Matt’s Wild Cherry Tomato

...tt’s Wild Cherry was obtained in Hidalgo, Mexico by Teresa Arellanos de Mena, a friend of agronomy professors, Dr. Laura Merrick and Dr. Matt Liebman. Johnny’s and other sources describe it as a small current sized tomato that readily reseeds. Johnny’s Select Seeds carries it, and I’m considering giving it a try to supplement the tomatoes that reseed themselves in our garden. Let us know in the comments if you’ve tried Matt’s Wild Cherry or have t...

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Alektyomancy: Divination by Rooster

...traced squares containing the letters of the alphabet, and in each square seeds were placed. After proper incantations, a white rooster was released, and the letters were read in the order in which the rooster pecked the seeds. The interpretation of the oracle is unknown.(1) Thankfully you don’t need to own a chicken to practice alektyomancy. There’s an online version. 1) From I.P. Couliano’s book Out of this World: Otherworldly Journeys from Gil...

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Saturday Linkages: Passive Cooling, Cats and Three Mules

...film, BIKES vs CARS – WE ARE MANY on @Kickstarter http://kck.st/1f7i1Xj @homedepot @lowes: 2/3 of our food crops need bees! Stop selling bee-killing pesticides! #BeeAction @foe_us http://www.beeaction.org Your Future in Farming & Homesteading: FREE 3-Day Webcast Event! (Oct. 1-3, 2013) http://permaculturenews.org/2013/09/25/your-future-in-farming-homesteading-free-3-day-webcast-event/ … For these links and more, follow Root Simple on Twitter: Fol...

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Our New Open Floor Plan

...ared them a “death trap.” Then the good natured Will Wallus of the Weekend Homestead came on the podcast to gently defend open floor plans. Naturally, I’m spending this month making our house, gasp, more open. Let me explain. When I installed the floor in the living room in the aughts I discovered an opening that used to exist between our living room and what we use as our bedroom. Back in 1920 this house was a one bedroom with a kind of sitting r...

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Row Cover as an Insect Barrier

...eds carries Agribon row cover in lengths as short as 50 feet–plenty for an urban or suburban garden. I’ve used both PVC pipe and chain link fence tension wire as support. I secure the row cover down with pieces of rebar and bricks to keep out skunks. What cabbage worms become. It’s not a plug and play solution, however. If it gets hot I have to remember to pull the row cover off. And the added humidity can cause outbreaks of aphids. But overall, i...

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