The chickens are laying 4 or 5 eggs a day. When we're home we let them out and they roam our back yard pecking and scratching and fertilizing and occasionally cluck clucking. There were a couple of escape routes that we had to close up…
Every garden cycle we try some new vegetables in the garden and either add them to the annual rotation or abandon them because they weren't what we hoped. For example, instead of filling the garden full of Yukon Gold potatoes that you can buy in…
Bloomberg reports that farm profits are way down. It's a perfect storm of plummeting prices and a tight lending markets that make it tough to borrow money and keep the big farms running. This national story hits close to home when you read about the…
We made our 2nd annual trek to Lovitt Restaurant in Colville, Washington. We first heard of Lovitt from a Sunset magazine article from a few years ago. We were shocked to see anything from the Inland Northwest in Sunset (have you ever tried to search…
I ventured up to Peone Prarie last week to take some pictures and they just happened to be harvesting the wheat. The dust was flying and I couldn't help but think about the book I'm reading titled, "Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations" by David Montgomery.…
Vacation plans have been a little haphazard this summer. A major camping trip to Banff became a short venture to Moses Lake. What can I say, they have a great water park. Our experience at one of the finest resorts in the world while in…
We were treated to this beautiful display of eggs a couple of days ago in the coop nest.
Jane Black of Wa-po gives a run-down of her disappointing experience with heirloom tomatoes. I have eaten terrific heirloom varieties; indeed, I'm quite partial to the Black Prince, which hails from Siberia, a place one doesn't normally associate with tomatoes. But a week ago, I…
One of the icons of small scale farming takes on the latest meme that meat eating is a major problem when it comes to climate change.Key quote:If I butcher a steer for my food, and that steer has been raised on grass on my farm,…
So far this week we've canned 52 cups of jam and 12 quarts of pickles. We didn't exactly plan it this way but our vacation has become a stay-can-cation. It's that time of year to suck it up and steam up the kitchen for a…
Sunday's Seattle Times has a delightful article titled, Saving the Planet, One Block, One Small Project At a Time. It tells the story of people experimenting with micro-environmentalism, sailing vegetables to market from Sequim instead of burning fossil fuels in a truck, matching up land…
I hung out with Matthew Simpson of Wisdom Coffee in the Valley last week. He is roasting up some java goodness at his micro-roastery where he works wonders with his 12 kilo Diedrich coffee roaster. Matt is a computer programmer and he's put those skills…
OK, technically we tied for first. Our coop page is here. The other winners are listed here. Go here for a bunch of other great coop pages. Next up, the girls are going to enter their chickens in the Spokane County Fair. By the way,…
Even better than the pictures are the emails; Sorry if this email is a little long winded; I'm a girl in love with her garden...My landlord decided to put new siding the house last summer. During the project he left the siding next to the…
The Times online gives the rundown here. Here's the summary of their conclusions:The watchdog stopped short of advising consumers that buying organic produce was a waste of money but its message was clear: choosing to eat organic food will make no important difference to a…
The Baltimore City Paper has an interesting article titled "Locavore's Lament" in which Michelle Gienow expresses her dismay at discovering that not all the produce and fruit for sale at the Market is produced by the seller or sourced locally. In other words, at her…
View Larger Map A couple of months ago I floated the idea a community Garden on the two bare parcels of land pictured above. The land is owned by Inland Empire Paper and there is a history of the land being used for growing pumpkins…
One of the great things about converting our lawn into a patchwork of vegetables and flowers is the wildlife that thrives in our little ecosystem. It's a living and breathing space of birds and insects and bees. This is the most active year of wildlife…
This fascinating map is making the rounds on the internets today. It's a map from 1996 showing world coke consumption. You can see Coke's latest plans for world domination here. I wonder what would be possible if the resources that go into selling the world…
I took the above picture just east of Hutton Settlement on the hillside in late May. I was drawn to its rustic look but mystified by it's meaning and history. "DO NOT THROW ANYTHING..." I didn't think much more of it until last night when…
Reader A.Z. sent in a view from the garden he shares with five others. Here's his explanation;I live in a huge house that's been subdivided into six apartments. Of those, five are represented in our new community garden. We've got tomatoes, peppers, herbs, carrots, squash,…
Took my wife out for a birthday dinner last night at Latah Bistro. David Blaine, who runs the restaurant and writes a great blog on the local restaurant scene, is one of the important advocates for nurturing local food systems in Spokane. The restaurant was…
At least that's how I voted today in the love your Farmers' Market contest put on by Local Harvest. If you want to join in me in favoriting the Millwood Market go to here. Or if you'd like to put in a vote for your…
Ag weekly highlights a report on "electrosmog";Cell phones, wireless networks, and the developing "smart grid" utility technologies are being hailed as progress for communication and information, but the downside is an emerging public health issue.A report documenting health hazards linked to wireless radiation, called "electrosmog,"…
The Year of Plenty blog was created by Craig Goodwin in the winter of 2008 to chronicle the experiences of his family as they sought to consume everything local, used, homegrown or homemade. That journey was a wonderful introduction to people and movements in the Spokane area who are seeking the welfare of the community through local foods, farmers markets, community gardens, sustainable transportation, and more fulfilling and just patterns of consumption. In 2009 and beyond the blog will continue to report on these relationships and practices, all through the eyes of a family with young children. Craig manages the Millwood Farmers' Market, is a Master Food Preserver and Pastor at Millwood Presbyterian Church. Craig can be reached at goody2230@gmail.com
