As Usual: a Smoky, Noisy 4th

July 6, 2025

...s in the “very unhealthy” range. We could get into the NextDoor fireworks freakouts but that would be the length and tediousness of a grad thesis for a sociology degree. I’ll just say I’d be happy if the holiday went away especially now living in a city occupied by a masked force of Federales. I’ll leave the last word on the 4th with: L.A. Taco reading the Declaration of Independence and Alan Ginsberg’s thoughts on Independence Day, written in the...

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Weekend Linkages: Slow Down!

Mr. Homegrown

February 20, 2022

Saturday Linkages

1 Comment

...Farmers in Senegal learn to respect a scruffy shrub that gets no respect Mushroom observer Facebook/Meta Asks: “Wouldn’t It Be Nice To Die?” Pedestrian Deaths Spike in U.S. as Reckless Driving Surges The Last Vestige of an Old Order in “The Nineties” I really wish I didn’t know that there’s a flat earth themed country album by a posh Brit...

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When it’s time to remove a tree

Mrs. Homegrown

October 22, 2015

Back to the Garden, Garden Design, Gardening

11 Comments

...the act, but don’t feel guilty. Instead, feel the rightness of it. Plants understand community and the greater good. We’re the ones who need schooling on that front. If you’re acting with good intent, they’ll understand. If it feels right to you, you could make a little thanks offering. For instance, you could put out seed for birds, as a token gift to the garden as a whole. You could take a Native American tact and offer a pinch of a dried, sacr...

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Beware of Bee Removal Scams

Mr. Homegrown

August 23, 2016

Animals, Bees

2 Comments

...d by mice. Unfortunately, there seem to be a lot of fraudulent bee removal companies out there who promise “humane” removal but who actually just use chemical fumigants to force the bees to abscond. Colonies forced out this way are nearly certain to die. Having done a lot of cutouts it’s easy to see why fly by night companies do this. Proper bee removal is a lot of work and many property owners aren’t willing to pay what it’s worth do a bee remova...

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The Great Beekeeping Debate

Mr. Homegrown

August 25, 2016

Animals, Bees

13 Comments

.... What’s not good is the arrogance that comes from thinking that since you understand part of the problem you understand the whole and can immediately start applying technological solutions. As Nassim Taleb has pointed out in his books The Black Swan and Anti-fragile: Things That Gain from Disorder, monkeying with complex systems from a point of ignorance leads to horrible, unintended consequences. Take the issue of varroa mite treatments. Let’s s...

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