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| Headline |
Author |
Published |
Section |
Rat Combat
On keeping compost rat-free |
Umbra Fisk |
30 Apr 2003 |
Ask Umbra |
| Hi Umbra, I live in Providence, R.I., and I have a basic composting bin; it's about three feet tall, made of black plastic with ventilation shafts on all four sides and on top, but it has no bottom. I want to set this up in my tiny side yard for my neighbors and me to use. However, we have a big rat problem here and I am afraid all this delicious, rotting food will attract them. Is there any way to keep a rat-free compost bin in a ... |
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| Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, gardening, green living, wildlife (all these topics) |
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Mulch It Over
On making mulch from paper |
Umbra Fisk |
14 Nov 2002 |
Ask Umbra |
| Dear Umbra, I know this is a silly question, probably the strangest you've ever gotten, but I'm curious. Where I live, there isn't a place nearby to recycle paper. I reuse most of my paper as scratch paper and have attempted to make my own paper using a blender and a screen. The problem is, making my own paper isn't worthwhile, and I can't possibly use that much scratch paper. Besides, what do I do with the paper after I have use ... |
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| Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, gardening, green living (all these topics) |
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Cushion the Grow
On cushion planters |
Umbra Fisk |
14 Nov 2002 |
Ask Umbra |
| Dear Umbra, I have been cutting out old cushions, filling them with dirt, and planting them for some years now. I found the first two floating in the river (while canoeing). Since then, I've gotten them from the trash; I don't pay anything for them. I use them to grow everything from herbs to prairie plants to succulents to water plants. I have even used cut-up, leftover cushions in bog gardens (in the bottom part along with newspape ... |
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| Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, gardening, toxics (all these topics) |
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For Whom the Roto Tills
On killing your lawn |
Umbra Fisk |
19 Sep 2002 |
Ask Umbra |
| Dear Umbra, I just moved into a house with a large backyard. I would like to xeriscape 90 percent of it, but I must first learn how to kill and remove the grass. I'm not a fan of chemicals and would like to find an alternate solution. Most of the yard is very, very brown these days due to the drought. Will a rototiller do the job? Frank Dearest Frank, For befuddled readers, a xeriscape is a water-saving garden, usually instal ... |
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| Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, gardening, placemaking (all these topics) |
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Deft Pallet
On wooden pallets |
Umbra Fisk |
06 Sep 2002 |
Ask Umbra |
| Dear Umbra, I've scrounged some old wooden shipping pallets for garden projects -- compost piles and raised planting boxes. They appear to be untreated wood, but I'm feeling paranoid. Is there any way to know? Do companies that make pallets routinely spray them with any preservatives? Thanks, Jim Dearest Jim, Great nations consider your humble garden pallets to be of vital economic importance. As world trade expands, the global market ofte ... |
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| Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, gardening, green living, toxics (all these topics) |
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Weed Creed
On weeding |
Umbra Fisk |
30 Jul 2002 |
Ask Umbra |
| Dear Umbra, We moved into a suburban neighborhood in Ft. Collins, Colo., last year and I began my usual organic gardening practices. I created a beautiful flower garden in our front yard, but I still receive complaints from my neighbors because I refuse to apply herbicides to kill the dandelions and other weeds in the lawn. At least they are all green and neatly mowed! My scientific explanations about the dangers of herbicides and pesticides and th ... |
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| Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, education, gardening, green living, toxics (all these topics) |
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A New Day Lawning
On lawn and garden pesticides |
Umbra Fisk |
30 Jul 2002 |
Ask Umbra |
| Dearest Umbra, Goddess of Green Knowledge, A few years ago, a farmer friend of mine argued that more pesticides and chemical fertilizers are applied to suburban lawns and gardens than are used in commercial agriculture. I can see how this might be the case, given the massive size of the lawn and garden chemical industry, but I haven't been able to verify this information. Can you help? Ed Hunt Dearest Ed, Supplicant, The l ... |
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| Topics: advice, agriculture, Ask Umbra, gardening, green living, health, toxics (all these topics) |
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As the Worm Turns
Or: how I learned to start vermicomposting and love the worm |
Erik Ness |
11 Oct 2000 |
Main Dish |
| The problem with winter is that nothing rots. Yummy! -- compost in action. Photo: Texas A&M Dept. of Horticultural Sciences and Aggie Horticulture. This won't bother you if you don't have a compost pile, but if you do, you are frozen on the horns of a messy dilemma. The wondrous microbial engine of your compost pile is no match for the big chill of winter. The tiny ecosystem that magicall ... |
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| Topics: gardening, green living, waste (all these topics) |
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No Trash Can Do
Pesticide labels contradict local waste laws |
Scott Cassel |
11 Aug 2000 |
Soapbox |
| As another summer eases into autumn, many of us are now enjoying the rewards of a season of gardening. We proudly face the August dilemma of figuring out what to do with all those tomatoes and zucchinis that are the result of our digging, planting, and weeding earlier in the season. More than a few of us also applied pesticides in our gardens and yards to keep the grubs down and insects away. When the sea ... |
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| Topics: gardening, green living, toxics, waste (all these topics) |
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