GM and the Red Cars

...s like the one above, taken from a Los Angeles Department of Transportation report, I can’t help but think of Fisher’s book and what Nic suggested, that we might be repeating the mistakes of the past and selling our future to short term corporate interests. We would do well to work on changing this trajectory....

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Growing Watermelons

...system, I only got two melons from one vine. But, learning from these twin mistakes, I suspect that next year’s watermelon harvest will be larger, and two other watermelon vines I have going (in a better location) already have a few fruits developing on them. Some things I’ve learned about watermelons: 1. Fighting powdery mildew. Our inland coastal climate, with its hot summer days and cool evenings, is not the best place for melons as we tend to...

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102 Beekeeping Controversies With Susan Rudnicki

.... Why most advice is pro-treatment. Keeping feral stock. Africanized bees. Mistakes. How often to inspect. Swarm prevention. When to take honey in a Mediterranean climate Dodgy bee removal services. The “Complete Idiots Guide to Beekeeping.” What’s wrong with package bees? The difference between swarming and absconding. That Flow Hive thingy. Darwinian concepts in beekeeping. “Scientific” beekeeper Randy Oliver’s change of opinion on feral stock:...

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104 Erin Schanen the Impatient Gardener

...s some of Erin’s recent blog posts and other subjects including: Gardening mistakes. Dealing with creeping bellflower (Campanula rapunculoides) and other weeds. Remodeling a cottage. Erin’s day job as editor of Sailing Magazine. You can hear more about Erin’s sailing adventures on Garden Fork Radio episode 421. How to plant a tree. Killing plants. Winter and gardening with climate change. The folly of taking shortcuts with your soil. The importanc...

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Epic Homesteading Fiascos

...ters can be a lesson, particularly if you have the courage, as Eric does, to share them publicly. And, as our guest on the podcast this week Guy Frenkel pointed out, if you’re letting mistakes get you down it means your ego is in the way of the risk taking that’s essential to any creative endeavor. What’s your worst fiasco?...

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