The Manzanita Miracle, or, why you should love native plants if you live in a dry climate

December 17, 2015

...nking that is what “low water use plant” means. The math shows us how wrong that is–and why manzanitas often die in home landscapes. Imagine a yard which doesn’t need water at all, even in a drought year. Imagine yourself, free from the chore of watering, free to just not worry about it, because the plants are taking care of themselves. Wouldn’t that make it worth the trouble to learn how to host native plants? 225 days....

Read…

Gardening Mistakes: Six Ways We’ve Killed Plants

Mr. Homegrown

May 13, 2014

Gardening, Mistakes

25 Comments

...I’m still working on this one. I discovered last year that I’ve been under-watering our fruit trees. To figure out watering needs for fruit trees the pros use expensive soil augurs to take samples. I may break down and get one but in the meantime I’ve got a high quality moisture sensor I’m experimenting with on the suggestion of fruit tree guru Steve Hofvendahl (thanks Steve!). More on this topic in another post. I’ve also been known to neglect an...

Read…

Showers to Flowers

Mr. Homegrown

December 11, 2006

Water Conservation

1 Comment

...mind, run the pipe out to where you want to water. 3. Choose plants whose watering requirements match the amount of water coming out of your shower. To do this you’ll need to estimate how many showers and how much water you use per shower. Odds are it will be water hungry plants such as banana trees. 4. Create a mulch basin around the plants you are watering. The mulch could be gravel, wood chips or leaves. The mulch basin has multiple purposes –...

Read…

How to Homestead

Mr. Homegrown

February 23, 2008

Self Watering Containers

Homegrown Evolution’s Self Watering Container video is up on the brand new site How to Homestead, described by its creators as: “the only site on the web providing you with a collection of how to homestead videos to stream or download. No longer relegated to the rural sphere, homesteading can be done anywhere and we are here to show you how.” With many homesteading activities, from chicken slaughtering to tortellini making, internet based video i...

Read…

The Urban Homestead

Mrs. Homegrown

June 1, 2010

Publications

4 Comments

...n): Your Guide to Self-Sufficient Living in the Heart of the City (Process Self-reliance Series) by Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen (Process, 2010) ISBN: 978-1934170106 (The first edition, the one with the “American Gothic” cover, was released by Process on June 1, 2008) Buy it at: Amazon • Abe Books • Barnes & Nobel • Powell’s and your local indie bookstore This celebrated, essential handbook for the urban homesteading movement shows how to grow and...

Read…