Poo Salon and Urban Forage Classes with Nancy Klehm

...cologist, designer, urban forager, grower and teacher. Her solo and collaborative work focuses on creating participatory social ecologies in response to a direct experience of a place. She grows and forages much of her own food in a densely urban area. She actively composts food, landscape and human waste. She only uses a flush toilet when no other option is available. She designed and managed a large scale, closed-loop vermicompost project...

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Growing Your Own Food is Like Printing Your Own Money: Ron Finley’s TED Talk

Please take a moment and watch gangster/guerrilla gardener Ron Finley’s inspiring Ted talk. I first heard about Ron after he got busted for planting a vegetable garden in what used to be a weed strewn parkway. He’s gone on to plant many more gardens around Los Angeles. The end of this talk really hit home for me, “Don’t call me if you want to sit around and have meetings. If you want to meet with me come to the gard...

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Bean Fest, Episode 2: Falafel and Babaganoush Recipes

...onions & etc. at the bottom of the pan before adding the beans. I don’t know if any of these methods are better than the others, and admit to doing all three. This Week’s Recipe: Falafel The first lesson in food photography is not to consume your subject before you even get around to taking the picture. These few falafels were all we had left when we realized we needed to take a pic for this post. I was thinking that a lot of...

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Emergency water storage

We’re finally ready for The Big One. In terms of emergency preparedness, we were pretty well set in terms of food, light, fuel, etc., but we didn’t have much water. Just some jugs, a rain barrel that’s empty most of the year, and the water in our hot water tank. This lack made me nervous, so we finally did took the bull by the horns–or the bung hole…  How much water should you store?  1 gallon of water p...

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Saturday Linkages: The Archdruid, Cat Climbing Shelves, Rewilding, Tempeh Food Safety and More!

John Michael Greer The Archdruid Report: The Rumbling of Distant Thunder http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.com/2012/05/rumbling-of-distant-thunder.html?spref=tw Simple and Elegant DIY Cat Climbing Shelves – http://www.moderncat.net/2012/05/31/simple-and-elegant-diy-cat-climbing-shelves/ Build-It-Solar Blog: How Large a Solar Collector Do You Need to Heat Your Hot Tub http://www.builditsolarblog.com/2012/05/how-large-solar-collec...

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How to Plan a Vegetable Garden

Today I did the unthinkable and made good on one of my many New Years resolutions: I planned our 128 square foot vegetable garden a year in advance. Here’s how I did it: Identifying Seasons Using an Ecology Action pamphlet as my guide, Learning to Grow All Your Own Food: A One-Bed Model For Compost, Diet and Income Crops, I divided the year into three seasons. Most of you reading this blog probably have two: a cool season and a warm seaso...

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Using Kosher Salt for Making Pickles

...mond Salt, on the other hand does not have anti-caking agents: So, when pickling, be careful selecting your kosher salt–some contain anti-caking agents, others do not. Another precaution when using kosher salt in food preservation projects comes from the University of Wisconsin Cooperative Extension’s guide to Homemade Pickles and Relishes (pdf): Kosher pure flaked salt requires special care if used for pickling. Flaked salt weighs...

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Saturday Linkages: From The Woodsman Workout to Crafting With Your Cat

...& Hip | Designs & Ideas on Dornob http:// dornob.com/indie-furnitur e-diy-construction-made-accessible-hip/  …  2 boards, 1 seat: http:// dornob.com/2-boards-1-sea t-simple-diy-two-plank-chair-construction/  … Food Preservation FreshTech Jam and Jelly Maker Review http://www. foodinjars.com/2012/09/fresht ech-jam-and-jelly-maker-review/  … Cats ‘n Crafts Catification: Creative Table Leg Cat Scratcher http:// jacksongalaxy.com/20...

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Support AB 1616 To Make Bake Sales Legal in California

Photo from ebcaswaps.blogspot.com From Mark Stambler of the Los Angeles Bread Bakers: AB1616, the California Homemade Food Act, was introduced in the California State Assembly today by Assemblyman Mike Gatto (D-Los Angeles). This cottage food law will finally allow people in California to legally sell bread [and other "non-hazardous" food such as honey, jams and jellies] they bake at home! The Los Angeles Bread Bakers helped draft the l...

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