The Agrarian's Alcove

When you’re at the grocery store, do you ever feel like all you see is greenwashed logos and brands? It’s hard to find anything that’s not “all natural” or non-GMO. We’ve talked about labels before, and how they can be misleading. For example, meat is always gluten free, but now tons of meat products have a gluten-free label on them. Some consumers likely don’t realize that all meat has always been gluten free, and they pay extra for that little banner. One of the most misleading labels-in my opinion at least-is the “uncured” label on processed meats. What do you think of when you see that label on your lunch meat or bacon? I assume  most people, when they see this label, think Oh, there’s not as many chemicals! It’s gotta be better. More natural. Maybe even healthier! The good news is, I was really impressed with how accurate the first few Google results were when I looked up the differences between uncured and cured bacon. I saw only a few statements that uncured bacon ...

Here at the Agrarian’s Alcove, we absolutely love to celebrate ag. I mean LOVE to celebrate it. It’s the basis for life and the world’s economy. February is Black History month and so we’d like to dedicate our celebration to the amazing contributions that African Americans have made to our industry. First thing’s first-does anyone here like potatoes?(Read our post about the best potatoes here ) What about potato chips? The salty, savory, crunchy snack that we all fall for was created by George Crum , a half African American-half Native American chef. After a customer’s complaint in 1853 that he cut his fried potatoes too thick, Crum responded by slicing the potatoes as thinly as possible, and fried them until they crunched. The restaurant goer (not surprisingly!) ended up loving the crispy potatoes and Crum ended up opening his own restaurant. Crum never marketed his snacks, but snack food junkie William Tappendon began putting these chips on the shelves of grocery stores in 1895...

This post contains affiliate links. In America, Valentine’s day is one of the biggest holidays for agriculture. We search and search for that perfect gift for our significant others. Kids look for the best Valentine cards and candy to exchange. If you read Holiday Horticulture or my post about Christmas Trees you know how much agriculture can impact a holiday. With all the chocolates, wine, flowers, and greeting cards Valentine’s day is one of the biggest days for agriculture. According to the NFR, last year Americans spent over $18 billion on Valentine’s day gifts. An average of $1.7 billion is spent on candy, over $8 million on wine, $2 billion on flowers, and $1 billion on cards. Now that we’ve got those statistics, lets dig in to those fun facts! Chocolates and Candies Americans spend a lot on candy each year, for many different occasions. Valentine’s candy though, is my favorite. Anyone else like those cordial cherries? Or how about conversation hearts? All candy is ful...

The Agrarian’s Alcove HOW TO GET INVOLVED WITH SMALL AG: PERMACULTURE WHAT IS SMALL AG Small ag is agriculture on a smaller, non-commercial scale. Today, many people are trying to incorporate backyard farming. A lot of people have chickens and sell farm-fresh eggs. There are a lot of small goat farms where they sell meat goats and goat-milk, and utilize the goat-milk to make cool products. Many farmer’s markets sell small locally farmed produce and canned products. All of this can be considered small ag. Some people consider doing small ag for a hobby, and others think that small ag is better for our environment than big ag or commercial farms. While there can be pros and cons to small ag as opposed to conventional ag, there are some ways you can implement small ag in your own backyard-even if you live in the suburbs! Permaculture is a great way to start. WHAT IS PERMACULTURE Permaculture is a coined term which comes from the words “permanent agriculture.” Permaculture...