Go Plant a Million Trees

...trees, a bunch of ponds, enriched soil and wild stories.” In our own small urban yard, we’re beginning to see the fruits, literally, of our own small-scale arboreal efforts that we began over ten years ago. This month we had a abundant crop of Mission figs, avocados, olives and pomegranates. And that pathetic vegetable garden I blogged about? My heretical thinking is to give up annual vegetables entirely and use the space to plant two small citrus...

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Nithya Raman for LA Council District 4!

...ouncil more democratic and ways to escape gridlocked traffic. Raman has an urban planning degree from M.I.T., helped start the SELAH Neighborhood Homeless Coalition, served as executive director of Time’s Up Entertainment and worked for the city on homeless policy. Frankly, she’s one of those people who have already accomplished what would take me ten lifetimes to get around to. She is much more qualified than the incumbent David Ryu, who has a th...

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017 Heirloom Expo Recap

...during the podcast: California Rare Fruit Growers Rachel Kaplan, author of Urban Homesteading Trathen Heckman of Daily Acts Apiculturalist Michael Thiele “Fruit Freak” John Valenzuela Franchi seed seller The Heirloom Seed Store Permaculturalist Toby Hemenway If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsimple@gmail.com. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Sti...

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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...

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Root Simple’s New CritterCam

...a for the application I intend. Thanks Max!] My plan is to use it for some urban, backyard citizen science. Specifically I want to figure out a few things: What mammals are visiting the backyard? What paths do they take through the yard? What kinds of birds are visiting the bird bath? Have my skunk proofing efforts worked? What’s the most active time in the night for mammalian activity? How many cats are visiting and what time do they come through...

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