A garden that looks like a meth amphetamine lab

...ne not employing slave labor. Forget about creating a mini Versailles–it’s time to get down to business and grow stuff you can eat. Our new criteria for success in gardens is this–a garden must simultaneously provide food for our table and habitat for beneficial wildlife, and it must take care of itself with a minimum amount of human intervention. We also need to start growing food everywhere we can. There’s an ugly concrete patio just off our bac...

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Post Petroleum Lecture – a reminder

...hich human communities relate to nature. Place: Audubon Center at Debs Park 4700 Griffin Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90031 Time:10:00 AM Cost:$10 on-line $15 at the door Instructions for payment: RSVP and pay on-line using PayPal www.sustainablehabitats.org Should you not be able to make it, Bates will be appearing the next day at the Los Angeles Eco-Village on Sunday March 25th at 8 pm. There is a suggested donation of $10 for the lecture. The Los Angel...

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Bird Netting as a Cabbage Leaf Caterpillar Barrier

...the dreaded cabbage leaf caterpillar, the only serious pest for us at this time of year. So far the bird netting seems to be working. I’ll note that it would be important to keep the leaves of plants well away from the netting so that butterflies can’t lay eggs through it. The best way to do this is by planting arches of wire or tubing over your garden bed, and stretching the cover material over those arches– like a covered wagon. Netting has adva...

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