Artichoke Season at the Homegrown Revolution Compound

April 17, 2007

...t than the Artichoke (Cynara scolymus) which is also one of the most ideal plants for our climate here in coastal California. Let’s count the other reasons: They are perennial, producing and abundant crop starting with the second year. Artichokes are attractive, making an ideal choice for edible landscaping. They spread like crazy. Suckers can be transplanted elsewhere. They’re damn tasty either steamed, combined with pasta or made into an omelet....

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Beads and Roman Sandals Won’t Be Seen

Mr. Homegrown

October 9, 2006

Permaculture

...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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Stirred, Not Shaken

Mr. Homegrown

October 23, 2009

Biodynamics, Gardening, Vegetable Gardening

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...piles. Steiner has the biodynamic farmer spray these preparations on soil, plants and compost piles to act as a kind of homeopathy for the land. While we did not make our own preparations in class (it’s complicated!) we did a ritual stirring with pre-made preparations in buckets of water. Using sticks we created vortexes in the buckets, alternating in clockwise and counterclockwise motions. We then divided the mixture and rushed home to spread it...

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Moonlight Medicine Foraging Expedition!

Mrs. Homegrown

December 4, 2009

Events

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

Mr. Homegrown

January 15, 2013

Gardening, Vegetable Gardening

37 Comments

...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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