Gardening Mistakes: Six Ways We’ve Killed Plants

...stuff and see what takes off. 2. Soil compaction This is a big problem in urban areas and our yard is no exception. The parkway, which gets a lot of foot traffic, is very compacted. Very few plants do well with compacted soil, including natives. The best way to break up compacted soil is with a broadfork, a spendy item. We use a garden fork instead. 3. Soil fertility When it comes to growing vegetables, in particular, you need rich soil. Get a so...

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096 Photographer Babs Perkins: The Land, People and Cheese of the Balkans

...who documents disappearing foods in the Balkans with a emphasis on cheese making. In the conversation Babs and Eric discuss the politics of cheese in the EU, the challenges of doing a documentary project in the Balkans and the cross cultural values of sharing food. As you listen to the podcast I’d suggest you take a look at Perkins’ stunning photos on her website: Cheese Stories: Bosnia Cheese Stories: Serbia The incredible natural beauty of Bosn...

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Epic Rants and Raves

...early 20th century literature. As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve been slowly making my way through all of Gustav Stickley’s Craftsman Magazine (I’m reading the 1905 issues this week) as well as Moby Dick (never read it in school), May Morris’ Decorative Needlework and the writings of John Ruskin and William Morris. From these tomes I’ve bookmarked a few epic rants that I suspect Root Simple readers will appreciate. First, as quoted in The Craftsman,...

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Saturday Tweets: It’s 2017!

...itter.com/KE9NWqLqWN — Thomas Rainer (@ThomasRainerDC) January 5, 2017 Tea making tips movie from (1941) https://t.co/MqZaPLK9Lv — Root Simple (@rootsimple) January 5, 2017 What's your hoarding/clutter level? https://t.co/VhNWzNQBLa — Root Simple (@rootsimple) January 4, 2017 A Month Without Sugar, via @nytimes https://t.co/fmtuObKbyu — Michael Pollan (@michaelpollan) January 2, 2017 Someone changed famed Hollywood Sign to read 'Hollyweed&...

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Learn How To Bake Sourdough Bread with Dana Morgan February 18th

...bake your own tasty sourdough loaves? Take a class with the Los Angeles Bread Baker’s amazing instructor Dana Morgan on February 18th at the community oven in Westchester. Not to be missed! This small class will teach you the basics of Tartine-style sourdough bread baking. Come learn about making and maintaining sourdough starter and how to mix, divide, shape and time the fermentation of amazing artisan bread inspired by Chad Robertson at Tartine...

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