Pushing Farming Beyond Organic As developed by Moyer and colleagues, there are four basic steps to organic no-till: 1. Protect the soil and keep down the weeds in a farm field by planting a winter-hardy cover crop in the fall, such as vetch, barley, wheat, rye, or oats. 2. When the cover crop reaches maturity in the spring, the farmer knocks it down with a roller-crimper. 3. The farmer plants a cash crop into the crimped cover crop with a no-till drill, usually at the same time as crimping (crimper in front of the tractor, drill pulled behind), and then the cash crop grows up through the crimped cover crop. 4. After harvest in the fall, the organic residue of both crops can be disked into the soil, if the farmer wants, as next year�s cover crop is planted. All together, the use of a cover crop and a roller-crimper creates a dense mat of organic material on the soil surface that smothers weeds while providing nutrients, shade, and moisture to the cash crop. (Wednesday September 30th, 2015 — Utne Reader )

Saratoga school pushes back start time, sees results A school in Saratoga Springs says it�s seeing the impact of a later start time. The Waldorf School moved its start time from 7:50 a.m. to 8:20 a.m. last year. The results, administrators say, are obvious. Tardiness is down 35% from the 2013-2014 school year to the 2014-2015 school year. Teachers say the students are more likely to be prepared to learn. They�re more awake and more of them come to school having eaten breakfast, which educators say makes a huge difference. (Wednesday September 30th, 2015 — WNYT - Albany, New York USA)

Two autumn salads from biodynamic farm Fern Verrow Having fresh, home-grown salad leaves to hand through the winter requires foresight. But with a little planning at the beginning of autumn, you can ensure a steady supply of cut-and-come-again salad leaves that will become good companions through the colder months. (Wednesday September 30th, 2015 — The Guardian - UK)

Two Countries Join The Global Effort To Cut Carbon As the unofficial Oct. 1 deadline approaches, more countries are submitting their intended nationally developed contributions (INDCs) to the United Nations, showing how they will contribute to carbon emission reductions. This week, Brazil, South Africa, and Indonesia all added their plans to the list, offering two different pathways for developing nations. (Tuesday September 29th, 2015 — Think Progress- USA)

Dynamic bee-keeper Sam Malfroy is making a buzz in Canberra Sam and his wife Carly Malfroy got a Canberra Organic Growers Society plot at O'Connor in March this year. They had been part of the Mitchell community garden for the past three years but were moving to O'Connor and wanted to garden close by. The couple believe in organic and biodynamic produce and have always enjoyed producing their own vegetables in an allotment in a way that is as natural as possible. (Tuesday September 22nd, 2015 — Good Food - Australia)

School uses hands on method despite technology As other schools race toward technology, the Waldorf School is about hands on, one-one learning, without technology including computers and iPads. (Tuesday September 22nd, 2015 — WKBW-TV - Buffalo, New York USA)

Northern Ireland Bans GM Crops to Keep Clean and Green Image Northern Ireland has joined Scotland, France, Greece and Latvia in announcing a full ban on GM crops under the new EU opt-out regulations. Environment Minister, Mark H Durkan announced Monday that he is prohibiting the cultivation of genetically modified (GM) crops in Northern Ireland. The Minister�s announcement follows an EU decision earlier in 2015 to permit Member States to opt out of growing approved GM crops within their territories. (Monday September 21st, 2015 — Organic Consumers Association)

Monsanto's Sealed Documents Reveal the Truth behind Roundup's Toxicological Dangers There is now an enormous cache of evidence on both scientific and legal grounds that Monsanto in fact conducted numerous studies in the 1970s and 1980s on glyphosate�s toxicity and health risks and intentionally sealed this research from independent and public review and scrutiny. As with Big Tobacco�s proprietary claims that prevented the FDA from publicly warning Americans about the dangers of smoking, the EPA has sat on Monsanto�s own deleterious data for decades. (Monday September 14th, 2015 — Organic Consumers Association)

Students Win $42K in Scholarships New Hampshire Dunkin� Donuts franchisees awarded numerous local high school students with $2,000 scholarships this week. (Wednesday June 24th, 2015 — Concord Patch: by Tony Schinella (Patch Staff) June 24, 2015)

Biodynamic Wine Dives into the Mainstream The sale of the Benziger brand to the makers of Franzia could give impetus to biodynamic wines. ... After this transaction, you might hear a lot more about biodynamics. A number of high-end Napa wineries practice biodynamics because they think it gives them healthier vines, but have downplayed that aspect because they don't think the Cabernet market is looking for biodynamic wines. This might be a good time to invest in cow horns. (Thursday June 18th, 2015 — Wine-Searcher - )

Green Spaces Make Kids Smarter The children who had more vegetation around their schools showed more progress in working memory and attention over the course of a year, a finding that held true even after the authors controlled for socioeconomic status. (Thursday June 18th, 2015 — The Atlantic - Washington DC USA)

Do as iSay, not as iDo: Silicon Valley�s two faces on learning Online education is set to be a $100bn industry, but if it really is the future, why are so many IT moguls choosing traditional schooling for their own children, asks Andrew Keen (Wednesday June 17th, 2015 — The Sunday Times - UK)

India Just Upped Its Solar Target Five-Fold, Will Install More Solar This Year Than Germany The new solar capacity will be nearly split between residential and large-scale solar projects, with some 40 GW expected to be generated from rooftop installations and the remaining 60 GW coming from larger, grid-connected projects, such as solar farms. �With this ambitious target, India will become one of the largest green energy producers in the world, surpassing several developed countries,� reads the announcement. (Wednesday June 17th, 2015 — ThinkProgress -USA)

Protect more bee species to safeguard crops, say scientists Almost 80% of crop pollination by wild bees is provided by just 2% of the most common species, say scientists. (Wednesday June 17th, 2015 — BBC online - UK)

Steiner Waldorf preschool to open in Cebu A preschool that offers Waldorf education is set to open in Cebu City for the new school year. ... St. Michael�s Play Garden is located on Coast Pacific St., Old Banilad Road, Kasambagan, Cebu City. (Wednesday June 17th, 2015 — Sun.Star - Cebu City, Philippines)

Survey Of Big Investment Companies Shows Why We Might Be On The Verge Of A Solar Power Boom Approximately two-thirds of big investment companies plan to prioritize solar power in the next five years, according to a new survey. (Wednesday June 17th, 2015 — ThinkProgress -USA)

Cock-a-hoop for organic poultry co-op Fleurieu Peninsula biodynamic cattle producer Trevor Paech fully supports the concept of setting up a cooperative venture to process poultry in his region. ... "Chickens will provide natural fertiliser for the farm," he said. "There's also huge demand for organic chicken meat." (Tuesday June 16th, 2015 — Stock Journal - South Australia)

Forces of nature in the Richmond Valley Key to a successful harvest is a system of growing which involves biodynamic '500' microbe-rich humus, diluted and mixed just right before the inoculation is sprinkled onto the ground in the late afternoon - when the earth is breathing in - to encourage healthy soil biology. (Monday June 15th, 2015 — Fraser Coast Chronicle - Australia)

A community which cares for adults with learning difficulties is celebrating its 60th anniversary The community which cares for adults with learning difficulties in a family-like setting is celebrating its 60th anniversary. Oaklands Park, based near Newnham-on-Severn, is run by charity Camphill Village Trust and is supported by Gloucestershire County Council. (Tuesday June 9th, 2015 — Gloucester Citizen - UK)

70% of Egyptian biodynamic products are exported: EBDA Manager The value of exported biodynamic products is typically over EGP 200m annually, Sobhi told Daily News Egypt. He added that the total space of lands cultivated through biodynamic methods is 7,000 feddans [7,266 acres]. ... Biodynamic products produced in Egypt include, cotton, rice, vegetables, fruits, honey, and herbs amongst others. (Sunday June 7th, 2015 — Daily News Egypt - Cairo, Egypt)