A study by psychologists at Cornell offers great wisdom for those of us caught up in hopes of the new and next "thing" to buy. Stephen Messenger at Treehugger describes the study;It turns out, in this age of consumerism and gadgetry, that all this stuff…
I wrote yesterday about the very current and deep resonance of community gardens and other such phenomenon across the country. Whether it's in urban Detroit or semi-rural East Valley Spokane, these kinds of projects are popping up like a contagious virus.We had our work day…
Someone over at the sister site at Down to Earth NW asked recently if the "View From Your Garden" Series is still on. Here's the proposal I made last Spring: Andrew Sullivan the uber-blogger has a series on his site called “The View From Your…
We've got a big work day for the Pumpkin Patch Community Garden today and as we've made preparations it's become apparent that community gardens are very of the moment in American culture. I was startled into this recognition yesterday when we went to pick up…
There is a local farmer putting on a class to help people get up to speed on raising chickens and it comes highly recommended by a reader of the blog. This beginner class is designed for those considering raising their own chickens or for those…
I'm usually not too compelled by undercover videos at factory farms, but the one embedded below from the Human Society really got to me. It shows the mistreatment of chickens at Rose Acre Farms and Rembrandt Enterprises. (Notice how in the case of Rembrandt, farm…
I have been enjoying Jamie Oliver's kinetic whirlwind act on his Food Revolution show. The first two episodes have chronicled his efforts to transform the lunch foods on offer at an elementary school in Huntington, West Virginia, the supposed unhealthiest city in America. It is...
I've never been to Glacier National Park and I've heard it's just beautiful. My urgency in wanting to some day soon make a visit was increased yesterday when I saw a report that the park had just lost 2 more glaciers to warming temps and…
If you've been following along here in prepping for this year's garden you have some seeds starting to pop up. If you were a little overeager you probably have some plants that are getting quite large and the roots are overgrowing their little cubicle. If…
I mentioned a while back that the recently passed health care legislation will require fast food restaurants to post calorie counts for menu items, including the combo meals. I speculated that there may be some menu tweaking that goes on before the law goes into…
There is a water battle brewing in Eastern Washington north of Pasco and it looks like the feedlots are winning. As E&E publishing reports it;At issue is a proposal by Easterday Ranches Inc. to build a feedlot for 30,000 head of cattle that would withdraw…
Came across this moose tonight while we were out on a hike near home. Also came across about dozen deer. Spring is in the air.
A Seattle native has fallen for the Lilac City. Reflecting on a recent visit he says;I was struck by the familiarity of the city's scale. Spokane reminds me of the 1950s-'70s Seattle where I grew up: a gorgeous natural setting, an urban zone that didn't…
Don Carli has a provocative article up at the Mediashift site. His basic premise is that "going paperless" may not be as virtuous as we think it is, given the far reaching environmental impacts of digital media;Public opinion polls show that concern about the environment…
I've had a couple of inquiries lately about people interested in either promoting their products or wanting to know about products for grinding your own wheat to make flour so I thought I would combine the two interests on this post.When we set out to…
View Larger Map Due to construction on 2nd Ave. this summer the Downtown Spokane Farmers' Market will be moving a couple blocks to the south of its long time location in the parking lot of the Covenant Church. The site, just south of 1-90 freeway…
Picture: Fritillaria pudica (yellow bell, yellow fritillary) taken two weeks ago in Spokane Valley. I'm in a season of doing some long form writing, working on a writing project with a publisher. I've been drawn to the idea of being a writer since I was…
The Times Online in England has an article up reporting on a 2 year study on the impact of Jamie OIiver's efforts to improve school lunches on test scores. Eating Jamie Oliver’s school dinners improves children’s performance in tests, according to researchers who claim that…
Just checking in about the seed starting calendar I put together earlier in the Spring. So far we're right on schedule. We're just about 7 weeks out from the last freeze date here in the Spokane area so everything is planted in the greenhouse except…
The USDA's Economic Research Service now has a full century of data on food availability in America. This one-of-a-kind data set measures which food commodities are available to eat at the national level and provides the foundation for estimating if the nutrients available support a…
picture: Grass Widow or Satin Flower taken near Liberty Lake last weekend. Plans for the Pumpkin Patch Community Garden are coming together. We've got soil and lumber and irrigation installation all donated. We've got a growing band of volunteers eager to dig dirt on April…
A dairy farmer spent $150,000 to line his open manure pit with plastic only to have it detach and form huge bubbles of gas from the 21 million gallons of decomposing cow manure. The article at WSJournal that describes his predicament offers a telling window…
The biggest news on the legislative front is that the Health Care bill that Obama just signed includes provisions that will require fast food restaurants to post the caloric content of menu items, So starting next year you'll see the calories of a Big Mac…
We've got a b-day in the Goodwin house today and while shopping for the occasion Noel thought Lily would really like a Lunchable to celebrate the occasion. Sure enough, when Lily opened her backpack today to discover a Lunchable she leaped for joy and (I'm…
The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30cMatthew Crawfordwww.colbertnation.comColbert Report Full EpisodesPolitical HumorHealth Care reformIf you're following the seed starting schedule I laid out a couple weeks ago it's a good time to start your tomatoes and cabbages. I'd wait another week for the squash/pumpkins.…
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
