Are We Keeping Too Many Bees?

October 25, 2013

Bees

...honey production will decrease if there are not enough pollinator-friendly plants to meet demand. I’m confused about the article and the quotes from the BLKA. Is the concern about the bees or about having less honey? Focusing on honey can indeed lead to bee overpopulation. Bee populations self-regulate. If there are not enough food sources colonies will die off. That is, unless people are feeding bee colonies sugar to prop them up (and I assume th...

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Defining a Garden’s Purpose

Mr. Homegrown

July 8, 2013

Garden Design, Gardening

13 Comments

...to mean that even folks who eat all their meals at McDonald’s and think of plants as being a kind of green background material are doing a kind of gardening, albeit one that is not helping our planet. What kind of gardening did I see from the train? The photo above sums it up. The most common sight was dead grass and junk storage. In more affluent areas people had lush grass and maybe a pool. Some had vegetable gardens, a few chickens and goats. O...

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Least Favorite Plant: Asparagus Fern (Asparagus setaceus)

Mr. Homegrown

April 18, 2009

Least Favorite Plant

49 Comments

Today, a new feature on the blog: least favorite plants. I’ve always thought that it’s more fun to read a bad review than a glowing one, so why not extend the concept to the plant world? But we’re not going to rant about “weeds”, which Ralph Waldo Emerson defined as, “a plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.” As active foragers we’ve found virtues in what most people think of as weeds, plants like broadleaf plantain and stinging nettle...

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Urban Foraging with Nance Klehm

Mr. Homegrown

September 8, 2008

Food, Foraging

...gardens or dumpster diving. This is a discussion of the riches that grow in our highway medians, city planters, backyards and rail lines. Expert forager, Nance Klehm, sheds light on the city’s bounty, from medicinal plants to tasty greens. Getting to know the foraging landscape takes some time and energy, but gives back in complex flavors and a better appreciation of plants, and it’s free. “ Listen to the podcast here....

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Picture Sundays: A Keyhole Bed and Straw Bale Garden in Texas

Mr. Homegrown

June 9, 2013

Gardening, Picture Sundays, Straw Bale Gardening, Vegetable Gardening

4 Comments

...garden. John says, This is my first year to use compost tea. I am growing plants in two Keyhole Gardens, self watering 5 gal plastic buckets and two hay bales (coastal Bermuda hay) that have a wooden framework on top containing bulk landscaping compost from a local nursery. My plants are growing super fast and my tomatoes are loaded. This looks to be the best garden I have ever had. Judging from the fencing it looks like you’ve also figured out a...

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