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Organic Farms 12 results
A new queen emerges from a queen cell in a honey bee hive of writer and beekeeper Erin Hollinden. Honey bee populations in the U.S. have declined from 6 million in the 1940s to 2.5 million today. But more than 200,000 hobbyist beekeepers such as Erin are trying to keep them (and ultimately us) alive. | Photo by Marla Bitzer

Local Beekeepers Labor with Love as Honey Bees Decline Worldwide
Erin Hollinden
Honey bee populations in the U.S. have declined from 6 million in the 1940s to 2.5 million today. Pesticides, drought, and habitat destruction, are just a few reasons the bees are dying. But more than 200,000 hobbyist beekeepers, like writer Erin Hollinden, are trying to keep them (and ultimately us) alive. Click here to read Erin’s article.
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Creating gardens that are resilient to the vagaries of Indiana weather, says gardener and writer Jami Scholl, requires working with the forces of nature and the “limiting factors of sunlight, water, and soil.” | Photo by Jami Scholl

Resilient Gardens Bend to the Will of Mother Nature
Jami Scholl
How to create a garden that is resilient to the vagaries of Indiana weather? Jami Scholl, a writer and gardener who was active in the early stages of the urban agriculture movement in Bloomington, says we must work with the forces of nature and “the basic environmental limiting factors of sunlight, water, and soil.” Click here for Jami’s tips on creating a resilient garden.
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New People’s Open Pantry Offers Access to Healthy Food
Ellen Wu
Building equity and supporting community access to healthy food are at the heart of the People’s Open Pantry, a new initiative under the aegis of the People’s Market, writes Ellen Wu. But starting a pantry during a pandemic takes dedication and planning. Wu talked to several of the people involved in the effort. Click here to read the story.
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Thinking about planting a garden? Beth Edwards, a writer and producer for the Indiana Environmental Reporter, has written about the physical, mental health, economic, and environmental benefits of home gardening. People with no space for a garden can rent a plot through the community garden program run by in the City of Bloomington’s Department of Parks and Recreation (see the end of the article for more info). Pictured above, the Willie Streeter Community Gardens on South Highland Avenue. | Limestone Post

Hoosiers Take On Home Gardening
Beth Edwards
Home gardens not only create access to healthy food, they also offer physical, mental health, economic, and environmental benefits, writes Beth Edwards of the Indiana Environmental Reporter. No wonder home gardening has gained in popularity every year since the 2008 financial crisis. Sheltering at home has even more Hoosiers digging in. Click here to learn more.
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Abby Ang at the People’s Market CSA drive-thru on March 28. Ang and a group of vendors, community organizers, and university professors began meeting last year to plan what would become the People’s Market, “a farmers market model unprecedented in Bloomington and Indiana,” writes Ellen Wu for Limestone Post. The group had to “reorient swiftly to the drive-thru CSA once it became obvious that COVID-19 would upend everything.” | Limestone Post

Ethos of New People’s Market Focuses on Food Justice, Mutual Aid
Ellen Wu
A group of vendors, community organizers, and university professors began meeting last year to plan what would become the People’s Market, “a farmers market model unprecedented in Bloomington and Indiana,” writes IU history professor Ellen Wu. When COVID-19 “upended everything,” the group quickly reoriented to create a drive-thru CSA. Click here to read about the People’s Market.
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Local farms that participate in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs offer more than just fresh produce. Not only do they make us feel better about how our food is produced, they also create community and enforce a sense of purpose, writes Jared Posey. | Photo by Lynae Sowinski

Small Farms Are Putting the ‘Community’ in CSAs
Jared Posey
Local farms that participate in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs offer more than just fresh produce. Not only do they make us feel better about how our food is produced, they also create community and enforce a sense of purpose, writes Jared Posey. While CSAs give us far more than we pay for, are they at risk? Click here to read the full story.
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Buying from local farmers is a sure way to avoid foods from who-knows-where and grown with who-knows-what chemicals. And there are a variety of ways to make organic food more affordable, says writer Jared Posey. Be sure to talk to each vendor about their growing methods in order to ensure they are organic. | Limestone Post

Making Organic Food Affordable
Jared Posey
Foods from who-knows-where, loaded with marketing claims that mean who-knows-what, can make finding a healthful meal a nightmare, writes Jared Posey. He shares his tips on how to make organic food more affordable — from growing your own organic produce to making your own organic “value-added” products. Click here to read the full story.
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Knowing where your food comes from is more important than ever. With the first Bloomington Community Farmers’ Market of the season on Saturday, getting to know the farmers who produce it is easier than ever. Photographer Chaz Mottinger visited three farms to give us a closer look as they prepare for the spring market season: Barnhouse Farms, Linnea's Greenhouse, and Living Roots Farm and Sustainable Living Center (pictured here). | Photo by Chaz Mottinger

Local Farmers Prepare for Spring Market Season
Chaz Mottinger
Knowing where your food comes from is more important than ever. With the first Bloomington Community Farmers’ Market of the season on Saturday (and markets in Ellettsville and Smithville starting soon), getting to know the farmers who produce it is easier than ever. Photographer Chaz Mottinger visited three farms to give us a closer look as they prepare for market. Click here to see her photos.
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Some of our favorite restaurants might never have happened without world-renowned chef, author, and food activist Alice Waters, who will visit Bloomington in April to inaugurate the IU Food Project. | Photo courtesy of Pexels, surajith s

Food Icon Alice Waters to Help Launch IU Food Project
Benjamin Beane
Some of our favorite restaurants might never have happened without world-renowned chef, author, and food activist Alice Waters. Writer Benjamin Beane spoke to Waters about her visit to Bloomington on April 6-8 to officially launch the IU Food Project, which was created to address the challenges of providing sustainable food for a changing planet. Click here to read the full story.
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Permaculture, says writer Daniel Bingham, originated as an attempt to reshape industrial agriculture into sustainable ecological design that works in harmony with the natural world. First applied to farmsteads, it’s also used to create self-reliant homesteads. | Photo by Natasha Komoda

Can Permaculture Make Society Sustainable? Part 1
Daniel Bingham, Natasha Komoda
Permaculture, says writer Daniel Bingham, originated as an attempt to reshape industrial agriculture into sustainable ecological design that works in harmony with the natural world. First applied to farmsteads, it’s also used to create self-reliant homesteads. Part philosophy, part methodology, and part science, permaculture integrates humans with the natural environment. Click here to read the full story.
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Susan M. Brackney says mixed greens (shown above), sprouts, microshoots, and vegetables grown indoors pack a nutritional punch you’re unlikely to get from the grocery store. | Photo by Susan M. Brackney

Getting Fresher Greens This Winter — Indoor Gardening Is Easier and Cheaper Than Ever
Susan M. Brackney
Nothing beats just-picked veggies, and the cold, short days of winter need not stop you from having them. Susan M. Brackney shows how greens, sprouts, microshoots, and vegetables can be grown cheaply and easily indoors. One reason, she explains, is that lighting has become more efficient. T-what?! Click here to read the full story.
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Two young girls bob for apples at a previous Bloomington Community Orchard Cider Fest. | Photo courtesy of Bloomington Community Orchard

Community Orchard Embodies the ‘Core Values’ of Bloomington
Jen Hockney Bratton
Cider Fest, on Saturday October 10, celebrates more than just the apples picked at the Bloomington Community Orchard. Jen Hockney Bratton’s article shows how the five-year-old project has influenced many lives in many ways, and what remarkable things are accomplished when a group of people align themselves with the “core values” of a community. Click here to read the full story.
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