Got a Critter Question?

...Our guest on the next episode of the Root Simple Podcast will be Lyanda Lynn Haupt, author of The Urban Bestiary: Encountering the Everyday Wild. We’re interviewing her tomorrow (Thursday) so if you have a question about coyotes, moles, raccoons, opossums, squirrels, rats or any of the other creatures that visit our urban backyards, leave a comment....

Read…

Saturday Tweets: Thanksgiving Weekend Edition

...ned – Urban Digs Farm https://t.co/8HWF4jgCVL pic.twitter.com/826NcJzCe2 — Urban Agriculture (@UrbanAgRRicult) November 28, 2015 HGVs: designed for the open motorway & inexplicably now commonplace on crowded city streets. pic.twitter.com/DqpIhb3F7o HT @Cycle_Kix — KarlOnSea (@KarlOnSea) November 28, 2015 How do I get my agapanthus to flower? @AlysFowler has the answer #askalys https://t.co/hBbUMnainM pic.twitter.com/y4KdI1toNB — Guardian gardening...

Read…

What are trees worth?

...ich cools the ground, which cools the environment at large, countering the urban heat island effect. They also cool the air by passing water through their leaves. A healthy urban forest makes for a much more liveable city for us all. (The city of Melbourne understands this.) And trees clustered around your own house make your home cooler in the summer, reducing your energy bills. Low lying cactus and succulent plants do little or nothing nothing t...

Read…

Picture Sunday: Images of Detroit

...s week I discovered that regular reader Jill Nienhuis is not only an urban homesteader, but a talented artist, too. Her paintings and other projects are wonderful – -you can see more at her website : Jill Nienhuis Jill lives in a neighborhood in NW Detroit called Brightmoor. It’s a neighborhood which has fallen on hard times, but is being revitalized, largely through gardening. She and her boyfriend, Michael, are growing a large garden on several...

Read…

Rainwater Harvesting with Joe Linton

...lage’s website. This workshop is part of a continuing series in “hands-on” urban permaculture and includes: An overview presentation on Los Angeles water issues, including local multi-benefit watershed management efforts. A tour of Los Angeles Eco-Village stormwater harvesting landscape features, including the Bimini Slough Nature Park. A hands-on workshop to build terraced swales to detain and infiltrate storm water This workshop focuses on build...

Read…