Matt’s Wild Cherry Tomato

...tt’s Wild Cherry was obtained in Hidalgo, Mexico by Teresa Arellanos de Mena, a friend of agronomy professors, Dr. Laura Merrick and Dr. Matt Liebman. Johnny’s and other sources describe it as a small current sized tomato that readily reseeds. Johnny’s Select Seeds carries it, and I’m considering giving it a try to supplement the tomatoes that reseed themselves in our garden. Let us know in the comments if you’ve tried Matt’s Wild Cherry or have t...

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Self-watering terracotta seed-starters!

...iners for seedlings. Most anyone who has ever tried to start a garden from seeds has had the experience of having seedlings die or go shocky due to a heat wave or a day or two of neglect. Starting seeds in a self-watering container makes a whole lot of sense. These containers can go up to a week between waterings. Even better, Anne’s seed starters are made out of terracotta instead of plastic. We’ve tried out her 6-pack model. It’s really cute, an...

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Alektyomancy: Divination by Rooster

...traced squares containing the letters of the alphabet, and in each square seeds were placed. After proper incantations, a white rooster was released, and the letters were read in the order in which the rooster pecked the seeds. The interpretation of the oracle is unknown.(1) Thankfully you don’t need to own a chicken to practice alektyomancy. There’s an online version. 1) From I.P. Couliano’s book Out of this World: Otherworldly Journeys from Gil...

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The Genetic Diversity of Watermelons

...d up at the National Heirloom Exposition. Note the vibrant (and tasty) red seeds. Navaho watermelons are sometimes called “winter melons” since they can be stored for a few months. Another watermelon I tasted at the Exposition was a yellow fleshed variety called Orangeglo. It was probably the sweetest and tastiest watermelon I’ve ever eaten. The problem with supermarket watermelons is not due to the seedless vs. seeded issue. Seedless watermelons...

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Saturday Linkages: Passive Cooling, Cats and Three Mules

...film, BIKES vs CARS – WE ARE MANY on @Kickstarter http://kck.st/1f7i1Xj @homedepot @lowes: 2/3 of our food crops need bees! Stop selling bee-killing pesticides! #BeeAction @foe_us http://www.beeaction.org Your Future in Farming & Homesteading: FREE 3-Day Webcast Event! (Oct. 1-3, 2013) http://permaculturenews.org/2013/09/25/your-future-in-farming-homesteading-free-3-day-webcast-event/ … For these links and more, follow Root Simple on Twitter: Fol...

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