Mistakes we have made . . .

...ve forgotten, but here’s a start. 1. Installing a water garden. That water garden looks great in the picture above. That was before the neighborhood raccoons spent several nights a week treating it like rock stars used to treat hotel rooms, and before scum and slime clogged up the pump. While the pump was solar powered, the profligate use of water was not the best example to set here in draught prone Los Angeles. After a few months we gave up, fil...

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Supper for a buck?

...a simple meal: a loaf of this bread, a bowl of beans and a salad from the garden. It was really good and satisfying, and I realized, also very cheap. Dried beans run about $1.50 a pound where we shop. One pound of dry beans makes about 6 cups of cooked beans. That’s a lot of food. I’m not going to try to do the math and add up the costs of the onion and herbs and olive oil I add to the beans. And I surely don’t have the patience to figure out the...

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Steal this Book!

...• Compost with worms • Keep city chickens • Divert your grey water to your garden • Clean your house without toxins • Guerilla garden in public spaces • Create the modern homestead of your dreams Written by city dwellers for city dwellers, this illustrated, two-color guide proposes a paradigm shift that adds joy to our lives, strengthens our communities, and supports our planet. Includes copious illustrations, project ideas, resources, and first p...

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Vegetable Gardening for the Lazy

...p of our top four favorite edible perennials we have growing in our humble garden. 1. Tree Collards (Brassica oleracea acephala–I think). This strange but attractive member of the Brassica family, pictured above (in a protective cage to fend off our chickens and Doberman), goes under a confusing number of popular names. The specimen given to us by Trathen Heckman of the Petaluma based Daily Acts (thanks again Trathen!), has matured into what looks...

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It Quacks Like a Duck

...ld of ducks in addition to chickens. The Petalumans correctly describe the garden destroying power of chickens as “like having teenagers around”. As much as we enjoy our chickens we can confirm this. On their blog the Petalumans describe some of the virtues of the less destructive duck: Bill Mollison once said something like, “You don’t have a snail problem. You have a dearth of ducks”. Well, he’s certainly correct. Our neighbors are now bringing...

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