Weeds into Fertilizer

...things that plants need for healthy growth. This makes nettles useful for making your own fertilizer. They can accumulate nutrients and minerals in their biomass. When they break down in a compost pile, or in this case in the water, they release the nutrients. Many of these elements can be difficult for other plants to access in the soil. Nettles just happen to be very good at taking up nutrients from relatively poor soil. The point here is let y...

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KRAUT FEST!!!!

...ature dish of Alsace (described to us as a ridiculous meat fiesta). 11am – Making Sauerkraut – click HERE for a list of ingredients to bring! 12pm – Making Kimchi – click HERE for a list of ingredients to bring! 1pm – Choucroute Garni presentation & sampling Participants will need to bring their own ingredients (shopping lists are linked above). You can register to make either kimchi or sauerkraut for $10, or both for $15. Registration gets you a...

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Garden Amendments as Placebos

...the goal of healing the damage to nature that we’ve caused? And what about biodynamics? I suspect a consciousnesses shift within human hearts and minds is what Rudolf Steiner was really trying to do with his, admittedly bizarre, preparations. On the opposite, non-interventionist side of the gardening spectrum, I’ve been re-reading Masanobu Fukuoka’s books. Fukuoka advocates a radical, almost (but not entirely) hands-off approach to natural systems...

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019 Garden Nerd Christy Wilhelmi

...has a podcast, The Gardenerds Tip of the Week. During the show we discuss: Biodynamics Biointensive/French Intensive Alan Chadwick’s Garden at UC Santa Cruz John Jeavons Double digging vs. no-till A documentary about Ruth Stout Breaking up soil with permaculture method The power of mulch Square foot gardening Peat moss vs. coir Growing carbon and compost crops Heavy metals Phytoremediation with milk thistle and chicory What to fill a raised bed wi...

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Stickers for the Organic Gardener

...Boing a clever re-purposing: “Evil Mad Scientist Labs wants you to proudly label your organic garden with these handsome “Now Slower and with More Bugs!” stickers, originally produced to adorn software products. The influence of the Slow Food movement is increasing, and gardening is getting ever more popular. Even the tech bloggers are posting about local pollinators and getting beehives. In this environment, it is fitting that a new use has been...

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