Trees Susceptible to the Polyphagous Shot Hole Borer

...ungus complex. Wood should be chipped to pieces smaller than 1″. Misguided water conservation efforts have, in my opinion, contributed to the problem by stressing our landscape trees. You should keep your trees appropriately watered. And it appears that with many of these trees, including avocados, prophylactic spraying with a pyrethroid-based pesticide every three to four months will be necessary. Dr. Turney is doing three more tree identificatio...

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From the Archives: That Time Kelly Accidentally Ate Hemlock

...of seeds.” The rest of the class made noises of dismay. Someone offered me water. It was really embarrassing. As you might guess, Kelly survived. And thank you random number generator for the Jungian synchronicity: our last podcast is an interview with Pascal. As Kelly notes in her blog post, Hemlock is in the Apiaceae (carrot family). Novice foragers would be wise to avoid this family entirely. That said, Pascal tells a story of running into a gr...

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Solar Oven Triumph: Fluffy Egg Strata

...track of the exact quantity. Also, I used an equal mix of half n’ half and water because I didn’t have milk.) • 1 teaspoon sea salt (This was a smidge too much, probably due to the Parmesan being salty. I’d use less next time, unless my cheeses were more mild.) • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper Equipment: You need one lidded cooking dish for solar cooking. I made this recipe in one of the 9″ round enamel pots which come with the Solavore...

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Waxed Cloth Food Wrap (Made in a solar oven for bonus self-righteousness points)

...wax cloth will dry out more quickly than it would in plastic, and it’s not watertight, so it’s not good for drippy/juicy things. Also, it’s not recommended for wrapping meat, because it can’t be cleaned with hot water. But it works very well for wrapping things like cheese and sandwiches, cookies, nuts, carrot sticks, etc. In my testing so far I’ve settled on using my cloths as snack carriers, using them to wrap up trail mix or carrots or chunks o...

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