Organic Living News

Everyone I know is in love with Splenda. It’s sweet, it’s light, it’s calorie-free. Seeing as how everyone loved saccharin (Sweet’N Low) and aspartame (Equal/NutraSweet) before we decided they might give you cancer, it seemed too good to be true, so I did a little poking around on the interwebs. Turns out Splenda, [...]

Seen the Kleenex commercials where they set up some furniture and a box of tissues on the street, and this dude asks people to "let out" their emotions (typically ending in tears)? Turns out those tissues are causing some waterworks of their own, specifically from deer, squirrels, and other inhabitants of old-growth forests. Old-growth forests [...]

I just eat like one. For the most part, I don’t cook meat (chicken, raised sustainably, on occasion), but I do order it. I’m your average animal lover who feels guilty about eating ‘em, but just can’t help herself when faced with delicious menu choices like these. Just this week, two [...]

Open any pregnancy or baby book, and you’ll find that list: the baby essentials, the things you absolutely cannot live without.  While many accessories are easily recognized as frivolous, certain items are truly indispensable: the basic necessities for life with a baby.
Or are they?
In this weekly series, we’ll be looking at several baby essentials that [...]

Peanut Corp. of America executives have taken the Fifth Amendment in the peanut butter recall scandal.
The Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution protects us from self-incrimination:
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land [...]

Cook pasta per package directions, drain and rinse. While the pasta is cooking mix all ingredients together in a mixing bowl. When pasta is done, place in the bowl and toss. Serve as is or chilled.
Source:Kamut Pasta & White Bean Salad

Get an early spinach crop with this easy gardening tip.
Source:Grow Extra-Early Spinach with This Easy Tip

Delicious, easy to grow and prolific, fast-growing ‘Fagiolino Dolico Di Veneto’ heirloom dwarf cowpeas from northern Italy bring a lot more to the table than your typical Southern black-eyed pea. The flavor is somewhat earthy like mushrooms, but with a buttery texture. In Venice, it is often cooked with mushrooms, or served as a side [...]

The benefits of swapping seeds locally are many: save money, connect with your community, find rare and locally adapted seeds, preserve biodiversity, learn from experienced gardeners — the list goes on and on. So here are a few tips for organizing a seed exchange for your community.
Source:How to Organize a Community Seed Swap

I’m in a cozy 1915 Craftsman in Rockridge, California. A house that, in the same auspicious week Obama won the Presidency, earned the title of Greenest House In The World. “For about 2 seconds,” says eco-visionary David Gottfried. He’s modest, and mindful that scores of homes are soon to follow the green trail they’ve blazed. [...]