It’s official: I’m a Ham

November 15, 2013

...gled with math less had I had a hobby to motivate studying. My interest in appropriate technology was another reason. There is a ham I met online who is constructing a website that will be of interest to readers of this blog–he was inspired by John Michael Greer’s writing on ham radio. I’ll share that website when it’s ready to go public. Passing the test was easy, but I’ve got a lot of work to do. I have no radio, nor do I have any experience usi...

Read…

Dramm’s Breaker Nozzle: My Favorite Watering Implement

Mr. Homegrown

October 17, 2013

Gardening, Vegetable Gardening

12 Comments

...m Company representative. What impressed me most at the demo was Dramm’s simplest products, the Heavy-Duty Aluminum Water Breaker Nozzle combined with their Aluminum Shut-Off Valve . The breaker nozzle provides a gentle shower, much like a Haws Watering Can and would be appropriate to use on seedlings and vegetables. The shut-off valve is extremely durable. Neither item has plastic parts. They are sold separately. While a lot more expensive than t...

Read…

Getting my Ham Radio License

Mr. Homegrown

September 25, 2013

Miscellaneous

16 Comments

...of Limits conference he held court on some of my favorite forgotten ideas: appropriate technology, fraternal societies and Ham radio. A Ham himself, Greer recommended I read an amazingly odd book, Instruments of Amplification, which actually has directions for building your own transistors from junk. I’ll probably never get around to any of those projects, but I of A may be the ultimate DIY text. But I’m not just being contrarian. I’m looking forw...

Read…

The Elysium Delusion

Mr. Homegrown

August 15, 2013

Thoughtstylings

36 Comments

...rk with what we have. In my cranky opinion, the future is in down-to-earth appropriate technology, not space stations.We need to plant gardens here on earth not in the vacuum of space. I’ll note that the farms in these space colonies look an awful lot like the dystopian factory farms we have down on earth. And we should recognize the space station fantasy for what it is: a materialistic version of a heavenly afterlife, with scientists such as Hawk...

Read…

Farm Hack

Mr. Homegrown

July 5, 2013

Appropriate Technology, Gardening, Water and Power

2 Comments

...the posts will be of interest to backyard gardeners. Recent subjects include a project to develop an infrared camera to monitor plant health, smartphone tools for farmers and open source appropriate technology resources. It’s exactly this kind of innovation that gives me great hope for the future. Thanks to Tommy Berbas for the tip....

Read…