Advantages and Disadvantages of Raised Bed Vegetable Gardening

...soil, we’ve got to grow our veggies in raised beds. There’s just too much lead and zinc in the ground, according to our local soil lab. Putting together three new beds recently got me to thinking about the ups and downs of gardening in raised beds. I thought I’d list off the pros and cons: Pros: Keeps roots away from contaminated soil. Good for disabled or elderly gardeners. Neat. If high enough, can keep out some critters–and keep veggies above...

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Cactus Thief Strikes Again

...cactus thief with free flats of baby cacti. The latter strategy could even lead to the first ever Root Simple Upworthy style clickbait headline, “Thief Steals Cactus and the Thorny Response Will Have You in Tears.” Stoic philosopher Epictetus set me straight on what I should really do. He says, “Stop admiring your clothes and you are not angry at the man who steals them . . . our losses and our pains have to do only with the things we posses.” (Di...

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Garlic!

...il the stalks are entirely brown. Premature cutting of stalks or roots can lead to rot. After your garlic is dry then you can trim it to just the bulbs and store it somewhere cool and dark (not the fridge!). We’re going to put ours in a double brown bag in our strange subterranean garage–a cellar or basement would also work. With our mild winters and warm summers, California is the ideal place to grow garlic, but there are special varieties for co...

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077 Radical Mycology

...ther fungi for personal, societal, and ecological resilience. Peter is the lead cultivation expert for the Amazon Mycorenewal Project and Open Source Ecology and the primary author behind Radical Mycology, a nearly 700-page book on accessible mycology and mushroom cultivation. During the podcast we discuss: What are fungi? How to cultivate edible and medicinal mushrooms How to establish a mushroom bed in your garden Tempeh Peter’s cultivation how-...

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092 A Mattress Made of Sand

..., she had a flash of inspiration. That inspiration would heal her back and lead them to start their own company: The Ultimate Earth Bed. Our conversation also ranges over the history of how people used to sleep, from ancient Rome to the patent on the first mattress in 1850, the ecological consequences of conventional mattresses and the connection between the Earth Bed and barefoot running. For those of you who can’t listen, we also posted about th...

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