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 [...]
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
Picture it: a barren landscape littered with baling wire, abandoned axes and halters, mountains of river rock and perhaps a quarter inch of soil covering the boulders beneath the surface, surrounded by the contradiction of lush forest, wild flowers and native fruits. Then, two – three years later, this: And all thanks to the magic [...]
Cities cover only 2% of the Earth’s surface, but consume 75% of its resources. Cities are black holes, they’re swallowing our planet. But, more and more, they’re turning green. Jac Smit, President of the Urban Agriculture Network and co-author of “Urban Agriculture: Food, Jobs, and Sustainable Cities”, paints a vision of what the world would [...]
Continue reading about City Farms: What if the Urban Landscape were Edible?
The City of Portland’s Office of Sustainable Development is offering an introduction to SPIN gardening on Saturday. Unable to attend (family wedding), I’ve been doing a little research and wanted to put the word out for the consideration of the Politicook community. (Disclaimer: I work for the City of Portland, but I have no affiliation [...]
Well, it’s midnight somewhere. Saturday night in Stumptown and I, being a wild thang, am at home with my niece (15) and my nephew (11), eating honey bread and roasted asparagus and the gratin-esque potatoes I made earlier, and watching “Firefly,” which never grows old. It’s spring at last here in the Willamette Valley. I [...]
My good friend and fellow PolitiCook diarist Monkeyfister has talked a lot in the past about getting to know your neighbors, setting up a group of people who can call on each other for help and support when it’s needed. He’s also talked a lot about urban gardening, about getting serious about raising your own [...]