What are trees worth?

August 20, 2015

Fruit Trees, Gardening, Nature Awareness, Permaculture, Thoughtstylings, Trees

...ing a pump and well which you don’t have to maintain. Trees make for clean water. By absorbing all that storm water, they pull the filth from our streets into the soil, and the soil cleans it, pro bono. (This is one of the many benefits of healthy soil, another important player in environmental health.) If that storm water runs unchecked, it just dumps all of the oil and fertilizer and insecticides and poo straight into the nearest waterway. Trees...

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Plenty of choices

Mrs. Homegrown

July 15, 2016

Thoughtstylings

12 Comments

...had to take a snapshot of what I was seeing. This is only a portion of the water case. I can buy water from Italy or France or Fiji or Hawaii or Iceland. I can buy water with odd molecular super powers: it’s oxygenated or alkaline or…something? Buying a bottle of water in certain stores in Los Angeles in the year 2016 can be as exquisitely nuanced a process as buying a bottle of wine. When it comes to buying water, I have tons of choices–as long a...

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How to Make Stock

Mrs. Homegrown

June 19, 2014

Food, How-to

17 Comments

...r it. Just skim off the fat or scum which rises to the surface, and if the water level drops so that the bones are exposed, add more water or wine. When it’s done, strain the stock through a colander or strainer, lined with cheesecloth if you want the stock to be particularly clear. When the stock cools you’ll find a layer of fat floating on the top, which you can lift off. Fish Stock Fish stock is, obviously, used as the basis of various classic...

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Self Watering Containers

Mr. Homegrown

January 16, 2007

Self Watering Containers

22 Comments

...e cause of container plant failure. Container gardening also uses a lot of water and can be messy, as the excess water flows out of the bottom of your pots leaving muddy stains on decks and balconies. Thankfully, there is an elegant solution in the form of self watering containers. The principle is simple. Rather than having a hole in the bottom of the pot, there is instead a reservoir of water. Potting soil is suspended above the water reservoir...

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Lady Urine, Water Conservation and Halfway Humanure

Mrs. Homegrown

April 26, 2013

Gardening, Straw Bale Gardening

45 Comments

...he toilet so much. And if all our pee went outside, it would not only save water, but it also would add water and nitrogen to the soil. Win-win. Now, I imagine our more feisty readers will ask, why stop at pee? We’re big supporters of the humanure concept and have kept a dry toilet in the past. It’s not difficult to compost human waste , but you do have to be careful, and you need a dedicated humanure pile–more than one, really. More like three. W...

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