A Tour of the Homegrown Evolution Compound

...sary staples. But, we seldom buy greens at the store, and almost never buy herbs or eggs–we’ve got that taken care of in the garden. In the summer we have lots of tomatoes, and right now we have a few avocados. When the fruit trees mature in a few years we’ll have fruit. We’re hippies. Don’t get us wrong, we love hippies. We have no problems with cob ovens shaped like psychedelic snails, but that just ain’t our style. We’ve tried to keep things lo...

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The recyclable/compostable Christmas tree

...ar. Sturdy fruits and berries Popcorn/cranberry strings Paper chains Dried herbs and flowers Moss Feathers Cool looking seed pods Nuts Origami Paper snowflakes Homemade rock candy Gingerbread figures There’s tons more possibilities. What have I forgotten? Some of my ornaments This is a sugared white sage leaf. I added sugar because I decided the tree needed a little bling. Ditto with these–sugared toyon berries. I will do a separate how-to post on...

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Saturday Tweets: Artisinal Junk Food, Wide Streets and Neon Succulents

...d via @theREALdanmeth @buzzfeed — Root Simple (@rootsimple) March 26, 2015 Herbs, Not Ammo: How to Garden With Ammunition Cans http://t.co/XlLC60v34T — Root Simple (@rootsimple) March 26, 2015 Don't fall for garden store gimmicks http://t.co/hsmdrXTCuf via @WVgardenguru — Root Simple (@rootsimple) March 25, 2015 Efficiency in the Kitchen to Reduce Food Waste http://t.co/tw7WtzWUcg — Root Simple (@rootsimple) March 25, 2015 Building Healthy Soi...

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O79 Growing and Breeding Tomatoes with Fred Hempel

...etables in Northern California. His focus is on tomatoes, peppers, squash, herbs and edible flowers. In the podcast we ask if there is such a thing as a heirloom tomato? What does a tomato breeder look for in a tomato? Why do supermarket tomatoes taste so crappy? And what happens when you turn a tomato breeding project over to an eight year old. We also talk about how to water tomatoes and prepare soil. During the podcast Fred mentions: Dumont #4...

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Anagallis monellii : A New Favorite

...planted Anagallis monellii “Blue Pimpernel” in a bed of mixed flowers and herbs. This plant is neither edible or medicinal, but we hoped the bees would like its many blue flowers. Anagallis monellii is a Mediterranean native, so it is well suited to the California climate, and it follows that it does not need much water. It is perennial in zones 9 to 11 (that’s us), but can be grown as an annual elsewhere. If you see Anagallis monellii without bl...

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