Our new front yard, part 2: theory

...ch makes working on it real fun.) That might be one reason why the idea of making it into an orchard had so much appeal. When garden design books bother to address hillside gardens, they always feature much bigger hills than ours, and these hills feature expensive hardscaping, like artfully arranged imported boulders, fancy staircases which sweep along the contour of the hill, or dazzling water features. Nobody designs in 15 foot wide spaces stuff...

Read…

Saturday Tweets: Root Simple’s Miscellanies

...cutting some grooves. My friends at @rootsimple might enjoy. #jig #router #making pic.twitter.com/bHqtYRjx2l — federico tobon (@wolfCatWorkshop) August 23, 2017 An Experimental Trickle Down Solar Water Heating System: https://t.co/MipsQ2Buj7 — Root Simple (@rootsimple) August 26, 2017 Saying goodbye to a garden: https://t.co/UhQ74Mgeqt — Root Simple (@rootsimple) August 26, 2017 America's Sorriest Bus Stop: Pittsburgh vs. Medford https://t.co/...

Read…

Help! I’ve got Paper Wasps

...beneficial insect. They eat beetle larvae, caterpillars, flies and nectar (making them pollinators). They are your friends in the garden. Right now I have a large colony living in the eave of our front porch right over my favorite chair. I’ve sat in that chair, with my head a mere four feet from my paper wasp buddies, for many hours and have never once been bothered. Biology Like honeybees, paper wasp are social insects. A mated queen lays eggs. B...

Read…

Seed, nut and fruit energy bars

...are should hold you over ’til your next meal. DIY Larabars I first started making these when I wanted a DIY version of a Larabar. If you’ve ever had a Larabar and looked at the ingredients list, you’ve seen that the ingredients are dried fruit and nuts, period. Which is great–I don’t like soy and added sugar and wheat filler material in my snacks–but Larabars are pricey for something so simple and replicable at home. Admittedly, dried fruit and nu...

Read…

Why I’m Growing Vegetables in a Straw Bale

...ecause his philosophy demands that you to focus intent on the garden, thus making the act of gardening a kind of sacred duty. But, this winter, I’ve still got a lot of tasks to complete and don’t have time to develop either a biodynamic compost pile or, gasp, thoughtstyle my way to some new, alternative method of sacramental gardening. So I decided to try straw bale gardening again. My last attempt, that I blogged about and even did a video of, wo...

Read…