Our new front yard, part 5: Constructing a meadow community

December 2, 2015

Back to the Garden, front yard series, Garden Design, Gardening

...amic filler layer: These are short lived, opportunistic species which will self seed and pop up whenever there is a temporary space to exploit. Think about wildflowers, for instance, which show up first in the spring, and fade away as the perennials come back to their own. These make up 5 -10% of the community. Now, this sounds pretty straightforward, but once you get into the weeds (so to speak) it gets a little confusing. I wasn’t always able to...

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On Living in Los Angeles Without a Car: A Debate

Mr. Homegrown

May 21, 2013

Bikes, Transportation

41 Comments

...week for a lunch date. She lives about 15 miles away. We left our house at 10 and came back at 5. We had a good long visit with her and about four hours of transit time total. Good thing we’re self-employed. So yes, the only way to get around with any speed or dignity is to use a bike in conjunction with the trains or buses. My problem is that I’m frightened of riding in LA. I live with a bike activist. I’m not coming from a place of ignorance he...

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Interview With Apartment Gardener Helen Kim

Mr. Homegrown

August 27, 2008

Gardening, Herbs

1 Comment

...king something non-slimy with them! … but I still haven’t gotten around to making any tea with the lemon verbena… HE: We heard that some of the plants have a special significance for you HK: Yeah, shortly after I moved in, my grandmother died and I inherited some of her plants–mostly succulents. So when the building manager told me I’d have to remove all the plants, I kind of panicked–but you know how that story worked out. They’re now living happ...

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Planting in a Post-Wild World

Mrs. Homegrown

October 19, 2015

Back to the Garden, Garden Design, Gardening

25 Comments

...of your own. I have to believe this because I’m in the midst of doing it myself. I’m using this book to redesign our front yard. I’d been trying to figure out a new design on my own–struggling in my half-baked, improvisational way to create a more loving landscape out of the Grey Gardens situation we’ve got going now — and not making much progress. Then this book came to my rescue.* Look for posts in the near future charting the progress of our re...

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Baking Bread with Specialty Malts

Mr. Homegrown

June 13, 2016

Beer, Bread, Food

2 Comments

...king and just use malted grains directly in your bread. The grains used in making beer are, mostly, barley that has been malted (sprouted) and then either caramelized or roasted. To make beer you soak the grains in warm water to extract the sugars that form in the malting process. Fermenting that sugary malt water creates alcohol. Most of the grain used to make beer is two or six-row malt. You add so-called “specialty” grains (that have been caram...

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