Paper Wasps: Your New BFFs

...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...

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How to Build Walls with Pallets

...and jetsam. Mattresses, rotting couches and headboards accumulate, forming urban coral reefs under the blistering sun. It’s difficult to figure out a use for these objects other than as art. For utilitarian needs, such as building walls, we must turn to the many pallets that also litter our streets. Sketchup model by Ron S. But pallets can be tough to work with. The wood splinters easily making disassembly a tricky proposition (watch the Garden Fo...

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The Great Beekeeping Debate

...untry is a different question than how to keep a few hives in a biodiverse urban area. To be fair, the first question is essential since it’s how we currently keep everyone fed. But much of the advice given to large scale beekeepers does not always apply to small scale backyard beekeepers. The hubris can go both ways. Those of us on the natural beekeeping side can also think we understand the whole better than we do. We can fall into the same redu...

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Saturday Tweets: DIY Kayaks, Maps and Dragon Anatomy

...ican #Architecture Profession for your foresight and contributions to the #urban form in the USA! pic.twitter.com/sGucLhJX4p — Erik Griswold (@erik_griswold) July 30, 2016 Dragon anatomy for beginners. Yes, you did read that correctly.https://t.co/F06Qanht14 pic.twitter.com/FJzwhiQzJK — Medieval Manuscripts (@BLMedieval) July 30, 2016 Good Night Heidelberg, Cod. Pal. Germ. 466 pic.twitter.com/ldauWNgffo — Damien Kempf (@DamienKempf) July 30, 2016...

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The Root Simple 2016 Holiday Gift Guide

...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...

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