Growing Food in a Hotter, Drier Land

...g to the problem, it will also not be able to deal with the changes in the making. It is ill-suited to chaotic weather. In sum, if we don’t start growing food in different ways, we’re not only looking at a dry future, we’re looking at a hungry future. To solve this puzzle, Nabhan takes a look at at existing desert agriculture, from the Sonoran desert to China to Oman. From the ancient past right up into the present, humans have been cleverly manag...

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Maintaining a Worm Bin

...ss than an hour. You could go through a plastic tote-type bin much faster. Making a New Working Side After harvest you’ll have empty space–and that space will become the new working side, which means you need fresh bedding for the worms. I usually start by robbing some of that from the other side of the bin. Anything that’s big enough to notice, like a corn husk or a coffee filter or a handful of straw, I’ll grab. Today, I scraped the top layer of...

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Saturday Linkages: Goats, Chainsaws and a Big Blue Rooster

...ou-can.html?utm_source=feedly … Crafty Crafting with cat hair: no, I’m not making this up The Redventure Romp Cocktail by Amy Stewart http://gardenrant.com/2013/07/the-redventure-romp-cocktail.html?utm_source=feedly … Vinyl Record Lamps http://www.dudecraft.com/2013/07/vinyl-record-lamps.html … Combine a Mason Jar and Juice Carton into a Resealable Dispenser http://lifehacker.com/combine-a-mason-jar-and-juice-carton-into-a-resealable-845153794 … A...

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Cat Litter Compost, Installment #3

..., but for various reasons decided to throw money at the problem instead of making it a project. I really like this system because a) It’s much neater. Pine litter is less dusty than clumping litter, which means less tracking, less dust on surfaces, cleaner cats. b) And it’s cheaper. Pine litter cost less than clumping brands, and I’ve heard that Equine Pine, bought in bulk, is much, much cheaper per pound than the kitty brands. Next time we go to...

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Eight Things to Consider When Saving Vegetable Seeds

The directions for seed saving in our last book, Making It, almost got cut. Perhaps we should have just changed those directions to “Why it’s OK to buy seeds.” The fact is that it’s not easy to save the seeds of many vegetables thanks to the hard work of our bee friends. That being said, Shannon Carmody of Seed Saver’s Exchange gave a lecture at this year’s Heirloom Exposition with some tips for ambitious gardeners who want to take up seed saving...

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