"Food-integrity and humane-handling whistleblowers should not have to rely on an undercover video investigation in order for USDA supervisors to take their disclosures seriously."

-- Dean Wyatt, USDA veterinarian

Plate Tectonics

Toward four-season, in-town gardening

-- Karla Cook 02-28-2010

The experimental 4-by-8 pup tent cold frame has survived two winter storms, one with gusty winds. The next step is to plant cold-loving crops beneath its shelter. In "The Winter Harvest Handbook" (Chelsea Green, $30), Eliot Coleman lists lettuce, endive, arugula, spinach, chard, mizuna, mibuna, tatsoi, beet leaves, carrots, leeks, mache, radishes, onions, scallions, watercress, beets, new potatoes and turnips.

I want more land. But less involved than a physical move - uprooting family, changing schools - is using the eight raised beds and associated space more effectively. Hard choices: Fennel is beautiful but I use it sporadically - is it in, or out? Ruthlessness is required, especially in small-space gardening, but the sight of a volunteer tomato seedling, and knowing that it has survived the winter to fulfill its destiny - can I rip it out?

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Seeding the growing season

-- Karla Cook 02-21-2010

As a monument to optimism, hope and change of seasons, we have installed a grow-light in the kitchen window. That meant seed-starting, and so I did: two pots of mesclun and one of radishes, plus an experiment that worked in the past (and has worked again) - sticking a basil plant with rootball still attached into a spare pot filled with garden dirt.

The radishes are looking a little leggy and the lettuce needs thinning, but other than that, success.

My grow-light is fancy, but there's no need. A no-frills fluorescent fixture propped up on upended flower pots or bricks (or cookbooks) works fine. Keys to seed-starting are strong light, cozy temperatures and even moisture. Old milk cartons, washed and dried, with a side cut out, have worked as seed-starting flats, and a bit of dirt scraped up from the back yard will work almost as well as seed-starting medium (bought at any big-box store).

As for seeds, there are abundant sources, but these are my current favorites: Fedco Seeds, Kitazawa Seed Company, Edible Landscaping, Seed Savers Exchange, The Cook's Garden, Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds and Renee's Garden Seeds.

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Arts, Ideas & Trends

Thinking of "natural capital" for public good can offer a way to assess crucial, unmeasured benefit

Time magazine 2010-03-06

Opinion: If "Food, Inc." wins Oscar, credence will be added to flawed messages, Michael Pollan's star will be polished

Pork Magazine; Cattle Network 2010-03-02

Growing number of national chain restaurants add chicken wings to menu, driving prices up

USA Today 2010-02-28

Community & Culture

Peer pressure pushes Japanese women into thinness; many eat only two-thirds of average adult's energy needs, nearly 20 percent smoke

The Washington Post 2010-03-07

Blog: As language evolves, losing the "ed" turns baked to bake but follows long-accepted trend - ice(d) cream, skim(med) milk, pop(ped) corn

Language Log 2010-02-20

Blogger and her readers find that eating real food for a month was a challenge, but small steps were heartening

CNN 2010-03-02

People

Green groups, citing parallels to Earth with ruin on Pandora, want James Cameron to be their champion, but Pandora is non-existent; "Avatar" is passive experience

Time magazine 2010-03-07

Obituary: Rose Gray, founder, chef at London's River Cafe

The New York Times 2010-03-02

Gatorade ends Tiger Woods endorsement deal

Chicago Tribune 2010-02-26