Search Results for: label/urban farming/page/30/2011/04/making-it/2010/06/the-urban-homestead

622 results

Is Peat Moss a Sustainable Resource?

Mr. Homegrown
Gardening, Seeds, Thoughtstylings
27 Comments
Two very different views on the ethics of using peat moss: one from garden writer Jeff Ball via Garden Rant, Here are the simple facts. Canada has over 270 million acres of peat bogs which produce peat moss. Each year the peat moss industry harvests only 40,000 acres of peat moss mostly for horticultural use. If you do the math that comes to one of every 6,000 acres of peat moss is harvested each year. And here is the cherry on top. P...

Continue reading…

Nitrogen Deposition

Mr. Homegrown
Vegetable Gardening
RLeave a comment
Thanks to the millions of SUV driving knuckleheads out there we may not have to take a whizz in our compost pile after all. It turns out we have ample free nitrogen fertilizer in the form of air pollution which settles back down to the earth in a process science types call nitrogen deposition. According to Edith Allen, a professor of botany at UC Riverside, “Nitrogen deposition occurs at high levels in southern California, and is fertilizi...

Continue reading…

The Perfect Chicken Coop?

Mr. Homegrown
Animals, Chickens
7 Comments
Do a Google image search for “chicken coop” and a solid majority of the results will look very much like this nearly 100 year old coop featured in The Gardener’s and Poultry Keeper’s Guide and Illustrated Catalog. Why is this basic design still with us? The attached run gives chickens some space to scratch around in while keeping them safe from predators if you can’t make it home by dark. You can hang a feeder in...

Continue reading…

Nutria Trappin’ by Bike!

Mr. Homegrown
Bikes, Pests
7 Comments
I like to keep up on all the “urban homesteading” trends, but bikesnobnyc beat me to this one: nutria (Myocastor coypus) trapping via bike. “We then returned with our catch and skinned them, prepared the hides for tanning and butchered the carcass and cooked up a bit of the meat. Most folks seemed pleasantly surprised at the “chicken- like” taste of the meat.” Read more about it at dellerdesigns.blogspot.co...

Continue reading…

Piet Oudolf’s Enhanced Nature

Mr. Homegrown
Garden Design, Gardening
1 Comment
A garden designer has the difficult task of balancing texture, color, and space while simultaneously dealing with the unpredictability of nature. Long ago I gave up on the idea of ever being good at garden design. But help has come from an unlikely source, Piet Oudolf and Noel Kingsbury’s revolutionary book Planting A New Perspective. High Line Park. Piet Oudolf is probably best known in the US as the plant designer for the High Line park...

Continue reading…

Nominate Your Favorite Complainer

Mr. Homegrown
Thoughtstylings
20 Comments
So the competition might give our complaint athletes just what they want: to be noticed. But on this blog, a yearly complaint competition would give us a way to organize and round up the most outrageous complaints. With urban homesteading activities on the rise there will certainly be more of these unfortunate situations. My personal favorite world champion complainers are the folks in one West Los Angeles neighborhood who successfully delayed a...

Continue reading…

Saturday Linkages: Sedum Stumps, Chicken Steadycams and the End of the World

Mr. Homegrown
Saturday Linkages
2 Comments
Sedum stump via The Garden Professor’s Blog. Gardening Cool gift idea–plant a sedum stump: http://ow.ly/1PQqq2 Nature Meets Video Chicken as steadycam: http://n.pr/11bA7gl Fantastic slow motion video of sprinting cheetahs – Boing Boing http://boingboing.net/2012/11/26/fantastic-flow-motion-video-of.html … DIY Livin’ Sun Ray Kelly: An Ungated Community http://nyti.ms/Ut6Tb5 Modest Student Micro-Cottage is a Mere 12 Square...

Continue reading…

Sandwiched!

Mr. Homegrown
Miscellaneous
RLeave a comment
Homegrown Revolution began guest blogging this week on the engaging new consciousness shiftin’ nexus known as Reality Sandwich. We’ll be posting there at least once every two weeks. Check out our first post, an urban homesteading manifesto, just above Jamye Waxman’s missive, “Celebrating Sacred Sex Communities” (No doubt Waxman will probably win in the hit count). As harangues are currently running low in our on-...

Continue reading…

Gathering of Community Gardeners

Homegrown Neighbor
Events, Gardening
2 Comments
This weekend is the third annual Gathering of the Gardens in Los Angeles. While the event is put together by the non-profit L.A. Community Garden Council, it is open to all interested parties. You don’t have to be a member of a community garden to attend, just interested in community building and gardening. There will be workshops and discussions on topics such as vegetable gardening, composting, native plants, beekeeping and even a worksh...

Continue reading…

Secrets In Your Pantry?

Mr. Homegrown
Thoughtstylings
30 Comments
because I would go through them like a crack addict). But we do have plenty of other dodgy convenience foods picked up at Trader Joes and consumed on those evenings we’re too tired to cook. While the image of the urban homesteader is one who dines on nothing but wholesome veggies, backyard eggs and artisinal canning projects, the truth is that we’re all human and live in a world where Cheez Doodles* practically grow on trees. In fact...

Continue reading…