Search Results for: label/garden design

543 results

Compost Bin Project From Our New Book

Mr. Homegrown
Composting, Design, Gardening
20 Comments
Natural Home and Garden magazine has excerpted a shipping pallet compost bin project from our new book Making It: Radical Home Ec for a Post-Consumer World . I’ve been using shipping pallets as a compost bin for a few years now and they work great. A compost pile, in my humble opinion, should be a minimum of a cubic yard in order to jump start the heat and microbial life that makes for good compost. Nail together a couple of pallets a...

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A Self-Watering Container in a Pot

Mr. Homegrown
Self Watering Containers
1 Comment
The serendipitous discovery of two three-gallon margarine containers behind a dodgy local bakery has led to the yuppification of our self-watering container (SWC) garden. We posted earlier on how to make these handy containers, which have a reservoir of water at the bottom that keeps the soil at a uniform moisture level. We also made a video about them that we’re amused to report has been “favorited” on Youtube by pot growers....

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Saturday Linkages: Of Sewer Hunting and Fermented Lemonade

Mr. Homegrown
Saturday Linkages
2 Comments
Fermented Lemonade: http:// thecultivatedlife.wordpress.com/2012/07/06/ho-  … http:// Bedroom Almanac: Wall Decor Changes With Lunar Cycle dornob.com/bedroom-almana  … How to Sew on a Button | The Art of Manliness http:// artofmanliness.com/2012/06/28/sew  … Sewer hunting–the worst job ever: http:// blogs.smithsonianmag.com/history/2012/0  … Silver Lake’s Vertical Garden Gets Peeled Away: http://www. theeastsiderla.com/2012/07/...

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A tasty Italian chard: Bieta Verde da Taglio

Mr. Homegrown
Gardening, Vegetable Gardening
2 Comments
A few folks have written to ask what we’re growing in our winter vegetable garden and we’ve been late to reply. Since we’re in USDA zone 10 and seldom get freezing weather here in Los Angeles, we can grow year round. One of my favorites this winter has been a Swiss chard variety from Italy called Bieta Verde da Taglio or “Green cutting chard”. Verde da Taglio has thin stems and thick leaves. It ain’t as pretty...

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Growing Home: Agriculture in the City

Mrs. Homegrown
Events
3 Comments
We’re pleased as punch to have been invited to participate in this fantastic symposium hosted by the Huntington Library & Gardens in Pasadena.  It’s a full day of presentations, tours and practical breakout sessions. We’re generally slow to open the wallet for events, but we’d gladly pay the $25 admission for this one.  Check out the line up below! Homegrown Neighbor will be there (Full Circle), as well as Tara of S...

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Biochar: Miracle or Gimmick?

Mr. Homegrown
Gardening, Vegetable Gardening
10 Comments
Cornell University illustration showing biochar as a means of sequestering greenhouse gases. I’m always skeptical of what I call the “notions and potions” school of gardening. Every few years there is some new substance touted as the secret to a lush vegetable garden. One such substance is biochar, a kind of charcoal used as a soil amendment. The University of Minnesota Extension service is in the midst of a four year study to...

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The Homegrown Mailbox: How and Where Do I Get My Soil Tested?

Mr. Homegrown
Gardening, Soil
9 Comments
...ccuracy. But, we’re happy to take the letters from Kevin, the horse poop for compost and try our best. Here’s one question we get a lot: Q: Y’all know where I can get my soil tested? I’ve started HUGE garden in my side yard and it just occurred to me that it is where people used to park their cars. I’m concerned about Oil or other pollutants from the cars that might still be in the soil. Any experience with this? Ca...

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Bean Fest, Episode 7: The Home-Ec Supper Club

Mrs. Homegrown
Events, Thoughtstylings
13 Comments
...want to cause those grim forced marches to the liquor store to buy a nice bottle of wine, or emergency trips to the deli case of Whole Foods. No. We wanted people’s surplus, or nothing at all. What did they have in the garden? What were they sick of eating? That’s a Home Ec Supper contribution. It wasn’t hard to make some beans and rice, and it sure didn’t stress our budget. I didn’t clean the house up much beyond b...

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Farm in a Box

Mr. Homegrown
Aquaculture, Preparedness
11 Comments
...ng bacteria create a symbiotic relationship; Fish waste is converted by bacteria to a plant loving nutrient which helps maintain safe levels of ammonia without discarding waste and water. Aqupaonics is an efficient, intensive gardening method with average of 3-6 fold greater yield per square foot. And even though water is everywhere in an aquaponic system, there is as much as 90% less water used than in-ground methods. Other advantages to aquapon...

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