087 Foraging Controversy with Lisa Novick

...the podcast Lisa mentions: Weeds of the West Telling a new story about our urban and suburban landscapes Talking to the neighbors Impact of the drought Design tips from the 2016 Theodore Payne garden tour Theodore Payne plant list Native gardening mistakes Edible California natives California natives in pots Hooker’s Evening Primrose in bloom. Photo: Lisa Novick. If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2...

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078 Mark Lakeman on City Repair

...the community architecture and planning firm Communitecture. He is also an urban place-maker, permaculture designer and community design facilitator. And if you’re on the West Coast of the US, you have a chance to participate in a series of workshops this month. For more information visit marklakeman.net. To find out about events in Los Angeles visit change-making.com. If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 5...

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Root Simple: 2015 in Review

...p. I’m not optimistic about this but I hope to be proved wrong. Honesty in Urban Homesteading We don’t do nearly enough blogging about the many hair brained notions and failed projects that transpire here at the Root Simple Compound and Labs. We did mange to chronicle a few of our shortcomings, such as our lack of a clothes line (Busted: Drying Racks, Clothes Lines and Cheese Puffs), the train wreck that was our summer garden (Our Disasterous Summ...

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Saturday Tweets: Eating Ants, Bikes and LA as Heat Island

...oot Simple (@rootsimple) September 23, 2015 LA Gets More Added Warmth from Urban Heat Islands Than Anywhere in the State http://t.co/PU9msfbCRb via @CurbedLA — Root Simple (@rootsimple) September 23, 2015 Dan Price’s underground home, art & philosophy on $5,000year – videos – *faircompanies http://t.co/B9DJHXQj7e via @faircompanies — Root Simple (@rootsimple) September 23, 2015 The Vegetable Detective, Take Two http://t.co/TIStMrDQml — Root Simple...

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Paper Wasps: Your New BFFs

...opean 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 colonies, of...

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