Search Results for: label/pirate gardening

226 results

Paleofuture Farming

Mr. Homegrown
Thoughtstylings
3 Comments
From the awesome Paleofuture blog, which chronicles what folks thought the future would look like, a few notions of future farming. Apparently, this anticipated future (which more or less came to pass) involved “lounge chair gardening.” And, of course, factory farming: To the generation that came up with these ideas I’ll just say that I hope the dinosaur juice that keeps those factory farms humming holds out. Per...

Continue reading…

Aerated Compost Tea: Does it Work?

Mr. Homegrown
Composting, Gardening
15 Comments
There’s a lot aerated compost tea brewers on the interwebs! I’ve been asked by Urban Farm Magazine to write a short piece on the pros and cons of aerated compost tea (ACT for short). I’ve been sifting through the peer reviewed literature on the subject. Most of the studies show, at best, mixed results. And, honestly, my bias is against gardening techniques that require gadgets or novel techniques with no analog in nature. I...

Continue reading…

La Alternativa

Mr. Homegrown
Resources
RLeave a comment
...ead crumbs and warm milk, a flan made with fruit or vegetables rather than scarce corn starch and eggs, and laundry soap made from the jaboncillo tree. What we like most about Gálvez is that she is a strong proponent of urban gardening, maximizing every available space for food, a contrast to Martha Stewart’s useless pesticide and fertilizer drenched flower gardens. See the the film Power of Community How Cuba Survived Peak Oil for more on...

Continue reading…

The Food and Flowers Freedom Act

Mr. Homegrown
Events
9 Comments
Local food is coming back to Los Angeles. Homegrown Evolution is proud to be a part of a new group, the Urban Farming Advocates (UFA). Not in LA? Start your own UFA branch. City codes need to be changed everywhere! UFA activist Glen Dake posted the following notice on the Garden Council website: Problem: In 1946, a Los Angeles municipal code known as the Truck Gardening Ordinance was written to allow the growing of vegetables in a residentia...

Continue reading…

SIPS and Kraut at Project Butterfly

Mr. Homegrown
Events
2 Comments
...to make sauerkraut! Contribution:: $20 [ includes a delicious light vegetarian meal and drinks ] Location:Project Butterfly Loft821 Traction Ave #108Los Angeles CA 90013 Blurbs:“The Urban Homestead…touches on vegetable gardening, poultry, DIY cleaning products and beer making — all outlined with a sense of play and fun.—Whole Life Times “…a delightfully readable and very useful guide to front- and back-yard vegetable gardening,...

Continue reading…

Homegrown Evolution Podcast Episode #1

Mr. Homegrown
Water and Power, Water Conservation
14 Comments
...ting.org. We conclude with a reaction to this new program from river activist Joe Linton, author of Down by the Los Angeles River and one of the bloggers behind lacreekfreak.wordpress.com. As we say on the podcast, we prefer gardening to staring at computer screens and putting a podcast together involves a hell of a lot of the latter. Don’t look for frequent updates, but we’ll probably put out another one in the fall. Please excuse t...

Continue reading…

The Homegrown Mailbox: How and Where Do I Get My Soil Tested?

Mr. Homegrown
Gardening, Soil
9 Comments
...works well, but it can take many years to get all the contaminants out. For those of you in Los Angeles, our local Extension Service agent Yvonne Savio kindly sent me the following list of labs with comments. Biological Urban Gardening ServicePO Box 76Citrus Heights, CA 95611(916) 726-5377URL: www.organiclandscape.com Email: [email protected] recommendations, very user-friendlyOwner Steve Zien and I co-author “Organic Matte...

Continue reading…

Podcasts for the Urban Homesteader

Mr. Homegrown
Resources
12 Comments
...available. So should be on the iPods of urban homesteaders? I’ve got a few suggestions: Survival Podcast We just appeared on this podcast, which is hosted by Jack Spirko. Jack is extremely knowledgeable when it comes to gardening, permaculture and a host of other topics. His listeners, many of whom now read this blog, also know a lot about the subjects he covers. And, refreshingly, there’s no conspiracy theories on the Survival Podcas...

Continue reading…

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

Mr. Homegrown
Gardening, Vegetable Gardening
36 Comments
One of the front beds–soil problems, I think, are causing the gap in the middle of the bed. I’m having my annual gardening-caused mental meltdown. When it comes to vegetables this winter (the best time to grow them here 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&#...

Continue reading…

Homesteading Disasters: The Skunk Menace

Mr. Homegrown
Mistakes
16 Comments
...ueeze through any gaps. And each year I wake up the morning after planting to a kind of vegetable garden apocalypse–dozens of V shaped holes, overturned seedlings and scattered seeds. And each year I swear off vegetable gardening entirely. Actual photo of absent-minded conquistadors. So what’s the science behind this? Why do skunks dig? Skunks dig for doubloons dropped by absent-minded conquistadors many generations ago here...

Continue reading…