The Hugelkultur Question

November 17, 2014

...hould be experimenting, I thought. And we have a pile of wood. But, like a gardening version of Hamlet, I started waffling again. I decided to post the hugelkultur question to the Garden Professor’s Facebook page. One of those horticulture professors, Linda Chalker-Scott is someone who I seek out when writing a magazine article. A civil discussion ensued on that Facebook page, proving that Facebook is good for something other than angry political...

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Seeds are from Mars

Mr. Homegrown

February 17, 2009

Thoughtstylings

17 Comments

...ident of agriculture at Seeds of Change. He’s the well respected author of Gardening for the Future of the Earth, and is currently at work overseeing the sequencing the Cocao genome in a joint project with the US Department of Agriculture, Mars. Inc. and IBM. As for the ultimate outcome of that project, according to the BBC, “Dr Shapiro would not be drawn on whether the research might lead to genetically modified chocolate. “ As for Seeds of Chang...

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Native Plant Workshop

Mr. Homegrown

February 4, 2009

Events, Native Plants

3 Comments

...ey save species. Learn about crucial native plant-animal relationships and gardening to attract birds, butterflies and hummingbirds. With only 4% of our wild lands left, urban and suburban native plant gardens will be the “make or break” difference to the support and preservation of bio-diversity. Lisa will show and tell you about several varieties of native plants as well as provide samples for sale. Immediately after the lecture in the garden we...

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Spreadin’ Seed

Mr. Homegrown

February 2, 2009

Seeds

4 Comments

...by Food not Lawns. We celebrated the day in Altadena with a bunch of local gardening enthusiasts and countless boxes of seeds. We got seeds for Armenian cucumbers, red ruffled pimento peppers, feverfew, echinacea and zucchini among others. In return we gave away okra, cosmos, and mystery seeds from my mom’s Greek neighbor. A seed swap makes a great excuse for a party and a great time was had by all. The Neighbors My mom’s elderly neighbor, who spe...

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Least Favorite Plant: Asparagus Fern (Asparagus setaceus)

Mr. Homegrown

April 18, 2009

Least Favorite Plant

49 Comments

...sewhere. Asparagus Fern (Asparagus setaceus) is the scourge of my backyard gardening existence and a plant many will recognize from floral arrangements. The bozos who owned our house before us planted one of these nasty things underneath the avocado tree. It entangles itself through the branches of the tree, winding it’s way upwards as much as ten feet in a season. It’s impossible to pull out of the ground and its sharp thorns make thick gloves es...

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