Too Good to Go?

...u see something appealing you reserve and pre-pay. When you show up at the store you display a code on your phone and they hand you a bag of food. You don’t get to choose, so the bag is a surprise which adds to the addictiveness of this app. In our hipster neighborhood Too Good to Go’s offerings center around cafes, so you mostly get pastries and bread but you can also find vegan groceries and Armenian flat breads. Until recently, we would eagerly...

Read…

Measuring With a Shaft Key

...ved, square and tapered. We’re looking for the square ones. Every hardware store has a set of shaft keys in a dusty, seldom opened drawer. My local store carried shaft keys between 1/8″ and 1/2″. You can buy a whole set for mere dollars. I used a sharpie to mark the dimensions of my set of shaft keys. I use them mostly for setting the depth of my router and table saw. Using your sense of touch, aided by a shaft key, is much more accurate than usin...

Read…

Lost from the cradle of connection: the high price of driving

...n the US alone–simply because they needed to get to work, or school or the store. Why is it acceptable to us that so many people must die just because they needed to get somewhere? Do we live in a war zone? How many casualties are acceptable in this engagement? And beyond the lives lost, there’s the money. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that highway accidents cost $277 billion dollars a year in straight up economic co...

Read…

094 The American Woman’s Home

On the podcast this week Kelly and I discuss a 19th century urban homesteading book written by Catherine Beecher and Harriet Beecher Stowe, The American Woman’s Home. The book was written mostly by Catherine, with some contributions from Harriet (author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin). It’s likely that Catherine realized that attaching her famous sister’s name would sell more copies. Published in 1869, The American Woman’s Home covers a great deal of terri...

Read…

056 Winnetka Farms Part 1

...lian vegetables. In the second part, on next week’s podcast, we’ll discuss urban livestock. During part 1 Craig mentions: Spigarello as the new kale Radicchio di Castelfranco Red Pear Tomato Striato di Napoli zucchini Lunga di Napoli squash Making pumpkin syrup Candied fruits Cardoons If you’d like to stay in touch with Craig you can find him at The Kitchen at Winnetka Farms. If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call...

Read…