A Warning About Straw

October 25, 2009

Animals, Chickens, Gardening, Vegetable Gardening

...il organisms. Clopyralid and aminopyralid mimic the hormones in broad-leaf plants, causing them to grow un-evenly and die from wrong-facing, crinkled leaves and other symptoms. Grasses are un-affected, so fields of grain and lawns have been sprayed with this sort of chemical, as a cheap way of keeping broad-leaf competitors at bay for a few years. These chemicals have a half-life of 11 months in hot compost, and are often applied at such high rate...

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Worm Compost Leachate, Good or Bad?

Mr. Homegrown

September 2, 2014

Composting, Gardening, Vermiculture

15 Comments

...which they believe encourages the growth of microorganisms unfavorable to plants. They like to point out that worm bin leachate is not ACT. The ACT debate needs a much longer post, but I did find two peer reviewed studies showing the benefits of un-aerated worm compost leachate: “Vermicomposting Leachate (Worm Tea) as Liquid Fertilizer for Maize“ and “Vermicompost Leachate Alleviates Deficiency of Phosphorus and Potassium in Tomato Seedlings.” I...

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Dry Climate Vegetables

Mr. Homegrown

April 17, 2014

Gardening, rainwater harvesting, Vegetable Gardening, Water and Power

20 Comments

...p chickens. It doesn’t rain here in the summer, so I suspect most of these plants will fade out if I don’t water them. And the mustard is already going to seed. My big regret with this unintentional garden is that I did not take notes as to when these plants sprouted. A little citizen science would really help when it comes time to figuring out when to plant things in our quirky, rare and changing climate. What volunteers do you have in your clima...

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Hollywood always gets gardens wrong (I’m talking to you, Maze Runner)

Mrs. Homegrown

September 25, 2014

Thoughtstylings

19 Comments

...t, at this moment, laughing riotously at my boring middle aged concerns. (“Plants? You were looking at the plants?”) Yes, I was analyzing the background foliage while yummylicious Dylan O’Brian and Thomas “Elf Boy” Sangster were talking about…something. But yeah, I was looking at them, too. But seriously, ivy??? This may be an all time low. And to add insult to injury, they also have an upside down tomato planter strung between two of the trellise...

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130 Farm Unfixed with Jessica Rath

Mr. Homegrown

May 22, 2019

Animals, Bees, Gardening, Native Plants, Permaculture, Podcasts

3 Comments

...of the land effects non-human species from the propagation of agricultural plants to the sensoria of bees.” She is on the faculty of the Art Center College of Design and her previous projects include works about apple breeding, co-evolutionary communication between flowering plants and their pollinators and a long term project called Farm Unfixed that we spend most of this conversation discussing. During the podcast Jessica mentions, Foxfire The m...

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