Small Potatoes Blog | Local food and gardening

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Pat Crowley talks at TEDx Salt Lake City about eating insects as a sustainable source of high-protein food source. Support the cause by checking out the delicious energy bars his company Chapul makes.

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Utah State University Extension talks about the invasive gnome problem, and methods for control. :)

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Great project that was just funded on KickStarter, OpenFarm - can't wait to see the finished product!

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SmallPotatoes.co just joined Instagram! We thought this was a fitting first picture. Follow us at http://instagram.com/smallpotatoesco/

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Meet Your Farmer

This photo essay about Utah farmers came together for two reasons.  I'm interested in the the topography of the farmer's face. Lines from years of work outside tending fields; cracks from smiling, living the sweet life under the sun that many dream of; serious eyes that look with dependence to the earth and skies. I'm also interested in the stories these farmers have to tell—why did they choose this career (or did it choose them), what are their biggest challenges/rewards, or, even, what is their favorite vegetables?

13% Salt

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Suburban ‘Agrihoods’: Growing Food & Community

In many ways, Shari Sirkin and Bryan Dickerson, the farmers at Dancing Roots Farm in Troutdale, Oregon, have made it. They run a popular Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program, their heirloom vegetables grace the menus at some of Portland’s finest restaurants—including Ned Ludd, Irving Street Kitchen, and Luce. But despite all this, the farmers barely make ends meet.

An interesting new trend to watch

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"Somewhere, under the carrots..."

A beautiful display of carrots from reddit.

We hope the carrots in your garden are coming along nicely this summer!

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The Failed Lemon and the Ugly Carrot!

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Beyond Local: The Atlantic has a great article from chef Dan Barber, the man behind the pioneering Blue Hill farm-to-table restaurant in New York, about moving beyond simply buying locally and in-season. He champions also supporting the entire farm life-cycle that leads to delicious, organic produce, by also eating soil-building cover crops such as buckwheat, oats, barley, etc. It's an interesting glimpse in to what it takes for a farm like Klaas Marten's Lakeview Organic Grain to produce high-quality organic wheat. Read More

Related:

http://nonabrooklyn.com/field-to-fork-corn-from-the-stalk-at-lakeview-organic-grains-to-spirit-at-kings-county-distillery/

http://blog.williams-sonoma.com/from-the-source-blue-hill-farm/

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A Glossary of Natural Garden Pest Control Solutions

Natural garden pest control involves attracting beneficial insects, employing effective physical pest controls such as handpicking and row covers, and using organic pesticides.

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Potato Cages 2.0

Last year, I had a pretty good test run with this system and had a mini harvest. (My tutorial here.) However, the location was not ideal and I had poor water retention. This year I leveled up to 15 cages, moved to a better location, and strawed the shit out of that circumference for better water retention and slow release nutrition.

I’m not growing potatoes in all the cages; I’ll show you guys the surprises soon.These cheap and easy-to-make vertical towers provide the most optimal use of my available space. I am able to micro-tune the soil requirements to specific plants. Most importantly, the cage provides the plant protection from wildlife and my own chickens who would otherwise wreck havoc on the garden.

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We tried the potato tower once with poor results - interesting to see improvements and tweaks to the system others are making.

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Buying Local Food — On Your Phone - Modern Farmer

A bumper crop of apps is sprouting up, helping connect farmers with consumers who want to keep it local.

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Sprung

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Wired has an interesting article about a design project called Brad the Toaster, which is an exploration of the new possibilities opened up by connected devices. If Brad feels he is not being used to make toast as often as other toasters, he will attempt to sell himself to a household that will use his services more frequently.

One of the issues with the "sharing economy" is that it takes human effort to coordinate shared ownership of property (lawnmowers, bikes etc), and it's hard to overcome this friction. The possibility of the objects themselves self-organizing and distributing themselves for maximum utility is a delightful and almost cheeky idea.

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Gorgeous photography of an artichoke flower, just starting to open.

via thevegetablemarket, via ana-rosa

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Can sustainability really hope to beat consumerism?

Can sustainability really hope to beat consumerism? Yes, and all without a vow of poverty or a change in human nature

Interesting little article about 3 alternatives to our current culture of consumerism:

Live with less

"Green Growth"

Shared consumption

At Small Potatoes we try to encourage sustainable growth of food production through small scale gardening and urban farms. In some ways this is promoting the shared consumption of resources too - in this case, urban and suburban land not currently in productive use.

Are there more options to a sustainable future than these three? Will one of them, or a combination, be our path? Time will tell.

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Super Sprowtz

Super Sprowtz in a fun, interactive program that teaches children the value of healthy eating (with puppets!) as we fight to end childhood obesity. They are raising money to go on tour around the US to spread their message. Check them out!

Contribute to their crowdfunding campaign here!