2018: The Year in Review

...s with blog posts on the Thanksgiving holiday, squirrels eating all of our fruit, hoarding food and books, smart phones, junk mail, open floor plans, as well as proof that I’ve gone full Luddite. Speaking of old Ned Ludd, the most commented upon post was the one in which I announced the deletion of my Facebook account. Let me note that I’ve not regretted it one bit and please allow me to toot my prognosticational horn by noting how news about Face...

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Hens in the Orchard for Pest Control

...m Author Terry Golson, who blogs at HenCam.com, sent along a great pest control tip in response to our thrip post–chickens, of course! Chickens and orchards go together like gin and tonic. The hens take care of pests, clean up rotten fruit, add nitrogen to the soil and the canopy of the orchard protects the hens from hawks and heat. Plus you get eggs and meat. Permaculture in action. The 1920s era photo you see above comes from one of Terry’s post...

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Picture Sunday: Amazon’s “Rasta Imposta” Squirrel Costume

...nd run around the yard would squirrels be so confused that they’d leave my fruit trees alone? From the Amazon reviews: it even comes with nuts By squirrelman When I first saw this squirrel costume, I went a little nuts (pun intended đŸ™‚ ). I starting buying one for everyone I knew. My wife, kids, lawyer, dentist, family practitioner, our local barista, and even my boss. Needless to say, we all suited up for halloween and went out as a dray (for thos...

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Top Ten Vegetable Gardening Mistakes

...oth a steady supply of produce as well as a more attractive garden. 5. Not labeling plants What kind of okra is that? I have no damned idea. Too bad when I want to plant it again next year. All it takes is a sharpie and a plastic knife to fix this problem. 6. Not keeping a garden diary The two most important things to know are when something was planted and when the first and last harvests took place. With this data you can plan out next years gar...

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Saturday Linkages: Soils, Prickly Pear and the Case for Going Outside

...oosters-turn-east-l-a-graveyard-into-barnyard/ … Cooking with prickly pear fruit: http://honest-food.net/2009/11/16/a-new-ingredient-prickly-pears/ … Is sous vide cooking safe? http://barfblog.com/2013/08/is-sous-vide-cooking-safe/ … Use thermometers says health reporter nearly killed by food poisoning http://barfblog.com/2013/08/use-thermometers-says-health-reporter-nearly-killed-by-food-poisoning/ … Waste: The Dark Side of the New Coffee Craze h...

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