Saturday Linkages: Black Soldier Flys, DIY Power Bars and CDFA Thugs are Killing Bees Again

...ollinator/#.UTo7chMwEko.twitter … The American Plan to Build Nuclear Power Plants in the Ocean http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/paleofuture/2013/02/the-american-plan-to-build-nuclear-power-plants-in-the-ocean/#.UTfFax5lLoc.twitter … Good Ideas Department DRM Chair that works only 8 times: http://hackaday.com/2013/03/04/drm-chair-only-works-8-times/ … Nature Blows My Mind! This 80,000-Year-Old Aspen Grove Clones Itself : TreeHugger http://www.treehu...

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Using Greywater from your Washing Machine

...greywater systems. Regular “eco” detergents, while not harmful to aquatic plants, often contain substances that will kill terrestrial plants so you must use a greywater specific detergent. Our next step will be to figure out some plantings that will take advantage of our laundry schedule, and to construct some simple earthworks and mulch basins to accommodate the water flow. Right now we just let the water percolate into the front slope, and our...

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Beads and Roman Sandals Won’t Be Seen

...which is essentially a mound. In the permaculture version the water hungry plants are placed at the bottom of the mound and the dry plants at the top, the idea being that the water collects towards the bottom of the mound shaped spiral. We didn’t do the mound thing out of laziness and a lack of materials, and because the herbs we planted don’t require much water anyways. As for the spiral shape itself, we’d like to think that it’s our little tribu...

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On why our vegetable garden is such a disaster this year . . .

...e in Los Angeles) if it could go wrong it did. Vegetables are needy, fussy plants and we’ve not had much luck with them recently. So I thought I would list the factors, natural and human that went into this year’s lackluster veggie garden in the hopes of preventing future bouts of veggie neurosis. The aesthetic disaster that is the new keyhole bed. And let’s not even talk about the skunks. Acts of Nature Bad weather—a freakishly hot fall planting...

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Moonlight Medicine Foraging Expedition!

...loration of the sidewalk cracks around Machine Project for local medicinal plants, led by Nance Klehm. Get ready for the long winter dry, cold haul with simple knowledge on how to identify common wild plants that can be used in herbal remedies. >>>> Nance Klehm is a radical ecologist, designer, urban forager, grower and teacher. Her solo and collaborative work focuses on creating participatory social ecologies in response to a direct experience of...

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