Recent Posts

Shallow Roots The gardening season in central New York is short. Nights stay cold deep into spring, and two years ago all the squash got killed by a frost on the last day of August. You only get one shot at growing most vegetables, particularly those that take a long time to mature. My project...

The Global Burden of Disease I have been experiencing something of an epistemic crisis, which is a fancy way of saying I’m less sure about not just what I know, but why I think I know it. And I’m not talking about the pressing but obviously intractable issues facing the country, like how to bridge...

How Bad Will Food Shortages Get? In the spring of 2020, as lockdowns spread across the country, there were a couple weeks in which supermarkets emptied out, with meat and other fresh goods in particularly short supply. Even after the initial shock, the prevalence of COVID in industrial meatpacking plants along with other ongoing supply...

Does All Beef Contain Antibiotics? Does Chicken? The results of a new study are disappointing A recent study by researchers at George Washington University found that 15% of a broad sample of cows in the USDA “Raised Without Antibiotics” (RWA) program contained detectable levels of tetracycline. I suspect the actual number is a bit higher,...

Hair of the Dog The greatest mystery on the farm is what’s going on with Oban’s coat Oban has always had too much hair. As a puppy he looked like he’d borrowed the coat of an older, larger dog, and as he grew it grew with him. For the first few months it went every...

How Bad Are Seed Oils? The latest nutritional fad Have you heard that seed oils are killing you? That they cause inflammation, cancer, diabetes, all manner of mental illness, and basically any other health problem you might be experiencing? If you haven’t yet, keep an eye out. Given how predictably health ideas move from the...

The Conduit Two days ago, just as the light began to go, I saw a small form loping along the creek that runs through the middle of the farm. I only caught a glimpse before it vanished behind a stream bank, but the distinctive arched back and serpentine body identified it as some sort of...

Grain-Free Chocolate Muffin Recipe The most chocolaty, delicious muffins in the world I hesitate to mention that these muffins are grain free, gluten free, paleo friendly, or to apply any other buzzword to them. What diet they do or do not conform with is entirely beside the point. It’s not about what these muffins aren’t,...

The Future of Meat, the Future of the Planet Quantity, quality, and limited land An ambitious new project has been launched over at Canary Media. Every month, Journalist Michael Grunwald will be examining the relationship between food and climate. While this is not exactly a neglected topic, the mainstream press rarely brings the level of...

Slow Bread, Fast Bread Yesterday we celebrated my son Ellis’s birthday. Because it happened to be a perfect day, we decided to fire up the bread oven. It’s an impressive creation, with a dry stacked stone foundation and a firebrick hearth. The oven itself consists of a clay and sand core, topped by a layer...