was seen as a profitable pomological fruit considering that it not only lives but thrives in some of…
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Tree Sap: Nature’s Energy Drink
There’s nothing better than kicking back after a long day with a nice cool glass of tree sap. Sounds sticky, but you might be surprised to hear that sap from maple, birch, or walnut trees is comprised mostly of water with 2 percent or less sugar and loaded with minerals, nutrients, enzymes, antioxidants, and more—an…
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A Feast to Warm Your Soul
Spring is just around the corner, but winter is still at our doorstep. What better way to stay warm and positive than a gathering centered around good food and drink? Here we offer culinary inspiration: Spicebush Duck Legs from Marie Viljoen’s Forage, Harvest, Feast, to be coupled with hot, mulled Wassail from Jereme Zimmerman’s Brew…
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Making the Great Resignation Even Greater
People are quitting their jobs and retiring at an alarming rate all over the country. Dubbed “the great resignation,” this change in the American workforce is causing shortages and supply chain issues in many sectors, from healthcare to retail. The following is an excerpt from Scanned by Nick Corbishley. It has been adapted for the…
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On the Hippie Trail
From a young age, Simon Fairlie decided to go off the beaten path, also known as “the hippie trail.” After attending an all-boys boarding school, Fairlie decides to skip attending Cambridge and explore the world. The following is an excerpt from Going to Seed by Simon Fairlie. It has been adapted for the web. ‘If you don’t…
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The Deadly Politics of the Great Game for Oil
In 1947, Daniel Dennett, America’s sole master spy in the Middle East (code name “Carat”), was dispatched to Saudi Arabia to study the route of the proposed Trans-Arabian Pipeline. The plane carrying him to Ethiopia went down, killing everyone on board. In Follow the Pipelines, investigative journalist Charlotte Dennett, digs into the mystery of her…
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