Saturday Linkages: Modem Sounds, HOAs, and Hand Counting

Homeowners' associations are not allowed to ban drought-tolerant landscaping https://t.co/9N5urhdqyX — Root Simple (@rootsimple) September 9, 2016 Things I Miss: Modem handshake sounds https://t.co/9s6lQIQc6a — Root Simple (@rootsimple) September 9, 2016 5 Make-Shift Urban Survival Lights When the Electricity Goes Down https://t.co/kSgRehCXAw via @sharethis — Root Simple (@rootsimple) September 5, 2016 Well said, Carol! It's 90 degrees in...

Read…

Bee Trellis

...rellis to surround the hive boxes that reside next to her shed. In a small urban yard a trellis around your bees will keep everyone happy. Bees naturally tend to fly upwards after leaving the hive but the addition of a fence keeps the few sideways stragglers from negative canine and homo sapiens interactions. As usual, the design process around Root Simple begins with the realization that our 1920s house looks best when surrounded by fuddy-duddy l...

Read…

City of Angels Permaculture Academy Design Course Series

...eing some of you there. Here’s the 411: One weekend a month for 6 months. World-class education for less than $12 an hour! Discounts, Payment Plans and up to 50% Work-Trade Still Available You can drop in for one day- or for the whole series. Elegant Home and Gardens- DIY Design & Build Learn Urban Homesteading Skills Community Projects Starting a Neighborhood Business Hands-On Natural Building / Sustainable Landscaping Permaculture in Schools and...

Read…

Legalize Beekeeping in LA!

...is ____________, and I urge you to support Council Files 12-0785 (Legalize Urban Beekeeping in Los Angeles), 13-0002-S134 (Saving America’s Pollinators Act), and 13-1660 (Humane Policy for Live Bee Removal). Bees are essential to urban food production, providing local environmental and economic benefits through pollination and honey production. Over the past several years, honeybee colonies throughout the United States have experienced high rates...

Read…

Leave Your Leaves Alone

...rovide. A review of research by Linda Chalker-Scott (2015, Arboriculture & Urban Forestry, 41.4, 173-186) suggests that both native and non-native woody species can enhance biodiversity of urban landscapes by providing these essential services. At this risk of wonkiness, do we have a Hegelian plant dialectic here, perhaps? Are we on the cusp of a synthesis in the native/non-native plant debate? This is a complicated question, but I think that Eise...

Read…