Advantages and Disadvantages of Raised Bed Vegetable Gardening

February 20, 2014

.... Plug and play–no need to build or improve soil. Keeps roots from getting waterlogged in a wet climate. Cons Requires materials to construct. Might need to buy soil–gardening in the ground is free. Roots dry out quicker in a hot climate. Lack of mineral content in bagged soils. Use of peat moss in bagged products. Unable to truly embrace the “no dig” philosophy: despite best efforts to the contrary, it seems the soil needs to be swapped out every...

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The tale of the tub scrubber

Mrs. Homegrown

February 13, 2014

Cleaning, Domesticus

16 Comments

...and found it worked amazingly well in conjunction with the vinegar, soapy water and baking soda I use to clean the bathroom. It didn’t hold dirt or get grungy. Only now, after all this time, has it started to deteriorate and leave little purple bits of itself behind after a scrub. This is not a deep post — I just wanted to point out that sometimes we can make good use of things which would otherwise end up in the garbage. Purple Puff is finally g...

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Organic Seed Growers Webinar

Mr. Homegrown

January 23, 2014

Events

1 Comment

...r the live broadcast of selected presentations at http://www.extension.org/pages/70186 Note: You only need to register once, and you may come and go on both days as you wish! Schedule of Organic Seed Growers’ Conference Webinar Broadcasts Friday January 31, 2014 9:00-10:30AM: Why Organic Seed Matters and How to Meet the Demand Organic seed that meets the diverse agronomic challenges and market needs of organic farmers is fundamental to their succe...

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New Phoebe Update/Question

Mrs. Homegrown

November 20, 2013

Animals, Cats

17 Comments

...ng into space, doing odd things like hunkering down with her head over her water dish and just staying in that position, not drinking, not doing anything. She doesn’t want to interact with us at all. Still, as far as I can tell, she’s not struggling to get enough air, like she was before. My question is this: Do cats behave oddly after hospital stays? I’ve never had a cat do an overnight before, or undergo so much treatment. Do any of you have exp...

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Bad Forager: Mistaking Hemlock for Fennel

Mrs. Homegrown

October 31, 2013

Food, Foraging, Mistakes

12 Comments

...of seeds.” The rest of the class made noises of dismay. Someone offered me water. It was really embarrassing. Dosage is everything with poisons, and I was not worried about two or three maybe-swallowed-maybe-chewed-and-spit seeds. Especially not dried up, sun baked seeds. Pascal wasn’t worried either, and waved away all the concern, distracting us with the tale of how he ate some fresh hemlock leaves in a an early foraging error and spent hours vo...

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