Search Results for: label/seeds/2010/06/the-urban-homestead

581 results

Harvest TIme

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Gardening, Vegetable Gardening
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...Despite a terrible infestation of corn earworm (Helicoverpa zea) Homegrown Revolution harvested our first ear of corn from our illegal street garden. It’s a variety from Seeds of Change but the package is lost in the appalling mess of our office. More on the corn when we get back from a junket to Houston Texas later this week....

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The Chicken and the Egg

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Animals, Chickens
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...h the four chickens that populate our backyard in their ongoing search for seeds, bugs and the need to sort out the pecking order. After many hours of poultry behavior viewing it’s no surprise to us that some anthropologists believe that the chicken was first domesticated to provide entertainment (through cock fighting) rather than eggs or meat. But more important than the entertainment value backyard chickens provide is the far superior taste and...

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Seed Review: Thompson & Morgan Golden Berry

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Gardening
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....a ground cherry, husk cherry, or strawberry tomato. When we planted these seeds we posted on the confusing array of names that this neglected branch of the nightshade family has gathered over the years–we’ll use the scientific name in the interest of precision. Our Physalis pruinosa, planted in April has born fruit for the past two months and seems to be nearing its end of production. We agree with Steven’s comment on our original post that the f...

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Prickly Pear Jelly Recipe

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Food, Recipes
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...and water through a colander with two layers of cheesecloth to remove the seeds and pulp. 3. We’ve found that 2 1/2 pounds of fruit will yield a little over 2 1/2 cups of juice using the method above. 4. We use a recipe from the Jamlady Cookbook, by Beverly Ellen Schoonmaker. Here’s the recipe: 2 1/2 cups prickly pear cactus juice 1/2 cup lemon juice 5 cups sugar 1 box of powdered pectin (18 teaspoons-note that not all pectin brands contain the s...

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Mahonia gracilis – Mexican Barberry

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Gardening
5 Comments
...tely very few plants fit those stringent requirements. We came across some seeds recently for a plant called Mahonia gracilis or Mexican Barberry, but there’s very little information about this medium sized shrub, native to Mexico (or China depending on which source you believe). The Plants for a Future database report states that the plant grows in dry ravines of pine forests and produces an edible berry. But as usual most other sources don’t com...

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