Help UC Davis with the California Backyard Poultry Census

February 16, 2016

...ension has a short survey they’d like you to fill out. The purpose of the survey is to get an estimate of how many backyard flocks are out there and, “bridge the communication gap between poultry experts and backyard poultry enthusiasts.” The survey is confidential and contact info will only be used for educational purposes. Last year I was the beneficiary of some of that education when I attended a seminar co-hosted by UC Davis Veterinary Medicin...

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How to Garden With California Natives: Lessons from the 2016 Theodore Payne Garden Tour

Mr. Homegrown

April 5, 2016

Garden Design, Gardening

7 Comments

...” residential landscaping. On the bad side, opportunistic politicians have used residential watering as a red herring to divert attention from the real water problem here in California: industrial agriculture. The lawn rebate programs and constant messaging to reduce residential watering has resulted in thousands of dead trees and handouts to fly-by-night landscaping companies that installed gravel moonscapes and disappeared as soon as the rebate...

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The Best Way to Get Bees For Free

Mr. Homegrown

April 12, 2016

Animals, Bees

5 Comments

..., I think, is to mix wax and lemongrass oil and paint that on your frames. Used equipment that once held bees is also a powerful attractant. Once bees figure out a good space they will come back to it. Where to put a swarm box Something that happened to us last week will show you how random and inexplicable bees can be when it comes to occupying a swarm box. I had a swarm box up on top of our shed roof, near our neighbor’s orange trees, because be...

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Weekend Tweets: The Orchid Mantis, Self-sufficiency and Self Driving Cars

Mr. Homegrown

April 16, 2016

Saturday Linkages

...TOOcapd via @wordpressdotcom — Root Simple (@rootsimple) April 10, 2016 DC Used to Fly the Skull and Cross-Bones to Mark Each Traffic Death https://t.co/XQsKvA5Zx1 via @StreetsblogNet — Root Simple (@rootsimple) April 10, 2016 The History Of How Los Angeles Became A City Of Palm Trees https://t.co/aknEUgXWGl — Root Simple (@rootsimple) April 9, 2016 We don’t need self-driving cars – we need to ditch our vehicles entirely https://t.co/8s2gMKouWc —...

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Citrus limetta, a.k.a. Sweet Lemon, a.k.a. Sweet Lime

Mr. Homegrown

May 11, 2015

Fruit Trees, Gardening

3 Comments

...take because what she thought was a lemon turned out to be Citrus limetta, labeled as “sweet lime”. Unlike a lemon, it’s sweet with lime flavor notes and a hard to describe exotic backspin. Adding to the confusion, sweet limes are also known as sweet lemons and a host of other popular names in the Middle East and India where they are popular. Though somewhat watery, I like to eat them fresh, but they are most commonly used for juice. I should note...

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