Latest News
Pig butchering? Announcing SchmikkelCoin
John B. Marek is a writer, farmer, outdoorsman and recovering economic developer. You can find his books at johnbmarek.com. When I first heard about internet "pig butchering" scams, I took the terminology a bit too literally. I initially thought they involved...
My summer kit
John B. Marek is a writer, farmer, outdoorsman and recovering economic developer. You can find his books at johnbmarek.com. The other day, I realized that this is the first summer in 45 years that I do not have a "real" job. Of course, between writing, managing my...
Anyone have a good gasoline recipe?
John B. Marek is a writer, farmer, outdoorsman and recovering economic developer. You can find his books at johnbmarek.com. Living in a rural area often comes with a sense of self-reliance. We fix our own fences, mend our own clothes and grow a good portion of our own...
Grease is the way we are feeling
John B. Marek is a writer, farmer, outdoorsman and recovering economic developer. You can find his books at johnbmarek.com. To kick off our Memorial Day weekend, my wife and I went to a free showing of the movie "Grease" at Primal Brewery. It was a good time, with a...
Ship in a bottle
John B. Marek is a writer, farmer, outdoorsman and recovering economic developer. You can find his books at johnbmarek.com. Have you ever seen one of those intricate ship-in-a-bottle creations? The tiny masts, the billowing sails, all meticulously crammed through the...
Talking stalking
John B. Marek is a writer, farmer, outdoorsman and recovering economic developer. You can find his books at johnbmarek.com. The Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan movies “Sleepless In Seattle” and “You've Got Mail” are two of my favorite romantic comedies, but viewed objectively,...
Beat the bite
John B. Marek is a writer, farmer, outdoorsman and recovering economic developer. You can find his books at johnbmarek.com. Around this time every spring, a truck with a large metal tank would pull up to my family's rural Ohio home and offer to spray for "bugs." It...
When prices rise, working families feel the squeeze
John B. Marek is a writer, farmer, outdoorsman and recovering economic developer. You can find his books at johnbmarek.com. Whatever your thoughts about the causes of the recent surge in inflation, it would be hard to argue that prices of everyday goods and services...
Reach for the sky with pole beans
John B. Marek is a writer, farmer, outdoorsman and recovering economic developer. You can find his books at johnbmarek.com. Green beans are among the most accessible, reliable and productive vegetables a gardener can plant. They thrive in, and generally improve, a...
Finding your fit: Exploring rural churches
John B. Marek is a writer, farmer, outdoorsman and recovering economic developer. You can find his books at johnbmarek.com. Under any circumstances, choosing a church can feel like a daunting task, but for newcomers to a rural area the typical issues of theological...
We Need You at the Mount Gilead Gathering Garden!
Many of you know that I help organize and run The Gathering Garden (TGG), Mount Gilead’s Community Garden in the heart of downtown. This organic community garden is not just a plot of land where plants grow; it's a vibrant, inclusive space where our neighbors come...
Living with Japangst
John B. Marek is a writer, farmer, outdoorsman and recovering economic developer. You can find his books at johnbmarek.com. The 1980s were a period of dramatic economic transformation in the United States. As the smokestacks of American industry sputtered, a new...