Search Results for: label/book reviews/page/31/2011/04/making-it

576 results

Nopales Season

Mr. Homegrown
Food, Foraging, Gardening, Vegetable Gardening
6 Comments
It’s nopales (the pads of the prickly pear cactus for you Yankees) season at the Homegrown Evolution compound. Our prickly pear has thrown off so many leaves that a neighbor dropped by last week to ask for some. We filled a bag for her and declined the dollar she offered us. To cook up our nopales we use a simple recipe found in Delena Tull’s book, Edible and Useful Plants of Texas and the Southwest. First scrape off the spines with...

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Arundo dorax

Mr. Homegrown
Food, Foraging
3 Comments
...ugh stems make excellent building materials, which is why the plant was originally imported to California in the early 19th century. Arudo dorax often finds a home alongside river banks, and in Los Angeles massive amounts of it wash up on the beach after big storms. The plant’s prodigious spread and ability to crowd out native species puts it on many a bad-ass plant list. Homegrown Evolution’s attitude is–like it or not it̵...

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Deadly Nightshade vs. Black Nightshade

Mr. Homegrown
Foraging
16 Comments
...na. One must be careful when using the popular names for plants! Solanum nigrum To add to the confusion, Solanum nigrum is eaten and used as animal fodder all over the world, though many sources continue to describe it as toxic. As with all members of the Solanum family there’s still a great deal of superstition when it comes to toxicity. Remember that many Europeans considered tomatoes to be poisonous well into the 18th century....

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Homemade Cat Toys

Mrs. Homegrown
Animals, Cats
53 Comments
...hing else. And I don’t mean genuine novelty–they don’t need newer and stranger toys all the time. Rather, individual toys seem to get stale for them. A fresh paper bag is thrilling, but by the end of the day it’s old news. However, if you put another paper bag down, even the exact same kind of bag, the thrills will start all over again. If you try to fulfill their whims by buying them new toys all the time, soon your pocke...

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A Primitive Bow Workshop

Mr. Homegrown
Preparedness
10 Comments
After spending an entire week staring a computer screens to update this website, it was a great relief to spend a Saturday carving primitive bows in a workshop led by local self-reliance expert Christopher Nyerges. Kelly and I have been into archery for many years, off and on,  but we’ve never tried to make our own bow. Root Simple pal John Zapf carves a bow to match that stylish hat A bow seems like a simple device until you try to make...

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Qualitites of a Good Outdoor Room

Mr. Homegrown
Design, Garden Design, Gardening
14 Comments
...7;ve been trying to figure out why I prefer sitting on the front porch to sitting in the backyard. I came to the conclusion that the front porch works better as an outdoor room than the spaces we have in the backyard. I think it’s because the porch better embodies qualities that make for a successful outdoor room. Those qualities are: A sense of enclosure or shelter A view Some shelter from the elements (in our climate that’s the sun...

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The Good Stuff at Dwell on Design

Mr. Homegrown
Thoughtstylings
1 Comment
...simply Planter which is avaliable on his website for $45. Ollas are ceramic jars buried in the ground to deliver a slow drip of water to plants. Roth’s design is elegant, simple and effective–take an olla and make it integral with a pot. Particularly on a hot day, conventional ceramic pots dry out quickly and Roth’s planter would be great on a hot balcony or porch. His teapot is also an object of great beauty. Scout Regalia...

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Barefoot Running Update

Mr. Homegrown
Fitness
13 Comments
...l the goal of 5k three times a week is reached. 4. Running barefoot gives a you a direct contact with Mother Earth (and Mother Concrete) and that’s kinda cool. Barefoot running is one of those “ah-ha” ideas. It makes you wonder what other sacred cows can be taken “barefoot.” How about that expensive college education, for instance? See our earlier post on barefoot running, “No Shoes, No problem.”...

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Eating In: The Biosphere Cookbook

Mr. Homegrown
Reviews
3 Comments
...from the backyard and make use of the bare-bones recipes in this book. And don’t worry about having to grow your own cooking oils–the Biospherians had trouble with that and have thoughtfully skipped any deep fried items. The Biosphere’s kitchen. But let’s get to those recipes! For relaxing next the the shore of the Biosphere’s simulated ocean there’s “Beach Blanket Bean Burgers,” “Bea...

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