MetaFilter posts tagged with farmer

An ironic infestation of Japanese beetles

Toekneesan — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 19:53:09 -0800

Young Americans are leaving the city to return to the land, and the New York Times is on it, well the Style section is covering the trend. Is this just some fashion trend or are these the young Americans Emerson was looking for? Other young farmers Farm Bureau Seventh Generation FFA The Grange 4H and a gratuitous link to a 1978 Time feature about farming.

Extended extension post

Upton O'Good — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 20:20:40 -0800

The Cooperative Extension Service, founded in 1914 in the US by the Smith-Lever Act, was established in concert with the land-grant universities to develop practical applications of agricultural research, and spread them to farmers and others throughout the country. As part of this education program, the extension programs have produced and collected an extraordinary amount of practical advice, easily accessible to the layman... As it supports the farming community, much of this information concerns things important mostly to farmers: crop and livestock information, pest control, diseases. A lot of the publications also concern issues in people's personal lives: dealing with money, proper nutrition, food safety, overcoming hardship. There are plenty of articles useful for gardeners and cooks, and plenty of unusual topics to interest the curious. Below are some of the more interesting/useful ones I've found. (Warning: many PDF files below.) Raising alligators Raising all sorts of fish, including tropical ones Raising chickens at home for eggs Raising bees Raising pheasants Growing shiitake mushrooms Growing Christmas trees Growing rhubarb Growing coffee (hint: live in Hawaii) Growing citrus trees (you should start here) Growing pretty much every other kind of fruit Growing chile peppers Growing hydroponic tomatoes Growing herbs Making maple syrup (especially this one) Pressing your own apple cider Drying corn for Plains Indian dishes Cleaning and preparing a deer Practicing the art of sausage-making (with recipes!) Organizing a Southern barbecue (also with recipes) Curing a Virginia ham Making pickles and sauerkraut Making your own wine Canning fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, salsas, etc. Drying fruits, vegetables, herbs, nuts, and seeds Smoking poultry and fish Deep-fat-frying your Thanksgiving turkey Making your own jams and jellies (with or without cooking them) Cooking ferns and other wild greens Making fruit syrup Making homemade cheese Making homemade yogurt Starting a worm farm Composting correctly Making hay Controlling your beavers Building a root cellar Building a greenhouse (with a few additional considerations) Building bird and bat houses Harvesting wood (and how to use a chainsaw) Refinishing wood furniture Making clothes and Creaing bonsai You can find links to nearby extensions here; Wikipedia also has a list.

Monsanto vs. US Farmers

digaman — Sat, 15 Jan 2005 11:32:01 -0800

Farmer Homer McFarland is being sued for hundreds of thousands of dollars by the Monsanto corporation. His crime? Replanting his crops' own seed, as farmers have done for millennia, which violates the biotech giant's intellectual property rights, the company claims. Quietly, Monsanto's aggressive "seed police" have been suing farmers in 25 states for years, often settling out of court for huge sums, according to the Center for Food Safety's new report, Monsanto vs. US farmers [PDF link]. For more information, also see a new documentary called The Future of Food.

Cruelest Farmer Gets Two Years for Vet Attack

fenriq — Mon, 01 Mar 2004 12:42:30 -0800

'Cruelest Farmer' Jailed for Vet Attack
Roger Baker, dubbed Britain's "cruelest" farmer, has just gotten a two year sentence for attacking a vet and pushing her into "a mire of manure and cow urine." He then held her down in the nasty muck.
Given his history of violence and cruelty, doesn't two years seem a little light?