Tracking the Mood of the Gardener

Swiss chard from the winter of 2010 A Root Simple reader I ran into this weekend took issue with my assertion that fall is the best time to start a vegetable garden in Southern California. Thinking about it some more I think she may have a point. Some of you may have noticed that we have a new feature on the blog–if you click on an individual blog post you’ll see a list of related posts at the bottom. Looking at some of those older posts showed t...

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Update on Los Angeles’ Backwards Parkway Regulations

...rcement of parkway planting rules. This is in response to Steve Lopez’s LA Times column that profiled two parkway vegetable gardens that the city busted. A tip of the hat to Mr. Lopez for his good deed. We will all need to keep our eyes on the council and the Bureau of Street Services to make sure that the changes they make reflect common sense. And at the risk of tooting my own horn, I pointed out the foolishness of LA’s parkway regs back in 2010...

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Saturday Linkages: Garden Hoses, Planners and IKEA Hacks . . .

Ikea meets aquaponics. Gardening Finding the Garden Hose of my Dreams Garden Rant http://gardenrant.com/2013/01/garden-hose-of-my-d1reams.html … Home Ec On Planners, Productivity, and Idle Pleasures http://thetanglednest.com/2013/01/on-planners-productivity-and-idle-pleasures/ … DIY Barn Door Track Tutorail http://shar.es/47h3M How Google Earth Revealed Chicago’s Hidden Farms: http://ow.ly/gJRrS Bad News Department Florida couple may have to give...

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Saturday Linkages: Cat Houses, Office Gyms, Cooking in Compost and More . . .

.../vintage-cat-house-designed-by-the-office-of-frank-lloyd-wright/ … Just in time for the holidays . . . How to “unshop” on Black Friday: http://wp.me/p2H7hX-v Office Gyms Treadmill Desk http://livingsmallblog.com/2010/06/07/treadmill-desk/ … Bikes Next Steps For The Bike Movement In Santa Monica (p. 2/2) http://la.streetsblog.org/2012/11/20/next-steps-for-the-bike-movement-in-santa-monica-p-22/#.UKwAP7vnRYI.twitter … One for the Dustbin: The 85th P...

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Book Review: The Blood of the Earth: An Essay on Magic and Peak Oil

...minds, and thus our behavior, to prepare realistically for the coming hard times. And beyond that, to find joy and deep meaning in the post-petroleum world, by celebrating the potential of the human rather than the potential of machines. For such short book, the ideas big and far-ranging. At the risk of this being a spoiler, I’m going to share with you an exercise of sorts from the end of the book, three suggestions for practical action that you c...

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