Search Results for: label/water%20conservation/2010/06/the-urban-homestead

820 results

McDonald’s Corporation Headquarters Used to Have a Suede Waterbed Think Tank

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Design
...r cent a year in the downtown office, has been 30 per cent in the new surroundings, where the colors tan and burnt‐orange predominate. I guess we can conclude that toxic work places can be cured with some tan and burnt‐orange suede walls and a 700 gallon water bed? Corporations these days have ditched the water bed pods for “mindfulness” classes but I doubt the workers are any happier. I’ll leave it to some of the commenters on Collins’ Twitter po...

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The Obligate Resprouter

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Animals, Goats
...oesn’t put pressure on the very resources that climate change makes scarce—water and top soil. Now, at least temporarily, we find ourselves having to feed the goats hay grown by pumping water in the nearby desert, the very thing we have tried to avoid. Developing a new understanding of this agriculture’s relationship to climate change, drought and wildfire is necessarily the new project, and we are pleased to have you along for the exploration. Yo...

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Practical Backyard Chicken Biosecurity

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Animals, Chickens
10 Comments
...luenza. I’ve never seen a duck land in our yard, but if you have a pool or water feature this could be something to think about. Some other suggestions from Dr. Gallardo: Buy from hatcheries that are National Poultry Improvement Plan (NPIP) certified. NPIP hatcheries immunize for Mareks disease. Separate sick birds immediately. Quarantine new birds for 30 days. Prevent mosquitoes by draining standing water. Mosquitoes can spread fowl pox and other...

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Thankful for the New Rain Garden

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Garden Design, Gardening, Native Plants
7 Comments
...sting calculator, in an average year we could send almost 6,000 gallons of water to our backyard. We ran a pipe from the rain gutter way back into the yard along a fence. The pipe terminates at a simulated gravel filled stream bed that spills into the rain garden. Kelly has just started planting the wet lower part of the rain garden with native plants including water loving Douglas irises (Iris douglasiana). She planted the dry outer edges with de...

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A happy tangle

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Animals, Nature Awareness
2 Comments
...ubbing alcohol, which I keep in a spray bottle to sterilize my pruning shears. It’s just handy. If I didn’t have that, I’d use vinegar. Clean out your birdbaths, too. You don’t have to bleach them, but change the water regularly and don’t let them get all gunky. And if you keep hummingbird feeders, you probably know those need to be cleaned out with hot water every few days, so mold doesn’t form in the sugar....

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