So Cal Alert: Polyphagus Shot Hole Borer

...two or three feet. That’s no quick sprinkle with a hose! Visit the Inland Urban Forest Council to download a PDF about how to properly water your trees. Also, we might suggest that this is a great time to install a laundry to landscape graywater system. Many thanks to our excellent arborist, Nick Araya of Tree Care LA, who came out yesterday to look at our drought-stressed avocado tree (no beetles yet, thankfully!) and gave me the 411 on the Poly...

Read…

Of Skunks, Sauerkraut and Stoicism

...We were honored when the nice folks behind Stoic Week 2013 asked us to write a blog post. It begins, Practicality is why stoicism works so well as the philosophical operating system of urban homesteading. While Foucault and Hegel might help me navigate the epistemological frontier, when I’m staring at a carefully tended vegetable bed that just got destroyed by a skunk, you can bet I’ll reach for the Seneca. Read the rest here....

Read…

Keep Those Bikes Locked, Even in the Garage!

...ock your bike when out and about. Leave it unlocked for one second in most urban areas and you can bet it will be gone when you return. In San Fransisco, for instance, bike theft outstripped iPhone theft 3:1. But there’s another kind of bike theft that a lot of folks don’t think about–theft from your home or apartment. Yes, even at home base your bike needs to be locked up. Some thieves drive around in pickup trucks looking for open garages with u...

Read…

Saturday Linkages: Fire Plows, Kite Fishing and Roundup-Ready Turfgrass

...ers à la carte http://shar.es/QRHOf Google hangout with Lloyd Kahn, master urban homesteader: http://boingboing.net/2014/02/12/google-hangout-with-lloyd-kahn.html … 3 MAKE projects to help you fight for your online privacy: http://boingboing.net/2014/02/11/3-make-projects-to-help-you-fi.html … Frugal Digital: Repairing, Hacking, and Repurposing Electronics http://feedly.com/e/x1zb0NgL Low-Tech Kite-Fishing in the Indo-Pacific http://feedly.com/e/v...

Read…

Los Angeles is One Step Closer to Legalizing Bees

...taking a look at our overly restrictive municipal codes as they relate to urban agriculture. HoneyLove cultivated grass roots support and got more than a dozen resolutions from local neighborhood councils in support of legalizing beekeeping. They found a sympathetic councilman to support a resolution. They gathered supporters to go to meetings. And they seem to be on good terms with the media if the press conference was any indication (I’ve haven...

Read…