New research published in the Yale Environment Review reports one-third of the topsoil in the US Midwest and NE is now gone, lost to erosion, compaction and salination. This has serious implications for all of us because our civilization relies on and is defined by a narrow selection of grain crops (wheat, corn, barley, oats) and soy on which we depend for the core of our food supply. Read more HERE.

There are thousands of varieties of potatoes, and they fall into several general types. In this video, the main types of potatoes are illustrated and described, and related to common potato varieties we grow in our gardens. For general understanding this will give you a good start.

Regenerative agriculture is all about soil: plants and animals putting carbon and nutrients back into degraded soil to rebuild life, absorb carbon and generate healthy food. Australian farmers are learning healthy soil is essential for healthy food. This short overview of regenerative agriculture is a great introduction to living soil: soil full of life has always been the foundation for growing food sustainably.

A family flower garden can grow into a commercial garden if the whole family gets involved. Here is a lovely example – one woman’s home flower production site in upstate New York, with a climate very much like ours in coastal Newfoundland. Watch the video here!

This video is all about how to deal with slugs in the vegetable garden using organic methods. Slugs can be disastrous, but if you use the 3 strategies outlined in this video, you’ll be able to get rid of slugs sooner than you think, or at least lessen their damage. The great thing is that you don’t have to buy anything for slug control. Instead, you can make the most of free and readily available materials around you to help win the war against slugs.

Pest control and prevention is a multi-layered subject. Huw Richards shows you the natural and organic method he uses to control pests in the garden, as well as how he reduces disease issues. He also gives 5 really useful and easy tips to help get you started so you can have a more resilient vegetable garden.

Salt beef was the staple food of British sailors for centuries. We still eat salted naval beef or salt pork with our Jigg’s Dinner, here in Newfoundland and Labrador, continuing that tradition. Salting in barrels was a principal way that fish and meat were preserved or shipped for sale, before frozen foods became available. Salt cod, dried on flakes then salted and put into barrels was the premier export product that connected Newfoundland and the Grand Banks with the product

Our wonderful Canadian public broadcaster CBC has recently posted a list of ten Canadian seed companies. For the full list of almost one hundred, visit www.seeds.ca, but here is a darned good start (thanks, CBC) on where to find good, local seeds: https://www.cbc.ca/life/home/10-canadian-seed-companies-that-you-can-still-order-from-online-1.5533464

You’ve heard the word before, so what is hydroponics and how does it work? In this blog, we’ll discuss all things hydroponic, from its origins to its potential to feed a future spaceward-bearing civilization! We’ll dive into everything from environmental conditioning to water reduction, environmental impacts and nutrient sourcing. Let’s start by painting a general picture of hydroponics. Hydroponics is most simply defined as the practice of growing both edible and non-edible

Meat, fish, fruits and some vegetables and herbs were traditionally dried to keep them edible for months or even years, and to allow them to be shipped greater distances to be sold. Here in Newfoundland, cod and capelin were dried and salted for export and local consumption, but many other methods of drying have been used by various cultures over past centuries. Pemmican Pemmican is a concentrated mixture of fat and protein used as a nutritious food. Historically, it was an i