Search Results for: label/water%20conservation/2010/06/the-urban-homestead

822 results

Real Estate Bubble Bananas

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Foraging, Gardening
4 Comments
...as are not my favorite plant for Southern California as they take a lot of water and get somewhat rangy looking when the wind rips up their leaves. But they are one of the most greywater tolerant plants and a good choice for paring with the outflow of a shower or laundry machine. Fruit score: 10 to the squirrels 2 to the people I’m sorry to say that I don’t know what variety this banana tree is, but June is a good month to plant bananas here in So...

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Vertical Micro-Farming

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Vertical Farming
14 Comments
...meant to utilize vertical space and grow vegetables in a small footprint. Water drips down from the top, irrigating multiple plants on its way down. The plants are not only stacked vertically, but radiate around the central axis, maximizing horizontal space as well. In this photo they are growing hot chili peppers. I also saw basil and sweet peppers and there were others I can’t recall right now. I’m inspired to try to build one at home, since I’...

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Fallen Fruit

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Events, Food, Foraging, Gardening
2 Comments
...uld burst with ripe produce. Great sums of money are spent on young trees, water and maintenance. While these trees are beautiful, they could be healthy, fruitful and beautiful. WE ASK all of you to petition your cities and towns to support community gardens and only plant fruit-bearing trees in public parks. Let our streets be lined with apples and pears! Demand that all parking lots be landscaped with fruit trees which provide shade, clean the a...

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Growing Chayote

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Gardening
16 Comments
...or chopped up and tossed raw in a salad. Though requiring a fair amount of water, it grows like a weed here and one vine can easily produce eighty pounds of fruit. Another mark in its favor is that Chayote is a perennial and, to top it all off, the young leaves and root are also edible and the tough stalks can be made into rope. We started a chayote plant a few months ago by simply buying a few at our local market, letting it sprout on our counter...

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Least Favorite Plant: Yellow Oleander (Thevetia peruviana)

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Least Favorite Plant
31 Comments
...low oleander seed.” A semi-popular landscaping plant, it grows without any water or care here in Los Angeles, though a hard frost would kill it. The elderly neighbor who used to live next door told me that she brought it with her from Mexico. I’ve seen it growing in vacant lots and by the freeway, so it seems to be able to spread on its own. So why put it on the least favorite plant list? It’s neither beautiful nor useful (unless you want to kill...

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