Warning: This Blog is Based in a Mediterranean Climate

January 16, 2013

...all as do deserts. But like deserts, we have to be frugal when it comes to water. All the rain we get comes at one time. Between the late spring and early fall there is no rain at all. Those of us who live here ought to concentrate on plants adapted to long dry periods. And because of our climate I have a house rule at Root Simple about not talking about the weather on our blog. Why? Because it’s really, really boring. Nothing ever happens. Most o...

Read…

My Favorite Lettuce Mix

Mr. Homegrown

January 18, 2013

Gardening, Seeds, Vegetable Gardening

7 Comments

...st where we live, they are easy to grow. We just sow the seed directly and water them in. We thin by eating the seedlings. Judging from the crowding in the photo above, we need to eat some more salads soon. There’s never been pest problems save for the edible, and aggressive, fennel seedlings you can see amongst the lettuce (memo to self: cut down fennel before it goes to seed this year!). And, at the risk of repeating myself, I pretty much grow F...

Read…

How to Keep Squirrels and Birds From Eating Your Fruit

Mr. Homegrown

January 25, 2013

Fruit Trees, Gardening, Pests

14 Comments

...personally don’t buy fruit in these containers but I asked some neighbors and friends to save them for me and in a short time amassed a large collection. They snap shut over most fruit like these mangos and this helps to control fruit damage. Since they have vent holes, they don’t collect water inside. They can be washed and stored and are durable enough to last several seasons. After they serve their duty, they can be put in the recycling bin. No...

Read…

Supper for a buck?

Mrs. Homegrown

February 25, 2013

Bean Fest, Food

16 Comments

...bread contains the following ingredients: 400 grams of flour, 300 grams of water, 1 1/2 teaspoons of sea salt and, depending on the recipe, either 1/4 teaspoon of active yeast or a bit of sourdough starter. I figured out the cost for the flour (bulk purchased from Central Milling) comes to 52 cents a loaf. If I were a little more persistent, I could go on and figure out how many more pennies the salt costs, and yeast or, alternatively, the small a...

Read…

How To Capture a Bee Swarm With Kirk Anderson

Mr. Homegrown

March 4, 2013

Animals, Bees

2 Comments

...To capture a swarm you: Spray the swarm with a mixture of white sugar and water–this keeps them busy cleaning themselves while you . . . Knock them in a nuc box (a cardboard box that holds five frames–get one at your local beekeeping supply shop). Take the nuc box home and let them settle in for a few weeks. Then you can transfer the frames to a permanent hive box. That’s just about it. Bees tend not to be aggressive when they swarm (they have no...

Read…