Saturday Tweets: Goodbye 2017

...) December 29, 2017 You can help the web be better in 2018: just ditch Facebook and use your browser instead https://t.co/VHrwGoZqZc — Root Simple (@rootsimple) December 29, 2017 Every bike that kids receive on Christmas should come with a protected bike lane. — Bicycle Lobby (@BicycleLobby) December 25, 2017 Seven useful tools by Lloyd Kahn https://t.co/RJ866BrQBz — Root Simple (@rootsimple) December 22, 2017 Using poplar trees as "green filters"...

Read…

The Homegrown Mailbox: How and Where Do I Get My Soil Tested?

...I was able to interpret the results myself with their slightly overpriced booklet that you can order along with the test. Another approach, especially if you live in an old house like ours, is to assume that your soil is contaminated, skip the test, and grow things in raised beds, containers or stick to ornamentals. You could also try bioremediation: each season plant a cover crop, let it grow, and then pull it up and dispose of it. Test the soil...

Read…

Apartment Parking Lot Gardening in East Hollywood

...start a garden even if you don’t own a house and how an otherwise useless urban space can be put to good use. R.J. says: I wanted to be able to give my granddaughter the experience of gardening while she was growing up but as both my daughter and I live in apartments, and have no space for gardens I needed to come up with a solution . So based on the “Square Foot Gardening Book by Mel Bartholomew I built two 5 ft. x 1 ft. square foot garden boxes...

Read…

Essential System #3 – Sew Your Own Damn Clothes

...tart spinning and weaving your own fabric). Some recommendations for brave urban homesteaders who want to take up sewing. Don’t start with stretchy fabric. Don’t even think of using velvet (we learned this the hard way). Choose patterns carefully so you don’t end up looking like, well, folks who sew their own clothes. Consider purchasing a used serger, which cuts the fabric and finishes the seam all at once, which folks in the know tell us makes l...

Read…

Mulberries

...to eat. Some sources on the internets, as well as Delena Tull’s excellent book Edible and Useful Plants of Texas and the Southwest warn against consuming the unripe fruit, claiming that doing so produces an unpleasant, mildly psychedelic experience. Apparently you throw up, fall on the ground and become convinced you’re going to croak. We wonder if this is a myth, like the story about boy scouts roasting hot dogs on Oleander sticks (yes, Oleander...

Read…