Chelsea Green Blog
Nature & Environment
The Best Books for Makers
Books for Makers: Best Gifts for DIY Lovers In the age of computer-assisted design, mass production, and machine precision, the traditional skills of the maker or craftsperson are hard to find. Yet the desire for well-made and beautiful objects from the hands (and mind) of a skilled artisan is just as present today as it…
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Ten Facts About the Water We Use
Most people have a basic understanding of the importance of water conservation. We’re taught to turn the faucet off while brushing our teeth and not to try and take shorter showers. However, we might not be aware of just how important conserving water is, how it impacts our lives, and how much we need it…
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So You Want to Be a Mycologist
Due to the wave of ‘mycophelia’ occurring in North America, educational workshops that cover the basics of mushroom and fungal life are not hard to come by. In his book In Search of Mycotopia, author Doug Bierend takes the reader and aspiring mycologist with him to one of his first mycology classes – filled with…
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A Different Way of Working
While it’s true that machines can make life easier, they don’t necessarily make it better. Robert Somerville, author of Barn Club, understood this fact. That’s why he decided to gather a team of volunteers to come together and build a barn the old fashioned way – with a little sweat, tears, and his hands. The…
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Magic Mushrooms: A History
When the word “mushroom” comes to mind, “magic” isn’t far behind. But what started this almost immediate association between mushrooms and illicit drugs? While there are some truly magic mushrooms out there in the world, not all of them cause LSD trips when ingested, yet that is the common connection people make. Doug Bierend explores…
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Say Vegan Cheese! The Basics of Vegan Cheesemaking
Whether you eat dairy products or not, the vegan cheese recipes will surely knock your socks off. Some people even say they’re better than regular cheese. With a little fermentation knowledge (and practice), you’ll be making delicious vegan cheese in no time! To get started, all you need is a culture starter recipe (with this…
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The Barn: Cathedrals to Nature
When renowned craftsman Robert Somerville moved to Hertfordshire, in southern England, he discovered an unexpected landscape rich with wildlife and elm trees. Nestled within London’s commuter belt, this wooded farmland inspired Somerville, a lifelong woodworker, to revive the ancient tradition of hand-raising barns. This is a tale of forgotten trees, a local landscape, and an…
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Fungi: All Around and Among Us
Fungi are fundamental to life. As decomposers, they are critical to the formation and sustenance of soils and ecosystems. As endlessly innovative chemists, they devise and secrete enzymes that can break down a vast variety of materials, mitigate bacterial and viral infections, and interact—for better or worse—with the bodies and brains of animals that consume…
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The Evolution of Tools: Rock, Paper, Scissors
We’ve all played Rock, Paper, Scissors; whether it’s to decide who’s goes first, who’s doing the dishes, or simply a way to pass the time– we all know the rules. While it’s a child’s game on the surface level, Nick Kary gleans a deeper meaning to this game of tools. The following excerpt is from Material…
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Year in Review: The Best From 2020
As we look back on the year, we’ve started to take stock of what our community has found most useful. If there’s one thing (or two) we know about our readers, it’s that you love growing food and getting your hands dirty. Take a spin back through our top posts from 2020. Did your favorite…
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Chelsea Green’s Audiobook Gift Guide
We all have one of those people on our gift lists. You know the type: the hardcore hobbyist with very specific taste who is sick of socks and isn’t all that into reading. Lucky for you, some of our most popular (and interesting) books also come in audiobook form! Get your loved-ones the gift of storytelling and knowledge…
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The Energy Consumption Crisis
At the rate humanity is currently burning fossil fuels, we will create an uninhabitable earth long before we run out. So if the pressure of a finite resource doesn’t push us towards a renewable energy revolution, what will? And what will this revolution look like? This is an excerpt from A Small Farm Future by Chris…
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How Loving Labor Leads to a Brighter Future: Sourcing a Solution
Drawing on a vast range of sources from across a multitude of disciplines, A Small Farm Future analyses the complex forces that make societal change inevitable; explains how low-carbon, locally self-reliant agrarian communities and loving labor can empower us to successfully confront these changes head on; and explores the pathways for delivering this vision politically. Challenging…
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What Does a Sustainable Future Look Like?
In a time of looming uncertainties, what would a truly resilient society look like? Farmer and social scientist Chris Smaje argues that organizing society around small-scale farming offers the soundest, most sustainable, and most reasonable response to climate change and other crises of civilization—and will yield humanity’s best chance at survival. The following excerpt is…
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All Hail the Beaver, Mighty Linchpin of the Natural World
Ben Goldfarb and Derek Gow have the conversation you didn’t know you needed. This interview originally appeared on Literary Hub. The beaver — yes, really, the beaver — is Animalia’s most generous member. By building woody dams and engineering ponds, beavers furnish habitat for just about every creature that flies, walks, and swims in North…
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A Man, a Mission, and a Grumpy Beaver
Derek Gow knows a thing or two about beavers; as a farmer-turned-ecologist, he has spent close to 20 years reintroducing beavers to the wilds of Britain. Rewilding is no easy task, a large part of the process includes importing, quarantining, and assisting in the beavers’ reestablishment. And after so many years, Gow has met quite…
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Beavers: A Short History
If you’re not already a “Beaver Nut”, Derek Gow has a couple of reasons you should be: Firstly, land that housed beavers was historically preferred by British settlers for its natural abundance. Secondly, beavers show a lot of love and attention to their very cute babies. Finally, they’re crucial to the well being of our…
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Mesquite: Where There’s Smoke
Gary Paul Nabhan is an internationally celebrated nature writer, food and farming activist, and proponent of conserving the links between biodiversity and cultural diversity. He holds the W.K. Kellogg Endowed Chair in Sustainable Food Systems at the University of Arizona Southwest Center, where he works with students, faculty, and non-profits to build a more just,…
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A Conversation with Paul Hawken
Paul Hawken is an environmentalist, entrepreneur, author, and activist who has dedicated his life to environmental sustainability and changing the relationship between business and the environment. He is a member of Ray Anderson’s original EcoDreamTeam. The following is an excerpt from Mid-Course Correction Revisited by Ray C. Anderson and John A. Lanier. It has been…
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6 Books That Bring Hope to Life
Books can bring comfort, happiness, and most important: hope. Let these books fill you with inspirational stories of perseverance, hope, and innovation. Following the collapse of Ireland’s Celtic Tiger economy, social activist Ruairí McKiernan questions whether he should join the mounting number of emigrants searching for greater opportunity elsewhere. McKiernan embarks on a hitchhiking odyssey…
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A History of Electricity and Its Impact on Planetary and Human Health
The story of the invention and use of electricity has been told before, but never from an environmental point of view. An assumption of safety, and the conviction that electricity has no negative impact on life, are by now so entrenched in the human psyche that new research and testimony by those who’ve been injured…
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The Spirit of Hitching
Gone are the days where you can stick out your thumb to catch a carefree ride. For a long time though, hitchhiking was considered normal and even reasonably safe. Even more, it gave people a chance to connect with strangers, share stories, and spend a bit of time in someone else’s shoes. While the days…
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Enter Biochar: Reduce Your Pet’s Carbon Pawprint
Many carbon-conscious pet owners are aware of the non-recyclable waste that comes with owning a pet. Between kitty litter, puppy pads, and all those plastic dog bags, the waste adds up. Enter biochar. Imagine a world where the puppy pad is so odorless that your dog wants to sleep on it and the kitty litter…
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The 5 Rules of Lean Thinking
Surviving the Future is a story drawn from the fertile ground of the late David Fleming’s extraordinary Lean Logic: A Dictionary for the Future and How to Survive It. That hardback consists of four hundred and four interlinked dictionary entries, inviting readers to choose their own path through its radical vision. Fleming’s long-time collaborator Shaun Chamberlin…
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The Power of the Mesquite Tree
The miraculous abundance provided by the mesquite tree continues to astound us. It offers a plethora of culinary possibilities. It has the power to cure, to shelter, to elicit profound emotions, and to connect us to our environment and our neighbors in a way we may not have thought about before. The following excerpt is…
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