Mistakes we have made . . .

...commended by the seller or buyer’s agent. Our inspector spent a very short time in our house and ignored large problems, in my opinion, because it was in his favor for the house to sell so that he could continue his relationship with our agent. It’s an inherent conflict of interest for the inspector to have a connection to either real estate agent. 6. Planting a lawn We weren’t always the Molotov cocktail tossing vegetable growing radicals that we...

Read…

Tree Spinach – Chenopodium giganteum

...re in the Homegrown Revolution compound in Mediterranean Los Angeles, it’s time to start the winter garden. The billowing clouds of apocalyptic smoke from the fires ravaging the suburban fringes of our disaster prone megalopolis are the only thing that keeps us inside today, giving us time to contemplate one of the seed packets that has crossed our desk, Chenopodium giganteum a.k.a “tree spinach”. The Chenopodium family encompasses what less enlig...

Read…

Organic Seed Growers Webinar

...days from 12-8 Eastern Time, 11-7 Central, 10-6 Mountain, and 9-5 Pacific Time. Register for the live broadcast of selected presentations at http://www.extension.org/pages/70186 Note: You only need to register once, and you may come and go on both days as you wish! Schedule of Organic Seed Growers’ Conference Webinar Broadcasts Friday January 31, 2014 9:00-10:30AM: Why Organic Seed Matters and How to Meet the Demand Organic seed that meets the di...

Read…

What does the loving landscape look like?

...ong the way, the neighbors began asking for help with their yards and over time, the whole neighborhood has become a little slice of paradise, a shady oasis full of edible trees like pomegranate and mesquite. He said wild animals, like quail, are even moving back in. I still remember the pictures from his presentation, but I’m having a hard time finding anything like them to share with you. I’ve shamelessly screen grabbed a still from a nice short...

Read…

What to do with not-so-good tomatoes

...per. Put them in a low oven–around 300F- 325F. They’ll need to cook a long time, maybe two hours or so. The exact cooking time depends on the size and moisture content of the tomatoes. So this is something to do when you’ve got other things going on in the kitchen–like maybe a pot of beans simmering on the stove–so you will be around and remember to look in on them. What you are trying to do is remove some of the liquid and concentrate the flavors...

Read…