July 2008 Blog Posts (11)

New York Times Book Review: The Omnivore's Dilemma - A Natural History of Four Meals

This is an old review but the information is still relevant.

Read the review here: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/23/books/review/23kamp.html

Excerpts from the review:

"When you can eat just about anything nature has to offer," Michael Pollan writes in his thoughtful, engrossing new book, "The Omnivore's Dilemma," "deciding what you should eat will inevitably stir anxiety."

"...for Pollan, the final outcome is less important than the meal's journey… Continue

Added by Katherine Coles on July 28, 2008 at 11:06pm — No Comments

New York Times Article: A Locally Grown Diet With Fuss but No Muss

An interesting twist on how even the folks with no time but enough money are endeavoring to be "locavores".

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Excerpted from article:

As a result of interest in local food and rising grocery bills, backyard gardens have been enjoying a renaissance across the country, but what might be called the remote-control backyard garden — no planting, no weeding, no dirt under the fingernails — is a twist. “They want to have a garden, they don’t want… Continue

Added by Katherine Coles on July 28, 2008 at 2:12pm — No Comments

SOS!! i've got MOLD

Hello, I have several work plants and because of over loving, watering, and feeding MOLD has sprung up! Can someone give me some remedies. It is actually mushrooms that are growing in one of my plants the other one is in the roots. I've just re-poted them and its all over. Please help...
Thanks

Added by curlytop on July 26, 2008 at 10:11am — No Comments

Worms, Worms, Bionic Poop, Worms and Spam

I've been curious about raising worms since I was introduced to it at the Green Building Expo in Scottsdale in late 2007. It seemed really complicated and foreign at the time. Bags and boxes of worms and scraps....I wasn't sure I was up to it. But I've always liked to watch interesting creatures up close, especially insects, worms, birds and lizards.…

Continue

Added by Melissa Carlson on July 24, 2008 at 10:23pm — 2 Comments

Gardening for Dummies

Ah yes - I'm the dummy in this scenario. There are just so many scenarios.

What soil do I buy? What do I plant in? What do I plant? What do I plant together? When do I plant it? Ahhhh! Am I doing this right?

I stood in the aisle and thought, "Right or wrong I'm going to do it and I'll make changes if need be along the way." So I bought soil. I bought various containers. I'm waiting for my next trip to grab the really big container for my monsoon garden. Right now I just… Continue

Added by melinda_snyder@hotmail.com on July 21, 2008 at 10:31pm — No Comments

mushroom hunting

Last week, Mark & I went for a hike in the Apache reservation. Mt. Baldy had several Boletes, which was early for them. I was surprised, and then let down when I turned one over, only to see worms in them.

I plan on going to find more where I usually find them, in the next few weeks.

I did find several hundred wild strawberries, and walked with a handful for over an hour , waiting to give them to Mark, who was a mile behind me. Finally I ate them, and a few minutes later, he… Continue

Added by tanya on July 21, 2008 at 1:15pm — 3 Comments

Humble Beginnings

I spent the weekend in Flagstaff and was excited to find Native Plants on Butler. I stopped in and picked up two winter squash starters and two cucumber ones as well. Yay! My container garden begins. I also bought several seed packets based off of the planting calendar. Hopefully I'm on my way. I'll be shopping for my containers tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Added by melinda_snyder@hotmail.com on July 20, 2008 at 9:01pm — No Comments

Tomato Follies: Accepting Biodiversity

The grand tomato that you see before you is one of my most emotional gardening achievements. The strange thing is that it was the easiest thing in my garden to grow. I did not lay mulch or compost. I did not even sow seeds. The plant that became this tomato is a marvel in and of itself. It is volunteer.

Volunteer plants are plants that seed themselves in a cultivated gardenscape. Plants that you don't ask for and certain do not… Continue

Added by Heather Welch on July 17, 2008 at 11:30am — 3 Comments

.....Local farms create sense of community....Growing interest in food suppliers boosts agriculture consortiums."It's a unique and very valuable way to access fresh and local produce" Interesting Fr…

.....Local farms create sense of community....Growing interest in food suppliers boosts agriculture consortiums."It's a unique and very valuable way to access fresh and local produce"

Interesting Front page article in the Arizona Republic Business section on July 11th.. To read search articles on az.central.com/farms

CSA's..... Community Supported Agriculture programs-Organic Farms mentioned with membership programs : crookedskyfarms.com, desertrootsfarm.com and… Continue

Added by sandy on July 12, 2008 at 11:06am — No Comments

How to Green Your House from the Outside In, A Permaculture Design In Progress

Greening Your House from the Outside In Market Class Prez.pdf

Welcome to the Permaculture Progress Report for the Lonetti House! We will keep you posted during the changes to our home, urban orchards and gardens as we phase in more sustainable and energy efficient retrofits to this 1950 Suburban Home built by John F Long in the citrus orchards of north-central Phoenix.

As a… Continue

Added by Liz & Dan on July 10, 2008 at 5:00pm — 1 Comment

Site Visioning: When the Current Tenant Still Hasn't Moved Out

I am so excited about getting started on the permaculture design for the new house that I will be moving into (and yes, this does happen every time. and yes, I do tend to move alot. But hey, who can fault guerilla permaculturing the Valley by spending a year in every rental available?) that I have begun a brief design of the site without actually walking the property. Huh.. you say? How can you complete a design of a property that you may have seen but never actually paced out the dimensions… Continue

Added by Heather Welch on July 10, 2008 at 12:30pm — 1 Comment