Courtesy Penn State University/ Amitabh Avasthi Penn State horticulturist Robert Cameron created a biofilter that uses plant roots to clean wastewater. Plant roots enmeshed in layers of discarded materials inside upright pipes can purify dirty water from a washing machine, making it fit for growing vegetables and flushing toilets, according to Penn State University horticulturists. […]
Photo by Audrey Pavia Smokey chewing on something appropriate. I had rabbits as a kid growing up in the surburbs of L.A., but they always lived outside. No one ever heard of an indoor rabbit back then. But by the time I got back to bunny ownership, keeping indoor rabbits had become the norm. And […]
Courtesy Stock.XCHNG The USDA Honey bee survey is expected to provide information on Honey bee pests and diseases that could be contributing to colony collapse disorder. The USDA is conducting a 13-state survey of Honey bee pests and diseases to help USDA scientists determine the prevalence of parasites and disease-causing microorganisms that may be contributing […]
Photo by Rick Gush I’m looking for wine bottles with rounded bottoms, like this one, for an upcoming project. I’ve got a new art project, and I need a bunch of old wine bottles. I’m looking for the kind that has a rounded bottom. These were most commonly used in the old days to make […]
Photo by Judith Hausman My preferred kitchen tools: wooden spoons. I suppose every trade has its tools and every person in the trade has a favorite tool. For essential versatility and usefulness, one of my own favorites is metal tongs with flat edges, perfect to turn over searing meats, lift poultry or nudge poaching fruit. […]
Courtesy Stock.XCHNG Residents in Kansas City, Mo., who want to sell produce from their home gardens may do so thanks to a new city-farming ordinance. Last summer, if a gardener in Kansas City, Mo., wanted to put up a sign and sell a few excess tomatoes in her front yard, she’d be breaking the law. […]
Photo by Audrey Pavia Randy with Rio, who haunts his dreams. My husband Randy grew up in the mean streets of New York City, in a tough Italian-American neighborhood. While kids living in rural communities were raising lambs for 4-H, Randy was fighting off muggers, crazy people and bullies. He learned to survive with his […]
Courtesy Purdue University The compost sock technology being studied by reasearchers at Ohio State University Extension could extend the growing season for urban gardeners. At the beginning of June, Ohio State University Extension horticulturists at OSU South Centers in Piketon, Ohio, were picking their high-tunnel strawberries, about a month ahead of the area’s field-grown strawberries. […]
I have a thing for gloves. Although my wife wouldn’t agree (because she’s always looking at the various scrapes, thorns and wounds on my hands), I do really enjoy wearing gloves, and I have a long history of owning lots of pairs of garden and work gloves.
Photo by Judith Hausman Oysters on ice waiting to be devoured. Vicious storms made Rhode Island even smaller this year, but for a state the size of the Louisiana oil spill, Rhode Island has amazing food traditions. I won’t even tell you about the Italian part of Providence or the Portuguese communities this time. I […]
Photo by Audrey Pavia Our coop: the mites’ lair. We’ve had Gwennyth Poultry the longest of all our hens, so she has a special place in my heart. She doesn’t mind being picked up and held, and loves to eat mealworms from my hand. So when she started spending entire days huddled in the nest […]
A study in India showed worms will ingest soil toxins without re-polluting the soil when they die. It seems earthworms may be the key to reclaiming contaminated soils in India and around the world. Suneet Dabke, PhD, a consultant with Concept Biotech, spear-headed a four-year vermiculture bioremediation effort with the help of a grant from the […]
