Permaculturalist Paul Wheaton in Los Angeles

February 25, 2013

Events

...y/Time Sunday, March 3rd 10am to 8pm Location Daytime Events @Institute of Urban Ecology 3896 N Fair Oaks Avenue, Altadena , CA Evening Paul Wheaton Lecture @Armory Center for Arts 145 N Raymond Ave Pasadena, CA 91103 Registration (click here to register) $5 for 1st ticket $1 each add’tl ticket Sponsoring Organizations Institute of Urban Ecology RIPE Altadena La Loma Development EcoWorkshops.com Oh Happy Days Natural Foods Market Whole Foods Marke...

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Best Practices for Gardening in Contaminated Soil

Mr. Homegrown

February 8, 2016

Gardening, Lead

3 Comments

...agriculture will increase incidences of elevated blood Pb for children in urban areas. This is due to the high likelihood that agriculture will improve soils in urban areas, resulting in reduced bioavailability of soil Pb and reduced fugitive dust. Plant uptake of Pb is also typically very low. The exceptions are low-growing leafy crops where soil-splash particle contamination is more likely and expaneded hypocotyl root vegetalbes (e.g. carrot)....

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Are We Keeping Too Many Bees?

Mr. Homegrown

October 25, 2013

Bees

10 Comments

...[shopping/golfing/riding jet skis].” This month’s backlash story concerns urban beekeeping in London. Reader Cassandra Silver (who has a really beautiful blog) alerted us to a bee story in the Independent, “How do-gooders threaten humble bee.” The gist of the article is that urban beekeepers in London have more hives than the nectar and pollen sources can support: The London Beekeepers Association (LBKA) is warning that there could be “too many b...

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Bar Codes on Veggies

Mr. Homegrown

August 18, 2008

Thoughtstylings

6 Comments

...rating with other farming and agricultural associations are adding QR code labels right at the point of origin. In the supermarket, consumers use camera equipped cell phones to scan the QR code on the label. The code links to a mobile website detailing origin, soil composition, organic fertilizer content percentage (as opposed to chemical), use of pesticides and herbicides and even the name of the farm it was grown on. Consumers can also access th...

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Garden Amendments as Placebos

Mr. Homegrown

December 18, 2012

Gardening, Soil, Thoughtstylings

9 Comments

...about other controversial soil additives popular in organic gardening and farming circles right now such as rock dust, mycorrhizae additives, and biochar. Now I prefer not to touch these topics with a hundred foot pole. But let me go out on a limb with a thoughtstyling outside of the usual debate about the benefits or worthlessness of these soil potions. I’ve started wondering if the strong anecdotal evidence supporting things like ACT, biochar e...

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