Is Lead Poisoning a Risk in Urban Gardens?

...issue. But if the results of a University of Washington study on lead and urban agriculture are to be believed, we might not need to be as concerned. The researchers note that most vegetables don’t take up lead and that improving soil with compost greatly reduces the bioavailability of lead. You can read a summary of the results of this research paper here. Thanks to Joanne Poyourow of Environmental Change Makers for tipping me off to this resear...

Read…

Chicago’s Urban Bees

...hives on a former Sears and Roebucks site. The Co-op provides job training to under-employed folks and sells a variety of products. I didn’t get a chance to visit it on my trip to Chicago, but hope to the next time I’m there. In other Chicago bee news, the Green Roof Growers just got a hive. Urban rooftops and abandoned industrial sites make a lot of sense for beekeeping, as many agricultural areas are contaminated with pesticides. Keeping bees i...

Read…

Author and Urban Farmer Novella Carpenter Rocks Los Angeles

Yesterday, Homegrown Evolution had the great privilege of meeting urban farmer and author Novella Carpenter who was in Los Angeles to deliver a lecture and sign her new book Farm City. She’s a phenomenal speaker, both hilarious and inspiring. What we like most about Carpenter is her honesty in describing the ups and downs of raising pigs, goats, chickens, turkeys, rabbits and more on squatted land next to her apartment in Oakland. As she put it,...

Read…

Urban Homesteading and Homeowners Associations

...ne. I’m curious to hear from readers who live in an HOAs. Did you get into urban homesteading before or after moving to an HOA? Have you ever gotten in trouble? What did you do about it? Do the benefits of living in an HOA outweigh the restrictions? And there are less restrictive HOAs. I once met a couple who live in an HOA in Orange County, CA that allows chickens. Flagpole antenna. Source: The Doctor is In Some HOA residents take a stealth appro...

Read…

Saturday Tweets: Barbra Streisand, Urban Farm Troubles and Thoughtful Plants

...ttp://t.co/xu3ZRI8aGU — Root Simple (@rootsimple) December 5, 2014 Seized! Urban farm troubles in Detroit: http://t.co/QLvb5ex0dP via @JewishNewsDet — Root Simple (@rootsimple) December 4, 2014 Inhofe's grand climate conspiracy theory: It's all about Barbra Streisand http://t.co/ajhqjEzvBZ via @motherjones — Root Simple (@rootsimple) December 3, 2014 Six Myths About Climate Change that Liberals Rarely Question http://t.co/RoxuTeQxot — Root...

Read…