Karp’s Sweet Quince Update

...e needs of our fruit trees. Towards that end I’m reading Michael Phillip’s book The Holistic Orchard. If you have an idea what the damage on my quince is caused by I’d appreciate a comment. David Karp thought it might be brown rot with some insect damage. If you live in the Los Angeles area, Weiser Family Farms should be selling a small amount of Karp’s Sweet Quince at local farmer’s markets. But you’ll have to beat away the artisinal jam producer...

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Top Ten Vegetable Gardening Mistakes

...n to plant in our quirky Mediterranean climate (see this calendar and this book if you’re in SoCal). Seed package directions are useless here (what’s a frost date?). But, in fact, all climates have their quirks. Even two sides of the same town might have different planting dates. You have to find experienced gardeners and sources especially in places with either year round growing seasons or very short growing seasons. Ultimately, all gardening ad...

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Saturday Linkages: Speedos, Blue Eggs and the Rise of Rye

...s/i9wrV Let’s get (soil) physical… https://sharepoint.cahnrs.wsu.edu/blogs/urbanhort/Lists/Posts/ViewPost.aspx?ID=943 … The Cold War Bunker That Offered Subterranean Suburbia Below Las Vegas http://gizmodo.com/the-cold-war-bunker-that-offered-subterranean-suburbia-1258816518 … Speedos, Computers, and Robot Butlers: Rural Living in the Future http://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/speedos-computers-and-robot-butlers-rural-living-in-1203668270 … Take Your V...

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Getting my Ham Radio License

...Angeles’ massive central library on lower level two, where all the how-to books are shelved. This month I’m finally acting on something I’ve contemplated for years: getting my amateur radio (i.e. Ham) technician’s license. I’ll be taking the test in the middle of the smart phone era. Curiously, when I’m deep in the cultural dumpster I often run into fellow scavenger John Michael Greer, a.k.a. the Archdruid. When I met him at the Age of Limits con...

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How to Answer the Question, “What Should I Do With My Life?”

...could have jumped ahead to what I’m doing now. Unsurprisingly, most of the books on my bookshelf, now and in the past, are how-to tomes relating to the subjects on this blog: gardening, poultry health, beekeeping, food preservation, baking, cooking and self-reliance. There’s another broad category : books relating to symbolism, Carl Jung, Rudolf Steiner and media theory. The rest are oddball topics: electronic circuits, 70s land art and fencing ta...

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