Plastic or Wood?

...these are the new rules. We are going to phase as many plastics out of the homestead as we can. We won’t toss what we have in the landfill right now, but when it is time to replace it, this is how it’s going down: Wood and metal utensils instead of plastic Glass storage containers instead of Tupperwear Wool blankets instead of Polarfleece blankets Down filling instead of polyester filling (even for allergy sufferers)* Silk and wool fabrics for ath...

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105 GardenNerd’s Tips for Organic Gardening Success

...ch on a lot of topics and tips including: Monarch VR CropSwap Time Banking Homestead Hamlet Repair Cafés Sandflex Almanac.com Epic Seeds Baker Creek Seed Savers Exchange Renee’s Garden Summer Spinach National Heirloom Expo Aunt Molly’s Ground Cherry Keeping tomatoes healthy mid-season Powdery mildew When to harvest tomatoes Extending the growing season for tomatoes Mulch Shade cloth Capillary matting Don’t pull your bolting vegetables! Ollas What...

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How to Put Together a Small Scale Solar System

.../magazines/websites I’ve combed through in search of a basic tutorial for anything less than wiring up a whole house. Now I know how thanks to a podcast conversation between Eric of Garden Fork and Will of the Weekend Homestead. Will describes how he rigged up a few panels and batteries to power lights and charge tools in his off-grid barn. Check out the show notes for the specific parts Will used to put together his system....

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118 Eric of Garden Fork on Old Houses, Queen Bees and Ramps

...ow Eric mentions: His live question and answer session Will of the Weekend Homestead New York City water tower video Raising queen bees Better Bee Pacific Ready Cut catalog New York Times article on the over harvesting of ramps Growing your own ramps Eric’s cornpone disaster If you’d like 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 iTun...

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Ways to Critter Proof Your Vegetable Beds: A Competition

...F.A., and is a blistering in-house art and design critic around our little homestead. Participants can leave a comment on this post linking to an image, or send us an email at rootsimple@gmail.com. The winner will get a package of our newest publication–a series of booklets we wrote in collaboration with the Ecology Center in San Juan Capistrano. I will also be participating in this competition which does seem unfair, but we’ll let Mrs. Homegrown...

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