The Blue Bear

...s and 50/50 blend sheets. I think back on my groovy synthetic clothing, my bean bag, my Biggie comb, my Breyer Horses and my Barbies. It’s all buried somewhere now, part of the immortal treasures of the 2oth century, my own King Tut’s Tomb. My great-grandmother Caroline, on the other hand, was born into a world which did not know polyester or plastic. In fact, rayon and polyester don’t appear on the scene until the 194o’s, so she was over 50 when...

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Who Wants Seconds? Book Giveaway

...ies, Waldorf salad, peanut butter blondies, sweet potato lasagna and white bean soup. We’re giving away a copy of Who Wants Seconds? to a lucky Root Simple reader. To enter the contest just leave a comment on this post–just tell us if you’re an omnivore, vegetarian or vegan. We’ll select a winner by generating a random number and matching that to the comment order. We’ll announce the winner on Friday and the winner will need to email us their addr...

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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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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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