Nitrogen is a nutrient that plants require in great amounts. Commercial nitrogen fertilizer is an energy-intensive product, and it accounts for about 32 percent of the energy budget for Midwestern corn. At Rodale, efforts are being directed toward using natural, less energy-intensive sources of nitrogen. Legume plants like soybeans, alfalfa, and clovers are well known for their ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen in the soil. But what about such strange- sounding plants as azolla and anabaena? Azolla is a water fern and anabaena is a blue-green algae. Both are found in the rice paddies of Vietnam. Their association seems to be synergistic—that is, when they are planted together, nitrogen fixation is greatly enhanced, thus benefiting the associated rice crop. Rodale hopes to grow these plants in the greenhouse and use them for fertilizer. Read the rest of this entry »

Maxatawny, an Indian word whose translation’is “Creek Where the Bears Walk,” is the site of Rodale Press’s new Organic Gardening Experimental Farm (OGEF). This land was originally farmed by a German family. Rodale purchased the chemically farmed acreage. The acquisition of these 122 hectares (305 acres) in eastern Pennsylvania has opened the door to more extensive research in agriculture production based on simpler and saner techniques. The farm fits nicely into other Rodale activities. It is on the not particularly fertile soils of this farm in Emmaus that Rodale’s Research and Development people have set up their Home Utilities Workshop to test small-scale gardening and farming tools and equipment. Devices like seed and bean sprouters and food driers are tested in the Fitness House Kitchen, also in Emmaus, which uses food produced on the farm. Rodale’s findings are published and disseminated throughout the world. Read the rest of this entry »