Beware of Bee Removal Scams

August 23, 2016

...exterminator will leave all the honey in the wall. The honey will attract pests and, possibly, drip through your wall or ceiling. Bees left in place will not let their honey drip or get robbed by mice. Unfortunately, there seem to be a lot of fraudulent bee removal companies out there who promise “humane” removal but who actually just use chemical fumigants to force the bees to abscond. Colonies forced out this way are nearly certain to die. Havi...

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Why You Should Grow Pomegranates if You Can

Mr. Homegrown

October 3, 2014

Fruit Trees, Gardening

26 Comments

...ring and handsome yellow leaves in the fall. They grow fast. They have few pests. They are drought tolerant. They produce delicious fruit. Require low chill hours. They live long–200 years or more. The big downside for, probably, most of the readers of this blog is that pomegranates are frost sensitive. And the fruit will split if it rains in the fall. But if you live in a warm, dry climate you need to get one! The variety we have is Wonderful, no...

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The Soil Beneath Our Feet

Mrs. Homegrown

April 23, 2015

Back to the Garden

4 Comments

...Healthy soils make strong plants, increasing food yields and discouraging pests. Healthy soils wick and hold water, helping in times of both drought and flood. And healthy soil sequesters carbon. When we think about CO2 emissions, we think about the burning of fossil fuels–and we should, because those account for 65.5% of carbon emissions, according to this fact sheet from the State of Washington’s Department of Ecology. But did you know that the...

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Jas. Townsend’s 18th Century Cooking

Mr. Homegrown

December 19, 2016

Fermentation, Food, Food Preservation, Recipes

16 Comments

...te Townsend’s well researched videos. You can tell he’s having a good time making them too. Kelly wanted me to highlight the portable soup video I embedded above. And note that it’s just one of four videos on portable soup! There’s also a fascinating series on 18th century breads. If Townsend’s video output isn’t enough for you he’s got a website containing the recipes and videos called Savoring the Past. Does Townsend sleep? I’m glad he doesn’t b...

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The Secret of Tidiness Revealed

Mr. Homegrown

December 14, 2016

Domesticus, Tidying up

18 Comments

...thrift store first may be necessary for the more wayward members of the untidy tribe. What do you think? Tidy tribesters–are you laughing? Untidy tribesters–are you weeping/making excuses/confused/skeptical? And I haven’t even touched on the issue of a tidy person living with an untidy mate!...

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