I live in a small city, large fenced lot. I have a covered compost bin in the back yard and a husband who is deathly afraid of smells, unsightly mess, attracting rodents or other creatures, and offending the neighbors. Tell me about worm bins, or point me to a site for research. I’m planning to [...]
… on a 100+ degree afternoon, with watermelon: On rare and endangered foods, and vanishing food traditions: Anyway, back to the cynicism of which I have in abundance. I am not one to believe capitalism is a cure to all that ails us: that we can, say, buy our way out of global warming by [...]
Crossposted from Monkeyfister’s place with his permission so biscuit can see it – Kate All is good in the Bean Bed. As you can see, I’ve got all the twine trellises tied up (32 of them), and the Pole Beans are having a great time growing up them. All I need to do now, is [...]
Behold: the world’s tiniest bear is still living under my old place.
YES! CSAs are a wonderful and necessary step toward a more sustainable way of life that we all must embrace. Yes! But, they are getting shoehorned into a model, and getting suddenly and sorely pressured. There are just not enough of them of scale (Centennial Farm sized) right now, and all the media push toward [...]
The Urban Homestead: your guide to self-sufficient living in the heart of the cityby Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen$11.53 from Amazon I can’t recall where I first saw mention of this book, but the subtitle convinced me to check it out. Then I saw that they included a chapter on stealth backyard chickens, so how [...]
This is our last week of the lovely strawberries that grow up here and are succulent and sweet. I made 6 nice 4 oz jars of strawberry freezer jam with them. Freezer jams are fresher tasting and a brighter color than processed jam. I like it alot. I’ve had a strawberry/raspberry combination that was really [...]
From time to time, under the “Garden Problem Solving 101″ moniker, I’m going to try and provide some advice and fixes for common garden problems for you. Stuff that I have encountered and battled with, and other problems that I might be currently experiencing and want to help you avoid. Have you ever had a [...]
Continue reading about Garden Problem Solving 101– Blossom End Rot
With Monkeyfister’s permission, I am reproducing his whole post here with pictures. The original post can be found over at his place. Kate —- I had one last garden box left to prepare, and I figured that it would make a great tutorial. This method of gardening is foolproof, and hugely productive. Here’s a quick [...]
Continue reading about Square-Foot Gardening 101… (the whole thing)
It’s raining, so I’ve abandoned my plans to go to the old homestead and drag another carload here. Instead, I’m doing indoorsy things, including just sitting and thinking about the new garden. As is usual, there are both good and bad things. The good thing is, there’s a perfect plot down below for building a [...]
Continue reading about The Gardener’s Medicine Cabinet: The Case of the Yellowing Lilac