Save the World–Poop in a Bucket

January 30, 2008

...other stories on the subject came out at the same time: Wasteland: A Journey through the American cloaca in Harper’s Magazine. Journalist Frederick Kaufman traces sewage from New York’s North River Solid Waste Treatment Plant to . . . [spoiler here!] bags of soil at Home Depot. A Mother Earth News reader submitted a photo and description of a handsome sawdust privy made out of an old garden hose box. Very clever! Science Daily reports on Converti...

Read…

Growing Potatoes in Tires

Mr. Homegrown

January 29, 2008

Gardening, Vegetable Gardening

20 Comments

Chicago homesteader extraordinaire Nance Klehm, temporarily in residence here in Los Angeles, gifted us with some beautiful seed potatoes which we just planted. As we did last year, we’re growing them in used tires filled with compost (see our surprise potato harvest in a post from last September). As the plant grows you add another tire to the stack, causing the growth of more potatoes. An alternate method, suggested by Homegrown Revolution read...

Read…

Cichorium intybus a.k.a. Italian Dandelion

Mr. Homegrown

December 26, 2007

Gardening, Vegetable Gardening

3 Comments

...big taproot this perennial plant has means that it can bust through crappy soil. The bitter root can also be ground up to make a coffee substitute or flavor additive. Never having tried this we’re a bit sceptical, especially since it lacks caffeine, but it’s worth an attempt this coming year. Since we purchased seedlings we have no idea what cultivar we’re growing, but seeds are available from Seeds from Italy, which has an astonishing number of v...

Read…

Homegrown Evolution in the LA Times

Mr. Homegrown

May 29, 2008

Gardening, Vegetable Gardening

11 Comments

...ing it in. We installed raised beds because of the compacted, poor quality soil. Winter and early spring is the best season for most vegetables here in Los Angeles. In January of 2006 we had a riotous crop of sweet peas, greens, calendula and garlic. This past winter we planted dandelion greens, collards, garlic and more sweet peas. Last summer we had a mini corn field. Lastly, a shot from the summer of 2006 of tomatoes supported by one of the obe...

Read…

Straw Bale Garden Update: Success!

Mr. Homegrown

July 15, 2013

Gardening, Straw Bale Gardening, Vegetable Gardening

31 Comments

...g is a great solution for beginning gardeners or for those cursed with bad soil. And the skunks that have decimated my previous vegetable gardens are unable to get up on the bales. I’m considering trying another straw bale garden during our winter season. And I’m also pondering building boxes to put the bales in to make the garden look a bit neater. Compare the straw bale garden to the depleted raised beds in our front yard: I’ve talked to a lot o...

Read…