What does the loving landscape look like?

...planted thickly with climate appropriate plants, often with an emphasis on fruit trees and herbs. Though it is human dominated, it is not hostile to other life–birds have places to roost and bathe, and lizards can sunbathe on the pavement– and it can host a great diversity of plants, which pleases the pollinators. The photo below is a corner of a larger garden, but could just as easily be the design of a small yard: Moorish Garden at Tohono Chul i...

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Saturday Linkages: Beetle Party, Floating Homes and Cilantro

...t.co/qIk3vCBIxK — Root Simple (@rootsimple) June 9, 2018 Now, we consider Burbank’s ‘Santa Rosa’ plum an heirloom fruit…112 years later! https://t.co/a1zkd9w0zR — Fruit Cornucopia (@ValenzuelaJohn) June 8, 2018 Cilantro is one of our favorite crops to succession sow. Start a row in your garden every couple of weeks so you have a constant supply. Plant some this weekend! pic.twitter.com/MbbEacOH2k — The Works Seattle (@theworksseattle) June 8, 2018...

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017 Heirloom Expo Recap

...during the podcast: California Rare Fruit Growers Rachel Kaplan, author of Urban Homesteading Trathen Heckman of Daily Acts Apiculturalist Michael Thiele “Fruit Freak” John Valenzuela Franchi seed seller The Heirloom Seed Store Permaculturalist Toby Hemenway 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 our podcast in the iTunes store and on Sti...

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Brunch at the End of the End of History

Our first book The Urban Homestead went to print just as the financial crisis of 2008 hit and its success I attribute, in part, to the well known fact that in times of economic stress people turn to subjects such as growing food, canning, mending, and preparedness. Enthusiasm for these subjects surged after the stock market crash of 1929 and the oil crisis of the 1970s. Catastrophic financial trauma usually results in a rightward turn: fascism in...

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Bisphenol-A

...the early onset of puberty in girls. We’ve done our best around our little urban homestead to eliminate plastics from our lives, but where we still encounter BPA is in canned foods which we like to have on hand. Next time you pop open a can take a look at the inside–odds are there is a nearly invisible clear plastic lining which is where you’ll find the BPA. So with BPA we have yet another one of those throw up your hands in disgust, anger and des...

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