If you don't have room for a full-scale compost heap, you can always employ the services of some worms. In this handy vermiculture how-to, you'll learn how to build your very own wormery. Many of us have made our houses more eco-friendly but lack the knowledge to make our law ...more
Up On the Roof: Urban Rooftop Farming and The Brooklyn Grange So sometimes something inspires me so much that it makes me want to run to the rooftop of my eastside L.A. apartment and shout out at the top of my lungs "LOOK AT THIS, THIS IS AMAZING!". The Brooklyn Grange is one ...more
Southwest Yard and Garden teaches viewers how to prepare garden soil for planting. You can use compost to work this into your soil. You can make your own compost and you can also buy compost. First, you can use a flat bladed spade or a sharp shooter spade to double dig your ga ...more
Nothing ruins a romantic fresh air picnic like the buzzing of angry yellow jackets—especially since, unlike the useful honey bee, they can use their stingers over and over again... Learn how to deal with bees without getting stung. This instructional video from Howcast offers ...more
Southwest Yard and Garden teaches viewers how to plant asparagus! First, in your garden you need to dig a trench that is about 8 inches deep. You should mix up some compost into this trench. Choose an asparagus that has a fern and make sure you choose a variety that is a male ...more
Rhododendrons must have lime-free soil and that can make them tricky for some of us that garden on neutral or limey soils. Planting in the garden is a waste of time and money. If you want, you can make a raised bed and fill that with acid soil but digging a hole in your garden ...more
To prepare for planting take a fork and poke it into the ground and loosen up the ground. Do this throughout the beds so that the ground is completely loosened up. After you finish loosening the soil take a shovel and dig to the bottom of the bed and turn the soil over. If the ...more
Learn how you can plant and care for rhubarb with this gardening tutorial. As rhubarb is likely to be in one position for many years, ground preparation is very important. Plenty of organic matter in the form of garden compost or rotted manure should be worked into the soil an ...more
This video tutorial is in the food category which will show you how to clean a coffee maker with vinegar. First you got to remove the used coffee powder from the coffee pot and put it in a compost maker or in the garbage bin. Then add one part vinegar and two parts water in th ...more
With the abundance of colorful fall leaves in the autumn season, it would be a shame not to do something about it before it all disappears into the dead of winter. For a super-easy crafty project, you can simply gather a handful of colorful fall leaves, preserve them in wax o ...more
This is how to plant and grow basil. First pick out a pot with a drain hole. Put some crushed cans in it. Fill it with dirt. The dirt should be part potting soil, part compost, and part normal dirt. Take off the peat moss pot the plant is in, break up the roots, and set your b ...more
Watch Monty Don, as he plants and trains a nectarine tree up against a fence, using wires and tensioners. With tips on mixing compost and protecting trees from frost damage. Nectarines aren't too difficult to grow. All you need is sunshine, good drainage & plenty of moisture. ...more
Fall is a great time to fertilize your lawn, especially cool season grasses like Bluegrass and Tall Fescue. By fertilizing in the fall you're building up the root system but because it's cool the top won't grow as well so you won't need to mow as much. Before spreading your fe ...more
Starting your own seedlings is a great way to save money, have a wider selection of varieties and gain personal satisfaction. Here are easy to follow tips on getting your seeds off to a great start. Video: . Step 1: Things You Will Need seed starting soil-recipe to follow con ...more
In this video, we learn how to prepare a raised bed garden for planting. First, clear some of the debris that was left from last year. Then, take a pitchfork and loosen the soil all around the bed. Bring the soil from the bottom up to the top to make it stay loose throughout t ...more
Are you an avid gardener who tends to your plans on a daily basis? Then before you step foot outside the door today, check out this video to learn a plethora of tips for going green with your gardening. From using biodegradable plant pots to enriching the soil with compost te ...more
The one thing that can make your home garden flourish is by taking care of it and meeting the needs of your plants. One of those needs is great fertilizer. And the best fertilizer comes from the heart, not the store. Get great results in your garden by making your own fertiliz ...more
This is a great way to learn how to upgrade your small house plants into bigger ones. Start over plants once a year. Put rocks on the bottom for drainage. Bugs help your plants to grow. Do not use Pesticides on your house plants. Water weekly. Compost bins make great soil. Swe ...more
Garlic is good for you and adds great flavor to your cooking. Add this versatile plant to your garden this fall and in no time at all you'll be pulling up fantastic cloves of fresh, home grown garlic that you can use and share with your neighbors. If you’re looking to spice u ...more
In this video tutorial, viewers learn how to make a simple compost bin. This task is very easy, simple and fast to do. Users will need some galvanized wire that is about 5 ft high and 4 ft long. Begin by fastening the wire together in a cylinder shape. Then place a pile of lea ...more
In this Home & Garden video tutorial you will learn how to grow and juice wheatgrass. Take wheat seed in a bucket, add little bit of compost and wet it with water. Take a tray, make few holes in the bottom, put newspaper, fill the tray with compost up to halfway, spread the wh ...more
Roses, the world’s favorite flowers, are great garden performers that, if well cared for, will live for many years and produce thousands of exquisite blooms. Here are a few helpful hints on growing roses in your own yard or garden: Grow roses in a sunny spot with plenty of a ...more
This video describes how to have a raised garden bed. You can use your raised garden bed for most all vegetables. They are using this one for winter vegetables and early spring ones. A good hint was to line 3 seeds up end to end and that is the depth you need to plant them. Le ...more
Martyn Cox show us how to plant spring bulbs. You want to begin with bulbs that are firm, with intact skin. You don't need a garden to grow these; you can put them in a pot. If using a terracotta pot, you need to cover the hole in the bottom with another piece of terracotta, t ...more
Potted plants of all kinds, whether in the house, greenhouse or outside, need repotting eventually. There are several reasons, the most obvious being that they simply get larger and top-heavy. Most houseplants don't need repotting that often because, if we give them plenty of ...more
Watch this video from This Old House to learn how to mulch plant beds. Steps: 1 Rake dead leaves and old mulch from between shrubs and plants to expose the soil. 2 Pick up old mulch and leaves with a mulch fork and dump into wheelbarrow; discard debris in compost pile. 3 Cut ...more
You can have a garden in less than 30 minutes. The key is a product called garden socks. They are two cubic feet long and they have one cubic foot of compost inside of them. One thing that makes this product useful is that they are very light and easy to carry around and they ...more
Oftentimes when preparing squash, people will remove the seeds and immediately compost them. This, of course, is a great error as the seeds are themselves quite delicious when roasted for 15 minutes in a 275°f oven with a little bit of sea salt. Chef and author Bryant Terry d ...more
Pitchfork - a local, free, organic plant and compost giveaway This is local to Los Angeles residents. Mark the calendar for April 10!
Watch this video from This Old House to learn how to plant a tree in poor soil. Steps: 1 Select spot for tree away from house and overhead wires. 2 Measure diameter of the plastic tree pot. 3 Dig a hole four times wider than pot and as deep as the pot. 4 Add compost to topsoi ...more
Gardening is difficult, in the best of times. I was very inspired by this post from You Grow Girl about how she's not a perfect gardener, either, and no one is. Truth is, I forget to water, forget to trim, and am terrible at weeding. I don't even feed the compost properly. Nev ...more
Most local authorities offer green waste collection, but if you like to compost, then you'll be giving away some great ingredients. The trick to downsizing is to turn your large pile of clippings into something your compost worms and bugs can deal with—and for that it's got t ...more
Watch this video from This Old House to learn how to plant a tree. Steps: 1. Measure width of tree’s root ball; multiply times three to calculate tree-hole diameter. 2. Mark the tree-hole diameter onto the ground with line-marking spray paint. 3. Use shovel to remove grass fr ...more
I am simultaneously awed and grossed out by the idea and execution of said idea. In this video, Virginia Gardiner decided to make a waterless toilet. From poop. I'm still digesting this.
We know that healthcare-related facilities can be fertile ground for antibiotic-resistant bacteria, but recent research suggests your produce aisle might be too. In a presentation at a meeting of the American Society for Microbiology, researchers from California State Univers ...more
If you fancy yourself a nomad, check out Walking House, a mobile and modular dwelling system that is pneumatically powered, all-terrain ready. The vehicle-home crawls along at a snail's pace of 60 meters per hour, which equates to less than 1/2 a mile per hour. Akin in concept ...more
Autumn leaves may be beautiful, but they can also be incredibly annoying as they pile up around your garden. But there are things you can do with autumn leaves, like mulching them, composting them and turning them into a living fence. In this episode of Growing Wisdom, Dave Ep ...more
Antibiotics used to prevent diseases in livestock are creating a world of hurt for humans and the soil we depend on for food. Bacterial resistance to antibiotics is a global health issue. The overuse, underuse, and poor use of these life-saving drugs is rapidly removing them a ...more
Top dressing is important for roses. Add one or two inches of good organic matter in and around the plants, taking care not to disturb the roots. Lori likes a material that is well composted, something with a lot of different sized particles, a product with a little nutrient c ...more
Skoda has created an amazing car constructed with CAKE! for their latest advertisement. Via Car Pages, "Once filming was finished we had planned to cut the cake car up and distribute it to local charities, schools and hospitals. Unfortunately, however, as the car had been un ...more
John White of Southwest Yard and Garden along with Kitty Schafer teach you about bio-intensive gardening. Bio-intensive gardening is the combination of two techniques. Part of the technique involves composting top soil with other coarse organic material into a lasagna style mo ...more
Patty Moreno, the Garden Girl, demonstrates how to breed worms for the purposes of home composting. With some household tools, organic waste, and worms galore, you can create rich soil while helping the environment. Check out this video tutorial for an in depth look at DIY ver ...more
Via craigslist: Do you like organic living? Willing to learn what you don't know? Are you a writer, student or someone who makes your own hours? If so read on.. In exchange for 10-20 hours a week (more from March-July, less from July-March) of work that includes tending and h ...more
Are you hungry? One of the great things about Los Angeles is the abundance of food. I'm not just talking about restaurants. You need to get out of your car, and walk around your neighborhood. You could make a great meal just from what you find out on the streets. It's free, a ...more