Block Party Weekend

...lock the smell of spray paint filled the air as kids got to go nuts making art on some old sheets of plywood. But what impressed us the most was the booth touting LAEV’s participation in plans to improve humble Bimini street with such things as trees, park benches, traffic calming measures and public art all made possible with a grant from the city and the MTA. Called SNAP, or Station Neighborhood Area Plan, this initiative provides grants to make...

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Least Favorite Plant: Tree of Heaven

...stinky tree of heaven sauna: “We have another small installation in the SMART Museums Heartland exhibition: A humidifier is installed in the museum lobby. The water tank of the device contains some pieces of Tree of Heaven wood (coll. Ghetto Palm). This is how the active substances get extracted in traditional Chinese medicine to cure a wide range of ailments from digestion problems, mental conditions, balding, to asthma and even cancer. In these...

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DIY Sage Deodorant

...da’s Sage Deodorant while on a trip and I really love the scent. I have a particular fondness for sage and related scents, and this was a lovely, subtle scent, unisex and clean. The deodorant action is simple–it’s all down to alcohol, which kills bacteria on contact. The essential oils, which are all from the family of cleansing, antibacterial oils, probably help as well. There’s really not much else in it. It’s not the sort of deodorant which pre...

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Non-Toxic Cleaning for the Home

...ey to clean windows is drying them thoroughly. Very dirty/greasy windows (particularly outside windows which have collected layers of dust and diesel particulate) might benefit from a quick preliminary rinse with plain soapy water to cut the grease and make it easier to polish them up. Dishes Handwashing: Dishwashing liquids are specially formulated to cut grease and leave dishes spot free and shiny. This ease of use comes with some cost, as most...

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Plum Lemon Tomato Power’s Heirloom Tomato

...s. Again, urban homesteading revolutionaries, GROW YOUR OWN! We found that label and it’s a tomato called “Power’s Heirloom”. Here’s how the Seed Saver’s exchange catalog copy describes it, “First offered in the 1990 SSE Yearbook by Bruce McAllister from Freedom, Indiana. His seed originated in Scott County in southwest Virginia over 100 years ago. Heavy yields of 3-5 oz. yellow paste tomatoes. Similar to Amish Paste, great flavor. Indeterminate,...

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