Get a Soil Test!

October 25, 2011

Regular readers have probably already got this message, but right now we can’t repeat it enough. If there’s a lesson with our backyard lead scare , it’s to practice due diligence when beginning a garden –or better yet, when you buy property–and that means getting a soil test from a soil lab. They’re not that expensive, especially when you consider the high cost of remediation, and the well being of your self...

Row Cover as an Insect Barrier

Mr. Homegrown

October 22, 2012

Vegetable Gardening

13 Comments

It ain’t pretty but it works. As one would expect, cabbage leaf worms love cabbage and nearly every other member of the brassica species. Which is why I’ve become a real fan of row cover material as an insect barrier. The perp in question. It rarely freezes here so I use the thinnest row cover possible, specifically a product called Agribon-15. If you live in a cooler climate and want to use row cover for frost pr...

Tomato Can Stove

Mr. Homegrown

July 18, 2006

Preparedness

RLeave a comment

Here’s another stove based on the Penny Wood Stove by Mark Jurey for heating up that pot of coffee when the gas and electricity go out. It’s a bit simpler than the Pepsi can stove and doesn’t require fuel other than some sticks or small scraps of wood. The stove works on the same principle as a charcoal chimney starter and it is simple to build.1. Use a 28 ounce can – I used a Trader Joes tomato can. First, drill a bu...

Mellow Yellow: How to Make Dandelion Wine

Nancy Klehm

April 17, 2012

Fermentation, Food, Foraging, Recipes

39 Comments

Today on Root Simple we welcome another guest post from our Midwest correspondent Nancy Klehm: In the past week, we Midwesterners have experienced three hard frosts – killing back the growth, that emerged too early of my grapes and hardy kiwis and zapping peach blossoms. We will see if there is any fruit onset and if my vines recover. Meanwhile, it is dandelion wine time! I first tasted dandelion wine when I bought a bottle of it at a folksy gi...

Social Media as a Homesteading Tool

Mr. Homegrown

October 18, 2012

Thoughtstylings

34 Comments

ss over Blogger. We’re going to switch over next month. And set a deadline for yourself–blog at least three times a week. While there are many things to dislike about Facebook (principally that those of us who use it are doing free market research on ourselves), it has proven useful for me on many occasions. I’ve used it to solicit gardening advice, find a place to celebrate a birthday, borrow a guitar and keep up with friends a...

How to Cook Broadleaf Plantain

Mrs. Homegrown

November 19, 2012

Food, Foraging, Preparedness, Recipes

1 Comment

visit to Urban Outdoor Skills, I was very excited to find he’d developed a cooking technique for broadleaf plantain (Plantago major, the common weed, not the banana relative). Though I know plantain is very nutritious, it is also bitter and heavily veined, so I prefer to collect it as a medicinal herb. I infuse it into oil that I put into salves and creams and I use it as a fresh poultice on itchy bites and hives. But eating it? Meh. I2...

That ain’t a bowl full of larvae, it’s crosne!

Mr. Homegrown

January 21, 2010

Gardening, Self Watering Containers, Vegetable Gardening

22 Comments

f irrigating pots, post crosne harvest Undaunted, I planted two self irrigating planters made from storage bins with about twelve or so tubers. Throughout the year the foliage was lush and finally died back in late November. It was really easy to grow, just like any other mint. It grew to about 1 1/2 feet and never produced flowers. I’m sure in wetter places it would be invasive. I spoke to Alex at the market again in December and he told...

How do you care for cast iron?

Mrs. Homegrown

April 10, 2013

Cleaning, Domesticus, How-to

51 Comments

They really knew how to rock cast iron in those days. A couple of months ago I found an 8″ cast iron skillet on the sidewalk. It was a newer model pan, already seasoned, hardly used. One of my neighbors had apparently decided they didn’t like it, or need it. I snatched that puppy up. Not that I need more cast iron–I have three skillets in varying sizes, and no room for another. But to me, cast iron is solid gold. So I gave it t...

Rubber Sidewalks Rescue Trees

Homegrown Neighbor

November 10, 2009

Thoughtstylings

2 Comments

calls from people eager to remove trees for the same reason. Sadly, I have also heard from people that would call just to complain about a tree being messy and littering their sidewalk or driveway. My personal take on that is it isn’t the tree that should be removed- it is the concrete. Leaves falling off of trees is a good thing. Leaves make glorious mulch or compost and that hardscape is just in the way of some healthy soil. Nonetheless,...

Cutting a Beehive Out of a Wall

Mr. Homegrown

November 18, 2009

Animals, Bees

6 Comments

Bees in a wall! Last week, along with two other “backwards beekeepers” Russ and Sue, we relocated a hive of bees that had taken up residence in a garage wall in East Hollywood. It was a “cut-out” in beekeeping parlance. The property owners did not want to exterminate the hive and we were able to give them a new home in Sue’s idyllic garden. Backwards Beekeeping guru Kirk Anderson sent us some tips via email. It&#...

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Root Simple

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Get a Soil Test!

Row Cover as an Insect Barrier

Tomato Can Stove

Mellow Yellow: How to Make Dandelion Wine

Social Media as a Homesteading Tool

How to Cook Broadleaf Plantain

That ain’t a bowl full of larvae, it’s crosne!

How do you care for cast iron?

Rubber Sidewalks Rescue Trees

Cutting a Beehive Out of a Wall