Ideal Bite

So theoretically, marigolds can help repel certain pests (not including slugs) in your garden - you can even make a homemade plant spray from them. There is a big flower box of them directly adjacent to my herbs and lemon tree. I have no idea whether they're responsible for helping keep my "crops" bug-free, but they are bright and beautiful.

For all the fall brides out there: Marigolds are still in season; have a rich, autumn-y color; and make gorgeous decorations. For ideas on how to use them, first watch Read the full post... 

Caught with Your Plants Down

Embarrassed about your sad attempt at growing your own groceries? Save face with this list of easy-to-grow produce. (Check in with your local nursery about what grows best in your area, but our picks are hardy, all-around performers if you plant them in the spring as soon as frost isn't a worry.) You'll save money, eat more of those veggies Mom always told you about, and cut down on transport emissions by taking local eating to a whole new level - your own backyard. Way to restore your dignity.

1. (Ra)dish it out.

Add a little color to your tacos with radishes - a good source of potassium (helps lower blood pressure) and folic acid (keeps skin, hair, and nails healthy and is good for ladies with a bun in the oven). These fast-growing root veggies dig cooler temps and should be planted in Read the full post... 

So while I've been whining about the cold, rainy weather, my 9-year-old nephew Silvan - between school, soccer, kung-fu, guitar lessons, and skiing (there was snow enough last weekend) - was prepping his own summer garden...indoors (see photo). We recently ran a tip on getting kids into the garden, but if it's still just too freaking cold where you live to get things going outside, try doing what Silvan did: Carve out a sunny corner in your house and plant your seeds of choice in mini seeding pots – later, you can just stick them straight into the ground, and they'll biodegrade. Two great options for seeding pots: coconut fiber pots or Read the full post... 

If you’re like this hottie or this Chevy fan, in the past few weeks you’ve received an email describing House bill 875, which supposedly would kill off organic farming in America and make your backyard garden illegal. I’m here to tell you this isn’t the case.

The Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 (or FooSMod, as I and no one else like to call it), was created by Rep. Rosa DeLauro of CT in response to recent contamination outbreaks, like salmonella in peanuts.

From a couple of the chain emails we received:

• ...you can

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I'll say this for the Internet: It knows its strengths. Google "wood treatment exciting stupendous facts" and it just goes right to its bread and butter with a top result titled "Buy Generic Viagra 30 Pills 100mg Only $109 in US Online Pharmacy." Touché, Internet; I suppose that counts.

During my ultimately fruitless search to bring you an exciting and stupendous fact about wood treatments, I did learn that female carpenter bees have stingers, but males don't. So don't worry about those guys. You know, assuming you can identify an insect's gender midflight. Also, 30 hornets can take out 30,000 bees.

-Senior Editor Mike…off to buy an unfinished wood product to force himself to Read the full post... 

I don't have a yard to decorate (which I'm quite thankful for…I remember the pre-SF days when I had one - the mowing, the watering, the trimming, the edging, the pruning...blech), but if I'm ever unlucky enough to have a yard again, I hope it's big enough for a hedge maze. Not a freaky one where people die like at the Overlook Hotel, just one with space to pull pranks like this.

 

-Senior Editor Mike...off to dream about the Wooz...

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So here's the thing about leaves making mulch: It doesn't work on lawns.

In college, my roomies and I were too laz...uh, concerned about the health of our lawn to rake the leaves off of it. We figured the resulting mulch would fertilize it over the winter, and maybe even protect it from freezing.

Turns out a layer of leaves can suffocate some grasses and block needed sunlight in the fall, resulting in a brown, dead lawn come spring. It can also get you letters from your landlord saying that routine landscaping is part of the lease and if you don't do it within 30 days, you'll be evicted.

-Senior Editor Mike...off to be thankful I've got no lawn these days...

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Raised by a woman who went far out of her way to rescue living things in peril - including big, fat, scary spiders - I still can't bring myself to kill bugs. I fall into the wow, annoying category here. My general method of dealing with intrusive insects (the bigger types) involves climbing on top of a chair and calling out for help until some eye-rolling loved one or neighbor gets a jar (while I repeat "Don't kill it, don't kill it"), and escorts them outside for me.

But I've had my fair share of ant invaders - there's no real "escorting them out." One colony set up a veritable hill in my college roommate's closet, and then there was the pantry incident. So it's all about the diversion - if you're patient and the problem's not too bad, I recommend setting up a few adjacent lines of defense at point of entry: a few hefty sprays of vinegar water, backed up by a good

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Chicago Bite editor Allison recently found a furniture company that uses "rediscovered," submerged wood (look for that Chicago tip in the next couple months). This "new" source of lumber uses dead, old-growth trees from beneath lakes and reservoirs. The trees are already technically dead, so harvesting them could save a few live trees from cutting, and since they've been underwater for so long, the wood's extremely well-preserved and would make for a great deck - except it's extremely pricey, at about three times the cost of wood from virgin, above-ground trees. Still, whoever came up with the idea gets points for thinking outside of the live-forest box.

-Toshio...off to hold my breath for the costs to come

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Two weeks ago I carted a gas mini-grill 40 minutes across San Francisco by bike, all for a softball game. Our team's (we're listed on the roster as "Some Other Team" and Biters Elisa and Mike are teammates) idea was to keep the grill cooking during the whole one-hour match so that we'd look way more well-fed than our opponents, triggering in them hunger and a total loss of confidence.

Even after attempting to bribe the ref with a kielbasa, Some Other Team lost the game, 21-1, so I guess you could say we got roasted on the field - but at least our stomachs were full.

-Toshio...off to play ball...

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