Root Simple Visits Simparch’s Utah Compound

...es a set of solar panels, batteries, a solar shower, a refrigerator, and a composting toilet all housed in and around a repurposed WWII era Quonset hut. Water is biked in with specially adapted cargo bikes. Solar power pumps the water up to the tower where it is heated by the sun in a black drum. A solar panel array and batteries provide more than enough power, all day and all night, to run power tools and pump some tunes out on the powerful stere...

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Worm Compost Leachate, Good or Bad?

...lot of conflicting information. One of the most contentious issues in worm composting is what to do with the liquid that comes off the worm bin, called leachate. The controversy stems, in large part, from the debate over aerated compost tea (ACT) vs. non-aerated compost tea. Fans of ACT do not like the fact that worm bin leachate is anaerobic, which they believe encourages the growth of microorganisms unfavorable to plants. They like to point out...

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Permaculture Design Course at the Ecology Center in San Juan Capistrano

...ta, Tour of permaculture plant nursery, build plant lists MAY 10 / WASTE – Composting methods, nutrient cycle overview (nitrogen, carbon cycles), soil science overview, building biomass- focus in permaculture, keeping backyard chickens, composting methods workshop / build a worm bin MAY 11 / ENERGY + SHELTER – Passive solar design, walk through an energy audit, how to read a utility bill, ‘going solar,’ tour of energy-efficient home, design an alt...

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Author and Urban Farmer Novella Carpenter Rocks Los Angeles

Yesterday, Homegrown Evolution had the great privilege of meeting urban farmer and author Novella Carpenter who was in Los Angeles to deliver a lecture and sign her new book Farm City. She’s a phenomenal speaker, both hilarious and inspiring. What we like most about Carpenter is her honesty in describing the ups and downs of raising pigs, goats, chickens, turkeys, rabbits and more on squatted land next to her apartment in Oakland. As she put it,...

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107 Urban Beekeeping with Terry Oxford

...systemic neonicotinoid pesticides such as Imidacloprid. Terry’s website is Urban Bee San Francisco. We get into a lot of topics including: Keeping bees on rooftops in San Francisco Ants and small hive beetles Natural beekeeping Splitting Natural beekeeper Michael Bush’s website Pesticide activism Treatment of nursery trees with neonicotinoids Senate bill 602 that would have required labeling of nursery plants treated with neonicotinoids How the Ca...

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