Why Organic? Part 5: GMOs

Two fundamental truths proved most useful to students in my environmental politics class—both from the field of ecology. The first is, “You can’t do just one thing.” The second explains why the first is true: “Everything is connected to everything else.”

Previous parts of this “Why Organic” series illustrate the usefulness of these two principles. A conventional farmer can’t just kill harmful insects or noxious weeds or boost crop growth with chemical fertilizers without doing other not so wonderful things. Not so wonderful things include killing pollinators and other beneficial insects, depleting the soil, reducing the nutritional content of food, and jeopardizing human health with pesticide and herbicide residues in food.

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Tags: fieldhand | organic |

Field Notes: An Unusual Start to Spring

Thank goodness the weather seems to be back to normal for this time of year. The past few weeks of warm weather had us moving around at warp speed trying to get fields prepared and planted.

In all my years at Tait Farm, I have never seen anything quite like this spring. We already have kales, chard, beets, Asian greens, and head lettuce seedlings planted out, as well as peas, carrots, and lettuce mix seeded in the fields.

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Tags: fieldnotes | farm |

Early Spring Pruning at Mount Nittany Vineyard

If you’ve been to the winery lately, you may have seen owners Joe and Betty Carroll out in the vineyard with their pruning shears. Assisted by winery staff, Jinx Proch, Jeff Proch, and Sandy Alexander, they are attempting to stay on top of the seasonal requirements for grape pruning that will set the stage for the quality and quantity of this year’s grape production. This task has been a challenging one thus far given the early warm weather, which led to an early bud break.

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The Great Coffee Adventure: Cool Beans Coffee and Tea in Bellefonte

Cool Beans Coffee and Tea is located right in the middle of Bellefonte—my hometown—and is surrounded by the Victorian architecture the town is famous for. An imposing courthouse sits at its center, and Tallyrand Park—home of my favorite bridge and a million ducks—is on the other end.

Where Bellefonte Gathers.

That’s the motto of this little shop. And it’s so true. There’s such a melting pot of customers throughout this place. Businessmen, retirees, students, people on first-dates (I have both been this person and been a laptop worker overhearing the conversation of an obvious blind date!), teenagers, women just finished with exercising at the local YMCA, moms with little children, etc. People of all kinds and varied interests/ages gather here. For coffee. For conversation. For quiet. To get away from distractions at home. Or maybe to find some distractions.

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Tags: coffee |