Bird’s Nest

...the back patio for far too long this spring. I see bits of twine from our bean trellis in there, and some grasses which look familiar. That ferny stuff around the perimeter are clippings from this asparagus fern that I’ve been trying to eradicate for fifteen years. (At this point, I admire its persistence so much that I can only bow to it as a respected enemy.) The fern is beautiful in this nest. The soft fluff in the middle may have been sourced...

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So Cal Alert: Polyphagus Shot Hole Borer

...ident maple (Acer buergerianum) 5 Japanese maple (Acer palmatum) 6. Castor bean (Ricinus communis) 7. California Sycamore (Platanus racemosa)* 8. Mexizan sycamore (Platanus mexicana) 9. Red Willow (Salix laevigata)* 10. Avocado (Persea americana) 11. Mimosa (Albizia julibrissin) 12. English Oak (Quercus robur) 13. Coast live oak (Quercus agrifolia)* 14. London plane (Platanus x acerifolia) 15.Cottonwood (Populus fremontii)* 16. Black cottonwood (P...

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The Jerusalem Cookbook

...lots of meat and fish recipes, but it also has plenty of salad, vegetable, bean and grain recipes, so it’s friendly to both vegetarians and meat eaters. We’re mostly vegetarian, and we feel like we’ve only scratched the surface of the meatless offerings so far. Though there are a lot of veg recipes which use eggs, yogurt and cheese, there are also good vegan-friendly offerings. To give you a feel for the book, these are the recipes we’ve enjoyed s...

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Saturday Tweets: Barbra Streisand, Urban Farm Troubles and Thoughtful Plants

...imple) December 3, 2014 Duluth library's seed sharing program hits a hurdle http://t.co/W1t4XeK5IF via @mprnews — Root Simple (@rootsimple) December 3, 2014 Filling an advent calendar with gratitude and giving opportunities instead of stuff. #Christmas #holidays http://t.co/r4cmryx3Kh — Green Bean (@iamgreenbean) December 3, 2014 Plants think and react – it's time we rethought intelligence. Plus pre-human art and more http://t.co/0rUfd6Lap...

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Solar recipe review: Moroccan Chickpea Tagine (Works on the stovetop, too)

...an likely pull this out of your pantry right now. If you have fresh cooked beans or your own canned tomatoes it would be all that much better, but this is a good recipe for busy days. The resulting stew is comfort food, spicy and sweet. My one critique is that it is perhaps a little too sweet. It calls for raisins or currants, and I used raisins. The raisins ended up being preternaturally sweet–perhaps due to the slow cooking? They’d be fantastic...

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