How to Cycle Safely

December 14, 2012

...n spot on a road I might be further to the left or right depending on what time of day it is, what the weather is like and the general “mood’ of the street. A good guide to getting the hang of how far to the left or right to be is an excellent book The Art of Cycling by Robert Hurst. Controlling anger. This is the skill that took the longest. I’ve since learned to ignore all honking and even the most egregious behavior on the part of motorists. Ar...

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Maintaining a Worm Bin

Mrs. Homegrown

July 19, 2013

Composting, Miscellaneous, Vermiculture

31 Comments

...little air, a little “wiggle room” and a diversity of habitat. It was past time to change this working side to a resting side. Resting comes before harvest. This is where dividing the bin in two comes into play. Resting means no more feeding, so that the worms will finish up whatever bits of food are left around. But of course you can’t starve out your worms, so you only rest half of the bin at a time. To do this, you put your food scraps on one s...

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An Overdue Update on Phoebe

Mrs. Homegrown

July 30, 2013

Animals, Cats

16 Comments

...y. She will have a short lifespan, though. The drugs just buy her a little time. Dr. Zimmerman told us the oldest cat she knew with Phoebe’s rare condition made it to four years old. Phoebe has already passed her second birthday. I’ve noticed her breathing sounds a bit wet lately, so we’re going to the vet this week and we hope an adjustment of her diuretics will clear that up. Knowing her time is short just makes her all the more precious. I’ve c...

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How to Deal with Extremely Root Bound Plants

Mrs. Homegrown

April 11, 2014

Gardening, How-to, Mistakes

22 Comments

...shade, or in the early morning or evening, so the plants don’t spend much time with their tortured root balls exposed to the midday sun. Water well, and maybe top dress the new plantings with a handful of worm castings, or water with worm casting tea, or some other kind of plant pick-me up, to apologize to them for all of the rough handling. It is very important to watch your plants closely after transplanting. They are like critical care patient...

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Toilet paper in the woods: a rant and some advice

Mrs. Homegrown

August 4, 2014

Domesticus, How-to, Thoughtstylings

40 Comments

...s and sits, flapping in the breeze, basically immortal. Paper lasts a long time! Think about it. There’s probably toilet paper dating back to WWII floating around Joshua Tree. If it gets wet and dries up again, toilet paper turns into this sort of crusty papier mache, clinging to the land like a contagious skin disease. Eventually, with enough water and time and maybe some helpful trampling by animals, it will darken and break down enough to be un...

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