Transcendental Taggers

...g the amenities of rural life, i.e. nature and agriculture, to our lives here in this somewhat ugly but interesting place we call home, the City of Los Angeles. In short, we intend to put the Urban in Urban Homestead. By the way, to the transcendentalist gangbangers who did the tagging – nice handwriting – you are obviously not the product of the same public schools we are....

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How to Water Trees During a Drought

...Los Angeles County, sent me a note with links to these videos produced by the Forest Service. I like these videos because they’re concise, and the info is solid. Thank you, Richard! Thank you, Forest Service! The video at the top of the post is on watering mature trees, the one at the bottom about watering young trees–the two techniques are a bit different. Also, you can find more learning resources at Tree People. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=...

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Outdoor Sink Makes Water Recycling Simple

...produce from the garden, I can use the outdoor sink and easily recycle my water. Plus, there is less dirt and compost in my kitchen sink. This is the kind of so-simple-its-brilliant stuff I just love. While I would like my entire house to have a greywater system, that isn’t really feasible at this time. The house is old and the pipes are very difficult, perhaps impossible, to access. So we are starting with the sink and soon we are doing a simple...

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How to do fewer dishes and save water

...started doing recently, but I really like it. Erik and I now have assigned water glasses and coffee mugs to use throughout the day. By reusing these glasses and mugs, we’ve really cut down on the amount of washing we do, and also save water, which is becoming increasingly critical in our never-ending drought. We have very little cabinet space, so over the years I’d honed our glasses and cups to identical sets which stack neatly. This is great in t...

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California’s New Greywater Code: Common Sense Legalized!

...ew right to use our greywater. As for the practical side of this new law, I’d suggest that anyone interested in installing a greywater system keep it simple and low cost. I can’t think of any better resource than Art Ludwig’s book The New Create an Oasis with Greywater: Choosing, Building and Using Greywater Systems and his website oasisdesign.net. Take note of Ludwig’s free open-source laundry to landscape plan. And don’t forget, Homegrown Evolut...

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