Saturday Linkages: Coop Plans, Moonshine and Mercury in Seafood

...of Mission grapes: http://garynabhan.com/i/archives/1942 Signs of the Mayan Apocalypse Cigarette company endorses apples: http://boingboing.net/2012/12/18/cigarette-company-endorses-app.html … Mercury in seafood: Where does it come from? http://grist.org/food/mercury-in-seafood-where-does-it-come-from/#.UM036EuO8V8.twitter … For these links and more, follow Root Simple on Twitter: Follow @rootsimple...

Continue reading…

Saturday Linkages: Tall Bikes, Za’atar and So Much More

, a yard in Africa: # JoeMinter and 400 years of African-American history: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/25/garden/joe-minters-african-village-in-america.html?ref=garden … pic.twitter.com/qx07xlvDa4 Bikin’ Here’s what it feels like to ride a 14.5-foot-tall bike http://grist.org/list/heres-what-it-feels-like-to-ride-a-14-5-foot-tall-bike/#.UXl2JmJoeY0.twitter … Bikesnob on self driving cars: http://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/2013/04/this-jus...

Continue reading…

Hops in Southern California

...arming experiment ended in the spring of last year after we accidentally plopped some home built scaffolding on top of the tiny vine while undertaking the heinous task of scraping and painting the front of the house. Planting it in terrible soil doomed it to failure anyways. We’re experimenting with growing both Cascade and Nugget hops in a big self irrigating planter with the hope that we can transfer them to the ground next year or the ye...

Continue reading…

Mosaics

Above is a table the Kelly and I made many years ago with glass mosaic tile. We copied a portion of an ancient Roman mosaic depicting sea life. It took about 40 hours of painstaking work. We still have a box of glass tile sitting in the garage and I’m thinking about breaking up the ugly concrete patio in the back yard and doing some mosaics. Kelly is less than enthused about this for a number of reasons, not least of which is that it will...

Continue reading…

Introducing Lora Hall

...s (maybe we can get her to explain this!). You can meet Lora in person and pick up some seedlings and fruit trees at the Highland Park farmer’s market (map) where she runs a booth with Trisha Mazure every Tuesday from 3 to 8 pm. When we visited her at the market last week Lora had a bunch of interesting plants including purslane, tomatoes, tomatillos as well as a selection of fruit trees appropriate for our warm climate. In the LA area an...

Continue reading…

In Chaos Order, In Order Chaos

Periodically Mrs. Homegrown and I teach vegetable gardening classes. For the students, I’ve been looking for a way to illustrate nature’s complex, non-linear dynamics that, paradoxically, seem ordered. I stumbled across this cool sculpture that neatly summarizes the idea of “in chaos order, in order chaos.” Imagine each of the hammers standing in for one of the systems in your garden, insect life, nutrients, microbes, f...

Continue reading…

Saturday Linkages: Sedum Stumps, Chicken Steadycams and the End of the World

Sedum stump via The Garden Professor’s Blog. Gardening Cool gift idea–plant a sedum stump: http://ow.ly/1PQqq2 Nature Meets Video Chicken as steadycam: http://n.pr/11bA7gl Fantastic slow motion video of sprinting cheetahs – Boing Boing http://boingboing.net/2012/11/26/fantastic-flow-motion-video-of.html … DIY Livin’ Sun Ray Kelly: An Ungated Community http://nyti.ms/Ut6Tb5 Modest Student Micro-Cottage is a Mere 12 Square...

Continue reading…

Lady Urine, Water Conservation and Halfway Humanure

I approve of the oval shape of the opening of this funnel– and the sporty color. Fact 1: Human urine is an excellent source of nitrogen for your garden. It can be applied directly to a compost pile, or diluted 10:1 and used on plants. Fact 2: Nature has equipped the male of the species in such a manner that it is easy for him to contribute nitrogen to the compost pile. For women, it’s a bit more tricky. So, how do ladies give back to...

Continue reading…

Biochar: Miracle or Gimmick?

e for some crops. Yet, there was a decrease in growth in some plants and higher yield in others. In the Arboretum and St. Paul campus sites, we noted similar results, but more crops seemed to decline with biochar than without it. There’s nothing new about biochar. It was in use by native peoples in the Amazon region before Columbus. Hopefully this study will help clarify what types of soils and what crops benefit most from its use. Do you h...

Continue reading…