Non-Toxic Cleaning for the Home

...l figure out how strong you like to use it.) It excels at removing mineral build up and killing mold. It also helps remove soap scum and soap build up. Vinegar has a strong scent, but once it dries, that scent goes, taking other scents with it, so it is an excellent deodorizer. Try wiping out the fridge with it. It is particularly good for deodorizing cat litter boxes. It can be used in the rinse cycle of the washing machine instead of fabric soft...

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How to Homestead

...esteading can be done anywhere and we are here to show you how.” With many homesteading activities, from chicken slaughtering to tortellini making, internet based video is a useful resource when you don’t have a friend or relative to show you a skill first hand. Kudos to the How to Homesteaders and we look forward to future episodes on this nicely designed site. To celebrate the launch of howtohomestead.org, director Melinda Stone will be presenti...

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054 Digital Design Tools on the Homestead

...un. During the podcast we discuss: Why you should draw up plans before you build something Architectural Graphics Standards Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) technology John’s Cat Bed 7 (pictured above) Using pen and paper Making physical models Architectural scale and rulers Cinema 4-D Sketchup (a free and simple 3-D tool) Rhino Adobe Illustrator Thingiverse 3-D Printing Low-tech CNC using just a video projector and your computer MoI Moment o...

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Build a vegetable prison to keep out raccoons and skunks

...idnight raccoon parties. Obviously, if I had to deal with deer I’d have to build a bigger cage. I can also cover the whole thing in floating row cover material if I want to keep out cabbage leaf caterpillars. If you’re a Sketchup user I uploaded the plans to the 3D Warehouse. Search for “Raccoon Proof Vegetable Bed” and you’ll be able to download it. This bed was designed for the narrow top slope of our front yard and is 3 by 8-feet. I would recom...

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Why Urban Farm?

...r total up to four. Such are the cycles of life and death on the new urban homestead. Bryan Welch, who raises livestock and is also the publisher and editor of the always informative Mother Earth News, wrote an editorial in the February issue called “Why I Farm” in which he says, “There’s a Buddhist wisdom in the stockman’s cool compassion. The best of them seem to understand that our own lives on this Earth are as irrefutably temporary as the liv...

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