Easter Lessons

April 21, 2014

...t matter. The technique was simple–a one to one ratio of organic matter to water, boiled 15 minutes or more, cooled, and then spiked with vinegar. The eggs soak in this mix for as long as you like, perhaps overnight, refrigerated. I tried out onion skin (russet dye), red cabbage (bluish dye) and hibiscus flowers(purplish). All looked well. I went to bed imagining the rich, solid colors I’d find the next day, the arty pictures from the original pos...

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Dudley brittonii “Giant Chalk Dudleya”

Mr. Homegrown

March 8, 2014

Gardening

3 Comments

...we had more space for some of the amazing plants shown on all those glossy pages. One, in particular, caught my eye: Dudley brittonii “Giant Chalk Dudleya.” Just imagine spotting this plant under the light of a full moon. Annie notes that Dudley brittonii requires excellent drainage, can be grown in pots and is suited to USDA zones 9 to 11. Given our Arrakis like conditions here in California, an excellent bonus is that this plant does well with o...

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Advantages and Disadvantages of Raised Bed Vegetable Gardening

Mr. Homegrown

February 20, 2014

Gardening, Vegetable Gardening

55 Comments

.... Plug and play–no need to build or improve soil. Keeps roots from getting waterlogged in a wet climate. Cons Requires materials to construct. Might need to buy soil–gardening in the ground is free. Roots dry out quicker in a hot climate. Lack of mineral content in bagged soils. Use of peat moss in bagged products. Unable to truly embrace the “no dig” philosophy: despite best efforts to the contrary, it seems the soil needs to be swapped out every...

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The tale of the tub scrubber

Mrs. Homegrown

February 13, 2014

Cleaning, Domesticus

16 Comments

...and found it worked amazingly well in conjunction with the vinegar, soapy water and baking soda I use to clean the bathroom. It didn’t hold dirt or get grungy. Only now, after all this time, has it started to deteriorate and leave little purple bits of itself behind after a scrub. This is not a deep post — I just wanted to point out that sometimes we can make good use of things which would otherwise end up in the garbage. Purple Puff is finally g...

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New Phoebe Update/Question

Mrs. Homegrown

November 20, 2013

Animals, Cats

17 Comments

...ng into space, doing odd things like hunkering down with her head over her water dish and just staying in that position, not drinking, not doing anything. She doesn’t want to interact with us at all. Still, as far as I can tell, she’s not struggling to get enough air, like she was before. My question is this: Do cats behave oddly after hospital stays? I’ve never had a cat do an overnight before, or undergo so much treatment. Do any of you have exp...

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