Search Results for: label/water conservation/page/4/2011/04/making-it

889 results

Getting Hardscaping Right

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Garden Design, Gardening, Mistakes
14 Comments
A water feature at Keeyla Meadows’ garden in Berkeley. One of the many lessons I learned on the tour I took of Bay Area gardens as part of the Garden Blogger’s Fling is that you’ve got to get the hardscaping right before even thinking about plants. When I asked garden designer Keeyla Meadows about the large stones in her garden she told me that they were craned in above the house. It was clear that at some point in the evolution of her small back...

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Easter Lessons

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Chickens, Domesticus, Mistakes
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...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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Gardening Mistakes: Six Ways We’ve Killed Plants

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Gardening, Mistakes
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...I’m still working on this one. I discovered last year that I’ve been under-watering our fruit trees. To figure out watering needs for fruit trees the pros use expensive soil augurs to take samples. I may break down and get one but in the meantime I’ve got a high quality moisture sensor I’m experimenting with on the suggestion of fruit tree guru Steve Hofvendahl (thanks Steve!). More on this topic in another post. I’ve also been known to neglect an...

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Pakistan Mulberry Fever

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Fruit Trees, Gardening
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...the different angles with the orchard ladder. Then I soak ’em in a vinegar water solution and rinse and lay in flats refrigerated and finally weigh the good ones up, the not so good ones get made into delicious juice for jellies and my Jamalade with cumquats and/or habanero. So it would probably maybe still be worth it to you but know what you are maybe getting into! Again, the taste is so amazing that if I had the room I’d say it’s worth the hass...

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Adopt an Indigo Plant in Los Angeles

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Events, Gardening
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...being relatively easy to grow. All it needs is lots of sunshine, plenty of water, and some food. As an experiment, I’ve germinated a bunch of indigo seeds and want to get the seedlings into as many people’s hands as possible! I hope to spread the wonder about the fact that color can be grown, to raise the consciousness of humanity’s original sources of pigment, and to get people to exercise their thumbs, green or otherwise! The pigment can be extr...

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