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Gardening

Green Roofs – Efficient Design Starts At The Top

February 15, 2010
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Green roofs have seen a surge in popularity recently as sustainable building designs become more mainstream. Soil and plantings on a building’s rooftop can help manage water runoff, improve air quality, and reduce energy use by moderating indoor temperatures. They can also prolong the life of a building’s roof by protecting it from the wear [...]

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The Rainwater Pillow – Rain Barrel Meets Cistern

February 8, 2010
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Utilizing rainwater runoff is a double bonus for homeowners, both in environmental and financial terms.  It reduces the amount of water consumed from the municipal system, and it lessens the strain on wastewater treatment facilities that must process water after it flows down the drain.  A rain barrel is great for small-scale applications like a [...]

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Best Backyard Compost Tumblers

November 18, 2009

Composting is a great way to reduce the amount of waste your household generates, plus there’s the added benefit of free fertilizer for your yard or garden. There are some nifty options for indoor composting on the market, but to do it on a larger scale you need to move outdoors. Here are [...]

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Updates From The MetaEfficient Kitchen Labs

July 5, 2009

This summer I’ve been working on food-related optimization projects, here are some updates:
I now have subscriptions with two local farmers (through a CSA or Community Support Agriculture). One farmer provides me with raw milk, raw butter and eggs, the other farmer provides vegetables and fruit. They both happen to deliver to same street in my neighborhood, so [...]

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Incredible Vegetables from Self-Watering Containers

April 5, 2006

Self-watering container gardens are an efficient method of growing. You can go on vacation and not have to worry that your tomatoes will be wilted when you get back. Ed Smith, the author of Incredible Vegetables from Self-Watering Containers, became fascinated with the possibilities of self-watering containers and began testing dozens of vegetables in various [...]

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The Best Push Reel Mowers

September 15, 2005

Modern reel mowers are quite efficient at cutting grass using nothing but your own push power.
There’s a good overview of manual reel mowers at Reel Mower Guide. They cover the advantages and disadvantages of manual mowers,  and offer some tips for using the mowers.
Here are the top rated reel mowers:
Scotts 20″ Classic Reel Mower

Reviewers [...]

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Botanikka Heirloom Seeds

August 3, 2005

Botanikka sells very affordable heirloom vegetable seeds. They come in packs with quaint, retro images on them. We planted some of the seeds, and sure enough, we now have heirloom varieties of vegetables growing all over the place. See more info on heirloom seeds here. The French Cuisine mix, for example, contains ten packs of [...]

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Biopavers

May 31, 2005

We mentioned previously that using porous pavers is an effective alternative to paving with concrete. They make patios and driveways less erosion-prone and they do not get as hot as hard-surfaced pavement.
Now a company called Biopaver is trying to take things a step further by introducing a new type of paver designed to catch storm [...]

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Upside-Down Tomato, Flower and Vegetable Planter

March 27, 2005

An interesting idea.
This planter can used to tomatoes, other vegetables or even flowers from a small area.
Hang on decks, patios, porches, balconies, or even from a tree.
The manufacturer claims feeding and watering is easy: you pour water or nutrients into the top of the funnel.
Web Site: Clean Air Gardening ($19.95)

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Raised Beds: Efficient

March 26, 2005

The “Raised Beds” method of gardening is certainly metaefficient, and should be included in our guide here. Raised beds are widely acknowledged as the method to obtain the greatest yields of vegetables per alloted space.

You can read about the benefits here: Aaron’s Home & Garden weblog (Aaron is an expert in Rainwater Harvesting).
Website: Aaron’s Home [...]

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Clumping Bamboos: The Ones To Grow

February 14, 2005

Many people are reluctant to plant bamboo because they are afraid it will spread like wildfire and have the entire neighborhood up in arms against them. But there’s a simple solution to this problem — plant the right kind of bamboo — the “clumping” kind. The invasive kind is the “running” bamboo which probably should [...]

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Metaefficient Fertilizer: TerraCycle

February 7, 2005

TerraCycle is a product that could be called completely Metaefficient.
It is a liquid fertilizer produced through vermicomposting, or feeding organic waste to red worms. The worms’ excrement is a nutrient rich compost that can be mixed to produce liquid organic fertilizer.
The TerraCycle bottles are recycled soda bottled collected by students in elementary schools, and the [...]

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Lead-Free Garden Hoses

January 4, 2005

Some garden hoses leach lead and other chemicals into the water. The problem is that they are made of PVC, which uses lead as a stabilizer.
Consumer Reports tested 16 brands of garden hose sold at national chains and on the internet. In some hoses they measured 10 to 100 times more lead than the EPA [...]

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Self-Contained Watering System

December 1, 2004

The Oasis Automatic Plant Watering System by Claber is a programmable system that distributes up to 6 gallons of water to as many as 20 plants.
It is a completely independent system, needing no connection to a tap or electrical main. It runs on one 9V battery.
Available from: Smart Home ($89.99)

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Fungi Perfecti: Growing Useful Mushrooms

November 9, 2004

Fungi Perfecti is the web site of Paul Stamets, author of “Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms“. Stamets has a long history of discovering and cultivating edible and medicinal mushrooms. He researches useful aspects of fungi such as their antiviral properties and their potential for “mycoremediation” (restoring polluted or damaged habitats with fungi).
Through the Fungi Perfecti [...]

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Heirloom Vegetables

July 28, 2004
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