012 Damnation, Good Books and Listener Questions

August 13, 2014

...: Human Restoration and the End of Nature-Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv. Erik is reading Psychomagic by Alejandro Jodorowsky. Listener Questions We answer Gloria’s questions about making bread, weeds and fertilizer. Summary: get Josey Baker Bread, mulch and pee in your garden! 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 i...

Read…

Worm Compost Leachate, Good or Bad?

Mr. Homegrown

September 2, 2014

Composting, Gardening, Vermiculture

15 Comments

...ension Service publications touting the use of worm bin leachate. There are some caveats, however. First, it needs to be diluted–at least 1:1 and maybe, according to some sources, as much as 1:10. And you should probably test it out on a few plants before applying it to your whole garden. And, from a food safety perspective, I’d avoid applying it to leafy greens and lettuces. I’d also point out that if you have a lot of leachate it might mean that...

Read…

How many ladybugs can you find? The Lost Ladybug Project

Mrs. Homegrown

September 4, 2014

Gardening, Insects

6 Comments

...And yes, there’s even an ap for it. It might be a little late in the year for the best counting, but I’m going to go out in the garden and see what I can find....

Read…

015 Worm Composting and Skunks

Mr. Homegrown

September 3, 2014

Bread, Composting, Food, Gardening, Pests, Podcasts, Vermiculture

...leaning project is going, worm composting, the ongoing skunk menace in our garden and we review two books. Apologies for some clipping in the audio and the cat interruptions. Worms During the worm composting segment we cover: Why worm composting rocks! Our wood worm bin. Kelly’s post on basic worm composting and resources. Santa Monica College’s worm bin. Skunks The BirdCam Pro (how I discovered that my skunk proofing did not work. Our skunk proof...

Read…

How to Deal with Extremely Root Bound Plants

Mrs. Homegrown

April 11, 2014

Gardening, How-to, Mistakes

22 Comments

...t the cut sites, giving the plant a chance to spread its roots out in your garden’s soil, instead of trying to live within its own, self-made prison. In these extremes cases, there is also usually a thick mat of tangled roots at the bottom of the root ball, pressed into the exact shape of the pot bottom. I tear this layer off. Then I put my thumbs up the middle of the root ball and stretch it open just a little if necessary, gently, to make sure t...

Read…