Search Results for: label/fruit/2010/06/the-urban-homestead

645 results

Review: Quaker Lower Sugar Instant Oatmeal

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Food, Reviews
24 Comments
...about artificial sweeteners. Diet foods will have a jaunty “With Splenda!” label, but this cereal apparently isn’t being marketed that way. The only indication that you’re dealing with a fake sugar product is in the list of ingredients, which I hadn’t checked. And that was a mistake, I know. When treading the dangerous waters of industrial foodstuffs, you really do have to bring your magnifying glass–and a chemical reference–and read the ingredien...

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Non-GMO Versions of Grape Nuts and Cheerios Less Nutritious Than GMO Versions

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Food
45 Comments
...h a “non-GMO” label. In the case of Cheerios and Grape Nuts, the “non-GMO” label is either a marketing gimmick or an attempt to start a voluntary labeling program to head off voter mandated efforts. Here’s where you can help. I need to kick my Grape Nuts crack habit and find a healthier breakfast alternative. Any suggestions? Note from Mrs. Homegrown: This post took me by surprise. Erik has eaten Gravel Nuts–I mean, Grape Nuts–for breakfast since...

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Book Review: The Urban Bestiary

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Animals, Reviews
8 Comments
...estiary is an exploration of the intimate intersection of humans and other urban animals, such as coyotes and raccoons and opossums and squirrels. In The Urban Bestiary, Haupt introduces us to our close neighbors, the animals which share our land, and sometimes even our homes. She gives us a naturalist’s overview of their behaviors, physiology and life cycles, interspersed with personal anecdotes and interviews with wildlife experts. The resulting...

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Fruit Tree Maintenance Calendars

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Fruit Trees, Gardening
1 Comment
...Where we live, it’s the time of year to prune and deal with pest issues on fruit trees. The University of California has a very helpful page of fruit tree maintenance calendars for us backyard orchard enthusiasts. The calendars cover everything from when to water, fertilize, paint the trunks and many other tasks. You can also find them in one big handy set of charts in UC’s book The Home Orchard. The permaculturalist in me likes our low-maintenanc...

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Olive Curing Update

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Fruit Trees, Gardening
5 Comments
...ndar to do this. When you harvest you need to separate the maggot infested fruit from the good fruit. This is easy to do if a bit of a chore. The signs of maggots are obvious–a scar on the surface of the fruit. You can harvest both green and the more mature black olives from the same tree and cure them both together. Olives are ready to pick when the juice is cloudy in late September. I have to error on the side of picking early to stay ahead of t...

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