Backyard in Progress

June 17, 2019

...ownspout towards via an unsightly pipe. Lacking definition and choked with weeds, the area never looked good. Our landscaper Laramee proposed digging the depression out by about a foot and adding river rock and a little dry stream fed by the downspout. I made a bridge so that when it rains water will flow under the path that leads to our shed. This is why you hire an outsider expert: Kelly and I would never have thought of this rain garden or the...

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Using the Google Search App for Plant Identification

Mr. Homegrown

June 19, 2019

Gardening

8 Comments

...use your phone’s camera to do a kind of reverse image search, to identify weeds and trees. It’s surprisingly accurate and even when it doesn’t get you to the exact plant it usually shows results close enough to make a good guess with a little more research. To do an image search you click on the colorful square next to the microphone and allow the app to access your phone’s camera. It seems to work both with long distance shots, for instance a pi...

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Our Covid House Rules and Strategies

Mr. Homegrown

May 20, 2020

Preparedness, Thoughtstylings

18 Comments

...nd Blink 182 does show up and is less pathetic than I remember at least we’ll have a better bulk goods game and a few less weeds in the garden....

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Going to Seed

Mrs. Homegrown

June 24, 2016

Back to the Garden, Gardening, Nature Awareness, Vegetable Gardening

14 Comments

...hemicals around. Just stop. Leave the leaves. Let fallen leaves and pulled weeds stay on the land to protect and nourish the soil. Let volunteers bloom. Let your garden go to seed. If we live with fussy neighbors, or under the impression that our gardens should look like the ones in the magazines, we might work hard to keep our vegetable and flower gardens impeccable, starting seedlings in advance to replace aging plants so there’s never any sense...

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An Omnivore’s Dilemma

Mr. Homegrown

July 29, 2008

Animals, Chickens

81 Comments

...to Republicans, with a sprinkling of hunters, new moms, city dwellers, suburbanites, and more all united in the common goal of manifesting a better world. Of course such a wide coalition isn’t always going to agree on everything. This week we heard from some animal rights activists amongst our readers who politely took issue with the fact that we keep chickens for eggs. I’ll keep my rebuttal short, hoping that we can stay focused on our common go...

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