Impressive Group of Speakers to Address End Hunger Summit

Krista Kelley, is seen as a visionary in the design and implementation of numerous projects that have changed the course of New Mexico communities through hunger, healthcare, employment and access to vital services... Albuquerque kindergarten teacher Sonya Romero has gained international recognition for her generosity toward students at Lew Wallace...

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An Ode to Sorrel

If you ask a homestead-minded person what their favorite spring greens to forage are, youll probably get responses like dandelions, lambs quarters, mallow, maybe even stinging nettles.  But one thats rarely mentioned is sorrel (or the related dock).  Its the Rodney Dangerfield of spring greens. (It dont get no respect!)  Thats a real...

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Growth Spurt!

The tomatoes, chard, and peppers in the basement system are now growing vigorously! The tomatoes especially have surged in height. As you can see below, in just four days each tomato plant gained about five to seven inches!Left: Grow bed on 5/27/2011 Right: Grow bed four days later on 5/31/2011I needed to transplant these tomatoes, because I was heading...

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Homestead Happiness April Week 3

More fresh veggies, an archeological discovery, and grass-craving chickens made us happy this week.Our onion sets from last year that didnt produce bulbs, are just the right size for eating as green onions right now.  And since we want to use that garden space for other veggies this year, its a perfect storm for green onion-themed cuisine. Yum!While...

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Christmas Blessings from Bread New Mexico

When the white stars talk together like sistersAnd when the winter hillsRaise their grand semblance in the freezing night,Somewhere one windowBleeds like the brown eye of an open force.Hills, stars,White stars that stand above the eastern stable.Look down and offer Him.The dim adoring light of your belief.Whose small Heart bleeds with infinite fire.Shall...

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Early experiments 70 liter Aquaponics using aquarium

When the NFT system started to grow, i began looking up online about aquaponics and came across a lot of content and realised this is a wonderful food production system.So i decided to try a small growbed system. I had few small tubs and an old decommissioned aquarium lying around and so i decided to make use of it. So first i built a wooden table,...

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The Dunebarrow

Growing up, we were (Jake was) very spoiled, as least in terms of wheelbarrows.  We had one with fully steel construction, 25 gallon body at least 12 gauge thick, and one continuous piece of 1.5" diameter pipe that formed both handles and a rounded bumper in front of the wheel.  The tire is pneumatic, but weve never seen it flat, and the...

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Homestead Happiness April Week 4

Plenty of bee-related news has us kind of giddy this week.Our new bee package arrived on Saturday.  The local distributor sold more than 1,500 packages, which meant it was a total zoo for picking them up, and that our bees will have some competition for the neighborhood flowers.  Still, its nice to see such an interest in beekeeping, and...

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A Different Kind of Weed Brownie

Last April, we said that it wasnt really spring until we had had our dandelion fix, which is an assertion we still stand by.  But what happens when we havent fully scratched our itch, but Katie is tired of eating dandelion pancakes (or possibly just pancakes in general), and the dandelions are still blooming?  Weve got to figure out other...

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Al Jazeera Report Highlights Nutrition Crisis in Navajo Nation

One way the U.N. hopes to end hunger: encourage sustainable food production among indigenous peoples by 2030. On the Navajo Nation, some tribal citizens are already on that track. “When we raise our own sheep, we’re able to sustain ourselves,” said Aretta Begay. “We’re able to feed our own family, whether it’s big or small.” But progress in Navajo...

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Bishop Oscar Cantú of Las Cruces Summarizes Pope Francis Visit to the U S

In a piece published in the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Blog "To Go Forth," Bishop Oscar Cantú of Las Cruces summarized Pope Francis visit to the United States on Sept. 24-27. Bishop Cantú wrote the piece in his capacity as chair of the USCCBs Committee on International Justice and Peace.  Here are  the themes that Bishop Cantú summarized...

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Fourth Sunday of Advent Angels We Have Heard on High

Angels we have heard on highSweetly singing oer the plains,And the mountains in replyEchoing their joyous strains.Gloria in excelsis Deo.Gloria in excelsis Deo. In a #sharethegift video, The Piano Guys, Peter Hollens, David Archuleta, and The Mormon Tabernacle Choir get together to sing "Angels We Have Heard On Hi...

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Water Wheel Prototype

19th century water power is alive and kicking!....er, spinning! My water powered biowheel* prototype is complete. Pumped water powers this overshot-style wheel (I'm not quite ready for the Pelton wheel yet), which turns two attached drums. The drums are wrapped with multiple layers of fiberglass screen to provide surface area for nitrifying bacteria to colonize....

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HOW MANY FISH IN A TANK

 HOW MANY FISH AM I ALLOWED TO HAVE IN A TANK?Aquaponics, ækw??p?n?ks, pisciponicsAgain this will depend on whether the system is a commercial or backyard system, with the commercial systems requiring the correct amount of fish and plants for optimum production. The more fish there are in a system, the more nutrients there are for the plants to...

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After Igor a video from Newfoundland

Hi Folks,Could you pass the following link on to friends. There will be several more in the series. However this one is important as it shows the storm damage that placed 230 people out of work and did so in less than 24 hours. The building you see was a shrimp processing plant where 230 people worked each year in order to make some sort of a living... which was seasonal at best. This plant unfortunately...

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Stratatouille

One of our favorite things about this time of year is the abundance of fresh vegetables coming in from the garden (or farmers market, depending on the circumstances).  And one of our favorite things to do with those vegetables (because its easy and delicious) is roast them into a ratatouille.  Chop em up, slather em with olive oil and some...

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