When it’s time to remove a tree

...the time comes to make changes in your garden. There’s nothing wrong with making changes–the trick is in how they’re made, and why. When you remove a plant and it’s the right thing to do, and it’s done properly, it feels good. Really good. Not just on an aesthetic or practical level, but on a gut level. You don’t miss the plant once its gone. The empty space is hardly noticeable. The garden feels more lively or, conversely, more peaceful. It’s as...

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De-Cluttering for DIYers, Homesteaders, Artists, Preppers, etc.

...to is a spacial and psychic burden. Also, as someone who suffered a moth infestation this summer (and ended up handpicking moth larvae out of a wool carpet, thankyouverymuch toxin-free lifestyle), even if you don’t quite forget what you have, the processes of entropy have a way of taking care of unused things. I think Nature does not like unused things, and sends rust and mice and insects and mold and flood waters after them, in an attempt to retu...

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Easy Scandinavian-Style Bread

...ough starter, take on the mantle (or apron?) of Household Baker, and start making these loaves myself, but I’m already taking on extra chores with him off his feet, so I’m not inclined to take up this one as well. Yet we can’t live two months without good bread. What to do? Fortunately, I’ve found a solution to our bread crisis: a perfectly good yeasted recipe which makes a dense whole grain loaf with minimal effort. No starter. No kneading. No ri...

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Moon Gazing

...t cycles of the natural world. Maybe this year we can all celebrate a moon festival of our own, even if this isn’t part of our usual cultural tradition. Instead of moon cakes and dumplings, we could make some other kind of celebratory food–I’m thinking about making some little round crepes with red berry sauce to celebrate the blood moon. Or perhaps our new traditions won’t involve food, but crafts, or songs, or copious toasting–or maybe we can ju...

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Thank You Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County!

...Simple to do a coffee roasting demo and gave us booth space during Nature Fest this past weekend. They were also very compassionate and understanding when I had to leave early on Sunday when my elderly mom was, unexpectedly, hospitalized. If you’re a local please consider joining the Museum as a member and sign up to find out about the many programs they put on. They are doing amazing work to encourage biodiversity and citizen science. And a prog...

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