Top Six California Native Plant Performers

...in the scientific name for this member of the buckwheat family. Give this baby some room. Ours is doing well in partial shade. 5. Toyon (Heteromeles arbutitolia) This treeish native stared the drought in the face and laughed. We planted it in the neighbor’s yard where it got cut down accidentally. A year later it had grown back to its former glory. Birds love the little red berries, which can be dried for a not very exciting human snack. 6. Coyot...

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In Praise of Turkish Towels

...me right, really.). Meanwhile, I have as exhibits of quality textiles one baby blue towel Erik brought into our relationship and which was a hand-me-down from his mother’s house. I know it must date from the 60’s or 70’s, due to its un-ironic raised paisley pattern. It reminds me very much of my childhood. And while it is worn around the edges, it is still strong and whole. I also have the bath towel my mom bought me to take to college, and while...

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Polyculture

...ngs in the holes. 6 weeks after sowing you can eat the lettuce. First as a baby lettuce mix, later in its more mature leafing form. Pull out entire plants to make space, so things don’t get too crowded. Continue this way until the soil warms up. As you eliminate lettuce plants, begin to put bush beans in their place. The dill and calendula will start coming into their own, and the early cabbages. The beans will be ready by midsummer, and the parsn...

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Saturday Tweets: Eating Flowers, Peach Mustard and the Patron Saint of Dentists

...and those suffering from toothache, from her teeth being broken during a brutal attack before her martyrdom. Read more on her legend: https://t.co/HTvnmQhjm1 Yates Thompson MS 3, f. 284v #FolkloreThursday pic.twitter.com/6bBT8oJy3d — Dr Alison Ray (@liber_ray) August 30, 2018 Baby, I compare you to a kiss from a rose: A red rose is surrounded by couplets with music inscribed on two circular staves, in a choirbook produced in 1516 by Petrus de Opi...

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