This is the olive oil we’re happiest with.

Yep, diverse crops systems will indeed reduce disease spread. To a point. But you do have to balance that against a greater area required for cultivation, which means less area for natural species assemblages to inhabit. I have nothing against shade growing, I just don’t think it is a complete solution, and that…

Hey: geneticist and soon-to-be-author of a new paper on Cacao diseases. It’s true that cacao is restricted to the tropics, but the main issue with it at this point is the proliferation of fungal diseases. Shade or not, the pathogens can wreak havoc on cacao production at all stages of life. At the moment, most of the…

1 gigabit = .13 gigbytes.

I cant wait to take full advantage of that gigabit speed with my 4 gb data allowance... and its gone.

Today, McDonald’s is the largest restaurant chain in the world, with 37,000 locations in 100-plus countries.  

That McDonald’s can’t keep a small parcel of land as a functional tribute to its origin is pretty pathetic. Even KFC manages to keep the original Kentucky Fried Chicken in Corbin, KY location up and running - they attached a new restaurant next to it so you can see the original location decked out as a Museum and…

Does your dog ever herd your kids?

OH, fuck you, Ken.

When I first got mine, I was told not to get too attached because more than likely 1 or 2 would die, from sickness or predators. I had 6, one turned out to be a rooster and I got rid of him via Craigslist. The 5 hens are doing great. I’ve seen a hawk over head a few times but I think my dogs keep them at bay.

This is why you shouldn’t name them

Cold is okay. WET is the dangerous bit. Focus on that :)

As the neighbor of a chicken owning family, It is great to know that those sounds mean something.
Does not ,however, make it any less annoying.

When I was a kid we would keep ducks every now and then.
Mostly we let them wander around eating bugs. They were a domestic breed and not prone to wandering far. That said, we did clip the feathers on one wing on the chance they try to fly off.

In the evenings we’d herd them back to a pen of sorts because while they…

My wife got chickens last spring with myself as an encouraging, but personally indifferent enabler. Our first coop was much too small, so we let both hens free range in our yard. One day I came home from walking around the block with my son to find one of the chickens decapitated in the scrub at the back of our yard.…

This was our second year raising and slaughtering Turkeys. The first year we had two, this year we started with six but lost one during the little cute stage. My mother in law does the chicken thing, same as you mostly for eggs.

I want to have chickens but my zoning won’t allow for it. :-/

Toronto is playing with backyard chicken by-laws and some areas are having a test run. My mom grew up on a farm so I really hope her neighbourhood gets it next. For her. Yeah. Not just cause I want fresh eggs.

This is a great article. As a kid, my family had chickens and ducks (we never really harvested eggs, they just rambled around our five acres, eating slugs). My sister had some, and once made a strange comment about at least having something to eat if everything in the world collapsed (incidentally, she’s a…

I'm a South Carolinian. The dressing for our coleslaw dressing is mayonnaise, vinegar, a little sugar, and celery seed.