Search Results for: label/least favorite plant

424 results

Asian Citrus Psyllid Eradication Program Causes Outbreak of Citrus Leafminer

Mr. Homegrown
Pests
2 Comments
...of another citrus pest, the leafminer. According to the USDA Agricultural Research Service, “The leafminer moth, Phyllocnistis citrella, forms channels as it feeds inside citrus leaves and, as a result, often makes the plant more susceptible to canker disease. Further exacerbating the leafminer problem is the spraying of more insecticide to combat another pest—the Asian citrus psyllid. The insecticide is killing off the leafminers’ natural...

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Mellow Yellow: How to Make Dandelion Wine

Nancy Klehm
Fermentation, Food, Foraging, Recipes
32 Comments
...digestive, aiding the heath and cleansing of the kidneys and liver. Amongst vitamins A, B, C and D, they have a huge amount of potassium. As a beyond-perfect diuretic, dandelion has so much potassium that when you digest the plant, no matter how much fluid you lose, your body actually experiences a net gain of the nutrient. In other words, folks – dandelion wine is one alcohol that actually helps your liver and kidneys! Generous, sweet, overlook...

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Disconnect to Reconnect: Ditching the “Flushie” for a Composting Toilet

Nancy Klehm
Composting, Gardening, Humanure, Preparedness, Thoughtstylings
14 Comments
shes successfully, marches the tool back outside to air out and we settle back into our routines relieved that our burdens are flowing into the larger mystery of pipes and their soupy contents to the municipal waste treatment plant miles away. But with Erik and Kelly out of town on one of the weekends during my stay, the daily chores of feeding the kittens, letting out the single hen to roam the yard and snaking, if so needed, fell on me. And yes...

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Till vs. No-Till

Mr. Homegrown
Gardening, Soil, Vegetable Gardening
31 Comments
...de that tilling creates a soil “crust” that interferes with water penetration. And tilling disrupts mycelial networks and other soil organisms that, research has shown, form important symbiotic relationships with plant roots.  But what about heavily compacted soils? How do you turn a lawn or driveway into a garden? It’s in these cases that I, in the past, have used double digging. Double digging proponents would argue that the...

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Save the World–Poop in a Bucket

Mr. Homegrown
Humanure
1 Comment
...tories on the subject came out at the same time: Wasteland: A Journey through the American cloaca in Harper’s Magazine. Journalist Frederick Kaufman traces sewage from New York’s North River Solid Waste Treatment Plant to . . . [spoiler here!] bags of soil at Home Depot. A Mother Earth News reader submitted a photo and description of a handsome sawdust privy made out of an old garden hose box. Very clever! Science Daily reports on...

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Homemade Teeccino

Mrs. Homegrown
Food, Foraging, Herbs, Recipes
13 Comments
...and generally cheap. The chicory is more expensive and a little more difficult to find–sometimes it’s at health food stores, and of course, it’s online. In terms of foraging or growing, chicory is the same plant as Belgian endive (Cichorium intybus). You can grow it, harvest the root, roast and grind it. You may also find it growing wild in your area. See this helpful article on growing chicory and endive. It’s kind of f...

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Chicken Guantanamo

Mr. Homegrown
Animals, Chickens
4 Comments
...nd to protect your garden from destruction by your chickens. The more room and foraging area your chickens have the happier they will be. Give them access to your whole yard however, and they will munch and scratch down every plant they find edible behaving, as the Petaluma Urban Homesteaders put it, “like a pack of delinquent teenagers”. Our chicken housing consists of three zones. Zone one is the hen house–that aluminum struc...

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The Food and Flowers Freedom Act

Mr. Homegrown
Events
9 Comments
...nt to greening our city. SOLUTION: On July 8th, 2009, Council President Eric Garcetti introduced a motion to explore allowing “the cultivation of flowers, fruits, nuts or vegetables defined as the product of any tree, vine or plant, and that these products be allowed for use on-site or sale off-site.” A group known as Urban Farming Advocates – Los Angeles, has named this motion the Food & Flowers Freedom Act. We’re asking for your support s...

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