They don’t always turn out this nice, but I managed to make a few good loaves this week. Video on how to do this is on the way, I promise.
Picture Sundays
Picture Sundays: Cigarette Card Trellis Advice
Via Deirdre’s Garden Diary and Homesteading, a Wills Cigarette Card from 1923. A little gardening advice with your cancer sticks.
Picture Sundays: Bike Rim Dome
Bike wheel trellis via Homesteading/Survivalism.
While it wouldn’t work with kids that like to climb, this is a nice use of bike rims. I could see it as a dome over another structure.
No idea where this picture came from–it’s gone viral in homesteading circles–if you know, leave a comment.
Picture Sundays: Harvard’s Glass Flower Collection
Photo ©President & Fellows Harvard College, photo of Blaschka Glass Model by Hillel Burger.
This cactus is made out of glass. Root Simple reader tworose tipped me off to the Harvard Museum of Natural History’s collection of glass flowers. According to the museum’s website:
This unique collection of over 3,000 models was created by glass artisans Leopold Blaschka and his son, Rudolph. The commission began in 1886, continued for five decades, and the collection represents more than 830 plant species.
Reminds me of the 3D flower x-rays on display at the Museum of Jurassic Technology. They have to be seen in person to really do them justice, but you can see a selection in 2D here.
Picture Sundays: I’m One Taco Short of a Combination Platter
It’s a huge non sequitur, but today’s impending Superbowl made me think of the gatefold for the ZZ Top album Tres Hombres. Perhaps it was the publicity person who wanted me to promote a birria meat stew concocted by a celebrity chef (and celebrity flag football participant–who knew there was such a thing?) in conjunction with the Superbowl. Or maybe I’m having a Proust moment, except with nachos instead of madeleines.
So what are Root Simple readers doing on Superbowl Sunday? Watching the game or starting a crock of sauerkraut? Or topping nachos with sauerkraut?
Picture Sundays: A Handy Handyman
Kelly found a soggy flyer on a sidewalk near our house. The front showed a picture of a man with a mullet hairstyle holding a trophy below a headline “Best Handyman.” On the back said handyman promised the services you can see above. I laughed, then realized that it was my exact jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none set of skills. Well, except for “hydrophany” and gutters. And you’ll have to go to Kelly for both the fine art and the house painting.
Picture Sunday: A Winter Harvest in Florida
Root Simple reader Noel Ramos sent the picture above of some local fruit grown in Florida to remind us that winter gardening is big there too. Noel grows over 500lbs of fruit and veggies every year on a quarter acre city lot. In the picture:
Canistel, Rollinia, red navels, Ruby Red Grapefruit, Carambola, pineapple, sapodilla, sugar apple, dwarf Cavendish bananas, ambarella, jaboticaba, jackfruit flowers, papaya, lemon and red palm fruits (inedible).
Amazing.
If you’ve got a picture to share, send it along to us at [email protected].
Picture Sundays: Water Jug Lamp
Camping lamp improvised with a headlamp and a jug of water. Via Homesteading.
Picture Sundays: Mountain of Squash
This mountain of heirloom squash was the centerpiece of the National Heirloom Exposition that took place in Sonoma in September of last year. Next year’s Exposition will be taking place on September 10, 11, and 12 at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds. The past two years have featured an amazing roster of speakers and exhibitors all for a very low admission charge. It’s well worth traveling a long distance to attend this unique event.
If anyone is interested in camping nearby with the Root Simple crew this year leave a comment and I’ll put something together.
Picture Sundays: Chumash ‘Ap
The interior of a traditional Chumash dwelling called an ‘ap as recreated at the La Purisima Mission State Historic Park near Lompoc, California. If only a fraction of modern dwellings were this elegant . . .