Search Results for: label/water conservation

367 results

USDA Releases New Hardiness Zone Map

Mr. Homegrown
Gardening, Vegetable Gardening
8 Comments
The United States Department of Agriculture has just released a new zone hardiness map that reflects both a warming climate and new algorithms that take into account things like terrain, and proximity to bodies of water.  The map is also now searchable by zip code. You can access the new map here: http://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb . For the background on how this map is different from the previous (1990) version, the USDA has a press...

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Buddy Burner

Mr. Homegrown
Preparedness
8 Comments
...o hot. Therefore it is safest and best to use a double boiler set up. Now, if you own a double boiler you probably don’t want to coat it with wax, so use a tin can to hold the wax, and place the can in a saucepan of simmering water. Here we balance the can on a metal cookie cutter to keep it off the bottom of the saucepan. When the wax melts it will liberate bits of old wick. Fish these out first and tuck one or two or three between the cardboard...

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Sonora Wheat at the Huasna Valley Farm

Mr. Homegrown
Bread, Food, Wheat
4 Comments
...wheat to create Sonora 64, an early green revolution wheat. Ironically, as we face an uncertain energy future, we may have to go back to the original Sonora wheat as it performs better in organic circumstances and needs less water than modern wheat varieties. Ron shows off the combine. One of the challenges the Skinners faced in farming just a few acres of wheat was figuring out how to harvest it. Large industrial farms use enormous and...

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Santa Monica Legalizes Beekeeping

Mr. Homegrown
Animals, Bees
8 Comments
...ine. Hives must have a six foot screen around them or be at least eight feet up (screening forces their flight pattern upwards). Hives must be given enough space so they don’t swarm. Hives must be requeened each year. A water source must be kept nearby. In addition, Santa Monica Animal Control officers were given new clarifications on their search powers when conducting investigations. All of these requirements make sense to me except req...

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Are Raised Beds a Good Idea?

Mr. Homegrown
Gardening, Vegetable Gardening
44 Comments
...t I still have the neatness and defined borders of a raised bed. Again, if you’re in Seattle raised beds are probably a good idea. But here in SoCal, I’m going to skip them from now on if just because of how much water they waste. *ETA: A note from Mrs. Homegrown re: that topmost picture of the sad, sad raised beds. They look terrible because after a couple of seasons of struggling with mysteriously declining crops within their borde...

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How To Design a Garden Step II: Using Google Earth to Draw Up a Plan

Mr. Homegrown
Garden Design, Gardening
5 Comments
So you’ve set the goals for your garden, as we outlined in a post earlier this week, and you’re ready to start putting pen to paper. Google Earth makes it easy to quickly create a plan to scale. Zoom in on the space you want to garden and print out an image. Next, take separate sheets of tracing paper and use them to map out: your goals existing conditions such as trees and buildings future plantings where water flows when it rain...

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More Nettle Love: Nettle Infusion

Mrs. Homegrown
Foraging, Herbal Medicine, Herbs
3 Comments
...t nutrients available than regular tea, so now we put one ounce of dried nettle (an ounce is quite a lot–a cup if it’s chopped, half a jar or more if the leaves are whole) in a quart jar, fill the jar with boiling water and let it sit 4-8 hours before drinking. The resulting brew is stronger tasting than ordinary nettle tea, but not unpleasant at all. It’s our house energy drink....

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Plastic or Wood?

Mr. Homegrown
Thoughtstylings
4 Comments
...l blankets instead of Polarfleece blanketsDown filling instead of polyester filling (even for allergy sufferers)*Silk and wool fabrics for athletics instead of petroleum based technical fabricsSigg bottles instead of plastic water bottlesSturdy reusable shopping bags instead of disposable shopping bagsWashable dish cloths instead of cellulose spongesGeneral avoidance of plastic packaging at the supermarket. *Dust mites breed in much greater prof...

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