BLUE NEST BEEF JOURNAL

Open your mind to new ways of thinking and join us on this journey to restore our roots.

Evolutionary Revolutions

By Russ Conser  |  March 27, 2023
Part 2 of a 10-part series on how energy, technology, sunshine, carbon, grass, soil, cows, birds and the prosperity of all life on Earth are connected. In Part 1, hopefully you got the point – I have an energy obsession. I want to help you see how that’s related to...

Energy Obsession

By Russ Conser  |  February 06, 2023
  Part 1 of a 10-part series on how energy, technology, sunshine, carbon, grass, soil, cows, birds and the prosperity of all life on Earth are connected. I am obsessed with energy. I love my wife, my kids, and now my grandkids, but my warped mind tends to see everything...

Quick And Healthy Toddler Snack Ideas For Hero Parents

By Blue Nest Beef  |  September 28, 2022
Every parent wants to give their child the best possible start in life, including providing them with healthy snacks. However, preparing a snack for toddlers can be daunting, especially when you don’t know where to start. Thus, having the best healthy snack ideas ready in your back pocket is best....

24 High Protein Snacks You Need to Try

By Russ Conser  |  September 20, 2022
People are always hurrying from one place to another. I often find myself wanting to get a quick bite to eat from a drive-thru or vending machine while I’m on the road and hungry. However, most processed snacks are unhealthy since they contain lots of salt, sugar, and fat. When...

Posthistoric Planet

By Russ Conser  |  June 11, 2022
Last week, my wife and I thoroughly enjoyed the new 5-part BBC Studios series “Prehistoric Planet” on Apple TV. It’s truly amazing to see how far computer graphics technology has come to be able to render a world so life-like. That, and the familiar voice of David Attenborough makes you...

Bigger Problems

By Russ Conser  |  April 14, 2022
“Supply chains” are on many a mind these days. Ford struggles to make trucks, and as announced on Monday, we’re currently struggling to get frozen beef all the way to the door for some of you. We’ve been doing our best to apply band aids, but the full solution has...

…and Bees

By Russ Conser  |  March 31, 2022
It’s time we have the talk – you know… the birds AND the bees! 😉  No not THAT talk, the one wherein we talk about how even though we focus a lot on birds, bees (and other insects) matter, too.  Birds are easier to see, hear and often admire their...

Synthetic Savanna

By Russ Conser  |  February 24, 2022
Last week I told you about the tragedy of US “renewable fuels” policy and how at least in terms of climate impact, our modern corn ethanol industry was at best no better than gasoline, and more likely worse. This outcome was driven by the tragedy of carbon lost by plowing...

Renewable Tragedy

By Russ Conser  |  February 24, 2022
As you now know, I grew up in the corn belt. When ethanol first became ‘a thing’ during the energy crises of the 1970’s, we made sure to buy fuel that included ethanol to support our neighbors and cousins, and not rely so much on imported energy. Only later would...

America the Rebeautified

By Russ Conser  |  February 23, 2022
“Oh beautiful, for spacious skies For amber waves of grain For purple mountain majesties Above the fruited plain.” The song has inspired generations. But few seem to realize that those “amber waves of grain” replaced the fruited plains even before we curtailed their waves! In a tragedy worthy of Shakespeare,...

Breathing Earth

By Russ Conser  |  January 20, 2022
In an earlier musing, I wondered whether counting carbon was actually a good idea? It’s not that counting it might be bad, it’s the potential myopia if we focus on it too much. To be clear, carbon is actually a good thing to count as part of a bigger picture....

Lost Savannas

By Russ Conser  |  January 13, 2022
Savanna – some think it’s just a city in Georgia, but of course that name came from somewhere.   A “savanna” is a mixed grassland-woodland ecosystem. It’s the place where grass and trees live together because each makes the other better. As an environment gets more rainfall, it can support more...

Clean Eating

By Russ Conser  |  January 06, 2022
Well, this week marks another milestone in government silliness. No not that one, this one.   Some high paid bureaucrats in DC have decided that instead of labelling foods with already fuzzy terms like “genetically engineered” or as containing “genetically modified organisms,” it would be clearer to label foods with new...

Whole Earth – In Memory Of E. O. Wilson

By Blue Nest Beef  |  December 30, 2021
“Future generations are going to forgive us our horrible genocidal wars because they have passed too far in history. They will forgive us all of the earlier generations’ follies and harm. But they will not forgive us for having thrown away such a large part of the rest of life...

Counting Carbon?

By Russ Conser  |  November 15, 2021
In case you haven’t noticed, a whole bunch of folks have been circling up in Glasgow, Scotland the last few weeks to talk about carbon. All of them realize there’s too much in the air, and a few understand there’s not enough in soil.   It was against this backdrop that...