Search Results for: label/soil/page/20/2010/06/the-urban-homestead

684 results

Straw Bale Gardening Update

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Gardening, Straw Bale Gardening, Tomatoes
10 Comments
...ded to grow them in straw bales this season as I did, successfully, back in 2013. Unfortunately, my straw bale tomatoes succumbed to one of three possible problems: Improperly conditioned bale. I may not have spent enough time adding nitrogen to the bale. Root-bound seedlings. Herbicides in the straw. I’m leaning towards a lack of nitrogen caused by not following bale conditioning instructions carefully. Herbicides in the bale are also possible or...

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Will We Keep Keeping Chickens?

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Animals, Chickens
19 Comments
...eeping chickens in our small, urban backyard. We have lead and zinc in the soil, so many predators that the hens have to live in what I call “chicken Guantanamo,” and a small irregular piece of property that makes using a chicken tractor impossible. While I built a generous run for our four hens, I really wish that they could wander more freely, but that’s just not possible where we live. Another big change that’s happened since we started keeping...

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Moringa!

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Gardening, Permaculture
2 Comments
...by Harvey McDaniel One of the big inspirations for starting our front yard urban farming efforts at the SurviveLA compound is a Philippino neighbor of ours who has turned his entire front yard and even the parkway into an edible garden featuring fruits and vegetables from his native land, most of which we have never seen before. This morning, while walking the dog, I found him cutting hundreds of long seed pods off of a small attractive tree. He d...

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Garden Like a Pirate

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Gardening, Vegetable Gardening
1 Comment
...en we built two six by six foot raised beds, filled it with quality garden soil, and stuck in two matching wire obelisks for growing beans and tomatoes. Much to our surprise it has been a big success – we had a bumper crop of carrots, beans, turnips, garlic, onions, and beets in the winter and our summer crop was cherry tomatoes. Currently the beds are empty as we wait for this incredibly hot summer season to cool down (thanks for the global warmi...

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Rubber Sidewalks Rescue Trees

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Thoughtstylings
2 Comments
...ing we just need more of here in Southern California. I used to work at an urban forestry non-profit, TreePeople. So I am familiar with the challenges of the tree/sidewalk interface. I have fielded calls from people frantically trying to save trees that are being ripped out because they are lifting the sidewalk. I have also received calls from people eager to remove trees for the same reason. Sadly, I have also heard from people that would call ju...

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