The Great Sunflower Project

Help determine the health of urban bees with a citizen science experiment called the Great Sunflower Project. It’s simple and free. Just register at the Great Sunflower Project website and you’ll be sent a package of wild annual sunflower seeds (Helianthus annuus). Twice a month you’ll get an email to remind you to time how long it takes for five bees to visit your sunflowers. Sounds like it has drinking game potential, though that might lead to...

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Climate Change and Personal Responsibility

...en so much positive change on this front, even just in the last few years. Urban homesteading, slow food, organics, bikes, car share, DIY, all of it — it’s blossoming. It’s very hopeful. I’m going to put the next part in italics because it’s so important: The pleasure and satisfaction that we all receive from living this way is the positive counterspell to the dark enchantment of consumer culture. When we live this way, we become positive examples...

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DIY Outdoor Shower

...r will soon separate your real friends from superficial hangers-on. But we urban homesteaders don’t need to be stinky since it’s possible and easy to build an outdoor solar shower. There are two reasons this makes sense, particularly in a place with as warm a climate as LA. First of all, you can direct the water straight into the garden and in so doing irrigate some plants and keep that water from uselessly running down the sewer line. Secondly, p...

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Saturday Tweets: Rats, DIY Plastic Recycling and Old Flatbread

...unity gardens. https://t.co/ODWFffKZ8v pic.twitter.com/7Q54UUYa8y — UC IPM Urban Program (@ucipmurban) July 19, 2018 This sums up my problems with Steven Pinker: https://t.co/IGYey5ks2i — Root Simple (@rootsimple) July 18, 2018 Found: 14,400-Year-Old Flatbread Remains That Predate Agriculture. #carbup #carbsovercars #gathererdiet via @atlasobscura https://t.co/PVA8Z4zW7K — Matt Ruscigno (@MattRuscigno) July 17, 2018 Philip K. Dick and the fake hum...

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Gathering of Community Gardeners

...le gardening, composting, native plants, beekeeping and even a workshop on urban chickens co-taught by yours truly, Homegrown Neighbor. The entire day Saturday is free, but a $10 donation is requested to cover operating expenses. I recommend you go and pay them $100, because that is what this event is worth. You’ll meet the coolest people in L.A., learn about gardening, eat great food and contribute to a great cause. The tour of community gardens...

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