The art of farming with trees to benefit crops and livestock I’ve read about agroforestry before and thought it would be great to incorporate features of it into the homestead which my family will own one day. We are looking at various farming techniques. Based on the concepts of agroforestry…

Memories of my childhood that still has meaning today for living sustainably and environmentally responsibly My parents used to say “勿体無い” (mottainai) often throughout my childhood. It’s an everyday Japanese expression to denote regret or anger at wasteful behavior. It wasn’t unusual to hear both my parents mumble under their…

How one of the greatest heists in human history resulted in dislodging a monopoly and aided the British East India Company In the mid-1800s, a Scottish botanist by the name of Robert Fortune was commissioned by the East India Company to steal tea from China. What followed was probably one…

The importance of food literacy and acknowledging eating meat is eating animals Americans are disconnected from food. They are happy going about their life buying meat from the grocery store without asking too many questions. Given that only 2% of the U.S. population works in the agricultural sector, it's no…

My experience with driving an electric vehicle after 1.5 years of ownership About years and a half ago, I made the transition to drive an electric vehicle (EV). I won’t reveal the EV make/model because this article is not a product review. …

Soil is one of the least understood but most important requirements for sustainable agriculture Soil is living. Soil contains living organisms such as worms, fungi, insects, and other organic matter. A single handful of healthy soil contains more than 50 billion life forms. To put things in perspective, the global…

Sacrifices my family made to save hundreds of dollars per month while reducing our carbon footprint “What do you mean we aren’t replacing it!?” I asked my wife She replied “We can live without it” And that was the end of the discussion. Since my wife is Commander-In-Chief of Home…

Factors to consider before installing a small-scale aquaponics system My family continues to discuss options for growing food on a homestead that we dream of owning one day. Last month, I wrote an article about managing water on a small homestead. …

An ancient German farming practice that continually and sustainably feeds your garden for decades I enjoy browsing through “Free Stuff” on Craigslist every now and then. I’m never actually looking for anything in particular because my family has all the material needs for our lifestyle. …