Picture Sunday: Images of Detroit

June 30, 2013

...s week I discovered that regular reader Jill Nienhuis is not only an urban homesteader, but a talented artist, too. Her paintings and other projects are wonderful – -you can see more at her website : Jill Nienhuis Jill lives in a neighborhood in NW Detroit called Brightmoor. It’s a neighborhood which has fallen on hard times, but is being revitalized, largely through gardening. She and her boyfriend, Michael, are growing a large garden on several...

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How to Cook Broadleaf Plantain

Mrs. Homegrown

November 19, 2012

Food, Foraging, Preparedness, Recipes

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...most inventive wild food recipes I’ve seen anywhere. On a recent visit to Urban Outdoor Skills, I was very excited to find he’d developed a cooking technique for broadleaf plantain (Plantago major, the common weed, not the banana relative). Though I know plantain is very nutritious, it is also bitter and heavily veined, so I prefer to collect it as a medicinal herb. I infuse it into oil that I put into salves and creams and I use it as a fresh po...

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Kickstart the North Memphis Farmers Collective

Mr. Homegrown

July 31, 2015

Gardening, Urban Farming

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...stories, there’s a happy ending. What began in one yard has grown into an urban farming movement transforming vacant lots into sources of food and jobs. There’s a Kickstarter: The City of Memphis faces many challenges. Among them are blighted vacant lots, food deserts, health challenges, and unemployment. North Memphis Farmer’s Collective seeks to take these challenges and turn them into solutions by using what others see as waste as the fertiliz...

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3 Mules Update

Mr. Homegrown

February 23, 2018

Events

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...ule tells me that throughout his travels he has noticed an ever-increasing urban sprawl. Much of the open land that once allowed them to move freely and spend the night in secluded spots is disappearing. More and more cars are filling up the roadways, and the expanding urban infrastructure seems to serve only one purpose: accommodate more automobiles. His words resonate with me, and I realize then and there that I am about to embark on a filmmakin...

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Attractive Ornamental Flowering Trees

Mr. Homegrown

October 4, 2016

Fruit Trees, Gardening, Trees

...petiginosa (pink trumpet tree) A tough and beautiful tree that’s great for urban locations. Tabebuia chrysotricha Of all the trees Dr. Turney showed, I think this one was my favorite. The yellow flowers really pop out against a blue sky. Brachychiton acerifolius (Australian Flame Tree) Speaking of popping out, red flowers are also really dramatic. Chionanthus retusus Another good urban tree. To these suggestions I’d add one of my own that also pro...

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