Greywater Precautions

December 5, 2006

...l. Greywater tends to be alkaline, so avoid using greywater on acid loving plants such as citrus, ferns and other forest plants (pretty much anything that grows in the shade). Occasionally irrigate your plants with fresh water to prevent the buildup of salts from soaps and detergents. Do not distribute greywater with a sprinkler as you don’t want the potential bad stuff becoming airborne. Do not use the water from your washing machine if you are w...

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Rain Barrels

Mr. Homegrown

January 9, 2007

rainwater harvesting

1 Comment

...cord, our strict rule around the SurviveLA homestead is that all irrigated plants must be useful, i.e. you gotta be able to eat it or make tea with it. Priority in our plantings goes to useful plants that don’t need additional water once established. But it’s still nice to have citrus trees, salad greens, rapini, beets, and other fruits and vegetables that do need supplemental irrigation. For these types of plants it’s possible to supplement munic...

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Putting Your Civic House in Order: How the Young Members of the Family Help

Mr. Homegrown

July 10, 2017

Gardening

3 Comments

...a blade of grass did they trample down. While walking along they discussed plants and plant culture after the fashion of old farmers, naming incidentally perhaps two dozen trees, shrubs and flowers. Accidentally one boy struck his foot against some lovely purple iris, half uprooting it. He turned, put the plant in place, pinched the soil up well around it and ran on as if it were nothing at all. In tilling the soil many a child “found himself.” In...

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What laundry detergent should I use for greywater applications?

Mrs. Homegrown

February 7, 2014

Water and Power, Water Conservation

35 Comments

...l because they are essentially salt-based (look for the word sodium on the label). They play well with aquatic life, bless them, and they’re a fantastic alternative to more toxic detergents if your laundry water is going to the sewer, but they aren’t good for soil microorganisms. Surely you’ve heard that salting the land is a bad idea? You don’t want to salt your garden. It’s worth adding that the drier your climate, the saltier the soil, because...

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Rats

Mr. Homegrown

November 30, 2006

Pests

...mice and rats, but unfortunately those same cats are also good at catching native birds. Now if we weren’t in enough trouble for advocating bad-ass rat traps, we’ll get in even more trouble for suggesting that folks keep their cats indoors. Indoor cats will catch the rodents, they won’t kill the native wildlife and they’ll live longer by not getting hit by cars. We would have a cat ourselves if it weren’t for our doberman who would, unfortunately,...

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