Health and Wellness

How Functional Training Can Improve Farming Performance and Health by Cristina Cosentino & Jesse Lapiana I’ve never seen a farming job description that didn’t feature “must be able to repeatedly lift 50 pounds” in its qualifications. Growing veggies is one of the most physically demanding, strenuous jobs. In fact, I don’t know a single farmer without back pain. While agricultural apprenticeships are...

Over the past 5 years of starting and running a farm, I’ve been determined, excited, exhausted, frustrated, and fulfilled. Along the way I’ve learned that growing food and running a business are two separate, but equally important, skills. If you’re just starting out, or if you’re a few years in and wondering how the heck you’ll pull this farming thing...

In the Northeast, August marks the traditional beginning of harvest season.  While season extension has many growers harvesting year-round or close to it, August through September can still claim the heaviest, and most diverse, yields of the year.  With tomatoes weighing down the vine, zucchini overflowing in the fields, and cabbage sizing up in time for kraut-making, we’re now in...

If you tend a garden or farm field and grow your own food, you may have noticed there’s a distinct difference in flavor between what you harvest out of your own patch and what you buy in the grocery store. You might ascribe this taste difference to a placebo effect (“It just feels better to know I grew this carrot!”...

You can’t beat the flavor of a fresh and verdant homegrown salad in the midst of winter. All it takes is a mason jar, a sprouting lid, water, and seed . . . and a little bit of time and care. Whether you choose to use a sprouting tray or this mason jar method, growing sprouts is easy and well worth the effort...

Each year High Mowing donates thousands of seed packets to schools, non-profits and community groups across the country--and this year was no exception, with a whopping 143,657 packets donated to over 600 different recipients! But where did they all go? What did those seeds become? Here are a few ways our donated seeds had powerful and far-reaching impacts this year...

Fresh and dried herbs are usually expensive to buy, especially in winter when both supply and quality tend to be low. Fortunately herbs are easy to grow in quantity, and are equally easy to preserve for aromatic additions to your meals all year round.   Herb Drying Rack from Gardeners.com Drying is the simplest method of preserving a wide variety...

This month we’re giving one lucky winner a brand-new set of canning supplies! Will this be the year you put up the Vermont obsession, dilly beans, or foray into a world of pickled beets? Whatever your fancy, we’re giving away the tools to make it! The kit includes: Two canning funnels A canning rack A lid sterilizing rack A jar...

Preserving summer's bounty for cool-season meals doesn’t have to mean standing over a hot stove or a huge investment in canning jars. Fortunately for those of us with little time to spare, there are lots of quick, easy ways to bring the fresh flavors of summer indoors for the winter. And the very best part? By taking the time to...

Keeping a flock of laying hens is a fun way to provide a homegrown protein source, put kitchen scraps to good use, and produce far more beautiful and nutritious eggs than those found in supermarket chains. But raising chickens – especially on 100% organic feed – can get expensive. And in much of the country, the free range experience that...