Village Homes: A Model for Sustainable Suburbs

February 21, 2014

Design, Garden Design, Permaculture, Urban Farming

...creative use of public space. The entire development is essentially a big food forest. All of the rainfall is captured and instead of being directed to the sewer system, it runs to swales between the houses, to nourish fruit trees. The resulting space is a lush park full of edibles, from exotic jujubee trees to grapes to almonds. Residents can stroll around in the abundant shade and pick fruit at will. Only the almond crop is off limits–the almon...

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Thursday Linkages: Mason Bees, Hawks and Robot Cars

Mr. Homegrown

May 22, 2014

Saturday Linkages

3 Comments

...d http://www.ibtimes.co.in/swiss-restaurant-imposes-fine-customers-wasting-food-600131 … via @ibtimesindia1 #foodcrisis Hawks and Rats in NYC, on camera: http://www.theawl.com/2014/05/where-do-rats-go-when-they-die … Boxwoods? Bah! by James Roush http://feedly.com/e/KZ4uAoLm Bikesnob on robot cars: http://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/2014/05/its-end-of-world-as-we-know-it-and-i.html … Urban Beekeeping in San Francisco: http://wp.me/p4fosC-dQ Silent Wa...

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Adopt an Indigo Plant in Los Angeles

Mr. Homegrown

May 23, 2014

Events, Gardening

6 Comments

...easy to grow. All it needs is lots of sunshine, plenty of water, and some food. As an experiment, I’ve germinated a bunch of indigo seeds and want to get the seedlings into as many people’s hands as possible! I hope to spread the wonder about the fact that color can be grown, to raise the consciousness of humanity’s original sources of pigment, and to get people to exercise their thumbs, green or otherwise! The pigment can be extracted from the m...

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The tale of the worm bin celery

Mrs. Homegrown

July 3, 2013

Food, Gardening, Miscellaneous, Vermiculture

23 Comments

...tale of botanic dumpster diving and another reason why you should let your food plants go to flower when you can. Last year I threw the crown (which is to say, the bottom) of a celery plant in my worm bin. I probably should have chopped it up for the worms’ sake, but I didn’t. Later, sometime in the fall, I rediscovered the celery crown. Instead of rotting in the bin, it had sprouted leaves and looked surprisingly vigorous. So I pulled it out and...

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DIY Sage Deodorant

Mrs. Homegrown

September 11, 2014

Body Care, Domesticus, How-to

14 Comments

...this in the original bottle, which is, happily, glass with a pump top. The label from the bottle even peeled off easily! Thank you, Weleda. Then I added about 20 drops of essential oils to the bottle, which holds 100 ml/1/2 cup. I used a blend of sage, lavender and tea tree. I can’t tell you how much of each, because I was fiddling with it as I went, but the sage and lavender dominate. I held back on the tea tree because it has such an assertive o...

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