Spotted at the Huntington Ranch: Lemmon’s Marigold (Tagetes lemmoni), a four to six foot wide schrub native to Arizona and northern Mexico. More info on this beautiful plant here. I want one in my garden!
I’m Thankful for Lemmon’s Marigold
Author: Mr. Homegrown
The Holiday Gift Truce
One of the traditions my family has experimented with in the past few years is the holiday gift truce. At Thanksgiving we agree to terms. In the past we’ve exchanged names and given one gift per person or we’ve just agreed to not do any gift giving or shopping (kids are exempt). Though we haven’t tried it, another option would be to contribute to a favorite charity, say Heifer International, in lieu of gifts.
Economics professor Joel Waldfogel has studied the inefficiencies of gift giving and calls Christmas, “an orgy of value destruction.” The problem? When it comes to gift giving we’re not very good at guessing what people actually want. In a Bloomberg article Waldfogel says, “People value the items they receive as gifts 20 percent less per dollar spent than the items they purchase for themselves. These are items that are not well-suited for their tastes.”
Particularly in challenging economic times it’s hard to justify this orgy of value destruction, not to mention the stress and time spent in mall parking lots. I’m interested in how readers of this blog navigate the holiday season. Do you make your own gifts? Do you think gift giving is important? Do you give cash or savings bonds? Or do you avoid gift giving altogether?
What Do You Love?
A very talented filmmaker named Alex Gorosh did this superbly shot little mini-doc about little old me for Good Magazine. It’s part of a series of videos entitled “What Do You Love?” Thanks Alex!
If you want, leave a comment telling us what you love!
Meet the Gophinator
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| The Gophinator |
Thankfully, we don’t have gophers, but dealing with them is one of the first questions we get when teaching vegetable gardening classes. You can use raised beds lined with hardware cloth. But, other than target practice (a no-no in urban areas), most people I know with gopher problems end up using traps or zealous cats.
Several sources have told me about the Cadillac of gopher traps, the aptly named “Gophinator”. Scott Kleinrock of the Huntington Ranch is one of those Gophinator fans, who stressed avoiding the cheap traps available at big box stores. The Gophinator is sturdy, easy to set and made out of stainless steel that lasts much longer than cheaper traps.
To use it you need to dig around and find the main subway line the gophers ride. Scott hooks up a wire and a stake to the traps to remember where they are placed.
The Gophinator is manufactured by Trapline products and you can order one and view some instructional videos here.
How do you deal with gophers? Leave some comments!
Urban Homesteading Thing Catching On
I have a Google alert set up for the phrase “urban homestead”. Lately I’ve noticed more real estate and apartment listings using this phrase. Our neighbors Anne and Bill even used it to rent out their duplex. A rental listing that includes the photos in this post came from a real estate concern renting out an apartment in Edmonton, Canada. For $1,600 Canadian dollars a month you get:
- hot water on demand system.
- sunroom has a high efficiency wood burning fireplace that helps keep house warm and cozy in the winter.
- fenced back yard is an urban oasis with three apple trees, three plum trees, eight choke cherry bushes, a grape vine, covered deck, and enclosed fire pit with a private seating area. A perennial flower garden lines the path to the front yard. Three rain barrels provide ample water for large vegetable and flower gardens.
- get to know your neighbours at the nearby community hall and rink. The hall holds a variety of children, youth, and adult-focussed classes, programs, and events, such as free dog training; playgroups; skating, yoga, and dance classes; children’s Halloween and Christmas parties; community bbqs; collective kitchen; and more!
- trained dogs welcome; absolutely no cats.
Other than that last bit (Dogs but not cats? Someone please explain the logic.) I’m happy to see fruit trees, rain barrels and community activities listed as an asset. Maybe that common sense thing is catching on.