Saturday Tweets: Cats, Silicon Valley and DIY Bus Benches

...s living on 11 acres in the midwest without electricity or running water! #homestead pic.twitter.com/n00fv7UsBd — Gardenerd (@gardenerd1) November 29, 2018 UK retailer offers Christmas trees for cat lovers https://t.co/jem0367EEh — Root Simple (@rootsimple) November 29, 2018 Laugh/cry! https://t.co/sXT6C6aPz1 — Mollie Stratton (@MollieStratton) November 29, 2018 đź‘Ź Two Swedish mums have managed to persuade 10,000 people not to fly next year. Are yo...

Read…

Saturday Tweets: Counting Poultry, Cocktails and Homesteading Without a Garden

80 Ways to Homestead Without a Garden https://t.co/aoBY3uLJT7 — Root Simple (@rootsimple) March 10, 2017 R-PiAlerts: Build a WiFi Based Security System With Raspberry Pis https://t.co/fO1wOgEfFr — Root Simple (@rootsimple) March 9, 2017 Poultry census results: https://t.co/bu2q0xOrgp — Root Simple (@rootsimple) March 10, 2017 L.A. keeps building near freeways, even though living there makes people sick https://t.co/TlKPhiSWeQ — Root Simple (@root...

Read…

The New Urban Forager

...On a hot, humid day along Houston’s Buffalo Bayou, in the shadow of four abandoned concrete silos, a maggot infested corpse of a pit bull lies splayed across a sheet of black plastic. Nearby, a pile of asphalt roofing material blocks the path I’m taking down to one of the most polluted waterways in Texas. Not a promising beginning to an urban food foraging expedition. (Read the rest of our foraging essay via Reality Sandwich)...

Read…

Urban Foraging with Nance Klehm

Via The Little Green People Show, a podcast with Chicago’s urban forager Nance Klehm: “We’re not talking gardens or dumpster diving. This is a discussion of the riches that grow in our highway medians, city planters, backyards and rail lines. Expert forager, Nance Klehm, sheds light on the city’s bounty, from medicinal plants to tasty greens. Getting to know the foraging landscape takes some time and energy, but gives back in complex flavors and...

Read…

Is Lead Poisoning a Risk in Urban Gardens?

...issue. But if the results of a University of Washington study on lead and urban agriculture are to be believed, we might not need to be as concerned. The researchers note that most vegetables don’t take up lead and that improving soil with compost greatly reduces the bioavailability of lead. You can read a summary of the results of this research paper here. Thanks to Joanne Poyourow of Environmental Change Makers for tipping me off to this resear...

Read…