Lead in Backyard Eggs: Don’t Freak Out But Don’t Ignore the Issue

March 11, 2019

...elevated lead levels in our soil when we did a series of soil tests back in 2011. Thankfully our egg results came in at 1.02 ug, just under the average level in the study. You’d have to eat a lot of eggs as an adult to go beyond the Federal Drug Administration’s maximum recommended lead intake level, though you could bump up against it if a child ate more than three eggs a day. I’d suggest that if you live in an older urban location, next to a gas...

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Chicken Coop Deconstructed

Homegrown Neighbor

October 9, 2009

Animals, Chickens

10 Comments

...last few years. Things look a little scraggly, the orchard is filled with weeds and most of the barns haven’t been touched in thirty years, now housing only spiders. This program is special of course because it allows city kids to have access to green space, get outside and get close to a pot bellied pig- all rare experiences around here. My current project is rehabbing the old chicken coop. I brought in my friend Justin, curator of the local art...

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Going to Seed

Mrs. Homegrown

June 24, 2016

Back to the Garden, Gardening, Nature Awareness, Vegetable Gardening

14 Comments

...hemicals around. Just stop. Leave the leaves. Let fallen leaves and pulled weeds stay on the land to protect and nourish the soil. Let volunteers bloom. Let your garden go to seed. If we live with fussy neighbors, or under the impression that our gardens should look like the ones in the magazines, we might work hard to keep our vegetable and flower gardens impeccable, starting seedlings in advance to replace aging plants so there’s never any sense...

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The Strange World of Artificial Plants

Mr. Homegrown

February 8, 2013

Gardening, Thoughtstylings

11 Comments

...icial Marijuana.” Customers? Marijuana dispensaries, the set decorator for Weeds and law enforcement! From their website: Across the world law enforcement finds itself with the continuous dilemma of having to train new recruits to identify and find illegal marijuana plants . . . Our plants are used by many police departments across the world, the US Military and the Royal Mountain Police in Canada to name just a few. Be forewarned that the bush ab...

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Using the Google Search App for Plant Identification

Mr. Homegrown

June 19, 2019

Gardening

8 Comments

...use your phone’s camera to do a kind of reverse image search, to identify weeds and trees. It’s surprisingly accurate and even when it doesn’t get you to the exact plant it usually shows results close enough to make a good guess with a little more research. To do an image search you click on the colorful square next to the microphone and allow the app to access your phone’s camera. It seems to work both with long distance shots, for instance a pi...

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