On the Many Frustrations of Gardening: Pierce’s Disease

July 5, 2009

...anic around the Homegrown compound anyways. In fact, one of the pesticides used to control shapshooters is Imidacloprid, implicated by many in the recent disappearance of honey bees. Pierce disease resistant Vitus californica attacking our house. The only hope for long term control, as Turney sees it, is by breeding hybrid grape varieties resistant to Pierce’s. Turney strongly advised against trying to grow wine or table grapes in Southern Califor...

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The End of California Citrus?

Mr. Homegrown

September 11, 2009

Food, Gardening, Pests

18 Comments

...at the meeting on Wednesday that people in my neighborhood keep bees he paused and said, “you’ve got a problem.” Another official said to me that our bees (and presumably other pollinators in the neighborhood) will be sacrificed for the greater good of preserving the state’s citrus industry. As with Pierce’s disease the best long term solution to this problem will be to breed trees resistant to HLB. This is easier said than done as, unlike Pierce...

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Cutting a Beehive Out of a Wall

Mr. Homegrown

November 18, 2009

Animals, Bees

6 Comments

...ss, Sue and property owner Jen When we got back to Sue’s garden we put the frames into a hive box and dumped the loose bees in. While we won’t know for a while if the hive will take to its new home, we all felt a great sense of accomplishment. Hopefully, other urbanites around the world will take up beekeeping and put more exterminators out of work. For more info on Kirk Anderson’s natural beekeeping methods see www.beehuman.blogspot.com. Got a be...

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Without Merit: poison in your compost

Mr. Homegrown

December 7, 2009

Composting, Gardening, Thoughtstylings, Vegetable Gardening

7 Comments

...Dow Chemical under the brand names Merit and Forefront. This herbicide is used to control weeds such as thistle, knapweed and yellow starthistle. The problem is that aminopyralid survives the digestive systems of animals pastured on land sprayed with it, as well as compost piles made from their manure. Most other herbicides break down eventually, but this stuff sticks around. An organic farmer using compost contaminated by aminopyralid could lose...

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Bread and Transformation

Mr. Homegrown

January 25, 2010

Bread, Fermentation, Food, Thoughtstylings

7 Comments

...a baking or brewing geek like me it’s worth a view. The baking method I’ve used for over a decade is from Nancy Silverton’s book Breads from the La Brea Bakery. You use a sourdough starter and at least half the flour must be white to get it to leaven properly. I’ve had great results, but would like to someday make a loaf entirely from whole wheat with a sourdough starter. Reinhart, in his book Whole Grain Breads: New Techniques, Extraordinary Flav...

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