040 Natural Beekeeper Kirk Anderson

March 25, 2015

...ees Michael Bush’s method of re-queening a hot hive How to keep bees in an urban environment Why Kirk doesn’t use foundation What’s ailing the bees and what’s wrong with the big beekeepers Movie: More Than Honey Langstroth vs. top bar Kirk’s and Russel Bates’ how-to videos on Youtube Kirk on Facebook If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to...

Read…

Paper Wasps: Your New BFFs

Mrs. Homegrown

October 31, 2016

Gardening, Insects, Nature Awareness

10 Comments

...ative European variant is more the wasp you will likely be dealing with in urban/suburban North America, because unlike their native counterparts, Euro wasps aren’t shy. They are the ones who will build a nest by your back door, or on the side of your mailbox. Paper wasps build those distinctive, easy to recognize papery nests made of many cells. There are other types of native wasps which build with different materials, such as mud. Honeybee colo...

Read…

094 The American Woman’s Home

Mr. Homegrown

October 26, 2016

Domesticus, Podcasts

6 Comments

On the podcast this week Kelly and I discuss a 19th century urban homesteading book written by Catherine Beecher and Harriet Beecher Stowe, The American Woman’s Home. The book was written mostly by Catherine, with some contributions from Harriet (author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin). It’s likely that Catherine realized that attaching her famous sister’s name would sell more copies. Published in 1869, The American Woman’s Home covers a great deal of terri...

Read…

The Root Simple 2016 Holiday Gift Guide

Mr. Homegrown

November 23, 2016

Thoughtstylings

1 Comment

...thought I’d offer some suggested gifts, mostly obtainable online, for the urban homesteady types in your life. Most of the links are to Amazon, and we get a small cut of the proceeds, which helps keep our webmaster in kibble. But First . . . Charity Of course, rather than buying unneeded crap that will only clutter our already messy houses, we could agree to give to a charity instead. This season, due to our national “orange swan” event, Kelly is...

Read…

Saturday Tweets: Waffles, Shipwrecks and Soil Erosion

Mr. Homegrown

January 21, 2017

Saturday Linkages

Make These Waffles! new #cookingvideo https://t.co/20J4XDFVZ5 — Eric Rochow (@GardenForkTV) January 20, 2017 A sailboat builders story of being shipwrecked + what he learned https://t.co/oZ2BS7XPeX — Green Roof Growers (@GreenRoofGrower) January 19, 2017 When the ground beings to thaw for spring is when much soil erosion occurs on unprotected ground. Here's what you… https://t.co/9AaBxSUUjG — Tenth Acre Farm (@tenthacrefarm) January 19, 2017...

Read…