Search Results for: label/gardening/page/17/2011/04/making-it

513 results

Ridin’ On

Mr. Homegrown
Bikes
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SurviveLA was stunned into silence late Tuesday night upon hearing about cyclist Jen DiamondR17;s horrific accident which occurred early Sunday morning. Apparently a driver deliberately ran her down and fled the scene. To add insult to injury, the LAPD dragged its feet on the investigation until calls to Eric GarcettiR17;s office got the councilman to intervene and get the LAPD to take this crime seriously. Thankfully, Jen is recovering at...

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What to do with all those hot peppers: Harissa!

Mr. Homegrown
Food, Gardening, Recipes, Vegetable Gardening
13 Comments
Lyn, a reader in Canada with way too many hot peppers on hand, asked us what we thought we should do with them. We have the same problem here this year, an overabundance of very large, hot Italian Long Peppers. Thumbing through some recipe books we realized that we had all the ingredients to make Harissa, a spicy Moroccan condiment. The recipe is simple and quick. We cut open five of our hot peppers, discarded the seeds, and combined them in a f...

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Artichoke Season at the Homegrown Revolution Compound

Mr. Homegrown
Vegetable Gardening
1 Comment
n Revolution compound resides. In cooler locales they will thrive all year round. In warmer places they die back in the summer but return like crazy in the early spring. We just cut them to the ground when the leaves die off. ItR17;s a huge plant so make sure you give them plenty of room–at least a six foot diameter circle, preferably more, for each plant. The only drawback is that aphids love them, so they require constant spraying down...

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Is Kombucha Safe?

Mr. Homegrown
Fermentation, Food, Thoughtstylings
27 Comments
We love to ferment things, with one notable exception: kombucha. During the last kombucha craze, in the mid-90s, we picked up a “SCOBY” blob and dutifully fed it tea and sugar until we stumbled upon an article written by mycologist Paul Stamets, “The Manchurian Mushroom: My Adventures with “The Blob.” In that article Stamets tells a convoluted story of having a kombucha culture tested by a lab. He didnR17;t tell...

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Do Something Day

Mr. Homegrown
Thoughtstylings
4 Comments
...strict belief in the tenets of Mahayana Buddhist teachings, I asked his holiness Tenzing Norbu to bless the fridge upon his last visit. He guaranteed blessings and long life would be bestowed upon the fridge and the contents it protects. We have not used the fridge yet and unfortunately we need to move and can not bring the fridge with us. It is sad, but we are happy to give this spiritual appliance to another.” At $1,500 Harvey passed ove...

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Busting open a Durian

Mr. Homegrown
Food, Gardening
1 Comment
sations at inappropriate moments of late. And look out Mrs. HG, because Mr. HG just heard about the Mimosa Nursery (thanks beer making Scott!), purveyors of exotic fruit trees here in Southern California. From my web research it looks like Mimosa has at least two locations, one in Anaheim and the other at 6270 Allston in Los Angeles. WeR17;re planning an expedition soon . . ....

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Buddy Burner

Mr. Homegrown
Preparedness
8 Comments
An easy craft project for the family survivalist, taken from the brilliant 70’s Mormon classic: Roughing it Easy, by Dian Thomas. A buddy burner is a heat source for camping or emergencies made out of a tuna can, candle stubs and cardboard. It acts like a Sterno can, will burn for 1 1/2 – 2 hours, and can be recharged and reused. To make a buddy burner you need to gather: a clean tuna can, a piece of corrugated cardboard, a bunch of candle...

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The Tiny House

Mr. Homegrown
Design
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...eedy and evil landlords. Meanwhile, in rural America, most new housing consists of trailers, euphemistically known as “manufactured housing”. Trailers offer interesting possibilities, even for urbanites. But while itR17;s possible to pimp out an old trailer and make a decent living space, itR17;s hard to escape the fact that these structures were meant to be hauled down a highway and used for camping. Trailers often have a trans...

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Laundry to Landscape Legal in LA

Mr. Homegrown
Water and Power, Water Conservation
4 Comments
...ming that you donR17;t need a permit within LA city limits for “a graywater system in a one or two-family dwelling that is supplied only by a clothes-washer and/or a single-fixture system.” Though, confusingly, it also goes on to say, “Any alteration to the building or plumbing, electrical or mechanical system requires a permit.” I guess we shouldnR17;t expect clarity from a department that canR17;t seem to get a...

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The grape that ate the world

Mrs. Homegrown
Gardening, Mistakes
18 Comments
grapefail or grapewin? WeR17;ve posted about our grape problems before. PierceR17;s disease makes it hard to grow grapes in SoCal. WeR17;ve been trying to get resistant varieties to grow on our patio arbor (aka The Masculinity Pavillion) with no success. Our most recent planting attempts are stunted and unhappy, meaning that once again weR17;re experiencing A Summer Without Shade. While our “resistant” varietie...

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