The Mystery of the Zero-Irrigation Squash

August 22, 2014

...with zero water inputs! To top that, this was one of the healthiest squash plants we’ve ever “grown” or rather allowed to grow. How did that work? And more importantly, how can we make it happen again? I have three thoughts: 1) Perfect timing. Volunteers know exactly when to come up. They’re rarely wrong. We humans schedule planting by when we finally buy our seeds and find time to trundle out into the garden. It’s not good enough. Masanobu Fukuok...

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Worm Compost Leachate, Good or Bad?

Mr. Homegrown

September 2, 2014

Composting, Gardening, Vermiculture

15 Comments

...which they believe encourages the growth of microorganisms unfavorable to plants. They like to point out that worm bin leachate is not ACT. The ACT debate needs a much longer post, but I did find two peer reviewed studies showing the benefits of un-aerated worm compost leachate: “Vermicomposting Leachate (Worm Tea) as Liquid Fertilizer for Maize“ and “Vermicompost Leachate Alleviates Deficiency of Phosphorus and Potassium in Tomato Seedlings.” I...

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Talk and Vermicomposting Workshop With Nance Klehm Sunday March 8th!

Mr. Homegrown

February 15, 2020

Events, Gardening, Permaculture, Vermiculture

1 Comment

...if you live in an apartment. Worm castings are a fantastic food for house plants as well as garden plants.You don’t need a strong back or much space to compost with a worm bin. Worm-shop participants will go home with a functioning bin complete with worms! The general lecture is free and open to all, and no reservations are required for the talk alone, but the worm-shop materials fee: $30 (Financial aid is available) and you must reserve your spa...

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130 Farm Unfixed with Jessica Rath

Mr. Homegrown

May 22, 2019

Animals, Bees, Gardening, Native Plants, Permaculture, Podcasts

3 Comments

...of the land effects non-human species from the propagation of agricultural plants to the sensoria of bees.” She is on the faculty of the Art Center College of Design and her previous projects include works about apple breeding, co-evolutionary communication between flowering plants and their pollinators and a long term project called Farm Unfixed that we spend most of this conversation discussing. During the podcast Jessica mentions, Foxfire The m...

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A Celebration of Craft

Mr. Homegrown

September 14, 2017

Bread, Food, Gardening, Tomatoes, Vegetable Gardening

...t. A third person I met at the festival is Alice Doyle, owner of Log House Plants a wholesale nursery in Eugene Oregon. In her lecture she went alphabetically through a list of edible plants she thought were interesting. By the end of the hour, I think she reached the letter “J.” I wished we could have had a few more hours to get to “Z.” And this is another quality of the craftsperson, a selfless enthusiasm that can turn a list of vegetables into...

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